Top Beautiful and Cool Pokemon lists.

In these lists I don't usually count starters because often their third form is really beautiful and/or tough. It would take up too much space. Also, I am judging by appearance mostly, not really by stats etc.

Most beautiful Pokemon so far:

1) Ninetails. Top o' my list.

2) Milotic, of course. Famous for its beauty.

3) The legendary birds, all of them. Especially Moltres and Articuno are the prettiest. Lugia is a bit weird-looking but fairly beautiful I suppose.

4) Zoroark is quite darkly beautiful. Flowing fur and so on.

5) Dewgong is quite beautiful and graceful, white and sleek.

6) So is Dragonair, shapely and sinuous.

7) Rapidash and Arcanine are quite beautiful. Can't choose between them...

8) Persian is quite beautiful, even though a lot of the others may make it seem plain.

9) Altaria! So pretty.

10) Absol. Beauty and grace.

Honourable mentions: Beautifly, Bellossom. Linoone, Mightyena. I could go on. Oh, Lapras is quite beautiful in a weird way. Ok ok I'm done for now. Hope I didn't forget anyone...

Coolest/Toughest Pokemon ever so far:

1) Rayquaza. Apparently has best stats ever.

2) Dialga. Palkia is sort of like under it in terms of looking original. Dialga looks less clumsy.

3) Groudon. Cross between a transformer and godzilla. So cool.

4) Kyogre. Looks slightly more graceful than Groudon, but I think Groudon looks a tad tougher.

5) Legendary cats... I love Suiciune the most but I guess Entei looks the toughest out of the three, then Raikou. Suicune looks a bit too sleek.

6) Zoroark, beauty and coolness. Foxy!

7) A non-legend/non-event Pokemon (sort of), Lucario. Cool and cute.

8) I love, love love the black dragon and white dragon! But I slightly prefer Reshiram to Zekrom.

9) Giratina. Hard to catch! But kinda cool looking. Nice exoskeleton, dude.

10) I like Heatran. It's almost cute. I like the hissy noise it makes. Hehe! But it was a bit hard to catch.

Honourable mentions: Mew and MewTwo. They seemed cool at first, but they have sadly been eclipsed by scarier looking 'mon as the time has gone by. Also, Kyurem is cool but its wings fail to impress. There are a lot of non-legends which look tough as well, like most of the Rock and Fighting types (and Flygon, and Zangoose, and I could go on) but I chose the ones I think look the strongest or coolest of all. Btw LOVE Wailord! That thing is freakin' HUGE! Like a dinosaur crossed with a spaceship! Love it and don't know why. Oh yeah, Gyrados kicks ass. Awesome, especially the red one. SO cool.

Deoxys looks like a weird monkey robot and Latios and Latias make me feel vaguely perplexed and irritated. Weird aeroplane cousins of Togekiss... And the three legends Mesprit, Uxie and whatever-the-other-one-is-called are more cute than cool. All of the Regis are too clunky lookin'.

Ok I'm done criticising. I'm going for a walk. The sun is out for once.

Top ten cute Pokemon

List of my top ten cute Pokemon.

I will not count starters or Pikachu (too obvious). Also Emolga is kinda crap, it's like a flying cross between Pikachu and Pachirisu (who will never be as cool as Pikachu, btw!).

But I must just say that Pikachu and all it's forms and Marill and all of it's forms are all excellent examples of how cute Pokemon can stay cute when they evolve.

So my top ten faves for pure cuteness (first, and then strength in battle as a secondary consideration) are:

1) Jirachi. I just love it, even though I have not yet been able to obtain one... are they strong? Maybe not. But who cares...<3!

2) I used to love Mew, but now I'm kinda meh. So I will replace Mew with... Celebii, I love Celebii. So sweet looking. And powerful, right? Forgive my fickle heart, dear Mew.

3) Cutest plant type for me so far ever... is Whimsicott. I don't know why exactly. Probably because it resembles a sheep. I love sheep-ish critters except for in real life because I have been attacked by a sheep and it is not fun at all.

4) I seem to love Normal types even though they are generally quite weak. But the plus side is that they also often have the Pick Up ability which RULES. So my fave Normal type ever is Zigzagoon and then I like Furret.

5) Then comes Clefairy. I have always loved it, and I really enjoy playing the Clefairy game in Diamond/Pearl, I think it is. Can give or take it's pre-evo and evo though.

6) Out of all Water types, (not counting Marill and evos) I think Finneon is my fave. I just can't help but like it for whatever reason. I also like Chimecho... can't decide. Ok Finneon only just wins.

7) And yes, because of my sheepish love, I do like having a Mareep (and all of it's other forms). I suppose besides the obvious Pikachu, Mareep is my fave Electric type.

8) My all-time fave Bug type is Surskit, always. SO CUTE!

9) Oh my, Minccino. SO CUTE! Cleaning each other with their tails... oh, I could melt. As a cleaner, it would be a wonderful helper for me at work.

10) Kinda want a Shaymin. But this space can go to... Eevee. My all-time fave, and all of it's evolutions.

And honourable mention goes to:

Victini (just a bit too cute to go on the list, so obvious), Vulpix, and Keldeo! I couldn't get one so I don't know how good they are, but it sure is cute. I'm pretty sure that hey are stronger than earlier event Pokemon. I like it because it looks a lot like a My Little Pony toy. But I'm sure it is better.

