I am so happy right now. My grin is bigger and wider than my face. Considering how stressful the past year has been, this is exactly what I needed. If nothing else, Mass Effect: Andromeda has consumed my life enough that I have walked into work completely exhausted and tired three days in a row. And it was worth it.
Four years life through college later and the waiting is over at last. Finally. Fucking finally.
Since I am still relatively close to the beginning of the game (over 15 hours and nearly 20% complete according to my save file as of my writing this), I will make a multi-bullet-pointed first impressions post. Twitter does not accommodate my gift in writing essays, and my poor baby needs some love, so blog away I shall!
Three days ago I caught wind of HIM calling it quits this year. They're holding one last tour across the globe to celebrate 26 years of music spanning eight albums, dozens of singles, and a bunch of bonus albums with remixes, live performances, and music videos. If I can make it to any of the shows in the US, that'd be great. If not... well... once is better than never, right?
To be honest, I'm not entirely shocked they're breaking up. It's been a few years since Tears on Tape's release, and I was concerned that it was playing a bit too much on the safe - if not stale - side. The lineup had not changed in over a decade until Gas left a few years ago. Without any major updates, I was waiting patiently, only to learn from one of my internet friends from Finland about this recent development.
I... I think I'm ok with this. I will never claim they're the best band to ever live. Not by a long shot. I'm an unapologetic fangirl for this band, and Ville Valo raised my standards for men above and beyond the realm of reality, but I'm not stupid.
HIM were a goofy, strange band with an eclectic, diverse, and dynamic style that works wonderfully for some and fails disastrously for others. Scared moral guardians took His Infernal Majesty from their early days way too seriously (hell, even my own parents did at first, funnily enough), and a legion of fans came around thanks to Bam Margera's fanboy-ism going to insane levels in the early to mid 2000s. And, yes, some of the more intense fragments of the goth fans did sometimes get melodramatic about the band to the point that serious music critics could barely take HIM seriously. And most of all, some of Ville's lyrics are cringe-inducing in how corny, lame, intense, and sappy they can be; Razorblade Romance, even with its vibrant, migraine-splitting pink cover, is audio candy so sweet that you'll get diabetes and need a limb or two amputated before the halfway mark.
Despite all of that, they're my favorite band. They're my goofy, pseudo-goth band with their melodramatic brand of "love metal".
I literally fell in love with their music on Valentine's Day in my freshman year of high school. I pre-ordered two of their albums, both of which arrived at the very moments I needed them most: leaving school early due to illness, only for snow to cancel school the next day, and returning home from college to find items to help me complete my final assignment in an art course. They were the first concert I ever went to, and I was fuming when Ville came out on stage with his curly hair completely chopped off; I saved my babysitting money for tickets, and I bought my fingerless gloves, a sweatshirt, and a shirt that I still hold onto. They made me feel like a normal high school girl when I feared I felt too different, having pictures of Ville Valo cover the inside door of my locker, crushing hard on the tall, dark-haired baritone, and listening to all of their albums inside and out until I nearly memorized the lyrics to every single song. I was so happy to love a band that sounded as great live as they did in the studio, something that seems so rare for some reason. And I cannot stress how much I admire Ville Valo for being a singer and multi-instrumentalist as well as a songwriter in rock and metal, another unfortunate rarity these days.
HIM helped me endure period cramps that would leave me bedridden for two days. They inspired me to expand my taste in music further by listening to their influencers, including Type O Negative and Black Sabbath. They helped fuel some of my passion for writing, and they helped me focus on my long, overdone Persona 3 fanfic. They had fun with their art, making me laugh over interviews and live performance recordings throughout the years. They burned a big hole in my wallet that I proud of. They shined a little light on a country many people overlook due to them being so far north in the cold, and I wanted to learn more about Finland's language, culture, and art almost as much as anime made me fascinated in Japan. They taught me to not take my interests and opinions too seriously when others disagreed with me. They let me cry and be vulnerable when my parents divorced, when I left home for college, when I moved out of my mom's house, when I panicked about grades, when I searched for a job, and when I struggled with my confused feelings about love.
March 26, 2010, the day I lived a full life.
HIM helped me grow up. HIM made me a stronger person. HIM is a warm blanket that I have outgrown and has holes in it from overuse, but they always brought me joy when I needed them. I laughed and cried over a group of men I will never meet because their talents and abilities as artists created something beautiful and unique that can never be replaced.
And now... they're gone.
