Balance checking

Right, let's be systematic about things and calculate everything properly, so I'll at least have a pretty good estimate of how much my indulgences (hah) are going to cost. [By the way, it's quite remarkable how all my mistyped words (my sausage fingers are not compatible with touch screens) keep getting the old AutoCorrect treatment. Brilliant, that.]

So let's see...

Prices roughly converted from USD, as quoted on YesAsia.com

NO MORE PAIИ World Tour 2010 DVD : RM220

NO MORE PAIИ : RM128

Change Ur World : RM80

Going! :RM28

Ultimate Wheels (preorder) : RM65

March 2011/April 2012 Calendar (preorder) : RM124

Total : RM645.

OMG, just for a fangirl phase?

Eurgh. I'm gonna be broke before the new year even begins. Okay, fine, I understand that the tour DVDs come with plenty of extra stuff, but still. A 6-disc box of K-drama costs less than half that price. Eurghhhh. But Ultimate Wheels, I have no problems with - it's a CD+DVD set, so the price is fair enough. The calendar... well, I don't know if I want it enough. A calendar half the size of an A4 paper for that price? Does printing cost that much nowadays?

...but it's not about the manufacturing cost, is it? At the end of the day, what matters is what I think it's worth. Whether the satisfaction can outweigh the cost. If the happiness that item can bring me is worth more than what I'm willing to pay, bravo me, consumer surplus. If I'm not willing, I'm not even part of the demand curve. So...am I willing? I can probably find scans online if I tried hard enough, but to be honest, I'm not sure if I can actually call myself a fan while I listen to bootlegged music. Which is also why I decided to buy original anime and drama DVDs if I liked them enough.

I tend to get a little carried away when browsing online stores, simply because the availability of everything is awe-inspiring. Already I'm thinking of getting heaps of random little things like bauble beanies and shades and stylised headphones; what's worse is that while I'm at it I keep noticing other things and wondering if I should buy it for someone's birthday. I think this happens mostly because the people in question are normally really hard to shop for, so it's pretty amazing to find stuff for them so easily online. Meh.

The black hole that's totally skinning me out.

Soooo. I guess it's time to start finding a job? Better yet, I'll just sit tight until CNY comes around and I get my mini-windfall! Muahahahahahahahahahahahaha

money money money, must be funny...

Hello everyone, this is me struggling to get used to typing on a touch screen like a total technology noob. I would just like to comment upon the worrying state of my finances now that I've discovered the wonders of online shopping... not to mention the green light I've been given to utilise my parents' credit cards for my purchases. I suspect they're this nice about it because they'd rather let me use their cards and let them see what I buy than have me sneakily purchasing goodness-knows-what behind their backs. Which is a good thing both ways because at least they'll be able to exert some form of control over my spending. If I really were left to do as I pleased on those online stores, I'd clean out my bank balance within a fortnight.

Anyway, the point is. WHY THE HECK DOES BEING A PROPER HYPHEN COST SO MUCH? Johnny-san you clever old rat. November 17th, Change Ur World comes out. December 29th, the world tour DVDs. February 2nd, Ultimate Wheels. And then there'll be the March 2011-April 2012 calendar, right? And it's about how many hundred bucks in total?? ARGH I COULD KILL YOU. Arghhhhhh.

ps: If my parents found out that the stuff I'm buying isn't even in a language I can understand, my transactions would be stopped and my accounts frozen. Lol. But it's a chance I want to take! I'm that obsessed, yup.

this is why the year-end rocks my socks

Hell, yeah! Music Station Super Live 2010 was the bombiest of bomby bombs!

I would've embedded the Arashi, NEWS, Koda Kumi, SNSD, KARA and YUI performances as well, but I wanted this post to focus on my favourites. They were superb, every one of them. Kame's splendid showmanship as always, Taguchi's light-up-the-world smile, Koki's ever-awesome voice and hair, Ueda's funny Jin-hat, Nakamaru's attempt at winking...

*dies*

digital paintings

There's an artist on dA, going by the name alicexz, who has been a wonderful source of gorgeous wallpapers for me through this past month. (Oh, yeah, I change my wallpapers often. Recycling can and does happen, though.) She is, I think, a graphic designer currently based in New York - and she paints the most amazing digital paintings in Photoshop, a number of which I downloaded to use as my desktop background - my favourite being her fan art of Ghibli films and Disney classics. I like them so much, in fact, that I'm posting this here pretty aimlessly, unless you can count "wanna show y'all something cool" as an actual aim.

Visual treat!

Hahaha. You can't not love Scar's face in the third picture! The lighting in the picture of Esmerelda is lovely - that's the only reason it's a favourite, I'm not a fan of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I am a fan of Mulan, though!

"Punch him. It's how men say hello."

"My little baby, all grown up and off to destroy people... *sniff*"
"Dishonour! Dishonour on you, dishonour on your cow..."

"Ahh, come on. You went to save your father's life. Who knew you'd end up shaming him and disgracing your ancestors and losing all your friends."

"Whaddya mean you're not lucky? You lied to me?! (turns to the horse) And what are you, a sheep?!"

Mushu's lines were the best!

Oh, and... as for the last picture: if you don't know why I love it so much and made it slightly larger than the rest, you probably don't know me very well.

...And now I'm just plain lost.

I made up my mind last week that I would, no matter what, buy myself a decent mp3 player for Christmas - I've tried to hint to my dad that I quite needed a new one, lots of times, but after three months of "Okay, yeah, sure, go and get one then" I came to terms with the fact that he would only keep giving me permission, not the funds, to get one. So I'd have to get myself one if I wanted it badly enough - which had me continuing to use the nearly-dead player function on my phone for a while, until I got sick and tired of spending several whole minutes trying to successfully start the connection, only to be rewarded with extremely choppy functionality every time I wanted to plug my headphones in.

So miserly old me finally decided to get a proper mp3 player, because I really can't work, stone or kintoro without music. And none of that crap about playing it out loud; I live in a relatively quiet neighbourhood (except for those gossiping maids from opposite who're noisier than mating banshees in the evenings, and those spoilt kids screaming at each other on their tricycles) and I don't think my mum will appreciate me playing music aloud at two in the morning. I'm not even supposed to be awake at two, actually, so considering the fact that loud music might be a just few decibels short of Nuclear Explosion levels of discretion, that's not such a brilliant plan.

Yeah, I kind of like my music loud enough to drown out the sounds of anything else.

Anyway, enough waffling about. Getting right down to it, I'm getting severely confused as to what kind of player to buy. At first I thought my needs and specifications were pretty clear - I just need something that gives me good, portable audio, so that I can carry my entire music library around. To start off, I gave in to conformity and decided to check out the iPod range. Initially, I wasn't considering the Touch at all because I don't need video functions. I was thinking a Nano would suffice, but the new generation is pretty ugly... Then the elder brother comes and says, "Eh, get the iPod touch. You can watch all your videos on it and download all those apps and stuff."

