A romp through the insanity patch!

Over the break I spent some time acquiring some new series. These were ones that I'd seen in various places or heard about or had recommended to me by different people. bishonen_girl might recall me actually texting myself titles while we were looking at the DVDs at Best Buy. I rarely buy without doing some research first, unless I have it on good authority that I'll like it.

Granted, "good authority" isn't always right *glares at The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya* I might need to give that one another try, but the first go-around...not impressed.

But anyway, yesterday I sat down to watch Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. It's a three-episode OVA series, based on a two-volume manga by Asuka Katsura. It took me about two hours to watch the whole thing, from start to finish.

( My thoughts on the series--spoiler-free! )

I don't know if any of you have seen or read this series. I would recommend it, even if only for the visuals and the soundtrack. The story is interesting and original, and the execution is very interesting. It's different from a lot of anime that I've seen.

The reason I waited a full day to write this review was to scratch my head and ponder and let it sink in, and because it has genuinely taken me this long to figure out what I thought of the series. And ultimately...I think I liked it.

I also think it warrants a re-watch, just to see if it makes more sense the second time around (again, I refer you to Beautiful Dreamer, which I have watched dozens of times, and yet I still manage to find something new almost every time I watch it). I'm also thinking I might pick up the manga for this one and give it a look--I understand that it's fairly different from the anime, and no place seems to have it scanlated, but I think I can spare the fifteen bucks for the two volumes ^_~

As always, this is my opinion, and I invite anyone and everyone to disagree with me if you've seen/read it and feel differently. I enjoy such discussions. And feel free to check out the series and decide for yourself ^_~

...and like the whore that I am, I have about half a dozen ficlet ideas bouncing around in my head for it XD

So...I finished watching Princess Tutu last night.

By the time I got to the last volume, you couldn't have made me turn that DVD off for much of ANYTHING. I haven't gotten that into a series like that since Fruits Basket--during the last three episodes of Furuba, I think they actually had to DRAG me away from the TV to eat. I'm going to try and keep spoilers to a minimum, because msbbt hasn't seen all of it yet, and I'm being good :3 But I think I can sum up much of my feelings in the following...

OH MY GOD!! ♥♥♥♥♥

*ahem* Translation of that is that I was reduced to a squealing, sobbing little fangirl blob on my bed, clinging at my pillow and kicking my legs in the air while I eagerly watched to see what would happen next, and then sighing a satisfied sigh at the very ending.

I don't cry at anime very often. I cry at movies all the time, but rarely anime, for some reason. The only two I can remember crying at off the top of my head are Fruits Basket and Fushigi Yuugi. During the later, for some reason it was Hotohori that did it to me *shrug*

Princess Tutu? I wept. Like a baby. I got really teary a couple of times, but I had tears running downing my face for most of the last volume--ESPECIALLY episodes 24-25. I couldn't stop crying!! Especially during the underwater scene between Ahiru and Fakir, where she's freaking out...ZOMG ANGST. And I don't know how that scene kept from being melodramatic and cheesy--it was beautiful.

msbbt? You think you like Fakir now? Juuuuuuust wait. The love will grow! You said you weren't too keen on Mytho, but you couldn't actively dislike him yet because of his situation? Well, to be honest...something does happen with him, and it's really interesting, but...I can't decide if I like him or not O.O It's really weird.

But you know who I really really really reeeeeeeally like? Take a look at that adorable little person on my icon (I just uploaded a bunch of Tutu icons). That little person is Uzura. And Uzura has officially won my heart. I found myself becoming quite fond of Edel, and I totally fell in love with Uzura. I think the loving part happened around the time she was running around, banging on her drum and singing "Lovey-dovey donkey-lonkey!" over and over again. And then...wow. To have that much development with such a tiny character.

When Uzura and Edel were talking? That was when my waterworks started going full-force. And then that scene between Uzura and Ahiru on the riverbank? T____T I LOVE UZURA, AND I WISH MORE PEOPLE MADE ICONS OF HER!! I found two...I really want one with her marching along with that drum and singing her lovey-dovey donkey-lonkey song. ANY TAKERS?? :D?

The ending...the only way to describe it is "bittersweet." And if it were any other series, the ending might have made me angry, just with the way things worked out. But for this series? It WORKED.

I still hold that Kraehe is the only person in anime who can wear a tutu and toeshoes and still manage to a badass. And msbbt? Wait until you see what happens with her. COMPLEX VILLAIN LOVE AHOY!! :D :D :D

Honestly, that's a lot of what really sucked me in--the characters. I love characters who are unique (we have a lot of that), and I love characters who develop and change as the series progresses--we have a LOT of that. Even minor characters get to grow. It's sort of sad how in some ways Princess Tutu herself is the least interesting character (especially when compared with her alter ego), but even she gets to develop as she grows into her role.

