silverthunder: (Terran - Serious Business)
I've only seen about eight episodes of this series, but I do have some things to say about it so I decided to go ahead and make this post. My opinion could change later, obviously.

Following in the tradition of the .hack series, Sword Art Online is about a virtual reality MMORPG where players can log in and experience the game as if they were physically there. Like .hack//Sign (and perhaps other titles, but this is the one I know of), SAO is about being trapped in the game with no way to log out. However, in SAO this is global (all players are unable to log out, not just one). Additionally, if you die in the game, you WILL die in real life - and the only way to escape the game is to clear all 99 levels of the main dungeon.

Fans of MMORPGs (and fans of RPGs in general) will probably enjoy this title. It's fast-paced, well animated, has gorgeous music and exciting battle sequences, and there are many things that will be immediately understandable to gamers and make SAO feel like a real RPG.

I am really enjoying this anime, and look forward to watching more (Cody and I are watching together and trying to take our time since it's still airing right now). However! I cannot say it is perfect (far from it) and there are still a few problems I have with it.

More under the cut )

Anyway, for all of this, SAO is pretty damn entertaining. I'm definitely looking forward to watching more and seeing how this story unfolds!

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA-ZdNkRBGA
ED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w36jj0F-6pc
silverthunder: (Orphen - Stop the world)
So, I support gay marriage, want a cure for cancer, believe that child/animal/domestic abuse needs to be wiped out, and I love my mother/grandmother/siblings/friends/*insert important type of person*.

However! I can do this without clicking 'like' on a picture someone posted on Facebook! Or reposting it! Or... whatever else is related to it!

I mean, it's cool that people want to post images supporting their favorite causes, or proclaiming how much they love the important people in their lives. I seriously don't mind this, sometimes I even smile when I see it and think 'aw, that's sweet' before browsing on. Because everyone's different, and just because I don't like to post that stuff doesn't mean that no one should.

What I find irritating is when the picture or the description of the picture says something along the lines of "Like & share this if you love your grandmother! Keep scrolling if you hate her and wish she dies and are a terrible person, blah blah blah, whatever".

This is obnoxious, because - well, duh, I love my grandmother! Most people freakin' do! I mean, there will be some who don't, but we're talking about something that is going to apply to a vast majority of people. The clumsy attention pandering and obvious mentality of "I want my picture to get spread across the internet so I'm going to try and make it so that people feel guilty for not sharing it" really get on my nerves.

Me scrolling past your picture doesn't mean I hate my grandmother, or don't want a cure for cancer, or think animal abuse is okay, or whatever else you want to put on there to try and force others to share. It means I don't like sharing every random ass thing that pops up in my notifications.

So... stop it. Seriously. Don't share this crap. Let it die out quietly, and hope that it helps to discourage at least one attention whore from this guilt-tripping BS.

Anime!

Nov. 9th, 2012 08:31 am
silverthunder: (Killua - Meow)
I have only five episodes left of Mawaru Penguindrum now, and it's getting good! Looking forward to the finale - I have heard good things so I'm sure it won't disappoint.

I have some series lined up to try. The order I list them in here is the order in which I intend to watch them. If I don't like one, I'll drop it and move on to the next, but otherwise, the plan is to watch the whole thing before moving on.

1. Ano Natsu de Matteru (for the tie-in to Onegai Teacher)
2. Earl and Fairy (it's about fairies, come on)
3. Outlaw Star (giving it another shot)
4. Sands of Destruction (we bought the set this summer and I am starting to feel guilty about how many box sets we own that I haven't watched)

Cody and I are also going to watch some series together! So far we've watched two episodes of Sword Art Online, which seems to be pretty awesome and I think anyone who's a gamer and a fan of anime should definitely check it out. He also found a new series called Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic which also looks really neat. We'll be trying that one out tonight.

The fact that Magi's two top recommendations are Hunter X Hunter (the original) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood gives me high hopes for it. We'll see if it lives up to those.
silverthunder: (Sokka - Stop looking at me!)
Yesterday, my dog knocked me down the stairs and I now have a bruise on my ass.

... Yup.

