Exclusive Insanity

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So, given the events in the most recent Fullmetal Alchemist chapter, I'd say the end of the series is pretty damn close.

Gah.

So, there seems to be some kind of movement with published authors on the 'net - not an actual organized anything, but Diana Gabaldon posted something on the subject and now it seems that George R.R. Martin has done the same.

The topic in question is fanfiction, and I believe the main point of the argument is that it is immoral to be writing fanfiction. There's some question of the legality - fanfic has always been on the borderline of legality - but I think this is really a question of morality.

herongale did an excellent post on the subject here, which I think anyone interested in the topic should read. She also posted it as a response to GRRM and was blithely ignored, it seems. I was skimming some of the comments and it kind of struck me how little the original posters were willing to really listen to what those who disagreed with them had to say.

( But I will post what I have to say anyway )

EDIT: Thanks to gossymer, I found another great rant on the subject. Go read it. It's excellent.

EDIT THE SECOND: Two more links: here and here.

New icons, woo! I made three this morning. All for ATLA, of course.

Also, there is now a third trailer for the Last Airbender movie, which is apparently now going to be released in 3D. Not sure if it'll save the movie from tanking (I kind of expect it to tank), but this trailer certainly makes it look cool. Lots of focus on the special effects in this one, as well as a couple of scenes from the series and our first glimpse of the Blue Spirit.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YgaVe19zs8

So if anyone was wondering whether or not LJ had decided to stop being sneaky and making dumb mistakes, you can stop wondering now.

So I'm still working on some of the invitations, although most have been sent out now. The ones I still have to finish are for people who already know the date and time and are pretty much going to be there. I still want to get them done as soon as I can, but I'm waiting on more supplies in the mail. Bleh.

Still have a bunch of stuff to do, but again, can't do most of it just yet. It's kind of annoying. Oh well.

Cody and I decided to move the elliptical to the computer area, so we can hook up our computers to our 37" TV while and watch downloaded anime while working out. The TV also has a DVD player hooked up, so while it's not quite as nice as the 50" with the surround sound, it means we have more we can choose from to watch.

I'm planning to finish off some series I started a while ago, watch a couple of new series I've been thinking about looking into, and also probably still watch some Avatar here and there. Currently, I'm planning to focus on Toradora!, a new series called Working!! that looks kinda cute, and probably finishing up Shangri-La at some point. I've also got a few others I'll likely plow through. But today I'm going to finish the last two episodes of Tales of Symphonia. The new OVA for that series is going to be out this year, so yeah. Want to finish the first one.

Cody and I are also watching a new series together that he downloaded a week or so ago. It's called Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, and it's based on a supernatural murder mystery game. He was a few episodes in to what he thought was the only season for it, and looking over his shoulder, I thought it looked familiar. It looked a LOT like a series I downloaded an episode of back when I was looking for stuff like Ghost Hunt. But when I asked Cody about it, the first episode he watched was absolutely nothing like the one I'd watched. And I'd deleted mine, so I couldn't confirm it.

It looked more and more familiar to me as I started watching over his shoulder, so I actually went on MyAnimeList to see if I'd marked that series as 'watched one episode and dropped'. Yup, sure enough, same anime. So, I did a little more investigation.

Turns out there's more than one season.

So, yeah. Cody downloaded the second without knowing. The episode I'd watched had been from the first. He was kind of annoyed when he found that out, because a few things had been given away by this point. But, he dutifully downloaded the first season and we've been watching it pretty faithfully since then. Despite the fact that I dropped it after the first episode thinking that it wasn't my thing, it's actually got a kind of interesting twist to it.

( More on Higurashi )

I gotta say, the opening themes for this series are pretty cool. I forgot to put them on my iPod before leaving this morning, unfortunately, but I will do so tonight. They're definitely haunting enough to go with this creepy series.

Season 1 OP on YouTube
Season 2 OP on YouTube

These are freakin' hilarious (spoilers for season 1 of Avatar):

Avatar Facebook Water Part 1
Avatar Facebook Water Part 2
Avatar Facebook Water Part 3

I really hope this person does end up making seasons 2 and 3 versions.

