And the ridiculousness continues.
► BIRTHDAY:
→ You guys have about three more weeks! I was originally going to wait until the two week mark, but then I realized, hey, no, I never told you guys! I want Shun/Jun and Nino/Jun for my birthday. Well, or Aiba/Jun. Or Ohno/Jun. Or Sho/Jun. ....you see where I'm going with this, of course. *stares* You guys love me enough to do this for me, right? Right.
► TUMBLR:
→ This gif is amazing. So are all of these gifs, too!
→ "Hey, this isn't a boys only club, you know!" Goddamn, do I love Bulma Briefs.
► FARMVILLE:
→ LEVEL 93 YESSSS. Sssssssoooo close to not needing to be a constant xp-making farm.
→ So, I've been playing with my horse and sheep pens again. I'm not sure I like this yet:
It really sort of needs to be seen in full view (I was tempted to just leave it without the thumbnail, but a 1421x787 image was a bit much even for me) for it to not look like total butt and even then I'm not sure how good it looks. I like the general idea... but I don't know if it's the rose fences or the odd shapes I tried to use or if I crammed them too close together or if it's just too much or if it just doesn't work as well for sheep as it does for horses or what yet. Something's not quite right with it yet, but I'm going to save fiddling with it for another day.
→ I'm not sure how I feel about this new spring garden that you have to build. Obviously we're going to collect flowers that will be like the valentines or pieces of gold from previous trade-in missions, but... ugh, I'm forever pushing the 500 limit on my giftbox already, I can't spare the room for all those flowers that I can't even do anything with at the moment! I know I need to just sit down and clean out my giftbox, but it's such a pain in the ass. Especially when we're still technically working on the Wishing Well collections!
On the other hand, NEW PRETTY FLOWER-STYLE DECORATION OMG EXCELLENT. It will look fantastic next to the fairy tale forest and waterfall and all the pretty greenery stuff from the EC theme! I love the spring collection stuff! And I want to know what the prizes will be! Plz, plz, plz be some sort of sheep with color to it! I NEED TO GET SOME MORE VARIETY GOING. Also a horse this time, plz!
That's a lot of fucking building materials, though, jeez. 4 of each for the first level, 15 of each for the second level, then 30 of each for the third level? Holy crap, that's 147 building materials right there! ....actually, that's not so bad. With all the pieces flying around, you could theoretically do that in one day and not even have to dip into your SDs.
→ New quests on the EC! I'm a little "...." over just how much Zynga has been packing into Farmville lately, because I'm pretty active and I certainly can't keep up with everything before something still yet new is upon us again. And I'm wondering if they're going to keep this breakneck pace up forever and can they really do that? Are they really that desperate to keep people from leaving for other social games? I know Cityville surprassed their numbers in, like, a month, but I thought Farmville had more staying power than that for them?
→ I am level 30 in Rewardville! IT TAKES SO LONG TO LEVEL UP, HOLY CHRIST. But at least I can get a Matterhorn now, if I want! BUT I JUST WANT THAT DAMNED BAMBOO BRIDGE FIRST. *claws at the levels* (I've been reduced to playing Petville and occasionally Frontierville just for more zPoints, jeez.) But at least you can send gifts to 32 people at once now! Instead of the pitiful 8 that it used to be.
► ANIME:
→ I also watched the first episode of Tiger & Bunny, because cairnsy posted about it in a way that intrigued me, then I saw a bunch of review sites that were giving it some of the higher reviews of the season, and I thought, eh, why not. I can definitely see that this is probably going to be the show with the biggest buzz this season (already I've seen art come up on Pixiv, which is how I really get my anime recs, apparently orz) and I have to say that I love it so far and would like the second episode now plz.
The basic summary of this show is kind of an oddity: In a slightly futuristic city, super heroes are basically reality tv stars, complete with a program director and corporate sponsorship, who are awarded points on the number of people they can arrest or save. The focus is on an aging superhero who is hovering pretty low on the rankings, when things get even more complicated at the addition of a younger superhero with the exact same powers as him.
I think this series could potentially appeal to a lot of the meta fans, but I'm glad I went in knowing that it wasn't really going to be a deconstruction of the super hero or reality tv stars genre, especially not (as Cairnsy points out) since their sponsors in-show are actual real companies, so it's not like they're going to delve into really dark themes. While I'm a little disappointed that we won't get another deconstruction (since Madoka Magica has spoiled me a bit), watching the actual show, I found I didn't mind that much. It's more of a gentle spoofing of the genres for a backdrop and then adding in a lot of flash and pomp and cirumstance, which never goes too far, and punching it up with a lot of really excellent moments, dialogue, and humor.