So I get swayed by his cunning sales pitch and now I keep thinking how fun it would be to be able to watch videos on the go (and by videos you know I almost definitely mean KAT-TUN PVs). And then, as though the derailment isn't enough, I suddenly find myself considering the Sony W-series, the kind that's basically a Shuffle with better audio quality, less mess and (coolest bit coming right up) waterproofing. And then I start going to gadget review sites and forums, and finding more and more options... Will I even reach a decision by Christmas??

Blegh, me and my over-susceptibility to random influence. How laaaa.

FOUND IT!

Don't know how I did it, but I somehow managed to crack the password protection on the Change Ur World PV Making file on Mediafire. Yes, yes, yes! Brilliant! Hee hee downloading it now. *spam here with I-Love-KAT-TUN rantings*

In the meantime, I'm listening to this:

Lols. Fangirl attack, much.

Hahaha. Now I can't wait for Tuesday! :)

ps: For some reason, I feel compelled to remark on the bow-tie in the above image. It's kinda...

feeling christmas-y!

I like this season.

I don't know if it's because the Christmas spirit is such an infectious one, but I find myself looking forward to Christmas whenever I see Christmas-themed ads in the paper or games on the internet. I can't understand it - it's not like my family has ever made a big deal about celebrating Christmas. We don't exchange gifts so I don't have presents to look forward to. I even have big fat exams looming up like ugly warts on my calendar right after the 25th. So why is it that I'm so hyped about Christmas this year?

There can only be one reason : tokyohive's Christmas Giveaway!

Feels as though I've never wanted anything as much. I WANT TO WIN SO BAD! Especially because Change Ur World is on the prize list - but really, I wouldn't mind almost anything on that list. Unfortunately, it's pretty much a lucky draw system - it's quite, quite random. Which means I have something like a one in two million chance of getting picked. I've always sucked at lucky draws. :(

Oh, and if anyone's interested, there's a similar event being held over at allkpop, tokyohive's sister site! It doesn't take much effort, and there's no harm in trying out for a prize - and if you're my opposite in terms of luck, you'll almost definitely get one! :) I'd be extremely envious, sure, but it is the season to have open, generous hearts, isn't it?

Merry Christmas, dear readers!

meet...

...the Kame Quintet.

Alright, I'll admit it: I already knew I was going to buy turtle-themed souvenirs back from Pangkor before I even reached the island. But these exceeded expectations, really they did. :D Even my uncle went and bought some after I showed my purchases off during lunch. Ehehe. Anyway, the point of this post is to introduce these kyoot things to you - properly, before anyone decides on a favourite based on looks alone. :/

1. Padgett. A quiet, modest fellow who struggles with angrophobia on the inside. Has a notably strange habit of polishing his shell with wood polish when stressed. Make no mistake; when backed into a corner, Padgett's inner demon comes out with a vengence. He is allergic to green apples and hates sticky things.

2. Viridian, as green as his name and, quite naturally, an environmentalist-hater. He therefore makes it a point to pretend he's chewing on plastic bags whenever he sees activists nearby - you know, just to get them agitated and sad. A Libra, though his eccentricity makes him wish he were a Scorpio. Likes sour foods.

3. Lenore, the only real girl in the gang, is a cream-yellow oddball who likes chocolate and an expert on the medicinal properties of turpentine. Tends to count backwards; for example, Lenore insists that her shell has -3 spots. It might also interest you to know that her favourite types of wood are rowan and elm.

4. Weaver is misleadingly feminine in appearance, being in truth a male who simply likes the colour pink. He has, in fact, a long-time girlfriend named Lyla, a sweet-natured girl with whom he has been madly in love for the last four years. He hates spicy food; the only exception is Lyla's special Keema Curry.

5. Willow, on the other hand, is technically a female, but if you ever mentioned it in front of her you'd get a black eye and a broken nose within seconds. Other than that, her unruly streak rarely shows itself - she enjoys classical music and ballads, and is afraid of fake hair. She also has zero sense of direction.

Pick one, or my heart will break!

| /\-|\/| SO CD\|---|---P\//

I had reason to be happy this morning. Mmmmmm. :) It freaks me out a little, but I'm still smilinggg. Hah.

seethe

Facebook is nice and all, but I like blogging when I've any more than two sentences to say.
In this case, I have considerably more.

I am extremely upset right now, and so whatever I'm typing is not being filtered apart from the usual grammar screening - and even that is not at its best now because of this all-consuming anger. And yes, the one person I could count on to listen to my rant and to help me calm down is out gallivanting merrily somewhere far away, hence my desperate resort of turning to my blog. I'll probably talk his ears off later, but who the hell cares about his ears.

So. I'm not happy.

Why. Because I just spent the better part of two hours working on something I was told to do, and at the end of it I was told none too politely how it wasn't needed after all. I did not enjoy working on it, I have much better things to fill my time with, I tried hard to do it well. I finished it, turned it in with relief and was hanging around to watch for a reaction. Oh, I got one all right. I got one of utter puzzlement, together with a question of "What is this?" and then a titter of humiliating amusement, followed by a declaration of my work's redundance.

Also. I obviously got angry, I said fine, and I promptly disposed of my work. And how insulting, then, to be told that I was throwing a tantrum simply because my work was unusable. But was that not my point precisely? Why keep it when it is useless? To remind me of this incident, to needlessly anger myself in the future? And now the antagonist in question is pointedly pretending nothing happened, daring even to give me more work to do. The nerve. The sheer bloody nerve of it.

Who. There's only one person who would do something like that to me whom I would not have punched immediately.

See, there's no way I could've said this in any satisfactory manner on Facebook.

my week has been a mess.

What with one thing and all the others, this past week has been full of unsavoury events. The one thing that saved me from complete and utter depression was you, though I'm sure you don't know it - and you never will, but that's okay. Thank you, Sleeves, for existing. Thank you so much.

it's a secret, but...

"She's the woman I'm seeing."

"...No way. She's not your type."

"And you think you were?"

I'm starting to like stupid shouting Oska. :) Look how admirably he deals with his bitchy ex.

the rain today hurt.

and i'm leaving this here as a post so that in half a year or so, i can look back at it and laugh in embarrassment at how silly i was. for this truly is madness, without rhyme or reason, and as madness usually is it is also unstoppable. i know for certain that i will laugh at myself in the future when i think back to this, but it's hard to reason with the irrational part of me right now.

i know how this will turn out.

moping in the corner

What's with the sudden surfeit of people going to Japan recently? Why?

ARE YOU ALL BEING EBIL ON PURPOSE?!