Speaking of that... I actually found I enjoyed watching the new MLP Friendship is Magic TV show. The animation was quite good even though it played a bit to stereotypes, especially with Applejack. My sadness comes with the knowledge that we don't have this show in my country (yet!). So I have to watch it however I can.

One thing I did not like was the new Strawberry Shortcake series. It's ok, but not as good as the original somehow. Less depth to the plot and all the girls look too similar. It is good to have as a comparison though.

The new Care Bears show is so-so but I never could like them as much as Strawberry Shortcake and my Little Ponies.

I used to have a seahorse Pony called 'Tiny Bubbles'. She was blue and had wings and a seahorse tail. I lost her because I left her in a dairy by accident and when I came back a few minutes later, the shopkeeper said he never saw her. 'Til this day I regret losing her. I am sure he stole it for his daughter... Wow, that's unfair of me, but if it wasn't him who stole her it was some damn kid. Jerks!

Also I miss my Peach (I can't remember her official name) palamino My Little Pony (I kept her for years even though some kid ripped out a lot of her mane) and my orange Popple called Puzzle. I had a yellow Popple called Potato Chip as well and I miss her too. I regret getting rid of or losing these toys. I think I sold them when I was a teen, because I thought it was bad to keep them. Now I know better, of course.

I also had some dolls called 'wee wild things' that nobody else remembers but they were so cute. I fought with my little sister over them because she broke hers and then claimed it was mine, and tried to take mine which was not broken. In the end my mother took it away from us both and put it on the mantlepiece... I was so angry.

As for my Cabbage Patch dolls, I had 3 in the end, and I didn't care much about them because they are so ugly. But I got two in a garage sale and I felt sorry for them, so I looked after them. I didn't want to show them that I loved their big sister (my original one) more than them so I tried to make sure I loved them all equally. I hope they are ok... wherever they are... ARGH! They are not real... wow, feelings run deep from childhood.

I miss my Keypers... and my Moondreamer doll. I don't know if I ever had a Strawberry Shortcake doll officially or a Rainbow Brite doll, but I loved watching them on tv.

Ah, memory lane.

Oh right... Pokemon. Check out the Pikapika dance on YouTube. Good stuff.

Also, you can watch My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic show on YouTube atm. Dunno how long for. Won't post links because often they get taken down and it's annoying.

Well, apologies in advance for this one.

Ok, yes, I'm going.

No, I don't feel like it, but I sort of do.

Ok I will go, no I won't. No! Well, I probably should...

Why is going to church so hard...?

I mean, I have a big problem with going to most places these days.

It's hard for me to make a decision.

I don't know why, or when it started.

I never really wanted to go anywhere alone for a long time in the last 30 years.

I think it might be a sort of illness?

I dislike going to most places alone. And people are so busy.

I don't like to bother them, or they won't want to go see the same movies as me, because I hate chick flicks and rom coms and all that junk. I like action (but not horror or excessive blood) and I like some comedies, and most animation. So sometimes I can go with friends.

But usually they are busy.

It's just timing.

As for anywhere else, everything else... I don't know.

Everything is difficult and confusing.

I like structured events, and perhaps even a schedule would be nice, and foreknowledge and to bring an extra coat, or to bring something to eat or drink with me.

If I could, I would make a survival bag to bring in my friend's car, because she often gets lost or we are very late, or we get there and the place is shut. And she is the only person basically who wants to go anywhere and remembers to ask me if I want to come. She seems to be the one person who remembers me because she makes an effort.

I used to get anxious because of the high rate of unforeseen problems with this friend, but now I am used to it, if you can call it that. I can relax a lot more. So I am happy.

I am inconvenient, you know.

People who say they are my friends either don't like me enough to bother giving me a ride anywhere (because I am too faraway), or they find I bring them down.

I am actually considered amusing. I like joking and I even don't mind singing in the car if the other person wants to. Not everyone likes that!

But in this city of cars and cash, I am usually broke, and have no car, and I can't drive anyway.

So that equals many days and nights alone in my flat.

I don't actually mind about half the time, because as I mentioned earlier, I find it hard to decide what to do these days. But sometimes I feel angry when they all talk about what fun they had doing things that I used to be able to join in with when I lived closer to them.

They do stuff with a lot of other people, and it is as if I never existed at all.

As for me... I suppose I tend to forget them too.

I carry on, in my own little world, suffering and self-pitying, and hesitant to go outside.

I feel so lonely, but I never want to tell anyone because then they will feel driven to see me or talk to me out of guilt, and I will be 'the needy one'.

So I stay alone.

Thank you, my one kind friend, for remembering me.

I am sorry, so sorry. I am sorry that I am so difficult. Thank you for ignoring my indecision and my mood swings and anxiety over things that other people don't even care about.

I want to be more like you and make someone else feel as if they matter after all. Despite everything.

Thank God for you, dear one.

I just want to be better, I want to find it easier to go out and do things.

Even if I am often alone.

I want to live as if I am not.

I guess just these last two weeks have been a bit rough.

I have been ill with a nasty cold.

Winter is so cold and rainy and damp here. The rain just never seems to stop!

Only one day or so of sun and then rain again, week after week.

My raincoats all leak. I have no boots and my umbrellas tend to blow inside out.

I get wet and cold and stay that way unless I can go home and change and stay warm.

So it seems as if I am often stranded in my house.

Also, I have less money than usual! I had to have dentist work done and I have to pay back the money I borrowed from someone. Next week will be the last time I have to pay her.

So next week, no money again.

Nowhere to go with no money, you see. In this city of cars and cash.

The rain the rain, always the rain, I am beginning to feel as if I will go mad.

