I cleaned a load of dishes, and meant to begin cooking dinner as soon as they were done, but alas, I got caught up in reading for about two hours with no regard for the passage of time. The eventual dinner was tasty, though!

I finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, most importantly! Thoughts? Well, well, how do I put this...?

( If I may sound dopey and insufferable for a moment -- (spoilery, natch) )

Now what do I read? I can't seem to find my copy of Good Omens, which was my initial plan! Most bothersome. How about Artemis Fowl? A series reread may be in order, and then I'll read the latest book, The Time Paradox! (though I sorely doubt it will top The Eternity Code, my personal favourite)

I had some customer today that declared I was "cheap" and they would "never be coming back again". Huh? It was incredibly aggravating at the time (moreso because I have no one to vent to - back to crushing cups we go), but a little bit funny now that I look back on it.

Some guy comes, wants a tall (12oz) coffee, brings his own cup. His cup happens to be 18oz (a grande is 16oz). A lot of people ask for a smaller serving in a large cup, to better make room for milk, so this isn't unusual. I fill it up to the tall equivalent, and pass it to him. However, he suddenly stops in the act of handing me money.

"You can fill that up all the way."

Ah? But mister, I do believe you asked for a tall --

"Yeah. You can fill it up all the way."

I can, certainly, but I'll have to charge you for a grande, being that your cup is far more than a tall, is that alright?

"Then I guess I'm not coming back here ever again, since you're too cheap to treat your customers right."

Wait, wait, wait. I beg your parden, mister; you say I'm cheap? After you just tried to -- ? Argh!

The majority of customers seem to find me pleasant, but there are those that reaaaaally do not like it when I stand my ground. Perhaps my small stature, playful speech and charming pigtails make me look like a pushover, and they are shocked to find out that I won't circumvent policy just to amuse them? Or maybe it's frustrating because a lot of baristas will appease them just to get the customer out of their hair, and then when one barista finally says "no", they get indignant.

Annoying to deal with? Yes! But hey, it's not at all fair to customers that actually pay for what they want. I have to fight for truth and justice, even in the midst of a coffee shop! So take that, Mister "I don't want to pay the extra twenty cents for my coffee!". Oh, and you too, Miss "I want an espresso macchiato, but with foam filled all the way to the top!". Ah, but an espresso macchiato has merely a dollop of foam, I believe what you're asking for is a short, dry cappuccino and I'm going to have to charge you accordingly, no hard feelings, it's just business, "But the other Starbucks said I don't have to pay for one!", well perhaps then you should go to this other Starbucks, no?

But then I merely wind up looking like a heartless jerk by comparison, because everyone else just bends over backwards and agrees to whatever. Mmph. Oh, well. Standing one's ground is a sad, lonely job sometimes, but someone has to do it.

Ughh, I want that Hatsune Miku Project DIVA game for the PSP like burniiiiing. My adoration for the rhythm-action genre knows no bounds! I'm half-tempted to import it, but, well, having a console to play it on might help. But what else would I play on a PSP? I know I've seen several games that look intriguing, but would they be enough? Mayhaps I should compile a list. It's an expensive investment for only one game! Ahhh but it's so cute and musical and how can I resist, I ask you? How?

Not quite done my book, maybe a couple hundred pages to go (hey, now, it's got just over a thousand, I'm workin' on it!). Oh... Oh dear. In retrospect, I should have anticipated this, or rather, I did, but not quite in this fashion, you see, and... and... Oh dear. Look, when I'm all done, I'll do a proper post and then I'll make a little more sense! ...Who am I kidding, here?

To segue for a moment; a question, to all my artist friends! Would any of you happen to know of a good (online) resource for faces, hands, feet, the sorts of things that give most folks a headache when they try and draw people? Especially for a variety of expressions, poses, hands holding things, feet bent different ways, etc etc. Any help would be much appreicated!

I've been making an effort to doodle during my breaks at work for the past few days, which seems to be going okay. Silly, pointless, poorly-constructed doodles, but they're something, dangit! After all, how am I ever going to be a comic artist/character designer/commander of the universe if I don't improve? Hm, and maybe I'll post some digital-scribbles in the future! Just gotta stop fussing about quality. I mean, they're sketches! Of course they're gonna be messy and indecipherable!

Oh, soon as I get the idea to make an entry, I realize it's my bedtime. Blast and curses. Let's hope I can sleep today! Last night I was bizzarely high-strung and couldn't settle down for nearly four hours after I initially attempted to drift off. What gives?

I'm not gonna bandwagon hop (except I sort of am by saying anything at all, huh?) 'cause I'm absolutely no good with things like this, but oh, my mind first went to Space Channel 5, silly as that may sound. F-For music and peace across the universe! Or however that went.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell continues to be wonderful and charming and all that jazz, although the portion I just finished was a little bit sad. Y-You'd better not break my heart, book! You got that? I think I'm about... halfway through, now? I think I might even leave it at home when I go to work tomorrow, because there's always so much noise in the backroom when I'm reading on my break, and I don't want it to spoil the atmosphere!