:(

post-mock gloom

I have found, in all my limited experience of accounting exams, that I have this infuriating tendency to make mistakes immediately upon commencement of the paper. You see, Question 1 always involves a Balance Sheet and mine never balances on the first try. Never. And no matter how hard I try to spot the error, no matter how closely I scrutinise the question, no matter how much I recalculate, it doesn't balance until the very end, after I finish the rest of the paper and turn back to go through it again.

So I guess what I'm saying is, I suppose sometimes it really is important to take a step (or maybe a few steps) back when things seem impossible to solve. Sometimes the harder we try, the further we back ourselves into a narrow corner and the more difficult it becomes to see what went wrong. Giving things time (but not too much, the exam doesn't provide for much extra time) allows us to take a deep breath and perhaps calm down a little. Even if you're still a bundle of nerves when you come back to the problem (I'm usually not, though, I have a funny calmness at this point - rather like someone in the face of mortal danger who's already accepted death as a highly possible outcome), having seen and solved the other problems gives you a tiny boost in confidence that makes a not-so-tiny difference.

Solving other problems, no matter how simple, is great because it gives you a sense of empowerment. It makes you realise that whatever is thrown at you has a solution and that this solution can be found using what you have - most of the time, the key to solving a problem lies within the problem itself - and in that way, you strengthen yourself mentally against the big problem from earlier.

I don't know if this can be applied for anyone else or whether it's just me; some of you brainy people might not even have trouble with your first balance sheet. But yeah, it's just one of those epiphany moments.

p.s.: Look, I applied accounting to life! Ooh I'm a genius. I'm using this for mah Ps! (*warning you not to steal or you'll get caught by CopyCatch*)

fly high

Hellz yeah it's Friday. Which means the big ol' accounting mock exam is today. Be very afraid!

I'm not as sleepy as I thought I'd be (rather the opposite, in fact); I think it's the excitement. Not from the prospect of the test, obviously, but from watching too much drama. The website isn't called DramaCrazy for nothing. :/ Anyway, I'll just wing the test the way I usually wing the revisions. Should be alright. I hope. Hee, dramas.

There's always a microscopic, remote chance that someone might be curious so these are the shows I'm following:

1. SungKyunKwan Scandal

[on KBS World (it's on Astro - top-notch subbing!)]

2. Mary Stayed Out All Night a.k.a. Marry Me, Mary

(the male leads are brilliant)

3. Secret Garden

(odd, very different, but interesting so far)

4. **** *****

(I'm keeping this nugget under wraps because it's so clever that I want to go around quoting it, haha. It's the only Japanese one on this list though...)

Happy happy me! :D

*gets bricked by Ms. Anu for failing test*

p.s.: I realised today that I'm still as much in love with Kame as ever, that my recent lack of extreme fangirlism was just me finishing with the insane freshie phase. Yay!

a message to my stalkee

Dear whoever-you-are,

I apologise if you are freaked out by the fact that I seem to be popping up all over the place, and that I seem to always be loitering outside your classroom. You see, the truth is that I am a stalker and I have totally been stalking you for the last two or three months (the days blur when I am able to gaze upon your unearthly visage, I have lost count). I have been watching you very closely and am now able to hang around just outside whatever classroom you're using whenever your class ends.

Yes, I am definitely a stalker. Don't be afraid, I'm a very benign sort of stalker. I just want to see you every single day that I am able to. Seeing you brightens up my day and I can enter my next class with a smile after each encounter. So yes, don't be afraid of me.

Seeing you today was the best thing that could have happened to me. I could feel happy electricity coursing through my, uh, nerves (?) as our eyes met through the dirty glass of your classroom door. Of course the starfish on the screen that I was laughing at was a cover, smoke-screen. I was secretly there in hopes that I would see you. Your hair looked fantastic today, too. I nearly reached out to touch it, but regained my self-control in time. As I promised, I'm a benign stalker, content just to skulk around and stare at you.

So, my stalkee (whatever your name is), I hope you aren't unnerved or anything and that you won't avoid me. I really, really want to continue accidentally-on-purpose bumping into you.

Sincerely,

your stalker.

Let tomorrow come NOW!

Kame's high notes are KILLING me. Thought it was Ueda when I first heard the song, but when I found out it was Kame I was really impressed! See, they don't need Jin to be amazing. He can go on with his Yellow Gold Tour for all I care (and, by doing so, fill my inbox with spam from Johnny's International). I'm not really an Akame fan, ugh.

Kame looks a lot healthier and happier these days. I'm glad. :) There was a point just a few months ago where he looked so drawn and tired that I really wished he'd stop working so hard. Sure I'd see him a lot less, but I'd rather see him less than see him looking so ill... Anyway, he looks better now, so yay! Maybe interior designing is therapeutic! :D

short-term goal:

- to be able to meet your eyes and with a straight face introduce myself as 'Kaye'.

Seriously. It's HARD. I'm trying to slowly convince myself that it's okay, but at the back of my head I'm screaming at myself, You're not Kaye, you're Kar Tong, don't be such a wannabe RWAR! so it gets kind of odd. Meh. Meh. MEH.

MEH.

*snip*

Finally, finally got my hair cut! It's nice and short now, so it'll be a while before I have to brave a hairdresser's again. You know how much it unnerves me. *shiver* I did get it a tiny bit layered near the bottom though, so that might need some degree of maintenance. Meh.

(The woman who cut it this time apparently does Datin Rosmah's hair. My first reaction was "Eww, I don't want Datin-hair" but it turned out fine, so no complaints! Heh.)

Before:

After:

And a special bonus! Presenting...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

WAY, WAY BEFORE:

I was a sweet kid, really! I started turning into the mean crosspatch hag that I am now when I was around eight, I think. Anyway, I think the Before picture makes me look better than the After one, but that was angled better, had nicer lighting and was taken precisely because I thought I looked surprisingly cheerful at the moment. The other was taken spontaneously to document the haircut, so no comparisons should be made. About the last picture... ah, long gone are the days when I could look so nice in a candid shot.

And about why I camwhore in my bathroom, of all places, it's because I'd be bonkers to camwhore in the vicinity of any family members and my room has terribly flat artificial lighting. So I go to the bathroom where there's beautiful natural light.

p.s.: The last one is also a precursor to something I'm gonna do later - I've got a a bunch of childhood pictures (mostly Shawn's baby pictures) that I'm scanning slowly into the computer. He needs a new profile picture (more like I need to get my stupid face out of his current one).

p.p.s.: Look at the first one again. Should I dye my hair? :O

fifteen, there's still time for you...

Is it just me or are the early twenties a worrying part of a person's life? It's disheartening to see people of just about twenty-four who look so world-weary and tired, especially when I compare them to how they were a mere three or four years back. Back then, they looked more like happy, cheerful kids; now they're solemn adults, undoubtedly more professional and skilled, but also less energetic and infectiously smiley.