I hate winter here, it makes me sick and also it makes me very sad and tired and cold.

I heard that winter gets to people like this. Well, I believe it.

So, I am having a hard time lately. Not wanting to kill myself like I used to, but getting very depressed.

My mother's phone is broken so I can't even call her and talk like I used to be able to.

I hate using facebook to talk to people.

Everything is VERY hard right now. Haven't had it so rough for a while.

Have to get through. Get through or kill myself.

Then I could rest at last.

Death is such a nice thought.

Peace...

Real rest, the type that is eternal.

Although I believe in the resurrection of all people so probably no rest then...

But peace, and true happiness. And I would never be lonely again. Or cold, or feel pain.

I would like that.

It's tempting.

This typing my thoughts is fun, and a little scary.

This is why I normally post gentle little posts about the cat next door or Pokemon.

It's safer.

But I never could talk myself into suicide. I tried enough times.

Sitting on the couch with the knife in my hand, so shiny and beautiful.

Never could do it.

What a joke.

Pretending to be alive in the first place is a joke.

I don't even know if I am alive or at least real.

I don't even know what is real these days.

I float around like an aimless lump, trying to experience reality outside of myself and my room. But I am always so glad to get home and be 'safe'.

Are you laughing yet?

I'm smiling through these tears of mine.

I feel nauseous.

Haha, this post is pathetic and whiny, but you know what? It must prove I'm real.

The filth of humanity is what makes it real.

Beauty seems unreal somehow.

Ugly things are a real eye opener. They bring us down to Earth with a bump, don't they?

Our own ugliness. It hurts, but it's good, like really gross tasting medicine.

Wake up.

I just woke up again.

Mumbling weak little cliques about not feeling real.

Ridiculous.

In this world, being sensible and loving is what is important.

God, I want that. I want that the MOST!

Make me pure, make me strong, loving and brave. God help me.

This is my prayer, whenever I remember to pray.

Make me...I don't even dare to aspire to be like you yet, God.

But make me a good servant.

I'm not afraid to serve others.

It's not a weakness, it's a choice to be strong enough to be humble and allow others to use you.

God, I do want to die. I'd love it.

Because I'm lazy, and it's the easiest way out of here, this fallen, messed up world.

But I know that you don't want me to go yet, or I'd be long gone.

So thanks, I say with mixed bitterness and gratitude.

THANK YOU.

I want to wait, and see how you can use me to make someone else's life bearable.

Like you use that kindly friend of mine.

Life is the journey that makes us into the people we are meant to be.

Right?

Man, I should write greeting cards.

Haha!

Well, I feel better now. A whole lot better.

Venting is the best.

Everything I wrote is true for a given factor of true, but it isn't so bad.

Wanting to die and to live at the same time is the human condition.

Well, for me anyway.

I am so edgy. But you know what? I'm not the 'cool' kind of edgy.

I'm the messy, beautifully ugly kind, the awkwardly glorious mess of God.

Thanks God, for making me and for being with me.

God, I can't say any more. I'm out.

I guess it's too late to go to church now... it already started.

But there's next time.

I really do want to go.

Another delicious Strawberry recipe I saw.

http://bakingbites.com/2010/06/olive-oil-strawberry-shortcake/

I was thinking of making a nice book of baking, but I'd have to test the recipes first, and also I'd like to modify them to make them my very own (feel less like a copycat that way).

But because these are mostly American ones that I find, it is hard. Our flour is different here.

Also, I am to cheap to buy ingredients, and too lazy to make anything, and also I am watching my weight so I can't make any of the things I love. So sad, because you'd think I could just share it all with my friends but the truth is, I barely see most of them.

Maybe for a birthday I could make this kind of thing.

It seems nice. VERY NICE! Oh my, I love cake like this.

Maybe I just like looking at cake rather than eating it. Is that odd?

I have very high standards for cake and biscuits, for some reason.

I can tell if it has good ingredients that were more expensive, and I can tell if they were mixed properly, and also the texture matters a lot to me.

Mediocrity for baking is not good!

No gelatin in apple mix for pies or turnovers!

Use proper flour for cakes!

Icing is not just sugar and water! Use butter! Or cream cheese!

Don't use cheap margarine in cake!

Use proper flavours! Vanilla! Cinnamon! Spices! Tea! Stop making cakes that taste dull!

And so on.

Btw I had a wonderful recipe for cookies that I used to make. They were the best I ever made.

The secret was the flour! It was probably cake flour, and it made the cookies puffy and cakey. I love them that way. I don't like them too flat and crunchy. I like them chewy or cakey.

My recipe used a lot of ginger, cinnamon and tea, and chocolate drops. I think that is what made them so good because they were actually bursting with a wonderful flavour.

My chocolate cupcakes were the same. Wonderfully full of flavour, cocoa, spices, vanilla and so on. And so moist.

I also remember I used to make the best herb and cheese muffins. They were so good, I could never eat just one, I had to have a lot. My friends were the same. I think the secret for this one was lots of butter, herbs and tasty cheddar cheese. Skimping on flavour means your recipe is just too much like a plain flour cake/muffin/whatever.

If I had added bacon to my muffins, some people would probably have liked that but I am a vegetarian so, nah.

Ok ok I have to go.

Bye!

Btw, this is a secret but, I think I love baking...?

^_^

Lemon Strawberry Chiffon Cake XD

I am in love with this cake.

Most cakes I do not like, because my cake expectations never fit the actual flavour or texture.

