Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

Kaze took this on Facebook, but I didn't really want to post mine on Facebook. I try to keep my fandom life separate from my real life, and Facebook is kind of a halfway point.

I shouldn't have wasted time taking this thing; I need to be writing! But it was fun.


* First anime you remember watching as a child? Yu-Gi-Oh! The original Duel Monsters YGO, the only really good YGO and the sole one I will acknowledge as canon.

* First anime you purchased? Most likely Yu-Gi-Oh!

* First anime series you watched and completed? Ho boy, that's a tough one. Magic Knight Rayearth, maybe?

* Favorite female anime character? Meroko Yui from Full Moon wo Sagashite is definitely way up there, of course. But Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop and Tea Gardner from Yu-Gi-Oh! are also high on my list. Oh, and of course, Ahiru from Princess Tutu. She's adorable! And then there's Rukia Kuchiki from Bleach. If I was going to narrow it down to just one, I would *probably* pick Ahiru.

* Favorite male anime character? Autor from Princess Tutu. He's the aloof, serious, refined type of character I almost always gravitate towards. And he wears glasses, which is just a nice extra. Yes, I think glasses are attractive on guys. It might be because of how intelligent and educated it makes them look.

I mused on something recently: there seems to be two main types of aloof characters, those with/leaning towards ice and those with/leaning towards fire. I will almost always like the ice ones best. The fire ones tend to be less refined, and/or prideful in a way I find annoying. The ice ones are generally proud as well, but not in a way I usually find annoying.

* Most annoying anime character you have ever come across? Lilie from Princess Tutu. She wishes tragedy to befall everyone, even or especially her supposed friends. Who needs an enemy with her around?

* Best ‘bad guy’ you’ve seen in anime? That would depend on what defines "best." Yami Marik from Yu-Gi-Oh! is certainly a good bad guy to use in stuff if you want an intense, angst-driven plot. He has no remorse for anything and wants to kill everyone until he's the last person left. He is messed up. And when he's created from Marik's dark feelings, I doubt he has any good in him at all (contrary to what some fanfic writers like to think).

As far as complex, however, Yami Bakura/Thief King Bakura from Yu-Gi-Oh! is definitely the one you want. His past is horrifying and tragic, his views on good and evil are intriguing and have some merit to them, and he's just plain fun. I feel awful saying the latter about an antagonist, but it's true for me, at least. Also, I love the hints throughout the anime and manga that he perhaps cares about Bakura, maybe as more than just a needed vessel.

* What mecha would you love to pilot? A Gundam from New Mobile Report Gundam Wing.

* Which anime ‘world’ would you like to be a part of? I don't know that I'd really want to be part of any anime world. That would be like a self-insertion, wouldn't it? Besides, while I love writing about the characters' adventures, I'm not sure I'd want to go on any of them myself.

I used to want to be a Sailor Senshi from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon pretty badly, but I got over that. I wouldn't really like a lifestyle that those girls have, being forced to drop everything in their normal lives to fight creepy monsters and other villains day in and day out.

* Name an anime that went way above your expectations? Yu-Gi-Oh! And Princess Tutu, also. Though I think just about every anime I've watched was more amazing than I ever imagined it could be. Gundam Wing and Magic Knight Rayearth are others.

* Name an anime that was bitterly disappointing? I can't think of any anime that I found bitterly disappointing. Though I was disappointed by the ending of Princess Tutu the first time I saw it. But over the years I've come to love it. I think it was the best ending possible considering the direction the show started to turn. And there's always fanfictions to continue the characters' adventures and allow Ahiru to be human again.

The ending of Shaman King was quite unsatisfying, but the non-ending in the manga is much worse. I never really liked that show, but I watched it when there wasn't anything on that I wanted to see more.

* Name the most obscure/ ‘unpopular’ anime you’ve seen? Probably Princess Tutu, sadly. We're a small fandom. But we are devoted! Though maybe Sakura Wars is the most obscure, when I think of it. I wasn't able to find much of a fandom at all for it. Which is a shame, because the TV series is really neat!

* Favorite anime theme song? Moonlight Densetsu (Legend) from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. And Morning Grace from Princess Tutu.

* Favorite anime at the moment? Princess Tutu.

* Do you read manga as well? Yes. I don't like reading it (or any books) online, so I will almost always read it in hard copies. I have about half (or maybe a little over half) of the YGO manga. Someday I will own them all. It's the main one I'm working on collecting at the moment, but I have assorted volumes of other manga series as well. And I own all the volumes of both Full Moon wo Sagashite and Tokyo Mew Mew.