Love this book as I do, a small part of me is also amused by it for the same reasons I was amused by some OVA I watched a while back, Switch (aside from the magnificent evil chipmunk voice at the end, haha). See, Mr. Norrell is a bookish, cranky, arrogant, stuffy old gentleman magician with a red-headed friend (a la Strange), and wouldn't you know it, that very same description fits one of my original characters rather well. 'Course, there are several differences, too, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining. Note to self: draw originals more! nobody ever knows what you're talking about! also, draw more in general!

You know what's a great time killer and de-stressifier? Picture Logic! I can't stop playing it! It consumes me! I've already developed Tetris Syndrome from it; you know, you close your eyes, and numbers and grids and blocks are staring back at you...! I suppose it's better than the Guitar Hero equivalent, where I can't even listen to music without imagining coloured circles flying towards me.

Oh! I baked banana bread today! We had some squishy bananas just sitting there that I guess my dad and/or brother forgot about, and so I took it upon myself to invoke the most logical course of action. The most delicious course of action. It turned out marvelously! I'd share some with all of you, if I could! I'd serve it with a pot of some delightful tea I bought on the weekend: Buckingham Palace Garden Party Tea! Sounds awfully hoity-toity, doesn't it? Coz I'm a lady, eh wot?

...Oh, shoot, I have to work tomorrow morning, don't I? And I start at seven thirty: the drive-thru shift! Oh, say it isn't so! *sob* I don't want to deal with jerkfaces for eight hours!

I can't seem to stop munching at peanut butter on toast. I bought some while grocery shopping the other day, thinking "I haven't had peanut butter in a while," and now I can't stop aaaaaah! But it's better than nothing, since today I haven't had much of an appetite otherwise. What gives?

I started reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on Sunday, by the way. My stars, I love it! It's immensely charming, the world is very well-constructed and, y'know, magic! It's a tricky business, I feel, to find books with magic/magical realism/a touch of the absurd without delving into outright high fantasy (which I don't much care for). Makes it hard to find new books when you couple it with the fact I'm monstrously picky in the first place. Anyway, I'm about 300-something pages in, methinks. Strange sure took his sweet time showing up, huh?

Hmm, I have the unfortuante premonition that Plot Happenings of a sort I am not fond of will happen. Well, no, it didn't happen in Tales of Vesperia, so that kind of thing isn't a guarantee! But then, there was also Code Geass... Hmm.

I'm nowhere near done, but the footnotes in this book are making me want to read Good Omens again after I finish this one. No no, bad Morgan, read newly purchased books instead of re-reading! Oh, who am I kidding? Note to self: See about using characters from this series in my campaign to name all of my Pokemon in Platinum after literary characters! Ho ho ho~

I'm baaaack! ...What do you mean, you never noticed I was gone? Oh, right, the eccentric recluse thing!


the WHY AM I MOE? meme


More stuff later. Right now I'm going to head to bed 'cause I slept ever-so-terribly on the weekend, and I'd rather not pass out while serving someone their decaf triple venti non-fat absolutely no foam 190 degree latte tomorrow.

SOMEONE GET THIS SONG OUT OF MY HEAD AAAAAAH CURSE YOU 80'S MIKU

I'll be away all weekend 'cause my family's going out of town for father's day. Not that it really matters, though, since I'm sporadically AWOL as is! But I thought I'd say something. Ohh, I have to leave Devil Summoner behind! But at least I played a bit this morning. What is with random demons deciding to join me right as I'm about to kill them? That sort of behavior rarely precedes a healthy relationship, you know.

Okay, hey, before the rest of the entry, it's MEME TIME! That way I might have reponses to read upon my return.

List 10 of your favorite characters from different fandoms and ask people to spot patterns in your choices, and if they're so inclined, to draw conclusions about you based on the patterns they've spotted.

Yotsuba (Yotsuba&!)
Ender Wiggin (Ender's Game, the sequels don't count!)
Estelle (Tales of Vesperia)
Razumikhin (Crime & Punishment, gotta throw in something old and stuffy!)
Rakka (Haibane Renmei)
Luigi (Do I really need to write this? 8| c'mon)
Osaka (Azumanga Daioh)
Fry (Futurama)
Cream the Rabbit (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Sherlock Holmes (8| again)

Definetly not an end-all list of top ten favourites or nothin', just a selection from whatever first popped into my head. Mea culpa, sizeable-multitude-of-awesome-characters-not-included!

We finally saw Up the other day, horray! I heart Pixar, I do, I do. Cute, bittersweet, colorful, lively, well animated, heartwarming, the usual sort of excellence you'd expect from them. Go see it! Hm, but I wonder how long untill it's ultimately rendered unfunny by people reciting all the jokes ad nausem? I'm looking squarely at you, Finding Nemo, which is a pity 'cause it's not really your fault in the first place. Point!

