TL;DR
So this is my alphabet meme post, part two. Thanks to everyone who gave me topics. ♥
A - Anime stereotypes
There are really two sets of these, one from people who don't watch anime at all, and another from people who do. The former set tends to consist of stuff like "all anime fans are fat losers with no lives", "all anime ever is either kiddy stuff, or porn", and so on; basically, stuff that's all ridiculously untrue. But I think those stereotypes are starting to die down some as anime keeps getting more popular in the West, which is good.
As for the second set of stereotypes, that's more like "yaoi fans are all preteen girls who only care about how pretty the characters are", or "all dubs are bastardized versions of the series and should burn in hell" and so on. And actually, those bug me a lot more than the other type, partly because I run across them a lot more, partly because the people who believe them don't have the excuse of being ignorant, and partly just because that kind of elitist looking-down-on stuff just annoys me more than simple close-mindedness.
But on a whole, even though the generalizations can get annoying sometimes, they don't really bug me that much. Mostly, I just try to roll with it or ignore it. It's just not worth getting worked up over.
B - BL
My thoughts on slash are actually no different than my thoughts on het or yuri. If I see a connection/chemistry between two characters, chances are I'm gonna ship it to some extent, regardless of gender/sexuality.
Now, it just so happens that in many of my fandoms, the most interesting relationships tend to be between guys, mostly because all my fandoms are shounen and you know how it is with girls and shounen. XD So, my favorite pairings end up being NaruSasu, 8059, etc. Basically, if I like it, I'll ship it. Guys are hot, girls are hot, it's all good. XD
C - Categories/genres, my favorites
IS SHOUNEN A GENRE. Because that's the winner then, absolutely. But since that tends to encompass a lot of genres, I have a feeling it's cheating, so I'll try to elaborate more.
I like stories that are character-centric, first of all, so that often means a lot of epic-y stuff; action-adventure, quite often. I also tend to prefer gen or understated romance to out-and-out ~TRUEEE LOOOVE~, especially if the latter comes at the expense of a plot, so that means Romance is out as a specific genre. I like big plots with mysteries and action and so on, so Fantasy, Sci-Fi, those are all pretty big. On the other hand, pure straight-up action is out because of the lack of character development, and a lot of horror genres as well. Comedy is fun in small doses, or if there's character stuff as well like with Ranma 1/2 or the Daily Life arc in KHR. As for drama/angst, it depends, but usually I'll eat it right up. XD
D - Dino
Dino's awesome. He's not one of my favorite favorites, but I like him a lot as a character. He's someone who's already been through what Tsuna has, and I love the mentorish/brotherly relationship the two of them have. Same with him and Hibari, to a much more strained extent. :P I really like that side of him. And then of course, there's the side that's utterly failtastic, and I like that too because it's completely hilarious. Basically, he's a great down-to-earth sort of character who's funny and also does a lot to help the other characters, so yeah. <3 Dino.
E
F - Fifty-nine (the character)
So, in just about every fandom there's a character that I sort of latch onto and go nuts over, and in KHR, GOKUDERA IS THAT CHARACTER. I love absolutely everything about him, strengths and shortcomings alike, and in fact sometimes I like the latter even more than the former. He's a very human character, very emotional; when he's upset, angry, happy, sad, confused, etc. you know it because it's all right there. (Even when he tries to hide it, because he totally sucks at it haha. XD) So in that sense it's really hard not to empathize with him. On top of that, he's a character who puts his all into everything; he absolutely doesn't do things halfway (off the top of my head, I'm remembering that time Tsuna was hospitalized and he ran to the hospital so fast that he got hit by cars, wtf Dera), which is something I really admire. "I've always been determined." Hell yeah.
But mostly, it's that he's a kid who's been through a hell of a lot in his life, and it's given him this tough prickly exterior--and yet, beneath all that, he's an incredibly good, selfless person when you get right down to it. He's a guy who's willing to do anything, absolutely anything, to protect his boss and his family, and when he has those moments like when he nearly dies trying to get the Storm Ring, or when he's rescuing Lambo during the Sky Ring battle, or keeping silent under torture in the Future Arc, I'm just one hundred percent topped by how awesome he is. ...And then afterwards he goes right back to being a surly, dorky retarded little genius, and that's just fine too. :P
G - Gokudera pairings
I will read and enjoy just about any IC Gokudera pairing because I'm a ho like that, but I do have a couple of favorites. First, obviously there's 8059, because Yamamoto and Gokudera's dynamic is so awesome it's hard not to love it. On the one hand, there's this undercurrent of jealousy because Yamamoto is so damned good at everything without even trying, and it clearly drives Dera nuts. But on the other hand, Yamamoto is also ridiculously, unbearably nice and friendly and Gokudera is someone who's pretty easily topped by that kind of unconditional caring, as we've seen with him and Tsuna. So the result is this ARGH-I-HATE-YOU-but-not-really thing which is just fantastic and endlessly entertaining. ...Plus they're really hot. Yeah.
