*tries to distract self from bodily mutiny with fangirlism*

[tammaiya]

My throat is killing me and I'm supposed to be in class right now, but I took a nap and woke up ten minutes after the period had started and I just couldn't muster the energy to go, so I decided to finish the post I started this morning when I couldn't sleep about fannish reactions. Of, you know, the various stuff I’ve watched/read/played over the last week. Which would be Avatar 3x13-14, Final Fantasy III, Shukudai-kun number whatever aired this week, VS Arashi #... 3? Ouran volumes 9-12, and some doujin I picked up on the weekend.

When I was in Shinjuku last Sunday— I went out pretty much straight after my long post— one of the things I did was visit a manga café and catch up on Ouran Host Club. I admit I was skimming by the end, because it was getting late (I hadn’t intended to stay in Shinjuku that long) and I was paying by time and also I just get fatigued trying to read that much Japanese without some kind of break. But anyway, I read the bits that I thought were particularly relevant to my interests in appropriate detail, and I’m going to comment on the stuff that stuck out to me. XD

* I’m really not sure how to feel about the direction the twins are going in. On the one hand, it’s healthier for them to embrace the fact that they’re separate individuals and that they can do things separately and like different people, etc, but even knowing that it still hurts a little to see them consciously make that decision— for Hikaru to go so far as dying his hair so that everyone else will start treating them individually too. Plus, they DON’T like different people. They both like Haruhi, which I have complicated feelings about since it’s obvious Tamaki is going to win that battle in the end, so why is it necessary to put the twins through this at all? Plus I’m just a little >:( over the outright stating that no, twins/Haruhi is NOT a valid pairing. (For those who decided to read this for spoilers and don’t know what I’m talking about, Hikaru, when he first realised that Kaoru liked Haruhi too and when he was really worried about them being separated, was like HAY WE CAN SHARE and Kaoru was like, no! I don’t WANT to share! And if you thought about it you wouldn’t want to either!)

* On the other hand, asjfkolsajfklsd I love Kyouya/Tamaki SO FREAKING MUCH. How much, you ask? THIS MUCH: <333333333333333333333 x INFINITY. And the only reason I didn’t put that in h1 tags was because it would totally destroy any semblance of formatting!

Seriously, SERIOUSLY, I was loving pretty hard on that whole arc where Kyouya was pissed off at Tamaki and Tamaki was honestly just trying to help and Haruhi and the twins really couldn’t understand why Kyouya was so angry. Tamaki just… wanted Kyouya to do something for fun, not for calculated gain. Something Kyouya’s father wouldn’t care about, so it wouldn’t matter if Kyouya won or lost to the family, only to Kyouya himself. So he gets Kyouya sucked up into this stupid physical competition with some other student without asking, and Kyouya is totally WRATHFUL, and they all just think Tamaki is being his usual thoughtless dumb puppy-like self but he’s not. He’s thought this through.

And that’s why Kyouya’s mad. Because he knows why Tamaki is doing it and doesn’t WANT Tamaki interfering. And I just… <3 My heart almost broke for Tamaki when he told them about how when he came to school Kyouya was so nice to him, and at first he’d thought that was great, but he’d realised that Kyouya was being nice to him because he was the director’s son, not because he was Tamaki. But Tamaki kept trying to be best friends with him, because he wanted to see Kyouya’s real reactions and wanted Kyouya to like him for real. And AWWWWW. I OTP those two so hard, there are no words for it. Particularly not after the end of that arc where Kyouya wins their showdown and Tamaki’s genuinely happy for him, even though he lost, and Kyouya’s like… fine. You can come over and use my kotatsu. SOMETIMES.

* Speaking of the sports competition host club showdown, I really loved how they split up all the pairs. Mori and Hunny were just kind of funny and sweet with their “so anyway, red team is SO going to win” and then Mori saving Hunny when he fudged the pole vault, aaaaaw. The twins really made my heart ache, though. Mostly in a good way… although see above regarding complicated feelings on that front.

