Yet Another Guilty Pleasure: Romance and 'Yuri!!! On Ice'

...

... I love Yuri!!! On Ice.  It's better for me to come out and say it on my own platform rather than on Twitter or Tumblr. Oh god I can't make myself look up YOI on Tumblr or Google without safe search...

Please don't ask me to rate this. I've no clue how to rate it anyway. This isn't a review. If you want to watch Yuri!!! On Ice, go forth and watch. If not, don't watch it; that's perfectly acceptable. If you're undecided, well, don't feel the need to watch it because of me or anyone else who asserts that this is the best thing ever (SPOILER: it isn't). This is not a show you need to watch right now, because it already has deserved more than enough praise. SERIOUSLY, this show does not need any more fans and/or attention.

Yet here I am, a fan, blushing uncontrollably as I'm typing this. I am ashamed. So very ashamed. I tried to resist this damned anime, and I have never failed so spectacularly in not giving a shit.

Yuri!!! On Ice, you broke me. You fucking broke me. You have left my brain and heart at odds over your stupid existence. I want those 30+ hours and five weeks worth of repeated binge-watching back. And you owe me a million grams of insulin for the diabetes you inflicted upon me. And I need directions to the nearest volcano to throw myself into.

There be SPOILERS ahoy... if you care enough. Seriously, please don't read beyond this point. You don't need to see me at my most pathetic. Seriously, read one of my older posts instead. You'll get more use out of my badly written high school drivel than this. Please. don't read any further. I beg of you. Don't do it.

Good Riddance, 2014!

I didn't manage to make any progress on anything during winter break, but sometimes taking time to sit back and do nothing can be therapeutic. At least I made a few expectations for myself before I stayed off most parts of the net for days. This blog isn't "professional" in the strictest or even loosest terms, but I still should get things done in a timely manner so the blog doesn't die without warning.

Anywho. Happy 2015.

Fangirl's Lazy Post on E3... Or Why the Xbone Is in Trouble, Part 2

The whole internet pretty much summed up my general view of what happened this week. Microsoft shot themselves in the foot, and Sony laughed their asses off. While doing so, they did the simple trick of giving the people what they want: now they have us under their spell until they rip the rug from under our feet. It'll happen, it's business, I assure you. Meanwhile Nintendo did their own thing - as usual - and presented themselves well.

Since Sony and Nintendo tend to get my money in some way, shape, or form, I'll get a Wii U and/or a PS4 once the libraries have expanded. It'll probably be when I'm done college and have a stable income.

BEWARE! The Hate of Sonic 06's Soundtrack Is Over 9,000!!

Sonic 06, wake the **** up. You are NOT Final Fantasy.

Very well. I may not have played Sonic 06 since I currently don't own a XBox or a PS3, but I can still take this thing on. I watched at least four walkthroughs of this game and I listened to this soundtrack for months. I think I have enough room to toss my few cents into the opinion cup.

So here it goes.

This soundtrack is considered to be one of the best of this franchise.

... ... ... ... ...

BULLSHIT

Believe me, it gets much worse from here.

I apologize if any Sonic fan is reading this and loves this soundtrack. I am shooting bullets at this cocky piece of junk, not you. Please don't take this as a personal insult.

As for the rest of you... I'm sorry if my rage overwhelms anyone.

1:43 - What is THIS?! Is someone getting MARRIED?! *flashback to game*

OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! TT-TT

I'm serious... what the fudge was Sonic Team AND Sega on in 2006?! Why did they release a half-assed game with sloppy gameplay, inconsistent graphics, and a generally insultingly overrated and unexciting soundtrack?! Most of all, why has no one apologized for this train wreck?!

*storms away from computer, sits on bed, and meditates for seven years*

Okay, I'm cool... ish.

Pointless 28 second song is pointless!

I know making claims of what defines a "Sonic soundtrack" is shallow and stupid, but hear me out. Music in pretty much every Sonic game released was energetic, upbeat, or catchy. Even in the SEGA Genesis days, restricted by electronic bleeps, the music was still memorable! So what happened here? Electronic and rock still exist, except watered-down and lifeless. Other than an orchestra, keyboards, the occasional guitar, and woodwinds, no other instrument exists. They replaced actual drums with machines repeating the same damn noise over and over again. This is not fun, musical perfection, this is repetitive laziness. "Wave Ocean" is the prime example of such sloth!

