Rereading Homestuck

Most of the time I will not reread thing that I have already read unless significant time has passed after the first time I have read it. Homestuck however is very very long and with April 13, the anniversary of it's creation quickly approaching, I thought that it would be pretty appropriate to reread it. It is so weird to understand all of the things that are plot relevant and realize when something is hinting at something else, and just like that, I am as hooked in the rereading as I was the first time I read through the story.

A few homestuck characters

I just hope that there is enough time for me to get through it all before the comic is due to start updating once more. The creator Andrew Hussie decided to put the "internet odyssey" on hold to pre write and draw some of the comic in the past year. He began updating on the day it had begun the "gigapause" as fans called it. Since then he decided to go on another break, this time called the "minigigapause" for a few months. Just like with the end of the gigapause, MS paint adventures is probably going to crash, but I cannot wait to finally read more of the story. 

Of course it was fun to be able to watch and read all the Homestuck I could to catch up to the gigapause but it is alright having periodical updates. I have forgotten how confusing it is to read Homestuck, and how funny it is. I have also come to the conclusion that Dave is basically the biggest of all the nerds and I liked it better when their biggest problems were shale monsters and not an immortal Lord of Time bent on destroying everyone and everything in the universe. Ah, the good old days. 

Plus the Youtube comments on the videos are amusing to read, because they are a mixture of new Homestucks confusion, old Homestucks reassurance that they will want to read it no matter how boring or confusing it is, and atrocious puns that deserve an award for their existence. I am at the end of act two where the Wayward Vagabond stumbles across a spaceship in the sand full of food and does what any logical person would do in his place. He built a town out of the cans he found and proclaimed himself the mayor by writing an R on a label for mayo and sticking it to his chest. See what I mean? Homestuck used to be so simple and easy to follow. Just wait until act five, you will see what I am talking about here.

The Amazing book is not on Fire

The Amazing Book is not on Fire

Two of my biggest role models and influences wrote a book together. I may seem calm, but I honestly cannot stop freaking out right now. The release date is October eighth 2015, which seems to be a magical day for book publishings, since the last two years both Blood of Olympus and House of Hades were released on October eighth. 

This seems to be a good years for Dan and Phil since they have started a co-gaming channel, written a book, and announced a tour in the UK that may be taken international (fingers crossed for that). I am really happy for the success of some of my favorite people. The Amazing book is not on Fire tells various antidotes about Dan and Phil’s lives, including Phil’s teenage diary, Reasons why Dan’s a Fail, advice on what to do in an awkward situation, and what happened in Vegas. Dan promised to upload a vlog about what they did in Vegas, although he never did which has lead to much speculation by the phandom. 

They say on their website that they also have a test to see which of their dinning chairs represent you emotionally. I would probably buy it based on that alone. They are going to be uploading a making of video, so we know that the book was not “ghost written” where the celebrity tells a few personal facts and someone else writes it without getting any credit. Many youtubers are partnering with publishing companies like Penguin Random House to write books and Danisnotonfire and Amazingphil really got into all of the choices they could make, like in the book trailer, the cover, and even the texture of the paper. 

I think it will be a well written book with plenty of humor since Phil graduated from the University of York with a English Language and Linguistics degree and Dan is naturally very articulate person if he cares to sound that way. They are both giant nerds if you could not tell from the fact that they have a joint gaming channel, so I am going to bet that there is going to be a ton of silly references.

 I cannot wait for the tips for drawing the perfect cat whiskers, so if you see me walking around looking awesome with loads of sharpie on my face, you will know where that came from. It is kind of difficult to believe that they could keep a secret of this magnitude quiet for so long but i am proud of them for being able to do it. Another thing is that it is already the number 1 book on Amazon after it’s announcement yesterday and thousands of people have pre purchased the book on their website. 

Whatever is in the book, I want it, so I am going to go preorder it right now. The future looks really exciting for the two of them, and I can not wait for what the future might hold for them and their fans around the world.