But this, I would try! If someone else made it for me...

I am so lazy...

^_^

http://bakingbites.com/2011/05/strawberry-lemonade-chiffon-layer-cake/

Btw who cares if China wins gold at ping-pong/table-tennis (I'm watching Crossover... it is their topic)?

Good for them, let them go crazy at it, and everyone else stop whining about it, and stop saying it is not fair. Don't complain, if you want to compete with them properly, then take it seriously.

The problem is, most other countries don't take it as seriously as a sport and so in the Olympics (was it?), China always wins because there are no other serious rivals, is that right?

My main problem with China (and other Asian countries) is that they work too hard. I know they want to do well, but in the end, you die and it was all for nothing.

The best thing to do is work hard but don't work yourself TOO hard. There will always be someone worse and someone better. Do your best, and you will have nothing else to say. I think if people would relax a little then we could all be happier. But jealousy and greed make people work harder and harder.

So tiring. I don't understand why parents keep pushing their children more and more. If a child is doing well, why push so much that they feel they are never doing good enough? The point of doing well is so that you can feel satisfied. But when parents teach children that they need to keep trying harder, the children will live their lives feeling stressed, unhappy and unfulfilled. Parents who think they are doing their best to help their children, are really going too far and hurting their children. Then, the children will hate their parents and not want to be around them when they are older. The parents will push their children away, and then the children will put their parents in an old folks' home and leave them there.

Parents who push too hard forget about the importance of relationships.

Argh, enough about that.

They are talking about it all on Crossover. The problem is, there are so many people who strive for the same thing (overpopulation) and so most will do their best all of their life but not get a place, because they are one of too many.

ALso one other thing, some criteria are ridiculous, like the academy of fine arts in China which won't let students in unless they are good at English... pointless! English is not as important in a fine arts academy. Sure, it is useful but if they don't want to leave China, then it is not so great. It is unfair to add in pointless extra criteria like that. It seems greedy of the people in charge, they want students with more and more abilities/skills, but some of them are not actually relevant. So greedy. And all the talented students who don't fit are passed over, and their effort is wasted.

I hate this waste of people! People are a non-renewable resource! Elitism is unfair and wasteful! I hate waste.

Oh well.

I myself am considered quite intelligent, above average according to the I.Q tests, but even so, I am wasting myself because I do not know what to do. It is my main source of pain at the moment that I am not able to make a choice as to where to use my intelligence. Business, Accounting, even Animation, all of these markets which might be lucrative, are all flooded with people already. I want to find a way to be useful and fill a need. So that is why I have not done much yet.

I hope I can find a place where I can belong and where I can fill a need. I don't want to waste my talents.

Apple products are portrayed as ridiculously popular, but users really just come off as a lazy, stupid clique.

At home, sick, having the tv on to try and replace real human company. Al Jazeera does not really do that, but it's better than infomercials and soaps. I think Imade my flatmate sick too, so now guilt is added to the mix. Bad weather, can't go out, but I crave fruit, which I don't have, tired, congested...

Meh.

Stupid Icrap. This app does blah, making blah easier for you, up to the minute. Or something! Here's another shortcut, people! Shortcuts to shortcuts which make people less and less skilled these days, and not many people remember how to do things from scratch. Quality is lost. We rely too much on computers and tools to do so much more for us. It worries me, and yet I cannot think of a reason WHY I am so worried. I love all the convenience. But where is my extra time which all this stuff is supposed to bring? And why am I still stressed? Or more stressed...

I want an iphone... but WHY???? I don't NEED IT! Ah, well. Consumerism is eating our souls.

I'm only on the computer because I have read all of my books. Even the library books I got out two days ago when I was less sick.

Stupid being sick.

I think I will have cereal for lunch, just for the heck of it.

I wonder if I will get fatter while I'm sick because I want to eat chips and carbs a lot.

Also... I want to go outside even though I can't, but I only want to go outside because I can't.

On the up side, reading Happy Cafe manga is great, I love it.

Down side, internet is so slow that I can't load any videos so can't watch GinTama or TWGOK, and can't watch YouTube stuff either. Even the Pokemon Global Link can't seem to load. I will keep trying.

One thing: I love Happy Cafe (by Matsuzuki Kou), recommend it to all but I find it hard to tell all the guys apart. Their features and hair are too similar. This artist should try a little harder. If the artist didn't cut a certain narcoleptic character's hair in vol 5, then I would find it easier to spot him. Although she makes their personalities so different that it's easier to tell them apart sometimes. Ichiro, I love you best I think. Actually they are all wonderful. But Ichiro is funny and yes, he should have shaved his head! Yeah, yeah, his mother made a fuss, so he didn't. Bleah.

Well, I do wonder at the ease of work portrayed in these shoujo manga-universe cafes. Unrealistic. I have worked in a cafe and it was hell. Maybe if you don't work for a psycho, then it's ok. My boss was crazy, screaming at me one second, patting my head and giving me a lolly the next. I was genuinely confused. He even said 'I shouldn't have hired you!'. So I asked him if I should come back the next day and he said, 'Of course!'. Crazy...

Ah, the memories. But I can never work for him again, he sold his cafe. A shame, 'cause I almost want to work for him again. Now that I know how he is, I should have been able to manage it.

Ah well!

Wow, I say that a lot.

At least I am able to vent and then relax a little. Some people bottle things up too much.

I bottle it a bit, then I explode! It would be nice if I were more temperate in my moods, or do I mean moderate? But I am not made that way. I have to accept that, and then try to improve.

