Completely random things

[demoerin]

(One of those times when there are random thoughts that don't make a coherent post, but I want to get them out anyway.)

After my computer playlist went on a Disney streak:

1. A line from "Prince Ali" in Aladdin: "Just try your best to stay calm/Brush up your Sunday salaam."

your Sunday salaamREALLY. REALLY? It's amazing how words can

Comments

[thelovemafia]

re. the 5th book: I was just talking about this last night! Since the first book came out in 1996 and there have been 4- and 6-year gaps between the Thief Books (source) since then, the earliest we can expect Book 5 (from past experience) appears to be 2014.

But we know it'll be worth it - every day of the wait, and every word of the book - when it arrives. I read an interview (don't have the link at the moment, I'm afraid), in which she said that there were going to be at least two more books in the series.

[demoerin]

2014 is turning out to be a very promising year. Discworld Disney film, World Cup, more Queen's Thief! Thanks for the info. ♥ Two more books yessssss

[demoerin]

* Well, hopefully more Queen's Thief.

[thelovemafia]

I am shy but must say I am with you on Be Prepared being better. I think it's the quintessential Disney Villain song! Poor Unfortunate Souls has this note of mock-pity that Be Prepared doesn't. I mean, why pretend to even be concerned about the welfare of others (who you have crushed under your thumb)? Be unashamed and bold and OUT TO CONQUER THE WORLD!- which is what Be Prepared does for me.

[demoerin]

Copying from my reply to aramis_chan: "Be Prepared" has one line that makes it 2nd place for me - "when I'm seen for the wonder I am!" Oh, and also "When at last I am given my dues". Which just makes the supervillainy sound like Scar needs a gold star and he'll actually feel better.

That's so sad! Whereas Ursula is down with her motives and just taking care of business, preying on the miserable, lonely, and oppressed. (PATHETIC POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS--) ...Also, I can't stop singing it now that I've heard it, that counts for a lot. The mock pity is functional!

in which I reply to your comments to other people, to you:

[thelovemafia]

to your comment here: hee! I get your feelings re. the deification of Gen! He's my favourite and even so I think it is a bit much! But I find it interesting to see Attolia is your favourite! She's... I confess, not really my type, and I never really warmed to her. But I find your thoughts fascinating. ♥ Because of that, I can't really get into the Gen/Irene (though privately I refer to it as "Attolia/Gen", because THAT IS HOW IT GOES DOWN, IN MY HEAD).

I love Costis, he is hilarious, especially with Gen! SO I SHIP IT FOR THE LOLS AND BECAUSE I LOVE IT. Nobody else I know does, everybody I know is all over the Gen/Irene (NOOO ATTOLIA/GEN). There was a girl I know who sort of ships Costis/Aris, but then she ships pretty much everything in the series.

to your comment here: I GOTTA SING ABOUT MY FEELINGS: Hee! I thought those lines were particularly appropriate because it's all about I AM GREAT AND WONDERFUL AND ALL SHALL LOVE ME AND DESPAIR!!!. I thought the dues bit fit Scar because he's all about OH HOW I AM OVERLOOKED AND

[redbrunja]

Mostly, I'd be completely unable to take it if it were possible to say "The thief of Eddis stole Attolia's virginity".

*facepalm* Oh sweet lord that sounds so terrible. And yes, there are some Eddisians who would totally make that joke. However, I kind of can't imagine Attolia having sex before Gen, simply because Attolia is so firmly self-contained and has such self-protective walls that just ..can't imagine it. PLUS, I JUST WANT HER FIRST TIME TO BE WITH SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT HER BECAUSE ATTOLIA TOTALLY DOESN'T BELIEVE ANYONE EVER COULD.

Oh that subject, though, your opinion on Gen's virginity?

[thelovemafia]

simply because Attolia is so firmly self-contained and has such self-protective walls that just ..can't imagine it.
Yes and a thousand times yes.

And I too would like her opinion on Gen's virginity. I vote for "He lost it before he fell in love with Attolia, and after that, there was no one until her." Okay, I confess I'm being a little facetious, but: I genuinely can see it happening that way!

[demoerin]

"He lost it before he fell in love with Attolia, and after that, there was no one until her."
This works for me!

[redbrunja]

I vote for "He lost it before he fell in love with Attolia, and after that, there was no one until her." Okay, I confess I'm being a little facetious, but: I genuinely can see it happening that way!

...but he saw her at, like, twelve, and then never mentioned anyone else, so I'm going with both of them being virgins until they married. Which is usually a trope I hate, but with them, it works.

HI. :D

[thelovemafia]

I vote the most shocking plot twist as: GOKUDERA GETS OVER HIS PATHOLOGICAL THING AGAINST WOMEN (that sort of is in the same category as "Gokudera gets het"). I am actually not sure this really applies to S.P. as he thinks she's an ALIEN. BUT I WILL TAKE WHAT I GET.

I was actually deeply unsurprised by Rasiel, actually. More disappointed: Oh Amano what a cheap plot trick.

I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THE THIEF SERIES AT DINNER LAST NIGHT AND HERE YOU ARE, HAVING FINISHED KING OF ATTOLIA. What are your thoughts on Costis, actually? I am curious.