On the book front, I just read through Edward Bloor's novel London Calling for the second time. Good stuff, time travel and magical realism or whatever you want to call it, give it a shot if you stumble upon it! Much more enjoyable the second time around, I think. I first read it a bit over a year ago, the entirety of it in one sitting. But somehow, the emotional impact was dampened because I had been playing Elite Beat Agents shortly prior to my reading, and, well... It's hard to feel sad and contemplative when you have "Liiiiving in a mateeeerial world" constantly looping through your head 8| HEY GUYZ.

Off I go! Better go feed the kitties before I leave.

My dad says we're going for ice cream in a bit, horray! I hope it's soon, 'cause I need to play some Devil Summoner today! Fiend encounters freak me out, they really do, even if I've only run into three so far. I make a point of hightailing it out of demon-infested areas as the new moon approaches, haha. Then again, the last one I fought was hardly any trouble at all compared to the other two, and only took me ten minutes to take it down. But on the flipside, the description of a weapon said it "voids instant death attacks", which means instant death attacks exist, and Fiends use death-type spells, and it's like Persona where if your character dies, game over! :'( Paranoid fighting tactics, ho!

I finished my re-read of Ender's Game! Makes me wish I was doing more with my own brain power right now, instead of just stagnating. I mean, my teachers would always say stuff like "You're brilliant, Morgan, but you need to apply yourself more". Could I save the world, too? Although being pushed around by grown-ups would kind of stink. Anyway, guess I should go about reading the recently published sequel Ender in Exile, huh? At least it should probably beat the previously established sequel, Speaker for the Dead. The heck, man! He hardly seemed like the same character. He was too... normal. Brr.

Still watching CSI a lot. Oh, oh, this bit from Miami was good. See, they were in the interrogation room, and...

Caine: This shoelace recovered from the crime scene proves you're the killer.
Perp: Oh yeah? Not if I tell the judge you beat me up and stole the shoelace from me to use as false evidence.
Caine: ?
Perp: 8D *purposefully bangs head against glass table top*
Caine: 8|

What the heck. What the heck. You can afford all this ridiculously fancy high-tech forensic equipment, but not one single camera for the interrogation room? Or even the budget for two CSIs to be in there at once?

I also feel cheated. The last two episodes I watched didn't start with a dopey one-liner :'( I look forward to those!

Guy: Oh no I'm about to fall off this building! D:
Calleigh: Don't worry I'll save you! >:|
Guy: I can't hold on any longer! :( *fall*
Calleigh: Oh no!
Guy: *dead*
Calleigh: D8 *sob*
YEAAAAAAHHHH
Me: ...?!

And CSI: NY doesn't really seem to go for the dopey one-liner route, so Miami is pretty much all I got in that department. Though Stella seems awfully fun of bad puns, just not ones recited before the obligatory The Who theme song. I haven't seen CSI classic, but if NY has Baba O'Reily and Miami has YEAAAH Won't Get Fooled Again, what song does the original have?

Oh, I think ice cream time is now. A reward for me cooking such a yummy supper! And the weather just begs for it, that too. I shall wax poetic about nothing s'more when I return! Or something! Gee, it's been a while, huh?

tau619 you are amaaaaazing ;_;

askhgjfls I don't even -- how I pay back -- so awesome -- MARIO PARTYYYY. No seriously how do I repay you D8 Amazing.

Ahem!

Where have I been the past while, huh? Waiting for the deluge of E3 chatter to pass, maybe. If you know me, then you could already figure I'm super excited for the new Mario games the Yoshis better not dissolve in water this time, got it? Not all Nintendo fans are cynics, you know! And Golden Sun DS, awiiiight! And some other stuff I've forgotten!

Okay, so, I don't know how, but my mum's gotten me watching CSI. She started watching it, and then a couple weeks ago I started watching it with her, and, er, yeah. It is strangely compelling! Although any ridiculously detailed closeups of the human body invokes a "DANGIT, CSI" from me every time. Actually, no, saying I've been watching CSI isn't quite right. My mum and I have been watching CSI: NY, with myself occasionally indulging in CSI: Miami. I still have yet to see the original!

I dunno which one I like best. I've seen more of NY, so I've gained more familiarity with those characters, and as a result I enjoy them more. On the flipside, Miami is kind of ridiculous and I love it. It feels more... over the top? I don't know the characters all that well yet, but Lt. Caine is pretty funny (though there is still only one red-haired policeman named Horatio to me oh right nobody else has read those books :'( *sob*). It's that eternal 8| face, man! Or how, like, he'll be interrogating someone or whatever, and be looking down, and slowly look up and stare them in the eye for emphasis. I dunno how to describe it, but I find it strangely hilarious. Or the funny way the M.E. (Alex?) talks to everyone, including the bodies she's dissecting.

My one huge gripe is with the editing, though. Like all these whiz bang dizzying quick cut montages. Everytime I shout "RAAGH I HATE THIS EDITING". It had to be said!

Oh, hey! I've been trying to read more, like not just on my breaks at work! Ain't that lovely? The past week I re-read Preston & Child's The Wheel of Darkness, followed by its sequel Cemetary Dance (BAAAAAW), then Catherine Webb's Kate Griffin's new book A Madness of Angels (sequel please? needs more madness!), and now I'm rereading Ender's Game. It just popped into my head! "Hey, I haven't read this in a few years, what gives? Let's roll!"

