The Supreme Court

black widow on a mission.

It smells weird in here.

So quick real life update: we found a roommate for the fall! When I start at college again, I'll be staying in an apartment (first time), and the plan was to live with two of my friends. That's still the plan, pretty much, but one of my roommates is in Chile right now and she ended up extending her stay there until December, leaving me and the other roommate to find someone to fill her spot. And we finally found someone! Well, actually, I didn't really have anything to do with it, but I got the phone call about it a few days ago. The person we found is taking the single room, too, so me and Emily won't have to share a room with someone we don't know. Been there, done that. And this way we can watch Supernatural together in peace. ♥

I've been working on Brawl lately, for some reason. Even though I should really be playing The World Ends With You instead (I'm at the beginning of week 2, at least? Though now Brenda has me paranoid that I'm seriously under-leveled). I've been trying to beat Classic with everyone, and I think I only have five characters left: Wario, R.O.B., Jigglypuff, Lucas, and regular Samus. All of who I suck with, but ahh well. My shining moment was when I somehow managed to beat Master Hand as Wolf without taking any damage. I don't even play as Wolf, wtf.

I've been watching the Olympics off and on when I feel like it. Men's swimming is going on right now, at least in my time zone. (I have no idea how they do the broadcasting for it.) They keep talking about Club Wolverine (... what is that?) and I keep double-taking.

Going to eat sushi later today, mmm. Though I think maybe I should eat something before that because auuugh, hungry.

Writing Harvey Dent is really fun. \o/

king henry viii is pretty demanding.

I'm not quite sure why I'm updating at 2:42 AM, but I've been hankering to do an entry for some reason.

I GOT TO EAT TASTY INDIAN FOOD TODAY. Well, I think it's actually more Pakistani...? I don't know, we discussed it at dinner, but I was kind of too busy eating up spicy goodness to pay complete attention. I hardly ever get to go to this particular restaurant because not many people share my love of spicy stuff, so it was a real treat. Also, a transformer blew as we were leaving the place and it made a weird noise and caused the lights to flicker. And Andrew says he saw something that looked like a green lightning bolt shoot up into the sky, but I missed it. :(

Earlier in the day, though, I also got to have some good hot pastrami (lots of good food today, apparently, om nom nom), and hung out with friends. We ended up playing board games randomly, and went through Taboo, Apples to Apples, and Cranium. It was a lot of fun, and a nice deviation from the norm! Also, Jenny gave me and Erin TWO-FACE PEZ DISPENSERS. They're the coolest things ever!! His left side is all purple, it's silly and cute. ♥

I've downloaded some more Batman comics to read, though there were some that I wasn't able to find even when with the help of 4chan's /rs/ board. So I'm going to read those soon, though I also realized that I still need to read all the Iron Man and Spider-man stuff that famira uploaded for me a while back. I'M SORRY, FAM. I'M SORRY FOR FAILING YOU. I'll try to get to it soon, if The World Ends With You and bat-related things don't distract me.

Speaking of video games, I'm looking forward to trying to play Legend of Zelda: Four Swords again when Sabrina comes to visit. I don't think the game was really popularized, most likely because it requires so much to play. You need four people (though you might be able to play with just two?), and each player has to have a GBA and a cord that connects the GBA to the Gamecube. Luckily, with some borrowing and luck we have all of that, so the plan is to give it another crack. Me, Erin, Andrew, and my brother once tried, and -- well, suffice to say that we almost killed each other. I think it might work out a little better if we replace my brother with my Sabrina, though. 8D

Progress on the Harvey app: almost done! I just have to clean up the history portion (still) and do the third-person sample.

i believe in harvey dent.

H-holy shit. Saw Dark Knight last night, and just like everyone else I've seen react to it so far, it blew me away. My brother is actually the one who got tickets for me and lacidiana, and so we met up with him there. It turned out a bunch of his other friends were there, including this guy in a Joker costume who was actually really good. I probably should have gotten a picture, but oh well. ANYWAY. THE MOVIE.