* What is your favorite manga? Hmmm. As far as manga stories, Duke's introduction in YGO Duelist manga #9 and #10. Yes, it was dark, but that made it good! And Duke was so much deeper and better than in his anime introduction. Also, the Pharaoh's Memories arc. It was better in the manga; Thief King Bakura had more depth. But other than those things, I prefer YGO in the anime.

As for favorite manga series overall, however, I can't decide whether it would be Full Moon wo Sagashite or Tokyo Mew Mew. Full Moon is deeper, but Tokyo Mew Mew is so cute and sweet.

* What anime are you currently watching for the first time? None.

* What is one anime that everyone should see? Princess Tutu.

Horrors! I am triple-posting! First I posted a blurb, then a quiz, and now another quiz. Actually, I was going to edit the second post and stick this there, but then I thought it would be better to keep it separate. XD;

Comment on this post and let me know you want to participate. I will choose seven userpics from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are using them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so others can play along.

papercutperfect wants me to explain these:


1 - Faye My default icon. Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop is one of my online aliases, and this shot is so lovely and glamorous, as she obviously imitates Audrey Hepburn. When Aubrie, integral_sama07 made it, I fell in love with it and decided it should be my default display pic.


2 - yamiM_artichoke I think I got the idea for this one from joking with Lisa, amanechan, about Joey from Yu-Gi-Oh! calling the villain Yami Marik an artichoke head. XD It still amuses me and others years later, and I've kept it.


3 - lifeislikeaboat This was my default icon for a year or maybe two. It's from the song Life is Like a Boat from Bleach, which I associate both with Alister here and with myself.


4 - zack_cloud This is another of Lisa's. X3 We both like the idea of the song He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother with appropriate icons, and Last Order sounded too perfect for it here. Yay Zack and Cloud friendship!


5 - zack_sephiroth_WTH One of Lisa's, by my suggestion. XD The obligatory joke icon, poking fun at Seph and Zack's reaction to how a lot of the fans see their relationship. I'm personally nuts over their friendship and think that turning it into romance ruins it, which makes me different from a good deal of the fanbase. ^^


6 - dreamscape Made by Stacey, nezure. I knew she was going to do a Seph & Zack one for me, but I had no idea what she would come up with. ^^ I like it! Title is from Dreamscape, a Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle song.


7 - zack_sephiroth Base by Lisa (and shrinking to fit LJ standards), text by me. Inspired by Loneliness of a God and the song Dante's Prayer by Loreena McKennitt. Loneliness features Zack post-DoC in the Lifestream, fighting to free Seph from his insanity. I don't work on it much because it makes me sad, but I do love it. X3 And I adore this icon and the text for them in general.

**snerk.** Bow before the majesty of Weird Al's Living in the Fridge song! XD Dang. It is just too priceless. I heard it on a Cowboy Bebop AMV that used clips from Toys in the Attic and now I'm hooked. I even made a couple of crack icons using a picture of the fridge of doom and Gin and Vodka staring in horror. I went looking for the AMV to send Hamda, and I found a version much better than the first, where the clips in the first half fit better. The YouTube version includes the strip game, which I don't think was relevant. XD The version I downloaded from animemusicvideos.com has different clips for the first half, though both of course have the scene with Spike opening the fridge while Weird Al screams.

And oy vey.... The dryer drum belt broke, and until we can get a new one (which had better be today!), the house has to be our dryer! Blurgh. I hung the clothes around heat vents and turned on the heat. It shall be misery! XD **can't stand a lot of heat.**

And my icon is all kinds of awesome. X3 This is Aubrie's take on Gin and those song lyrics. Much better than my humble version!

I'm just nuts about that song. I don't care much for Nickelback's music in general, but I love Savin' Me and Too Bad (the latter of which will forever make me think of Baby Face). Savin' Me always reminds me of my story Breakdown. XD

And for any Monkees fan (or anyone wanting to try the show) living where PAX TV is available, rejoice! PAX (or I TV, if you are so inclined to call them by their new name) will start airing the show every Friday at 6 Eastern and Pacific, 5 Central and Mountain! It will probably be edited, but still! This is wonderful news!

