Get Out of My Head

Looks like I have another entry to add to the "Times the Power Rangers were A-holes" list. The Rangers took their Beast Bots for granted, complaining when they seemingly messed up to the point where Devon and Ravi were glad when Cruise and Smash got their memories erased. The only time the original Rangers treated Alpha that way was when they were made to be evil. Smash was my favorite, and Cruise is voiced by Kelson Henderson. I've even warmed up to Jax, even though he's basically Danny DeVito's Detective Pikachu in an R2D2 body. While the Digimon Fusion theme bothered me, the same isn't true of Beast Morphers. The electronica just works. However, it's placed further into the episode than usual to the point where they should just lead with it. As for the newest episode, Nate built himself a robot brother, and now they're Rangers. I should look up what the Sentai dynamic is too, since it's probably a little different. I'm glad the commander didn't panic when she found out Nate was missing (especially after Zoey said they left him in the woods) after how angry she was when she told Nate he couldn't leave alone. Nate can definitely handle himself with a blaster and only acts like a wimp.

I've been thinking about Disney "wing man" songs recently, mostly because "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" from Hercules has been stuck in my head for a good while now. They're songs in which supporting characters urge one or both romantic leads to just go for it. The most obvious of these would be "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid, as it's the whole point of the movie. "That's How You Know" from Enchanted is another one, with Giselle giving instructions. I'm not sure if "Beauty and the Beast" counts, as it is sung about them rather than at them. "Bella Notte" from Lady and the Tramp is also like that, providing atmosphere rather than abject encouragement. Then there are the ones from Frozen and Hunchback of Notre Dame, which are hit-or-miss depending on what you think of the characters singing them. Frozen's "Fixer-Upper" has the trolls, Kristoff's adopted(?) family, imploring Anna to give him a chance, though neither one is interested. These are the same trolls who gave the screwed-up advise about handling Elsa's powers in the first place, so it's hard for me to like them, or this song. The gargoyles in Hunchback do a similar thing with "A Guy Like You" sung to Quasimodo. The point of the movie isn't to get together with Esmerelda (Kristoff and Anna's relationship is left ambiguous), so this ends up going nowhere, but it raises Quasi's confidence at least. There's also an anti-wing man song in Forte's "Don't Fall in Love" from Beauty and the Beast's Enchanted Christmas, which does the opposite and is heinous. 

Episode 4 of Fruits Basket turned into its own thing. Kagura's visit wasn't as extreme as it was portrayed here. Kagura definitely didn't pile drive Kyo through the floor and the dining table. They moved up the fried egg flashback too. Thinking that Marron will grow up to be like Android 18 makes me smile though. I also love Laura's performance.

My store got the strawberry version of Poptarts cereal, so I bought that. It at least tastes like strawberry PopTarts and not just Krave. I also tried strawberry Rice Krispies. The milk quickly turned into strawberry Quick, which used to make me sick as a kid. It's fine now, but it's weird because it's not chocolate.

And Another Thing! (Cleaning House)

Bl/rain(e) has me more worried now. People who are jealous of friendship usually fall to [or are] darkness (Isa and Vanitas). At some point I'll have to read both KH2 light novels because I just found out that the extra chapters aren't there, so the split doesn't take place where I thought it would (it takes place halfway like it should). That means the only extra chapter I haven't read is Other Diamonds, so I probably won't get to unless they release another volume with all of the side content (KH2 Short Stories and Another Report). I also haven't read Sora's half of CoM technically, but I have no desire to read about Vexen getting killed, let alone the others all over again. Oh, and I also forgot to mention there were a couple times they alluded to blood in the Birth By Sleep novel. Take that, Disney. I'll throw in an extra gripe about the ending being Sora's KH2 Final Mix fight with Lingering Will just because we know who he is now, and the last picture being Terra-Xehanort choking out Aqua. Yikes. I would've rather had a wholesome picture of Ansem and his apprentices.

