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.

Kingdom Hearts Replacements

I've been thinking about who they could cast to replace Leonard Nimoy as Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts 3. The first name that popped into my head was Christopher Lloyd, perhaps because of his roles in Anastasia and Duck Tales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. If that seems too out there for you, my next thought was Jim Cummings. Like Cory Burton, he often fills in for other actors and is already an actor on the project. The reason I thought of him and not Cory Burton is that Cory Burton is already covering for Christopher Lee as Ansem the Wise (who already sounds too much like another character of his, Yen Sid, and Jim would no doubt fall into the same trap). I'm not sure what they'll do over in Japan. The actor playing Young Xehanort is the son of the actor who played Master Xehanort, so maybe they might have him alter his voice a bit to sound more like his father and take on his role as well. That probably wouldn't happen, though, let alone having the American actor for Young Xehanort Ben Diskin fill in for Leonard Nimoy.
I had a dream about who the rest of the new Organization XIII might be. They might be replicas of the original Organization members that Xehanort was unable to completely corrupt (apparently, Braig and Isa had a lust for power or some shit). Anyway, the fight breaks out, and their real counterparts realize what Xehanort has done, that he had managed to get his hands on Even's research after all. This causes the group to get a little mad at Even for creating replicas in the first place, to which he replies, "I regret nothing."
Every time someone talks about the Lost Masters in Kingdom Hearts X[chi] (or Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key), it makes me think about the Lost Twenty from Star Wars Episode II. Count Dooku was one of them, and he was played by Christopher Lee. I don't have a point, but I think it's a great coincidence.

Surreal

Castle ended their season without a cliffhanger, so if they were to get cancelled I wouldn't really care. Where it ended was perfect (although a bit contrived). They could probably go on, but I haven't heard anything either way. Survivor seemed to be too perfect, which lends credence to the theory that it's either rigged or orchestrated somehow. I was only halfway paying attention, but there didn't seem to be a lot of equal coverage anywhere other than the jury and final three; this is why you need more time at the reunion show, especially if you're going to delve into topics that turn it into something like The Jerry Springer Show. Rodney wasn't called out for his negative comments but was instead rewarded with a cake since he didn't get anything good on his birthday. Life just isn't fair. Otherwise, I'm more or less pleased with the returning cast for next season.

The latest MLP comic was stupid beyond reason. I haven't seen anyone else review it yet, not even Sketchy, so I thought I'd vent about it a bit here. Everything was blown out of proportion and almost everyone was out of character. This shouldn't have even been an issue for a number of reasons, but the author threw reason out the window just so Ponyville could launch into a civil war. I'm not even kidding. Secession was mentioned. Twilight could've maybe left clearer instructions since this started out by the uncertainty of whether she'd meant Apple Bloom or Diamond Tiara to be the princess for a day, but then it stopped being about them and just turned into agriculture versus commerce. While running and hiding didn't solve anything, I think Fluttershy had the best character representation out of the mane six. Everyone else got hit hard with the Stupid Stick. So much for the Elements of Harmony after all this time.

Underwhelmed

Not much to say about SMC and MLP this week. Sailor Venus is sick of being left behind, which wouldn't have been an issue if she had just been kidnapped like everyone else. Rubeus was written off by questioning Wiseman's decisions and running for his life, only to be choked to death. It was cool seeing him help Sapphire along, though. In the first version it was Sapphire who came across as sympathetic, which he almost did this time too until he tried to kill Usagi. I forget if he did that or not last time, but he was in a relationship with Prisma and that's all I cared about. As for MLP, it didn't focus on what I thought I would (Treehugger came out of nowhere but at least Fluttershy's trip to see the Breezies amounted to something). Considering what happened at the last gala, I consider what happened this time bullshit. Why would they expect anything different? Why would they take their sisters to something that sucked the first time around? Did Twilight not have a plus one? Spike did the smart thing and stayed away. Celestia trolled Twilight hard this time around in much the same way as the first. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I guess I liked Fluttershy's Princess Leia buns, but that's about it.

Today I played the Big Bang Theory trivia game with my family, and we quickly abandoned the game play because we couldn't get the pieces to stay on the board. We just took turns answering trivia questions, and nobody won since we weren't able to collect one of each character card. So we declared the person with the most cards the winner. Then for the hell of it we took turns answering the remaining questions, which was exhausting. The questions ranged from very easy to very hard and only cover the first few seasons. I would not recommend this game unless you are obsessed with the show and have nothing better to do on a Sunday night. If you have Apples to Apples or any variation on that (Mike Jeavons has a project on Kickstarter called Fantastic Storytelling), I suggest you do that instead.