* Volume 12! Tamaki needs a hug. Tamaki needs MANY hugs. The way he decided not to go on exchange to France and lied about it because he didn’t want the rest of the Host Club to feel weighed down by his angsting, and then Kyouya goes to France instead and totally lies to Haruhi and everyone on Tamaki’s behalf that Tamaki is there with him. <3 And then with Kyouya meeting Tamaki’s mother and, oh, that was lovely. Srsly, guys, my OTP, LET ME SHOW YOU IT. I forgot to look for doujin for them on Saturday and it doesn’t look like there’ll be any Ouran at Super Comic City next weekend, but I’ll keep an eye out next time I’m in Ikebukuro. *___*

Okay, I watched Shukudai-kun on Monday night. It was kind of ridiculously funny, and I am grudgingly willing to forgive Becky for turning me into an Arashi fangirl if this is my compensation. XD Seriously, the guests were really cute— especially the one with the crush on Jun— and it was so hilarious when they were all mocking the crap out of Sho’s cooking abilities and then, against all logical explanation, IT ACTUALLY TASTED REALLY GOOD. I laughed so hard when they were all totally ignoring him, and Sho was like “Aiba~ Aiba~” and Aiba was like, “... I’m eating! *runs away*” and Sho’s all, “NO DON’T GO!”

And then that bit where they ask one of the guest’s 3 things she wants a guy to do when asking her out and then she describes this really detailed scenario— for memory right down to the shirt Jun was currently wearing— that was basically Doumyouji, all, “and then he kicks a trash can over and is like, GO OUT WITH ME!” (which is a direct Doumyouji quote, if I recall correctly— Ore to tsukiae!) and the others like, turn over this drawing of aggressive!Jun and Jun’s like “... is that supposed to be me? My eyebrows aren’t that thick!” at them. And then they make him act it out. And it’s really hot. XD

Finally, there’s the back-to-back three-legged race thing, which is actually only two-legged because both their legs are tied together but whatever. Guest 1 chooses Ohno because she thinks he’s about the same height as her, and then is like EEEH NO WAY when he’s several inches taller, and then they don’t totally fail, exactly, they’re just… really slow. Then guest 2 OBVIOUSLY chooses Jun and she makes these comments about how she can feel him pressed against her~~~ and he’s all laughing and “I DON’T WANNA BE ON THIS TEAM!” They do a lot better, but to be fair they’ve already seen it done once and I’m sure that helps.

Then Aiba, who is running this whole thing, asks Sho and Nino what they’re going to do, and they’re like “we’re going to go together!” with no hesitation despite the big deal that was made of it being girl/boy pairs so that if you fell over it’d be all ~*~romantic~*~, hee. And Aiba turns to Ogura, and is like, let’s go together! And Ogura is like “... no.” XD

Anyway, Sho and Nino totally pwn the challenge, which is probably a combination of having seen it done twice already and just knowing each other as well as they do, since the trick is to be in time with your partner.

... oh my god, what the freak, that was almost as long as Ouran and there’s still VS Arashi to go in this post. BECKY IF ARASHI EATS MY LJ, I’M BLAMING YOU.

I was pretty busy on Saturday— I was going out in the morning to check out what my new job would be like, and then again in the afternoon to talk to a travel agent for my parents in Shinjuku and meet up with cienna and ontogenesis in Ikebukuro. (Which was totally awesome times, btw, and I now know that Ikebukuro is where Tokyo keeps all the gay porn. XD)

In between these two things, however, I stopped off back home to eat lunch and watch VS ARASHI while I was at it. Like Shukudai-kun, it practically killed me with laughter. Since I’m too lazy to type this out twice, you can all have the recap I gave beckerbell.

