Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me.

Noragami!

So, I told you all about an anime I started watching that I really liked. I didn't give away the name right off the bat, because I didn't want to get all excited only to find that it actually sucked. Some of the anime out there have great pilot episodes but the rest is sucky, that sort of conundrum. Kind of like Walking Dead. So I finished the first season, and after careful consideration, I have decided that it is one of the best anime I've ever seen and you all should give it a try!

Available on Netflix, the first season of Noragami is about a minor god named Yato who runs around doing small jobs for people. He bumps into a girl named Hiyori when she gets hit by a bus. She survives, but now has the ability to turn into a partial phantom and interact with the spirit world. She becomes best friends with Yato and his weapon Sekki. Phantoms pop up now and then to cause trouble, along with other gods and really creepy people whose plots I won't mention for spoiler purposes.

What I loved about the anime was, well, everything really. There wasn't any fan service shoved in your face or full on dependent girls failing at life miserably without their potential boyfriend. Though Hiyori would often go to Yato for help, it was more or less because she couldn't kill the evil Phantoms plaguing the city rather than she is a useless waste of flesh like a lot of anime females I stumble across. In fact, she could probably kick some serious ass if she only had a Phantom slaying sword too.

Art and music were also a plus. There are a lot of glowing effects, especially during battles and with the characters' eyes. I love glow-y eyes!

The mood never dragged you down into full out depression. As my friend once said about finishing wolf's Rain, "Don't you just want to commit suicide right now?" Yah. That was intense, but very suck-ish. I couldn't watch anime for a while, and I just felt very, very depressed for the longest time. Noragami was not that bad. But it wasn't a silly, stupid, goofy show either. I typically dislike those. I did my fair share of laughing and tear-shedding throughout. It was a good balance that would let you sink and sink, but then bring you back up so you could breathe again.

Of all the different characters in the show, it's hard for me to say if any one of them was my favorite. I think Yukine was one of my tops. He barely squeaks by the rest of them for position of being my favorite. He had a lot of intense, emotional moments in the show. In fact, he pretty much drives it all by himself. It was very distressing to watch him going through episode after episode struggling with such immense loneliness and hatred, and everyone wants him dead. And all he wants is to just be a normal person, which he can't be. It's very sad. *hugs Yukine*.

I would give this show a perfect 10 out of 10, but since there has yet to be any wind of a second season in the works, I will point out this sad, sad flaw that often comes to short animes: unresolved plots.

A lot of stuff was slowly introduced to the show and a lot was left unanswered in the end. Though we were able to glimpse a bit of Yato's past, it would be nice to know some of the other characters' histories or some of their stories. How did Yato and Bishamon meet? Why did he kill a Regalia? Why did Kazuma owe him a debt? How did Yukine die? Why won't Yato tell him how he died since he obviously knows? What is up with Nora? And quite a few more questions of that nature.

It's a very rich universe and the anime did everything right for a first season, but unless they plan on making a second, they fell rather short. The characters need more developing, the side characters need more screen time, the bad guys need to get badder, etc. 

On the other hand, they have not done everything that is in the manga and so they have a ton more material to work with. They can easily make a second season (some of the manga fans say they can make a possible third). Also, the makers have not said there won't be a second, so it might just be some wait before the next season emerges. Kind of like this painfully long wait for HOTD season 2...

Currently I'm trying to get through Shugo Chara Doki! and Durarara. There are some other anime that I started some time ago and need to finish (Magi, Moribito, etc) but the above two are the ones I'm really going to work on finishing. Mania tells me to watch Tokyo Ghoul and Zankyou no Terror, but I have a lot on my lsit to get through and those two aren't quite finished yet D:

Another anime I finished recently was Berserk. I watched it all the way through just to watch the movies only to be SO FRAKKIN disappointed by that god awful ending, AND only to find out that the movies ARE the show, just done in a much better art style with a completely finished and wrapped up plot.

WHY NO ONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE?????!!!!!! >.< 

But I want to end this review on a happy note and not stain it with bad words. So I leave you with a cookie that looks like Yukine's spirit and my final rating of Noragami at 9.9 Yukine spirit cookies out of 10!