The visuals are just gorgeous, both in style and in the amount of money you can tell they spent on this series. The background scenery of the slightly futuristic city they live in looks absolutely amazing, the character designs are stellar, the costume designs look fantastic, and the colors are beautiful. The cast of characters has a lot of promise (well, aside from the walking stereotype that is the gay character--but at least he got to have some cool moments in the beginning when he was chasing after the bank robbers?) and I'm already intrigued by the two main characters.
I love a good snarky main character, but! When I knew I was really sold on this series? I started laughing kind of super hard when his time limit ran out (he has the strength multipled by 100 for five minutes) and he'd juuuuust launched himself up into the air for a spectacular ground smasher and suddenly found himself flailing towards the earth... only to be caught by a new superhero out of nowhere, then carefully drifted down, all while being carried in the princess style hold.
I am just that easy, I know. But I laughed really hard and went, yeah, okay, if you're going to just hand me a slash ship, I am totally there!
Plus, the younger guy (who'll be his partner and of course they'll clash and it'll be filled with delicious tension) is super pretty and totally rocks his sunglasses. And I was even pleased to note that they touched on the property damage these heroes do--our main character gets chastized for bending a train railing out of place because it's really expensive to fix that kind of stuff, but he brushes it off with how he can't be a hero if he's thinking about stuff like that! But it's clear that it's a problem and I'm glad they touched on it because I was thinking that very thing while the heroes were all racing after the bank robbers and punching everything into smithereens.
And I can't lie. Part of what really intrigued me is the potential of a new slash ship and, oh, I am shipping the two main dudes so hard already. Their first meeting was hilariously gay and if the show keeps it up... well, I'll definitely stick around. (And even if they don't, there's always Pixiv!) Speaking of which, I first brushed the gay of that first meeting off as my overactive imagination (despite the carrying pose) but then I went back to screencap it and... now I'm not so sure. It really, really strictly mirrors (well, parodies) a shoujo otp first meeting....
At first I just thought they were being amusing, despite the PRINCESS STYLE CARRYING POSE. But then I went back to rewatch it and there's a definite focus on Bunny (I assume he's going to be Bunny? I'm calling him Bunny for now.) powering up the armor he's wearing and the glinting eyes of a dramatic hero about to rescue someone important, then catching Tiger in PRINCESS STYLE while he has seriously dainty feet in the animation, and lands the two of them gently, STILL HOLDING TIGER IN PRINCESS STYLE and finally Tiger peeks through his fingers to see he's not splattered all over the ice below. "....who are you?" he asks in light shock. The scene is framed as being deliberately gentle as Bunny looks down at him and says, "You shouldn't push yourself too hard." WHILE HOLDING HIM IN PRINCESS STYLE.
Then the robbers start shooting at them again and Bunny literally TOSSES HIM TO THE SIDE to go chase after the robbers, which is a direct contrast of the gentle feeling just before, and I became convinced that, yes, yes they were totally just mocking the yaoi fangirls. I LAUGHED SO HARD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.
→ I watched the first episode of X-Men and, to be honest, the strongest feeling I'm left with is a wistful, yearning desire for the days when I didn't want to punch Scott Summers in the face all the time. I miss a Scott that I didn't find to be a total dickwad asshole and I just don't trust that this series isn't going to eventually take away everything that made me like him here. Ie, how much he really loved Jean and how much it destroyed him when he died. I'd be a lot more tempted to watch this if Emma wasn't all over the credits--and it's not that I don't like Emma, but every time she's around Scott, they always go the Scott/Emma route and, well. VOMIT. I did briefly wonder why they were including Hisako in this lineup (but not other traditionally classic characters) and then remembered, oh, right, this is an anime. From Japan. Of course they did.
The animation was certainly very striking and very well done and, okay, while I resented their attempts to pull me back in, the Scott/Jean was very well done. But he believed she could break free as long as he was there with her! And they used "aishiteru"! Godammit! But, yeah, overall, it wasn't bad and I'll try for the next episode, but it didn't inspire me and instead just sort of... made me sad that I hate the comics so much right now.
→ I also watched the first episode of Seikaiichi Hatsukoi, which did a much better job of starting off the storyline and was just as great as I remember it. The transition to anime is really smooth, the pacing and timing felt really well done, I loved the Akihiko cameo in the background, and I'm really enjoying the art of the series this time! Both Takano and Ritsu actually look like they're in their 20s! It's kind of a refreshing change from Junjou Romantica, much as I loved it. Ritsu is actually old enough looking that I find him attractive! And, of course, I'm all over Takano and his blunt, yet surprisingly thoughtful ways.
All the manga jokes still work really well and I found that... well, since there really wasn't a lot that was new here, I wasn't surprised by anything, but I was still drawn right back in and wanted to go hunt down those manga chapters I hadn't read yet. Totally an excellent addition to the season that's shaping up to be good. ♥ So long as Ao no Exorcist and Deadman Wonderland are decent adaptations, I might actually have a good season to look forward to? I almost don't dare hope!