Sigh

CSI got quietly cancelled, but there is talk of a TV movie finale. I'm kinda shocked, but it has been on a long time, and there aren't too many original cast members left (like that matters). The guy who voices Mr. Burns among others left, too, which is kind of spooky since Some Jerk with a Camera just talked about The Simpsons ride and why he wasn't in that (he wanted more money). That show's been on even longer than CSI as well as most shows on television. NCIS: New Orleans got renewed, and I think I will give it another season as well. I'm sad that NCIS DC killed off another character, causing Gibbs to see ghosts again and talking to Mike's ghost again too. It reminds me of Dexter talking to the ghost of his dad. Or Vegeta talking to Ghost Nappa (when no one else can see him). Clearly Gibbs won't die from the gunshot wounds, but let's see them wrap this up next season. The whole Peter Pan thing is really creepy, especially the kids. The guy who is the Peter Pan figure may as well be nicknamed Pirate Radio.

I've always thought that the sprites of Yu and Yukiko looked good with glasses, like they wore them all the time. Which got me thinking about the Homestuck humans and whom they'd match up with in Persona 4. Yu would be John, Yosuke would be Dave, Chie would be Rose, Yukiko would be Jade, Teddie would be Dirk, Kanji would be Jake, Rise would be Roxy, and Naoto would be Jane.

I recently tried Burger King's teriyaki chicken sandwich, and it's pretty good. However, I'm finding myself trying not to throw up like I did with the barbecue burger. In theory I should like both of these things but they just aren't agreeing with me. Oddly enough, the teriyaki sauce tastes more like McDonald's sweet and sour sauce, which is the best even though their chicken nuggets make me sick after the fact as well. Wendy's chicken nuggets are the best and they don't need sauce (which is good because their sweet and sour sauce tastes like strawberry). Burger King's chicken nuggets are okay and their sweet and sour sauce tastes like pineapple (which is pictured on the label).

Good and Bad

I had three days off last week, and they were pretty good ones. On Sunday, I cleaned the kitchen and kept the party alive at D&D. Monday, I made and uploaded my Tales of the Abyss video. Thursday, I made my next Digimon video, which I'm going to upload on 8/1. Hopefully this one won't get taken down for copyright like all the other Digimon videos before it. After that, it all fell apart. On Friday I had to spend half my shift outside mostly by myself, and then the next day I had to cover for people because they didn't want the guys outside alone. I get no consideration when I'm alone, but the guys do, apparently. Sometimes I hate my job. Yesterday was the worst for other reasons as well, such as stuff breaking or getting spilled almost constantly. And I am sick of all the goddamn flowers all around my workspace because our floral department is too small. I don't hate flowers, but I don't like bees, and I've been going through a pack of tissues a day from all the pollen.

No new Sailor Moon or MLP this week, so it's time to talk about other things. I've been thinking about what I'd ask some voice actors to say if I ever got to meet them in person (preferably with a camera with me). I'd ask Derek Stephen Prince to say something nice to me as Even (even though death threats from Vexen are pretty thrilling too); I'd ask David Dayan Fisher to tell me to piss off as Xaldin (or maybe a depressed Dilan); I'd ask Paul St. Peter to say "Luke, I am your father" as Xemnas/Duke Fabre.

Out of all the new Channel Awesome contributors, I'm only paying attention to Calluna and Some Jerk With A Camera. This is because of Some Jerk's crossover with Oancitizen and the nature of Calluna's reviews.

Fangirling

More SMC abridged jokes! I'd rename Tuxedo Mask's attack "La Bamba!" for starters. In the brief scene where Ami, Rei, and Makoto wake up (only to get knocked right back out), I'd use the joke TFS made about the characters sitting around doing nothing - "Hey, remember when we used to be relevant?" At the end of the episode, Chibi-Usa would probably say outright that she didn't want Pluto to be her new mommy. Also, more harem jokes. Because that joke will never get old.

I'm not really sure how to feel about "Appleoosa's Most Wanted." It's a CMC episode, so I was all set to not like it, but they weren't the unlikeable ones. As usual, it was the Appleoosans themselves who were the problem, prejudging Troubleshoes just like they prejudged the buffalo. Still, the CMC could have tried harder to clear things up at first, but then we wouldn't have an episode I guess. I couldn't help feeling empathy for Troubleshoes. He wanted to compete in rodeos, but his destiny was to be a rodeo clown instead because of his clumsiness. I have to work at being smart, and sometimes it doesn't pay off. It seems I'm just destined to be an average human, and I'm going to have to find a way to be okay with that like Troubleshoes did. For some reason I enjoyed seeing Brayburn as the butt monkey in this outing; I'm not sure why.

I've been trying to figure out a list of my favorite Power Rangers episodes, but since it's been over twenty years now, that's going to be kind of hard to do. One of them would have to be "Bloom of Doom" from Mighty Morphin. Add to that the episode of In Space where Cassie and Ashley are having a fight. Granted Ashley and Cassie's fight was stupid and real whereas Kimberly was being mind-poisoned against Trini, who had no idea what was even going on. The In Space episode had a great ending to it as well. I suppose I should also add the Lost Galaxy episode about Kendrix and Maya, but I don't really have strong feelings for that one either way.