In which I don't shut up.
Books!
So. Recently ripped through several book sequels. I want to talk about them :|
Blood Bound (sequel to Moon Called; second book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs)
I think I can safely say I like this series (if not the covers). It's set in Tri-Cities, which makes me laugh. Dad asked what I was reading and I showed him the map in the front of the book. Deeply amusing. But yes. Fun book. Entertaining, not too much "OH YEAH WELL I AM LEVEL NINE BILLION AND THREE!!!11oneeleventysix" super-powering the characters into a corner, which LKH fell into/ran into with open arms/invented/slobbered over. Just some fun foreshadowing that the author has been very good about so far. I will happily read the third book in this series as soon as it comes out. :3
Stolen (sequel to Bitten; second book in the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong)
This series is a little more shaky. I like it so far, but it's reading like masturbatory exploratory fiction. I've got nothing against that, but the problem is...I've already read it. In fanfiction. I swear, I 've read the plot of Stolen as a Gundam Wing fic years and years ago. And a powerful, unique, yet vulnerable woman with a super dangerous/famous/handsome boyfriend who will do anything for her? Yeeeah. I think we've all read that before. But Kelley Armstrong does a good job listening to her fans and keeping my attention. I've got the third book in this series coming from BookMooch and I have heard very positive things about the later books. I do hope that there's a bit more...clear consent and a bit less God Mode in the later books. :|
Fire Me Up (sequel to You Slay Me; second book in the Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister)
This series is romance novel territory. Aisling is your typical bumbling, good-hearted, sexy-but-doesn't-think-she-is-because-only-sluts-think-that, flighty, idiotic, "I'm a modern independent career woman!"-type heroine. Drake is your typical otherworldly, possessive, super masculine love interest. Aisling breaks up and gets back together with Drake a lot. It's kind of boring. The mysteries never unravel the way I think they will in the middle of the book, but always unravel the way I think they will by the last third of the book. :| I think I'm only reading these for Jim, now. Hee. Jim is awesome.
Fool Moon, Grave Peril, and Summer Knight (sequels to Storm Front; second, third, and fourth books in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher)
First off, I am deeply worried by Harry Dresden's behaviour towards women. He acts almost like a "nice guy", a guy who thinks he's a nice guy but is actually creepy, slimy, icky, disturbing, etc, because they're socially retarded and don't understand how to deal with regular human people. He's a few actions away from me wanting to punch him in the face. Stop talking about chivalry, what it really means to most feminists is "Look, I'm reaffirming the patriarchy. Here I am, treating you as if you were a possession I place on a high pedestal, doesn't that make you content you silly little woman?" Stop wanting to protect every female in sight who coos "Oh, I'm in such trouble. Can't you help me?" at you and bats her eyelashes under her blonde hair, then shows off her perfect legs. (WHY DOES EVERY WOMAN IN THIS SERIES HAVE PERFECT LEGS? >_o) The actual relationships I am fine with, he seems to be okay there. The action scenes are good, although he has a tendency to work himself to death and then beyond and and apparently recovers fully in-between books. :| But they are also entertaining and drop popular culture hints which make me laugh. Overall, I think I might like Wraith Squadron more, but I'll keep following the Dresden Files in the hopes that Harry will grow up.
Now that I've outed myself as a total nerd, here's a distraction!
I REALLY HATE LINGUINE NOODLES. Seriously. They're disgusting. I can't stand them.
=D
I love apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil rinses. My hair loves them too. So awesome. ♥ Two tablespoons of ACV and a few drops of tea tree oil in four cups of water, soak most of my hair in it for a little bit, then dump it over my head a few times. Keeping my eyes shut very tightly, of course. That stuff stings! >_o
Makes my hair all smooth and shiny and soft! And makes it smell...very interesting. Faintly of the conditioner (which I use afterward) and nothing else. Dad says it smells clean and a little conditioner-y. You can't smell the tea tree oil or the shampoo at all. Vinegar is quite an amazing substance. =o
I am considering writing my first analytical research paper for English 102 on 4chan memes. Seriously considering. It's an American Popular Culture English 102 class. I asked him and he said websites counted. It's only a two or three page paper. I could probably do that much on something even more wildly appropriate, but I'm having trouble thinking of something. =D
Sooooo, I've been playing a lot of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja lately. It is extremely...subtextual. In all the best ways. Except for poor Hinata. Oh, sweetheart. ♥ Her change area voiceclip is "Stay back!" while most everyone else's is "I'm taking this to a new location!" or "Time for a change of pace!". During one of her special moves, she apologizes for hitting the enemy. Will and I grumble at the screen every time! Hinata! Don't apologize! Nobody else apologizes! Sasuke's downright mean with his, especially Cursed Seal Sasuke.
