rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (hope is all we have)
I conquered the mountain in Celeste! It took me twelve and a half hours and I died 3,557 times.

The Celestial Resort was particularly good at killing me: seven hundred and thirty deaths. Given that I died there, you could say it was my last resort. You could say it seven hundred and thirty times.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this game nearly as much as I did. On the surface, it doesn't sound particularly enjoyable to play a game where you're dying, on average, every thirteen seconds. But I genuinely had a great time. There were a handful of points where I started to lose patience, but I usually felt I was constantly improving and making progress, which made the game feel satisfying rather than frustrating.

(Also satisfying: going back and redoing the early levels once I'd beaten the game, just to see how much quicker I could do them now. I'd improved so much!)

Celeste is hard, but it's rarely unfair. It's not just hard as a 'screw you' to the player; it's presenting you with a challenge that can be overcome with determination. It earnestly believes in you and wants you to succeed.

And it's so charming! I really wasn't expecting that! I like that there's a boss battle where you're just trying really hard to give the boss a hug as she earnestly tries to murder you.

I'm a big fan of physical locations that reshape themselves to reflect the psyche of whoever passes through them. Much like Silent Hill, Celeste Mountain looks inside you and tests you by forcing you to confront yourself.

If you're curious about Celeste, it's included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. A few tips:

- If you're playing on a keyboard, you can remap the controls in the options. I'd recommend remapping jump/dash/grab so they're not all in a line, as the default setting means it's really hard to remember which is which. I put them on S, W and A respectively.

- If a level seems to demand impossibly perfect timing, there may be a simpler solution that you're missing. Often, when a level started to frustrate me, I ended up realising that my approach was wrong.

- Zipping through a level is satisfying when you get the hang of it! When you're struggling, though, calm down and slow down. At one point I threw myself unsuccessfully against one level for half an hour, took a break, slept, came back to the game, tried taking it slower and beat it within five minutes.


To my surprise and delight, there's a small but enthusiastic active Red Dwarf fanbase! I really thought the fandom would be a wasteland by now.

I've never confessed this anywhere online before, but I actually had a mild crush on Dave Lister when I was a kid. Apparently his unfortunate personal hygiene caused me no concern.

Anyway, I've located the exact moment in my rewatch that brought my crush on Lister straight back to me, and it's this scene from 'Holoship'. I'm slightly concerned.

(If you're wondering: the actor actually did do the ridiculous thing Lister does at the end of this clip, it was not scripted, he immediately regretted it.)
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (hope is all we have)
Has anyone been keeping up with the translation of Super Dangan Ronpa 2? (The paywall is currently down, so you can read it without an account!) It's pretty great; the start was slower than that of the original Dangan Ronpa (these are very image-heavy links), but then the first case hit and everything became amazing. I love all the changes to the trials; I particularly like how much more your fellow students are contributing this time around. In the first game, much though I love it, there were maybe two other students who were actually useful at the trials and everyone else was a blithering idiot.

I sort of want to write Hinata/Nagito. LET'S TALK ABOUT HINATA/NAGITO.


Talking about Hinata/Nagito! Spoilers for the first trial of Super Dangan Ronpa 2, but nothing past the Let's Play. )


Dangan Ronpa is just such a great concept. It's fundamentally a murder mystery game, much like the Ace Attorney games; the difference is that you get to know every single potential victim and murderer personally.

And also there's the evil teddy bear. The evil teddy bear is another difference.

I enjoy the Ace Attorney games (my entry draft, when I chose to restore it, read 'KLAVIER GAVIN WHY ARE YOU SO ATTRACTIVE, STOP IT'), but I don't get nearly as stupidly invested in them as I do in Dangan Ronpa. In Ace Attorney, there's a personal element to some of the murders, but most of them are just an interesting mystery to unravel. In Dangan Ronpa's cases, you find out that a character you know and like has been murdered and then you have to unveil their murderer, who is also a character you know and like. I tried so hard not to get attached to the characters in the sequel, but WHOOPS, IT'S ONLY THE FIRST CHAPTER AND I ALREADY LOVE MOST OF THEM.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy vii remake: aerith looks up, with a smile. (looking ahead)
I mentioned in my last entry how hot I found it when Jeff was beaten up in Community. On further watching: Jeff seems to be injured quite a lot, doesn't he? He's always being beaten up or having his head slammed onto a desk or getting accidentally kicked in the face. I probably shouldn't enjoy it as much as I do. Keep it up, Jeff. Also, sorry. It's not that I don't like you; it's just that you're particularly attractive when you're in pain.