Grey's Anatomy (or the unexpected virtue of fangirling)

One fateful day on Netflix, my sister and I were looking for something new to watch together, having just finished two animes and the sitcom How I met your Mother. We then stumbled across something that looked interesting on the recommended for you list called Grey's Anatomy. We decided that it would be okay to try it, and we were at season two before the end of the week. There are ten seasons up on Netflix, and the eleventh is currently airing. The rest of this blog post will contain spoilers, you have been warned.

Wow those are a lot of scrubs

This is a pretty great show, and coming from someone who is not a big fan of realistic fiction, I liked it. My knowledge of tumors and how to read a MRI has improved indefinitely. It starts with Meredith Grey and the four other interns assigned to Miranda Bailey as they start their year of internship and the subsequent four years as residents. Meredith's best friend is Cristina Yang a extremely competitive heart surgeon, and the other interns are Alex Kerev, the guy who has the worst human skills ever, Isobel (Izzy) Stevens, the girl who got through medical school by modeling, and George O'Malley, who was basically a human Bambi. In a later season Seattle Grace merges with Mercy West hospital and April Kepner and Jackson Avery are introduced to the group. George also dies in a bus crash after pushing a stranger out of the way and Izzy is diagnosed with cancer.

The Attendings that teach them are Derek Shepard, Meredith's boyfriend (later husband) and top neurologist in the country,  Preston Berek, Cristina's boyfriend, who leaves after Cristina freaks out at their wedding (heart), Addison Montgomery Derek's wife(ob/gyn),  Mark Sloan the reason Addison and Derek split up (plastics). After the first season we are also introduced to Arizona Robins (pediatrics), Callie Torrez who marries George, divorces him, and marries Arizona (orthopedics), Miranda Bailey who is like their mom (General), Owen Hunt an ex-military surgeon (trauma) and the chief of surgery Richard Webber who is like a grandpa (general). Teddy Altman is the heart surgeon that replaces Berek.

The first five seasons are sort of less intense, Meredith reconnects with her dad and his family, including her half sister Lexi a surgical student a year younger than her at Seattle Grace who has an identical memory and the average relationship drama you would expect from such a show. Then there are about five minutes where things are okay before the end of season 5 when things looked good, and then George was hit by a bus, Izzy's heart stopped, and all at once, every season finally got a little worse. There is a shooting and Derek, Lexi, and Richard are the targets, Derek's Alzheimer's research is ruined, and the doctors are in a plane crash that kills Lexi and Mark and causes terrible areophobia for most of the rest of the doctors. Basically every tragedy less than a meteor hitting the hospital has happened, but I am only on season eight, so the meteor strike might still happen.

Despite the occasional trama drama combo it is a engaging story that is fun to watch.

Homstuck Cosplays

I have been looking at a few ideas for a cosplay for the next Anime Bonzi. Since the fandom that I share with the most of my friends is Homestuck, it is a safe bet to assume that we will be doing a group cosplay of it. Last Amine Bonzi we planned to go as Homestuck one day, Fairy Tail the next (mostly because Milly is oddly very persuasive), and have the last day be a sort of free for all madness day. Sadly I did not make the last day and missed out on interesting panels, Japanese candies, and a truth or dare game that I am more than a bit happy to have skipped. The other two days cosplays turned out well, with the exceptions of the loss of a wig and the fact that Tavros's giant bull horns are not meant for crowded spaces and therefor broke about five or so times.

It makes sense to do a cool group cosplay, and no one wants to cosplay a reference that they do not get, so Homestuck is a good solution. I think that I would like to cosplay either Vriska or Karkat, since I think a Vriska would be cool to do and I have the horns for Karkat. It might also be fun to try Tavros again, maybe with crowd friendly horns this time. Any of the Alpha or Beta kids would be fun to cosplay as well, it is so difficult to chose which one I would want to cosplay the most, but probably Jade. I feel like she is the kid I look the most like, and she is not a usually cosplayed character when Godteir. At least I did not see any Godteir Jades at the convention.

The Beta kids from left to right: Dave, Rose, John, and Jade

I have seen a few amazing cosplays on google images and if I am being honest, they were intimidatingly good. So for the past few weeks I have been simultaneously being inspired to make a fantastic cosplay and scared that anything I do would not be nearly as good. I would have loads of fun making something as intricate as that no matter what it turned out looking like.

I would also have fun cosplaying a supernatural character like Sam Dean or Cas. There are loads of Hetalia cosplayers so a chibitalia (baby Italy) or Canada. Maybe even a Nordic like Finland or even Denmark. The possibilities are endless (Actually around 50 or so but whose counting?).  I know that my friends would probably want to go as their favorite trolls like they did last year, Sollux for Milly and both Terezi and Nepeta for Alice, but if we got another person going as Godtiered Alpha or Beta kids would also be very fun to go as. That sounds like a good plan, now I will just have to go find someone to turn into a proper Homestuckian. Well, I have until September so I may just have enough time to convert someone into a Homestuck, wish me luck! Oh and for anyone looking for a cool cosplay help, here is the best website for that.

Soul eater

Recently my sister and I have started watching an anime called Soul Eater. It is about a school run by Death for misters (the ones wielding the weapons) and their weapons, who are people that can become scythes, swords, and other weapons. They fight evil humans and monsters, and to become a death scythe, they must kill and consume the souls of ninety-nine evil humans and one witch. The main characters are Maka and her weapon Soul, Black Star and Tsubaki, Death the Kid and Liz and Patty, and Crona.

Maka is the daughter of Death’s Scythe, and after her parents divorce, does not want anything to do with her dad, but has to deal with him regularly because he works at her school. She is very good at sensing other souls around her and creating strong soul bonds with teammates. Soul is from a family of musicians who he left to go to Death’s school, DWMA. He is also great at playing the piano, but hardly ever does because of his family.

Black Star is obsessed with always being the center of attention in every situation, and is dead set on being the one who transcends God. Tsubaki is really sweet and always looks after Black Star, even when he does something stupid. Kid is as the name implies, the son of Death. He chose to go to DWMA, even though being Death’s child he could have skipped school and immediately become an official meister, he did not. He also has a weird thing about symmetry, and can not fight or concentrate when things are asymmetrical. Liz and Patty are American sisters chosen by Kid as his weapons so he would not have to be asymmetrical while fighting. 

Crona is the demon blade, which means that Crona very powerful and his blood is black and can cause madness in other people. Crona was controlled by the witch Medusa and fought against the rest of the main characters, but they eventually become friends and Crona attends DWMA to learn to fight witches. He is also my sister’s favorite character in the show.

Left to right: Black Star and Tsubaki, Crona,
 Maka and Soul, Liz Patty and Kid

At the end of the second season, it is revealed that the reason Death started the school was that he had to use his soul to bind a powerful enemy in a prison underneath the school to prevent him from escaping. Even with him miles underground, drained of blood and trapped in a bag of his own skin, Medusa was able to revive the Kishin with Crona’s black blood, adding to his madness. It is not always that serious, and is actually incredibly funny, since many of the adversaries are not scary and Death is like an over enthusiastic teacher with really no idea what he is doing most of the time.

So if you are looking for a good anime to watch and have yet to see Soul Eater, I would defiantly recommend watching it because of the humor, amazing storyline, great lovely characters, that add up to an overall beautiful story.

shadow and Bone Trilogy review

Last summer when I was visiting my aunt we went to the bookstore and bought me the first book in the Grisha trilogy. The main character Alina is part of the first army of Ravka (fictional sort of Russia), which is basically the regular army. Her troop is scheduled to go through the fold, land that became dark and full of monsters after the black heretic unleashed his power apon the land. While traveling through, they are attacked by monsters called Volkra and Alina’s best friend Mal is attacked, and Alina discovers that she has the power to summon sunlight. In this world, there are people called Grisha, who can heal, stop hearts, invent new objects, and summon things like fire, wind and water.

Alina is the only person who can summon sunlight and her talent interests the Darkling, a man who can summon the darkness, and she is drafted into the second army, which is comprised entirely of Grisha. I really liked this series even though it is a little more serious than what I am used to reading. The author, Leigh Bardugo is a talented writer who was able to successfully create such an stunning world with relatable dynamic characters. 

From Leigh Bardugo's website

Another brilliant author, Veronica Roth the writer of the Divergent series, gave a good review for the book that made me want to read the book even more than I already did. It has a fantastical theme to it obviously, but it also manages to incorporate elements of real life into it in a straightforward way, like the abuses of power and manipulation inside of Ravka’s court. It has a few twists that I did not see coming and a few that I did as well (not to brag but it was obvious), and they are rather shocking, so for those that want a good fantasy drama with adventuring and consorting in the palace, this is an excellent book.

I have also heard that a Harry Potter producer has picked up the rights for a movie adaptation, so for those that do not like to read longer books, it may be available to watch at the movies. As always with book adaptions, there will be some inaccuracies, but so far it looks like it has the potential to be a great movie. I would be especially interested in how they would make their powers look. As I said in an earlier post, Alina is my favorite character, but her best Grisha friend Genya has become one of my favorites after reading the most recent book. Genya is a “taylor” or someone who can alter the appearances of others as her Grisha talent and is technically a servant to the queen and not part of the second army. She is still an amazing and strong character. I am still not quite finished with the last book, but I really like them and would recommend them strongly to anyone in need of a world to get lost in this week.

About Demon Dean

Hey Supernatural writers, I do not want to sound ungrateful, or like I am questioning your story writing abilities, but, with all due respect, no. Demon Dean (Deanmon) is a pretty cool cracked version of a character, along with the likes of Soulless Sam and Crazy Cas, but if it all ends with Dean being forced to kill Crowley, Cas, then Sam as Cain predicted, I probably will not be a functional human being for at least a few weeks. Probably much longer. 

In the most recent episode, Cain went out of his mind and started killing his blood relatives -and being the son of Adam and Eve, that is a lot of people- and the only way to stop him was by killing him with the first blade, a weapon that could only be controlled by Cain or Dean. A weapon that makes Dean turn into a demon a little more with every use. In their final showdown, Cain tells Dean that he is destined to live out Cain's story backwards, killing his friend (Crowley), then his love (Cas), and last his brother (Sam).

After nine and a half seasons,  people tend to get a bit attached to their favorite characters. Never mind the fact that between Sam and Dean alone, they have had 117 deaths, 103 occurring only with Dean in a single episode. Besides that episode, the most amount of deaths between them was in season 5, but hey, it was their first apocalypse, so some mistakes were bound to be made. Wow, I should be much more accustomed to the idea of their deaths by now.

Back to the point, it has been ten seasons (technically 9 7/12) and I do not want the entire show to lead to such a heart wrenching final scene. I would nearly rather have a cliffhanger like season two of Sherlock that we will cling to and have more than a thousand theories about as we drift into insanity. What ever happened to the common decency that is letting characters have a happy ending? It could still end tragically with their deaths, but they could go to heaven and be with all of the people that they loved and lost, like their mom, Ellen, Jo, Cas, and Bobby. That sounds like a satisfying ending that is both  happy and plenty traumatic.

It is good that the show is not going to end this season though. One more year for the writers to decide what they are going to do and weather or not to crush every fangirls and Deans soul like an bug. I hope they will at least consider trying to keep the shred of humanity deep, deep, within every Supernatural fans heart from being totally and absolutely obliterated this time around.

Anyways those are my feelings about the most recent episode and the events within it while I am waiting for the next episode in the series. Also I want to say hi to everyone that I have found out to be a Supernatural fan in the past few weeks, so hello Aliegh, Alice, and Mr. Coleman. I am really sorry if this spoiled anything for you, and that I would not tell you that Cas did not die at the part where you are at, it was funny to see your reaction.