tammaiya (10:24:46 PM): the first game where you have to catch the coloured things that fall down the poles, Jun was first up
tammaiya (10:25:22 PM): and he caught both of them! except he caught one of them on 30, and the other one RIGHT BELOW 100, and the announcer was like "Thirty and zero! :D!"
tammaiya (10:25:40 PM): Jun: ... WHAT? It's so 100! WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS PROGRAM.
beckerbell (10:25:56 PM): At least he's getting better! XDDD
tammaiya (10:26:07 PM): yes. XD although it's not the game he fucked up last week. *g*
tammaiya (10:26:12 PM): then Nino went
tammaiya (10:26:19 PM): and he was like, I'm going to get 100.
tammaiya (10:32:27 PM): and he caught one pole on 100 and missed the other entirely.
tammaiya (10:32:50 PM): thus getting EXACTLY 100.
beckerbell (10:33:16 PM): XDDD
beckerbell (10:33:21 PM): I love those retards so much.
tammaiya (11:15:46 PM): the first guest got no points (and Ohno pressed the buttons to choose what poles and when. that is the summation of what he did. hence the argument at the end about whether or not he actually did ANYTHING, and why he was saved)
tammaiya (11:15:52 PM): and then the second guest got 150
tammaiya (11:16:04 PM): thus beating Nino and Jun's combined score
tammaiya (11:16:07 PM): by himself
tammaiya (11:17:06 PM): Sho was the one who pressed the button that time
tammaiya (11:19:13 PM): then there was a rock climbing thing where Aiba climbed and Nino tossed him the footholds. they worked really well as a team, and Aiba got 250 points-- but the male guest, who was the one climbing, pwned them again and got 300 even though the other guest, the chick, really sucked at throwing him the handholds. XD; he was kind of unfairly tall.
tammaiya (11:21:41 PM): the final game is the chip stacking one, and the guests get to choose which members they're up against (oh, I forgot to mention, but they chose amongst themselves for the first game and they were bickering about who had to go and Jun was like FINE. I'LL DO IT.

announcer: are you confident?
Jun: Of course not!) and they were like, SHO.

*commence friendly mocking of Sho's total fail at these things*

Sho: *sullen, trash-talk style* I'll show YOU moves!
beckerbell (11:23:42 PM): *delighting in all of this*
tammaiya (11:25:20 PM): then they chose Ohno as the second member. And they totally won in that the male guest toppled the tower, but toppling the tower just means that the other team gets 100 points, and because Sho, just like Jun the week before, had started out by laying really pathetic 5 point chips while everyone else was laying the biggest chips, EVEN WITH the 100 point bonus they only won by 30 points, and by that time they were behind the guests by 70 and they lost overall by 40.
tammaiya (11:25:54 PM): so at the end the announcer was like, so, who is the MOST DAME Arashi?
tammaiya (11:26:27 PM): and they were all, well, that's a good question. Jun, you completely missed that pole at the beginning and only got thirty points...
beckerbell (11:26:47 PM): I am just sort of quietly reveling in this whole entire recap.
tammaiya (11:30:25 PM): Jun: I got points though! *defensive*
All: what about Aiba?
Aiba: *something to the effect about how he totally owned the rock climb, thank you very much*
All: ............... Did Ohno actually do ANYTHING?
Ohno: Hey! I pressed the button on the first game and the guest didn't get any points!
Others: Well, okay.
Others: ......... But SHO. He pressed the button and the guest got 150 points! And he only laid those really small chips so that's why we didn't win by enough! IT'S SHO!
Sho: HEY NO WHAT THIS ISN'T FAIR~
(Jun, meanwhile, is like, YAY, THANK GOD IT'S NOT ME.)
*ad break*
Everyone: *back in places*
Sho: *resigned* *dropped into foam pit* *COMPLAINS*
Everyone: *laughs at his pain* /end
tammaiya (11:31:17 PM): and clearly, becky, CLEARLY I LOVE YOU. *beams at*
beckerbell (11:32:49 PM): And I love you deeply for recapping the whole thing, as much as I love those dorky boys for being such guys about the whole thing.
tammaiya (11:32:52 PM): you're lucky I'm so awesome, really. *g*

But, moving on, when I was in Ikebukuro on Saturday I bought a bunch of doujin— two Guy x Luke (although they were both fairly gen-ish), one Jade x Dist, one Seishirou x Subaru (which was not easy, considering how old the fandom is), one Doumeki x Watanuki, and one Hikaru x Akira (also fairly gen-ish). My favourites were the Jade x Dist one and the Holic one. The Seishirou x Subaru one was a little random; it had some really good lines in it and a really pretty bit where Seishirou pretends to collapse (this is after Rainbow Bridge, btw, and Subaru is all WHY ARE YOU HERE) and when Subaru rushes to his side, pins him back over a desk. Which. Yes. <3 But then in parts, like I said, it’s really random and has Seishirou in Chi ears. XD; And the drawing style is variable in quality, sometimes it’s really pretty and other times the proportions aren’t quite right.