→ You guys have about three more weeks! I was originally going to wait until the two week mark, but then I realized, hey, no, I never told you guys! I want Shun/Jun and Nino/Jun for my birthday. Well, or Aiba/Jun. Or Ohno/Jun. Or Sho/Jun. ....you see where I'm going with this, of course. *stares* You guys love me enough to do this for me, right? Right.
► TUMBLR:
→ This gif is amazing. So are all of these gifs, too!
→ "Hey, this isn't a boys only club, you know!" Goddamn, do I love Bulma Briefs.
► FARMVILLE:
→ LEVEL 93 YESSSS. Sssssssoooo close to not needing to be a constant xp-making farm.
→ So, I've been playing with my horse and sheep pens again. I'm not sure I like this yet:
It really sort of needs to be seen in full view (I was tempted to just leave it without the thumbnail, but a 1421x787 image was a bit much even for me) for it to not look like total butt and even then I'm not sure how good it looks. I like the general idea... but I don't know if it's the rose fences or the odd shapes I tried to use or if I crammed them too close together or if it's just too much or if it just doesn't work as well for sheep as it does for horses or what yet. Something's not quite right with it yet, but I'm going to save fiddling with it for another day.
→ I'm not sure how I feel about this new spring garden that you have to build. Obviously we're going to collect flowers that will be like the valentines or pieces of gold from previous trade-in missions, but... ugh, I'm forever pushing the 500 limit on my giftbox already, I can't spare the room for all those flowers that I can't even do anything with at the moment! I know I need to just sit down and clean out my giftbox, but it's such a pain in the ass. Especially when we're still technically working on the Wishing Well collections!
On the other hand, NEW PRETTY FLOWER-STYLE DECORATION OMG EXCELLENT. It will look fantastic next to the fairy tale forest and waterfall and all the pretty greenery stuff from the EC theme! I love the spring collection stuff! And I want to know what the prizes will be! Plz, plz, plz be some sort of sheep with color to it! I NEED TO GET SOME MORE VARIETY GOING. Also a horse this time, plz!
That's a lot of fucking building materials, though, jeez. 4 of each for the first level, 15 of each for the second level, then 30 of each for the third level? Holy crap, that's 147 building materials right there! ....actually, that's not so bad. With all the pieces flying around, you could theoretically do that in one day and not even have to dip into your SDs.
→ New quests on the EC! I'm a little "...." over just how much Zynga has been packing into Farmville lately, because I'm pretty active and I certainly can't keep up with everything before something still yet new is upon us again. And I'm wondering if they're going to keep this breakneck pace up forever and can they really do that? Are they really that desperate to keep people from leaving for other social games? I know Cityville surprassed their numbers in, like, a month, but I thought Farmville had more staying power than that for them?
→ I am level 30 in Rewardville! IT TAKES SO LONG TO LEVEL UP, HOLY CHRIST. But at least I can get a Matterhorn now, if I want! BUT I JUST WANT THAT DAMNED BAMBOO BRIDGE FIRST. *claws at the levels* (I've been reduced to playing Petville and occasionally Frontierville just for more zPoints, jeez.) But at least you can send gifts to 32 people at once now! Instead of the pitiful 8 that it used to be.
► ANIME:
→ I also watched the first episode of Tiger & Bunny, because cairnsy posted about it in a way that intrigued me, then I saw a bunch of review sites that were giving it some of the higher reviews of the season, and I thought, eh, why not. I can definitely see that this is probably going to be the show with the biggest buzz this season (already I've seen art come up on Pixiv, which is how I really get my anime recs, apparently orz) and I have to say that I love it so far and would like the second episode now plz.
The basic summary of this show is kind of an oddity: In a slightly futuristic city, super heroes are basically reality tv stars, complete with a program director and corporate sponsorship, who are awarded points on the number of people they can arrest or save. The focus is on an aging superhero who is hovering pretty low on the rankings, when things get even more complicated at the addition of a younger superhero with the exact same powers as him.
I think this series could potentially appeal to a lot of the meta fans, but I'm glad I went in knowing that it wasn't really going to be a deconstruction of the super hero or reality tv stars genre, especially not (as Cairnsy points out) since their sponsors in-show are actual real companies, so it's not like they're going to delve into really dark themes. While I'm a little disappointed that we won't get another deconstruction (since Madoka Magica has spoiled me a bit), watching the actual show, I found I didn't mind that much. It's more of a gentle spoofing of the genres for a backdrop and then adding in a lot of flash and pomp and cirumstance, which never goes too far, and punching it up with a lot of really excellent moments, dialogue, and humor.