Peace out minions!

New Happy Puppy!

Say hello to Ursani!

(me and Ursani)

These are pictures of the gorgeous Ursani! She is owned by the family whom I now live with, so she's 1/5 mine in spirit (not in money, cause I paid nada). She is a Plott Hound, a dog bred for hunting down bears and wild boars. 

Ursani was the name of a gypsy Clan that would tame bears for medieval courts, circuses, and more. 

This Ursani is such a loving, sweet girl and really enjoys giving hugs and kisses!

note: both pictures courtesy of Southern Illinois Humane Society

I Hate Being Dead-Beat

No school and no job. That's what happens when you move states several days before school starts. Now all the college kids (all 100,000+ of them) have taken all the jobs and I got here too late to apply for classes. Thanks for nothing, FAFSA!

So, what do I do with my time? Occasionally work out, write my stories, watch anime (currently working on Berserk which is interesting to say the least), and of course, rp.

The problem with being a dead beat while all my rp friends are in school is that I have no one to talk to when I need to vent about my feels. It's so annoying. Especially when Liam's all, "Let me post this traumatizing reply to our rp. GottagonowhavefunBYE!"

Speak of the devil and he JUST appeared on chatango. Damn him.

Well, might as well talk about something else I suppose.

I killed off one of my longest lasting and favorite characters ever: Kieran Draeyva. All because Liam killed off one of his. Payback's a bitch.

We both cried during this rp. There were just too many feels. I've never had this many feels in an rp before. Ugh. It's so mentally and emotionally exhausting. Plus the song that was playing on the site didn't help either.

I think it was so intense because we had these characters so long, all the way back in good old 2011-ish. And even though the site was dead for a year, I was still plotting out Kieran's story an personality and everything. Liam probably was too, I don't know. And because of that, slipping into their mindset was so easy. Like putting on your favorite t-shirt. Kieran drove his own story and reacted to things on his own. Granted, the beginning of it was rather rushed. We had been planning out this plot before the site died, so we thought we would just pretty much copy what we remembered.
But then it took a turn for the worst when the characters started taking over. Lorcan, rather than help them out, decided to eat his twin brother instead. I shot Kieran with ice during their breakout, and then realized my mistake because he is a fire dragon. I had the guards catch up with them, also a mistake since neither of them could really fight. Then Kieran got pissed. Lorcan picked Adrian up with his teeth, and Kieran just lost it. He mauled Lorcan till he killed him, then died. The events shaped themselves as a result. Now Lorcan and Kieran are dead. So I suppose, in a way, I didn't kill anyone. They just wound up dying because of the shit that Lady Fate dished out on them. It's bad luck when Lady Luck turns her back on you.

So what will happen next? That's for the characters to decide. I still have the reigns on what I throw their way, but I ultimately lost control of them long ago.


EDIT: we decided Lorcan was necessary for a plot, so we are using the magical Spirits to make him a zombie, which will ultimately unleash chaos on the world, both spiritual and physical. Fun-ness. Kieran was also revived (cause from what I learned, you can still revive people up to three minutes after their heart stops. any longer and there is a risk of brain damage from lack of oxygen and blood to the brain)
So yes, both of them are alive (at least one is, the other is merely "alive")
But only for now...

... just for now...


Keep an eye out, minions.

A Review of RP

Today on Imaginary Order, I review the three rps that have been dominating my online life for the past month or so. These three are Aisthesis, Mortalitatis, and Where Dreams Are Reality.