Anyway, on Sunday, Cody and I went to see Wreck-It Ralph, which was cute and funny and overall a pretty decent feel-good movie with some fun video game references. I'd recommend it if you're looking for some fluffy entertainment. It definitely held my interest the whole way through.

Final Fantasy XIV had its official "final save" where all of our character data was copied from the existing servers and will be moved to the new servers for version 2.0 (or, A Realm Reborn, as it is now being called). The alpha for the new version has started, and the current version is still open, with a general apocalypse taking place in-game. Lots of cool stuff is happening: creepy music in the background, increasingly difficult waves of mobs attacking the cities, and relic weapons being available for the taking. Praying to the Twelve (the deities in the in-game world) also gets you some decent buffs.

I'm really going to miss this game when it shuts down this Sunday at midnight... I'm not counting on a chance to play the new version until open beta, although it's possible I'll get accepted into a closed beta phase. Guess we'll see.

I'm currently watching Mawaru Penguindrum during my workouts. It's... odd. I probably don't get all of what's going on in there (I'm not great with hidden meanings most of the time), but at least it's entertaining.
silverthunder: (Avatar - Group Hug)
Just this morning, I finished watching Fantastic Children.

It was very good. I'd go so far as to say that it's a shame it's never going to break away from being a "fringe" series, because I found it entertaining and the plot was fairly well thought-out. A lot of people are probably going to be turned off by the art or the title before even looking at an episode, and then more will be turned off by the lack of fast-moving action and the fact that it takes a while before the viewer is able to figure out what's actually going on (although this was really part of the fun for me). But while I wouldn't say this is going on my list of favorites, I was still very glad to have bought it, because it was worth the money in my opinion.

Thoughts )

In the end, while I don't think this series would be for everyone, it's a pretty enjoyable watch and I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
silverthunder: (Takumi and Akira - Naughty thoughts)
So, I finished watching Macross Frontier a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty good - decent enough plot, and lots of mecha fighting mixed with song and stage performance. Unfortunately, my set of subs would replace what characters were saying with the translation of the singing in the background in some places, which was kind of irritating. But it still really got you pumped when you were watching the combination of a huge battle with lots of explosions and the performance of a good song.

One of the things I'd heard about this series before watching it was that it had a love triangle (one guy, two girls) which never got any kind of resolution by the end, so I guess you were supposed to just imagine the ending with whichever pairing you preferred. I read into it a bit more, and found that there was supposed to be a resolution, but it was kiboshed at the last minute so that they could squeeze that much more money from viewers in the movie remakes by billing them as "resolving the love triangle". I haven't watched the movies, but I do know which girl "wins" based on triumphant shippers gloating over it, and... well. Let's just say I wasn't surprised, because the series might as well have had a resolution in my opinion. The other half of the triangle just felt completely one-sided.

Spoilerific stuff under cut )

Anyway, the series is really good, and I think most people would probably enjoy it, because the music and the action are pretty awesome.

I'm now about 10 episodes into an anime series called Fantastic Children, which I originally thought was a fantasy-adventure story aimed at kids. Upon watching more than the first couple of episodes, I have come to the realization that this... is most definitely not a kids' show at all. It's pretty good so far, though.
silverthunder: (Avatar - OMGHUGS)
So, besides the fact that I love the game and find it very fun, it turns out there was another good reason to stick with FFXIV so long!

Recently, they announced that all players who have paid to play for 90 days or more between January and the beta for version 2.0 (the re-release, which will redesign a lot of the game) will be paying the discounted rate ($10/month) for as long as the game is still going! The new comparable rate is going to be $15/month, so that's a $5/month saving. And since I plan to continue playing for as long as the game is still going and still fun, this is a pretty awesome deal for me!

Another thing: the Final Fantasy MMORPG games (FFXI and FFXIV) typically give you one character, and you pay extra for each additional character you want to make. This is because FF lets you play every class/job (like warrior, black mage, etc) on one character rather than making you pick only one class for your character like just about every other MMO out there. However, the new pricing system will allow you to make 8 characters per server without any extra charge. So I get to play with character creation more!

There's an option for new players to pay $13/month and only have 1 character per server like before, but I don't know if many people will go for that. For $2 more you get 8, after all. As a legacy player, though, I pay $10 and get 8 characters, so I win either way!