I think the second last one, A Madness of Angels, brainwashed me. 'Cause whenever food of any sort is mentioned, 9 times out of 10 it's curry. So guess what I cooked for dinner last night, after I finished the book? And guess what kind of sauce I made with dinner today? 8| Haha, I actually told my mum, and she said "Is the author British?" and I was all "How did you know." Makes sense, I guess, since India was a British colony, so they likely woulda picked up recipies at one point... But still! A lot of curry, a lot, a lot!

One more thing, and yes I talk too much! So, Re: My Previous Post, about Devil Summoner? IT HAPPENED AGAIN. I won, yes, but you know how long that fight took? Over half an hour! I guess that was a combo of my paranoid fighting style and the Fiend not having a weakness I could readily exploit. Thank goodness for demons with a Death immunity, hahahaha! And thank goodness for maybe being a bit overleveled, too. The Fiend's rush attack still hurt like the dickens, but nothing else he could do caused all that much duress. I hate fighting these things, seriously. I start freaking out whenever the New Moon rolls around, just in case the indicator starts flashing red again...

Ahhh, I have to leave for work in a few minutes! Maybe I should have walked instead of relying on a ride from my dad.

Dumb happening before work:

I was playing Devil Summoner yesterday (at least an hour a day, that's my goal), minding my own business, fightin' demons and all. Now, there is a little indicator on the screen that represents how close you are to a battle. Normally, it's blue, if you're in towns and such. If demons are present in the area, it'll turn yellow, then orange, and then a deep red when a fight is imminent. Just like in Etrian Odyssey, if you've played that.

So here I am, leveling my demons, fightin' stuff, uh-huh. I'm walking around, and the indicator goes red, here we go! ...Then it starts flashing. I stop and think "Is it supposed to do that? Maybe I just never noticed and AAAAAAAAHHHHH--"

That scared me :( I-I could have died! And I almost did! One hit shouldn't reduce me to five HP what. Horray for an overly conservative fighting style! Oh, that Ice Bullet ability saved my sorry backside, it did. And here I was, thinking I'd never use it! Well, I've learned my lesson. I swear that fight took like fifteen minutes. How much HP did that thing have? Never again. Except it's something I have no control of.

UNPOPULAR OPINION MEME

Gimme a fandom and I'll tell you some of my UNPOPULAR OPINIONS.


I finished my book! Ungyaa, it's (つД≦｡)°ﾟ｡ウソダアアアアァァァァァー！ all the way! Three (well, two-point-five) is not cool, you guys! Ohh, and now I gotta wait, like, forever for the next Pendergast book to be out. I just know there'll be more! Something notable from the book preceeding the one I just finished hasn't yet been addressed.

Now what do I read? Gotta grab something befoe I leave for work, that's for sure. Something new, or a reread as I am often wont to do?

(つД≦｡)°ﾟ｡ウソダアアアアァァァァァー！

...No, well, first it was like that, then "No, wait! I refuse to believe that!" and then "Yes!" "Wait!" "No!" "Oh God!" and then we're right back to ウソダ only more so and...!

...Well, I'm only halfway through, so maybe...! I swear if this book goes beyond 2.5 1.5 3.5 1 and 3/4?, I'm gonna...!

Ahem. Why don't I stop talking about things that make absolutely no sense to anyone but myself, yes? Splendid!

I love Devil Summoner 2! Horray for real time combat and being able to dodge attacks (psst, L2 is your best friend, especially in boss fights)! And the vaguely Pokemon-esque recruting demons element is neat; like the very first Persona game on the SNES, I think? Some of them are real jerks, though. Demanding of so much stuff (my stuff!) only to go "hmm, you know, I still don't want to negotiate, thanks for the free stuff, buhbye!".

Kinda strange they want you to name the main character. Most folks just call you Raidou, except for your demon-kitty sidekick Gouto. I wound up naming him Elliot Tennyson: mimicking my Persona 3 character in the sense that the last name is yoinked from literature (a poet, in this case) and the first... Well, okay, the first doesn't have any sort of theology connection, far as I know. He just looked like an Elliot. I guess their names both start with E? Anyway, I juuuust completed chapter 2 last night. Much fun, give it a shot if you can!

Oh, and to go back to the tone of the first part of the entry, I watched more Code Geass! Every episode, now, except for the very last one. Aaah AAAAH AAAAAAAH sums it up nicely. Or maybe D8 or O_O or ;m;. I exclaim to myself as I watch, so ideally I wait 'till I'm the only one at home before watching. I need to see the last one soon! This show gets me all fired up, I love it! The first R2 DVD won't be out until July, gyaa!

What else, what else? Oh! I did indeed wind up seeing Angels & Demons on the weekend, thankfully with the book still fresh in my memory. Whoa, man, it's different. I know, adaptations always are, especially when you have a time limit to contend with, but -- ! If anything, definetly read the book first, if at all.