This disturbs me far more than it should. I can't help feeling inexplicably sad (and subsequently pessimistic) about it. How do four years age a person so?

[edit] looking for labels

Here's something I've been meaning to get done for years: get myself a name people can actually remember. I'm not sure what my feelings are on people who randomly give themselves English names when the only reason they have is that their Chinese name doesn't sound as cool as, say, Fish or Oxide (though I have a tiny idea that my feelings lean towards disapproval), but I don't care anymore. I have to give myself one soon, or no-one in whatever university I end up in will ever be able to remember who I am.

(In any case, I've been progressively doing more and more things that I used to be determined to hate over the last few years so I guess it doesn't matter now if I get super OOC.)

With that said, I need to find a name. I don't want weird nouns (see underlined examples above) or crazy, airy-fairy made-up names (Carmellinia/Melodaisy/whatever), nor do I need odd values (Prudence, much?). I also could use a lot less of oh-so-mysterious names that would, frankly, better suit a cat (like Seraphina or Melusine).

Nice, relatively normal names. Surely they can't be hard to find. Rhea's nice but might sound too pretentious for a self-chosen name, Eris has an interesting meaning but doesn't fit... I've always been partial to the letter K (big surprise), but there aren't a lot of suitable names beginning with that letter. Bah. There's really not much one can do with a surname like mine. =_=

Buggrit, buggrit, millenium hand and shrimp.

*edit!*

Since I've always been partial to Kaye, let's run a trial run for the next week. Here we goooo~

mix and match

Been cracking my head all the last week over the funny things I discovered at the back of my wardrobe earlier. Stuff bought on impulse: there's more of it than I thought. I'd no idea I was such an impulsive shopper. And such random things! Five-toed socks, stripy sleeves (a la the neighbourhood auntie who goes driving in hot weather but doesn't want burnt arms), bright orange shoelaces, oddly-patterned shorts... Anyway. Was trying all week to figure out how to make use of those things, but really, what can one do with them? Besides the socks, those can be worn around the house when I'm cold. Meh.

fights

"Ah, but see us go our separate ways..."

Despite what some may think, I'm not fond of picking fights and starting arguments. I don't have what we Malaysians would call a debater's manner of going around being antagonistic and challenging others for the sport of it. I usually only pick out mistakes in other people's statements because I'm some kind of a grammar Nazi and silly errors annoy me, not because I want to engage in verbal battle. When I do have to argue, I prefer keeping things strictly rational and steady - the worst kinds of opponents are the kinds that rage, storm and refuse to admit that they're not making sense. And when I say fine, let's stop here, I mean it. It is extremely frustrating to have to say it more than twice.

85% of my fights are with the kinds of opponents I can least stand, but they're probably the reason why I can't stand their type in the first place. Meh.

change ur world

A preview on Kame's own radio show, Kase by Kase! Happy is me. :) They've gone back to semi-rock! I've replayed the preview so many times since Saturday that I might just get tired of the song before it actually gets released next month... but no matter, there's always the PV (and the making of it) to look forward to! Never mind the fact that I have a serious mock exam two days after the release date, I'll be waiting online all day for the downloads to become available. :D

If only they had a wider fanbase here, I wouldn't have to be criminal about it and could've just bought the single (all three editions, woohoo) in original form, but nope. Not a peep. :(

kuro

Spent far too much time fooling around with my fingernails today, but the results are none too shabby for a first-timer's attempt with such things. I am now (according to Shawn) certified semi-emo! Because only one hand has black nails, haha. :D Black is such an interesting colour for nails! I feel a little bit like Sebastian now. Or like Koki, come to think of it. Hmm. :/

I sound so bimbotic. It worries me.

Oh, my thumb's hideous. But who cares, my ring finger looks great!

Give me a week or two, maybe I'll be done laughing by then.

Mi Nam's Generation! Super awesome parody, with Lee Hongki in heels, LOL. I maintain that Jang Geun Suk makes quite a damned pretty female. Tae Kyung = ♥




Something that showcases just how crazy the love rivals are. I have no idea what Tae Kyung is doing to the wall, by the way.

Can't - stop - laughing!

Probably only so hilarious if you know how super serious most of these characters are within the actual story. Especially Mr. Biting Frost himself, whose actor is in actual fact a total dork worthy of rivaling SJ's Heechul. Oh, what am I going on about? They're ALL such dorks in these vids! ♥

an exploding... heart??

Strange metaphors these people do use.

unproductivity

Today I should have:

1 Completed my economics homework.

2 Carried out my hour of self-teaching Japanese.

3 Redone them transparencies.

4 Bound my economics PYQ book.

5 Bought batteries.

6 Looked up fractures.

7 Typed out my lesson plan.

8 Downloaded the pictures from the camera.

Today I have:

1 Not done any of the above.

2 Spent two hours watching Le Premier Verre.

. . . Rats. I really am the embodiment of procrastination.

ballads and the like

Cuts from episodes 16 and 7, respectively, of You're Beautiful, which doesn't have a single unlikeable track in its OST. Both songs are the sad, melancholic type, but they're so lovely I can't help loving them and keeping them on replay. I seem to have been on some kind of Korean roll lately. Hmm. I've been told that this was shocking since I've always been such a Japanophile, but I don't see why being one should mean that I'm automatically anti-Korean. I have always, from the beginning of this hallyu thing, maintained that each has its own merits. And like I've mentioned before several times, it doesn't matter what language good music is in and whether or not I understand. Good listening is good listening, and this OST is good listening.

BUT. Change Ur World will be out in a month! :P

You can bet your horse (or, failing that, your sibling) that I'll be ranting like crazy when it does, whether or not it lives up to my expectations. So if I appear to have cooled down at all about KAT-TUN, it's only because they've not released anything since NO MORE PAIИ. I still love them to distraction!

when the weekends come

I owe my survival to KAT-TUN, A.N.Jell, Younha and 9th Street. Thank you for existing.

oh, what drama

But drama is exactly what one should expect from a drama. Cry, Tae Kyung, cry! >:D Payback for Mi Nyu's tears!

...though I can only watch sad scenes if there's a silver lining on the horizon.

pig-rabbit hybrids

Women of the world, marry a guy who would perform stuffed-toy surgery (like this) for you for no real reason. Really. You can't not find that hilariously cute.

for the lulz

The more I watch him, the more I love the character Hwang Tae Kyung in You're Beautiful. Smooth character development aside, he has such funny quirks and such weird habits! Shellfish and sesame and pollen allergies, leporiphobia, an obsession with cleanliness and order, perfectionism, night-blindness, the weird thing he does with his mouth when he's thinking... O_O So many weaknesses in one character, but somehow he pulls it off quite well and it doesn't seem overdone.

[link] <-- super LOL moment.

