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.

Which Tokyo Mew Mew Character Are You? by cherryfox
Your name:
Favorite color:
Favorite pastry:	German chocolate cake
Mew Mew:	Minto
Love Interest:	Deep Blue
Weapon Accuracy:: 24%
Hangout:	arcade
Pet:	your computer
Quiz created with MemeGen!

How amusing. XD I actually share Mint's birthday, too, I found out. She's really a lot better in the manga than the anime. ^^ I'm actually liking the manga in general more than the anime. **nodnod.** And I think Pai isn't so creepy and harsh in the manga, if I'm understanding things correctly. I need to find out for sure. In the anime, however, he ( Spoiler ) I don't think he does that in the manga.

Earlier today I was feeling really weary. I'm not sure why that was. Maybe it was all the math I'd been doing. Blah.

Here's good news: Not only have I finished my Valon fic, but Candy Clouds has been moving again! I expect to have the next chapter up in a day or two. I need to find a good song. . . .

I have an urge to see Endless Waltz again, especially since I was dreaming about it earlier. Maybe I'll watch that this morning. Or maybe I'll try to finish the Candy Clouds chapter. **shrugs.**

My thoughts are really random and disjointed this morning. . . .

Well, it's a very quiet New Year's Eve so far, so I think I'll update now before everyone hops online.

Christmas was very good, but very strange. XD; As decided, I did not stay up to watch my shows. Everyone was up all night doing Christmas stuff and we finally went to bed really late, or early, depending on your outlook. XD; I thought that my brother and his wife would be coming by in the early afternoon with their baby, so I wanted to get some sleep before that happened. But as it turned out, Mom wasn't feeling well and she thought it'd be better for them not to come then and risk the baby getting sick. I wish I'd just stayed up and watched my shows anyway. XD; It wouldn't have made much difference. (I did re-watch the YGO episodes this afternoon, though, and greatly enjoyed doing so.)

We wound up not actually starting any kind of Christmas festivities until evening. XD; But everyone got cool stuff that they'd been wanting, and then we had a nice Christmas dinner and watched some episodes of an old TV show while I drew a picture, so everything turned out good.

This is what I got:

---My purty lil Alister icon from SK
---A pretty bird bookmark and a prayer rock (I think that's what it is ^^) from Lisa
---An Ishtar siblings bookmark from Birdee
---A soft purty homemade scarf from Debbie (the first Debbie I know. She's the new youth group leader and she made scarves for all of the girls!) And mine's purple. ^^ With blue and turquoise.

From Mom and Dad:

---Two anime DVD's: Rurouni Kenshin, Wandering Samurai volume 2, and Gundam W: Endless Waltz
---A movie called Love is Forever, with Michael Landon and Priscilla Presley. I think it's got a lot of suspense in it, because he's trying to help her get out of a Communist country or something.
---LOTR: Return of the King, Extended Edition! ^________^
---The Enya: Memory of Trees songbook for the piano
---Many CD's, including The Forgotten Carols, Trisha Yearwood's Christmas album, a Cherie Call album, and The Beatles 1 (I actually had that years ago, but I gave it to Larry one year for Christmas and I haven't ever gotten around to getting it again before now)
---A pretty purple towel
---The new Jennie Hansen mystery novel Abandoned
---Some boots for the winter

From one of my aunts:

---Twenty dollars, which I quickly spent on the CD Innovators by Kurt Bestor and Sam Cardon. It has The Prayer of the Children song on it! ^___^ That song reminds me of the bikers so much, as does the song Children of Eve.
---The book The Robe, which I've actually been wanting forever. XD; I adore the movie. My aunt is a mind-reader. I never mentioned anything about wanting the book to anyone, but she got it for me. ^___^

For all of us together, my aunt gave us a food steamer, two calenders (one that she made herself!), lovely framed pictures of Grandma and Grandpa, and King of Kings, which my mom was especially ecstatic about because that's her favorite movie version of Jesus's life. ^^ Yep, my aunt's a mind reader.

My brother and his wife came by the following day, when Mom was feeling better. They brought a picture of all of us that was taken at Halloween time, because he knows Mom adores pictures, and a $40 gift card for Wal-Mart. ^^ I bought a Sailor Moon SuperS DVD yesterday with my share of the gift card because I suddenly found myself craving to see some more of it and the libraries don't have any new DVD's in. XD; I picked the DVD with the Amazon Trio's last episodes, because as much as I try to convince myself that I don't like them, I still wanted to see what happened to them in the end (even though I already knew basically). And they really care about each other like the bikers do! ^____^! Man, it was so freakin cute. . . . ANYWAY . . .