The Rangers shooting off rockets was probably the greatest activity ever. It reminded me of that one time in science class (except we weren't using any sort of fuel other than water and air pressure). I especially loved the ending shot of the five of them together (too bad Nate couldn't go too). Betty and Ben didn't leave much of an impression on me in the first episode, but now I love them. They're precious.

I forgot to include Tiny Tina's rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot" while building the bombs, which reminds me of Dr. Grey's opera singing while she's torturing someone for information (Red vs Blue). Building the bombs (and talking about "badonkadonks") probably qualifies as a secret number 11.

Photobucket has restricted its free accounts to 250 images, so I had to clean house. Unfortunately, that means a lot of old links from my old posts are no longer valid. I have currently 148 photos in my main library and an additional 8 in a folder marked Fan Art. My user name should still be ShadowGalactica, so if you want to check them out, please do.

I stopped following the whole Vic Mignogna/Funimation/Anime debacle, but Hiro Hei has made a ton of videos about it. I should probably check some of them out, but I have so little time and so few fucks left to give.

Top 10 Times Tiny Tina Was Your Spirit Animal

10. Sing-songing: "Pop Goes the Bandit," "Please," and "You Will Die."

9. Begging Moxxi to be in the show. Maybe she used to watch I Love Lucy, maybe she has no idea who that is. "It's the Tina Show starring me Tiny Tina!"

8. Immediately flopping onto her bed after giving you the quest to bring Flesh Stick to the tea party. "Nap time!"

7. Revenge on Flesh Stick for getting her parents killed. "When you want to start the tea party, please smack Mr. Flesh Stick in his bitch face." This ends with Tina hearing what he has to say and conferring with "Mr. Sparks."

6. Premature detonation. After agreeing to help you blow up the train, Tina builds the bombs and asks you to give the signal. She begins the countdown but fires them off after about two seconds. "I got bored."

5. Destroy the raisins! Nobody likes raisin cookies when under the impression they were chocolate chip, least of all Tina. She orders you to destroy all the vending machines in retaliation. "I just wanted chocolate chip cookies! Why do bad things happen to good people?!"

4. Sweet salad. After being forced to eat salad and like it, Tina comes up with the idea to add cookie crumbs to it (because there's no such thing as adulthood, according to Lillith).

3. Carbo-loading. "Lotta people think you gotta eat protein and stuff if you wanna strength train, but I'm like pffffffffff. Real badasses eat chocolate chip cookies." Lillith points out that after eating nothing but crumpets, Tina should be dead. Tina scoffs at this and says she's gonna live forever.

2. Begging you to get Sully the Stabber's autograph (see "Please") and ordering you to kill him when he refuses. "He said...no? Well. There's only one thing to do. Look him in the eye, nod politely, and KILL THE LIVING CRAP OUTTA HIM!" Never meet your heroes indeed.

1. Tina the Dungeon Master (because Ashly Burch), or rather, Bunkers and Badasses. When Mordecai asks why they're playing a kids' game, Tina responds with, "Oh you know maybe because SHUT THE HELL UP MORDY!" It gets more serious when you realize the campaign they're playing is Tina working through her emotions about Jack killing Roland (and Bloodwing).

Was It Good?

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts cereal does not really taste like the Pop Tarts. It tastes like Honey Smacks and is basically a different flavor of Krave. I don't love it.

I'm not disappointed with the Birth By Sleep light novel, despite some mistakes and omissions, but I did learn a few things. I thought Aqua was always the last one to go to Disney Town, only having played through it once and not to completion, but it all depends on your playthrough. All three of them get a different ice cream, and there really are a lot of different ice creams to make. (Me: sees the word "ingredients," gets triggered). The mobile game wasn't a thing yet, so Braig was simply described as thuggish and bored. He was probably a yankee before working for Ansem. Xehanort mentions that he'd seen "several" people dressed in that uniform, so maybe more guards than just the three of them but who aren't apprentices? Ven's got a way of thinking about people, such as calling Lea a weirdo and a scrub in his head. I liked Vanitas's vignettes in each world where he's got time to himself. Also the extra two chapters of backstory. I would compare him to BlackWarGreymon or Crona from Soul Eater. I hate Xehanort and Master Eraqus's teachings, but the man himself is probably okay...for the most part. I related to him teaching Ven how to fight, as it reminded me of spring training at the start of softball season. Aqua shoving cake in everyone's mouth provided some amount of levity. I enjoyed the extra information that came along with it, but for the most part, what you saw in the game is what you get here.