First off is Aisthesis. I've talked about it several times before, so I feel it doesn't need much explaining anymore. It's people in a slightly altered, modern day Earth where people who can see each others' souls battle it out in mafia-like families while trying to stay under the pesky noses of the humans and the much more dangerous noses of the Theia Hunters. It's a very large roleplay that has expanded over the past one and a half years that it's been open. Activity boomed, then fluctuated, then died, before coming back with an even bigger boom during the great war that launched us into Episode 4.
I really love this rp, and not just because I made it, but because the members are all very inventive risk takers who come up with some of the most interesting characters, and quite a few plots of their own that make the story very rich. We're crawling out of a lull and getting back into the swing of things, and boy is it exciting. There is never a dull moment in the rp, and even if there is, there is never a sense of "this rp can't ever get more exciting" because anything can happen. Literally. Especially when everyone has such a wide range of powers and the way a scene could go is so unpredictable, you could literally have someone be attacked by a bear in the middle of a crowded mall and it would totally make sense. That's the beauty of it.


Second on the list is Mortalitatis.
I probably mentioned joining it, but I never got into heavy detail. It's a complex fantasy world with multiple modern elements thrown in the mix. It has romance, political struggles, battles, almighty gods possessing mortals for their amusement, magic, and plenty of other stuff thrown in between.
My one issue is that the rp has hit it's low point. Much like Aisthesis back in the beginning of Episode 3, we see only 2-3 members on per day (myself included) and not much really happening plot wise. It also doesn't help that a lot of those other members have their characters stuck in rps with members that are not online. Still, we three are dedicated enough to pull through the lull and get back on track. This is always the hardest point in a site's history where all it rides on is the dedication of the few members who love it enough to keep pushing forward.
The other thing I don't like (which is associated with the above thing I don't like) is the romance rp. Ugh. If there is one thing I vow never to do again, it is being stuck in the massive rp lull with the only other member there to keep me sane, and we are rping romance. Though I have surprised myself by developing a rather strong female character (something I suck at), I still feel that a lot has been wasted by making this whole rp session a romance arc. Romance just kind of kills it for me, especially when an rp in a world like this can get so fucking awesome with battles and torture and exploring the shit out of a location and pretty much anything else. It's like watching the trailer for Final Fantasy versus 13 on repeat only to find out the game is actually about a girl and a guy sitting around varied locations talking about their feelings and making out.

OH WAIT A MINUTE THEY DO!

WAIT.... ANOTHER MINUTE!

They fight to da death! Dis is epic stuff! Maybe I should do that in my rp...

WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE! The rp itself is fun and the other member rping with me is really cool. I just don't like romance. It's not my cup of tea. If you were a guy and you ever wanted to win my heart, just sit down with me and watch The Raid and the Raid 2. It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Note the major lack of romance in those movies!

It really is a fun site. The owner put a ton of time and effort into designing a complex universe with so many different places to explore and plot possibilities. Plus, the characters themselves are very dynamic and diverse.

Last but not least, Where Dreams Are Reality.

OMFG

You know, when I first stole the password of that dead site eight years ago, I never thought the thing would come so far as it did. It has died and been revamped so many times over, I hardly recognize it anymore. Though the site now is similar to its version from back in 2011, the actual characters, plots, and mood of the site have changed. Drastically. Which can only be summed up in this post, which WASN'T MINE!

Ice ignored the Were's scream. Turning around, he sat down on the Were, holding onto his broken leg. Using a piece of shattered bone he used it to begin cutting off the Were's leg.

Adrian squirmed, and tried to pull out of his twin brother's grasp. Once he felt his leg was starting to be cut off completely, he leaned forward, pulling onto his brother's hair, and pulling him away from his broken leg.

Ice gritted his teeth, snarling when his hair was being pulled. Turning around suddenly, and letting go of the Were's leg, he kneeled down on him. Grabbing the Were's left hand, he twisted and dislocated his thumb. He waited a few seconds, letting the Were cry out again while the pain sunk in. Taking his thumb into his mouth, he bit down hard, grinding his teeth together, slowly biting though the skin until the thumb came off completely. Still kneeling on the Were, he pulled the thumb out of his mouth, briefly showing it to the Were before he sunk his teeth into it and begun to eat it.

Adrian continued to scream as his thumb was twisted, dislocated and bitten off. He clutched his bleeding hand to his chest, his eyes wide with horror and disgust as he saw his twin eat his thumb. "Why....why are you doing this? What have I done to you?" He forced the words out slowly, his jaw clenched tightly due to the pain. He refused to start begging, to start crying. He knew this wasn't over yet....at least he saw as much in his twin's eyes.