insaneladybug's Word Usage

1. the (675) 26. him (77) 51. because (45) 76. i've (31) 2. i (501) 27. be (77) 52. were (44) 77. could (31) 3. and (491) 28. at (75) 53. we (44) 78. much (31) 4. to (422) 29. valon (74) 54. them (43) 79. marik (31) 5. a (290) 30. one (73) 55. from (42) 80. no (30) 6. of (281) 31. or (67) 56. don't (42) 81. there (30) 7. he (254) 32. do (66) 57. all (41) 82. time (29) 8. was (219) 33. when (66) 58. out (41) 83. how (29) 9. that (206) 34. as (63) 59. over (41) 84. first (29) 10. it (205) 35. they (60) 60. some (41) 85. she (28) 11. in (173) 36. what (59) 61. got (40) 86. into (28) 12. xd (141) 37. this (59) 62. still (40) 87. which (28) 13. for (133) 38. just (56) 63. think (39) 88. who (28) 14. so (126) 39. if (56) 64. now (39) 89. back (28) 15. you (125) 40. i'm (55) 65. it's (37) 90. being (27) 16. but (114) 41. been (53) 66. did (35) 91. love (26) 17. with (112) 42. up (52) 67. though (35) 92. after (26) 18. on (111) 43. me (52) 68. your (33) 93. characters (25) 19. my (104) 44. get (51) 69. by (33) 94. down (25) 20. his (104) 45. about (51) 70. other (33) 95. know (25) 21. is (98) 46. then (51) 71. an (32) 96. any (25) 22. had (96) 47. are (48) 72. more (32) 97. too (24) 23. have (93) 48. not (48) 73. even (31) 98. didn't (24) 24. like (86) 49. would (46) 74. only (31) 99. while (24) 25. alister (83) 50. really (45) 75. again (31) 100. off (24)

Username: Word Count by Hutta.

XD; Does anyone else think the results sound like I am kinda obsessed with a certain redhead? I mean, he's listed way before Marik! But I can't believe that I've only mentioned Marik 31 times in this whole journal. Maybe this thing only counts back so far. . . .

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Eve was strange. XD; Dad and I were on the go again, trying to get some last minute things done. While we were gone, and while Mom was in the shower, my aunt and cousins tried to come over. @@ They drove up from Lehi and weren't able to catch us. ><; Ugh. I hate it when stuff like that happens. . . . But I don't understand why they didn't call. The family is supposed to know by now that we can't do things on the spur of the moment. We have to know when someone's coming so we can plan for it.

Then when we got home, I put the groceries away and Dad then decided he needed to watch TV just when I was settling down to play the piano. ---____---;;; He knows by now that I don't like it when he does that, or he should. I can't play the piano if he has the TV on, because I want him to be able to hear the TV and I know from personal experience that it's hard to do so if the piano is being played. Sometimes he plays it while I'm trying to watch TV and it drives me crazy. I've talked with him about it before, but he does it anyway. So yeah.

I stopped playing the piano and went to have a shower and then have my quiet time of praying and reading the scriptures. And they were still watching TV. XD; I wanted to sing Christmas carols, like we'd planned, and just when I thought we were going to, Dad started watching something else. o__o; And I could tell he wanted to keep watching it, even though he said we could turn it off, so I let him keep watching. I kinda was out of the mood of singing by the time he finally was done, though. XD; But when I got to go operatic on Hark the Herald Angels Sing, my mood kinda came back. I love singing like that.

I just finished up an interesting RP with Aubrie concerning Alister's amnesia. There was another reason why I wrote that last blurb, namely, that it was a way for me to be able to be patient while I waited for the RP to get to that point. XD; Interestingly, Aubrie's Raphie said pretty much the same thing to Valon that I had him say. And I don't think she saw what I'd written. I just love her version of Raphael. She plays him to perfection!

**cuddles Raphie.** He needs more recognition and more fangirls!

Raphael: No, I don't. >.> Especially not more fangirls. **watches rabid girls cooing over Alister and Valon and Marik.**

Muwahahaha.

I have a picture idea in my head to go along with the RP/blurb. It involves Valon clutching at Alister's body, looking furious and hateful towards the assassins. Oh! And ideas came to me for how I can maybe get the flashbacks about Holly into my works. Those flashbacks could be in my multi-chapter fic detailing the bikers' experiences trying to find each other after Doom. Borrowing an idea from the author of Empty Bottles (which is pretty much the only decent biker fic at FF.net, besides my own stuff, of course. ^__~), the bikers will each be having their fair share of nightmares.