FFXIV is also doing a "welcome back" free trial, so anyone who had a character but is currently deactivated can come back and play for free for 10 days to check out the game and see if they want to pay for 90 days and qualify for the legacy program as mentioned above. I think that's a pretty good idea too, because there's a lot of good stuff in the game now as opposed to back then.

All the details are here: http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/campaign/campaign.html

Things that are still on my to-do list:
- get the last three Moggle weapons (must fight Good King Moogle Mog a bunch more times!)
- challenge and defeat the Aurum Vale (I haven't completed this dungeon yet)
- get the last achievement for Cutter's Cry (need to get all five chests on the way through)
- level weaver and leatherworking, and try to make gil off of them
- put more materia into my gear
- get the rest of my fighting classes to 50, and do the job quests for them

I'll have more on my list after this Thursday as well, because we're getting another patch with more things to do. Garuda fight FTW!
silverthunder: (Ling - XD)
I had to make a post just to say that I am pre-ordering this right now.

I have been waiting patiently for a FMA:B collection, because I knew it would come eventually. And now it's here! (at least, for the first half of the series)

Also debating on possibly buying this and this, despite never having seen them before - just because I am a collector and also because I will want to see them eventually anyway, since they are FMA. We'll see.
silverthunder: (Avatar - Group Hug)
This post is delayed due to the fact that I have been sick, and also the fact that I am a procrastinator.

But yes, I saw The Hunger Games on Saturday night )
silverthunder: (Orphen - Stop the world)
Does anyone by any chance know of a way to keep from closing your mouth while you sleep? Is there anything I can use to keep it propped open just a bit that I won't potentially choke on?

I have cold sores on my lower and upper lips. When I close my mouth, they start to fuse and scab together. When I wake up and have to separate my lips, the sores open. This is keeping them from healing properly. It's making me very frustrated.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.
silverthunder: (Ling - XD)
So last night Cody and I went with a bunch of our friends to do the prerequisites for an endgame boss battle in FFXIV. After we'd done all of that, we decided to try the actual battle. Just to see what it was like, because there was no way we'd be able to beat it with our party setup.

Because we were all tired and having a lot of fun in the chat... the result was this.

So awesome.

Note: my character is Brynne Lagaao. Cody's is Messenjari Ankou.
silverthunder: (Ty Lee - :))
I have gotten really lazy about posting entries... Oh well. My life right now consists of work, cosplay meetings, and Final Fantasy XIV. It's keeping me busy enough.

I am also in the process of reading a series of books recommended to me by [personal profile] yukinoomoni. I think it's referred to as the "Heroes" series by fans, but it doesn't seem like there is a series title. The first book is called "Resenting the Hero", and it is by Moira J. Moore.

I am currently reading book four, so obviously I like the series.

Review under cut )

Overall, what would I say about this series? It's good. The plot is solid, the characters are fun, the world is interesting and well-crafted, and there is a strong narrative.

Highly recommended!
silverthunder: (Orphen - Stop the world)
This is a very informative video about ACTA.

Another article with more information about ACTA can be found here.

This is the only petition I have seen against it.
silverthunder: (Sokka - Stop looking at me!)
I went and saw the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie today with my parents and one of my sisters. I was the only person in our group who hadn't yet read the book. After the movie was over, and we were out in the theater lobby, my sister asked me if seeing the movie made me want to read the book.

My answer is cut for spoilers )

This is probably one of the many reasons why, if I were to ever try to get a story published, it would never be mainstream adult-oriented fiction.
silverthunder: (Ling - XD)
Cody and I hosted a fantastic New Years party last night with some great friends. Good times were had by all, so it was a success! Quiz, of course, stayed well away from the activity, but Hunter was in his element and got lots of attention (and tidbits).

2011 has been a year full of ups and downs. I'm sure I could go through my journal and pinpoint some key moments, but I don't think I will bother. I did notice that last year I didn't post any New Year's resolutions.

This year I will.