The paintball episode ('Modern Warfare') is a magnificent, magnificent thing. I really love the shot where Jeff wakes up, gets out of his car and makes his way across the abandoned grounds. Gave me a bit of a craving for a Silent Hill crossover, to be honest. (Or post-apocalyptic Community fanfiction, but then the episode itself more or less fulfilled that craving.)

I think, although I 'ship Jeff/Annie the most, I sort of 'ship Jeff/everyone. Which is great, because Jeff also 'ships Jeff/everyone. Hooray!

And then, after writing the above, I watched 'Pascal's Triangle Revisited', the first-series finale.


Spoilers for the first-series finale of Community. )


So, yes, thumbs up to the first series of Community! I have very much enjoyed it and look forward to seeing more.
rionaleonhart: okami: amaterasu is startled. (NOT SO FAST)
I tried to tell my mum what happened at the end of Waterloo Road 7.30 and ended up laughing myself to tears. IT'S JUST SO STUPID. Never change, Waterloo Road. (For the curious, here is what happened in Al Bhed: Waterloo Road fyc lmucat tufh, cu drao taletat du suja dra ahdena clruum du Scotland! Yht drao fana uh dra luylr drana! Yht drao ymm kud uid yd dra puntan vun y bruduknybr! YHT DRAH DRAO FANA YMM RED PO Y MUNNO.)

NO, IT'S ALL RIGHT, DON'T RUN AWAY, THIS ACTUALLY ISN'T A WATERLOO ROAD ENTRY.

Because I have been watching the first series of Community (I'm up to 'Basic Genealogy') and really enjoying it! Although it took me a while to rearrange all the erroneous impressions I'd formed prior to watching. From what I'd gleaned from the Internet, I was expecting Community to be in essence the Nerdy Adventures of Troy and Abed; I was convinced that they were the centre of the show. I was vaguely aware that there was a Britta somewhere. I'd never even heard of this Jeff guy. TURNS OUT THIS JEFF GUY IS QUITE IMPORTANT. (Come to think of it, I don't think I knew that Annie, Shirley or Pierce existed either.)

I didn't really have any interest in romance between the study group members for the first few episodes, but then 'Debate 109' suddenly had me 'shipping Jeff/Annie with my entire being. I would not have expected this pairing to hurtle into my heart, but I'm not about to complain. ADORABLE. And now every episode has me shouting 'GUYS. BE TOGETHER, GUYS' at the screen. Every time they interact my heart tries to force its way out of my chest and out of the window and up into the sky. (This deranged metaphor, in case it is not clear, means that they are really cute.)

Please don't tell me whether they do actually get together or not. The narrative seems to be leaning towards Jeff/Britta, which doesn't really interest me, but I'm holding out hope. Really, though, I've no idea what's going to happen relationship-wise. For all I know Britta could end up with Abed, Troy could end up with Pierce, Jeff could end up with Shirley and Annie could have a terrifying romance with the Greendale Human Being.

I don't much care for Pierce, I have to say, but I'm fond of all the other central characters. In particular, I really like Jeff. I was wary about him at first, but by this point I've fallen for him. Always had a bit of a weakness for jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold characters. Also, you know, it was sort of hot when he was punched in the stomach and then elbow-slammed to the ground in that episode with the bully. Just saying.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (let's go)
The Mentalist, 'Blinking Red Light': I don't really know what to say, but I know I have to say something. Spoilers!


The Mentalist, 'Blinking Red Light'. )


...well, that was probably completely incoherent! Probably best not to attempt to talk about a character as brilliantly twisted as Patrick Jane this late at night.

In other news, episode 40.4 of Have I Got News for You is on in the background, the one with James Blunt guesting and Chris Addison hosting, and oh my God Chris Addison is so attractive in this. I have never found him attractive before! Is it his jacket? Is it his hair? Is it the way he's constantly fiddling with a pen? I do not understand!
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (three seconds later)
I've been wondering what Pokémon the characters of Misfits would have, inevitably, but Seth seems to be the only one on whom I can settle with any confidence.

Seth - who can take powers and give them away, who is ruthless in dealing but shows a much softer side when he comes to care about people, and who, moreover, is evidently swimming in money and can therefore afford rare and expensive Pokémon - has both an Espeon and an Umbreon.

I HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT ANYONE ELSE. Thoughts as they come to me:

I can't give Alisha a Jynx; that would be awful. I really can't see her getting along with it, either. Any ideas?

Oh, hang on, perhaps Simon could have a Shedinja? A silent, hollow, dead shell, floating along behind him? It's suitably weird and quiet and slightly unsettling. Yes, I'm happy with that.

Going by in-game stats, it seems that Jolteon is one of the fastest Pokémon. I can see Curtis and his Jolteon running side-by-side around a track. (There are faster, but their forms of speed don't really seem suited to running; Ninjask flies, and I can't really see Curtis running while his Electrode rolls really fast alongside him.)

I don't really want to give Nathan a Pokémon, because he would be a terrible pet owner and probably end up accidentally killing it somehow. Something incredibly durable, perhaps, which would also fit with his power. A Steel-type. Durant?

I originally thought that giving Kelly a Snubbull would be a bit of a cop-out, as she has a bulldog in canon (EDIT: ...except she doesn't; I must have misremembered the breed), but then I actually looked up Snubbull's Pokédex entries. Snubbull sends other Pokémon scurrying away in terror by putting on a scary face, but in fact it has a kind nature! It sort of works!

...and I'd written the bit below and was just about to post this entry when I realised I'd completely forgotten about Rudy. Erm. Something that reflects his dual nature, I suppose. Mawile? That isn't a great parallel; Mawile puts on a cute face to disguise the fact that it's GOING TO EAT YOU, whereas Rudy puts on a 'confident prick' façade to disguise the fact that he's actually an insecure prick. Maybe Inner Rudy and Outer Rudy have different Pokémon and Inner Rudy gets really upset if Outer Rudy uses his? I've no idea. Rudy was a less successful new character introduction than Seth for me, and I'm not sure I'm engaged enough with him to hunt for the perfect Pokémon.

Overall, I'm not sure I really want to introduce Pokémon into the Misfits universe, though. I suspect horrible things would happen to them, and I would be extremely distressed.


Still 'shipping Kelly/Seth like mad. I like Seth a lot! I hope he sticks around. I think he was extremely cunningly brought in: introducing him as a seemingly one-off, incidental character, and then gradually building on his role, subtly elevating him from That Minor Character You Don't Particularly Have Any Feelings About to That Minor Character You Sort Of Like, until SURPRISE BY THIS POINT HE'S A MAJOR CHARACTER AND YOU LOVE HIM AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE.

Well, that was how it worked for me, at least.

(I like to think I'm not too shallow when evaluating characters, but I suppose my attitude to him wasn't exactly hurt by the fact that he is really, really attractive.)
rionaleonhart: the mentalist: lisbon, with time counting down, makes an important call. (it's been an honour)
Oh, my God, what, Red Dead Redemption has a movie house where you can watch ridiculous old-style silent cartoons on a flickering projector. One of them, entitled The Dangers of Doctors and Patent Medicine, ends with the message 'MEDICAL SCIENCE cannot SAVE YOU. IT WILL KILL YOU and LEAVE YOU DEAD.' This is actually the most amazing game I have ever played.

I enjoy making Marston collect flowers. Sometimes he says, 'Might as well,' as he picks them, because, being a big tough ex-gangster, obviously he didn't set out to pick flowers. He might as well pick flowers, as he's there. But nobody's fooled, because on other flower-picking occasions he'll say, 'You little beauty.'

Marston, incidentally, persists in being ridiculously sexy. Possibly the sexiest videogame character I have ever encountered. When I first saw the game being played, I thought he was quite ugly; now I want him to hogtie me and call me Miss. That's normal, right?

I think I want John Marston to meet Patrick Jane of The Mentalist. They've both had families taken from them, albeit in different ways. I'd like to see them working together. Jane's family can't be saved, but maybe he can help this man save his.

That and, well, Patrick Jane would do hilariously badly in the world of Red Dead Redemption. For all his psychological tricks, he's absolutely terrified of physical harm and he wouldn't be remotely at ease in a setting where most of the people have guns and many of them will happily shoot you.

It troubles me that saving in Red Dead Redemption connotes sleeping for six hours, because I am addicted to saving. I save whenever I do anything remotely significant. So my Marston just sleeps all the time. Obviously I don't have to sit there and wait through the sleeping period, but it's weird when I think that I've played through ten in-game days and probably spent six of them sleeping. Marston, are you feeling all right?