I love how humans can always improve if they want to enough. People say, 'You can't change. You are who you are.' Maybe that is fundamentally true in terms of personality type, but I think you can become a better or a worse person (differently according to your personality), but you can change, of course you can. Some people change and don't notice.

Oh wow enough. Enough! Time to go snuggle in bed and have a warm drink.

No milk... T.T so sad.

>_<

Good night.

Even though it is 10:37 am NZ time.

Must nap. Must get better.

I really wanted to go to work tomorrow, but I am scared I won't be better, or worse, that I will spread my cold to my co-workers.

Sad!

:P

Found some old reviews in a txt file. Might as well post in case, right?

Tomodachi manga was very cool. Asumi Hara.

It comprised of most things that high school manga is compiled from, such as bullying, friendship and love.

But I enjoyed the way the characters were played out. They were all likeable. Although I must say Ai (one of the main two female protagonists) was not as interesting as I had hoped. However, people change when they go through hard times, they can become less like themselves and more transparent and dull. I think that is what happened to her over years and slowly in this manga she began to return to her old real self.

Btw I liked Retsu best. He was cliqued, as was Mizuki. All of them were, I suppose. But Retsu was cool.

Fave female: They were all good, I guess Mizutani. She was appealing. If I say why, it will be a spoiler... so never mind, just read this manga.

I give it 5 stars out of 7 ******* because I hate bullies and this manga deals with that. I got bullied a lot. I feel pain when I read about it. But since this manga was only a 3 volume set, I kept reading til the end. It took me a couple of hours only, I think.

Btw another manga clique: A girl punches or slaps a guy and suddenly he falls in love with her. Doesn't make sense. I've seen it a few times now. It seems to be popular. Ah well. This was a nice manga.

Tenshi nanka janai by Ai Yazawa... boring. Good character art, I suppose.

Disliked the way the art changed. I prefer the artist's original style, it was cuter.

3 stars.

Shoulda given it a chance but I just couldn't. If you like embarassing things happening to cute girls then read it. She is a cute, spunky chick though. I find cheerful girls (genki girls?) irritating after a while. I like how the main guy was so nice to the kitten. Soft-hearted men are the best.

Ok fine, 4 stars. It was good probably but after so many manga which have so many similar characters, I get tired of cheerful stupid main girls and cool sullen main guys.

I read vols 2,3,5,and 6 of the Scott Pilgrim series and I really found myself both liking and disliking Scott.

I am a lot like him, the way he zones out and plays games a lot.

He just never seems to get on with his life. I am so the same right now.

In the end, he is kind of a jerk, as is mentioned a few times in no uncertain terms by a lot of characters in the comic.

Ramona is sadly, too much like Scott to be interesting. I liked Knives and also the drummer chick, Kim.

I also liked how the writer made girls fight too. But sadly, Knives was too crazy to be with Scott.

She is such a normal girl...(sadly) I know plenty of chicks like her, they are too OTT about everything. I liked Wallace Wells also. He was funny but not as funny as Julie's roommate with the beard, named Joseph? He was such a biatch.

Hated: Lynette, The Clash at Demonhead's drummer. Hate hate hate. Also all the evil exes were crap except Lucas Lee, who I kinda liked. Probably because he is such a terrible actor.

Although since there were two volumes out of the 6 which I didn't get to read, I may have thought one of those exes were cool. But I doubt it.

Give it a 4 stars because it was confusing and most of the characters were so messy and rather useless.

But the graphic novel was good because O'Malley doesn't make it dismal, he makes everyone appear hopeful.

Some books make this generation appear jaded and hopeless and totally dark.

And they basically say that life is a horrible dreary punishment with no hope for joy or any kind of good value, so let's just all act trucked up all the time and ruin each other's lives as much as possible, to take 'em down with us!

'Let's take solace in sex and drugs and alcohol and music and junk food and pop culture.'

O'Malley does not do this as much as other people, which makes me happy.

It makes me feel that he is more neutral. I don't like OTT moods in a comic/novel.

I also, and I may have already stated this, but I also enjoyed his art style.

It was kinda chunky but still not overly clumsy. Pleasing.

I bet the movie sucks... I kinda wanted to see it but now that I read the series... argh the dilemma. Oh of course I am going to see the film. How can I resist? Shouldn'ta picked M. Cera tho. Also that girl who plays Ramona is so Nickelodeon fodder. I can't take her seriously. I will try. That is all I can promise! Not that anyone actually cares... But I do! So these posts are my promises to ME!

Update: Found a website which has vol 4 and possb vol 1 so maybe I can catch up. I like Roxie (evil ex number 4) so far. But that might be simply because she is a chick and that makes it more interesting. Btw is Ramona kinda loose or what? Dating twins...creepy. Plus she is so culturally sensitive. An Indian guy, possb American guys, Canadian, at least one anyway, and a girl, and also Japanese guys too. Man. At least she isn't racist, I guess... Or genderist... hehe.

Compared to her, Scott is dull. He only had Knives and then a buncha white chicks. But at least Envy aka. Natalie was interesting.

Oh man. Best line ever. Vol 4: p 181 (possibly) 'Scott earned The Power of Love.' Hearing that 80's song right about now...

'But it might just saaaave your liiiifee....That's the power o' Love...'

Anyway yes. I hate using a word like 'epic' so freely as it has been massively over-exploited, but that was indeed an epic scene. As the scene where Gideon stole it from him was also. I was like; 'THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!!' In my head. IN MY HEAD ONLY.