And my other favorite Gokudera pairing is 5986, and that has a lot to do with me being totally won over by the RPers at campfuckudie if I'm being honest--but it's not just that either. First of all, they also have a very entertaining canon relationship, with the way they push each other's buttons all the time and then refuse to back down. Second, they have a startling amount in common--both are smart, both stubborn, and both have these bizarre little quirks (like Dera's fondness for mythical creatures and Haru's THING where she dresses up like random boats and shit XD). And third, they have a very obvious connection in that they both adore Tsuna. Now, that last bit is something I can very easily see leading to a closer relationship further down the line, especially as they both get older and a little more mature. And I think the thing that attracts me most about this pairing is exactly that--that it's not something that's canon now, but rather something that they'd have to grow into, because there are all sorts of possibilities there and it's a lot of fun.
So anyway, those are main two, though I also like 5927 quite a lot, and I've had a mysterious craving for Ryo59 ever since the start of the Gamma fight, and like I said there are lots of others too. XD
H
I
J
K - Kinks
HURT/COMFORT. That's definitely my biggest fandom kink, anyway. Mostly because I also have a hard-on for IC characterization and with a lot of characters, the only way to keep them IC but to actually get them to open up/relax a little is to put them in that kind of situation. PLOT DEVICE (see below for more on that), but IT WORKS, OKAY.
Uh, let's see. I'm also big on characters being equal, which is to say that while I'm not completely put off by a clear seme-uke relationship, I'm much more interested when neither character is clearly topping and they're just both, uh, going at it. XD So, whatever you call that; a rival-kink, maybe.
As for physical kinks, I dunno. There's not much I don't find attractive depending on the person. I will say I get drawn in by pretty eyes before anything else. >_>
L - L (the character)
L is a great character; he's brilliant, he's quirky, and he's a lot of fun to read. But as cool as he is, if I'm being honest I have to admit that he's not really one of my favorite characters. I do like him a lot, but the thing about L is that he's extremely zen; he always has his poker face on, and he's emotionally detached from most things. In many ways, he's the opposite of characters like Gokudera who shuffle through emotions like iPods. L is so damn zen that he's actually very hard to relate to as a character.
Except the thing is, I do relate to him in a lot of ways. XD Because we actually have similar personalities, and even a lot of the same habits. But for some reason, that makes him even less interesting, because it takes away the curiosity I might have about him otherwise. I don't spent time analyzing him because I don't feel like he's particularly hard to understand. So basically, he's cool, but he doesn't interest me as much as some other characters.
M - MILK & CHEESE & MINIBANG
MILK is delicious with pancakes, cookies, and cereal. CHEESE is also tasty depending on the type (mmm cheddar, swiss, mozzarella and provolone), but I can't really stand American cheese. As for MINIBANG, THE THOUGHT OF IT IS KEEPING ME UP AT NIGHT, but I have my fic outlined and the first 1000 words or so written (though it's total crap right now and in dire need of editing), so I HAVE HOPE? Feeble hope, but still hope. o/
N - Nine characters I wish I'd created
This is a hard one. XD Let's see... these won't necessarily be my favorites, but just characters that I think are brilliant in one way or another and that I'd love to be able to take credit for. :P Hmm... Light from Death Note; Spike from Cowboy Bebop; Ben from Lost; Reborn from KHR (one-year-old mafia hitman--HOW THE HELL DO YOU BRAINSTORM SOMETHING LIKE THAT); House from... House; Ed from Fullmetal Alchemist; Jayne from Firefly; Miroku from Inuyasha; and Indiana Jones from I WONDER. All of them are way cooler than any character I could ever create. XD
O
P - Pineapple-sama or Plot devices (I'll rant on both just cuz)
Mukuro falls into the same category as L in that he's a very cool character, but he interests me less than other characters because he's so dissociative. XD He's all smiles and he almost never slips unless he's under a hell of a lot of pressure, which incidentally is when I find him the most interesting. Surprise surprise. :P But I like him and he's a fantastic villain-turned-good-guy.