More than them breaking up and moving on to other projects, I lament how short those seven years of my being a fan were. There is no new album to look forward to anymore. It feels strange, eerie, like a sudden death of a friend. I'll miss HIM. I'll miss them so much. I will continue to treasure their music, and one day, I will have a heartagram tattoo in my skin. Every music fan has a group or song that means the world to them. HIM meant still means the world to me.
Ville, Linde, Mige, Burton, and Gas, godspeed, you adorable music nerds. Good luck to everything you boys do in joy and sorrow. Thank you.
*sniff* ... I managed this much without crying, and I'm failing. Shit, their music makes me wanna cry all the time now.
Damn it, I need to laugh.
I am so glad I saved all of these images on my computer over the years. XD
I'm currently studying for my midterm exams, but I have some time for this. :)
So... what have I been up to?
Another Piece of Art Finished
Right before I went off to college, I had my last weekend art lesson, which I had attended for nearly seven years. Typically I work on a big project and it takes many months to finish. My last piece was extremely detailed, and a bit annoying.
When I visited home, my mom had it framed and it looks amazing. I forgot my camera, and all I had were photos of it I took right after my last lesson.
Acrylic paint. I tried watercolor at first, but it ended in failure. Ever since I was a young kid, I always hated watercolor painting. Thankfully after the change, I was able to complete this. :)
Living on my Own...
I have settled in reletively fine. Even though I never had siblings, my roommate and I get along pretty well. We snark, bicker, joke around, all that fun stuff.
The puppy hates waking up, shit happens, and the bed is unmade.
A perfect morning sight!
Our room is evenly separated so we each have our own side. Sadly, though, things can get... messy. My side is presentable enough, but sometimes its hard to enter the room sometimes, you know? She has a lot more things than I do and has a hard time finding a place to put everything. She tries to not let it get too out of control, so I don't let it bug me.
Food on the other hand... my roommate and I keep getting so much food because some people think we are starving and have no access to nutrition. And apparently some think I'm losing weight... so they give me Oreos. =_='
The only place where I can be sloppy.
Socially, I'm doing a lot better than I expected. No wonder people hate high school so much, college is so much better! I get along with a good number of the girls on my floor pretty well. I have several people to hang out with in case person A or B is in a meeting or is studying. While I've been pretty low-key with certain activities, I'm trying to stabilize everything that is manditory to my staying in the institution. Socialization always came second or third, and I keep it that way.
Nearly everyone I know loves this poster. It's got so much charm to it!
"If you've got human chorionic gonadotropin in your system, produced by the newly forming placenta - well, by golly, you're knocked up!"
Still Obsessed with That Overrated Sci-Fi Drama?
ABSOLUTELY.
When I went home a few weeks ago, I quickly bought the Leviathan downloadable content and immediately played it. I was tired of waiting for it and I was completely satisfied. Since then, I have been rereading the Mass Effect wiki site's articles and discussion pages. Even TvTropes is an addicting wonderland, and it has a TON of ME notes and topics to read for HOURS.
These daily activities have made my PS3 withdrawal more unbearable.
Meanwhile, Mass Effect 2's soundtrack has been purchased from iTunes to my library recently, and I had ME3's free with the collector's edition of the game. Now, I'm thinking of buying an N7 sweatshirt from BioWare's website. Better get to it.
me wantz badly... $_@
You know how girls are obsessive with things like shoes or make-up and want a massive collection? That's me with scarves and sweatshirts (I have a HIM sweatshirt that's near the end of its life and a scarf.) You can never run out and they keep you warm. ^_^
Also... I am so psyched for the Mass Effect Trilogy. I can play ME1 on my PS3!! No need to tweak my computer!! XD
Pandora Has Yet Another Box
I made a separate Pandora account not too long ago, so I can experiment with different stations. You can only have about 100 stations, and my old account has somewhere between 50 and 60. As away for me to start from scratch, I've been trying out fun., a-ha, and a 90's pop station. Though "Some Nights" is an awesome song, fun. is just a "meh" band. Maybe it's because they have some association with Paramore, a band I happen to despise.
After being stuck with a bunch of different people for nearly two months, I'm starting to go back to things I enjoyed as a kid. Heck, we all pretty much feel like kids. My roommate was sick the other day and watched shows on the Disney Channel and The Lizzy McGuire Movie. Some of us bought stuffed animals, hoola-hoops, even *NYNSC CDs. Heck, I found a few people who actually liked Hillary Duff when they were younger! (This one admits to still liking her music... >.<)
There's one thing I have learned while here, this world is a lot smaller than I thought. o_O
Now, though, I have to go back to studying for my midterm exams. It's not fun. :/
But I am still alive, guys. I'm still alive... :)
Because I can never seem to have any organized thoughts about a particular series of... anything, why not I do so now? With that darned blue hedgehog still in my mind I might as well make my opinion of certain aspects of the Sonic franchise. It might clear up some of the mess from a crappy review made this year, as well as set up any later reviews or rants. When it comes to Rants From a Fangirl, I have no clue where the heck my mind will wander next month. @_@
Just as a quick note, I hopped on the Sonic bandwagon right before Sonic Heroes in 2004. Therefore I am more familiar with "modern Sonic" and the gang.