On Monday I went with Dad to a Christmas party of my step-siblings'. I got a couple of presents there, some soft slipper socks and a camera. Oh, and a big Hershey's Symphony bar. ^^ And there was delicious food. My favorite was the big kettle of mashed potatoes. I filled up half my plate with those and poured the gravy over them. Then later I went back for a second helping. XD The gravy had coagulated by then, though, 'cause someone left it uncovered. But I still used it anyway.

It was a busy couple of weeks, all in all. XD; And on the 23rd Dad and I did the annual delivering of Christmas cards around the neighberhood. I actually like doing that. ^^ It gives me a chance to see all the Christmas lights and to walk through snow, if there is any. (There was, this time.) The next day we had to deliver a few more.

This past week, I think I've gone out somewhere just about every day, except today. We don't like going out on New Year's Eve, so I'm staying home to talk to whoever's on. XD;

And I finished another biker fic! This one is the one where Alister and Valon are held hostage and have to cooperate long enough to escape. XD; It's shorter than the other two biker-centric fics, but I'm pleased with it. I didn't use a song for this one, though I looked for a while. XD; I could never find one I wanted. But I used a line from the song He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother as the title. ^^

I think I picked up a sickness from Dad. He's been coughing and sniffling and now I'm coughing and I'm afraid I'm going to get a sore throat again. ><;;; I hate sore throats. . . .

Oh yeah. ^^ A final thought. Since the name "Alister" is Scottish, I'm going to say that Alister is of Scottish descent, but that he's never actually lived in Scotland. XD;

YAY! I have the YGO Movie soundtrack! And it's great! The first song is all about Seto, and it's very deep, especially considering it came from the people who dubbed YGO. XD And One Card Short is finally on an album! I think of Joey, Seto, and Marik every time I hear it. The other track I really like is Shadow Games. Somehow it reminds me of Runihura and Abasi, the latter of whom is Runi's arch-nemesis.

I would've got it on the 10th, when it first came out, but Dad made his book delivery on Monday instead and so didn't want to go out of the house on Tuesday. But then the next day he had to go out again and he wound up going to correct some information he told a lady on Monday, which took us out a nice distance. So I went to Media Play and got the soundtrack there. Regularly they were selling it for $16.99, but they were having a sale and I got it for $13.99 instead. X3 Which is about the cheapest I could have got it for anyway. So yes, I am happy.

When we got home, we found this awesome movie on TV to watch. It was called Cry Panic, with John Forsythe. He hit this guy, and went to call the police, but when they came back, the body was gone! And there was a strange girl who kept appearing and disappearing. It was SO AWESOME!

I'm adapting parts of it for my next mystery fic, in which Marik goes undercover as "Namu Raberba." LOL. As in, Quatre Raberba Winner. He was the only Arabic person I could think of who isn't connected with the Ishtars or YGO in general. XD So I gave Marik his middle name for his alias. My other ideas for the "undercover" part of the fic came from the movie The Glass Key and from an subsequent RP I did with Rina-neechan. X3 I'm so excited to do this stuff! Marik will be riding his motorcycle, and it'll be dark and stormy, and suddenly a body will fly out in front of him and he'll havta hurry and stop! It's Seto. Marik didn't hit him, and Seto isn't dead, but someone wants to make Marik think he did indeed hit and kill him! Then Marik gets kayoed and when he comes to, Seto's vanished! Thus begins his undercover work. XD Plus, Mokuba's been kidnapped! Oh wow. **IS PSYCHED UP!**

I want so bad for my Runihura fic, when I write it, to be awesome, but somehow I have this feeling it won't ever be as good as the RP I'm doing with Aubrie. And I can't make my fic like that, because then the main character interacting with Runi would be Aubrie's OC. XD And too many main OC's in fics can give headaches. Plus, it just wouldn't mean as much if I just had Yaminah pop up to interact with Runi. I'll just havta find a bunch of new twists and hope the fic will come off right.

I need to draw a picture of Abasi. XD I keep imagining him as a cross between Vicious and Milliardo.

Oh yeah! And I finally got the first chapter of Family Secrets up! ^___^ I've had the prologue up for so long now by itself. XD It's a very dark fic, I suppose, but it's supposed to be beautiful too, showing how Marik deals with and eventually overcomes the dark secrets he remembers about how his father treated him.

Whee! We'll probably leave within an hour or so. **keeps a mental list of everything she needs to check for!**

JP did come on last night shortly after I posted XD He said they didn't have any snow then. But they're supposed to get some more by Sunday.

I'm working on Chapter 12 now. I need some more good plot twists.

I watched an episode of Mobile Suit Gundam. The first one, I think. Man, Heero is SO mean!

Well, I am outta here for now! **flees**