As for PLOT DEVICES, they are a gift from God and very underappreciated. Oh, you can call it poor storytelling, but the fact is that sometimes you just need a good plot device to get things going. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE CALLED PLOT DEVICES. Anyway, I'm very unashamed of them, and while I'll always try to find a subtler alternative when I write, if I need one I definitely won't shy away from it. Nor will I nitpick about them when I read/watch movies/TV shows/books/manga/fanfics/etc. They're there to do good, people need to let up on them. :(
As for favorite plot devices, I can't think of any right now except for the ten-year bazooka, which is one of the most amazing plot devices ever. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS WITH THAT THING, hot damn.
Q
R - Raito Yagami
Man, but I love him. Which is really weird for me because I don't usually go for the villains. And what's more, Light is... well. HE'S NUTS. He's a mass murderer with a god complex from here to whoa, he's absurdly paranoid and HIS EGO IS SO BIG IT COULD NOT FIT EVEN IN THIS HUMONGOUS TL;DR POST. By all rights, he should not be likable at all.
And yet, I do like him--maybe because he's so fucked up. Somehow, he's ridiculously compelling, to the point where no matter what he's doing, it's great entertainment. I rooted for him when I was reading the series, not because I thought he was in the right (lol), but because it was so much fun to watch him plotting and scheming and reacting and maneuvering that I didn't want it to end. I wanted to see where it would all go, if that makes sense. Light just has this quality where you can't take your eyes off him; he's that fascinating.
S
T - Twists (favorites/most shocking)
I'm just gonna make a quick list. These aren't all of my favorites by a long shot, but the ones that come to mind most immediately:
- LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER. So good that it's been endlessly ripped off ever since. XD
- Gokudera turning out to be Tsuna's loyal puppy-dog right-hand-man instead of his rival. That was so unexpected when I first read it, because it was a SHOUNEN title and, well. Shounen and rivals, they're like this. So that was an awesome twist.
- If you don't watch Lost, skip this one. UM. The end of the season 3 finale. You know, where Jack's flashback turns out to... uh. You know. That was AMAZING; it came out of nowhere and completely changed the rules around.
- In Harry Potter 3 when Sirius turned out to be a good guy. BEST TWIST EVER.
Like I said, there are tons more, but I can't think.
U - Underrated, things that are
In no particular order: Dubs; kids; popular fandoms that everyone gets elitist about; fandom in general; the Daily Life arc; Wendy's; the new Indiana Jones movie; manners; Third Eye Blind; Tsuna as a character as opposed to the fandom bicycle; having a sense of humor; solitude; siblings; gen; and the phenomenon known as "wasting time."
V - Video games
I've owned like every Nintendo system ever created (except the Virtual Boy because IT DOESN'T FUCKING COUNT, and also the NES because I always just went over to my friends' houses to play), and games like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. are my childhood and my life and will forever be adored. However, I've never owned a Playstation or an X-Box. Which can get awkward when people start talking about Kingdom Hearts or Metal Gear or those other awesome games which I've never played. XD But for the most part, Nintendo's always been enough, and as long as I've got my DS and Guitar Hero III for Wii, I'm happy. |D
W - Writing fanfiction
Writing is my absolute favorite thing in the world. That it also happens to be one of my biggest sources of frustration and stress makes no difference; I still love it. :P It's one of a very few things I feel utterly confident in when I'm in the zone (which is rare, but does happen), and in general, even though I'm picky as hell and will edit fics obsessively until they're just right, I usually like what I end up with. (USUALLY. XD) It's also an opportunity to explore things that canon doesn't elaborate on, and as someone who loves picking apart and analyzing my favorite fandoms, that's definitely a nice bonus. So yeah, basically it's something I love and feel like I'm occasionally good at, and it makes me happy. \o/
X
Y - Yamamoto
I adore Yamamoto. He's one of my very favorite characters, and would be my favorite KHR character if Gokudera wasn't such unfair competition. :P But Yama is someone... how to explain this. He's one of those characters I think about a lot outside of canon. Not only do I enjoy reading/watching him in the manga and anime, but I also love to read fic about him, and to look at icons and fanart and essays and all that. And usually that only happens with my favorites, so it's pretty telling.