So now to address the mistakes. It had the odd typo here and there, which is not what I'm complaining about. Sometimes it would change to a different font for Vanitas's parts, which wasn't bad, just inconsistent. I'm pretty sure they swapped Dilan and Aeleus's lines at the end of their scene, as I distinctly remember Dilan being the one talking about duty to lord and castle, not Aeleus, although both of them were concerned for Ven's well-being due to his young age. The narrator described the two of them very well, which makes me very happy. However, Even and Ienzo are both described as having silver hair, though this is obviously not the case. Nor are the guard uniforms navy blue. Braig is never described as anything but an uncouth and dubious person, but the scene where he shoots at Xehanort for getting him injured doesn't appear in the book (a pity, since I was looking forward to seeing Braig's true colors). Merlin doesn't show up in the book either, but Hundred Acre Wood wasn't a playable world and so amounted to nothing. Two of Ansem the Wise's reports made it into the book as he's waiting at the shores of the dark margin, but otherwise we get no extra info on the last scene with Xehanort, Braig, and Ienzo that he's flashing back to. At least the scene was mentioned in Ienzo's secret reports in KH3, so anything concerning their relationship will probably show up in the novel for 3 that's being worked on right now. Overall, the book didn't give me anything I was hoping for (except dialog for the end credit scenes - yay!) but a lot more besides. It's at the very least satisfactory if a bit repetitive in a few places with more than one person having the same flashback at different times. The narrative flowed together magnificently, keeping track of each character's progress at the top of their individual sections for each world.

Now that I think about it, Even telling Ienzo not to wander off should've felt familiar to Ven as Ven is also being told to go home and stay there, but this never crosses his mind. Instead, he vaguely thinks that he doesn't have parents either but shrugs it off. He also draws no comparison between Ienzo's unresponsiveness and his own previously. I'm even less sure about what ages people are, as he pegs Lea and Isa as being older than him and Ienzo younger, but not by how much. Ven does not consider anyone his peer in age but spends the second volume naming off friends like Lea, Hercules, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and forgetting about Jaq from the first volume completely (and not counting Isa as Isa only cares about Lea, and Vanitas stole Isa's jealousy motivation). All of the character profiles are put at the beginning of the book, so getting started is a slog. Even and Braig still get two for appearing and being important in more than one volume (along with the three leads). I'm still unconvinced of some of the descriptions, as some aspects are not shown in the story itself (hence my disappointment - when does Dilan ever manipulate anyone's heart in this? How does Even show how much Ienzo means to him? It's as bad as saying Aeleus has a problem with Roxas when I can't think of why that would be). Ansem doesn't get one for only coming in at the end, and the flashback scene just says they're walking down the hall with ice cream and that's it, no mention of them enjoying themselves or finding Xehanort and Braig suspicious. Isa and Lea get an art page at the beginning, as do most characters at the end of the book, but not the other characters from Radiant Garden, including Kairi, with Sora and Riku also coming in too late to count.

The book ends with Sora's boss fight against Terra's lingering will from KH2 Final Mix, so now I'm probably going to check that one out before moving on to Dream Drop Distance next year. I have no hope that the Re:Coded novel will be worth my time. I also blame earlier novels featuring Organization members (Days and CoM especially) getting my hopes up for the deep introspection certain characters provided but don't here.

Sounds Familiar

Beast Morphers: Nate might have been designed to be Billy, but now he's reminding me more if Ienzo. In last week's episode, another delayed Valentine's episode, he was out buying flowers for someone (we later find out it's Zoey) when a monster attacks. He's punished because he's a valuable asset and now isn't allowed to leave the premises on his own. Just like Ienzo, he was out minding his own business when something happened and is now grounded for life. This should become a plot point later on, as should his parents. RPM took place in an alternate universe, and there's already a rogue AI on the loose, but keeping a smart teenager inside and not letting them leave or have privacy is what led to Dr. K unleashing the Venjix virus. We have four more episodes before the hiatus, and the midseason finale promises the villains to have unexpected help. Who could that be?