One of the Guy x Luke ones is really cute in an “ow my heart” kind of way— it’s about kid Luke secretly getting a puppy, which then dies, and he’s like “Guy you can go outside! If you see another Chibi— ;__;” and Guy has to tell him that even if they look the same, they’re different lives, so please remember that! And adult Luke remembers and is like, awwww, thanks Guy.

The HikaGo doujin is a collection of shorts, which I never get as caught up by, although the one about Hikaru begging, wheedling and using underhanded means to make Touya wear a yukata for Obon is quite cute.

The Holic doujin was really pretty, it looked basically like the manga, and the characterisations were really good too.

As for the Jade x Dist doujin (and considering that it’s practically canon, that pairing is REALLY HARD TO FIND), I really, really liked that one so I translated it for Becky. Unfortunately I don’t have a scanner, because the art is gorgeous, but here’s the cover: http://www.geocities.jp/kashikidou/doujin04.html

And here is the text:

Dist: mmm.... *wakes up in bed with Jade* (That's rare, for him to still be here. Even though usually, he's already gone by morning...) *picks up strands of Jade's hair, rubs against cheek* (Feels nice.)
Jade: Good morning~
Dist: XO !
Jade: Here, have as much as you like. *handful of hair*
Dist: No thanks. >>; A, anyway, you're late today.
Jade: Quite. I have today off.
Dist: W... well I don't have any rest days or anything like that, SO.
J: Really? Well, in that case, why don't we just have breakfast together?
D: ... huh?
D: ......... *sweatdrop*
Food: *two people's serving*
D: Uh, Jade. I thought I wasn't supposed to be here? (since you always sneak me in...)
J: Oh, yes. I was just hungry today, so they prepared enough for two people.
D: ............... ~_~
J: So you don't need to worry~ *chu*
D: *freaked out expression/blush* !
J: (Though actually, it was found out ages ago...)
J: Shall we eat?
D: .................... yeah...
D: *looking down, sad expression* (Even if I'm told to...) .......
D: (Since this is hardly a normal situation.)
J: *sipping tea* The weather's nice today, isn't it?
D: Y... yeah...
D: (What do I do?)
J: What's wrong? You don't like it?
D: Th, that's not it--
D: *fumbles cup, falls in his lap* !
D: HOT!
J: !! :O *springs up*
D: ... not. (It's... cold.)
J: *still standing* ..................
J: *niko* That's right. It was cold soup...
D: Sorry, I got the floor dirty. *leans down to wipe it up*
J: *stops him* That's fine, I'll clean it later.
J: *lifts Dist up onto the bench*
D: O__O
J: More importantly, we have to wipe your legs off.
D: Eh...?
J: *bends head*
D: Ah...
D: Um, I'm fine... so...
J: Don't be silly. We have to wipe them off PROPERLY.
D: ///x_x/// !
D: *trembling*
J: *insert blowjob here*
Door: *knock*
Jade: *gets up and answers it while Dist has been reduced to useless pudding*
J: *returns* Unfortunately, something's come up. I have to go out soon, so will you suck me off?
D: ............
J: You can say no if you like.
D: (How could I possibly refuse?)
~LATER~
Anise: DIIIIIISSST~~~
A: I've finally found you!
D: *unimpressed* ...Do you want something?
A: Well, you know, lately Tokunaga hasn't been looking so good. So I wanted you to take a look.
D: Fine.
A: Yay, thanks. <3 Then let's have lunch! I brought sandwiches!
D: ... Okay.
A: ^__^
A: Hey, Dist.
A: How's the colonel?
D: ?! *TEAR*
A: WA~~~H, TOKUNAGAAA!!
D: Wh... why are you asking me...
A: Eh? Because.
A: You're sleeping together, aren't you?
D: XO!!!!