I do not yell stuff in stores or libraries etc. But I have been known to laugh and cry as quietly as possible.

Saw movie, liked it but preferred the books of course. Have now read all of series, liked it a lot, want to buy it one day. Thank you O'Malley.

Bokura ga Ita by Yuuki Obata. *******7 stars... The art is ordinary but the characters were good.

Very sad... but wonderfully complex characters. Deep etc. Made me want to cry and I felt hurt inside when reading it. It is not complete yet, online.

So I want to know the end. I really identified with Yamamoto Yuri. The way people have treated her, is similar to how I have been treated, and my reaction has been similar too. I'm not as able to create a thick wall around me like she is though. I always seem to be cheerful and act like an idiot despite people being awful. I also keep making the mistake of trusting people and believing they are essentially good. I know that the world is dangerous for idiots like me. I hope someone will be able to protect me whenever I need it. I think sometimes that people are scum. But then I realise that they are not... it's just very hard to reach people. That is why I get angry because I am not good at people skills. I also identified with the man guy Yano. He is quite complex too.

I read Astro Cat aka. Atom Cat, it is quite cute. Osamu Tezuka is cool. I didn't care much about Kimba the White Lion or the weird swan manga nor The Mighty Atom but I did like Astro Cat. A bit sad though. Ah well. *****5 stars. I think I like Astro the cat best. I feel sorry for his owner who cries all the time.

He will surely become a bit braver but when he cries, nobody is nice to him, which makes me annoyed. Is this manga what Doraemon was based on? I really find Doraemon annoying.

Also Gintama is amazingly good. Soraichi Hideaki's art is excellent although you can see where he is still making mistakes sometimes. And his scene angles are very well planned. He inspires me to draw as well as he (but in my own style of course). Also, he is too brash sometimes for my taste, with some blood and also references to porn. His comedy is good though and I like his characters. I give him *****5 stars, and I liked Gintoki and Zura (I mean Katsura) and also Shinpachi. And the Shinsengumi (esp how Yamazaki always plays badminton), and also I like Hasegawa ('old geezer/madao'). Kagura is cute but I don't really like her personality. If it wasn't for the author's filler chapters which brim with cliqued scenes and relationships, I would give him a higher mark.

But yeah, if you want to relax, read Gintama. I really anjoyed how he mocks or references a lot of other manga, older and newer. Update: Have reviewed Gintama already, in more depth. See previous posts.

Anpan nagurareya.

I did really want to try a chocolate cream pie, and a banana cream pie, and a cherry pie and a strawberry pie and so on. I know I like apple pie already, and lemon meringue is ok if done properly.

America is apparently good at pies. And (finally after years of agony) America is also good at improving on their dub skills (subs are still better). I also tried a twinkie once, and it was wonderful....

If I went to America, I would like to try all the food I have heard of. And I'd be sure to eat lots of prunes too, because America is famous for fattening junk food which would surely wreak havoc with my precious bowels.

But I must say... compared to chocolate here, their chocolate is not very good.

And Fortnum and Mason's chocolates are very good, even the centres are not grainy like cheaper chocolates are. I guess that after those chocolates (which were 40 pounds a box oh yeah thank you mum, that is like 80 dollars here wow) I can't bring myself to really like other chocolate.

Which is good because I am getting closer to a root canal...

Oh God please protect that tooth, I promise I will be good until it is time to go to the dentist argh one whole month to go how can I possibly protect my little tooth all of that time?

Why did my dentist warn me and then go on HOLIDAY for a month... at least I have time to save up for the filling, oh my so expensive, I can't believe it will be 240 dollars argh argh argh.

If I have to have a root canal, I cannot afford it. I am currently unemployed you see. I have been unemployed so long... I would even consider working for the Shinsengumi. More money than working for Gin's yorozuya, that's for sure.

So I love very much how Soraichi keeps referring to anpan with Yamazaki, it is getting funnier every time. I actually laughed this time, and I had my mouth full of tea so it was difficult to laugh and not splurt tea on my keyboard. But if you try, and clamp your lips shut, you can laugh in a muffled way, so that is what I did.

Right, I think I will go and try to buy a hat. Or is it 'an' hat? An hotel. An hat? No, 'a' hat will do. I was trying to think of some kind of 'an hat', 'anpan' pun that I could do, but my skill is below par when it comes to mixed language puns or even any type of pun. At least that sentence is almost a pun in itself.

Speaking of puns, I remember when I bought Pokemon Black (it could have been any game but this time it was Pkmn Blk, and I went to a cafe, bought a snack and drink and sat down to start the game on my DSlite... I was very happy. It was a combined celebration and 'finding a quiet place in the damn mall where nobody could be noisy and disturb me whilst I try to play my precious game, damnit!' type of thing.

Man, I loved volume 9 of Ranma. So amusing. And also I read The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie again, and I remembered why I got annoyed at it the first time. But I am glad I read it again, anyway. It is one of the few in my collection that I have lost... I will have to re-buy it. How annoying.

:)

Right, must dash.

Always wanted to say that.

I don't know how often in life I have ever really dashed.

I really must put that on my 'to-do-one-day' list.

^-^

Manga review, wow, has it been that long since my last?