On top of everything else, it's just such an overwhelmingly beautiful series. The animation, the music, the themes...granted, I am a classical music nerd and I was a ballet dancer myself for a number of years, so I have a heightened appreciation for such things. But it's all just so lovely.

And I was watching the ADV release, which had lots and lots of special features so I could continue to be a very happy Candy-chan and regale myself with fun stuff. Chris Patton is a potty-mouth, in case y'all didn't know ~♥

I could probably rant a LOT longer, but I gotta go change and get to work pretty much ASAP. Here's hoping that other girl shows up tonight so I don't have to go back in...but yes, Princess Tutu is glorious, and msbbt, I DEMAND that you watch the rest of it as soon as possible so that we may discuss and squeal.

...

*glomps on Uzura one more time and runs off to go earn a paycheck*

I just got home from my first day back at work. It was actually a pretty nice six-hour shift, surprisingly. Especially the last hour--which is usually the worst. I had just come back from my break and I had nothing to do, and I had worked pretty hard for the first four and a half hours, so Chong just let me kinda stand over by her and Huy while they were chopping stuff and we just chatted :D

While I was on break, I checked and found I had a voice mail from another girl who works there asking me to cover her shift for tonight, from five to close. I'm pretending I didn't see it. Because I am a horrible person like that. And because I have an interview tomorrow and I want to make sure I am rested before I go driving all over the state. And being on my feet for twelve hours isn't the way to do that. This concludes my public service announcement.

AND ZOMG TORIE'S PREGNANT!!! :D :D :D It sounds like it's going to be a girl, and she'll be due in October...and I'm totally not secretly hoping that the little one decides to appear on October thirtieth, nuh-uh, no way. So congrats, Torbo! LOVE YOU!!!

Vixie's wedding invite came in the mail. Note to self: RSVP @_@

Did anyone else notice ff-dot-net's new alert--you get alerted when someone adds you to their Fave Lists? I'm trying to decide if I like it or not...although my ego is sort of enjoying it ^____^

New Ghost Hunters episode on tonight--massive amounts of happiness there :D Last week's was pretty uber-creepy, so I'm hoping tonight's will be much the same. I intend to sit downstairs and scribble more ficcies in my notebook and be on AIM on my cell phone whilst I watch.

...I'm in a very good mood right now, can you tell? :D Might've been the seven episodes of Princess Tutu that I watched last night. I think I'm officially in love with that show--just need to finish watching it ♥♥♥♥♥

Is anyone else familiar with the fanarts of Cherelle Holmes? If you're not, you really need to go look at them, because they are absolutely GORGEOUS. Also, if you're in the mood for something a bit risque, check out her doujin. Even if you don't speak German, the pictures are prettiful ♥ And that one pictures of hers, with baby!Shinichi approaching baby!Ran while she's holding a stuffed bunny rabbit? Yeah--that was the one that inspired one of my 30 Kisses.

...I don't suppose anyone on my LJ here speaks German or maybe has access to her email address? I want to email her and tell her I really like her stuff *feels stalkerish* Pleez and thanks!

Oh, and for those I hadn't told...I had a plunnie for 30_hugs for the last fic for it, right? Right. And I started writing it. And it mutated. And the plunnies kept whispering that I needed to put this scene in and this scene in and that other thing...it's going to be about fifty times longer than I'd thought it would be. Which means it is going to take forever to finish ^^;;

...ya know, ashleymouse once told me on a day that I didn't update my LJ that if I didn't post here, she didn't know what was going on in my life. This was said while we were sitting together eating dinner, of course. But yeah, I'm starting to kinda fail at posting here. *is probably bricked by everyone going WTF?*

L'anyhoodle, yesterday my mom proved that she is really awesome. See, we'd rented some movies from Blockbuster, but we kinda returned them late. They said that we needed to return them by Sunday at midnight, or else we have to pay for the movies. So Mom took them back on Sunday afternoon. Monday, we all come home and find a message on our answering machine detailing that we owe them the buying price of all these movies.

Needless to say, Mom was on the phone pretty damn fast. I missed the bulk of the conversation, but I came back upstairs to clean Kaito's fishbowl, and was accosted by my mother in the kitchen. She said, "Did you rent a movie called Find Me Guilty?" Now, I had not, and started to say that I had not, but Mom starts nodding her head up and down really big, so I figured I was supposed to say yes, and so I did. And then Mom asked me if I found it in the middle shelves or around the edge of the store...while drawing a square with her finger, and so I said, "Around the edge." Then she asked me where it was, and I pointed to the kitchen table--I'd seen it sitting there earlier. And then she went off and talked to the guy for another minute or so before hanging up and telling me I did a good job.

Apparently, she'd told this guy that we'd returned all our movies, and he found all of them on the shelves...except that one. Well, after raising hell for a while, Mom realized that she'd rented it on Sunday when she took the other movies back. Well, she couldn't very well say that after giving this poor guy such a hard time. So she said that perhaps her daughter had rented a movie and not said anything. And lo, I saved my mother from a severe case of Footinmouthitis.