I saw the Doom Duel Disk and some sort of Timaeus figurine thingie at Wal-Mart! I am highly excited about that. It encourages me to keep hoping for lots of Doom merchandise in the near future. I want to see figures of the human characters and shirts as well!

Later on at Fred Meyer's I glanced in the latest edition of Beckett Anime Insider. There was an interesting article on Spike and Faye that I read over. And I glanced at another guy's review of Battle City overall. I don't value his opinion very much, really. XD; He almost always rates the really good episodes down low and seems to care too much about the card game and getting a good duel while overlooking some of the other qualities of the show. And he seems to try comparing Marik to Pegasus instead of seeing him as someone entirely different. O__o There's no comparison between the two! He does seem to like Doom, though, so that's something in his favor. XD;

And now I am going to wander off and do something else. Perhaps I shall sleep for a bit before we get our festivities underway. Pretty much everything today is a rerun, so I think that just for today I won't stay around to watch. I will need to review the YGO episodes later, though. XD I love the interaction between Raphael and Valon in those episodes. And I adore the part in a later episode when Raphael gets angry at Mai for treating Valon like dirt. Protective elder brother type person! X3

**does a cartwheel.** All hail the magnificent, for-once-not-lazy wonder that is Shopko! **happily places 6-inch Marik figure alongside her others and admires them as they pose in front of the monitor.** I swear, this is THE first time Shopko has EVER gotten something kewl like this in before Toys R Us or Wal-Mart have! And the figure is SO dang CUTE!! He has a sweet expression! ^o^

I also discovered that Topps is making new YuGiOh stickers >3 I bought the pocket-size album and two packs with 18 stickers each. This is so awesome! And I know *someone* should be very happy to hear that there are *two* Mokuba stickers for the set XD (Neither sticker of which I have yet.) And Marik is on the back cover of the album! **bouncebouncebounce.**

We had another strange experience with the car tonight too XD Seems Dad left the lights on once, the battery ran way down and got so bad that it didn't look like there was any light and therefore, Dad thought he had turned them off when we parked next, but he really hadn't and the battery ran all the rest of the way down! @@ Thank heavens for crowded parking lots and nice people heading to their cars in such crowded parking lots who can be stopped and asked for help XD All hail jumper cables!

I should be working on chapter 14, but I'm not sure I feel like it right now. I need some ideas big time! I have some for a bit later (including the wonderful snow scene I already typed), but as for now I don't have much I can work with. And I dunno how I'm gonna get Mokuba to do what he's supposed to. LOL.

I can hardly wait to continue the RP's I'm doing X3 Especially the one where Mokuba seems to be slowly dying from a poison that got in his system quite a few RP's ago. I have this unique Ishtar h/c idea to implement >3

I also have a lot of DVD's to watch XD Let's see . . . I gotta finish watching the Cowboy Bebop and the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing ones, and then I have another Gundam one (not sure if it's from the same version of the show, though) and three Sailor Moon ones >3 Well, one of those is a video, but anyway XD I got the Sailor Moon ones when we went out ^^ Today has definitely been good for me.

http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=6954530

My Marik plushie ^^ Isn't he cute?! **snuggles him.**

Yep, I finally got those pictures developed. It's a miracle! LOL.

My Christmas fic is moving right along. I just did chapter 11. I'm hoping to have it all done by Christmas Eve. Last year I'd only gotten to about chapter 4 or 5 by the time Christmas arrived. That fic didn't get wrapped up till January XD

Christmas Eve is one of my most favorite days. I recently dubbed it the Day of Secrets. Sometimes we go around delivering Christmas cards then. Usually people drop by for a few minutes to visit and we exchange presents. We don't open anything till Christmas Day, though. I like watching my All Dogs Christmas Carol movie and trying to determine what's in the packages >3 And Christmas caroling is always a plus.

I saw two very good Cowboy Bebop episodes, Session #24: Hard Luck Woman and Session #8: Waltz for Venus. The first one was my favorite, but they were both very, VERY good. Faye and Ed were both learning things about their pasts and remembering things. Ed's father had a bounty on him and he fought Spike and Jet with eggs XD And dang, is he scatter-brained! "Thank you for taking care of my son. Or was it my daughter?" Poor Ed. Buuut it did seem that he really cared about her, and she wanted to go back and stay with him, so she left the ship and Ein followed her. MUST .... SEE ...... NEXT EPISODE!!!