D: (WH-- WH--!)
A: You guys meet all the time to foster your love, don't you? Ah, that's right, today he told me to bring a meal~~ <3
D: (WHY?!)
A: Please fix Tokunaga properly. <3
D: (It's been... found out...)
Luke: Oh, Dist, great timing!
L: I wanted you to give a message to the Colonel--
D: *ZOOM*
L: ... h-huh?
Tear: Ah, Dist. Just now Jade...
D: *GONE*
Natalia: Oh good, I found you. Jade...
D: *TURNS AND FLIES AWAY*
Guy: Today Ja--
D: *FLIES AWAY*
D: .............. *alone in a random snowy area to sulk*
Nephry: Saphir.
D: Nephry...
N: What's wrong? It's unusual for you to come here. (When I heard from the townsfolk I was surprised.)
D: Yeah. I had this sudden desire to see the sunset of my birthplace. >>
N: What's up with that? XD
N: *sits down next to him*
N: We all used to play here a lot when we were kids. You, Nii-san, his majesty...
N: But truthfully, I was so frightened of Nii-san back then. He was always one step away and you could never tell what he was thinking, don't you think?
N: But now he's grown so impressive... *wipes tear of happiness away*
D: ........................
N: You know, Saphir. I think that's because of you and his majesty.
D: *down* ... I didn't do anything...
N: That's not true. I'm really grateful to you.
D: *looks away* ...........
N: So please, don't abandon Nii-san now, either?
D: ... yeah.
N: Oh, that's right, I had something I wanted you to give to Nii-san. *rifling through bag*
D: (Eh?)
N: It's fruit and vegetables.
D: (Eh?)
N: A neighbour gave me this fish fried in salt, so you'll have to be quick with it, but.
D: (Eh?)
N: Can I give you some sake too?
D: (Eh?)
N: And then there's this, and this, and here...
N: You're going to see Nii-san really soon so it's fine, right? ^___^
D: (It... it can't be...)
N: You're always such GOOD friends~! ^_~
D: (NEPHRY, YOU TOO!!)
D: *sulking outside Jade's room*
J: ... Dist?
J: *comes up behind him* That's unusual, two days in a row.
D: ..........
D: I had stuff to give you.
D: HERE. THEY'RE FROM NEPHRY.
J: ... Huh?
D: AND NOW I'M GOING.
J: Eh?
J: (Wa--) Dist?
J: *hugs him from behind*
D: *squeak*
J: You're going?
D: I'M GOING!
D: AND THEN I'M NOT COMING BACK!!
J: !
J: *LIGHTNING CRACKLE* >( Well I'm hardly just going to let that pass. Did something happen? (Come here.)
D: *turns head away like bratty child*
J: !!
J: Di--
D: It's... found out.
J: Yes?
D: OUR RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN DISCOVERED! BY EVERYONE! EVEN NEPHRY!
J: (Aaah, I see.)
D: >< *trembling* We can't meet anymore. We're not allowed...
J: I don't understand. Why not?
D: Hm?
J: This way actually works in my favour. *backs Dist against the balcony*
D: Wah, stop! We're outside!
J: Isn't that the point?
J: >D *tilts D’s chin up* This way I'll make sure no peons will attempt to take what is MINE.
D: *wide eyed, blushing*
J: I don't have to worry about swatting any annoying insects.
J: Ne? <3
D: *fuming* Wh... WHAT THE...!
D: Th... that's not the point...
J: ? Do you hate me, Dist?
D: Eh?!
D: *spazzing out*
J: *staaaaare*
D: *looks down, closes eyes* (Even though)
D: (He already knows how I feel...) *kisses Jade*
D: *turns face away, blushing*
J: *smirk*
J: Then, it's decided. <3 (Come along~)
D: Eh... *sweatdrop* Ah, wai--...
D: *now inside* WAH WAH WAH! WAIT, HANG ON--
?: Did you take it?
?: Yep, perfectly! Unexpected harvest!
Maid 1: *holding camera* Kya~ <3 to think we'd have such luck!
Maid 2: All our hard work has paid off~ <3 We have to tell everyone!
D: ......... *sweatdrop* I feel like beef....
/end.