( Spoilers, natch. Even if no one cares, I cut 'em anyway! Aren't I nice? Haa. )

Blah blah blah easily amused I like action etc. Ooh! Up is out this week, isn't it? Yaaaaay Pixar! Here's hoping it's as great as WALL-E or The Incredibles or who am I kidding? I have faith in 'em! If I have to hope for anything, I guess it'd have to be that my dad doesn't sleep through most of it, like he did for WALL-E and Ratatouille. No, I dunno how he does it, either.

Methinks I'll stop indulging myself by talking about things that have little interest to anyone but myself and go back to reading my book! I must find out what happens! And it had better not be bad! ウソダアアアアァァァァァー！

I learned how to Skype! Can you believe it? Props to ProZD, Blue an' Pimmy for tolerating me. Fandubs are ridiculously fun, why haven't I gotten in on this sooner? For shame. Gumshoe manages to both ruin everything and make it infinetly more enjoyable. How does that even work?

My day off work today was spent mostly reading, oddly enough. I need to use my spare time more efficiently for that sort of thing, instead of waiting around for my breaks at work!

I read through Angels & Demons (thank you, coworker who lent it to me) because I have this rule about reading books before seeing movies (of which I think I'll see on the weekend). Yeah, it's not Dostoyevsky, but it's fun, dangit! I liked it more than The Da Vinci Code, if that means anything.

Not sure if I felt all ｡･ﾟ･(*ﾉД`*)･ﾟ･｡ｳﾜｧｧﾝ about the ending or not. It was like... Hang on! Book-babble cut, GO.

( Superfluous cut full of context-deprived babble that hardly makes sense, let alone any possible spoilers! )

I managed to buy Devil Summoner 2, woo! I've been wanting to try the first one for the longest time, but, y'know, sizeable print runs for Atlus games are a ridiculous notion indeed! Hey, I managed to get the version with the plush doll, bonus!

I haven't tried it out yet, though, since my bro and then my dad have been in the basement (with all the game consoles) all evening. Tomorrow, when I won't be interrupted by family! I think! Ahh, I noticed in the manual that you're supposed to name the main character, first & last, like Persona 3. If I'm smart, I'll start thinking of names now, and not as soon as I load the game up. How much of my life have I spent staring blankly at name entry screens? It's apalling, is what it is.

...Backpedaling time! What do I read next? I go nuts if I don't keep a book with me whenever I leave the house, but I've been thinking of so many different titles to read, I can't seem to settle on just one! Ooh, I think the new Pendergast book should be out by now! Though that would require a trip to the bookstore. Maybe after saturday morning tea? And I'll reread the previous book in the meantime! Splendid! Ohh, if any main characters die in this one, I'm gonna...!

Otafest was this weekend! You know, the local anime con I was fretting about?

I had a camera with me this time. I know, I know, this is weird and exciting for me, too. I could ask people for pictures! But uploading those comes later. I'm still tired, so there.

An overview!

PROS:
-Having lots of people ask for my picture! Apparently I am adorable, though self-esteem what? And apparently I also have a cute voice?
-Getting to play Anime Chess for the first time this year! Horray being in cosplay! Akira Kogami the white knight!
-UBOA あああああああああ!
-I got my picture taken with Pedobear 8O
-Lots of amazing cosplay in general!
-I saw a super-cute Hagu from Honey & Clover! Totally unexpected; I thought I was nuts when I asked if she was Hagu, but I was right! She was even carrying a big leaf with her, aww.
-A Miku, two Kaitos and a Meiko!
-Rin & Len Nendoroids GET.
-I finally got to try Pop'n'Music!
-Seeing an honest to goodness marriage proposal during Cosplay, aww! Lucario x Yoshi OTP 4ever.
-Getting to sing God Knows... in the prelims & finals and having people clap and cheer along; I got lots of compliments, which was nice!;;; *shy*
-Seeing chinomi sing The Delicious Tomato Song from Hetalia. It was perhaps one of the single greatest, most amazing things I had witnessed all weekend. Congratulations on third place, by the way! \o/ This had better be on Youtube okay 8|
-Having my pictures taken by Princess Peach!
-One of the artists from Artist's Alley running up to me and asking me for a picture and giving me a free bookmark with Akira (and Shiraishi) on it! ♥ Apparently it was a secret bookmark if you bought the other four in her Lucky Star set, but Akira is awesome so I was exempt, haha. I also wound up buying one of her prints, Yotsuba dressed up like a Vocaloid (complete with a Koiwai Yotsuba logo, in the style of Miku's), because it was incredibly adorable oh man. And, y'know, Yotsuba.
-Lots of compliments on my cosplay skit! I was even told by a few people that they weren't familiar at all with Lucky Star, but still thought it was great. And speaking of...
-I won runner up for Best Performance in the cosplay contest! Heyyy, not bad for a first timer's solo monologue written at the last minute. And I got prizes (and a giant ribbon), yo.

...What, you wanna see?