Session #8 had sibling cuteness X3 Spike was trying to help this guy learn some martial arts stuff, and then finds out the guy has a bounty on him 'cause he's mixed up with a bad gang and has a very rare plant that cures Venus Sickness. He has the plant because he wanted to sell it and use the money to help his younger sister be able to see again. (That reminded me somewhat of Joey and Serenity.) It was really bittersweet at the end, but lovely as well ^^

I decided Ed is my favorite character. She's so different. And fun ^^ But I see something deep there, too. I think there's a lot more to her than the goofy, hyper-active persona we usually see.

I tried to watch The Secret of NIMH, but the DVD wanted to be annoying XD It kept freezing at one important part that I needed to see >< So I havta take that back to the library and get a different copy. What I did see was very very good and much better than the other mouse movie I saw recently, An American Tail. The Secret of NIMH is a dark movie (dark for something marketed as a kids' film), and I love it!! Don Bluth honestly is a genius! He's the same one who created All Dogs Go to Heaven.

He made Anastasia too. I like that movie for the most part, but I didn't like the way the dead bad guy kept falling apart while he was trying to make his plotting and stuff XD That had nothing to do with the movie's plot and it was irritating and unsettling. I guess it's possible that Don Bluth himself didn't have anything to do with that part, because it really doesn't seem like his style. From what I can remember, Mr. Bluth makes it clear that some subjects are dark and serious and not to be taken lightly. And someone falling apart (even a "dead" someone) for the sake of humor seems like one of those subjects.

I got a very immature and rude review from an obviously immature person who basically said that anyone who doesn't watch or like Inu-Yasha isn't really an animé fan and called me a loser. But if he/she can't accept that some people don't even have a way to watch that show and that some people enjoy and love other animés, then I'd have to say that that person is the one who really isn't an animé fan. At any rate, they certainly aren't respectful of anyone else. I won't put up with that crap XD I deleted that review.

You love Yugi! With your innocent nature, and
hints of fun, you two are sure to hit it off.


The age-old question of Yu-Gi-Oh love
brought to you by Quizilla

Woohoo!! ^___^! Yugi's awesome! =3 I usually do get him on these romance tests XD Or Bakura. Once or twice I think I got Seto XD I remember once doing a Peter Pan and the Pirates "Which character is your perfect date" quiz and I was so excited 'cause I got Billy Jukes! Heh heh ^^

I finished the first part of my Family Ties saga. It's gonna be three parts. I just havta decide what that horrible birth father of Rishid's will try next. I figure each part must get more and more intense. So . . . hmm. . . . Suggestions are always welcome XD

I wanna find some more animés to watch. I know YuGiOh will always be my #1, but animés are like peanuts: You must have more! XD I'm thinking of trying one called Saint Tail. I've been intrigued by it ever since I saw the DVDs for sale at Albertson's. I also want to look at Cowboy Bebop because one of my buds is always praising it and telling me different kewl things about it and the characters. She's interested me enough to want to take a look ^^ Another friend has talked about Outlaw Star. I plan to investigate it as well ^__^

I finally got a couple of Archie's Weird Mysteries episodes taped to watch later. I'm gonna see them pretty quick. I luv the comics! ^__^! I can hardly wait to see the characters come to life on TV, even if they will be solving weird mysteries XD LOL. Any mysteries are good with me! Detective and mystery shows are always among my favorites.

There was some interesting dialogue in the new Sonic X episode. They were talking about Sonic around Knuckles and he got mad and that lady (is her name Topaz?) said that Knuckles must have an inferiority complex, which he promptly denied XD I never thought of his dislike of Sonic as possibly being because of an inferiority complex, but maybe that's so. It's definitely possible. After all, Sonic is always saving everyone and everything. Maybe Knuckles is upset 'cause he feels that he never gets to do anything important.

The Teen Titans show was also good. It was the one where Robin pretended to be a mercenary named Red X. One thing I adore about Teen Titans is that it has real depth. It's not just, Whee, the good guys are fighting a new baddie, they have trouble, they finally defeat him. The characters are all really unique and fun and they struggle with lots of real emotions: loneliness, anger, distrust. . . . It's an American cartoon, but it's really intelligent and well-written, unlike most of the others I've seen. I love that America is finally producing some good stuff again, unlike some of the brainless shows they were making a couple of years ago XD

The animation on Kim Possible often leaves something to be desired, but the storylines there are pretty good ^^ I've yet to see the depth that Teen Titans has, but it's still a fun, enjoyable show ^___^ Though it's true that a large portion of the shows I like right now are Japanese, I like many of the current American ones too ^^