As for why I love, him... well, he's Yamamoto. He's happy and good-natured and patient and amused by everything ever. And he's also badass and determined and powerful in a very calm, controlled way. And he's zen, but he's also very genuine, so you always get the sense that when he's smiling, it's because he's genuinely content. But he's not two-dimensional, either; he's got that sharper side to him as well, and he's a lot more perceptive than he appears. He's extremely talented and he's very, very dangerous when he wants to be. But he almost never does, and that's what I love about him. At the end of the day, he's the calm, laughing, even-tempered Guardian of Rain who fights with the back of his sword and grins when he sees that Squalo is alive, and laughs off Gokudera's insults and Tsuna's worries because he's always confident that things will work out okay.
Z - Zuko
Oh, Zuko. Well, I like him for a lot of the same reasons as Gokudera. He's completely incapable of hiding the slightest emotion, so everything about him is right out there for the whole world to see, both the good and the bad. And there's a lot of the latter. He has a temper, he's AN IDIOT, he emos constantly, and he has a very bad tendency to take out the worst of what he's feeling on the people that care the most about him (Iroh's a saint, poor guy XD). He defies the odds in that if a series of choices is presented before him, and most of them are relatively smart but a few are ABSOLUTELY RETARDED, like 8 out of 10 times he will go RIGHT FOR THE WORST ONE. He... kinda fails, a lot. XD
But on the other hand, there's a lot of good there too. Enough so that even though he was raised by an evil tyrant, and then exiled by said tyrant and sent on a whirlwind quest for vengeance, he still managed to finally choose the right side in the end (granted it took him FOREVER, but), even though it meant giving up everything he'd always wanted. He cares about things in a very obvious way that he constantly tries to deny, thus making it even more obvious, but that makes him endearing. Basically he's an incredibly confused kid who makes a lot of dumb choices, like most any other teenager. But he's got a good heart and you can't not like him. And I kinda lost track of where this rant was going, but it's the very last one, so that's okay. :P
Anyway, THAT TOOK FOREVER but it was time well spent, yay I got to ramble and I'M SORRY TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY SUFFERED THROUGH ALL THAT. XD
A - Anime stereotypes
There are really two sets of these, one from people who don't watch anime at all, and another from people who do. The former set tends to consist of stuff like "all anime fans are fat losers with no lives", "all anime ever is either kiddy stuff, or porn", and so on; basically, stuff that's all ridiculously untrue. But I think those stereotypes are starting to die down some as anime keeps getting more popular in the West, which is good.
As for the second set of stereotypes, that's more like "yaoi fans are all preteen girls who only care about how pretty the characters are", or "all dubs are bastardized versions of the series and should burn in hell" and so on. And actually, those bug me a lot more than the other type, partly because I run across them a lot more, partly because the people who believe them don't have the excuse of being ignorant, and partly just because that kind of elitist looking-down-on stuff just annoys me more than simple close-mindedness.
But on a whole, even though the generalizations can get annoying sometimes, they don't really bug me that much. Mostly, I just try to roll with it or ignore it. It's just not worth getting worked up over.
B - BL
My thoughts on slash are actually no different than my thoughts on het or yuri. If I see a connection/chemistry between two characters, chances are I'm gonna ship it to some extent, regardless of gender/sexuality.
Now, it just so happens that in many of my fandoms, the most interesting relationships tend to be between guys, mostly because all my fandoms are shounen and you know how it is with girls and shounen. XD So, my favorite pairings end up being NaruSasu, 8059, etc. Basically, if I like it, I'll ship it. Guys are hot, girls are hot, it's all good. XD
C - Categories/genres, my favorites
IS SHOUNEN A GENRE. Because that's the winner then, absolutely. But since that tends to encompass a lot of genres, I have a feeling it's cheating, so I'll try to elaborate more.