The English voices provide SO MUCH LOL. Seriously. I can do all of Naruto's speech. Ready? "(incoherent shouting) BELIEVE IT!" And Kyuubi!Naruto is even better! All he says is "GRAAH!" or "GRR!". It's hilarious! EVERYONE pronounces jutsu as 'jew-tsew', which ticks me off to no end. "A Thousand Years of Pain" has turned into "A Thousand Years of Death" which just doesn't make any sense, but Kakashi will attempt to perform it EVERY CHANCE HE GETS which is really, really funny, especially when he catches Gaara with it. Gaara, by the way, is downright batshit crazy. The only person who sounds creepier than him is Zabuza, who just sounds like he wants Haku's babies.
OH! The ending for Zabuza and Haku? Both campaign quest whatevers? Uh. Basically goes like this.
Haku: Oh, hay, we made it to Leaf. Yay for us!
Zabuza: HAKU I DON'T NEED YOU AS A WEAPON
Haku: o_O
(awkward pause)
Haku: *sniffs* R-really? *clearly about ready to burst into anguished sobs*
Zabuza: I...I need you as a person.
Haku: *sparkly shoujo flowers appear and he does his ^_^ face* Aww, I ♥ you too, you idiot!
...yes, we laughed hard. And either Kakashi's or Naruto's ending has Kakashi and Iruka chatting like an old married couple about how proud they are of their kids. It's adorable. Anyway. According to this game, Neji is a total asshole, Gaara is bugfuck crazy, Orochimaru is some kind of demented fruitcake, Hinata is terrified of everything except Naruto, Haku is a girl, Zabuza has problems expressing himself and a weird obsession with body parts, Naruto is a total idiot and shouts BELIEVE IT a lot, Sasuke is gay for his brother and also kind of a jerk, Sakura is brilliant but trapped in a stereotypical female role (For her storyline? When she fights Haku? It's because he's prettier than her.), Kakashi has a serious anal fixation, Kyuubi!Naruto communicates entirely by grunting angrily, Curse Seal!Sasuke is a total jerk, Lee is actually totally badass, and Shikamaru is useless. I probably forgot someone there. Oh well.
The support characters are super fun, if occasionally wildly out of character. (Sakura's support characters are Kakashi and Sasuke. When Sasuke shows up, he actually yells supportive things and says stuff like "Go Sakura! Don't let yourself lose to someone like that!" and uh, it's really weird.) Gai is either hilarious or obnoxious, depending on if he's supporting your character or not. (GAH I HATE DYNAMIC ENTRY SO MUCH) Haku and Zabuza are each other's support characters, which makes it...really...really weird to have them fight each other, because then you have two Haku's and two Zabuza's on the screen and you get situations like player!Haku beating the crap out of player!Zabuza while support!Haku says "Is there anything you need? You should not lose, Zabuza!" All support!Zabuza says is "Haku." in this really weird creepy growly voice which freaks me out.
Oh, and during Zabuza's storyline, he calls Naruto "cute" (Something like "Oh, look! Headbands! How cute, you're playing ninja.") and that was one of the most terrifying things I've ever heard. Ever. WTF is with that guy's voice?
ALSO, I TALK A LOT.
BUT I SAY NOTHING.
GO FIGURE.
:|
ps. Will and I have come to the conclusion that we could recognize Crispin Freeman's voice under absolutely any condition, including complete and total deafness.
pps. I have a doctor's appointment this Friday to talk about birth control and to get my second Gardasil shot. Supposed to go in today for that second one, but, uh, I forgot. =P
I really hope I can find a good way to control my hormones. Wish me luck?