I can actually imagine Attolia never sleeping with anybody ever (except Gen, actually). Did she poison Husband #1 on her wedding night (and thus escaped from having to actually sleep with him)?

re. Attolia sleeping with people: I can concievably imagine Attolia never ever allowing anyone to have that power over her; and I can imagine her, in her infinite pragmatism, regarding sex as a necessary tool in the political game. But I lean towards the first view. I don't imagine her being the sort

Re: HI. :D

[demoerin]

I vote the most shocking plot twist as: GOKUDERA GETS OVER HIS PATHOLOGICAL THING AGAINST WOMEN (that sort of is in the same category as "Gokudera gets het").
He doesn't have a pathological thing against women! He just mostly doesn't notice them. There was one time in Daily Life arc, with the "double date" with Longchamp where he thought a girl was rather cute (I too was shocked! But then, Daily Life, it was mostly for lols), and he enjoyed Lal Mirch's naked bod as much as he was shocked at seeing it.

I am actually not sure this really applies to S.P. as he thinks she's an ALIEN. BUT I WILL TAKE WHAT I GET.
He's clarified his classification of Shitt P as "female UMA", so that's an even firmer indication that he might not object to the ladies! I do love that the people who reference the "poll" part of this post are leaning towards the Gokudera option. XD

I was actually deeply unsurprised by Rasiel, actually. More disappointed: Oh Amano what a cheap plot trick.I was SO CONFUSED I couldn't find it a cheap trick, though I should have.

Re: HI. :D

[thelovemafia]

Hmm! From the Daily Life arc I really got this misogynist vibe from Gokudera. He really disliked Haru (didn't he call her stupid woman all the time? or was that a bad translation?) and he was allergic to Bianchi (that is explainable as the poisoning-him-all-the-time thing). He was fine with Tsuna's mommy and Kyoko but I relate that to the "All things about Tenth are wonderful" (save recent manga developments in which he went "I am aware of all the Tenth's faults, but what I admire about him is a totally different thing!")

But he was mostly fine in the Future Arc and then on.

re. S.P.: Heh, I think I put more weight on the UMA bit than the FEMALE. And yes, we were all shocked by 59 (faster to type than the real name!) het!

It went so far into the realm of cliché that it came back and was shocking.
YES! IN THE REALM OF CLICHE! Marked with a big X.

I LOVE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COSTIS. THEY MAKE ME HAPPY. :D

He is a big lump of dim and honourable and snarky and I LOVE HIM.Yes, exactly! Tvtropes describes him as Lawful Stupid and I

Re: HI. :D

[demoerin]

You're right, the "stupid woman" thing he pulls on Haru is misogynist. I think I was lenient because he's insulting to everyone in Daily Life, but he definitely does harp on her being a woman. At least the one time he pays attention to Kyoko (when she was going "cute kid!" when he got blasted with the Ten-Year Bazooka), he simply threatened to blow her up like he does everyone else? But yeah, going "stupid woman" half the time, and having little positive to do with women, I can see how the misogynist vibe could come across. I don't think he's that bad about it, especially, as you say, he mellows out in the Future Arc.

Heh, I think I put more weight on the UMA bit than the FEMALE.Fair enough, so does Gokudera. XD

[reidluver]

Hmm, hard but I think "The robot ate an old dude GASP" and "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHOICHI HAS BEEN ON THEIR SIDE ALL ALONG" were the most surprising for me.

I remember just staring at the screen when the Ninth fell out of that robot in absolute shock. (and remember Xanxus's lack of pupils? Probably one of the scarier sights of KHR)

And with Shouichi, him being on their side just amazed me. He did a good job at seeming like he was an enemy. Or perhaps it's my inability and wish to not speculate. I like to be surprised and that's part of the reason Amano's work amazes me. It's original and unique! And it's not like there are surprises every turn to the point where it gets annoying.

[demoerin]

I was spoiled for the Ninth being in Gola Mosca, but I can imagine it must have been shocking. (I think I only found Xanxus scary around the beginning of the Varia arc, though. After that he turned out to be such a jerk that I could only feel annoyance. He's such a jerk!)

But Shoichi, that FREAKED ME OUT. And most of LJ fandom, as far as I could tell, so at least you're not alone. I actually started yelling at the screen at that reveal. Shoichi seemed like he'd eventually go to the Vongola side - there was a hint that he didn't like the Millefiore in how often he ditched his jacket with the communicator in it - but that he was a double agent was shocking.

I like Amano's surprises too. There's usually a great mix of their being wildly unexpected, but fitting with the storyline.

[reidluver]

Oh you were? That's kind of sad. I like being surprised! Though I do admit I was spoiled for Chrome. It took me a while to actually read KHR. I think I randomly started reading it one day out of boredom, but I didn't get much further than a few chapters because the Daily Life Arc was so odd, but I knew that I liked the character of Gokudera. Then I would run across some KHR stuff and I kept seeing all this stuff about a girl named Chrome and saw that she was connected to Mukuro in a way. Then I was bored again one day and do a little research on KHR because I wanted to learn more about Gokudera, saw that the Koukyo Arc was supposed to be really interesting, watched the anime for that portion, then decided that what the heck I'll just go and read the manga

[demoerin]

That's kind of sad. I like being surprised!
Same. I tend to dislike spoilers, but it was pretty much my own fault for wandering around fandom when I knew a lot of people had read further in the manga than I had. So it goes.

Gokudera grabbed me from the get-go too - he was like two thirds of my reason for continuing to read. But wow, was I happy when Kokuyo Arc came around and the manga got its direction. The fluffy happy Daily Life Arc is a good contrasting intro to the sudden violence of Kokuyo, but it went on way too long.

I read all 292 chapters in four days.
That's downright impressive. I imagine you looking like someone who'd just run a marathon, after all that. XD

SHOICHI IS SO GREAT. I LOVE HIM. Hopefully he and Spanner get page-time soon! And I always figured he'd be back, because the chapter he appeared in during the Daily Life arc was named after him, and all the other "chapter name" characters were recurring ones - and then he returned as some dude who decimated the Vongola. Seriously, Amano's twists can be awesome