Finally: whenever I've been playing Red Dead Redemption for some time, I find myself humming Pony Chorale from Homestuck as I go about my day. Someone make a fanvid; it only has to be a minute long. IT COULD INCLUDE BAD MSPAINT DRAWINGS OF MARSTON AND HIS HORSE. I wish I had the skills to do this, because it could be magnificent.

HAVE A MILLION ENTRIES ABOUT A GAME THAT ONLY [livejournal.com profile] thewaterbandit AND [livejournal.com profile] nano_moose AND [livejournal.com profile] fireholly HAVE PLAYED, GUYS. If you all play Red Dead Redemption, you can join us over here in the cool corner.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (open the way)
Wow, Red Dead Redemption. I've played quite a few good-looking videogames, but I have to say this is the first time I've sat quietly in front of the screen, not touching the controller at all, and watched a virtual sunset for ten minutes.

And there's so much to do in this game! You can play Texas Hold'em poker with NPCs! Not only that, but there is an in-built cheating system that allows you to hide a card up your sleeve if you're wearing the right clothes for it. Not only that, but if you fail the cheating minigame you will be caught cheating and challenged to a duel.

They built in the ability to cheat at cards. That's attention to detail. Yes, there are elements that make the world feel slightly less real (the same guy keeps trying to murder the same prostitute in the same place no matter how many times I kill him, what the hell, he must have done this four times by now), but on the whole the game does a fantastic job of creating a world that feels vast and alive and dangerous and beautiful.

I'm not a big fan of the last part of the 'American Appetites' stranger mission, the one with the missing people up by Hanging Rock. Look, Red Dead Redemption: I am the least observant person in the world, and I could still work out that the terrified, unarmed man pleading with me not to take him back probably wasn't the culprit. It all ended well, if you ignore the part where I shot an innocent man in the leg to slow him down so I could hogtie him and nearly get him killed, but I was forced to make an incredibly bad decision before I was able to do the right thing, which - as I could quite easily see that it was an incredibly bad decision - bothered me a bit.

...and I just spoiled myself for the game's ending whilst trying to find out whether there's a way to complete that mission that doesn't require being an idiot. Blast! I really need to stop reading YouTube comments; my life is never any better afterwards than it was before.

I became very attached to the horse Bonnie gave me at the beginning of the game, and then I got another after the horsebreaking mission and I was quite distressed! The Kentucky Saddler and I are becoming good friends now, though. The horse-switch inspired me to look up horse breeds on the Red Dead Redemption wiki (yes, I'll concede that I am wandering into very dangerous territory if I don't want to be spoiled), where I found the following line on the Infested Ardennais: 'When riding this horse, the player will not look as visually pleasurable as some of the other horses offer.' This amused me immensely. 'Just so you know, you're going to spend an awful lot of this game looking at a horse's arse, so you might want to invest in a more attractively-arsed horse.'

Regarding the actual storyline: I really like Bonnie MacFarlane! I almost 'ship her and Marston, but it's difficult to when Marston is so obviously devoted to his wife. Regardless of that devotion, I'm filing 'addressing Bonnie as "Miss MacFarlane"' next to 'expertly tying people up' in Things John Marston Does That I Find Strangely Attractive.

This entry may have fairly limited appeal (number of people on my flist who have, to my knowledge, played Red Dead Redemption: two), so here, for the rest of you, is a video of a very brave kitten.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy xiii: lightning pays intense attention to you. (speak carefully)
I like Fang a lot more now that I'm actually playing Final Fantasy XIII than I did when I was merely watching it; not that I ever disliked her, but she makes sense to me now in a way that she didn't before. This is largely because of the things she says when you have her in your party (I seem to have adopted Lightning, Fang and Sazh as my primary team), but the actual gameplay mechanics don't hurt. I love that she obviously went to the game developers and said, 'So, what sort of Strength stat are you thinking of for me? Ha, that's cute. Double it and then we'll talk.' (Seriously, Fang's Strength stat is ridiculous.)

Perhaps it just took me a while to fully come around to her because, although her voice is great, I feel that her voice actress sometimes emphasises things oddly. In any case, I am now thoroughly in favour of Fang.

Also on videogames: my brother bought a copy of Red Dead Redemption recently, so I've started up a save file on that, although I'm only about an hour in. What a gorgeous environment. There's a detailed day-night cycle - there are dawns and dusks, midnights and mornings - and somehow every moment is beautiful (via [livejournal.com profile] fireholly: there's a time-lapse video of various vistas here). The first time I touched the game, it was on my brother's save, and I manoeuvred Marston out of town just to watch the sunrise.