Thoughts on Spring Breakdown: Somebody get AJ some dremamine or a bucket, stat. Rainbow Dash yells "EVIL!" so many times she might as well be Mermaid Man. Sunset doesn't get anything to do on the ship; she doesn't really get to do anything individual anymore. I'd ask why there are no adults other than some of the ship's staff parents of small children, but Celestia and Luna are useless; they at least went to camp, though. The section where everything's going wrong with the ship while the group in Ponyville wastes time with fondue and small talk went on for too long; guess they had to pad this out. It turned out to be an underwhelming sequel to the MLP movie. PotterBrony seems pretty cool.

The Fruits Basket reboot is here! It's nice to hear the old voices again, even if they are saying "Honda" slightly differently now that we've had experience with the Japanese language than years prior when the first series came out. The only new voice I had a problem with is Hana's, but her old voice sounded perfect and this one isn't whispery enough. Motoko also looked weird with black hair and black ribbons. I remember her looking more like Osana from Yandere Simulator.

Pop Tarts and Peeps cereals arrived where I work, but I've only seen brown sugar cinnamon and not strawberry like Brad had. It's always been my favorite anyway. I'm not trying the Peeps cereal for the same reason I'm not trying the powdered donut cereal - it's too much sugar.

Fantastic

CBS put the rest of Survivor behind a pay wall, so hopefully their Youtube channel will give me the information I need. Spoiler: it doesn't, so I have to rely on other channels as well.

I've been working on the KH3 edition of Mikage, specifically on scenes we didn't get to see between Vexen and Xigbar. One was the point at which Xigbar tells Vexen they need to recruit Demyx and also that he's not going to return to Radiant Garden with him when this is over. Vexen is understandably shocked and upset by this. Later, since Xigbar is still a Nobody and has a yellow eye, Demyx and Vexen have to die in order to be reconstituted and return to normal. Although his guns disappear after he fakes his death, I wrote that he uses them to mercy kill Demyx and Vexen, who aren't having much luck ending each other. Also, I added a scene in which Isa reconstitutes in the lab (assuming he was turned back into a Nobody right there on the spot as the "lucky pick") with everyone just standing there having just welcomed Even and Myde back. He apologizes to Kagemiya and admits that killing everyone at Castle Oblivion was his idea, not Lea's. Now she's pissed at both of them, but Ienzo is actually the one to convince her to give them another chance. She and Ienzo are both invited to Destiny Islands for the final scene, where she does finally accept Isa's apology (Lea never apologized after the fact, just asked for a hug and never got one, oops). They reboot their friendship, and maybe Kagemiya ends up with Isa after all (but if this was a choose your own adventure story, it would be up to the reader). The reason being is that, ignoring everything that happened with the Organization, Isa was probably the most reliable - even though he's bad at talking about his feelings (like jealousy), and that's why he goes berserk. Speaking of the final scene, it reminds me a lot of the end of the Wild Force/Time Force crossover, so that audio is in my head too. Both have a foot race, but KH had frisbee instead of arm wrestling. I await the fan comic(s) featuring Isa-puppy catching the frisbee in his mouth; old habits die hard.

Speaking of KH fan comics, I would like to dub some more in the future. Last time I did one, it was to celebrate 150 subscribers. Right now I have 189, so I could potentially do one for 200, but I don't want to wait that long. I want to do more fun content since I barely do anything these days (seriously, my only open projects are the holiday video and the next ongoing Power Rangers  video). I've got some good candidates lines up already, and I'm looking forward to giving it a try again.

Also, three things I keep forgetting to mention: How great is it that Demyx calls Marluxia "Marly" in KH3? And there were no nukes on the MGSV server around Christmas last year?! I forgot about the Zodiac this year because Photobucket's been giving me trouble. I was this close to making a full cycle.