I stayed in on Sunday so I could wallow around being sick (although not as sick as I am now ~_~), and while I was at it, I finished Final Fantasy III. I try to keep most gaming stuff on my gaming LJ, masterofpixels, so I won’t say too much about the last dungeon here— other than the fact that I believe having a dungeon that long with no way to save and no way to heal yourself except by beating one of the six final bosses is CRUEL AND UNUSUAL— but I will give a brief reaction to the ending. I think with FFIII you can really see the transition of final fantasy from almost plotless questing into what we would now consider a more traditional kind of RPG with a plot that’s directly related to the characters you play as. It affects them, they affect it, etc. Character development and so on is very rudimentary in FFIII compared to SNES-era onwards RPGs, but the characters are distinct and individual and means there can be a proper ending that wraps things up rather than just a “hooray! Evil was vanquished!” kind of ending (do not even get me started on FFI, for serious. WHY does Square keep remaking it?!) The ending of FFIII is maybe a little bit basic and formulaic in so far as it involves crystals and dark and light and everything being nullified, but it was a nice touch that dark =/= evil. I mean, it’s not a totally novel concept that dark and light are both needed for balance, but it’s an idea I like.

I also thought the ending with dropping off all the characters was really cute and satisfying. I’m kind of a bit dubious over Desch/Salina— I mean, he just really doesn’t seem all that enthusiastic about it? On the airship he’s just like, yep, better go back and see Salina... and he didn’t go back the entire time since he left the party, just hung out at the tower. Not to mention he left in the first place without really telling her. And when he gets back she’s all “OMG NEVER GO ANYWHERE EVER AGAIN” and he’s like, sure, whatever you say, and not five seconds later is like “so anyway, next time you guys go on an adventure you should call me! :D” Yeeeeah. I’m sure he cares about her, but maybe not the way she wants. I just don’t see that relationship lasting when they obviously want such different things.

Besides, Desch/Refia is just really cute, okay, like the way he turns around straight away when she’s like “so ANYWAY” and I just want them to be cute together, is that so wrong? *shifty*

Ingus/Sara is the true OTP, though. <3 I just love how she’s all, no, I’m not going, matter-of-fact and not at all tantrum-like when he says they’ll drop her off now, and when he’s like, huh? But, but— she tells him, straight out, that he’s really slow and she just wants to be with HIM, okay? To which he is like, “Oh. ......... OOOOOH. ///” and is all, I’ll stay with you FOREVER~ and it’s just, aaaaaw. (And then later! When the dancing girl tries to kiss Ingus and Sara is all, >O *PWNS* man I love her XD) I’m also really partial to Luneth/Arc, and Arc’s ^___^ face when Luneth tells him that yeah, he did good, is just really cute. Aaaaaaw.

Okay, I’m done, I swear. *cough*

I also watched the new Avatar episodes on Sunday night when I got sick of writing out kanji. Which was probably stupid because it meant I was a little unprepared for the test this morning, but whatever, I don’t regret it because that was a BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL THING. One of the things I really love about Avatar is its strong female characters, something part 2 certainly delivers on without making you feel like you’re being smacked in the face with it. Suki, Mai and Ty Lee kicked an incredible amount of butt; I loved that we got to see the fruition of everything I thought should have been there in the Zuko/Mai relationship, her in the end betraying Azula when push came to shove because YES, she loves Zuko more than she fears Azula, her “saving the jerk who dumped her”, kickass knife-throwing ninja awesome, a thousand times yes. And Ty Lee standing up to Azula to protect Mai, even though she really IS terrified of Azula and you can see it, how much it costs her to stand her ground at the end; Suki, going ahead and dealing with it on her own and ninja-scaling the wall while the boys stand around uselessly trying to figure out what to do.

And, of course, even when she’s barely in the episode, Toph continues to top all you losers. XD That bit at the end where her tone is just, “So you infiltrated a top security prison and rescued people, so WHAT. Where’s dinner?!” ahahaha I love her.