And then, as I was waiting, a nun came up and gave me a little gold statuette, and I decided that I needed to play this game myself. I don't know! I was weirdly touched!

I'm being completely honourable; given the choice in a game between doing good things and doing bad things, I'll almost always go for the good things, particularly if there are long-term effects on how characters respond to you. Being awful to people makes me sad, even if they are pixellated people! My brothers have no such qualms and will happily tie civilians onto train tracks.

I sort of wish I didn't have all these hangups about doing bad things even in a videogame, because, you know, when Marston ties people up? It's sort of the hottest thing ever. I suppose I'll probably be able to truss up bandits and the like without sacrificing my honour, but I do sort of want to make Marston tie everyone up indiscriminately.

...please stop judging me.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (so what do you think)
[livejournal.com profile] reipan and I went to see Glee Live! at the O2 last night! We were seated in what I think is called the Upper Tier but should really be called 'oh my God help why are we in the sky', so we were extremely high up and the performers looked tiny, but it was great fun! And it all sounded fantastic. I really don't know why Glee bothers with autotune.

All the performers stayed in character throughout. I loved that, even though we were so vertically far away from the stage, it was always possible to pick Kurt out of a group performance just from the way he moved. His dancing was ridiculous and delightful, and he could never just walk across the stage; he always sort of skipped.

Kurt also had a short skit in which he referred to the Queen as 'Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the sequel' and became very excited indeed about being in 'ENG~laaaand!', bless him.

There was rather a lot of screaming from the audience, which was a negative (and at times quite a painful) point. Still, I can't really claim to be particularly mature, given my ridiculous dancing to 'Raise Your Glass'. I RAISED MY INVISIBLE GLASS. I PUNCHED THE AIR ENTHUSIASTICALLY WITH THE HAND HOLDING MY INVISIBLE GLASS, IN FACT, WHICH WAS PROBABLY NOT MUCH GOOD FOR THE EQUALLY INVISIBLE CONTENTS OF SAID INVISIBLE GLASS.

Prior to the show itself, a large screen began displaying quotes followed by images of the Glee characters who said them. It was interesting to see which characters got cheered the most. The fandom's favourites appear to be Kurt, Santana, Puck and the back of Blaine's head.


Today, I watched X-Men: First Class for a second time with [livejournal.com profile] reipan and my brother Joseph. I was a little afraid that upon watching it a second time I'd suddenly realise I didn't love it, but no; it may have its flaws, but I love this film. (And I 'ship Charles/Raven/Erik so much. Come on, fandom, let's have more of that.)

The post-film discussion somehow ended with me shouting 'I REFUSE TO WRITE FANFICTION IN WHICH MEWTWO IS THE LOVECHILD OF ERIK LENSHERR AND CHARLES XAVIER' at Rei in the middle of a restaurant.

(If, like me, you're not sure whether to spell Erik's surname 'Lensherr' or 'Lehnsherr' (both spellings have been used in different forms of X-Men canon), I noticed on this watching that it was 'Lensherr' in the subtitles. So I suppose that's the canon for the universe of this particular film? Oh, I don't know. I think I'm probably going to pointedly avoid mentioning his surname if I write any more fanfiction.)

Semi-relatedly: WHAT IS THIS VIDEO OF JAMES MCAVOY

WHY IS HE SO TERRIFYINGLY ATTRACTIVE TO ME


Family adventures:

Joseph: I've been juggling for people.
Riona's Father: Can you not manage five people?

I think my favourite part was how very pleased with himself my dad looked.

Also:

Joseph: ...I don't remember doing this. (holds up his donor card, on which is written, in red crayon, 'I LIKE BLOOD')
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (staring into your soul)
I don't feel remotely capable of writing X-Men: First Class fanfiction myself, but it's still quite fun to speculate on stupid AU ideas. Erik and Charles could found Hogwarts together! I thought at first that they might fall out because Erik was uncomfortable with accepting Muggle-born students, but of course that wouldn't work; this is presumably a world in which magic is a genetic mutation and has been hidden by individuals who believe themselves to be alone, so pure-bloodedness/half-bloodedness/Muggle-bornedness wouldn't really exist as concepts. Maybe Charles has dreams of a world in which magic and Muggles coexist, whilst Erik thinks they'll only survive if they create their own community unknown by Muggles, parallel but separate, much like the wizarding world in the actual Harry Potter books.

Also, there should be a Misfits crossover in which Charles recruits the ASBO Five and finds himself completely incapable of keeping them in line. Whenever Erik claims that mutants are superior beings, it's a struggle for Charles not to cast his eyes significantly in Nathan's direction.

It doesn't matter that I can't write any ideas I might have, really, because the best possible X-Men: First Class fic already exists. It is a Groundhog Day-inspired reworking of the beach scene, and it is over here, and it is amazing. Written by [livejournal.com profile] amazingly_me and highly recommended.

Also, I'm obviously totally biased about this because it was written for my prompt, but here is a fabulous little work of Erik/Raven(/Charles) smut in which Charles is a guilt-ridden psychic voyeur and it is everything I could have hoped for and more. (Bit selfconscious about confessing to the prompt, but I thought I'd better be honest about the possibility of bias; besides, if I'd posted the rec on its own there would have been the possibility of someone scrolling down to the OP's response and going 'hang on, this abundance of italics looks awfully familiar', and I'd rather unmask myself than be unmasked.)


Today, I spent quite some time searching for a male Seviper in Pokémon White just so I could nickname it 'Severus Snake'.

Well, 'Sev Snake', because sadly 'Severus Snake' wouldn't fit within the character limit. But you and I know what I meant.

I have absolutely no right to be this pleased with myself.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (...really?)
So the second series of Glee is now over! No spoilers for the finale in this entry; I'm talking about the series more generally.

When I finished the first series, I said that the entire plot of the second should be 'KURT, MERCEDES AND QUINN ALL FORM A BIG CUDDLY PILE AND PAINT EACH OTHER'S NAILS'. This failed to happen, sadly, but we did get pretty close with Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel, which is a dynamic that brings me endless joy.

I really hope we get to keep the Kurt-Rachel-Mercedes friendship in the third series. Whilst for the most part I enjoyed the second series immensely, I was greatly saddened by Quinn's storyline; she was probably my favourite character in the first series, but in the second I felt that all her development and the friendships she had formed were suddenly wiped out. I hope that doesn't happen again.

Other thoughts on the second series:

- In the first series, only a handful of the characters really got to perform. The second series has been much better about this; some characters still get many more songs than others, but there's definitely been more variety in singers, which is nice.

- Kurt and Blaine are adorable, and I've had so much fun writing ridiculous AUs about them. Predictably, I stopped writing the moment they got together in canon. I think that's probably the end of my fanfiction for them, but I thought that before I wrote Focus and indeed before I wrote Behind the Curtain, so who knows? I'd certainly like to write more for them if I'm inspired to.

- I've mentioned it before, but I'm mentioning the Kurt-Rachel-Mercedes friendship again. It is so wonderful! I've always had a bit of a fondness for Rachel, but since she made some friends she's become one of my favourite characters.

- I didn't particularly care for Santana in the first series, but she's gained a lot more depth recently and I seem to have fallen a little in love with her. Brittany is also great.


My wishlist for the third series:

- There is much more focus on Rachel's friendships than on her romantic relationships. The focus switched between the two throughout the second series, and I enjoyed the former approximately eight billion times more.

- On that note, KURT, RACHEL AND MERCEDES ALL FORM A BIG CUDDLY PILE AND PAINT EACH OTHER'S NAILS. Quinn is invited as well; I think she's in dire need of some platonic cuddlepiling.

- Quinn and Rachel become friends. And then they have more duets, because 'I Feel Pretty/Unpretty' was one of my favourite performances this series. And at some point they make out. This is completely shallow; I don't actually 'ship Quinn/Rachel, but I think it would be blazingly hot. (Curious fact: the pairings I 'ship and the pairings I find hot are almost never the same pairings.)

- Karofsky is redeemed, joins New Directions and finds a boyfriend. A proper friendship with Kurt might be nice.

- Everyone in the fandom stops having raging 'shipwars and just gets along. Seriously, I've never been involved in a fandom that took its 'shipping so seriously before. It's a little frightening.

- I don't have anything in particular against Finn, but I feel that romantic storylines with him have a detrimental effect on both Quinn and Rachel's characters. So I need him to have a storyline that keeps him away from both of them.

FINN HAS A RELATIONSHIP WITH

I DON'T KNOW

EMMA?


In Pokémon-related news, I have now caught an Emolga of my very own! I named it 'YouBastard' and then I felt guilty.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (oh god (quarkz))
(Feel a little uncomfortable and guilty about posting silly television entries in the wake of recent events. You know, self, you're allowed to enjoy things, even when times are sad. In fact, that's exactly the time you need things to enjoy.)


I try to avoid spoilers, but A Certain Event in the promo for the next episode of Glee has half the fandom up in arms and has therefore proven rather difficult to avoid. Beneath the cut, I discuss this Certain Event, where by 'discuss' I mean 'ramble about in shallow delight and stick up a GIF so I can stare at it endlessly'.


Spoilers from the promo for next week's episode of Glee (2.14). )


Wow, that was even more substanceless than I'd expected. Then again, I suppose I've never claimed that my enjoyment of Glee was particularly deep. (Here, for those who haven't seen it but may be interested, is the performance of 'When I Get You Alone' from last week's Valentine's episode. It is the most embarrassing thing ever, but also Blaine needs to take me now.)
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (so what do you think)
I DON'T KNOW WHY THIS IMAGE IS MAKING ME LAUGH SO HARD. 'I presume you are inquiring as to who this upstanding bloke is' is a very weird juxtaposition - for people unfamiliar with the connotational nuances of British English, 'I presume you are inquiring as to who this upstanding dude is' would probably have a similarly jarring effect - but 'You know the gentlemen are most beguiled by his charming antics and wish to situate themselves inside his trousers for a festive gathering' is possibly the best sentence I've ever read. (I would like to situate myself inside your trousers for a festive gathering, Blaine.)

HERE IS A TERRIBLE MEME IDEA: write out the first lines of songs in the style of Dapper Blaine (exaggeratedly formal, old-fashioned and verbose, basically; I have no idea why this meme exists, but it's one of my favourites, even if reading too many examples ruins my speech for hours afterwards) and have your flist guess to which song each rewrite pertains. Let's give it a try.

1. My gratitude to you, man of the hammer; I believe I would have difficulty expressing the significance of your actions in halting the motion of that delivery vehicle. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] emmarrrrr and [livejournal.com profile] dracothelizard)
2. Of late, I have found respiration impossible. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] kadrin)
3. It is a deity-appalling little circumstance to the young woman with rodentlike tresses. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] honeyfitz)
4. You claim to traverse a region that belongs to you, but on consideration I fail to understand how this can be so. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] lakester)
5. Set forth upon the thoroughfare; would you allow me to borrow your appellation? (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] marginaliana)
6. Fasten your labia oris, infant; fasten similarly your outer garment. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] ms_katonic)
7. On every occasion of your drinking a small amount in this smoke-filled environment, you place the glass container of said drink against your mouth and I yearn to be, presumably, the container, rather than the alcohol within, although the metonymic term I use to express this desire makes this unclear. (guessed by anonymous commenter)
8. Raise the coverings protecting your optical organs; I perceive that said organs are now unsheathed. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] dots)
9. Birthed in the community of a deceased adult male; my initial calcitration was taken upon my making violent contact with the earth. (guessed by [livejournal.com profile] ms_katonic)
10. I wish to achieve the absolute pinnacle of greatness, a feat to date unaccomplished by any person. The true establisher of my skill is capturing them; teaching and improving them is my aim. I shall traverse this region from end to end, extending my search to a great distance and breadth and educating these creatures in the strength held within. POKÉMON, GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL.

Wow, I never realised before how few of the things I listen to actually have lyrics. I had to skip about ten songs for every one I could use. In any case, guess away!


On a note unrelated aside from the shared themes of music and ridiculousness, have you ever wanted to listen to a mashup of 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' and 'Roxanne'? Of course you have. Here, for your listening pleasure: Rudolph (You Don't Have To Put On The Red Light). I love the Internet. (Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] jantalaimon for linking to this on her journal and thus bringing it into my life.)
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (so what do you think)
Darren Criss and his perfectly triangular eyebrows perform an interview about his role as Blaine in song. No spoilers.

Darren Criss, you tremendous dorkface. Marry me immediately.


AND NOW I HAVE SEEN 'A VERY GLEE CHRISTMAS' AND KURT AND BLAINE ARE SO PRECIOUS

HERE IS A VIDEO OF THEM BEING PRECIOUS

(That clip has actually been floating around for a few days, but I managed to resist until the actual episode. I have willpower! So proud of myself. NOW WATCH IT (unless you are also a Glee fan waiting to see the episode itself), BECAUSE IT'S ADORABLE.

I mean, obviously you don't actually have to watch it, but if you are a fan of adorable boys adorably singing to each other I would highly recommend it.)


...yes, all right, this entry really does consist solely of two video links. I have had all the coherency knocked out of me. Seriously cannot remember the last time I 'shipped anything this hard. I hope you enjoy the clips, if you watch them! (Fear not; I'm sure I'll be back to posting excessively lengthy entries about things nobody watches before long.)
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (...really?)
So invested! So very, very invested. My goodness, a month ago I wasn't involved in the Glee fandom at all.


Thoughts on episode 2.09 of Glee. )


Here is my favourite performance from the episode, for people who don't watch Glee but inexplicably want to see it anyway! Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it's of because I don't want to spoil any Glee-watchers, so you'll just have to take your chances.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (oh very well)
Last night, I watched the extended 'Health and Safety' episode of QI on a television with rather poor reception. The static and jumpy picture made it look as if Jeremy Clarkson leant over to make out with David Mitchell over the credits. I was deeply confused.

Typing that has made me realise that I sort of want fanfiction about Clarkson and Mitchell. Not necessarily Clarkson/Mitchell (not really a pairing I want to see, although were someone to write it I would be forced to read out of sheer curiosity), but stories in which they're thrown together somehow and forced to work with each other in spite of their differences. Take Mitchell's excessive caution and Clarkson's 'if it's not working, you haven't hit it with a hammer enough' approach, and then apply that combination to any extreme situation.

Seriously, this would be amazing. Clarkson and Mitchell are trapped in the Arctic! Clarkson and Mitchell in the zombie apocalypse! Clarkson the Hufflepuff (everyone at Hogwarts is as surprised that he's not a Slytherin as you, but I am irrationally convinced that he is a Hufflepuff) and Mitchell the Ravenclaw (I don't think there's any doubt on this point) trying to subdue the leaderless Death Eaters after Voldemort's defeat! I was going to say 'forget fanfiction; let's make it into a sitcom', but then I realised that would basically be Peep Show.


On an unrelated note, here is a video of Darren Criss putting on a surprise public performance of 'Part of Your World' from The Little Mermaid.

Darren Criss, you have made things so awkward for me by being my perfect man. I was already doomed never to find love, and now you've made my doom that much more certain by giving me extremely specific standards.

(I also have a bit of a crush on Blaine, his character in Glee, who is highly unlikely to reciprocate on account of being, amongst other things, fictional. WHEN WE FIRST MEET BLAINE, HE'S CHECKING A POCKETWATCH. IT'S ONLY VISIBLE FOR A MOMENT, BUT IT'S THERE. BLAINE HAS A POCKETWATCH, GUYS. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY THAT'S HOT, BUT IT IS.)
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (oh very well)
Doing the ficlets-to-music meme yesterday made me think about writing with music playing. This isn't something I generally do - I actually find it quite difficult to write when I'm listening to something - but I have friends who listen to music when they write, and so, curious, I decided to make a poll.


[Poll #1646025]


Finally: DARREN CRISS HOW ARE YOU SO ADORABLE seriously be my boyfriend.
rionaleonhart: the mentalist: lisbon, with time counting down, makes an important call. (it's been an honour)
All right, 'Red Sky in the Morning' didn't have a great deal of Jane/the team, but I can forgive it for shallow and also slightly worrying reasons.


Spoilers for the second-season finale of The Mentalist, 'Red Sky in the Morning'. )


In less 'things I shouldn't find hot but do' news (come to think of it, quite a lot of The Mentalist falls under that category), I'm not quite sure what to make of Hightower. When she was first introduced, there was a lot of emphasis on 'if Jane steps out of line, Lisbon is out'. Tension! Conflict! And then that idea never went anywhere and completely disappeared after two episodes. Was the plan just to go 'aha, you thought Hightower would be an antagonist but it turns out she's all right really'?

My main problem with this is 'how am I supposed to know what Pokémon Hightower would have when I can't get a handle on who she really is?' Honestly, Mentalist writers, you have to consider these things. (I still don't know what Pokémon Jane has. Perhaps he doesn't have one; perhaps he had one before, but Red John got to his Persian as well as his family. The Persian was his house Pokémon; he also had an Abra for public appearances, as a psychic would be expected to have a psychic Pokémon, but he gave it away after the Red John incident.

Actually, as actual psychic powers exist in the Pokémon world, The Mentalist probably wouldn't work there at all. Whoops.)