The visuals are just gorgeous, both in style and in the amount of money you can tell they spent on this series. The background scenery of the slightly futuristic city they live in looks absolutely amazing, the character designs are stellar, the costume designs look fantastic, and the colors are beautiful. The cast of characters has a lot of promise (well, aside from the walking stereotype that is the gay character--but at least he got to have some cool moments in the beginning when he was chasing after the bank robbers?) and I'm already intrigued by the two main characters.
I love a good snarky main character, but! When I knew I was really sold on this series? I started laughing kind of super hard when his time limit ran out (he has the strength multipled by 100 for five minutes) and he'd juuuuust launched himself up into the air for a spectacular ground smasher and suddenly found himself flailing towards the earth... only to be caught by a new superhero out of nowhere, then carefully drifted down, all while being carried in the princess style hold.
I am just that easy, I know. But I laughed really hard and went, yeah, okay, if you're going to just hand me a slash ship, I am totally there!
Plus, the younger guy (who'll be his partner and of course they'll clash and it'll be filled with delicious tension) is super pretty and totally rocks his sunglasses. And I was even pleased to note that they touched on the property damage these heroes do--our main character gets chastized for bending a train railing out of place because it's really expensive to fix that kind of stuff, but he brushes it off with how he can't be a hero if he's thinking about stuff like that! But it's clear that it's a problem and I'm glad they touched on it because I was thinking that very thing while the heroes were all racing after the bank robbers and punching everything into smithereens.
And I can't lie. Part of what really intrigued me is the potential of a new slash ship and, oh, I am shipping the two main dudes so hard already. Their first meeting was hilariously gay and if the show keeps it up... well, I'll definitely stick around. (And even if they don't, there's always Pixiv!) Speaking of which, I first brushed the gay of that first meeting off as my overactive imagination (despite the carrying pose) but then I went back to screencap it and... now I'm not so sure. It really, really strictly mirrors (well, parodies) a shoujo otp first meeting....
At first I just thought they were being amusing, despite the PRINCESS STYLE CARRYING POSE. But then I went back to rewatch it and there's a definite focus on Bunny (I assume he's going to be Bunny? I'm calling him Bunny for now.) powering up the armor he's wearing and the glinting eyes of a dramatic hero about to rescue someone important, then catching Tiger in PRINCESS STYLE while he has seriously dainty feet in the animation, and lands the two of them gently, STILL HOLDING TIGER IN PRINCESS STYLE and finally Tiger peeks through his fingers to see he's not splattered all over the ice below. "....who are you?" he asks in light shock. The scene is framed as being deliberately gentle as Bunny looks down at him and says, "You shouldn't push yourself too hard." WHILE HOLDING HIM IN PRINCESS STYLE.
Then the robbers start shooting at them again and Bunny literally TOSSES HIM TO THE SIDE to go chase after the robbers, which is a direct contrast of the gentle feeling just before, and I became convinced that, yes, yes they were totally just mocking the yaoi fangirls. I LAUGHED SO HARD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.
→ I watched the first episode of X-Men and, to be honest, the strongest feeling I'm left with is a wistful, yearning desire for the days when I didn't want to punch Scott Summers in the face all the time. I miss a Scott that I didn't find to be a total dickwad asshole and I just don't trust that this series isn't going to eventually take away everything that made me like him here. Ie, how much he really loved Jean and how much it destroyed him when he died. I'd be a lot more tempted to watch this if Emma wasn't all over the credits--and it's not that I don't like Emma, but every time she's around Scott, they always go the Scott/Emma route and, well. VOMIT. I did briefly wonder why they were including Hisako in this lineup (but not other traditionally classic characters) and then remembered, oh, right, this is an anime. From Japan. Of course they did.
The animation was certainly very striking and very well done and, okay, while I resented their attempts to pull me back in, the Scott/Jean was very well done. But he believed she could break free as long as he was there with her! And they used "aishiteru"! Godammit! But, yeah, overall, it wasn't bad and I'll try for the next episode, but it didn't inspire me and instead just sort of... made me sad that I hate the comics so much right now.
→ I also watched the first episode of Seikaiichi Hatsukoi, which did a much better job of starting off the storyline and was just as great as I remember it. The transition to anime is really smooth, the pacing and timing felt really well done, I loved the Akihiko cameo in the background, and I'm really enjoying the art of the series this time! Both Takano and Ritsu actually look like they're in their 20s! It's kind of a refreshing change from Junjou Romantica, much as I loved it. Ritsu is actually old enough looking that I find him attractive! And, of course, I'm all over Takano and his blunt, yet surprisingly thoughtful ways.
All the manga jokes still work really well and I found that... well, since there really wasn't a lot that was new here, I wasn't surprised by anything, but I was still drawn right back in and wanted to go hunt down those manga chapters I hadn't read yet. Totally an excellent addition to the season that's shaping up to be good. ♥ So long as Ao no Exorcist and Deadman Wonderland are decent adaptations, I might actually have a good season to look forward to? I almost don't dare hope!