With that out of the way... begin:
It took skill to save all the critters from the evil Eggman!
It's pretty embarrassing to be a casual fan but have never played the game that started it all. (The mini game version in Sonic Adventure does not count.) And as an owner of a Gamecube, I have no excuse to not buy Sonic Mega Collection. Better dash to it!
Sonic and pals at one of their happiest and finest!
Yay, the game that marked the beginning of the 3D era! Supposedly it's the only one handled right. Character-wise, this is absolutely true: Adventure made me fall in love with the cast. Gameplay-wise, this is the most memorable, albeit slightly dated.
Back when the reflection was not solely a piece of reusable "fanservice."
Being the first Sonic game I ever played, Adventure 2 is tightly knit to my heart. The addictive Chao Gardens, the awesome soundtrack, and Shadow. ...Okay, the Fangirl confesses: it was just Shadow and his story. Still, this was just as fun as its elder brother, even if the gameplay was polarized and split into three styles. These were my good old days...
And thus the bullcrap continues to pile up...
Love to hate it and hate to love it. The only game in this series I have lost all interest to beat. Everything is a humongous pile of "meh." Some cool new characters were thrown in, but severely underused. The gameplay was so repetitive I wanted to throw my controller at my TV. And poor amnesiac Shadow forgot to die. I call bull.
THE "SERIOUS BUSINESS" ATTITUDE IS OVER 9000!!!
That joke's so old...
Say hello to the unkempt black sheep no one will ever stop bitching about. I freaking love Shadow the Hedgehog for the amazing variety in level designs, soundtrack, and storylines (think somewhat-kinda on the lines of Higurashi.) Sadly I cannot defend how the execution was confusing and messy. Even though I now think it would have been fine if Shadow died in SA2, this game gave his story a satisfying resolution. This was the last time a Sonic character ever had decent development though. *sad*
Another hedgehog with a human friend? REALLY?!
Four words: HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! Glitchy, stupid, buggy, sloppy, glitchy, insulting, broken, pretentious, glitchy, and depressing. It's pretty damn sad that Sonic is the most useless and incompetent part of this game. He pretty much lets his human-phobic rival and a telekinetic kid be the true heroes! The only good thing? "Dreams of an Absolution."
Did I forget to say this game is glitchy? And Elise? REALLY?! Even Maria wasn't as pointless!
Day + speed - entertainment = BAD.
Sonic Unleashed is yet another hair-and-spike-ball of "meh." Say goodbye to whatever made the 3D games likable. This is the Eat Me, Drink Me of the Sonic games: a degraded, disappointing model of what was decent. The 2D gameplay fails to impress and the Daytime stages are mind-numbingly boring. At least the Nighttime stages gave me the chance to let out my frustration! The Warehog - though a stupid concept - was actually fun!
Yet another adventure to stop Baldy McNosehair...
by saving alien critters!
A much better effort to appeal to the classics, but still missed the mark. The music is a bit too cookie-cutter and repetitive, even for very polished, electronic pop. But... so... pwetty... @o@ The dialogue in the Wii version is so hilarious I cried many times. AND NEW VOICE ACTORS! *waves goodbye to 4Kids cast*
Way back when I used to have a monthly theme just so I can better organize my thoughts. And just like any other new thing I try, it fell apart as the remains crawled in every which way. October MIGHT be different this time, I swear! Just give me another twenty three days and then I'll have something planned out!
Just so I can have a new post in nearly a week, here are some Halloween items that made me chuckle a bit too loudly. With the laughs and the snide remarks, I'm shocked no one kicked me out of the store.
This is so hilariously bad, it might as well be the staple for the obvious Hot Topic I-wannabe-badass-emo shoppers. With green mohawks. Or something like that.
Stupid.
A "Steampunk Victorian Vampiress Costume"... On paper, sounds ok-ish. In reality, this is fake. The top is cheap as hell and the shoes are unfitting, especially when nothing else is as white.
But this isn't a real steampunk or Victorian outfit anyway...
It looks magnificent does it not? Hot, steamy pizza served just for you at any time and any place. Literally.
It's a pillow.