So. Recently ripped through several book sequels. I want to talk about them :|
Blood Bound (sequel to Moon Called; second book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs)
I think I can safely say I like this series (if not the covers). It's set in Tri-Cities, which makes me laugh. Dad asked what I was reading and I showed him the map in the front of the book. Deeply amusing. But yes. Fun book. Entertaining, not too much "OH YEAH WELL I AM LEVEL NINE BILLION AND THREE!!!11oneeleventysix" super-powering the characters into a corner, which LKH fell into/ran into with open arms/invented/slobbered over. Just some fun foreshadowing that the author has been very good about so far. I will happily read the third book in this series as soon as it comes out. :3
Stolen (sequel to Bitten; second book in the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong)
This series is a little more shaky. I like it so far, but it's reading like masturbatory exploratory fiction. I've got nothing against that, but the problem is...I've already read it. In fanfiction. I swear, I 've read the plot of Stolen as a Gundam Wing fic years and years ago. And a powerful, unique, yet vulnerable woman with a super dangerous/famous/handsome boyfriend who will do anything for her? Yeeeah. I think we've all read that before. But Kelley Armstrong does a good job listening to her fans and keeping my attention. I've got the third book in this series coming from BookMooch and I have heard very positive things about the later books. I do hope that there's a bit more...clear consent and a bit less God Mode in the later books. :|
Fire Me Up (sequel to You Slay Me; second book in the Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister)
This series is romance novel territory. Aisling is your typical bumbling, good-hearted, sexy-but-doesn't-think-she-is-because-only-sluts-think-that, flighty, idiotic, "I'm a modern independent career woman!"-type heroine. Drake is your typical otherworldly, possessive, super masculine love interest. Aisling breaks up and gets back together with Drake a lot. It's kind of boring. The mysteries never unravel the way I think they will in the middle of the book, but always unravel the way I think they will by the last third of the book. :| I think I'm only reading these for Jim, now. Hee. Jim is awesome.
Fool Moon, Grave Peril, and Summer Knight (sequels to Storm Front; second, third, and fourth books in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher)
First off, I am deeply worried by Harry Dresden's behaviour towards women. He acts almost like a "nice guy", a guy who thinks he's a nice guy but is actually creepy, slimy, icky, disturbing, etc, because they're socially retarded and don't understand how to deal with regular human people. He's a few actions away from me wanting to punch him in the face. Stop talking about chivalry, what it really means to most feminists is "Look, I'm reaffirming the patriarchy. Here I am, treating you as if you were a possession I place on a high pedestal, doesn't that make you content you silly little woman?" Stop wanting to protect every female in sight who coos "Oh, I'm in such trouble. Can't you help me?" at you and bats her eyelashes under her blonde hair, then shows off her perfect legs. (WHY DOES EVERY WOMAN IN THIS SERIES HAVE PERFECT LEGS? >_o) The actual relationships I am fine with, he seems to be okay there. The action scenes are good, although he has a tendency to work himself to death and then beyond and and apparently recovers fully in-between books. :| But they are also entertaining and drop popular culture hints which make me laugh. Overall, I think I might like Wraith Squadron more, but I'll keep following the Dresden Files in the hopes that Harry will grow up.
Now that I've outed myself as a total nerd, here's a distraction!
I REALLY HATE LINGUINE NOODLES. Seriously. They're disgusting. I can't stand them.
=D
I love apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil rinses. My hair loves them too. So awesome. ♥ Two tablespoons of ACV and a few drops of tea tree oil in four cups of water, soak most of my hair in it for a little bit, then dump it over my head a few times. Keeping my eyes shut very tightly, of course. That stuff stings! >_o
Makes my hair all smooth and shiny and soft! And makes it smell...very interesting. Faintly of the conditioner (which I use afterward) and nothing else. Dad says it smells clean and a little conditioner-y. You can't smell the tea tree oil or the shampoo at all. Vinegar is quite an amazing substance. =o
I am considering writing my first analytical research paper for English 102 on 4chan memes. Seriously considering. It's an American Popular Culture English 102 class. I asked him and he said websites counted. It's only a two or three page paper. I could probably do that much on something even more wildly appropriate, but I'm having trouble thinking of something. =D
Sooooo, I've been playing a lot of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja lately. It is extremely...subtextual. In all the best ways. Except for poor Hinata. Oh, sweetheart. ♥ Her change area voiceclip is "Stay back!" while most everyone else's is "I'm taking this to a new location!" or "Time for a change of pace!". During one of her special moves, she apologizes for hitting the enemy. Will and I grumble at the screen every time! Hinata! Don't apologize! Nobody else apologizes! Sasuke's downright mean with his, especially Cursed Seal Sasuke.