Oh, geez, I am embarassing. I-I can't bear to look at myself /)m(\;; OH GOD. I'm too critical! I think "could be much funnier, would do that line differently, enunciate better, why my outfit make me look so big" all the time. I saw people filming the idol contest, too, but vids haven't surfaced yet, far as I know. Tough cookies if you wanna see my dorky take on Haruhi 8|

also CONS:
-Being the first piece killed off during Chess, woo yeah (curse you, Asch :c)! But you get to have wacky mock-battle death scenes, so no biggie. I felt bad for the poor Lelouch that didn't even get to move (he was even holding a chess piece as a cosplay prop, haha)
-Sitting next to an Angry Fanboy(tm) during one event who wouldn't shut up and kept shouting to his friends and was like "DEATH NOTE SUCKS" 'cause hating popular stuff is trendy and ironic you guys and swore a lot.
-Being in the overflow room for the Cosplay contest. It is loud. Nobody shuts up. I could hardly hear any of the other skits being performed, and they'd throw chairs whenever a performer was dragging or being unfunny. Okay, fine, not very nice, but they also did it the few times when people were trying to be serious. So basically you're screwed if you try something that isn't "LOL COMEDY" or "DANCE".
-Not getting to see Johnny Young Bosch, because whenever he was doing panels, I was busy with something else :'( I really wanted Lulu's autograph! *sob* And I already missed out on Suzaku's (Yuri Lowell Lowenthal) autograph since I couldn't go to the Calgary Comic Expo :'( *doublesob*
-Couldn't get into either SSBB tournament for the same reason. So much for PK STARSTOOOORM
-Was too late to sign up for the Battle Action RPG. That was one of my goals this year since I was actually in cosplay. Maybe next time.
-Being too shy to ask for a lot of pictures. I felt bad stopping people!
-For that matter, lots of wonderful costumes I missed out on getting pictures of!

And some other stuff. Huh, I guess for a little overview, I still manage to talk too much. Pictures and stuff later! Lots of amazing costumes! *_* Definetly wanna give cosplay another go next year, too. Wonder who I should be?

Dangit, who broke the internet? Lackluster shaky backup connection, ho!

Okay, skit problem solved! I wrote another one, totally from scratch. How many edits has that been? Anyway, this one's much funnier than all my other drafts! And I get to rapid-fire switch from sweet-as-pie Akira and Imma-cut-you-so-help-me Akira, horray!

Even luckier, my family's out, so I've been taking the time to practice. Having to learn something on such short notice, just like drama class!

...Can you imagine, though? What if after all this fussing, I don't get into the competition? You see, previous years, people would sign up in advance through email, but this year, they sign up at the convention itself! Ahh, what if I get there and they say "Gee, sorry, you're the fifty-first person today, and the entry cap is fifty, sooo..."? No, no, don't think about that!

I'll try not to fuss about how my costume looks on me, either. Just be painfully adorable and it won't matter, right? Still, I should find away to pin back the top a little...

Okay, now, fingers crossed that I don't stumble over any lines on Saturday, or that my voice gives out midway through singing God Knows... for the Idol competition! Two years ago, third place, last year, second place, this year, first place! I-It's only logical, right?

Hmm, perhaps I'll go have some ginger tea so my throat doesn't give out from all my rehearsing 8|

Argh, Otafest is this weekend, yet I still haven't finalized a skit for the Cosplay competition! I've always wanted to compete, and I've got a costume to do so with, but... I keep re-writing the darn thing, like I've got no faith in my abilities!

I always second-guess every joke in the whole thing, like "nobody's gonna get that term" "it's not funny if you don't know lucky star" "what if nobody even knows who I am?" "people won't think that's offensive, will they?" "it's too long!"

I suppose I could always post the script/a recording of it and outright ask "is this even marginally funny?", but, well, self-confidence what? A-And I just keep changing it! I've memorized stuff in shorter time spans before, so even if I have to learn it all perfectly by Saturday I might be okay, but... Am I gonna let an opportunity like this slip away? Gaaah!

That, and I'm worried I'll get cold feet about just being in my costume in the first place. Problem is the billowy shirt Akira wears; it makes me look a lot bigger than I really am! /)m(\;; Self-esteem also what? I should find a way to pin it back, maybe...

Here's hoping that I at least don't choke while singing God Knows...; I don't want my voice to give out on the last verse!

Happy thoughts, happy thoughts... Oh! I finished Princess Debut Playthrough, round 2! Why so stubborn, Kiefer? Nearly 20 out of 30 in-game days passed before he ever offered to dance! I had to turn down everyone else multiple times beforehand >:( Okay, and I know everyone's 3D models in the dancing sequences are kind of terrifying (the motion-capture is good, but...) what with their dead stares and all, but his is especially weird. GET A HAIRCUT. Good gravy.

At least he ditches the ridiculous secretary-glasses for a far more acceptable pair in the ending CGs. Who on earth thinks that looks good? >8| I guess when you're royalty, you don't have to care about style! which in turn seems to explain a large percentage of the princess' outfits Urge to draw more stupid 4-komas rising, rising...!