I really like this K-drama, because of how visually pleasing everything is. And I'm not even talking about the people - though the main four are indeed a pleasure to watch, if only because they're all fantastic actors. The set itself is gorgeous, from the office/studio to their dorm.

A dorm? Really? I'd never have believed a 'dorm' so sumptuous and well-designed. The band members each have such spacious and amazing rooms (cleverly designed with the character's personality in mind, with brilliant uses of the huge space and of textures... Oh, now I'm waxing estate agent), and the common spaces are so well done! Good lighting, the right colours, excellent props... I could go on for hours. If I ever had a plot of land to build a house on, I'd model my house after this so-called dorm.

The clothes! I've always had a thing for the boat neck thing and the oversized neck thing, no idea what they're called but they're cho cool - and this drama ships both like no-one's business. Tae Kyung is almost always in either (follow link above)! Plus they have the other guys wearing other awesome gear, like the plethora of jackets they all seem to own, everyone's shades and the extremely cute beanie from Episode 8. (No-one beats the Japs at rocking hats, though, it's a fact.)

Ah, and the music. As expected of a story about a band, it's almost always playing just the right kind of song in the background. I guess it helps that the main actors are all also singers to a certain degree?

So, yes, in case it isn't bleedingly obvious by now, I am obsessed with this drama. The plot isn't much, but it's everything else - cast, costume, music, setting - that keeps me drawn to it. Nice, short, manageable dramas are bombs! On to the next episode!

agitation, agitation

I'm posting twice a day now, aren't I? I'm sorry, how annoying that must be. Anyway, this post is only here because I want to push the previous one (with the LOL picture and all) further down so that it won't appear in the screenshot of my blog on my New Tab page. My carefully planned aesthetic (I love my bookmarks) has been completely ruined.

So I will just rant here. Firstly: WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH MY PERSONAL STATEMENT?! Why is it that it keeps turning out like a character-explaining life story instead of a concise explanation of my strengths (if those even exist), achievements (these definitely don't) and motivations? I try and try, but I just can't make myself sound impressive. I can make myself sound vaguely likeable (by constructing a false image from strategically-worded truths), yes, but to make the cut would require more than just a good attitude, wouldn't it? Someone, please just empty a cartridge right into my skull!

BUT. It's Trainers' Course this coming weekend!
*apprehension leaking out of every oversized pore*

This post really lives up to the name of this blog. LOL.

cosplaying a geek

Because I'm taking a break from my insanely frustrating and hopelessly retarded personal statement. Really, I do so hate writing about myself. I especially loathe self-praise, too, so my statement's more "Hi, my name is So-and-So and I want to do this because of that; I collect seashells and enjoy writing poetry in my spare time" than "I achieved this and that and this too last year, and I will be a valuable addition to your student body."

Oh, hell. Why can't time just stop for a little while?

Anyway, this picture is related to the second point #1 of my previous post. 'Twas taken yesterday with my phone (hence the awful quality), in the fitting room of some store or other. I look totally like a fugly emo gamer GUY! xD

mixed

Today was so... eventful that I don't quite know how to feel about it. Good and bad, fantastic and horrible. I think, on a whole, I am more happy than not (the scales tip in whichever direction I will them to), though I am also extremely tired. But let's be systematic about this.

Reasons to be happy:

1 The KAT-TUN concert DVD sitting on my shelf.

2 The Le Premier Verre (starring 亀, naturally) DVD sitting on my shelf.

3 The final volume of Those With Wings sitting on my shelf.

4 The three pieces of completely OOC clothing mummy bought for me.

5 The big fat Teach Yourself kit daddy bought for me.

6 The new packet of McVities in the kitchen.

Reasons to be less-than-happy:

1 The fact that I couldn't bring myself to buy my expensive Emo Gamer Guy cosplay ensemble.

2 My lack of a personal statement (and the inspiration for one).

3 The feeling of hideousness that always comes with shopping.

4 My near-bankruptcy.

5 The infuriating, rage-inducing slowness of my internet connection today.

There. Data to support my stubborn intent to be happy with what I have and not to bemoan what I don't. Really, it would be foolish to allow this happiness to be marred by such immoderate greed, dissatisfaction and impatience. Contentment. That's what I need to learn.

extracts from anywhere

"I have confidence in drawing."

"Oh..."

*starts drawing*

"Whoa, I'm good today. I'm really good!"

"You've only drawn five lines!"

You may be good at art, T2, but don't underestimate abstract media and concepts. LOL.

Imitation

I finally realised that I am rather like the character K from the manhwa I Wish by Seo Hyun-joo, in that I tend to become a wannabe clone of people I like. Seriously. Like in my Howl phase, when I wanted earrings like his, my Cian phase when I thought Irish names were so fascinating, my Izumo-no-Takeru phase when I decided that tsundere was out and smiley was in...

Yeah. But, er, I'm not sure what effect my 亀 fandom has had on my preferences just yet. Unless it was the whole eyebrow thing?

this post is also not very pointy.

People who're not used to Japanese or Korean dramas/music really shouldn't harp so much on the fact that the Asian men, as opposed to their more macho Western counterparts, are a lot more at ease with displaying emotion. For example, it's perfectly fine for a male character in a drama to shed tears twice in as many episodes, if the situation is heartbreaking enough (death, desperation, the like). I can't really say this for the Koreans, knowing nearly nothing about them, but I can tell you that the Japanese don't - or didn't - have quite the same rigid rules when it comes to masculine conduct as much of the world has.

Case in point: homosexuality. Even back in the days of feudal lords and bushi, a man's sexual orientation was simply a matter of preference and never a sin. Some even went as far as to say that love between males, nanshoku/shudo, was sacred. Beautiful male prostitutes were not uncommon and sometimes highly sought after. This, however, doesn't mean that pretty boys are necessarily homosexual.

Contrary to what most people think, the whole bishonen/biseinen/bidanshi thing did not, in fact, stem from anime-manga culture, and it definitely doesn't equal homosexuality. Japan has a historical record of its fascination with beautiful young males, the most known of which would be Hikaru Genji, the most infamous playboy in ancient Japanese literature (Google him, you'll get tons of hits). And yes, he fooled around with truckloads of women. The appreciation of the semi-androgynous form, an aesthetic not dissimilar to that of Renaissance angels, isn't a recent development at all, though it has become overly popularised in current times - and it most certainly does not relate to homosexuality. I can't stress this enough.

So you see, pretty boys are not a fad, nor are they gay. Please remember that, and keep your antagonistic redneck views, if any, to yourself. Thank you.