It is the pinnacle of creepy when you wake up from a nightmare and your bedroom accessories look like food.
Pfft.
I can hear the cries of thousands of men and women killed for hundreds of years because they were "witches".
Charming.
.........
Forget the pig. This is as f***ing low as the "content" in Elfen Lied.
The inner pessimist in me is trying her best to think happy thoughts as Sunday draws near. No matter how many times we check the Weather Channel, hurricane Irene is still heading towards us with a huge grin. From the looks of it, my area's warning signs are between high and extreme. Great: so much for avoiding Florida at all costs.
Plus... our sump pump is dead. Just in time. Hopefully we can get it replaced quickly, yet not ruining my day with dad that took weeks of planning. Damn Murphy's Law. >.<
I'm sure all we'll get is high wind and lots of water, but it still doesn't help that I have no idea how long it'll take. Looks like I'll need to focus on happy thoughts, like music and anime instead of calm beaches, flowers, and flying poptarts. You know, the stuff that really puts an individual in a good mood?
A bit of light reading during the hurricane, no?
Speaking of which... to get my mind on a higher plane... some random stuff I guess to make my blog less blah with the dark background...
If one never knew this before now, then you shall be informed that I'm a city person. I might not have lived in one for more than three weeks but I gain a greater sense of freedom and confidence than if I'm in rural or suburban nowhere. Maybe it's because I can't drive yet and I have no desire to learn how to. This lack of interest places a humungous twenty-foot thick steel wall between my house and where I want to go. No matter how I see it, I must learn how to drive even if I cry like a baby.
Travelling, however, is not the only flaw. The people tend to be more homogenous and identical than a huge mixed group of Asians in the same room (thanks to my Chinese friend and Japanese anime, distinguishing is not as hard as many say...) And when people like the same things, the "minority" have to suffer with hunting hard to find more obscure and less popular things. Thankfully, cities are far more forgiving to folk like myself.
I was so happy to find several things that suburban Pennsylvania would have once in a hundred years. Or maybe I look in all the wrong places.
AHHH!!!! Not my hand!!!!!
A single import from Germany?! I don't care if "Solitary Man" was not my favorite cover HIM did, this was still collectable worthy. From now on if I find another HIM single case, back away from the oncoming headstrong Fangirl!
The one time I could have bought an And Love Said No import, but I had no money with me... :'(
I finally found the Higurashi manga!! These are only part of the Curse-Killing and Eye-Opening arcs, but this is something. Off to find the other volumes...
Found it in Barnes and Noble, thought, "why the hell not?", and bought it. Research is one of Fangirl's closest friends: I might as well be knowledgeable about these dark-loving fellows with a bad rep. Well, it's changing though...
There are other posts about DC soon, like when I visited an embassy of a country I am hoping to visit before I drop dead.
On a different note, I finally am pushing myself to actually make stuff. Currently, I'm experimenting with metal jewelry, specifically silver. Otherwise, I might as well make other, easier things.
"There's no strength in numbers." - Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
A poster I felt the need to make for my favorite Sonic character. THERE WAS NO TRACING AT ALL. Using a pencil and grid system helped to make sure Shadow didn't look ridiculously bad. I'm better at cartoony humans, not anthropomorphic animals. XD
Now, to get into making that lanyard for school...
WOW! Fangirl actually kept her promise to post up pictures she took during a trip? *gasp!* Such a phenomena has NEVER happened before!!!
I have several others, but here are a handful done by a complete amateur. :P
This was a nice park near the apartment complex where I stayed. Just nearby sat the Titanic Memorial in a quiet, open space near the Washington Channel. Too bad some new buildings will be placed around this peaceful area in the next few years. *growls*
Yay to taking pics on a small boat and risk dropping the camera in the water! All for the sake of art, I guess.
Dad loves this shot...
Martin Luther King Jr. will be happy to know his memorial looks nice. All it needs is paint, more sculpting, and no construction tools.
Walked past the Renwick Gallery. The words "Dedicated to Art" written in the center below the roof caught my eye.
Dad holding a leaf. Too bad I couldn't keep this camera. Mine's crappy...
The National Archives viewed from the Navy Memorial.
More of the Navy Memorial. I was practicing taking shots of water.
Next will be pics technically from another country. Though I was still very far from the desired location by over 30 degrees south and 100 degrees west, it's the closest I was to the real deal. *sigh*
I am so happy right now. My grin is bigger and wider than my face. Considering how stressful the past year has been, this is exactly what I needed. If nothing else, Mass Effect: Andromeda has consumed my life enough that I have walked into work completely exhausted and tired three days in a row. And it was worth it.