*sigh* This ain't the Gerudo desert of the Zelda series... wake me up when it...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This soundtrack is just as long as Shadow the Hedgehog's with over 90 songs, and YET Shadow's music was far more dynamic and energizing. Sure, not everyone can tolerate the sound that appeals more to rock and metal fans, but barely anything sounds exactly the same! Sonic 06, however, decides to have five songs sound 95% identical. This is mostly cutscene music too.

Yep an official Shadow recolor. Didn't see that one coming...

No seriously. That's the villain.

I kid you not, the tunes that play whenever Mephiles appears sound no different from each other, except that one during the cutscene with the pseudo-Jesus imagery. (That's a rage for another day...) There's "Resurrection of Mephiles", "The Black Shadow", "Mephiles' Whisper", "Mephiles' Temptation", and "Showdown with Mephiles". There was a cool theme that was duplicated and raped for no reason.

Silver, why did you debut in one of the worst games ever?!

WAAAAHHHH!!! 

And for character themes? "Dreams of an Absolution" - as I repeated for months - is the only track that deserves your serious attention. The in-game version of "His World" - not to be confused with the superior "Theme of Sonic the Hedgehog ~ E3 Version" - is hilariously awful. I'm sorry, Mr. Ali Tabatabaee, but in this song you are a lazy rapper. Just listen to the Crush 40 version, which the gods have blessed in their infinite wisdom... ...only to curse them. Crush 40's remake of "All Hail Shadow" is absolutely unnecessary. Magna-Fi made it glorious before, so why elongate and weaken what was concise and full of life?

Look, I have no issue with orchestral music. Symphonic metal is plagued with it. Nightwish dives head-first into the orchestration so much that it can be nauseating. But for them, it works because that was their style, their technique from day one. The fact that they continue it may prove that they are satisfied or that people want them to continue it until they die. Here, in a Sonic game it seems to work in small doses, otherwise it will look like everyone is trying too hard.

"The Past", "Chaos Control", "Revival", "Theme of Sonic Colors", "Theme of Sonic Unleashed", "To the World of the Memory", and "Metal Madness" are some examples of orchestration done well. They fit the tone and mood of the games they appear in while retaining a reasonable bit of memorability. Part of this is because we will hear these songs several times throughout the course of the game's story at the most appropriate moments. AND the games and their soundtracks don't drown themselves in such music.

Oh no! The tears that will release the Nine Tailed Fox from its' host!

It's the apocalypse! Cue the organ!

Yet Sonic 06 flips the bird at conservatively using what could be beautiful music and decides to fling new "impressive" and "elegant" crap at you to the point you forget what the fudge you're listening to! There are 48 event songs out of 94 tracks. 48 EVENT SONGS!!! That compares to 10 in Sonic Adventure 2, 17 in Sonic Colors, 10 in Sonic Generations, 11 in Sonic Heroes, and 6 in Sonic Adventure! 48 songs make up MORE THAN HALF OF THIS SOUNDTRACK! And most of the songs ARE REPEATS!!!!!

Fine, Shadow the Hedgehog has 49 event tracks. HOWEVER! Most of them STAND APART VERY CLEARLY!!! And many were re-used throughout the game WITHOUT DUPLICATE EDITS on the soundtrack! For crying out loud, Sonic Team!!!! Did you make Sonic 06 suck on purpose?! This is overkill!!!!

*walks away from computer and screams off the foulest curses ever conceived by mankind*

I have a headache. Seriously, I don't know if this or A Thousand Suns is the worst excuse of "great" albums I have ever heard. It's hard... man, is it hard... I could not finish listening to both in their entirety.

Yes, I gave up once we got to the Town Mission tunes. ...And I skipped the "Accordion Song". I wish that was a joke.

The only good action stage song that stuck the first time I listened.

Before I get a load of grief for my immaturity, I will admit that not every song was a colossal failure. Other than "Dreams of an Absolution", I found comfort in "Kingdom Valley", "Aquatic Base ~ Level 1", "Boss Fight Vs. Character", and "Theme of Dr. Eggman." These are five gems that I have found in a sea of oil and sludge.

And I refuse to comment in detail on "Sweet Dreams" and "My Destiny". They made me sick. Thankfully the developers didn't want me to puke excessively as the former never appeared on the soundtrack.