I like stories that are character-centric, first of all, so that often means a lot of epic-y stuff; action-adventure, quite often. I also tend to prefer gen or understated romance to out-and-out ~TRUEEE LOOOVE~, especially if the latter comes at the expense of a plot, so that means Romance is out as a specific genre. I like big plots with mysteries and action and so on, so Fantasy, Sci-Fi, those are all pretty big. On the other hand, pure straight-up action is out because of the lack of character development, and a lot of horror genres as well. Comedy is fun in small doses, or if there's character stuff as well like with Ranma 1/2 or the Daily Life arc in KHR. As for drama/angst, it depends, but usually I'll eat it right up. XD
D - Dino
Dino's awesome. He's not one of my favorite favorites, but I like him a lot as a character. He's someone who's already been through what Tsuna has, and I love the mentorish/brotherly relationship the two of them have. Same with him and Hibari, to a much more strained extent. :P I really like that side of him. And then of course, there's the side that's utterly failtastic, and I like that too because it's completely hilarious. Basically, he's a great down-to-earth sort of character who's funny and also does a lot to help the other characters, so yeah. <3 Dino.
E
F - Fifty-nine (the character)
So, in just about every fandom there's a character that I sort of latch onto and go nuts over, and in KHR, GOKUDERA IS THAT CHARACTER. I love absolutely everything about him, strengths and shortcomings alike, and in fact sometimes I like the latter even more than the former. He's a very human character, very emotional; when he's upset, angry, happy, sad, confused, etc. you know it because it's all right there. (Even when he tries to hide it, because he totally sucks at it haha. XD) So in that sense it's really hard not to empathize with him. On top of that, he's a character who puts his all into everything; he absolutely doesn't do things halfway (off the top of my head, I'm remembering that time Tsuna was hospitalized and he ran to the hospital so fast that he got hit by cars, wtf Dera), which is something I really admire. "I've always been determined." Hell yeah.
But mostly, it's that he's a kid who's been through a hell of a lot in his life, and it's given him this tough prickly exterior--and yet, beneath all that, he's an incredibly good, selfless person when you get right down to it. He's a guy who's willing to do anything, absolutely anything, to protect his boss and his family, and when he has those moments like when he nearly dies trying to get the Storm Ring, or when he's rescuing Lambo during the Sky Ring battle, or keeping silent under torture in the Future Arc, I'm just one hundred percent topped by how awesome he is. ...And then afterwards he goes right back to being a surly, dorky retarded little genius, and that's just fine too. :P
G - Gokudera pairings
I will read and enjoy just about any IC Gokudera pairing because I'm a ho like that, but I do have a couple of favorites. First, obviously there's 8059, because Yamamoto and Gokudera's dynamic is so awesome it's hard not to love it. On the one hand, there's this undercurrent of jealousy because Yamamoto is so damned good at everything without even trying, and it clearly drives Dera nuts. But on the other hand, Yamamoto is also ridiculously, unbearably nice and friendly and Gokudera is someone who's pretty easily topped by that kind of unconditional caring, as we've seen with him and Tsuna. So the result is this ARGH-I-HATE-YOU-but-not-really thing which is just fantastic and endlessly entertaining. ...Plus they're really hot. Yeah.
And my other favorite Gokudera pairing is 5986, and that has a lot to do with me being totally won over by the RPers at campfuckudie if I'm being honest--but it's not just that either. First of all, they also have a very entertaining canon relationship, with the way they push each other's buttons all the time and then refuse to back down. Second, they have a startling amount in common--both are smart, both stubborn, and both have these bizarre little quirks (like Dera's fondness for mythical creatures and Haru's THING where she dresses up like random boats and shit XD). And third, they have a very obvious connection in that they both adore Tsuna. Now, that last bit is something I can very easily see leading to a closer relationship further down the line, especially as they both get older and a little more mature. And I think the thing that attracts me most about this pairing is exactly that--that it's not something that's canon now, but rather something that they'd have to grow into, because there are all sorts of possibilities there and it's a lot of fun.
So anyway, those are main two, though I also like 5927 quite a lot, and I've had a mysterious craving for Ryo59 ever since the start of the Gamma fight, and like I said there are lots of others too. XD
H
I
J
K - Kinks
HURT/COMFORT. That's definitely my biggest fandom kink, anyway. Mostly because I also have a hard-on for IC characterization and with a lot of characters, the only way to keep them IC but to actually get them to open up/relax a little is to put them in that kind of situation. PLOT DEVICE (see below for more on that), but IT WORKS, OKAY.
Uh, let's see. I'm also big on characters being equal, which is to say that while I'm not completely put off by a clear seme-uke relationship, I'm much more interested when neither character is clearly topping and they're just both, uh, going at it. XD So, whatever you call that; a rival-kink, maybe.