Ice ignored the questions, and contiued to strip the flesh off the bone and swallowing it. Once he was done, he tossed the bone over to the other cell before he turned around again to continue his work with the broken leg.

Adrian shut his eyes tightly, breathing in sharply as he felt his own piece of bone being used to saw off his leg. Opening his eyes he scowl, looking at his twin. He couldn't deny this was his twin, but he could deny that this other Were....that this creature was any family of his. What family member would want to eat you? Leaning forwards slowly, he swung out his good hand against his twin's head, using the shackle like he felt his twin had done to him earlier. He was shocked by his own success in getting his twin off of him, that he stared down at him for what seemed like a long time before he brought himself back to the matter at hand. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself up onto his foot. Using the cell bars he started to make his way back towards Kieran's cell. He was so close, just a few feet away when he was slammed against the cell. Eyes widening, he tried to cling onto the cell bars as he was being pulled backwards. "Kieran!" He cried, feeling his grip slipping. Then he was slammed against the cell's bars. In a daze, he felt his grip loosen, and he was back on the floor. He felt the back of his head being gripped tightly and then his face was being slammed into the floor. He screamed, trying to push his brother off of him. "No, don't do that again!" He panicked, trying to look over his shoulder when he felt his right hand being held tightly. His last two fingers were held and then they were bent backwards. He cried, the pain shooting through his hand and down his arm. He felt the other Were's teeth on his hand again, and just as he felt his twin bite in, he blacked out because of the pain.

Ice continued to bite and pull off the two fingers, even though the Were had passed out. He ate the two fingers as well, before he turned his attention to the leg again. Once he had sawed off the rest of the flesh, he pulled off the leg. Holding it in one hand, he left the unconscious Were face down in the cell and bleeding from his wounds. Going into a corner, he sat down and begun to feast. 

Yah, that was one whole post, and it wasn't mine. MY character was sitting in one cell over watching his brother being eaten by his other deranged brother.

Essentially, the massive plot going on is occurring in Cinaed, the City of Flames (one of six cities). Ruled by the powerful dragon shifting (weredragon) family, things take a turn for the worst when the King is murdered and his oldest son, Prince Kieran, is blamed for the crime. Prince Adrian and Princess Alice are also taken out of the picture, deemed as unfit to rule and possibly insane. The two princes are thrown in the dungeons, one awaiting execution, the other reunited with his deranged twin brother who decides he would make a tasty snack.
MEANWHILE
Princess Alice, fearing for her life, takes her bodyguard/slave Enethar with her as they escape the Draeyva capital to seek help from their far distant relatives and take back the throne from the sinister General Razka who started this whole plan to take over the city. But she is being pursued by an assassin! Oh noes!
MEANWHILE
After being medically treated by a doctor, the two Princes decide to escape. They break out of the dungeons but are being pursued by the prison guards who finally catch up with them out of the city.
Cue epic aerial dragon battles.

So yah, it has definitely taken a turn from random people doing random things to really messed up and heavy duty, emotional rps that segway into epic aerial dragon battles. That shit was so much fun to write.

And that was a taste of Where Dreams Are Reality. I went into a ton of detail on the dragon plot, but that's pretty much the only one happening right now.



So all in all, I think my favorite rp, hands down, this time around at least is...


Where Dreams Are Reality.

Although by scale it is rather small and only two rps are actually happening, it is my favorite. The action is gripping and the plot just keeps going and going, and there really is never a dull moment on the site. I have not been on there as much as I should since I'm so wrapped up in the other sites, but I love this site so much, and Liam, Cel, and Crystal have made it the best place ever.
Yah, that whole Ice and Adrian post up there, that was Liam's. And you thought I was bad to my characters. Eesh.

So what is/are your guys' favorite sites!


Peace out minions!


p.s: I did not mention sites such as Alternate Universe Online, Janlea City, Land of Desai, and a few others because I don't have all that much to say on them as nothing has been happening yet (for me anyways). I'll probably talk about them next time.