I was thinking about it a bit, and was considering making one of my goals 'weight loss', but then I decided that, y'know what, that's not really the important thing. The thing about losing weight was that it made me feel better about myself, and that's really the result I want. So this year I am resolving to improve my self-image and become happier with myself. I may have to make some improvements in my lifestyle to achieve this, and it's probably a goal that cannot be accomplished in only a year, but I believe it is worthwhile.

I'm also going to try and resolve to write more. Ehe... We'll see how that goes. But I would really like to finish either Game Over or Piece of a Legend - or both.

Holidays

Dec. 28th, 2011 08:27 am
silverthunder: (Ty Lee - :))
Here's hoping everyone had a good holiday! Mine was really busy, but overall pretty good. We had three turkey dinners in a row; one at my parents' house, one at Cody's parents' house, and one at Cody's grandmother's house. Then the next night we went out for burgers and a movie (the new Sherlock Holmes - which was fantastic, by the way).

Cody got me a newly released Fullmetal Alchemist figure. It is Ed, and he comes with two different expressions (cocky and cynical), two different automail arms (with blade and without), two different torsos (shirt on or halfway ripped off), and a detachable ripped cloak. It is epic and awesome. I will be setting that up soon.

This is what it looks like.

I got Cody two figures of bikini-clad anime girls, but neither one is as awesome as the one he got me. That's probably because neither of them are Ed. Too bad for them. I also got him a game (Lost in Blue 2), so hopefully that makes up for the lack of awesome.

Today I'm back to work and back to working out. My bridesmaid dress fit perfectly last Thursday, so I have to shake off the holiday weight in the two and a half weeks before my sister's wedding. I'm feeling pretty confidant, though.

DW!

Dec. 23rd, 2011 08:57 am
silverthunder: (Killua - Meow)
So, my first official Dreamwidth post! This site is actually really nice to work with. I've joined a few communities (they are pretty sparse right now, but I think once DW has implemented their community import feature, that will start to change) and friended a few people who have migrated or who have been here all along.

I'm feeling fairly positive about this place. Not totally leaving LJ yet (too many friends and communities still there), but I'm I'm thinking I might upgrade to a paid account and start making this my main journal. I want to wait until the holidays are over before making that decision, though, because I don't want it to be based on a knee-jerk reaction.
silverthunder: (Sokka - WHAAAAAT?)
Okay. Not sure if this is true or not, but I recommend that anyone who has made payments to LJ in the past but since turned auto-renew off check their settings and make sure it hasn't been inadvertently turned back on.

This may be a hoax or just someone being paranoid, but it doesn't hurt to be careful!

Dreamwidth

Dec. 21st, 2011 09:28 pm
silverthunder: (Howard - My fandom is straight. Really.)
For anyone who is annoyed with the latest LJ fuck-up, right now Dreamwidth is offering free memberships that don't require codes (I think this will last until the end of December).

I've created myself a free journal (http://silverthunder.dreamwidth.org) and did some puttering around. The interface seems nice and simple and friendly. You can even import your current journal to their site, including all userpics, tags, and custom friends groups. They also give you the option to crosspost any entries you post there to LiveJournal (this is convenient if you have friends who don't want to move).

Best of all, they are ad-free, using the old user-based model that LiveJournal used to have! This is looking awfully tempting to me. I might even subscribe as a full paid user and start making all of my posts from there. We'll see how I feel in the next week or so.

If anyone else on my FL makes an account, please let me know your username - or drop by and friend me if you prefer.
silverthunder: (Howard - Frazzled)
Haven't been posting much lately. Work has been stressful because it's vacation time and thus there is a lot of scrambling around trying to get things done or just make sure those of us not going on vacation are going to get things done while the others are away. If I had no conscience, I would probably take a last minute vacation for all of this coming week, because it is going to suck mightily.

It really doesn't feel like Christmas yet. I have all of my shopping done, but it's felt like even more of a pain than usual, and I have been forgetting all kinds of small things and stressing out over it, and just generally feeling worn out. I'm... mainly just looking forward to the time off. At this point, I'd almost rather spend it hiding out at home than doing any kind of celebrating.

Hopefully on Friday I'll be more in the mood. Hopefully. We'll see.

Anyway, to break away from all of the doom and gloom above, I want to say happy birthday to [livejournal.com profile] catia, because I forgot yesterday... Hope your day was awesome!

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