As for physical kinks, I dunno. There's not much I don't find attractive depending on the person. I will say I get drawn in by pretty eyes before anything else. >_>
L - L (the character)
L is a great character; he's brilliant, he's quirky, and he's a lot of fun to read. But as cool as he is, if I'm being honest I have to admit that he's not really one of my favorite characters. I do like him a lot, but the thing about L is that he's extremely zen; he always has his poker face on, and he's emotionally detached from most things. In many ways, he's the opposite of characters like Gokudera who shuffle through emotions like iPods. L is so damn zen that he's actually very hard to relate to as a character.
Except the thing is, I do relate to him in a lot of ways. XD Because we actually have similar personalities, and even a lot of the same habits. But for some reason, that makes him even less interesting, because it takes away the curiosity I might have about him otherwise. I don't spent time analyzing him because I don't feel like he's particularly hard to understand. So basically, he's cool, but he doesn't interest me as much as some other characters.
M - MILK & CHEESE & MINIBANG
MILK is delicious with pancakes, cookies, and cereal. CHEESE is also tasty depending on the type (mmm cheddar, swiss, mozzarella and provolone), but I can't really stand American cheese. As for MINIBANG, THE THOUGHT OF IT IS KEEPING ME UP AT NIGHT, but I have my fic outlined and the first 1000 words or so written (though it's total crap right now and in dire need of editing), so I HAVE HOPE? Feeble hope, but still hope. o/
N - Nine characters I wish I'd created
This is a hard one. XD Let's see... these won't necessarily be my favorites, but just characters that I think are brilliant in one way or another and that I'd love to be able to take credit for. :P Hmm... Light from Death Note; Spike from Cowboy Bebop; Ben from Lost; Reborn from KHR (one-year-old mafia hitman--HOW THE HELL DO YOU BRAINSTORM SOMETHING LIKE THAT); House from... House; Ed from Fullmetal Alchemist; Jayne from Firefly; Miroku from Inuyasha; and Indiana Jones from I WONDER. All of them are way cooler than any character I could ever create. XD
O
P - Pineapple-sama or Plot devices (I'll rant on both just cuz)
Mukuro falls into the same category as L in that he's a very cool character, but he interests me less than other characters because he's so dissociative. XD He's all smiles and he almost never slips unless he's under a hell of a lot of pressure, which incidentally is when I find him the most interesting. Surprise surprise. :P But I like him and he's a fantastic villain-turned-good-guy.
As for PLOT DEVICES, they are a gift from God and very underappreciated. Oh, you can call it poor storytelling, but the fact is that sometimes you just need a good plot device to get things going. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE CALLED PLOT DEVICES. Anyway, I'm very unashamed of them, and while I'll always try to find a subtler alternative when I write, if I need one I definitely won't shy away from it. Nor will I nitpick about them when I read/watch movies/TV shows/books/manga/fanfics/etc. They're there to do good, people need to let up on them. :(
As for favorite plot devices, I can't think of any right now except for the ten-year bazooka, which is one of the most amazing plot devices ever. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS WITH THAT THING, hot damn.
Q
R - Raito Yagami
Man, but I love him. Which is really weird for me because I don't usually go for the villains. And what's more, Light is... well. HE'S NUTS. He's a mass murderer with a god complex from here to whoa, he's absurdly paranoid and HIS EGO IS SO BIG IT COULD NOT FIT EVEN IN THIS HUMONGOUS TL;DR POST. By all rights, he should not be likable at all.
And yet, I do like him--maybe because he's so fucked up. Somehow, he's ridiculously compelling, to the point where no matter what he's doing, it's great entertainment. I rooted for him when I was reading the series, not because I thought he was in the right (lol), but because it was so much fun to watch him plotting and scheming and reacting and maneuvering that I didn't want it to end. I wanted to see where it would all go, if that makes sense. Light just has this quality where you can't take your eyes off him; he's that fascinating.
S
T - Twists (favorites/most shocking)
I'm just gonna make a quick list. These aren't all of my favorites by a long shot, but the ones that come to mind most immediately:
- LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER. So good that it's been endlessly ripped off ever since. XD
- Gokudera turning out to be Tsuna's loyal puppy-dog right-hand-man instead of his rival. That was so unexpected when I first read it, because it was a SHOUNEN title and, well. Shounen and rivals, they're like this. So that was an awesome twist.