But even though the there was a whole smorgasbord of awesome to choose from with the girls, that was by far not the only great things about these eps. I love that while Aang is the main character and, like beckerbell said, he’s a great kid and you’re attached to him as the main, they’re not afraid to have a couple of episodes like this where Sokka and Zuko are starring. And man, it was so fun to watch them interact, with all their awkward manly bonding— “*talks about Mai*” “*pause* Well... my first girlfriend turned into the moon?” “That’s rough, buddy.” just about KILLED me with laughter. XD And Zuko tried to cheer him up by trying to come up with some random crap that Iroh might say, only it makes no sense and when Zuko’s like, what, you mean that actually WORKED? Sokka’s all, nah, what you said made no sense at all— but look, it’s Suki! I just love them so much, hee. I love that Zuko was the one to give Sokka the pep talk about trying even though you’ll fail and fail and fail (Sokka: seriously, this is not making me feel better!) because you can’t give up before you try, because he’s had to learn that lesson himself the hard way, and I love that Suki backed them up without hesitation even though it was her freedom on the line. Just. <3333

Okay, I’m going to stop gushing now, but in conclusion, I really loved these episodes, and I can’t think of anything they didn’t do right. I love that they weren’t overly predictable— you could tell in a general sense that it was going to end with Sokka rescuing Suki and his dad, but I wasn’t expecting Mai or Azula, and I was waiting for Mai to end up as the hostage— which I’m glad she didn’t, it’s just another way in which this show has been really good about not gender stereotyping and putting the girl in the damsel in distress/hostage situation and instead having her kick ass to save them, even though Zuko IS a jerk who broke her heart. (Oh, that’s one thing I didn’t say, I loved that conversation in the jail cell where you could see how much she really was hurt and pissed off by it, even though she was still quiet and restrained.) I’m looking really forward to seeing what they do with the rest of the series, how the various relationships will pan out, what will happen with the Azula/Ty Lee/Mai angle, everything.

These eps were a long time coming, but they were TOTALLY worth it. :D

Comments

[beckerbell.livejournal.com]

BECKY IF ARASHI EATS MY LJ, I’M BLAMING YOU.

It's like you love me and want me to be happy. ♥ ♥ ♥

(Still reading and you know Shukudai-kun is on again tonight, right~~? *RUNS AWAY*)

[beckerbell.livejournal.com]

Okay, slightly more depthful response.

I think with FFIII you can really see the transition of final fantasy from almost plotless questing into what we would now consider a more traditional kind of RPG with a plot that’s directly related to the characters you play as.

I was thinking that as I was playing sometimes, too. I kept comparing it to Final Fantasy IV, which is the game I keep reading as being credited with being the revolutionary one in terms of bringing story and characters into the RPG experience, which got me thinking about FFIII and how you could see the beginnings of that in it. Like, it was still very basic and you didn't really get that deep into the characters, but there was a story there and the characters were cute.

And we're in total agreement over Desch/Salina vs Desch/Refia. It might be different if Desch had shown the same kind of feelings for Salina? But throughout the game, I never got that impression. Yet, when Doga comes to ask him to help Refia, Desch pretty much jumps at the chance.

Plus still more agreement all over Avatar. I knew generally where things were going (having skimmed the spoilers as well) but it still managed to surprise and delight me. I love how awesome the girls in Avatar are without ever having to make the boys total fail (unless it's really funny and you know they would have found some way to get out of there without Suki, it's just that she was a major help and did it better this time) or make one "side" less than the other. Both the boys and the girls are total awesome!

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, by FFIV the characters are much more important, but you can see the beginnings of that in FFIII and I thought that was interesting. Like, in FFI? You start the game by going to the castle and essentially being like, "LOL we are the warriors of light, need help?" and your characters have no set jobs, names or personalities. XD;

*doesn't have an ffiii icon so uses ffiv icon*

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

so much word on Avatar's awesomeness. Actually I agree with everything you said there :)

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

:D! AVATAR.

... I don't have an appropriate icon, damn.

[moonbyrd.livejournal.com]

Which...which episode of Shukudai-kun is that? O.o And, clearly, I need to start watching VS Arashi. Stupid real life school commitments...

That DistxJade doujin is awesome! :D

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Whichever one aired last week? I dunno, I was just watching it on TV. XD;

Isn't it just? They're really hard to find, unfortunately. Jade is popular, but Dist not so much.

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Ah, but it seems the formatting cut out the middle of the doujin. >< I used that emoticon and it killed it, sigh. Try rereading it now!

[intergal.livejournal.com]

MY BROMANCE. LET ME SHOW YOU IT.