Should Be Dead

On Thursday, August 21, 2014, I got in a car accident.

I was going down the freeway at 70mph (right on the speed limit) and I was drinking water and singing to my cat. Well, when I tried putting the water bottle in the cup holder, the car listed to the left side of the freeway.
I hit a rumble strip. Oops. Better get back over to the right.
Nope. I swerved left and into grass.

I got both hands on the wheel and cranked it over to the right. I was going too far right, so I went left. I went off road and into the grassy median. I swerved back onto the freeway, heading headfirst into the right lane of the freeway. From my millisecond calculations, I could tell that I was going to be under the wheels of a dump truck in less than a second. So i cranked the wheel to the right and sideswiped the car.
The force of the blow sent me careening off the right side, down into the grassy median, then I went airborne. I flew right over the left freeway and hit the brakes, rolling to a stop just a millimeter from a massive tree and fence.
If I had gone over that freeway a second later, i would have plowed through the windshields of two semi trucks.

Due to the heavy traffic, I should not have cleared both freeways the way I did. We are talking I-90 next to Chicago. I also should not have managed to avoid that dump truck. I also should not have been able to go from 90 to 0 mph in under a second. I should have been crushed by the truck, flown through two semi truck wind shields, and smashed through the fence into the tree on the other side.

Suffice to say, I was completely unharmed except a slightly sore neck and a bruise on my right arm. Here are pictures of the car.

You can see the lovely dump truck wheel marks on the shotgun seat door. Both bumper and fender were torn apart. The whole right side is crushed in and the right rear window blew out. But the engine is fine and my seat and the shotgun seat were undamaged.

Note to self and others: don't take your eyes off that road. Don't take your hands off that wheel. One second is all it takes, and then it's all over.

Peace out minions and stay safe.

Wolf's Rain

I just finished the entire series of Wolf's Rain.
I can honestly say that it is one of my top three favorite anime, next to Phantom and Zetsuen no Tempest.
I have never cried so much during an anime before. Not even Evangelion. I cried through the last three episodes and then some. It was so heartbreaking to see them get so far only to fail.
And I won't give away any more than that.

Basically the world is ending. But humans stand no chance at all. The only ones who can access the next world to come are wolves. The main character is a white, lone wolf named Kiba. He is joined by Hige, Tsume, and Toboe. Eventually they meet Cheza, a being created from a Lunar Flower, who is the one who can guide them to Paradise (the next world). Along the way, they are hunted down by the Nobles who also want to get to Paradise, Quent the wolf hunter and his dog Blue, Cher who is a researcher that studied Cheza, and Hubb: Cher's ex who mostly just wants to find Cher, but ends up following the wolves to Paradise anyway.

I do have to point out the wonderful soundtrack. It's not gripping or super emotional, but it fits the scenes well. Surprisingly, most of the sung lyrics are English... yes, even the Japanese one.
I absolutely love the subbed! I always go subbed these days. But from the segments I saw in dubbed, it sounds like they made a really, really good one. I only heard the wolves, Cheza, Cher, some soldiers, and Darcia (a noble) talk, so I'm not sure how the rest of the cast sounded. Kudos to them for their great dubbing actors! They kept the emotion accurate to the original! (unlike many dubs I've heard *cough* Bleach *cough* Baccano *cough*)

What struck me as interesting about this show is how animal-like they make the wolves. At first it was odd, because you see these humans like... licking each other's injuries... but then you remember "Oh right... wolves. Gotcha." But after a few episodes of that, and I got so used to it.
Also, Cheza is so much like a plant. Like, really like a plant. Hmm.
I say this because typically in shows where they do stuff like this (having human robots or animal shifters and stuff), they always assign such human characteristics to the things. We do that naturally with our pets as pet owners, so writers wind up doing that with the animals or robots or whatever that they write about.
But this writer never did that. They just said, "They are wolves. That is it." And that was it. They walked and talked and ate and played and interacted like wolves.
I think it was really episode 3(or was it four) that kind of sealed the deal for me.
Toboe: I'm hungry.
*sees a rotting deer corpse*
Toboe: HEY! FOOD! *runs over and digs in*
Me: o.O ... but... but.... oh right, wolves. -.-


I give this anime a 100/100 for it's amazing character development, gripping action, beautiful imagery, animal accuracies in portrayal, the incredible plot development, and one of the best anime endings ever! Even though it was sad, it was happy. Bittersweet.