It can be a real blast reading historical stories because of the things you learn, especially when it's made so accessible. This post has been sitting around just waiting to be published since I first read Kaze Hikaru, so it's nice to finally get it done!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p.s.: It wasn't until Western thought penetrated Japan that homosexuality was viewed as an abnormality, which shows again how some people have the conceit to claim their opinions as fact.

p.p.s.: I think I should make a disclaimer here that I am not, in any way, endorsing homosexuality. As a matter of fact, yaoi makes me extremely uncomfortable. BUT. I don't believe in pushing personal opinions quite so far.

more video spammage

The pleasant surprise jpopasia gave me with that last Younha song had me trawling through its archives for other Younha stuff, and I found this! It's Korean, which isn't my usual fare (75% of my listening is Japanese), but music isn't limited to language, yes? Hmm.

Well, in this one, the lyrics don't actually fit the song much, but it's a good video nevertheless. I just love music videos that tell stories, rather than those that only feature random dancing and pointless posing. Cough cough half of KAT-TUN's PVs are like that cough cough. And 80% of the world's music videos. Which is probably why White X'mas is still one of my all-time favourite PVs. If only I could find it on YouTube! I'd embed it here and force people to watch it, heh.

On an unrelated note, I've discovered that the only way I can still apply colours to my posts is by keying in the html codes. Meh, what a pain.

something old, something new

This is the first Younha song I've heard in a while (Houkiboshi was good, but I never thought to look her up), and I like it. It's got a nice, uplifting vibe to it and the verses are my kind of listening, even if the chorus is a tad whiny. Plus, Younha has such a cute smile! ♥ It's always refreshing to have someone (sort of) new to listen to, especially after a prolonged period of the whole 'same artist, new song' phase.

Oh, and I love 0:27-0:30. Heh.

Why I Don't Quite Know What to Feel About Friday:

On the one hand, probably the better hand, the one with longer fingers and better-shaped nails, Friday means lunch with the some of the most brilliant people in my life.

On the other hand, the one with ugly skin and superstubby digits, Friday also means IELTS results. Which I am itching to know, but at the same time I do not want to know. I hate getting papers back or collecting grades but I want to know, damn it.

Mmphf.

boo ya

I don't know... if I should be laughing or crying. But then again, there isn't much difference between the two in terms of physical exertion. Both have your shoulders shaking slightly, your eyes tearing, your chest heaving and your face all screwed up. Sometimes, when you're laughing bitterly at yourself for crying, it's hard to tell if you're laughing or crying more. Actually, I think that's when the hysterics come into the picture, but we'll forget that.

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What happened was, my keyboard broke itself. Yes, it did. I sure as hell had nothing to do with it. Really. One moment I'm typing something rubbishy out on facebook and the next I'm staring blankly at my Shift key and wondering why it won't allow itself to be pressed. And was it supposed to be quite so wonky?

I prodded it a few times in a manner reminiscent of Dexter's gloriously annoying sister, and lo! the entire Shift key popped up and out of the keyboard. Oh yes. Panic. Hmm. It was an ungodly hour of the morning, too, so I had no hope of seeking assistance. Spent ten full minutes scrutinising the mechanics of the thing and tried to attach the key back into its rightful spot, but my fat sausage fingers (have I mentioned I hate my hands? Except maybe my fingernails) were not up to the delicate task.

The forceps were a lifesaver. :D

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Finally got round to using the underwater camera in the fishpond today. Haha. Results were, on the whole, terrible - but this one's not too shabby. Stupid water's too green, though!

:(

normalcy

To make up for the plain foolishness of all my recent posts, I tried to post something more normal this time but somehow nothing in my to-post queue qualifies as normal. Fanposts, by the way, are considered very abnormal as well, in my desperate bid to hold on to the sane, uninfested part of my mind.

Hmm. There are, at the moment, quite a number of things I have to (or maybe just want to) say, but I can't find a way to convey all of that across. My word-blindness again, no doubt. Not unexpected, either, since it's been aeons since I've actually picked a book up. To have five books half-read and waiting around to be read is something that still shocks me now, and would have appalled my schooling self. I had a free evening today with about three hours to spare, and I spent it reorganising my economics notes. If that isn't unnatural, nothing is.

Oh, here's something normal to blog about. Blogger is messing around and I can't colour my words. How horrible. I had no idea blogging would feel this dry without the ability to add colours to my posts. Grey counts as a colour, mind you, so I can't even vary my words within the boundaries of monochromatism. What a blister.

For fear of sounding positively vapid (more than I already do, anyway), I shall stop here and go to sleep. And...bye-bye.

Oh noes, some fandom managed to slip in. Oops.

this heart is break. lol.

Booted up Winter ten minutes ago and discovered that my wearing a hairband renders me unrecognisable by Winter's standards. The picture above is of my stoned, why-is-Winter-taking-so-long? face, recorded by the poor confused thing as I attempted to log in. Haha.

There you go, Pei, a normalish camwhore picture! Blek.

volatile

It doesn't take much to sour a good mood, does it? Especially when there isn't any reason in particular for the said good mood - because you'll have nothing to cheer you up again when your mood goes off into the deep end.

Fortunately, there will always be cold showers and music to heal such mood upsets. Music, though, is on a low today (*sad face*) as I've grown tired of what Branch holds. And it doesn't help that most of it is loud, energetic stuff when I'm in the mood for something more melancholy and dramatic.

Downloads, here I come!

-------------------------------------------[edit]-----------------------------------------------

Decided to set the player on random and found two nice songs, called Water Dance and White World, respectively. Alliteration for the frikkin' win!

this explains it:

Hello, this is me. I talk to myself, sometimes aloud, and my mental conversations with me are usually very apparent on my face. I am terrified of insects, I cannot ingest any member of the allium family without being overcome with nausea and I will kill the next person who uses the word "creative" on me. I derive no satisfaction from any aspect of my appearance save for my eyes, which is why you see them doubled here. Twice the love.

Reason for my weirdness being: I am not human. Guafuafua.

the first shelf

Contains the odds-and-ends, Kirino Natsuo and some unfinished reading. There isn't much hiding behind the front row, just the Mortal Instruments trilogy.

hi there, burogi

IELTS. Hmm. Yeah. Mm. *hysterical laughter*

Aaaaaaanyway. Tokyohive has made me a very excited kid tonight and now I cannot wait for October the first. Reasons being:

1. It's a suit. Suits are bombs.

2. After the last one with the Panasonic Lamdash, who doesn't want to see another one?

3. His hair, thank goodness it's all right. The sudden scissors scene was terrifying.

4. IT'S. A. SUIT.

I want a Gao Gao toy (some kind of Jenga-like game). It would be the most hilarious thing in the world to play with friends. 8D

nankurunaisa

Lanterns in Vnam Kitchen, Ipoh.

Keep the faith; one faraway day you'll see your real face and understand that no one can rescue you but yourself. If you don't start to love yourself right now, it is only to your detriment. You say you wish to feel no more pain? Then get going! There is no signal, no flag to start your journey but your own will. Start now and DO THE D-MOTION.