I finally have a Zuko/Mai icon! Woo! And with a direct quote from the show. Heh. I love this couple, they're so awesome.

Today I was going through my pics and came across the ones of Toph when she's younger and thought 'these are so freaking cute! I should post about how cute they are.' Then I remembered that each of the main characters of Avatar had a flashback scene of some sort that showed them when they were young and really, really adorable. So... I put together a pic of all of them.

Aren't they so cuuuuuuute?

Edit: I realized after I made this post that it totally looks like little-Toph is trying to kiss little-Zuko and he's getting all omg-girls-are-icky about it. Haha! Totally unintentional on my part, but I find it funny all the same.

Mainly this past week and over the long weekend, I've been working on invitations (with frequent fanfic breaks). I'm a little over halfway done, and pretty much ready to mail the ones that need to be mailed. The rest are mostly going to people who know when the wedding is and are expecting invites, so things are pretty much under control at this point, I'm thinking.

I've hit a definite snag with the Avatar Big Bang fic... Not sure if I can still finish it. I hope so. Maybe I can do some work on it tomorrow. I'll give it a try anyway. It's hard with no feedback on the first parts. I don't know if I'm doing okay or not. Bleh. I wish I could just post it and see what everyone thinks so far.

Oh well.

So I just watched this video by The Nostalgia Chick: here.

She makes a good point about "tokenism", and I guess I could speak about that for a bit, but... but... I must be the only one who watched the scene where she shows the list of Nick cartoons and sought out and found Avatar: The Last Airbender on the list, and thought, 'okay, I know the main character is male, but COME ON! Doesn't it at least deserve a mention? It has some of the best female characters I've seen in a North American cartoon, like, ever.'

Just watch this video.

... Yeah, I'm a nerd. I know it.

The dress fits me! Perfectly, in fact. I didn't have to get any alterations in size. Just hem, and a couple of cosmetic stuff I wanted - then I go back down on April 24th to make sure everything is done right and to take it home.

Thank god... That is a huge weight off my mind. And it looks even better than I remember - I'm excited! Less than five months to go.

Now hopefully I can concentrate more on the avatarbigbang fic. It is underway. I'm pretty psyched. Hope it turns out well!

So, there's actually a full trailer for the Last Airbender movie now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udeaR1-O-Gk

Sokka and Katara feel distinctly un-Sokka-and-Katara-like; not just because of their race but because of the way they act in the new trailer. Particularly Katara. Given that she's the only major female character in season one (which this movie is based on), I really really hope they're not planning to make her weepy and useless. Bleh.

Sokka is an insecure teenager who tends towards cynical and often gets the crap end of the stick for comedy relief purposes. Katara is a girl with talent in a society that has distinct gender roles, with a short temper and a competitive streak. I didn't get that from this trailer.

But again, this is more of a new interpretation of the Avatar story rather than a complete retelling, so I guess I'll just have to get over it. I'm still going to see the movie.

Dev Patel makes an adorable Zuko. Still haven't seen him do 'angry' yet. Maybe this Zuko won't be so angry? That would change his whole character.

I have no comment on Aang, because he hasn't said a damn thing in any trailer I've seen and he always looks serious. Really, same kid? His tattoos look cool, except for the completely unnecessary cross on his back. Why would the Air Nomads use a cross in their tattoos? The airbending looks pretty awesome, though. Actually, the effects in general look cool.

Storywise... In my opinion, for this to be even a marginally decent retelling, the following things need to happen in this movie:

* Basic introduction of full plot, including:
- history of the four nations
- introduction to bending
- who the Avatar is and what the heck he/she is supposed to do
- explanation of the war and why the Air Nomads were wiped out
- the fact that the Avatar's been missing for 100 years
- and was actually hanging out in a block of ice the whole damn time
- and has a Fire Nation prince obsessed with capturing him

* Aang and Zuko backstory parallels established

* Sozin's comet pointed out

* Aang and Katara learn waterbending

* The whole Yue-moon-spirit thing happens

* Iroh established as awesome (okay, I guess it's not NECESSARY, but...)

That is the BARE minimum, for story only. Lots of other stuff really should happen too, but I'm not going to expect a heck of a lot from this movie.