I am a good daughter :3

Yesterday, went to a jazz competition with the high schoolers. Had a great time, and got to hang out with the students. A couple of them are real sweethearts ^_^

I have been very productive lately on finishing some projects that may or may not be stuff I'm going to send to people. Speaking of which...I haven't seen fyliwionvilyaer online lately--I just wanted to make sure the package I sent got there safely >.>;; If it didn't, I might cry. But yeah, stuff is getting done :D

Oh, and I have discovered a new anime. It is called Ghost Stories. Thus far I've only watched the dub (which I understand is quite different from the sub), and I'm actually enjoying it. They seal a ghost by chanting, "Kutabe, kick the bucket! Kutabe, you can suck it!" over and over again. And the closing theme is called Sexy Sexy,, so much love there :D

And finally--and this might be a long shot--but does anyone happen to have an mp3 of the song "Que Sera, Sera" lying around? That might be willing to share it? We're looking for it for the elementary school program ^___^

Ganked from djtifaheart. This might be tricky, but I'll give it a shot!

Request a character, a pairing, or a fandom, and I will attempt to write you a six-word story in response. No keywords or scenarios, please!

Fandoms I'll Take On for This
Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou
Cardcaptor Sakura
Magic Knight Rayearth
Pretear
Ouran High School Host Club
Azumanga Daioh
Matantei Loki Ragnarok
Inuyasha
Fruits Basket
Rurouni Kenshin
Fushigi Yuugi
Sailor Moon


BTW...pretty sure chocolate cake and hot chocolate with peppermint Schnapps equals delicious ♥ And now we're watching The Nightmare Before Christmas in honor of Halloween. SO MUCH LOVE!! And I get to sleep in tomorrow. Life is good. Very good =D

Thanks again to everyone for your well-wishes! *mwah!*

Soooo...saw someone else do this, figured I might as well. Here, I give you my relatively up-to-date List o' Fandoms I Know Something About. So for your consideration/requests/kill two minutes/whatever...

( List o' Fandoms I Know Something About )

As you can see, I dabble a lot. A bunch of those are also ones that I have but have not yet had time to watch all of, so it's still up in the air *pokes Angelic Layer and Super GALS* Also, jeva_chan is corrupting me to the Ouran Host Club anime *headdesks* I think I'm going to get hooked on it, and fast. Ah, well--comedy and bishies ahoy!

Okay, I'm posting this especially for thekellylynn, but anyone who even remotely likes or knowns anything about Inuyasha can enjoy these things. Much love to msbbt for giving me linkies to these in the first place. Behold, the Inuyasha Parodies...

Episode One: PORN STASH!
Episode Two: MIROKU'S BREAST EXAM
Episode Three: DJBOUTI POWER
Episode Four: DNA
Episode Five: INUMAN

Go. Laugh. Be Merry.

In other news, today was a great day. Buenafication Day is a day where there's a ton of service projects going on. People from campus go out and make the community a better place by doing various good works. Then there are other people who skip out and spend the day doing homework and projects, as there is no class for the day. Yeah...

I was on duty last night, which meant up 'till two AM on rounds. The building was amazingly quiet, considering this is the second most notorious party night of the year. I was hugely impressed--YAY, SWOPE!! This also meant that when my alarm clock went off this morning, my body took it as a suggestion, and I woke up late. Ayiyiyi...well, I can sum up the rest of the day as follows:

Cent Room: 9 hours
Joy's room, helping with Music Theory homework: 10 minutes
Third-floor kitchen: 4 hours and counting
Spending the day hanging out with one of your best friends: Freakin' priceless

This has been an awesome day--I also posted another Kiss for Shinichi and Ran. That makes twenty-nine posted. The thirtieth one is already written. I just have to click, and voila, it's up, I'm done. With them, at least. Still have six and a half left to write for Hayate/Himeno...and then Nights and Hugs shall have my attention. Possibly 30_friends, I have some thoughts...

Kelly (the aforementioned Friend of Awesome) just pointed out that it's after one in the morning. I can't decide yet if I'm tired or not, but my eyes are starting to get that sore feeling to them, so I think I'm getting there. Oh well.

Candyland, signing off. G'night, folks. Catch ya later!

Behold, an Inuyasha plunnie! And it's all drabbly!

...yes, something non-Conan. Stop looking at me like that.

( Wrong Way Around )

Title: Life is a Bowl of Cherries
Author: Candyland
Pairing: Awayuki Himeno/Hayate
Fandom: Pretear
Theme: #8—“say aah…”
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Kaori Naruse. I claim none, I merely borrow them and take them to yummy shoes sales and put them through the horror of finding the perfect strappy sandal.

( Life is a Bowl of Cherries )

Cross-posted to 30_kisses and 30 Kisses: Hayate and Himeno