- If you don't watch Lost, skip this one. UM. The end of the season 3 finale. You know, where Jack's flashback turns out to... uh. You know. That was AMAZING; it came out of nowhere and completely changed the rules around.
- In Harry Potter 3 when Sirius turned out to be a good guy. BEST TWIST EVER.
Like I said, there are tons more, but I can't think.
U - Underrated, things that are
In no particular order: Dubs; kids; popular fandoms that everyone gets elitist about; fandom in general; the Daily Life arc; Wendy's; the new Indiana Jones movie; manners; Third Eye Blind; Tsuna as a character as opposed to the fandom bicycle; having a sense of humor; solitude; siblings; gen; and the phenomenon known as "wasting time."
V - Video games
I've owned like every Nintendo system ever created (except the Virtual Boy because IT DOESN'T FUCKING COUNT, and also the NES because I always just went over to my friends' houses to play), and games like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. are my childhood and my life and will forever be adored. However, I've never owned a Playstation or an X-Box. Which can get awkward when people start talking about Kingdom Hearts or Metal Gear or those other awesome games which I've never played. XD But for the most part, Nintendo's always been enough, and as long as I've got my DS and Guitar Hero III for Wii, I'm happy. |D
W - Writing fanfiction
Writing is my absolute favorite thing in the world. That it also happens to be one of my biggest sources of frustration and stress makes no difference; I still love it. :P It's one of a very few things I feel utterly confident in when I'm in the zone (which is rare, but does happen), and in general, even though I'm picky as hell and will edit fics obsessively until they're just right, I usually like what I end up with. (USUALLY. XD) It's also an opportunity to explore things that canon doesn't elaborate on, and as someone who loves picking apart and analyzing my favorite fandoms, that's definitely a nice bonus. So yeah, basically it's something I love and feel like I'm occasionally good at, and it makes me happy. \o/
X
Y - Yamamoto
I adore Yamamoto. He's one of my very favorite characters, and would be my favorite KHR character if Gokudera wasn't such unfair competition. :P But Yama is someone... how to explain this. He's one of those characters I think about a lot outside of canon. Not only do I enjoy reading/watching him in the manga and anime, but I also love to read fic about him, and to look at icons and fanart and essays and all that. And usually that only happens with my favorites, so it's pretty telling.
As for why I love, him... well, he's Yamamoto. He's happy and good-natured and patient and amused by everything ever. And he's also badass and determined and powerful in a very calm, controlled way. And he's zen, but he's also very genuine, so you always get the sense that when he's smiling, it's because he's genuinely content. But he's not two-dimensional, either; he's got that sharper side to him as well, and he's a lot more perceptive than he appears. He's extremely talented and he's very, very dangerous when he wants to be. But he almost never does, and that's what I love about him. At the end of the day, he's the calm, laughing, even-tempered Guardian of Rain who fights with the back of his sword and grins when he sees that Squalo is alive, and laughs off Gokudera's insults and Tsuna's worries because he's always confident that things will work out okay.
Z - Zuko
Oh, Zuko. Well, I like him for a lot of the same reasons as Gokudera. He's completely incapable of hiding the slightest emotion, so everything about him is right out there for the whole world to see, both the good and the bad. And there's a lot of the latter. He has a temper, he's AN IDIOT, he emos constantly, and he has a very bad tendency to take out the worst of what he's feeling on the people that care the most about him (Iroh's a saint, poor guy XD). He defies the odds in that if a series of choices is presented before him, and most of them are relatively smart but a few are ABSOLUTELY RETARDED, like 8 out of 10 times he will go RIGHT FOR THE WORST ONE. He... kinda fails, a lot. XD
But on the other hand, there's a lot of good there too. Enough so that even though he was raised by an evil tyrant, and then exiled by said tyrant and sent on a whirlwind quest for vengeance, he still managed to finally choose the right side in the end (granted it took him FOREVER, but), even though it meant giving up everything he'd always wanted. He cares about things in a very obvious way that he constantly tries to deny, thus making it even more obvious, but that makes him endearing. Basically he's an incredibly confused kid who makes a lot of dumb choices, like most any other teenager. But he's got a good heart and you can't not like him. And I kinda lost track of where this rant was going, but it's the very last one, so that's okay. :P
Anyway, THAT TOOK FOREVER but it was time well spent, yay I got to ramble and I'M SORRY TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY SUFFERED THROUGH ALL THAT. XD