...Ahh, I should get back to fussing over my monologue. In it, Akira's supposed to be announcing the creation of a narcissistic new anime in a shameless attempt to out-do Lucky Star, but I still can't think of a super-ridiculous title to give it. Originally, it was gonna be loaded with as many cliches I could think of, but now I just want something simplier, like "Akira-sama's Super Special Awesome Lucky Channel Deluxe" or whatever. Any ideas? I still don't have something concrete! D8 And it's gotta be in English! See, one of the jokes I've kept since the earliest drafts involve spewing off the ridiculous title, followed by something like "Or, if you're a purist and prefer the original Japanese title, [exact same title only spoken with a Japanese accent]". It's not that great, I know, but it's still a moot point if I don't have a title in the first place!

Horray for feeling ill on my days off! Well, it's not as bad now as it was the other day, but...

I needed to relax and get some rest, so I dedicated as much time as I could to relatively-soothing activities, like reading and low-impact DS games (i.e. Not-Trauma Center)! Replayed the first case in Apollo Justice, for one. I am very eagerly awaiting the new game starring Mr. Edgeworth, don't get me wrong, but I also dearly want to see both Phoenix and Apollo take the lead again, too! Haha, and I forgot how much I loved the "cornered" music in Apollo Justice :x It gets me all fired up! "Now you're in for it, criminal!" Yeah! ...Er. I don't keep up with fandom, so remind me again; I'm not the world's only Apollo fan, right? Nobody would throw a fit if he came back for another game?

Morgan also began a second play through of Princess Debut (again, DON'T JUDGE ME AHH). I found the mysterious sixth prince that was AWOL the last time around; Kiefer! I guess he only shows up after you've beaten the game once? Smart, bookish, glasses-wearing (so they didn't miss a demographic after all!) and doesn't seem interested in dance, so naturally I'm trying to go after him! Funny, though; I've barely even talked to him, haven't even danced, and his magical love meter is still at 100%, haha. I am just that charismatic 8| Shortly thereafter, Klaus', Lucas' Luciano's and Liam's (s'up) also hit 100%. Token-Shota Vince is at 33%, and my attempts to get Resident Stalker and Zelos Wilder-wannabe (AKA Cesar) to 0% are still going unheeded; his is only at 3% :'(

I didn't notice the first time around, but at the very beginning, when you meet all the princes, my Princess-Self commented that Liam seemed the most normal. Oh, nice foreshadowing, me! For those of you who don't keep up with my prattling, can't remember or are just plain confused, Liam was my Dancing Parter of Choice the first time around, who also happened to have a rather disturbing sister complex. "So cute! Just like my sister!" "Have this dress; it belonged to my sister!" "You remind me so much of my sister!". Uhhhh. But he was otherwise nice enough and reminded me of a Bulbasaur, so he got a pass.

...Hm, for that matter, if you don't keep up/forgot/are confused, Princess Debut is an embarassingly girly rhythm-action dating sim for the DS. Gamer cred? What gamer cred? I hate you, Natsume, for inflicting this not-Harvest-Moon-related pain on me! I want a sequel SO BAD

I need to go back to lying down, now, so I suppose I'll once again attempt to find Kiefer and try to convince him to dance. Or make him run off in embarassment again! That was fun. Pff, I think at this point, I am more convinced that there is a path for Tony, your magical bunny rabbit dance instructor (seriously) than this stubborn guy. Hey, there's room in the game's CG gallery Photo Album, so it's possible! 8|

Oh, before I go lie down, have to squeeze this in: saw the Star Trek movie on friday, is wonderfully awesome, do go see it! It was also heartily approved by my dad, a long-time fan of the series, so there! pime taradox!

"Ten bucks I somehow get a bad end."

I AM AMAZING.

I also got the Rin ending, so horray! Now I'm all bummed out it's only a demo. Didn't even get a CG! I got a CG for that other ending, even, but what about poor Rin? I have this peculiar urge to go drown my sorrows at a manly picnic...

Last night, I walked into the TV room as my parents were looking for something to watch, and lo and behold, the classic movie channel juuust started playing a 1935 adaptation of Crime & Punishment!

...Aaaaaaaahhh!

Okay, to be fair, I only stuck around for the first ten minutes or so before running to take solace in the book, but ahhh! I kept thinking "They're not supposed to be on such good terms!" "Why does it look like 1920s America?" "He never calls him by his first name!" "She's not supposed to show up 'till way later!" "Roderick?!". I know, I know, it's a long book, I should see an adaptation as a stand-alone work as opposed to comparing it so rigidly with the novel, but... Roderick?! Maaaan. At least Razumikhin still appeared to be adorkably energetic, I guess 8|

You know, I almost understand, now, how those hardcore anime purists might feel when character names are localized. But usually it's done with good reason: take Pretty Cure, for example! The show is marketed towards young girls, who would probably have a lot of difficulty remembering and pronouncing foreign oddities like "Nagisa" and "Honoka" as opposed to the more familiar-sounding "Natalie" and "Hannah". That works just fine!

But I dunno why they'd change the names in a movie, unless either the concept of foreignness would freak out 1930s middle-America, or nobody could pronounce "Rodion".

...Why am I wasting my time prattling about some old movie and an even older book? Who knows? I think my brain is just trying to find ways to distract itself from the horror of BAD END YAY. I laughed all the way through it when I realized what I had done. Totally called it, btw!