Hahaha.

A silly, poorly disguised piece of fandom that was almost obscene to write, what with all my laughter at my own expense. But hey, we all have our vices. Mm. Oh, yes. Nankurunaisa, by the way, is a quirky little bit of Okinawan that roughly means, "It will all work out." Admirable attitude, that. Just the right spirit to take with me into the test tomorrow.

Nankurunaisa, everyone!

om nom nom

An ADDICTION. That's what this is.

Another pressie picture. :)

counter-poison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CMs-mKjXiQ

Currently, the only thing that can successfully distract me from general KAT-TUN fandom (I swear NMP exacerbated the syndrome) is Matsushita Yuya. :D No comparison, of course, but definitely good enough as a distraction. Sure, he's a little too girly at times, but it's all good because he's also childishly funny at times. It somewhat makes up for the deficiencies.

Picture is of a highly treasured piece of lettuce (haha).

we're alive today as well

Tomorrow, I have a mock exam for economics. And here I am ensuring my FAIL grade. I never will learn, will I.

Is it hypocritical of me to repeatedly insist that my level of English is just decent, but then get unhappy when someone misguidedly attempts to correct me? Is it being arrogant or boastful in any way? Worse, am I belittling that someone's abilities?

Tell me it isn't so, or I will die a sudden death by guilt. D:

p.s.: You know, the surest sign of how much I love KAT-TUN is my blithe, feigned ignorance of their atrocious English.

rofl

I do apologise for the surfeit of fanposts, but I've just finished watching the 2008 Queen of Pirates concert rendition of LIPS and I must tell someone about it. You see, normally I would gush about it to the nearest person, but right now it's an hour where there's no one around, so...

LIPS, for the most part, is still one of my favourite KAT-TUN songs. In the concert, they used microphones similar to those they used in the PV (which meant poor Nakamaru got this again, LOL. I've never seen an uglier mic). What's more, there was an outlet near the input part of the mic that was rigged to shoot out a dense mist, much in the style fire extinguishers, just like in the PV. They utilised this strange ability in between verses where they were supposed to spray the mist into the air and generally look cool.

And the moment Nakamaru started his beatboxing, everyone else had nothing better to do but turn their nozzles on him. This on its own was pretty funny, but I nearly killed myself laughing when Jin accidentally shot the stuff straight up his nose while singing.

Damn I love these people. :D

prelude to greatness

"Chief..."

"What is it?"

I kid you not. Those four little words up there almost always herald EPICness.

I love the Factory Skit. ;A;

word of the day: yes.

Yes, as in YESSS!!

I was such a good kid today. Except for that tiny bit of dozing off in class (it wasn't even proper dozing, it was more like a concentrated lack of concentration), anyway. But I didn't skip work, and I didn't even nap when I got home! What's more, I think I've managed to tone down my madness a little, now that I'm over the extremities of the initial stages. Mm. Yeah. That's important, mind you, or I'd be stark raving and all that by the end of the month.

But.

More importantly.

WE PASSED.

Probably not with the flying colours implied above, but we still did. I wonder how, but it doesn't really matter at this point, does it? What matters is that [see above]. YES LAH. Victory dance around the campfire, troops!

taking the plunge

Watch the whole thing for the full effect, or skip to 20:30 for the jump itself.

(Veoh loads really fast, anyway.)

http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-variety/cartoon-kat-tun-episode-68/70230

There's really something to be said for a video that can make me feel like bungee-jumping, fear of heights and all. For ten minutes I could feel so much terror for the guy who was supposed to jump, almost as though I myself stood at the edge. The fear was so clear - and somehow all of it disappeared, or at least paled into insignificance, in the last one minute. I don't know why, but something about that jump was a marvel to watch; the word freedom coming unbidden into my mind at it. To forget everything but your sense of being, even for a few seconds, sounds like a wonderful idea.

I could do it with parasailing. Could I do it with bungee jumping? Assuming my heart survives it, of course. Heh.

hollow

I hate this feeling. And my medicine's run out now, so what comes next might be quite... entertaining. Hah.

It's... how do I put this? Rather like an awful, hollow feeling in your chest that makes you feel lonelier than you've ever been. This dark, disturbing shadow that hovers just on the edge of your conscious thoughts, that only the bright flares of various distractions can hold off. And it spreads, all over and around your little globe of awareness, so that everything from the outside is cut off and reaching out becomes harder and harder - until the time when you run out of distractions.

At this point you get desperate. You scrounge and search and scavenge, looking for distractions to avoid the pressing weight of your issues, but they get heavier with each passing minute and the available supply of new distractions has been depleted to near non-existence. What, then, do you do?

My head hurts. I don't want to think about anything anymore. I don't even know what the point of day-to-day survival is. I'm tired; physically, mentally and emotionally. I just want to sleep - for as long as it takes to calm my unstable psyche down. Preferably long enough for me to stop hating myself. Love Yourself is for people who have enough strengths to balance out the weaknesses, not for those who are constructed bone-by-bone out of faults and falsifications. It is impossible for me to love myself, the way I am right now.

Is this, then, what they call depression? PMS, perhaps. Whatever. I don't care any more.

'Gui Li He Ye'

I can't freaking get enough. Replaying the videos can only help so much. I'm buying the album rwarrr. Who cares if he's been known to have weirdly gay tendencies. I ain't a big fan of guy-love, but by heck, if anyone can be excused for it it'd be him.

He's too damned cute. (;__;)

I'm getting there! It's an improvement; at least this time the person actually exists!

Claude Faustus

He rather looks like William T. Spears!

...I don't like him.

For one, he's got a disgusting preoccupation with licking, and not in a sexy manner. More like in a Tentacle Monster kind of way. Ugh. For another, he is just far too stoned. Call it stoicism if you will, but his EBIL face just irritates me to no end. He also is a lousy servant, with so little loyalty in the face of temptation. Whatever happened to the contract? Then again, his master is a right b!tch... But that's not a very good excuse. PLUS, he screwed around with Ciel and stole his soul! D:

Also, he doesn't like cats. Hmmph.

the soul he wanted

"Forsake the future. Sacrifice your dreams. Elude the past, fight the reality."

This isn't as good as a simulcast, but it's more than enough! *happy dance*

A new phase in my obsession, muahahaha!

more than bargained for

Bought the live-action adaptation of The Wallflower on a whim (mostly, but not entirely, because it looked promisingly full of bishies) two days ago; currently my completion rate stands at around 83%. And I must say, it has quite exceeded my expectations. It's surprisingly good for a story about what an unnaturally beautiful guy and a hikikomori girl have in common, though it doesn't sound so original when it's put like that. My eyes can't catch a damn break; they've been behaving like leaky cauldrons all week, what with me watching one drama series after another. Blegh. This show really is good, though, whether or not you understand the language.