This could easily fit with the ARK stages in Shadow the Hedgehog...

Here's the greatest problem. Sonic 06 tried to impress everyone with its "realism" in graphics, story, and soundtrack. It's like Sonic would be deemed childish with the presence of epic, in-your-face music borrowing elements of rock, rap, jazz, techno, electronic, and orchestral. And what was released was a horrible disaster. They tried too damn hard and this ends up looking like a wanna-be Final Fantasy epic tale with snobbishly pretentious and "I'm superior to you all" music that should NEVER be in a Sonic game!

So what if I got into the games via the GameCube? I still have a tiny idea of what makes the blue blur awesome in the eyes of his fans. If you could stomach this more than me, fine. Enjoy it because I can't change your mind. But as you continue to praise it, I will continue to condemn it for failing to be the best damn thing it thinks it is.

Oh, Crush 40... we miss you dearly, even if you fumbled "All Hail Shadow"...

The good news about this? Sonic Team never attempted to overkill us with this pretentious, pseudo-elegent bullshit ever again! ... at least after Sonic Unleashed. *weeps*

0.5 out of 5

Because even this is the Mona Lisa next to the Twilight "saga".

I need to go brainwash myself with far better thoughts... A part of me has died...

Have a Point

Hello, readers.








Goodbye, readers.














Pretty annoying, eh?

Don't worry, Steve Martin, I'm getting to it... unlike some I know...

Every day in Health class I walk through a sea of molasses, chainsaws, and hydrochloric acid.
*smacks self* Fine, I'll cut the cynical crap and get to the point.

Because of being in honors classes since freshman year, I skipped out on Health class in sophomore year. I have to take the course in order to graduate and fulfill my dream of... growing up. Though I still dreaded it, thankfully it lasts for a semester. Sadly, this is far worse than any previous health-related class I ever forced myself to endure. Simply put, my teacher goes at a pace so slow a snail would laugh and he rarely has a point to his digressions.

One time we went over the three aspects of health: physical, mental/emotional, and social. We must keep our lives balanced by how we take care of our bodies, manage our stress, and communicate with others. Sounds reasonable, right? Two minutes later my teacher pulls up a Word document listing the Ten Commandments and claims that spiritual health is also essential.  Without attempting to acknowledge that he threw a wrench in an already well-explained concept, he says this needed to be added because "we're a Catholic school. Too bad if you don't like it."

Fine. You want to preach about religion in a religious school. Fair enough. But how does it tie into HEALTH? Ever since he brought up his "new, unique concept" he has never tried to tie up some hanging thread. For example, how does spiritual health affect our wellbeing? Does it throw off our mental stability? Does it affect how you care for your body? Does it improve or worsen your relationships? Or is it just an excuse to never get God off our minds?

So far the only health we covered was strictly based on nutrition. Oh, and that alcohol and sex are the devil incarnate because they are. ...Yeah, forget mental and social wellbeing since they are no huge concern! Let's make sure we stay away from cancer and heart attacks because of all the junk we eat! It's not like there are paranoid schizophrenics and recluses to worry about because they dont exist!


Right. The point: I am ranting about health class... and it sucks.

On one hand it's wonderful that my mom is a nurse and that I grew up with her endlessly helpful words of medical wisdom. However, having that upbringing mixed with an "everything in moderation" philosophy drilled into me, the black and white world of basic education teaches the same information that never successfully sticks.

I know I should be thankful for my "privileged" position in a school that actually makes every student take a health class so he/she is somewhat educated. Many don't have such a luxury to access information about food and how to care for one's wellbeing. It's a heavy burden I must bear and will never be happy with.

But have a point. This goes for anything. If you are going to throw religion in some discussion, have a reason and explanation as to how everything connects. Just because I go to a Catholic school that does not mean someone should bring up God in algebra, especially if no logical connection can be made. If you bring up God, religion, or spirituality in a health class, you better go deeper than posting up the Ten Commandments and saying "it is what it is, so deal with it."



On a brighter note, my classes in general are very practical and fairly enjoyable. There's enough to counteract the sleepiness I succumb to as a result of pointless banter. Thankfully I only have two more months of it to go...

Staying Natural Is Tough

Time to bounce off of my anime cloud nine for a moment and get something off my chest. Yes, people, this is RANTS from a Fangirl, not REVIEWS.