Meme yanked from prozd --

Post with something (preferably something I'm familiar with or it's unlikely to work very well!) and I will reply with the character from that which, when I am completely honest with myself, I see myself best fitting, and why.

So there, throw a fandom at me!

Someone from eco-sure (essentially a health inspector) visited the store today. It was rather amusing; everyone was in a panic, like "rinse pitchers!" "wipe up the milk!" "close the ice bins!". As soon as the inspector left, everyone else went right back to being slobs, leaving lukewarm milk sitting on the counter, leaving the ice bins open and basically settling back into a state of disarray. Wasn't that fun?

I got told to not say a word to the inspector, because my honesty would probably kick in and I'd say something like "Half those temperature records are made up" or "Usually, nobody ever rotates the creamers". Grr. Thankfully, my prediction in which I, Captain Standards, would be singled out for some miniscule violation and my sloppier coworkers get off scott-free, did not come true.

Geez, what have I been doing this past forever? Well, my dad and bro were out of town a week ago, so I spent most of my free time with my mom (she doesn't really get out much due to medical reasons, see, so it'd be no good for me to be AWOL all the time). I was certainly not on a top-secret espionage mission, or patrolling the neighborhood in my magical girl persona, nope.

An update after a lengthly absence is in order! But I have to leave for work shortly, so let's make this quick.

Pokemon! I have five badges, and I'm supposed to surf to... Canaleve City? I always get the names mixed up. At the moment, though, I've been trying to breed a Heracross with a decent nature! See, after aaages of checking honey trees, I finally found one! But alas, I did not have time to catch one with a servicable nature/ability, because at the time I was on a break at work, which was going to be over in about a minute. I couldn't wait 'till later, because by the time my next break rolls around, it assuredly would have left the tree!

So I caved and quickly caught a female. I already have a Scyther, Rearden, and being in the same egg group I didn't have to worry about catching another bug type. She's not battle-ready, but still needed a name to fit the bookish theme, so in a fit of twisted humour, I named the temporary Heracross Dagny. (disclaimer: Morgan's Pokemon certainly do not promote adultery. They probably like capitalism, though.)

I've also been watching Eden of the East, perhaps the only new anime this season I've been bothering to keep up with (need more space on my computer). It's great! Good characters, pleasing art, intruiging story, surprisingly a not-Jpop opening (Oasis' Falling Down, instead), and native english speakers voicing American characters, whoa! I was shocked when they were free of the usual thick Japanese accent. For comparision, see the first episode of a show called Ginban Kaleidoscope. I only saw one ep, aaages back, but the "English" stuck with me, especially of the alleged english-speaking Canadian character (the voice in the girl's head).

Anyway, Eden of the East is good, check it out! The art style is actually surprisingly reminiscent of Honey & Clover, though it lacks everything being bathed in soft, sunny hues. Maybe I see the comparision because Akira bears a startling resemblance to Morita? And I guess Saki looks vaguely like Ayu. Now where is Takemoto?

One last thing; I got the wig for my Akira costume, horray! Now I just need to go procure a wig cap and I'm all set. Should finish writing that skit for the cosplay competition... And I should pratice my song for the Idol competition, too! I'm singing God Knows..., and I just found out the other day I'm going first during the prelims this year; no pressure! At least I'll get more people to watch; during the prelims, some folks only stick around for their song, and then head off to other events. Understandable, since the prelims take a good couple of hours. Anyway! Wish me luck! Even though the con isn't for another couple of weeks...

Also. One last thing, I started playing the demo of Katawa Shoujo since pimmy_pim was talking about it so much. Only about an hour into the story, give or take. I haven't seen a whole lot of decision points yet, but I'm still wondering how my choices have affected me so far! It works out, though, since I seem to be running into Rin and Lilly a lot, and they're my favourites. Also, Misha reminds me of one of my original characters (even their names are only one letter apart), it's kind of funny. Personality-wise, though. I don't have any originals with funky, curly-whirly pink hair, far as I know.

Ten bucks I somehow get a bad end. Okay, work time is now!

Dumb question time! (AKA: Help!)

I still need a pink wig for my Akira Kogami costume! Problem is, I'm not really sure where to look. I've had Cosworx suggested to me before, but all their pink wigs (save for a couple of far-too-long ones) have been out of stock for a while.

I've had eBay pointed out to me before, too, but I'm kinda antsy about using it as I've never done it before! And do I need a wig cap, maybe? And what about styling it? No idea how to go about that...

Anyone have any suggestions on where to look? Or better yet, a link to a not-super-expensive wig I could purchase from a reliable place? I know, I'm silly for putting it off for so long! I have exactly one month until the convention, eep. Any help is immensely appreciated! ♥

Maybe I should practice singing God Knows... s'more for the con's Idol competition, too :( (ow, my throat)

Defog is a really stupid move. Why strip Flash of its HM status if you're only going to give it to something even dumber? At least Rock Smash is a base power 40 atrocity instead of base power 20 this time.