Speaking of which.

I hate it when I so gamely spend time to actually try out what someone recommends, even if it's not my usual cup of tea, and in turn I only get laughed off when I try to talk about what I like. Is it so wrong to want someone to share it with? Do you have any idea how lonely that is? Ahh, no wonder the show struck such a chord. That's it. Loneliness.

Pff, yet another post turned emo halfway through.

the (war)path home

Image credits go to [link], [link], [link] and [link], respectively. DeviantART is your friend.

Iamemobecausetheresultsarecoming.

If not human, what else?

If there's one message that really sticks in my head after reading Pratchett's books, it's that the human race truly is the most astoundingly monstrous of all, not least because we don't realise it most of the time.

When someone does something shockingly cruel or twisted, we like to say how inhuman he or she is - but that doesn't make any sense, because no other living thing that we know of could possibly do such things. Oh, they often rip each other's guts out, sure, but the intent behind it is completely different. They do so as part of their natural programming. Only human beings could be so sick as to hurt other beings in the way we have done, so malicious as to do so deliberately, so ignorant as to do so in high spirits, and so arrogant as to call such acts "inhuman".

So what is "human"? Are only kind, caring acts of goodness human? Only what is morally right is human?

The drawn-out, cold-blooded, premeditated murder of a woman with her child watching from a ringside seat is every bit as human as a donation to disaster victims. It would be nothing but conceit to deny that. With the good... comes the bad.

Results're in two days. I can't breathe.

that fear

Unless I'm very much mistaken, both of these BJDs are from Dollshe (you learn weird, random things from dA). And yeah, the first is a damn trap. I totally thought he was a girl-doll, bah.

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/307/9/e/9e06ff14588358f87cae9ed8b2ab1ccd.jpg

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs47/i/2009/228/7/f/Renew_II_by_alientune.jpg

Two beautiful reasons to help me overcome my fear of dolls.

When I see the plasticky texture or the joints, I still find them a little creepy, but I guess I can always distract myself by focusing instead on how scarily pretty they are. Lol. Quite unnerving if you stop to think too hard, but they're so much better than the dolls I've grown up hating. At least they're photogenic. :P I'd take them (especially the second one) over Ken any day!

Mannequins and baby-dolls still freak the living daylights outta me, though.

Love

"Love," he explained.

She looked at him with eyes the blue of the sky.

"I hope you choke on it," she said, flatly.

Gaiman is not bad reading when one feels in the mood for something ... blacker than Pratchett.

How long has it been...

...since I could tie my hair up without a messy layer of bristles left out at the base?

...since I could twist all that hair up into a proper, spherical bun?

...since I ironed my nursing cap out, folded it along well-creased lines and pinned it atop my head, only to feel it floating off whenever I moved too quickly?

...since we watched each other's backs - literally, in case one of our zips had slid?

...since I only had two buttons to attach every time I donned my uniform?

...since we all wore those canvas shoes?

...since I started feeling this hollow?

Just one name.

Jeremy Rathbone.

*squeeeeeeeeee*

.

wisdom...

"Hey mister, jigajig toot sweet all same Number Three."

...is knowing a foreign language. Hahahahah.

I do so love the works of Sir Pratchett - favourite Discworld inhabitants being Esmerelda Weatherwax, Gytha Ogg, Havelock Vetinari, Mustrum Ridcully, Tiffany Aching and (as if anyone could ever, ever forget) the Nac Mac Feegle.

I Shall Wear Midnight will be out in September! OH, THE AGONY.

OH, THE EXCESSIVE CAPITALISATION.

It's a fine day for skywalking...

by janey-jane of deviantart.

Such an unexpected crossover.

Howl + Shinji = ♥♥

...well, not really, but Howl = ♥ and Shinji = ♥, so technically it makes sense. ^^

Urban Dictionary: Mary Sue

A female fanfiction character who is so perfect as to be annoying. The male equivalent is the Marty-Stu. A Mary Sue character is usually written by a beginning author. Often, the Mary Sue is a self-insert with a few "improvements" (eg. better body, more popular, etc). The Mary Sue character is almost always beautiful, smart etc... In short, she is the "perfect" girl. The Mary Sue usually falls in love with the author's favourite character(s) and winds up upstaging all of the other characters in the book/series/universe. There are several main types of Mary Sue:

Victim!Sues: The Victim!Sue is your whiny, wimpy, pathetic female character who can't seem to do much of anything except cry and get herself into trouble that the romantic interest of the fic has to rescue her from.

Warrior!Sues: The Warrior!Sue is usually loud, obnoxious and (of course) an amazing warrior. She'll usually have some tragic past that led her to become a warrior, and she'll upstage all of the Canonical characters with her mad Sueish powerz.

Mage!Sue: Similar to the Warrior!Sue, the Mage!Sue has amazing stregnth in magic, or has a magical power that nobody else has. She'll usually wind up upstaging all of the magical characters of the series.

Punk!Sue: Also called Noncomformist!Sue or Goth!Sue, the Punk!Sue is usually written by female beginners in the 11-15 age group. The Punk!Sue is loud, obnoxious, annoying and generally the type of person who you'd want to send off to boot camp for six months. The Punk!Sue almost always has angst coming out of her ears and isn't really a bad person, she's just oh!-so-angry at whatever tragic past the author has chosen to give her. The Punk!Sue is based on what the 11-15 year old author thinks is "cool" and wishes she could be. This includes Evil!Sues.

Misfit!Sue: This includes all Sues who are supposedly geeks, nerds, misfits, etc. Usually, the Misfit!Sue doesn't start out as inhumanly beautiful, but winds up getting a makeover and finding out she had the potential to be a guy-magnet (or girl-magnet, depending on the genre) all along. Also includes the "My parents want me to do this but I want to do that and it's not fair!!!!one!" type of Sue. Usually, this Sue is very bookish and smart, but will find some sort of physical talent nobody expected and become a star as a result.

Another thing to note is that a Sue will usually have a completely off-the-wall name, like "Viquetoria". The more weird and pretentious the name of the character, the more likely it is that she is a Sue.

Finally, Sues often have weird, improbable or impossible bloodlines. A secret half-elf child of Elrond and a nameless human would be an example of this. A character who was Dumbledore's grandchild and Tom Riddle's daughter would be another example.

by nscangal.

The great truth of this makes me laugh... the green highlights my personal favourite parts. Whoever nscangal is, she sure knew her fanfics. Your move, Mary Sue! Feel free to use your mad Sueish powerz and totally decimate these points, after which you will ride off into the sunset with the ikemen of your creator's choice.

BUT. This also makes me wonder if any of my OCs are thought of as Mary Sues or Marty Stus, which would totally make me feel like this: