Sweet Victory

I liked the twenty-minute video Critical Role put together for their Winter's Crest episode. While I couldn't commit it all to memory on the first viewing (implying I might watch it again but I probably won't), it was great to see their adventures before the livestream. I also liked how human Trinket fooled pretty much no one. As for the campaigns I'm in, one of my characters has foiled two dark rituals. The other one just got a Cloak of Arachnea and has put it to good use, walking backward down a castle wall while casting Call Lightning and flipping off the enemy. She really needed a win after an emotionally crippling defeat during the previous game.

How Revenge of the Sith Should Have Ended got it right. While I like Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, I don't think they should have scrapped Jar Jar as the secret Sith Lord. Adding him back into the third movie would have been interesting, but by then Jar Jar was seen as a good guy, though everyone hated him for being so annoying. At least if he was evil it would've made the hate justified. It's also kind of odd that Christopher Lee's characters in both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings get killed off early in the beginning of the third installments.

I finished writing the last story of the series I wanted done this year, which is both a relief and a little sad. I have other series to write but no set schedule, as there are other things I have to do early next year. If my Everything Wrong With video goes well, I might make individual explanation videos for why I think the Organization members are the astrological signs I assigned them last time. That's assuming I or anyone else isn't sick of the sound of my voice. I still don't know how long the video will be, and I haven't done a count of the sins thus far (still two episodes to go). The explanation videos will be short, though, but there will be twelve of them.

Stalling

I think I preferred Minecraft: Story Mode when I thought it was going to be following Jesse and Petra (and Reuben). I've watched Ray play the first three episodes and he's right, almost everyone is annoying. Speaking of Ashley, I'm glad she was able to Skype in again to help defeat the Briarwoods. That episode really was harsh. It was funny when Travis tried to high-five her through the screen. Sam was scraping the bottom of the barrel of his inspiration songs. "Percy's got a gun..." Taliesin was not too impressed with that one. "Really?!" I preferred "All the single Percys" myself. The previous installment was dark, as was last week's RWBY. That's not why I'm procrastinating finishing my story, though. I just want to get it perfect in my mind before I type it up. I've got just under two weeks and two pages left to go. There's no way I'm finishing it before Christmas, and I don't necessarily have to. New Year's Eve is the cut-off.

I'm also scraping the bottom of the barrel with what I have on hand for reading material. I've been rereading a book about Egyptian birth signs, and on this reading I've been figuring out what some of the Kingdom Hearts characters might be. There's no concept of time as far as dates in Kingdom Hearts, but other series like Cardcaptor Sakura and Yu-Gi-Oh! gave their characters actual birthdays. Based on what the book says about the Egyptian signs, I have determined that in the Western equivalent: Even is a Virgo, Dilan is a Libra, Ienzo is a Scorpio, Lea and Myde are Sagittarians, Braig is a Capricorn, Ansem the Wise is an Aquarius, Isa is a Pisces, Rould is an Aries, Aeleus is a Taurus, Lumaria is a Gemini, Xehanort is a Cancer, and Relena is a Leo. People on Tumblr have already pondered the main characters' signs, so I won't attempt to.

I found out there's a new Popples cartoon, but it's computer animated so I'm not interested in seeing it. It's bound to be different from the original, and I shouldn't judge it unless I watch it, but why do they do kids shows entirely CG these days? It looks cheap and wrong. I'm not saying it has to be hand-drawn animation - flash puppets work just fine (referring to MLP again unless that's changed and I just haven't noticed).

Machinations

The Dino Thunder Christmas episode was as good as the Halloween one, with it being a clip show but one with a story built around it. It was nice to see the Rangers helping Santa again (and in turn Santa helping Chase get home to see his family). Poissandra even impressed me with her antics, not wanting to take over the holiday but stealing Santa's Naughty or Nice computer to view the Rangers' files to attempt to find out where their base was (even though they'd already infiltrated it in the Halloween special).

In the FF7 Machinabridged, they first referred to Cloud as Blonde Zack. Based on that, I think Vexen/Even could be called Blonde Hojo. The voice actor playing him in the Machinabridged has that same type of voice, so maybe Derek Stephen Prince should play him in the FF7 remake (I mean why not? Quinton Flynn already plays Axel/Lea and Reno). I haven't been following the news that closely, but if each "episode" is the length of a game, wouldn't it make more sense if each "episode" were more like a world in length? They're already saying the battle system is going to be more like that of Kingdom Hearts anyway.

I'm halfway through my final story in the series I'm working on. Now all that's left is the big boss battle and the epilogue. I hope I have time to finish it before the holidays, but I doubt it. I still have some last minute shopping to do - my boyfriend and I have to get together and get in-law presents at the mall when we both have time. A lot of games came out recently, so he's spent most of his free time playing them while I watched.

Filler Talk

The Atop the Fourth Wall movie was a sequel to To Boldly Flee. As hinted at in two of the Nostalgia Critic's previous reviews (Superman and Planet of the Apes), the villains didn't die at the end of that one. Mechakara came back just like Zod and Turl. That being said, it was an okay movie. I'm looking forward to History of Power Rangers finishing up this month so that the next installment won't be for another year when Super Dino Charge (or Dino Super Charge) concludes. Dino Charge itself hasn't been as bad as previous installments, as it's pretty well acted and written. I mean, it tries to be cute and fails sometimes, but the actors seem to be having fun at least.

I've been working on short segments of Kingdom Hearts fan fictions, but the lack of knowledge is preventing me from making stuff up accurately. For instance, I have no idea what the apprentices actually do on a day-to-day basis for work, let alone what Ienzo would do as a kid if he had to play outside. Filling in the blanks is tougher than it sounds, even if you've technically lived some of it. I'm talking of course about the experiences I've projected onto Kagemiya in order to better deal with it myself. I thought of this exchange:
Braig put Kagemiya down on the table as Even activated a heart monitoring device. "I'll need you to open her shirt so I can attach these electrodes," Even instructed.
"Eh, really?" Braig asked uncomfortably.
"Oh please. Don't be so immature."
"I'm not being immature. I'm trying not to be a pervert, here."
"Just do it, Braig. It's basic anatomy."
"You do it," Braig shot back.
"All right, then you get this IV drip started," Even countered, knowing his friend couldn't.
"I hate needles...Fine," Braig grumbled. He unbuttoned Kagemiya's blouse and tried not to look. Even noticed the readout and administered medicine accordingly. The two then reported back to Ansem and Ienzo, who were waiting in the hallway.

Feeling Good

I tried the Ruffles All Dressed that's 100% Canadian, and now I'm addicted. It tates like a combination of honey barbecue and salt and vinegar with a bit of spicy aftertaste. Canada may make good chips but their PSAs are creepy as hell.

The last three episodes of this season of MLP were pretty good, but the finale could've been different. For one thing, if the mane six never got the elements of harmony, all of the villains would be running amok, not just one per alternate universe (unless they all fought and one ended up being victorious in each different iteration). Starlight was bent on vengeance, but not once did she try to mess with her own timeline, even when she brought Twilight and Spike back to it. She could have tried "fixing" her past to set things right in her mind - that's the first thing any time traveler would do. They could have at least looked up her former best friend when they got back to the present, but they didn't. Applebloom lost Twist and she didn't turn into a fascist; Moondancer lost Twilight and she only became more secluded. I'm not sure I like Starlight becoming the new Sunset Shimmer either (plus their names are too similar).

I'm looking forward to a soundtrack release of RWBY volume 3 since it would probably have full versions of "When It Falls" and "Mirror Mirror." It probably wouldn't happen, but if they put Vic on the soundtrack too that might be cool.

Digimon Tri

Was I supposed to like that? I thought it was going to be like Revenge of Diaboromon, but instead all I got was bad fan fiction. Meiko couldn't be more of a self-insert character if she tried, though there's probably some plot element there because her Digimon's name is also Meiko. They also went the Tamers route with a secret organization monitoring everything. At first I thought the scene where it's implied that Alphamon defeated or killed the other four from season two was just for drama, but the main eight Digidestined don't even mention their absence or acknowledge that they existed at all (which is weird since in Revenge of Diaboromon, Yolei was wearing the same uniform as Kari). The best part was seeing the Digimon back in action (Kuwagamon must REALLY hate Tai because it looked like he had it out for him). And from there it gets worse. This was probably only a fraction of the damage that Myotismon and his forces did, but everyone's acting like it's the worst thing since Highton View Terrace. Because of that, Tai has a Heroic BSOD, which causes Matt to fight with him until he snaps out of it (Matt and Tai fighting is the equivalent of Raph and Leo fighting, only Matt's the one in the right this time). The Digimon also have to go into hiding in a pocket dimension Izzy created because the media and the public hate all Digimon (much like today's political climate). Back to the bad fan fic aspect, whoever wrote this ships Izzy and Mimi together while TK has a girlfriend who isn't Kari (but he still claims he loves Matt the most, and Matt appropriately calls him an idiot for it). Sora is still trapped between Tai and Matt, and I wonder if they're actually going to let her do anything for a change since all she'd been doing is waiting. Joe has to study all the time, which keeps him out of the action, but he always gets D's so why is he letting himself be miserable? He claims to have a girlfriend because he's the oldest but nobody believed him (although it got Izzy to shut up - everyone else just started having this whole conversation without him). Also, this was billed as a movie but it's just four episodes aired together. Make up your mind, Toei! The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I have no answers.

Everything I love gets demolished. So many places I went to regularly as a child have been torn down, and nothing can replace them in my heart.

Thanks for Giving

The manager above the manager who banned me from doing carts ordered me to do them again. While I'm glad to be unbanned, I am very upset that I get yelled at no matter what I do.

It's great that Ashley was able to Skype in and play, given her busy schedule and the time difference. I hope she can keep doing it because she really is needed, as proven by her blowing everyone else out of the water. The fan art of Grog saying he hates eagles made me laugh so hard. Travis misses Romo. For his sake, I'm sorry the Cowboys have a losing streak going on.

I really enjoyed the 8-part Adventure Time special "Stakes!" especially Marceline's version of the theme song. I can also appreciate the Teen Titans Go Black Friday episode, even if it was sending the wrong message and Starfire had it right from the beginning. I know they were probably only playing the devil's advocate, but it was still a fun version of A Christmas Carol. She had the best line of the entire show about "Uncle Scrooge McDucking" them by saying "Bah Junebug." Their last Thanksgiving episode was pretty good too, but Regular Show had the best one.

Two episodes into East Meets West and I'm already in over my head. I've begun to question what counts as a sin and if picking everything apart is being too mean. On the other hand, I'm also questioning whether or not I'm qualified to do a sins video. No two are the same, so it all relies on the perspective of the person making it, but I can't help feeling that better minds than mine can find more things wrong with it than I can.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

I asked not to be scheduled five days in a row, since that's probably how I came to be so run-down that I needed to go to the hospital. However, they have banned me from going outside and moving carts instead. As usual, they fixed the wrong problem. I feel like I'm being punished, even though I know it's for my own good.

Only one more story to go before my current series is over. I'd like to have it finished by Christmas, but the end of the year is the official deadline. It's going to be really hard, as the previous one didn't end the way I'd originally intended, and everything has sort of collapsed into this final volume. Pulling it together will be a challenge, as there are scenes or visuals I wanted to include earlier but couldn't. I may have to add an epilogue to the end to balance it out.

I extended my Raven and Ienzo fan fiction into Teen Titans Go a little bit. As always, I have to keep the madness going somehow.
Ienzo stopped by the Tower as often as he could to visit Raven. Once in a while he would bring flowers to give to her. One visit did not go as expected. "Hi, Raven," he said, offering the flowers.
"You can't be here right now," she whispered urgently. "My dad's come to visit."
"Oh, sorry," he whispered back.
Before he could leave, Trigon appeared behind Raven. "What's this? A suitor, Raven?"
"No! He's just a friend," Raven insisted. Ienzo shrank back nervously and tried to hide the flowers behind his back, but Trigon wasn't fooled.
"Then why does he have flowers?"
Raven quickly made up an excuse. "His family owns a flower shop."
***
Raven typically invited Ienzo over whenever the other Titans were being annoying. They either quietly read together or complained about other people. One day, Trigon reappeared, and Ienzo hid under the bed. "Your dad is one of the few people who still scare me," he explained when Trigon vanished.
"I don't expect you to stand up to him," Raven said.
Trigon had cursed Raven to be nice, even when it would be better to be cruel to be kind. "Are you sure he didn't curse your friends with stupidity as well?" Ienzo asked sardonically, only half-joking.
Eventually Trigon regretted his decision, as he ultimately still wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. He tried to take back the curse, but Raven tricked him, putting the curse on him instead. "There. He shouldn't bother us anymore. You can come out now," Raven stated. Ienzo came out from hiding behind a bush.
***
Raven invited Ienzo over again when Robin forced the Titans to go camping. "I hope you don't mind. Having you here helps keep me sane," she explained.
The other four Titans took turns telling scary stories, which Raven didn't enjoy. When it was her turn, she told the story of a demon who went to the surface world, covering herself in a cloak and closing all but two of her eyes. She made friends, but those friends annoyed her, so she ate them. Then she turned into the monster, scaring the Titans back to the Tower. Ienzo lay stunned on the ground. "I didn't know you were going to do that," he said. "I liked your story, though."
Raven turned back into herself and helped him up. "Let's go before they eat all the popcorn."
At another point in time, Robin tried telling stories to teach the rest of his team morals only to have them hijacked and fractured. When Raven retold Rapunzel with the moral of "Forget boys, get paid!" Ienzo left.
"If that's the way you feel, I've got somewhere else I need to be," he muttered, opening a portal.
"No, wait! I didn't mean you!" Raven called out after him.
"Incidentally, the actual Rapunzel needs my assistance." With that, he disappeared.
"What?! Ienzo!" Raven piggybacked her own portal off of his and went after him.
Ienzo used his magic to help clear the Heartless from around Rapunzel's tower. Raven cleared out any that he'd missed. "I'm sorry, okay? There's no one I'd rather fight alongside." Ienzo looked at her forgivingly.
With the Heartless gone, it was safe for Rapunzel and Flynn to leave. Ienzo and Raven watched as Rapunzel lowered herself down using a system of pulleys. "Whoa," Raven exclaimed quietly.
"Sora and the others can handle it from here," Ienzo whispered. "We can go."
"Come back with me to the Tower. Give me another chance to tell this story." Ienzo agreed, and Raven opened a portal.
When they returned to Titans Tower, Raven amended her version of Rapunzel's story. "Once upon a time, there was a girl imprisoned in a tower by her demon father. She was supplied with books and nothing sharper than a butter knife, so her hair grew and grew while she spent her days reading. One day when her hair was long enough, she built a system of pulleys to lower herself down so she could escape. Unfortunately, her hair was too thick and got stuck. A boy passing by saw her and ran over to help. As he got closer, he was attacked by her father's demon underlings. He took them all down with his enchanted daggers before cutting the girl loose from her cumbersome hair. The two of them went on many an adventure together. The end."

Shenanigans

We beat a dungeon with graffiti and gained two levels because of it. I will not explain any further except we all had a hand in it. I have also gone ahead and chosen the rest of my spells so I don't take so long when leveling up again. Hopefully I make it that far. One drawback I've come across in both games is situations in which only one person speaks an NPC's language and that person is the most reckless of your group and you can't do anything about it because your character doesn't understand. Otherwise, Orion did the same thing as Ray from Achievement Hunter and went off on his own. Looking foraward to seeing last week's and the next RWBY and since that's going to be posted later than expected too.

I started working on my Everything Wrong With video. I watched part 1 of East Meets West twice to make sure I found everything I wanted to critique, and then some. I may have to cut minor sins for time, but we'll see how long this turns out to be. It's going to be a lot of work, but I know it's going to be worth it. I've already found a very interesting screenshot. My original intention was to review the condensed "movie" version since I sin it right off the bat for that, but the only version I've found online is just the separate episodes. I'll take what I can get though, as long as I have an American edit rather than "Hero" Turtles which has its own censorship issues.

Meltdown

I didn't get the library job I interviewed for. My current job keeps me busy, but it's not exactly good for my health. I had to work five days in a row again (last time I did that is when I ended up in the hospital), but they kept me inside and didn't have me get the carts for the last three days. Next spring I will have been there for three years and should think about changing departments, but I don't know what else I could do. I don't really want to be promoted to cashier because that would just be hours of not being able to move and feeling like I want to pound my head into a wall.

Orion Acaba left Critical Role for good. I don't follow any of them on Twitter or anything because I want to respect their privacy, but when stuff like this happens I have no idea what's going on. He was my Cheesy Gordita (Bronycurious Tommy Oliver's term for least favorite but still really good), so I decided to try one on Halloween to make sure I knew what I was talking about. It was about what I expected so I'd say the comparison is accurate. Tiberius Stormwind will be missed. I liked the part where Taliesin/Percy tried to take his pet Lockheed hostage so he wouldn't leave. As for the game I played this past weekend, my character got new armor. That trade was pretty amazing (my team traded draws from the Deck of Many Things, which went spectacularly well for the shopkeep).

Action-packed

Pinkie's twin(?) sister Marble is a lot like me. I already made an OC, but the two of them are certainly in a position to be friends. I imagine she would have a little more to say when Pinkie isn't around, but when she is around Pinkie overshadows her and does all the talking. People have done that to me, related or not. I know it was most likely a joke to put her and Big Mac in the same box, but she still tried to duck back into the house before meeting the Apples.

Opening the episode with Ruby at her mom's grave was a nice touch too. Blake made the best faces throughout the episode. A new voice actor for Ren will mean that he gets to talk more, since Monty didn't like to talk. I think he's said more in the first episode of volume 3 than most of the episodes he'd been in before. I'm sure Monty's brother will do a fine job in his stead according to his wishes. It was weird at first but time to move on. Yuri Lowenthal, who also has a voice credit in X-Ray and Vav, also joins them this season as a replacement voice. It's also rumored that Vic Mignogna will be Yang and Ruby's Uncle Qrow.

In one of the D&D games I'm involved in, I used grasping vine to grab a werebear and throw it into a pack of direwolves, which ate him. As for Critical Role, Sam is owning Scanlan pretending to be a peasant boy, which is fitting since he himself looks like a twelve-year-old on school picture day without his beard. The fight was pretty epic. Things are getting crazy.

Check-in Time

I uploaded my Digimon video on Tuesday and it remains untouched by copyright bots. Yay! I also finished this month's story, in which the situation has grown pretty serious. Just in time for RWBY this weekend. I saw the opening sequence, and while it's my least favorite of the three, it is by no means boring. Speaking of, Yang won her death battle against Tifa. I thought for sure Tifa would win, but I'm glad it was Yang. If only Monty were alive to see this.

The ending to Tales from the Borderlands was perfect - very satisfying. Life is Strange, not so much (unless you're Ray and you get to hear Frank reference his beans and you choose to sacrifice Chloe). I didn't particularly like Chloe, but I'm a sucker for rekindling old friendships. It made sense, but it just would have been better if they had a) called the cops as soon as they found Rachel's body and b) warned everyone about the storm and had them evacuate since they believed you about Jefferson for some inexplicable reason. I agree with Ray that the Chloe death ending made the whole game pointless (even though everything else you changed remained, like Kate if you were able to save her). If they still wanted a funeral ending, why not Rachel's? The other ending made it seem like the whole town died and the two of them left for California, which is probably what happened and a bit sick in its own way. The only thing wrong with the ending in the beginning of the episode was that Max went to the art thing and forgot the storm was coming (though who could blame her?).

Teen Titans Go! threw another tantrum. They have to realize that a kids cartoon doesn't have to be juvenile (though not all of it is, most of it's pretty bad). I didn't have any complaints about the art style, but they responded by making it even more deformed. Nothing seems wrong with their emoting as long as they remain true to their established characters (another reason why I think it would have done better with original characters). I enjoyed the episodes about Raven and Trigon, though. Making villains relateable, even if they are horrible, is not that far afield from the old cartoon.

More to the Story

Since I was in the hospital again for a couple of days, you might be wondering if I was going to project that onto my character Sayuri. All that happened was that I needed different medication, so nothing special is going to happen to her if I decide to write anything at all...maybe. I haven't really gotten into it. However, I had one idea for a joke for my Kingdom Hearts 3 story, though. The situation is that the Sayuri and the apprentices aren't sure whether or not Braig is capable of returning to normal or if he even remembers them at all (though attempts have been made, they don't know whether or not they have succeeded). At the end of all that, Ienzo says "Please, Braig. Just be your normal self again." All Braig can say at first is "I'm sorry," which catches everyone off-guard. Then he grabs Ienzo and gives him a noogie. "I'm sorry, but did you say 'Please Braig. Start messing with me again?'"

One of the D&D campaigns I'm playing had a Halloween dungeon side quest. Last weekend we had some memorable moments as we finished it. An out of context quote worthy of the site: "You can't roll for my [elf] eyes!" when one player wanted to roll to know what another saw. There was also a point where we were looking over a room and the men failed their perception checks. The girls didn't, but it turned out to be a laundry room.

The Dino Charge Halloween episode was a clip show as per usual, but there was enough story to trick me into thinking it wasn't. That's a point in its favor (it was actually really good).

Mark Hamill as The Joker as Slappy? Sold. That's not what happened but it was a good idea Brad, Doug, and Rob suggested.

Consolation

I couldn't get what I wanted for the all-day breakfast at McDonald's because it turns out only a few items can be served all day. My mom and my brother got what they wanted (egg McMuffin and pancakes), but I couldn't get a bagel sandwich or even the egg white McMuffin. I got a cheeseburger and fries instead but I'm still pissed. There are more important things in life, but I was looking forward to saving that thing for later.

Watching Brad review Tequila and Bonetti cheered me up, if only because he was joined by Allison and Phelan, and the episode starred Shanelle Workman. Baby Relena-senpai (Larxene)!! It's like Nella squeeing over baby Christian Bale in Newsies. Speaking of my fan fiction, though, I had a weird dream a while ago in which my character was wearing an orange bikini instead of her usual attire. Just going about the scene as normal, and no one else had a reaction to it. Anyway, Calluna wins Halloween with her HalloweenTown movie reviews.

A new episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged came out. In it, Rebecca glomps Yugi, causing him to remark, "You must have me confused with Bakura. He's used to being assaulted." It made me think about Ryou being uncomfortable with that kind of attention in the manga, and it made me wonder what it would be like if Ryou just gave up on life. The beginning of the Millennium World arc would have a different tone if he gave up inside the church. Who knows? Maybe LittleKuriboh will actually have him do that when it gets to that point.

Denied

So I couldn't help myself and wrote the secession article anyway and posted it because I found the right pictures to go with it. The ideas just had to come out, even if I wasn't going to get paid for them.

When in doubt, WatchMojo.com. Yesterday I found the top 10 hottest female Power Rangers and the top 10 Yu-Gi-Oh! duels. My favorites weren't on either of those lists, but I respect their decisions...for the most part. They haven't done a top 10 list of the hottest male Power Rangers (I know they at least have girls on their staff), so I'd like them to get on that. I hope the actors are flattered.

I'm hyped for the RWBY game as well as for volume 3 to start on the 24th. I still have to write a couple more pages of my current story by the end of the month. It's kind of a tricky scene I'm on. Next month's story focuses more on the characters themselves before endgame starts, so I'm looking forward to writing that. As for Goosebumps, I read that it got a 7.8 from IGN (whose opinion I don't necessarily respect but it is the only review I've seen so far) and that the ending was lazy. That's all Goosebumps books, though.

I had this weird, spooky dream about Kingdom Hearts. I was with Even and Ienzo, but Even was a ghost for some reason and Ienzo had gotten possessed by something that had come through a portal they had opened. Then I woke up so I can't say anything more. I really wanted to see where this was going, but my alarm clock said otherwise. I'm really hoping I start feeling better soon so I can enjoy more spooky stuff. Getting sick in the beginning of the month really put a damper on things.

Complicity

I wanted to write a scene in which Xehanort tricks Ienzo into helping him, since Ienzo is credited with asking Ansem to build the secret room. We saw Ienzo staring at him and Braig, calling Ansem's attention to them like he didn't trust them, so it would have taken something like bringing his parents back to turn that around. To do that, I had to think of a way that could have possibly sounded like a persuasive argument (I'm still not clear on how everything works since there have been so many exceptions). Ienzo being a kid doesn't have much to do with it other than his vulnerability, since all the adults were fooled by Xehanort too. The apprentices never wanted anything bad to happen; they just wanted what they could get out of it, which turned out to be a lie.

"Whose kid is that?" Xehanort asked Braig.
"You mean Ienzo?" Braig remarked. "His parents were apprentices too, but they died in an accident. We take care of him now."
"I see..."
"Hey, go easy on him," Braig warned, not knowing what he was up to. "No one messes with him but me."
Xehanort approached Ienzo when he was alone. "I heard about your parents. I'm sorry." Ienzo shifted uncomfortably but didn't say anything. "You must want them back more than anything, don't you?"
"There isn't a way," Ienzo murmured.
"Have you tried?"
Ienzo took a step away from him, not trusting him. "No. Even can make replicas using people's DNA, but that isn't the same as bringing them back. Once they're gone, that's it."
"You poor thing...You don't know about the heart of all worlds."
"Huh?"
"Where does a person's heart go when they die?"
"It stops beating."
"Not that kind of heart, their life essence. People's hearts return to the heart of the world. If you were to add that to replicas, then wouldn't they have the same personalities and memories as when they were alive?" Xehanort was using clever words to trick him, and it was working. "I'll help you find them, but first you have to help me."
"What do you want me to do?" the boy asked uncertainly.
"All you have to do is be a good boy and follow my instructions to the letter. Can you do that?" Ienzo thought about it and then nodded slowly.
***
Their research went on in secret until Ansem caught Ienzo accessing the secret room one night. "Ienzo? Why are you going down there this late at night?"
Ienzo froze. Xehanort had told him this day would come; he'd have to choose between his parents and his master. "X...Xehanort asked me for a favor..."
"Does this favor involve opening the door to the heart of the world? I told him it's forbidden. You would do well to go back to your room."
"Is it true?" Ienzo whispered. "Can he really retrieve my parents' hearts from there?"
Ansem was shocked and fearful. "What has he been telling you?!"
"If it's true, I...I want to try! Please, Master!"
"No! Go to your room, and I'll sort this out with him."
Ienzo went down the passage instead. When he and Ansem reached the secret room, Xehanort was already there lying in wait. Before Ienzo could react, Xehanort banished their master to the Realm of Darkness.
"Don't blame yourself," Xehanort said when Ienzo didn't move, still staring at the space where Ansem had been. "It was the inevitable result of his meddling."

More Out There

Memorable quotes from a recent CR: "I'm not burning a restoration spell on your drunk state!" and "Your kid is weird." I'm trying to channel Pike in my professional life and play similar to Keyleth as my druid character (I would've also reacted to Percy's outburst the same way as well as try to level with another druid). Funny thing is, our host moved house recently to Pike Place, and the road that turns into there is Mercer Street.

The Crusaders got their cutie marks - f*cking finally! They may have waited too long to do this because it almost didn't seem real. Instead of realizing individual talents, they gave them all the talent of helping others with their identity crises (Appleloosa's Most Wanted was still stupid though). Silver Spoon finally kicked Diamond Tiara to the curb, but I feel like it would've made more sense if Tiara hadn't shut her down so that when she lost, Spoon could've said "Oh no. Her mom's going to be so mad at her." As her best friend, she should know what her mother is like. At least Tiara's dad isn't a monster.

I don't know if I want to continue writing for HubPages. It's not a great source of income, and they increased the minimum to fifty dollars instead of ten. I've been there for four and a half years, and I was so close to earning ten dollars, but now it looks like I'll never get paid. It's not a priority for me right now. RWBY starts on the 24th, and I'm in the middle of one of my stories with two to go afterward. If I were to make time to write another Hub article, it would be on the pros and cons of secession. I don't know if it's worth it, though.

That Wasn't Fun

I had to go to the hospital again on Friday and didn't get out until Sunday. Now I need a week to recover my strength, plus my arms and hands are bruised from all the needles they stuck in me. I know I was getting run down with the hours I was putting in, but I lost days of work. That's income I'm not getting back. At least I have time to catch up with some stuff. The CSI finale was a little cringe-worthy considering the current climate of mass shootings (they used bombs, but still, terrorism). I understand that it was supposed to end this way from the outset, but some things just felt a little out of place. This isn't the same show as it once was, for better or for worse. I wasn't happy to see Grissom at all. If I were Sara, I wouldn't have gone with him in the end. Overall, these episodes made me feel sad for a lot of reasons.
Otherwise, I dropped all the shows I said I was going to, including New Orleans after the season premiere. There was so much I didn't like about it, and I don't have time to continue. I now have two episodes of Critical Role to catch up on sometime this week, and I have to have at least half of my next story finished by mid-month when my follow-up appointments are. I thought September was busy, but this month is shaping up to be even busier.

McDonald's all-day breakfast starts tomorrow. That's gonna be pretty sweet.

Love and Tolerate

I couldn't help but notice the horseshoes slung over the tree branch in Made in Manehattan. It's probably innocent, but if not, that means drug dealers are canon in MLP. As for The Friendship Games, it was definitely a buy-our-toys cash grab. What normal school has motocross? Anyway, I haven't seen it all the way through as I'm waiting for the DVD, but I have seen clips on youtube and read the synopsis on the wiki. "Unleash the Magic" made it seem like Twilight was in a coven of sorts with the principal and students pressuring her into using the magic stored in her locket. In true B horror movie fashion, they abandon her when it goes wrong (although one student does blame the principal for letting it happen). With this installment, I think Sunset has earned main character status for these movies, but I still can't help wondering what the real Sunset of this world is like. Many in the comments I've read think that Sunset should return to Equestria and be in the main show in some capacity.

Next year I'm going to put together a CinemaSins parody video about the first five episodes of Ninja Turtles: Next Mutation with the tagline "No incarnation is without sin." Not only is it to prove that I can point out the flaws in something I liked, but I also thought I'd do it for its own good. I'm sure other people would be a lot harsher with it than I'm going to be, as sins videos usually point out mistakes on a technical frame-by-frame level. I'm not that skilled, so I'll be sticking to the plot holes and sloppy writing, things I just can't agree with. The bonus round will be generalized sins from the rest of the series as a whole, but I'm mainly going to focus on the first five, Raiders of the Story Arc style.

Hetalia surprised me again with giving me another episode I've wanted to see for a long time. Season one focused a lot on how Britain and America became brothers, but now we've finally gotten an episode where France and Britain fought to make Canada their brother as well (even if it didn't last that long). Instead of getting bored with Canada pretty quickly after running excitedly in circles around him, I was hoping America would have hugged him. No such luck, especially with America acting like a spoiled brat around Britain and hogging all the attention.

Spoiler Island

Final thoughts on MGSV- Quiet breaking her silence to save Venom Snake from a bullshit snakebite was a tense moment that would have gotten me right in the feels if it didn't seem so cheap. But what the pilot says to her was kind of cute: "I didn't know you were so talkative, Quiet!" She wasn't as endearing after you find out that she was the one who tried to kill you in the very beginning, though. Also, since this takes place in the middle of the 1980s, wouldn't it be funny if someone made a joke video with tapes from the FNAF phone guy? On a related note, Kingdom Hearts 2.9 is no longer a thing (so why did they release information about it in the first place?), dispelling the notion that the prologue/demo for KHIII would be a separate release like Ground Zeroes (since Kojima and Nomura are friends and possibly in cahoots). Instead, Aqua's story Zero Point Two is the prologue/tech demo, which is why it's for the PS4 (though no Xbox One port like the actual KHIII). Speaking of milking it, with everything that was cut from MGSV, there is sure to be DLC to fill in the blanks (particularly with Liquid's story).

Before, I had spoken of Nomura's low opinion of Vexen and the number four being unlucky in Japan. By contrast, his favorite, Luxord, is number 10, or X, or chi. At first I thought the X sigil that was added to all of the Organization XIII members' names had something to do with Xehanort's name beginning with X. However, it may just be Nomura's own preference for that number/letter and its importance(?) to the story. He also has an obsession with zippers, but that's beside the point.

Broken

So I accidentally added Troy Baker to my previous [non-story] post even though he wasn't in Arkham Knight. He was in one of them before Mark Hamill came back to finish the trilogy. For someone who was supposed to have taken over the role, Troy hasn't played him much.

It's one thing for the brony community to have pony waifus, but recently I discovered that there are pony MILFs as well. That really broke my brain. Nothing wrong with it, I suppose, but...why? Never in a million years would any sane person think that "My Little Pony" and "MILF" would be used together in the same sentence. Still, MLP is one of the few things on TV I will actually be watching this season (albeit online). I've decided to drop Castle, NCIS, The Big Bang Theory, and possibly NCIS: New Orleans as well. I'll watch the CSI finale movie but not CSI Cyber. The web shows on my to-do list are vastly more important to me at this point, and I don't have a whole lot of time, even though I was recently shamed out of watching a couple of them.

I've come to find that I don't like trail mix as much as I did when I was a kid, and I like tomatoes a lot more. I still can't handle very spicy things, but medium salsa is fine for a little bit. I get the mild salsa so I can eat as much of it as I want without setting my mouth on fire.

An Impossible Romance part 3

Ienzo returned home after spending the afternoon with Raven at the Jump City Public Library. While he'd enjoyed being with her as friends, he still felt like a fool. "And just where have you been?" Even asked him when he entered the hall.
"Nowhere," Ienzo muttered dejectedly. "I'm going to my room."
Hearing the tone of his voice, Even didn't criticize him further but shared a concerned yet confused look with Aeleus. Dilan, on the other hand, recognized the "I've-just-been-dumped" look on Ienzo's face and followed him. "Wait. Tell me what happened," he said, stopping him. He hadn't learned of what had been going on when they were Nobodies.
Ienzo explained, "I met a girl, but we live on different worlds, and our work is too important to leave them behind. I agreed with that, and she agreed to be friends, but..." He found it was getting more difficult to talk. "...Why does it hurt so much?"
Dilan patted him on the back as his side of the conversation devolved into choked sobs. "There, there. This too shall pass." After a moment, Ienzo calmed back down. "Would you like to continue this discussion over some herbal tea?"
"Raven likes herbal tea..."
"Her name's Raven, hm?" Dilan was a bit curious, but this wasn't the time. He used his thumb to wipe the tears from beneath Ienzo's left eye. "But you like herbal tea. Is this going to be like when you stopped eating sea salt ice cream because Master Ansem was banished?"
"For now, I'll just drink juice or something."
Braig, eavesdropping as usual, broke into the conversation. "You'll need to replace all the fluid you're losing."
"Braig..." Dilan warned touching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Hey, I'm sincerely concerned," Braig emphasized, insulted. "I mean, I'm also sorry I didn't get the chance to tease him about it first, but-"
"Forget it," Ienzo conceded. "I'm going to go scream into my pillow until I pass out."
***
Raven decided to surprise Ienzo with a visit some months later. She had kept the flowers he'd given her preserved and used them to find his location. "That's a lot of stairs," she said, looking up toward the castle. She levitated herself over them and walked the rest of the way from the gate. At the front door, she was met with Dilan and Aeleus. "Um, hi. Is Ienzo at home?"
They both looked at her warily. "Yes, he's here," Dilan replied. "You must be Raven."
"He's told you about me?"
"Of course. You're the first person he's ever had romantic feelings for," Aeleus added.
"Thank you for letting him down easy, by the way," Dilan added.
"Oh..." Raven gasped, not having realized. "He wasn't my first, but he is the first that I'm still friends with. I didn't mean to hurt him. Is he all right?"
"He's taken it on the chin. He is probably in the middle of work at the moment, but if you'd like to see him, I could announce you," Dilan offered. Raven agreed, and he led her inside.
When Ienzo saw her, he could feel his heart jump into his throat. Still, he tried to address the situation with cool detachment. "Wh-what are you doing here?" he stammered.
"I actively searched for you and wanted to see where you live," she replied as nonchalantly as possible. "No surprise it's a castle."
"Well you're a girl in a tower," Ienzo shot back.
"All right, all right. Take this conversation someplace else," Even cut in, though he was also somewhat amused. "Some of us have work to do."
"Ienzo, why don't you show her to the library?" Ansem suggested. "First floor only, please."
"So...was one of those guys your dad?" Raven asked when they arrived.
"No. My parents died when I was little," Ienzo replied.
"I'm sorry. Mine are dead too," Raven left it at that, not wanting to admit she was a half-demon. "I was raised by monks."
"Master Ansem adopted me. I was raised by him and the other apprentices. You've met him and Even, and Dilan and Aeleus, probably not Braig, though you may be better off for it..."
"What are you working on? Does it have anything to do with what you were looking for in that other place?"
"No, no. This is something different. We're working toward a new beginning. I can't show you. That's why we were told to stay here."
"I understand." She was quiet for a moment. "Listen, I'm not the best with feelings. I tend to keep mine suppressed most of the time..."
"Me too!" Ienzo had to check his enthusiasm, clearing his throat afterward.
"Anyway, I had no idea what to make of you when we first met, but there's no denying that we're similar. I've dated people who I thought were just like me, but they turned out to be boring or deceitful. You're neither of those things. If it weren't for the long distance between us, then who knows? But..."
"You don't have to worry about it. I understand," Ienzo assured her. "I hope Dilan and Aeleus didn't give you a hard time about it."
"No, they were very polite. They obviously care about you a great deal." She was startled by her brooch suddenly flashing. "I'm sorry. I have to go now."
Ienzo nodded. "Take care of yourself."

(If anyone's wondering, this part takes place right after season 5, during which Beast Boy is still hung up on Tara. Not saying he doesn't get together with Raven, but it hasn't happened yet. Also hammers home the point that both Raven and Ienzo are needed on their respective worlds in light of recent accomplishments.)

Vindictive

The last few days have been cloudless, so I got sunburned at work. I had sunscreen but I totally neglected my neck because I usually don't need to put it there. It's mostly my arms and face that get burned. But due to a scheduling error (or someone reading it wrong), I was put out three times yesterday, the last time being at the last minute without my knowledge. It's days like these that make me really hate my job and certain co-workers. I can't even tell if they're evil or just incompetent. Now I understand why Tress MacNeill and Tara Strong like voicing characters like Mom from Futurama and Toot from Drawn Together. They got to yell at people in ways that they can't do in real life. Speaking of Tara Strong, she's in both Arkham Knight and MGSV and both her characters are pretty bonkers in some way or another (Matt Mercer is in both too btw, as well as Troy Baker). Big Boss's gadgets are like Batman's also. Quiet may not be Chico, though, at least not for the reasons people had theorized.

Jeff Dunham seems to have replaced Guitar Guy with Brad Paisley for some reason, at least for this one show. I liked the addition of physical comedy with Little Jeff, but I felt that the subplot with Achmed being left out of the show by the pinhead executive was in poor taste.

The pumpkin oatmeal was good, but I prefer maple and brown sugar.

Gratifying

Not sure if 2.9 is still going to be a thing, as it was just announced that 2.8 is not only the HD remix of Dream Drop Distance but also BBS Volume 2 (or 0.2) and the cinematic version of Chi called Back Cover. I suppose that if they split off the opening of KHIII like MGSV did with Ground Zeroes they could still do both, but 2.8 was also labelled as the Final Chapter Prologue; maybe new cutscenes? Actually, KH2 would have been better to do that with since Roxas' part of the game is separate. Maybe the prologue is Sora earning his Mark of Mastery and then the rest of the game will follow after that since he goes through another wardrobe change and whatnot.

The past week's episode of Critical Role involved catching Sam up since he'd been gone for several sessions. They had just finished up another part of Keyleth's side story, and coming up is Percy's side story. I am totally on board with killing some Briarwoods, and the part with Percy shopping for gunpowder and iron ore beforehand was hilarious. Otherwise, I'm not sure how Scanlan's bard abilities were not considered cheating (unless it falls under bardic immunity or something) whilst blatantly trying to use healing spells and trying to lie about it clearly was (landing Keyleth and Tiberius in jail yet again). Also, Grog clearly won through cheating by a combination of Stone Giant strength potion and Scanlan's inspiration die. I'm happy for Travis that the Cowboys won though, even if it was at the expense of the Giants.

Divergence

Sir Ivan isn't the Red Ranger's dad, and Prince Phillip isn't the Green Ranger's brother. Even if those two aren't going to be the Gold and Graphite Rangers, I hope they show up later in the series as other colors...or at all. Why show us Matt if he wasn't going to be important again? I hope Tyler's dad is alive too. There are up to four other designations they could be, if even temporarily.

Xehanort as one of the foretellers is a theory, another being that he didn't really go back in history but merely invaded a record of them in the tome of prophecy that people keep talking about. Otherwise, he would've had to have been there, as he can only time travel through wormholes he'd set up previously, as explained in part 2 of the Time Lord Film Theory trilogy. I don't know how I feel about 2.9 being released similar to how Ground Zeroes was released as a separate prologue to the main game. I guess if it's going to take longer to make the main game and they want to give us a little something while we wait that's also a tutorial, it'll be okay. On its own, though, it won't be as much of a game as previous installments between major titles.

I have mixed feelings about the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise. I'm not a gamer, but even if I was I don't think I'd play it. However, I am fascinated by the lore and how "complicated" it's gotten, so if the movie puts all of it into perspective, I'd be willing to see it. Chica is my favorite, at least based on the musical. I want to spell it Chika since that's a name in Japanese whereas "chica" is Spanish for "girl," which leads me to believe she was named using the Smurfette Principle. I know she's a chicken and not a duck.

I'll probably wait for reviews of the Goosebumps movie, but the trailer did get me excited.

It's A Beautiful Day

I had a dream the other night that Myde, Rould, Lumaria, and Relena still had their powers and weapons and were attacking some sort of stronghold. I can't remember much about it, so I don't know whose side they were on other than their own. Ansem's apprentices were there too, but I couldn't tell if they were helping out or were the ones being attacked.

Random Encounters made a really catchy song and adorable music video called Muffins the Musical starring Derpy Hooves. It once again put me in the mood for muffins (damn you, muffin horse!). My favorite part was when she tries filling the empty muffin box back up with rocks. Another series of videos they've done is Five Nights at Freddy's the Musical, in which the animatronics are reduced to harmless and well-meaning children's show-esque hand puppets and Markiplier is the crazy security guard. It's really cute. There have been three parts so far (part 2 is on Markiplier's channel, in which he gets arrested halfway through the song). Then Nate takes over for part 3, in which Springtrap looks like the product of a relationship between the Grinch and Oscar the Grouch. Hopefully this means there will be more parts later.

The pumpkin Frosted Mini Wheats were good, but I liked the strawberry ones better.

This Isn't September

It's been hot and humid so far this month, and it's going to continue to be so. There was even heat lightning when I got out of work today. This is less like Indian summer and more like July in September, which is not fun. Pushing carts around is thirsty work; I must have refilled my water bottle three times. Yesterday I got a Manzanita Sol at Taco Bell to get some relief, and today I got an iced coffee from Burger King. Those really hit the spot. Also bought more pumpkin flavored stuff at the store - Mini Wheats and Quaker oatmeal. Haven't tried them yet, but they were new so I decided I should do it.

MGSV reminds me a lot of Arkham Knight. Batman can call for the Batmobile; Snake can call for his horse. Batman beats up thugs for information on Riddler tasks that get placed on the map; Snake interrogates soldiers for information that gets placed on the map. Batman has hallucinations thanks to Joker Toxin; Snake has hallucinations thanks to PTSD and brain damage. The Arkham Knight turned out to be Jason Todd; fans speculate that Quiet is Chico.

Rolling Ahead

September looks to be a busy month for me, so I'm going to put as much planning as I can into the two stories I have to do before I write them. I might even make them into a two-parter depending on where the narrative takes me. The second story is going to begin with a flashback to unseen events regardless. I haven't finished the concept art completely in terms of coloring, but I should probably get some different colored pencils in order to do it. I'm out of a certain color, and bold variations of the colors of the rainbow are called for on the first cover. Additionally, I may just decide to lump all the stories in each series into one volume, so it's possible I'll have to make new covers for them or just pick an existing one from each.

I finished watching the second team's run in Trial of the Take, in which Wil Wheaton rolled a natural 20 and then rolled low for most of the rest of the time (the crit was for an insight check). The chat is in the habit of sending real weapons to the cast, most recently a wrist-mounted flamethrower (which uses flashpaper) for Tiberius (Orion), much to everyone's horror. Once again, Taliesin's reaction was priceless, especially when the note went on to promise a version of his gun for him. "Oh my f*cking God, we're going to die."

I saw some slides of parts of the script for the Power Rangers movie, and I didn't like what I saw. It's not that it's bad per se, but it just doesn't ring true for the characters. It would work with original characters, but these just aren't the Rangers I grew up with. It suffers from the same problem as Teen Titans Go!, that the people making it are just cashing in on the nostalgia value rather than producing all original characters for their warped fantasies.

Back from Vacation

Vacation was about everything I could have hoped for. I took a dozen pictures and did a lot of walking. I also started working on the cover concept art for the stories I'm working on (which I'll probably have to put on hold again while I write two more stories next month). The best thing I ate on vacation was a Greek omelet at a place called The Omelet Factory. The funniest thing I watched on TV that I don't usually have time for was Drunk History on Comedy Central. The only thing I regret doing is not eating anything with blueberries since that's what Maine is known for besides lobsters, but I keep having to remind myself that I don't even like blueberries that much. There also wasn't a flat surface I could roller blade on safely since the sidewalk near the inn was under construction and the streets were crowded; the inn was on a hill so I couldn't do much in the parking lot either.

I take back what I said earlier about not being excited for Hetalia. The last couple of episodes have been great and I can't wait for the dub to come out (I'll find a way to watch it). They'll probably make a Frozen reference when Sweden crosses the frozen ocean to beat up Denmark, and if they make a reference to the TGWTG reviewers in the episode with Molossia that'd be awesome too. My favorite micronation character is still Wy because she's adorable. I also liked the scenes with Britain and America in the Sahara, especially when they got caught because of Britain's tea time (at least it wasn't due to America's stupidity this time).

Getting Caught Up

Almost caught up with Critical Role, just the second team's quest to go. You could create a drinking game out of watching each episode, such as every time Laura says they're all going to die or when Taliesin face-palms and so on. The antics of late have been nothing short of astounding, as have the rolls (many with back-to-back ones and twenties). For instance, Liam rolled a one, setting off a trap, but rolled well enough not to take any damage while the rest of his companions did. Later, he told Matt to eat a bag of dicks and pretended to slit his throat; that sounds worse than it actually was. Of course, Sam harmonizing with the background music is a treat for the ears as well.

On Brad's recommendation, I went back to Subway and got a small bag of the Southern Biscuits and Gravy. At first it tasted like something you would get at Popeye's, but it really is a great breakfast snack. I also hope this one wins.

I'm going on vacation for the next few days, so it's a good thing I finished this month's story plus two hub articles I'd been holding out on. I even went back and did a successful continuity sweep. Unfortunately, I have lost a couple followers both on Hubpages and YouTube, like I knew would happen because it's me. Just a typical end to a typical week in my everyday life.

Got My Laptop Back

I finally got my laptop back and am finishing up putting things back together since they had to save all of my files and reset it. I don't remember all the pages I'd bookmarked but I think I got all the important ones back. Hopefully everything will be back to normal, or as normal as it can be now. It's still not the same, but I'm not yet sure if it's better or worse. At least it's working and not locked. Anyway, I've got a vacation coming up and I'm really looking forward to some down time. It's halfway through the month and I'm halfway through the story I scheduled myself to write. Maybe I've set my sights too high with everything I want to accomplish before or during vacation, but hopefully I will come out of it feeling pretty happy.

The F part of Tales of Graces F felt like someone's fan fiction. They easily could have done without it, but it had some good ideas. Even though I thought it was stupid at first, I was a little disappointed when Pascal and Hubert didn't quite get together in the end.

I saw at the store that they've taken all the slightly burned Cheez-Its and turned them into a variety called "tanned." I almost bought them but I wasn't going to eat a whole box of only burned Cheez-Its; I only like them popping up occasionally, but now that probably means the regular boxes should be free of burned ones, right?

Salt

Alpha and Omega Family Vacation - the fifth installment, and they're still not done. There's gonna be at least three more of these things. Why?! Anyway, this one opens and closes on a lot of idle chatter, the kind you'd encounter on any family road trip movie except this family isn't trapped in a car on the highway. I haven't seen any of the National Lampoon Vacation movies, but I thought it would be something like that. It wasn't, as the problem of humans hunting wolves for relocation purposes returns but under different circumstances. Rather than repopulation, they make it sound like the wolves are hunting all the caribou, but the wolves think the humans have driven the caribou away due to deforestation. However, that's an argument for another day, as the movie then becomes about the family of wolves evading the non-lethal hunters (which is specified several times) with the help of some of their friends rather than a vacation, though they eventually get to their destination. This is also fairly skippable, as it's the equivalent of a clip show episode with several flashbacks to the previous movies, including redubbed and reanimated clips from the first movie. Don't buy this unless you're into painful puns, outdated references, and quite possibly hate your children. Some of the writing is clever but overall it's pretty cringeworthy. The worst thing they did was split up the librarian and biker couple from the first movie. The librarian's in this one, and she's pretty awesome when she lets the wolves go free. Why couldn't the biker guy have been there too? Their relationship was symbolic of opposites attracting which made it okay for an alpha and an omega to be together!

Christopher Lloyd voices a character in the new King's Quest game. Based on that and what I'd mentioned before, I still think he would be a decent replacement for Leonard Nimoy as Master Xehanort. Unfortunately, the new King's Quest comes at the expense of Homestuck, and that's not okay, even if the deadlines for the game and the comic keep getting pushed back. There's been some debate as to whether or not Frozen should appear in Kingdom Hearts III, but I couldn't really care less. If we're getting mostly new worlds, we're getting new worlds and that's that. However, one world we can all agree should never be in Kingdom Hearts is Arcadia Bay from Life Is Strange (a Square Enix game). Or maybe I'm just salty after what happened in the most recent episode. My suspicions were correct, though - Mr. Jefferson is the ringmaster of the dark carnival.

Out of the eight main characters of Drawn Together, my favorite is definitely Foxxy Love. Not only is she voiced by Cree Summer, but most of the time she is the voice of reason. Toot is my second favorite because Tara Strong had a blast voicing her and she's got a great attitude when she's not being a self-destructive bitch. Ling Ling is third because he's an adorable murder machine like the abridged version of Pikachu. Xandir got bumped to fourth (swapping with Toot) because he became a caricature of himself as time went on. He was at his best when he was just being himself and having to put up with Captain Hero's nonsense.

Subway had personal sized bags of the Do Us A Flavor chips for once, so I decided to try Truffle Fries since it's the only one that's potato based in the first place. They were pretty good and resembled the picture on the bag.

Disagreeable

I still don't have my laptop back, but I'm posting this from my home computer since I came back to pay bills and whatnot today.
 
It may not be Vexen's fault that he comes across as being disagreeable - he was probably designed that way. Since he's number four, he was probably doomed from the very beginning; the fact that he was the first to die practically confirms it. Superstition finds its way into everything, and the number four in Japan is no exception. Four, or shi, represents death, bad luck, and overall negativity in that culture. It certainly doesn't justify calling him a loser, but I suppose that people deal with their superstitions in different ways.

A member of one of the D&D groups I'm part of posted a link to Geek and Sundry's Critical Role. I started watching it because I like Laura, Travis, Ashley, and Sam, and I was just becoming familiarized with Matt and Liam. Out of the other three I'm getting to see/hear for the first time, I have a soft spot for Taliesin. Because the characters I play as closely resemble Ashley's and Marisha's, I pay more attention to what they do, but I love everyone. My favorite quotes that I've heard so far are Sam's "No! Motherf*cker, miss!" and Laura's "You lost our flying carpet, you unconscious bastard!" At one point someone said they needed a child leash for Travis' character, to which I can relate because members of both my parties often charge in and get themselves killed just like he does, and it's my job to keep them alive. Hence my rant on how hard it is to be a cleric that I posted to HubPages. I received some backlash for it, as if I had implied that other classes don't have problems (particularly warriors). As mentioned earlier, I'm dealing with the type of people who just run headlong into situations without backup and just expect me to have unlimited heal spells.

Due to Technical Difficulties

Earlier this week my laptop locked up due to a problem with the Windows software. I brought it in to Staples to get it fixed and still haven't gotten it back yet. Originally, I was going to upload my Digimon video tomorrow, but that isn't going to happen now. Instead, I will upload it in October sometime before the release date of Digimon Tri in November (since I have holiday videos slated for release in November, December, and January). As soon as I get it back or make other arrangements, I'll upload the fake bleeps video next month instead.

I've tried the Sprinkle Donut Captain Crunch and got a nostalgia overload. Hello, Sprinkle Spangles. I missed you. Except for the shape, it's basically the same product. It's also sweet like Rice Krispies Treats cereal that we no longer have either. The one thing I don't like them doing is smashing all the shapes and colors together into multi-colored balls. That doesn't seem as appealing. I also got blue raspberry flavored Pop-Tarts, which I would rank below Wild Berry but almost on the same level. And just in case you cared, yes I bought and am eating two other healthy cereals to balance out all this sugar.

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Jessie's Pumpkaboo evolved into Gourgeist, which was awesome. However, Pikachu disguised as Psyduck together with Ash dressed up as Snorlax was probably the stupidest Pokemon-related thing I've seen in a while (although Clemont and Chespin were a close second). Close behind them is the episode that just aired in America. (What's wrong with his eyes? What's wrong with her eyes?!)

I filled out the fake bleeps video to about a minute and forty seconds. I guess I'll find out when I post it in a couple of months if it's actually any good or not, but I thought it was funny at the time. There's probably a lot more I could have done with it too if I had the time to just sit down and binge watch my favorite nostalgic series from when I was a kid (thank God they're on youtube and haven't been taken down yet). I didn't want to make it too long in case it started to get annoying, but I by no means covered all of the bases. Also, I finished both stories I had slated myself to write this month. I have a vacation coming up at the end of August, so I will try to bang out another story and make it to the halfway point of the series before then, leaving me four months to write the last five stories.

There are four more Do Us A Flavor chips out there, but once again, I think I'd rather just eat the real thing. They are Southern Chicken and Biscuits, New York Reuben, Greek Gyro, and Truffle Fries. I have had the opportunity to try Key Lime Pie Oreos. I liked the S'mores ones and these are good too. I first found out about them from a friend of mine in Mexico, and I'm glad they finally have them where I live now. The graham cookies are tasty, and sometimes they are necessary whenever the usual chocolate wouldn't be such a good idea (ditto for the golden ones, especially the lemon). I've heard of a backlash from the thin Oreos, too, since it is a travesty to those used to the double-stuffed variety. Speaking of S'mores, I finally got my hands on some Friendly's S'mores ice cream, but it tastes super sugary so I wouldn't really recommend it. I also got the sprinkle donut version of Captain Crunch because it reminds me of a cereal we used to have when I was a kid called Sprinkle Spangles. This was probably a bad idea too, but we already got French Toast Crunch back, so here's hoping.

To Be Continued?

I don't know how to feel about Equestria Girls 3 yet, but Diamanda Hagan's review of the first one was pretty funny. While MLP is enjoying its midseason hiatus, SMC has come to an end, at least for now. They set up a bunch of stuff for the S arc, but the series was only contracted for 26 episodes, so we'll have to see when they go back into production. Anyone else feel it was a bit off when Neo Queen Serenity upgraded the Scouts' powers even though they haven't been allowed to do much the entire time? I'm at least happy that I found a place to watch Okamisan and Soul Eater NOT dubbed online in the meantime. I'm getting excited about the 20th anniversary special for Yu-Gi-Oh! that's coming out in Japan next year. It'll probably sound weird if they can't get the English voice cast back to dub it (since 4Kids went under and Dan Green retired), but it should still be good. At least, I hope it will. I'm just glad to see the gang again, especially Ryou (though I don't know why he's the only one not wearing his uniform in the footage we saw).

For some reason I have a strong urge to draw Ienzo eating a blueberry muffin, or at least holding one. I've got muffins on the brain lately, I guess.

Making Progress

"Peter Pan the avenger." That is a line from the stage production, but now all I can picture in my mind is if Peter Pan actually joined the Avengers. Disney does own Marvel now. They can make this happen. Anyway, it looks like we'll be getting more updates on Kingdom Hearts sooner than they said since it was announced that they'd have more news for us at D23 in August. We probably still have a long wait ahead of us for the actual game to come out, so I'm not going to be working on that video for some time. However, I am very close to finishing both the comic dub and the fake bleeps video. August 1st is fast approaching, so I'll be attempting to upload my Digimon video too. As of right now, I have three out of ten stories done for the series I want to finish this year. Seven more to go and only five and a half months to do them. It's going to be a lot of work.

I didn't think about it until the second time I watched it, but Luna creating the Tantabus to torment herself for what she did as Nightmare Moon is a lot like Ken wanting to punish himself for what he did as the Digimon Emperor. In Luna's case, however, I think fewer characters were angry with her while she was trying to make amends; many were still afraid of her, but that was mainly because she was still in a position of power, and that stupid myth about Nightmare Moon eating ponies didn't help either. By the time Ken had that dream at the end of that season, I'm pretty sure most if not all of the characters had accepted him (the fandom still remains divided, unfortunately).

It Happened!

I reached 150 subscribers. Rob (cvgcosmovsgoku) is busy with finishing up the FMABridged after some setbacks but has agreed to help me with the comic dub whenever he has some time. I'm so excited now! Of course I'll have to maintain it, like I said, otherwise I'll just look stupid if my subs go down and I have a video that says 150 Subscriber Special in the description (much less embarrassing than if I titled the video that). I started the fake bleeps video too, so I'll have to think of more. It's hilarious but it makes me feel evil as well.

Also, I may not have gone to ConnectiCon (which just had to be on the weekend where all these other events were going on in the area, making traffic a huge nightmare), but I ended up doing something that made me happy nonetheless. David Dayan Fisher posted his demo reel to his YouTube account, so I watched it. Then I wrote a comment saying I'd read one of his books and recommended a book to him as well. That's as good as telling him in person, right? Not that he was scheduled to show up at any events that I'm aware of.

Donald's mini figure from Disney Infinity looks angry. Maybe he's pissed he doesn't have any of his magic powers from Kingdom Hearts? Lol.

Bi-Weekly Roundup

Another season of Hetalia has just started. Why am I not as enthusiastic as before? Last season ended with the gender-swapped versions of some of the characters, and this one started with the cat versions. Last season was called The Beautiful World and this one is The World Twinkle. I guess things have gotten so bleak that not even this can take my mind off of the world's problems, especially if I may not get to see the dubbed version when it comes out.

SMC abridged jokes, penultimate episode: Pluto dying because she's not a real planet ("Damn you, Neil DeGrasse Tyson"), calling Wiseman the Phantom Menace, and replacing Nemesis with the moon from Majora's Mask. I'm disappointed that it's going down this way as opposed to the original series, in which Chibi-Usa didn't become Mini Moon until she showed up in the third season. Also, Pluto didn't die until she had to stop time on another occasion. But if they couldn't get over to Diamond in time I guess it was called for here ("I'mma do it! I'mma f*cking do it!").

MLP was again trying to tie up loose ends with Twilight trying to make amends with her friends from before she moved to Ponyville (like Dash did, and the most recent comic which Fluttershy thought was going to turn into the movie Carrie). While they did keep the canon references to the wedding and such, they glossed over Lyra and made her inconsequential (really? After the slice of life episode with her in it?!). Either way, here are some more characters Twilight had forgotten until now, even when a couple of them were right in front of her. She is a walking oxymoron.

I just saw Brad Tries hotdog pizza. While I like pigs-in-blankets, I don't think I'd like this, especially the pretzel crust one.On the subject of fast food, though, I now compare McDonald's cheeseburgers to the ones in its counterpart in Invader ZIM, MacMeaty's. in that they taste sort of like they are made out of napkins. When I was a kid, people used to talk about how acres of the rainforest are cut down to make cheeseburgers, which made me think the burgers were made out of the ground-up trees. What they really meant was they had to cut down the trees to make pastures for cows, but why the rainforest? Wouldn't the climate be too hot for cows? Or were they lying to me this whole time?

Hypocrisy

Is it a meme to hate on the Irate Gamer? It seems almost everyone on Channel Awesome has made some sort of remark of that sort, the most recent being MikeJ this week. We get it, you all don't like him, move on. I really don't care for the Angry Video Game Nerd's brand of comedy and you don't see me harping on it constantly (if I did I'd get flamed though). Which brings me to the point of this little rant - how can people on the Internet who are clearly anti-bullying engage in behavior like this that closely resembles bullying? It's hypocrisy, in a way. And this is a real person, a reviewer like any other, not a character found in fiction. We each have our preferences of which reviews to watch, who we like and who we can't stand; we simply watch who we like and ignore who we don't, it's as simple as that. Reviews are usually meant to contain some constructive criticism amidst the jokes. It's not a punchline to say someone sucks when it's mostly a matter of opinion, even if it's the popular and prevailing one. Memes get old fast. Please give this one a rest already. I don't especially like Irate Gamer Chris Bores, but I am really getting sick of hearing about him. It's as bad as being in a fandom, and those are blowing up left and right. There are some videos explaining what's going on and why some people get involved in feuds or kicked out of fandoms, but I'm not really interested and won't waste my time on them. Creative differences happen, differences of opinion happen; some can be reconciled and others can't. That's all there is to it. Don't be sh*tty (that goes for both sides).

Bluh Bluh

Chobani and Oikos have been producing seasonal flavors, such as pumpkin, gingerbread, grape, and watermelon. I don't know if orange is considered seasonal, but it was good too. Watermelon didn't really taste like watermelon, but it was sweet and delicious. Pumpkin and orange tasted like you'd expect them to, and gingerbread wasn't too spicy at all. Grape tasted like grape-flavored chapstick, which is gross if you've ever tried it.

Looking forward to the CSI finale in September and hearing more KH news in November (not to mention the first of the new Digimon movies). Even if I don't get to 150 subscribers, I'd still like to do the comic dub, probably around mid-October. That's assuming I don't lose subscribers either, which is possible. I'd like to do a fake bleeps video too, but I don't think I can get the footage I'd need (I can only think of a couple I'd want to do anyway); I don't even have a sound effect for that yet. I haven't mentioned SMC or MLP in a while, mostly because I feel like I have nothing worthwhile to say about either of them right now.

The Batman: Arkham games, particularly the latest one, have a bad case of women in refrigerators. Most if not all of the female characters get captured and are used as bait or motivation to get the player to do or feel things. Some even die, which sucks. This has more to do with whoever wrote the subplots for the games rather than the franchise as a whole, though.

Implications

While everyone is gushing over/analyzing the new KHIII trailer, I would like to discuss some things that have been bothering me for a while. There are some key differences between the two sets of Ansem reports in the first two major installments. The KHI set was written by Ansem Seeker of Darkness, or Apprentice Xehanort. In them, we get the impression that he was working independently, as Ansem the Wise and his apprentices were not introduced until the story became more fleshed out later on. If we were to still accept these at face value, we could come to one of two conclusions: one, that Apprentice Xehanort really had worked alone for the most part; or two, that the other apprentices had helped him and he just never mentioned them. The second set of Ansem reports, written by Ansem the Wise, mentions them quite frequently: Even did this, Ienzo said that, and so on. I'm convinced he used all their names as his password before Xehanort changed it to the names of the seven princesses of heart. What it boils down to is obvious: the real Ansem cared about his apprentices very much, while Apprentice Xehanort apparently didn't care for them at all. Out of all of them, though, Apprentice Xehanort was the only one with enough power to banish Ansem to the dark margin; the rest probably just sided with his arguments and helped him carry out his work in secret and not much else in the grand evil scheme of things (except Braig, of course, who had been tasked with keeping the amnesiac on point).
This also raises more questions than it answers about how it all went down, which we will probably never see as KHIII looks to have a different focus in mind and probably won't have time to explore all of these issues. The main question I have is a matter of who has what powers outside of their Nobody forms. Ansem the Wise gained his powers after he was banished to the dark margin, and Braig already had space powers when he fought Terra (whether or not it was enough for him to hop worlds before Master Xehanort made him a living horcrux is up for debate). Do all of their powers have to come from darkness? Ansem no longer has his the second time he ends up in the dark margin, presumably because his heart was no longer tainted with thoughts of anger and revenge; Riku also loses his after he and Sora defeat Xemnas. What about the rest of them? It's not like any of them studied magic like Aqua probably did, but it's hard not to associate the apprentices with their Nobody powers (and then there's Lea, who still has the powers of darkness and fire and wears the Organization coat even though he's a complete person). I guess if Ansem doesn't have any because the darkness has left him and he never had any to begin with, maybe it's for the best that they don't either if they didn't start out that way. They are scientists, after all, but that doesn't necessarily mean they didn't practice a little on the side (especially Ienzo, who will read anything he can get his hands on and had the power to cast illusions when he was a Nobody).
Don't get me wrong - I was excited about the KHIII announcement too. We're getting a flashback of young Eraqus and young Xehanort plus playable Mt. Olympus and the world from Tangled (I can't remember the name of it since all I can think about is Frozen, which is the same universe but not the same place). I know full well that the apprentices' story is not a priority (although it really should be since this is partially their fault) and that their appearance in Dream Drop Distance was Squenix throwing us a bone. It'd just be nice if they were treated as more of a plot point instead of a side note given the repercussions of their actions.

Christopher Lee's Fireside Tales

With KHIII still marked as in development, I have made some decisions. I have 149 subscribers to my YouTube channel, so when I make it to 150 I will make and post a new comic dub. I'm really excited about this one (even though it's going to be a Birth By Sleep comic and not an Organization XIII or even an apprentice comic). The KH amv will have to wait until III actually comes out. Also, in memory of Christopher Lee, I have paid tribute to him directly in this next piece, in which I have quoted the intro to some of his readings. He was the first to voice Ansem (albeit as DiZ), so his voice is the one I hear in my head when I write about Ansem reading bedtime stories to Ienzo.

Ansem was talking to Mickey in his office when there was a gentle knock at the door. "Come in," Ansem beckoned.
Ienzo, who was not yet a full apprentice, returned from his errand. "Here's the book you were looking for," he said, walking up to the desk and putting it down.
"Thank you." Ansem noticed that Ienzo was looking at Mickey. "Ienzo, it's not polite to stare. Greet people properly."
Ienzo bowed his head respectfully. "Right. Sorry. It's nice to meet you."
Ansem introduced them and sent Ienzo on his way. "If you're finished with your studies for today, you may assist Even in the lab."
"He says he doesn't need my help," Ienzo replied, somewhat disappointed.
"Is that so? Well, as long as you promise to stay out of trouble, I suppose you may do as you wish for the rest of the day."
"Thank you, Master." Ienzo eagerly ran from the room, pausing momentarily to bid farewell to Mickey.
Whenever Ienzo felt lonely, he'd think of the books in the library as his companions. He wanted to understand everything and so left no stone unturned. Only one thing could pull him away from this extracurricular activity, and that was when Ansem called him to bed. "It's getting late. Time for your story, I think." Ienzo nodded and gladly took his hand, thrilled to hear another macabre tale.

Ridiculous

Digimon Fusion returns for the rest of the season on July 5. Season 3 will be airing next year, but I still don't know about Power Rangers. A funny mental image: Impmon reading "Go The F*ck To Sleep" to Ai and Mako. "Go da f*ck ta SLEEP!" Derek Stephen Prince is way too ubiquitous in the Persona games, especially Persona 3. His character killed someone, another of his characters gave the eulogy, and a background character also voiced by him complained about it all within minutes of each other. Just give this man an award already.

I'm finding the politics of my hometown quite frustrating. Instead of maintaining a public playground built by the community, they demolished it in favor of a plastic one. They stole land from business owners and relocated them in order to build a new train station (not sure what was wrong with the existing one). Now we may be losing the theater venue we're known for due to residential noise complaints. It's like living near an airport or a college campus - you should know what you're getting yourself into. It's not like it's limited to my hometown, either. Near where I work, a law firm moved into a building and kicked out another resident business because they didn't want a sandwich shop as a neighbor. They supposedly paid the owners, but they've yet to reopen anywhere. It's a real shame.

Come On, Guys

I guess the KH fandom known as the Key-Keepers imploded on itself as bad as if not worse than the brony community, since people actually got kicked out of it. I don't really know what happened nor do I want to know, but it sounds like a lot of people are being really stupid and petty.

Power Rangers did a lot of backtracking recently. Dino Super Charge is next year, even though they've only aired 8 out of a potential 22 episodes for regular Dino Charge. Matt's been demoted from Gray Ranger to Sir Not Appearing in favor of someone called Prince Phillip. If he's as clutch in battle as Disney's Prince Phillip in Birth By Sleep, that's fine, but it's not really fair to Matt unless they make him the male Aqua Ranger or one of the others down the line. Also, instead of Mezagog coming back as speculated, we're getting Zeltrax instead. Does that mean a crossover with one or more of the Dino Thunder Rangers? Especially a certain one against whom he has a grudge?

Soul Eater Not finally got a dub, but just like Ookamisan and Her Seven Companions, it's a Blu-Ray release only. As I don't have a Blu-Ray player, there's no point in me purchasing either one of these even though I really want to. Sad panda. Now to binge-listen to the late Christopher Lee doing dramatic readings of the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Don't Stop Believing

More people are leaving the MLP fandom in anger and disgust. It's hard to know how much of it is from the show itself (Hasbro's executive meddling) and how much is brony zealots on the Internet. Whatever it is, the trend is clear: people are becoming sick of being online reviewers because they either grow tired of their subject matter or the commenters on their videos. I believe that something started must be finished, but that's not the reality we live in. As for me, I'm trying to finish all the writing projects I had set for myself years ago. Because the Pokemon franchise will likely never die, neither will the fan fic I co-wrote with one of my friends back in high school; I'll just have to keep updating it every now and then. I've also decided not to scrap the third set of stories in one of my projects because I believe I can salvage it. That will be finished by the end of this year, and then I can do the spin-off series of the project I finished last month. Otherwise, MLP comics and an episode of SMC came out recently. I've got nothing more to say about either of these at this time.

If they were to make a Kingdom Hearts 3.5 collection in the future, this is what I would want it to be. In keeping with the trend, it would be remastered versions of KH III and Dream Drop Distance, plus a cinematic of Birth By Sleep Volume 2 if they ever make that (which they probably won't either). I agree with HMK's top 10 things we need in KH III, particularly closure/answering all Xehanort-related questions and introducing a new problem. However, I think we're scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to keeping ourselves and others entertained with KH-related content. Looking at the types of videos certain people who force themselves to upload daily create, we need new canon material.

Laid Up

I added more to the short scene I posted a while ago wherein Dilan offered to teach meditation to a very young Ienzo. Ienzo ends up falling asleep anyway, and then there's another joke about Aeleus treating him like a pet by putting him in his lap. "For heaven's sake, he's not a cat." How did Dilan end up being the only one who knows how to take care of kids in these stories (including as Xaldin in other fan works such as Wexy)? Until we get more material in the form of KH3, I'm entertaining myself thus. Also I'm having trouble sleeping again. I hurt my wrist and now have time on my hands as I have to stay home from work to recover. Yay life.

Digimon and Power Rangers will probably return and continue their current seasons on Nickelodeon in the fall or late summer. In the meantime, I'm filling that Ranger void in my life by following Marzgurl's Seeing Sentai series and looking forward to Linkara's review of Samurai. He should have fun with that seeing how Bulk and Skull are involved.

Personal

I took a quiz for Persona arcanas and got Priestess, so I guess I'm Yukiko then...or Fuuka. Fuuka reminds me of Osaka from Azumanga Daioh. Anyway, it's the arcana I would've chosen for myself anyway after reading a book about them, so I'm happy.

I'm working on a short backstory for Ansem the Wise just like I did with the apprentices. I wasn't going to at first because I don't know that much about him, but I decided to work with what I did know or at least assume.
"The Master's Heart"
    Ansem grew up in the castle of Radiant Garden, as his parents were in charge before he was. He often wondered what kind of ruler he'd be when it was his turn. One day, he went for a walk outside by himself. He saw a cat limping and wanted to take care of it, but first he had to gain its trust. He went back to the castle and nicked some food and gauze without being noticed. After he gave it the food, the cat allowed him to pet it. He then was able to bandage its leg. Because it did not have a collar, he decided to take it back with him to show his parents. "I'd like to keep it here, at least until it gets better," he told them.
    His parents agreed to let him take in the cat for a short time but scolded him for not letting them know what he was doing first. Ansem was sad when he finally let the cat go, but he was glad that he had been able to help it. "I want to be able to help people, too," he said. "I want to remove the hurt from this world."
    Ansem grew up to be a kind and gentle ruler. While he could be overexcited at times and misjudge a situation, he liked to believe in the good in people and help those in need.
***
    Even dragged Ienzo into Ansem's office to have him punished for going outside on his own while the Unversed were attacking. After Even left the room, Ansem asked Ienzo neutrally, "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Ienzo didn't speak; instead, he stared at the floor and fidgeted with his hands. Ansem sighed. "I can't help you if you don't tell me your side of the story."
    "I didn't mean to do anything wrong," Ienzo whispered at last. "I was just curious..."
    "From what I understand, those monsters aren't like normal animals."
    "They looked different, but they acted the same. I stared them down...like a snake." Ienzo lifted his head, his eyes shining in excitement over his brief encounter.
    "Snakes are dangerous too." Ansem smiled wryly, understanding how his own parents must have felt. He understood Ienzo's feelings as well. "I know you must be bored when you have to be cooped up in here, but you need to be more careful when you decide to venture out."
    "When the boy told me to run, I ran. When Even called me over, I came back," Ienzo explained. "I stayed calm the whole time."
    "I appreciate your honesty. You're a brave one, Ienzo. Just don't scare us like that again."
    "All right. Sorry, Master." Ienzo looked down again pensively.
    Ansem patted Ienzo on the head. "Apology accepted."
    "You're not angry?" Ienzo asked, confused by the apparent lack of punishment.
    "I think Even was angry enough, but it's best that you stay close for the time being."
    Ienzo frowned. "So I am grounded?"
    "If you'd like to think of it that way, then yes. I would just prefer having you by my side."

Putting It Together

I had another idea for a cute flashback scene with Ienzo, but then I had nowhere to go with it. I wasn't sure how to frame it, and there was really no point to it other than just being a cute mental image. So here it is anyway.
Aeleus was in the kitchen making lunch for himself when he heard a noise coming from under the table. He looked down and saw the toddler playing on the floor. Ienzo looked up and smiled at him before returning to stacking blocks, which were more appropriate for his tiny hands than the books in the library. Having a soft spot for the kid, Aeleus broke off a small piece of bread, put a drop of honey on it, and gave it to him. Ienzo put it in his mouth and chewed on it blissfully.
    "He's not a dog, Aeleus," Dilan chided, having come in to make his own lunch.
    "I know that," Aeleus said.
    "It's a little strange that he's in here without any supervision, though."
    "I've seen him in the library. Stacking things keeps him occupied for hours."
    "Hey, look who's built himself a fort," Braig commented, taking a break as well. Indeed, the stacks of blocks seemed almost strategically placed to mark what would have been the outer wall of the table. "Can I play, too?"
    "No," Ienzo replied. Braig seemed taken aback by this.
    "Just leave him be," Dilan advised. "People aren't your playthings. Let him come to you."
    "Are you behaving yourself?" James asked, checking in on his child.
    "Papa!" Ienzo exclaimed excitedly, crawling out from under the table.
    James picked him up and gave him a hug. "I missed you."
    "Can't compete with that," Braig remarked.
    "Where is everyone else?" Dilan inquired.
    "In the library," James answered. "They should be here shortly." Ienzo tried to take his glasses again, but he stopped him. "What did I tell you about that? Stop," he scolded gently. He didn't expect Ienzo to remember, but he thought if he told him enough times, he'd get it eventually.

Dilan and Aeleus

When it comes to character development and storytelling, I put a lot of what I know about David Dayan Fisher into Kort whenever I write about him (which isn't that often but still). Since reading one of his books, I realized I can use some of it to tell a story about another one of his characters, Dilan. I'm not taking anything verbatim from his life, just giving Dilan some traits that they would have in common, just like with Kort. So if you ever read my stuff, David, please forgive me. As with Even and Braig before, I made Dilan and Aeleus childhood friends as well.

As a child, Dilan would often go to the forest near his house to commune with nature. Most of the other kids thought he was weird because he liked cooking and going into the forest alone. One day, he discovered a trio of them antagonizing the animals that lived there. "Hey! Stop that right now!" he yelled. "This is their home!"
"You gonna make us?" one of them said.  The other two picked up rocks. Dilan picked up a stick to defend himself.
As they started pelting him with rocks, another boy came up behind them and grabbed two of them. "What do you think you're doing?!" he bellowed.
"It's Aeleus! Run!" the first kid shouted.
"Scary!" screamed one of the other kids after Aeleus let them go.
"You're Aeleus?" Dilan asked calmly after the three had run away. Aeleus nodded. "Thank you. I'm not sure I could've taken all three of them for long."
"Your name's Dilan, right? I've heard people say you can talk to spirits. Is that true?"
"No, that's just a rumor. I come here by myself because I feel at peace surrounded by nature."
"Those three were probably trying to get to you by messing with the animals. What a rotten thing to do, regardless."
"So what are you doing here? Did you follow them?"
"No, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Aeleus shrugged. "Actually, I was hoping I'd run into you, but not like that."
"Why? Were you hoping I could talk to spirits?"
"That's not...I mean, you seemed to have the right idea. Sitting in silent meditation is the way of the warrior."
Rather than sit quietly in meditation, they continued talking about their interests and common ground until the sun began to set. "Oh no! I forgot to gather the herbs!" Dilan exclaimed, remembering the other reason he'd come to the forest.
"It'll be dark soon. Let me help," Aeleus insisted. Dilan told him what to look for, and the two quickly got to work and then ran back to Dilan's house.
"Thanks again for all your help."
"No problem. See you at school." 
The next day, Aeleus was accused of bullying the three from the woods. Although he was being yelled at by the principal in the front yard of the school, he didn't say anything to defend himself. Dilan arrived and told their side of the story. "They were throwing rocks at the animals and then at me. Aeleus was only trying to stop them. It's not his fault everyone's scared of him."
Aeleus looked at him gratefully. "That's the first time anyone's ever stood up for me," he said after the crowd around them had dispersed.
"I couldn't let them get away with turning that back on you," Dilan insisted. "Why didn't you try to say something to defend yourself?"
"I...I've always been too strong for my own good. Sometimes I hurt people without even trying to. That's why I'm by myself all the time," Aeleus explained sadly.
"Not anymore," Dilan declared. "Someday, we're going to make everyone respect us."
"And we can protect those who need it, too," Aeleus added. "We can become members of the castle guard!"
When they were older, they decided to apply to the academy to become guards. Braig happened to be their senpai. The three of them got along well and kept that relationship when all of them became Ansem's apprentices.

Lessons Learned

As everyone predicted, the latest episode of MLP was about Gilda and the Griffon Kingdom. Turns out it sucks, literally a land without feelings like something out of a Care Bears movie. However, it wasn't so much a friendship mission like the season opener as it was the writers throwing the fans a bone and having Pinkie and Dash make up with Gilda. The only time Gilda can recall being happy is when she was at flight camp with Rainbow Dash when they were little kids (Rainbow Dash didn't even have her cutie mark yet in that flashback). Gilda and Dash are still bitter about the events of "Griffon the Brush-off," but as stated in the "What I Learned Today" fan video, griffons are jerks. Gilda is not a jerk, however; she's a tsundere. Dash and Pinkie leave her to make friends with the griffons on her own. Meanwhile, Gummy has probably burned down the bakery (we see that he hasn't, but come on). That's another thing that annoys me about this episode. It started off with Pinkie having a whole day of baking ahead of her, but then the story's like "Nope! Plot!"

I've been trying to write a story about Even learning how to use a computer since he is the only one of the apprentices who doesn't seem to know how. Here's a rough draft:
As Even was the only apprentice who wasn't computer literate, Ansem decided it was time that he was forced to learn. "Ienzo has his own duties now. He will not have time to continue typing up reports and entering data for you," he told Even sternly.
    "Yeah, Even," Braig teased. "Get with the times."
    "You know how to use computers, Braig?" Even asked skeptically.
    "Of course. I'm not stuck in my ways like you."
    Grudgingly, Even allowed Ienzo to start teaching him. "How are you doing that?" he asked incredulously when Ienzo demonstrated how to use a keyboard.
    "What?" Ienzo asked.
    "You're not even looking at your hands."
    "You'll get used to it. I do a lot of typing," Ienzo replied pointedly.
    Even frowned in concentration; gradually, he got the hang of it. Next he had to learn the functions of all the other buttons. He drew a diagram in his notebook and wrote it all down.
    "Notes will only get you so far. It's more about muscle memory the more you do it," Ienzo told him.
    "Writing out long-hand is just how I think," Even explained. "How did you learn?"
    "Master Ansem taught me by showing me what to do."
    "Yes, well, Master Ansem is a brilliant machinist, and you had the privilege of learning while you were still young. I don't fall into either category."
    "So it'll take you a bit longer. So what?"
    "Do you know how much this hurts my pride being the only one who can't do something?"
    "Yes, which is why I'm doing my best to help you."
    Knowing that Ienzo understood him made him less agitated. It didn't make learning the more complex routines any easier, but Ienzo was patient with him and gave him advice.
    "You did a great job with him," Ansem commented. "You'll make a fair leader someday."
    "I'm happy with the way things are now," Ienzo replied. The thought of anything else changing chilled him.