I liked watching Naruto and Dragonball (and will read them next on my list). I liked reading One Piece and Bleach. But so far, besides Ranma 1/2 (and yes, Takahashi is a genius) and Slam Dunk, I would have to say my fave manga is GinTama. It is sometimes crude and Soraichi sometimes goes too far (especially as the series progresses) but it is very funny and quick and the fights are not too long, unlike some manga I have mentioned already. He is so tongue-in-cheek amusing and his shout-outs are ones that even I usually understand. I admire his style. I don't know where anyone got off reviewing his art and saying it wasn't good enough. Nonsense, he is up there with the big guys, or he'd better be! I have read a lot of manga. Not as much as some people, but most likely more than the majority of Westerners at least.

He is a classic, in my opinion because he has everything a good manga-ka should have. A sense of humor and usage of many puns, and usage of (loosely) historically-based characters, a cute animal, cute girls, tough guys, ugly guys, spaceships, pirates, bishounen, samurai, also good background art detail, great one-liners, sentiment, plenty of blood sweat and tears, and also, he often makes sly references to typical manga character types or scenarios, so genre-savvy. Good fight scenes, he usually ties up loose ends, plenty of villains, including a big bad (or two) and a soft-hearted anti-hero (or three). He got an anime and a movie. And CDs? I wish I could get some figurines of some of these guys. I love Katsura... and Shinpachi, and Yamazaki etc.

One complaint, besides too much toilet humor. In the anime, Hijikata becomes more buffoonish by the second. He's this amazing badass in the manga, but in the anime, they messed it up somehow and he seems like a twit. Other than that, it is great so far. I've nearly finished what there is of the manga, and should start reading Dragonball soon.

Soraichi is a fan of DB I think and he reminded me of how much I liked it. I even clocked a couple of the DB RPGS. So fun. I liked playing as Vegeta in the second game. I liked Vegeta from the moment I first saw him. Imagine my delight to discover he would become a main character, and also not be the villain all the time. But the truth is, Vegeta is meant to be bad, his personality cries out for it. Most bad guys who do a heel face turn, I am pleased, and don't mind if they become nicer, but Vegeta is one of the bad guys who should stay bad, or at least bad-ish.

Enough about him! (sigh) So many guys who aren't real, who are so amazing.

I met a guy somewhat like Vegeta in his personality (but who was almost entirely was his opposite in appearance) and although I was interested when he asked me out, I soon realised that we were not suited. My temperament is hard to match. I need a guy who is not so irascible and also not a pushover. I need someone who is in the middle. But it is hard to find a guy like that. Personality is important, for a match. I learned this very quickly.

But back to GinTama... I don't recommend it for kids, despite what Soraichi might say... but teens and up is fine. There is not real sex, only references, and it is mostly toilet humor as I mentioned. But there is violence and blood and some references and a lot of pixelation... of everything gross that you could think of.

Right so out of 5, I give it *** stars, because it is kinda gross at times and also some of the puns or references are too Japanese to be easily translated. But hey. I do like it a lot though. I prefer ti to Belach because Bleach has too many characters and it is too dark in parts. And my gosh the fights can be so dull, and the characters seem to keep needing to get stronger and stronger. Dude, of course Ichigo will win, it's his manga... just get on with it please. Btw Bleach is not that funny compared to most other manga, so why name the guy Ichigo. I think ti was meant to start out amusing and more light, but it got dark pretty quick. Also, he has so many characters he tends to leave a lot of them out for a long time each, and well, it is not a Bleach bashing session, now is it?

I do like Bleach. I like most of the captains and Ichigo's family and friends and some of the vizards and the arrancar or whatever they are. Some of them I hate but hey you are meant to.

P.S. I knew Aizen would turn bad, because immediately he reminded me of Sakurazuka Seiishiro from Tokyo Babylon. Same character type, even the glasses and the alternate dog petting/kicking moments. If you don't get what I mean, never mind.

CLAMP is awesome (but I am sure there are characters they have borrowed from heavily who came from mangaka before them).

Loved XXXholic. Downer ending, but it is CLAMP. They specialise in difficult endings.

Games: a love story.

Man, I love games.

Almost more than books at this point in my life.

I have loved books since I was a child. But now in the last 5 years or so, I have turned to games.

I am the kind of person who loves games because of what they are and the work that has gone into them.

I loved how they did the water in Counter Strike. And the work they did on the walls and floors of buildings. I also love killing my friends in Counter Strike. I remember sniping a guy once... so good, nothing feels that good, ever. I got killed a lot more than I got to kill, but hey I never said I was a good gamer.

I loved Unreal because of the water as well, and the sounds in the background. Everyone who developed that game worked hard, and I appreciate it.

I used to love how in Doom, you could explode certain monsters with the rocket launcher. And how you could often hear the monsters before you even saw them. It gave me chills but I liked it.

I enjoyed very much the trash-talking feature for Duke Nukem 3d... ah the scum sucking bottom feeding algae eater line...

I remember my happiness at finishing Wolfenstein 3d... Ah and the secret bonus levels. And weapons... And the scary bosses. I grew to love the chaingun after playing Wolf.

I love how in rpgs, some characters have an accent or a different way of talking. I also really get a kick out of the music and the little extra attention to detail that the background designers seem to always excel at. Like secret treasures, or things you can pick up off the ground unexpectedly. Not dog crap or whatever, I mean like a mushroom or acorns or whatever, and how they are useful, instead of poisonous as they would be in this world. And ah, how a hamburger or an icecream can keep you alive instead of make you fat or get diabetes. Gaming world rules are amazing.