Alright, because I'm in a sad mood, I shall show yall nice/funny pictures of the characters!

Cheza! The Lunar Flower Maiden. Yes, she is a plant. Her eyes creeped me out at first, but she's so sweet and pretty once you start getting to know her.

Hige! His name means "whiskers". He's like the... sort-of comedian of the group. None of the characters really have stereotypes. He's always hungry and stuff.

Later he develops into a really strong character who struggles with being dependable while trying to redeem himself for his actions.

Hige meets Kiba in Episode 1! Just kind of pokes fun at him. 

Sniffing is serious business, Hige!

Kiba. Kiba means "fang". This is... how he typically looks. He really needs to stop fighting so much.

He's the angst, more brooding type. He doesn't talk much, and he has trouble connecting with others since he lived his life as a loner.

Serious Kiba is serious.

Kiba: the quintessential mountain climber. Just look at him exert himself beyond measure as he ascends that super steep mountainside!

Kiba. 

Don't mess with him.

Toboe! It means "howl". Curious and cute little kid! ^^ Oh, he's so adorable! I wanna hug him SOOOOO bad!

Cranky Toboe.

Even cranky, he's still cute.

Eh, that's what happens when you eat shrooms.

Toboe!

Tsume.

Means claw.

I really don't need any more pictures of him. This is how he always looks.

Alright, here is Hubb!

Here is Cher. (probably looking at Hubb)

Here is Quent.

Looking at the guy who took his vodka from him.

This picture is of him getting his vodka back. 

It was removed for disturbing, violent content.

This is Blue.

Looking at a squirrel or something...

And then she got in the shrooms too. Bad Blue.

Kiba and Tsume first meet.

Can't you just FEEEL that friendship~

Funny how Tsume means "claw" and in human form he is always seen with his wicked knife.

This sums up Tsume and Toboe in a nutshell.

Tsume and Hige in a nutshell.

(I really don't know what happened here um... they found out Tsume is really a woman...)

I KID! I KID! *don't hurt me tsume~*

Hubb travelling with Quent.

Whee.

So, you're called the Hmong people eh?

Wear feathers and deerskin, live in teepees, hunt buffalo...

Seem legit.

Pretty much.

Ok. I saw the following picture and I COULD NOT resist!

That, or Toboe is still on shrooms.

In all honesty though, this series really has no funny moments, except the odd comment thrown here and there in the earlier episodes when all is 'ok'. The walrus battle was actually kind of sad. Hige suffers a lot, both mentally, physically, and emotionally. (well, they all do really). Tsume acts tough, but he's actually very lonely. Kiba faces nothing but oppositiona nd dead ends while he tries pursuing a Paradise he doesn't even know exists. Toboe just wants to be loved and accepted. Cher and Hubb are an adorable pair who never really get any time together before they're brutally torn apart. Quent is such a tortured soul without any reprieve. Blue is under-appreciated. Cheza is used and abused wherever she goes with absolutely no say about anything.

It is amazing though to watch these characters come from such pitiful beginnings, to endure some horrific things, and then come out stronger and better than before.

Only to have their dreams and hopes dashed to peices.

So give Wolf's Rain a try. No, actually, go watch it NOW! Unless you're in the middle of Phantom of course. Wolf's Rain is only 30 episodes, each are roughly 25 minutes long. So go watch it. And bring some kleenex along.

"They say there's no such place... as Paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the Earth, there's nothing there. No matter how far you walk, it's always the same road. It just goes on and on. But, in spite of that... Why am I so driven to find it? A voice calls to me... It says, "Search for Paradise."

~ Kiba

Peace off minions!

Let us meet in Paradise!