I do my best to not reveal too much about my personal information, but with this particular topic, a few hints of what I look like will probably be noticed. On the other hand, I feel sensitive to this issue and I want to write about it down for the internet to read. Just like before, MelinaPendulum made a good video that as inspired me to type this. Honestly, watch it.

Beauty.

As "liberal" I am in thought an ideology, I am traditional in some stances. For starters I find most modern beauty to be absolutely frivolous. I find barely find a handful of reasons why I would need to spend hours "slaving" over making myself presentable. Makeup has always been seen as pointless, perfume/cologne as nauseating, perfect dresses as wasteful, and gorgeous hairstyles as a firework, which took hours to make and seconds to blow up. HOWEVER!!!! I have no issues with my friends using these products to make themselves feel good; I just feel personally uninterested.

And it's my lack of interest that caused my friends to try and fail to encourage me to be more openminded to such... feminine rituals.

Unlike my friends and most of the kids at my school, I am racially mixed: my dad is black - and part Native American - and my mom is Caucasian. But due to the fact that most official papers still refuse to accept the "mixed race" option, I consider myself black. Although I am a mini cocktail with some features from light-skinned and dark-skinned people. The most apparent ones are my skin, a "milk chocolate" result as I like to call it, and my hair, dark brown but tightly curled and frizzy (but it's nothing compared to what my dad could have if he wasn't nearly-bald.) Some people have often told me that I am very pretty for both of these features. Of course I say thank you, but tell me how many people are always happy as they look.

My biggest concern of being mixed is not exactly how to look good, it's mostly how people view me. I'm a bit of an oddball in more ways than being a part of the American minority: although I am dark skinned, my one friend said I am "the whitest black chick" she has ever met. If you talk to me, I would sound "white" - or "professional" as dad says it. Maybe it just means that I don't sound like a stereotypical black girl from the ghetto or whatever you people call it. No street slang from this chick. :P

But the thing I am accepting more and more each day is the fact that there are some things I don't want to change. Some of my blunt honesty shows itself in how I care for my hair and face: I use soap to wash it and I care for it quickly and efficiently. I don't want to straighten my hair every day. I don't want to spend hours just to please the world. I don't want people to tell me what I should and should not do to look how I want to look. It took my friends many months to realize that no matter what, I won't invest in making myself look pretty.

Why am I so cynical on this?

Whenever I would put on makeup, I would feel no different than I did before I put it on. Whenever I would get my hair done, I would sit on my sore butt for three-to-four hours to wash, dry, and add relaxers. When I went out to buy a dress for Cotillion last year, it took all day to find a dress that was good... but didn't fit me right. Now I dread the day when I have to face PROM. *prepares suicide ritual*

I guess on a subconscious level, I have accepted myself as I am so I don't worry about how I look. During formal occasions I will make myself look nice - for socially appropriate reasons - but that's about it. I feel comfortable enough to walk into school with wild frizzy hair in a ponytail in 80 degree weather and completely humid. I only wear makeup less than five times a year, and I almost never have a need for formal clothes. Khol's has some decent clothes that are cheap, but I mix stuff up so I look alright. I don't need to go to great heights to make myself look and feel good. In my heart it feels as if I do that, I am only hiding what I truly look like instead of "accenting it" as my one fashionable friend puts it.

Because of this view of mine, I would not really fit into several categories. I could never be a goth or an emo, as cool as some of those clothes can be, and I couldn't get away with something beyond my reach. Practicality is what I strive for when I present myself. My natural skin is nice, so why should I get a tan or add foundation? My eyes are dark brown... okay... but are eye products mandatory? And my hair is wild, frizzy, and very tangly, is it wrong if I cut it super short so I no longer need a comb?

Someone once told me that if I do not dress myself in a presentable manner, I might lose a job opportunity to a white woman who looks almost flawless. Sure, the real world sucks in that way. Some women will get jobs because of their beauty rather than their experience or intelligence. Well, who cares? There is another job out there for me to look for and someone will hire me. Trial and error people, this process is wired in us, remember?

To get back on topic, I do not see makeup and many beauty "rituals" to be a universally terrible demon. It helps many women to feel better about themselves or to feel beautiful. There is nothing wrong with it; however, looks are not something I will invest in. Now while I'm still in the mood, I hope I can get to the hairdresser and chop off most of the mess I call unpractical "hair"...