I miss the older games though, the older Zelda, and Secret of Mana, and also Jazz Jackrabbit, and the original Duke Nukem and Commander Keen, all of them. I loved them all. I am not good at side scrollers, and always sucked bad at Mario and Sonic (and Jill of the Jungle, and Tombi and Alex Kidd, and all the others...) but how I loved them, even now, the music is still a pleasant memory refresher for me. And the yelling at the screen when the game helpfully says, 'You are dead' or 'You Lose'.

Oh Mortal Kombat, I loved all of the versions, and I even beat them all. I hated that narrator guy ('Fight!') except for when he announced the Fatalities or Animalities. Even if I lost, I would always be amused by the gory endings for the losing character. I used to have a crush on Liu Kang. Haha, other girls liked singers... I liked a pixelated street fighter... which is less real? I know that the Mortal Kombat characters were based off real people at least.

Not like some game characters.

And no, I never had a thing for any of the Street Fighter guys except maybe Vega/Balrog, and also... Guy... (blush). Weird opposite types of crushes I know. If I were a guy... Chun Li of course. She is sooo cute! Amazingly disproportionate but hey. She could probably kill you if she wanted, so she is not just a Chinese bunny. Never thought too much of Cammy. Most games have a blonde character, Cammy, Nina, Sonya, and so on. Never could quite like them. Even the blonde guys. But although I also disliked Ken, I found I was able to beat the game when playing as Ken, to my despair. Same with Paul Phoenix. Whyyyy????

Rpgs are only my favourite because they are like a book, in a way. Sometimes I do just want to pick up a sword and slash through countless enemies or shoot lots of monsters, but generally I like to meander along the way, and have fun just wasting time on frivolities (sp?). Oh, I loved the SNES Sailor Moon RPG, it took me forever to get far in that and I always seemed to lose my saved game when I had to go up against the harder bosses.

I have played so many games, and I sucked bad at most of them but still, the joy was there, and still is. I loved building my teams carefully and lovingly, and painstakingly gathering items. The actual game was often the last thing I ever considered.

But you know what? I loved Myst, yeah, all of them, 1, 2, 3, 4 (and more?). Everything about them except for the actual gameplay. If the Myst series were people, I would run up to them all and say, 'I Myst you guys.' Wow, bad pun. Can't help it. And then they would say, 'Why did you never finish any of us, even the easier ones?' Then I would hastily mention an appointment elsewhere. Ok enough of that scenario...

I can put a game down and forget it for months or even a year, but then I will pick it back up and finish it one day. And then stop, with a hollow sense of loss, because everyone is gone, the book is finished, and I feel sad to think that it is all over now (this is my only reason for not yet finishing any of the Final Fantasy games I have. I could probably clock them because I don't suck at RPGs like I do all other games but I don't want to finish them, ironic, isn't it?). Sure, I could play again but even so, it is never the same as the first time you play a game or read a book.

The first time is always a magical feeling. Some movies have given me that feeling too. It's always a nice, cozy feeling, isn't it?

The good thing about shoot-em ups is that I enjoy playing them over and over, I don't feel sad to complete them, because I don't get connected to anyone. Yay!?

Well, I'm not sure what my point was but I am glad I said all that.

I also hate real-time games like Nintendogs (breaks my heart because other than that annoying realtime factor, I loved that game, I even basically clocked it but I got so tired of those yappy things needing more attention than a real animal so I reset and traded it) and Harvest Moon (again, I loved it so very much but eventually I cracked under the pressure! Oh Grey... and Ann... my two faves, and Mary, and Cliff... and - Doctor... why did he not have a real name?). I miss you Harvest Moon. I miss you my Nintendogs, my Jouey and Napoleon... (and I may have gotten one other dog but who cares it's so over now). The joy of using the microphone to train my puppies. They were slightly more easy to train than real puppies. I mean it. It was almost the same...

Ok ok, I loved the game but it was annoying, the end.

I miss that plastic gun controller you got with the Sega, back when I was about 11 years old. At that time, the Gulf War was on, and I asked my father, 'Why did they let that Saddam guy live? Why didn't they kill him? Now he might come back.' I thought of him as being like a supervillain on a tv show. 'Real life isn't like that', someone should have said. Only they would have been wrong in this case. He came back alright. Interestingly enough, my dad was never one for lying about stuff liek that. He just said, 'I don't know. They should've killed him, but they didn't.' And so I learned that adults not only don't know as much as we are set up to think that they do; but also they do dumb crap like what kids would do, only with serious consequences which cost hundreds of lives, or more. So I felt like I was let down. I was alway one to believe what I was told. So discovering the grimness of reality was like a kick to the stomach, every time.

Funny how a plastic gun and a war game remind me of all of this. 'Medic!' the soldiers would cry when they got shot. Or was that another game? Who knows.

But I need to tell you this, it is very important. After a while, all games blur and seem to be the same in many ways. It is because they are. Most shoot-em ups are similar, and rpgs, and puzzles, and so on. Diff engines or whatever, diff music, characters etc, but after a while, you recognise patterns and become a seasoned veteran. You say, 'Oh, I remember that plot point was just like back in ***** solid. Or, that gun is like the one from *****triads. And this spell is just like that good one in *****&dragons. And ***** from FF** is really just a white mage, like ***** from FF*.' And so on.

Well, enough about that. Even though I complain, in the end, I still love it so much. I'm not jaded and tired of it all yet.

:)

Oh wow badasses like Raiden and Auron are awesome. Just have to mention them. I always feel sorry for them though because they would find it hard to live a normal life and get married etc. Too serious or scary looking. Right? Ok ok I must stop talking, I wanted to mention something else in another post, must go.