The English voices provide SO MUCH LOL. Seriously. I can do all of Naruto's speech. Ready? "(incoherent shouting) BELIEVE IT!" And Kyuubi!Naruto is even better! All he says is "GRAAH!" or "GRR!". It's hilarious! EVERYONE pronounces jutsu as 'jew-tsew', which ticks me off to no end. "A Thousand Years of Pain" has turned into "A Thousand Years of Death" which just doesn't make any sense, but Kakashi will attempt to perform it EVERY CHANCE HE GETS which is really, really funny, especially when he catches Gaara with it. Gaara, by the way, is downright batshit crazy. The only person who sounds creepier than him is Zabuza, who just sounds like he wants Haku's babies.
OH! The ending for Zabuza and Haku? Both campaign quest whatevers? Uh. Basically goes like this.
Haku: Oh, hay, we made it to Leaf. Yay for us!
Zabuza: HAKU I DON'T NEED YOU AS A WEAPON
Haku: o_O
(awkward pause)
Haku: *sniffs* R-really? *clearly about ready to burst into anguished sobs*
Zabuza: I...I need you as a person.
Haku: *sparkly shoujo flowers appear and he does his ^_^ face* Aww, I ♥ you too, you idiot!
...yes, we laughed hard. And either Kakashi's or Naruto's ending has Kakashi and Iruka chatting like an old married couple about how proud they are of their kids. It's adorable. Anyway. According to this game, Neji is a total asshole, Gaara is bugfuck crazy, Orochimaru is some kind of demented fruitcake, Hinata is terrified of everything except Naruto, Haku is a girl, Zabuza has problems expressing himself and a weird obsession with body parts, Naruto is a total idiot and shouts BELIEVE IT a lot, Sasuke is gay for his brother and also kind of a jerk, Sakura is brilliant but trapped in a stereotypical female role (For her storyline? When she fights Haku? It's because he's prettier than her.), Kakashi has a serious anal fixation, Kyuubi!Naruto communicates entirely by grunting angrily, Curse Seal!Sasuke is a total jerk, Lee is actually totally badass, and Shikamaru is useless. I probably forgot someone there. Oh well.
The support characters are super fun, if occasionally wildly out of character. (Sakura's support characters are Kakashi and Sasuke. When Sasuke shows up, he actually yells supportive things and says stuff like "Go Sakura! Don't let yourself lose to someone like that!" and uh, it's really weird.) Gai is either hilarious or obnoxious, depending on if he's supporting your character or not. (GAH I HATE DYNAMIC ENTRY SO MUCH) Haku and Zabuza are each other's support characters, which makes it...really...really weird to have them fight each other, because then you have two Haku's and two Zabuza's on the screen and you get situations like player!Haku beating the crap out of player!Zabuza while support!Haku says "Is there anything you need? You should not lose, Zabuza!" All support!Zabuza says is "Haku." in this really weird creepy growly voice which freaks me out.
Oh, and during Zabuza's storyline, he calls Naruto "cute" (Something like "Oh, look! Headbands! How cute, you're playing ninja.") and that was one of the most terrifying things I've ever heard. Ever. WTF is with that guy's voice?
ALSO, I TALK A LOT.
BUT I SAY NOTHING.
GO FIGURE.
:|
ps. Will and I have come to the conclusion that we could recognize Crispin Freeman's voice under absolutely any condition, including complete and total deafness.
pps. I have a doctor's appointment this Friday to talk about birth control and to get my second Gardasil shot. Supposed to go in today for that second one, but, uh, I forgot. =P
I really hope I can find a good way to control my hormones. Wish me luck?