IT WAS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOD.

It was one of those movies where you're super excited afterward and can't calm down 'cause you're flailing over how good it is. That was my reaction, at least. Heath Ledger was all people made him out to be. I mean, any time he was on-screen, he was all I could look at because he was that amazing. You just can't stop watching him and if it weren't for the fact that the entire movie was amazing it would have been one of those things where you can't wait for the next scene with him in it.

But all of the scenes were good.

Oh yeah, I loved Scarecrow's cameo. It was just a small thing at the beginning, but the fact that he knew that wasn't the real Batman at first and then his arrogant little diagnosis line, just.... yeah. ♥ I do hope he's around in other movies.

Man, I don't even know what to say. It was all so good. Harveyyyy. I loved how they made you like him from the start, because holy crap, he's a badass with taking the gun and so on, and then you get to see just how good of a guy he is and how much he's will to risk for the sake of Gotham, etc. etc., and even Batman approves of him, but this whole time you know something's going to go horribly wrong and you keep waiting for it--

Actually, the Joker's presence in the movie kind of made it so you spend the whole time wondering what terrible thing is about to happen. That sense of unease throughout it was really good, plus all the moral questioning and Batman's struggles through it, which was mirrored and symbolized in so many ways that someone else does a much better job of describing...

And then the face. Yeah, it was kind of over-the-top in that superhero movie way, but it was reminiscent of the cartoon, so I am totally all for that. I was dying to see it and they kept TEASING us with it and then BAM. jfdklafka. The tendons and pieces of bone and buggy eye and twisty mouth. We'll forget that there's no way he could talk properly and just go "HOLY CRAP, TWO-FACE" instead, shall we? 8D;; AND THE COIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN.

Oh man, the part with the ferries was so intense, too. So much in that movie does such a great job of really getting to you because of all these issue the Joker brings up, and the way he manages to push people to their limits in so many ways and show their ugly sides... Which yeah, is personified in Harvey and so on.

Interrogation room scene with the Joker and Batman was amazing, too. IT WAS ALL SO AMAZING. NGGGG. I'm now wondering what they're going to do with the next movie, though, since they didn't even give a hint of who the villains are going to be (there can be no more Joker, obviously D:), and we basically only know that Batman's going to be hunted... but yeah. I guess they've got a bunch of other villains they can use, but... none of them are as cool as Joker and Two-face! :( Seriously, don't know how they're going to follow this act, but omg.

The only thing that was kind of iffy was the whole sonar thing... I dunno, it seemed kind of unnecessary and too over-the-top for me. But yeah. I AM STILL REELING FROM ALL OF THAT, I WANT TO SEE AGAIN.

Oh yeah, I loved how well he did clueless Bruce! "Wait, who's in there? ... Do you think I should go to a hospital?" and so on.

Okay, that didn't have much organization to it, and I could say more, buuut I think I'll go hop in the shower now.

then the mannequins attack.

So, I came across a new RP, and while I'm generally pretty resistant to joining new games (or I'll at least scope it out for a bit), I couldn't jump on this one fast enough. It impressed me that much, so I've got to pimp it. It's well-organized, it's emphasizing a focus on third-person logs, it has an interesting (logical) friending system, and it just looks like it's going to be a total blast once it starts. It's a war game, so if you have any military-minded characters who work better in that sort of setting, then you should definitely check it out. But everyone who's into RP should check it out. 8D Is it obvious by now that I'm in love?

Anyway, the name is conscripted and here's the ad:

conscripted IS A MULTI-FANDOM ROLEPLAY GAME THAT CENTERS AROUND WARFARE WITH A DYSTOPIAN BACKGROUND. ANY CHARACTER FROM ANY FANDOM IS ACCEPTED.

Three warring countries with a common goal, and a neutral country trying to sort out their differences. For countless years, these regions have been fighting each other for more land. Their motivation was greed, and those who fight were not willing. What seemed to be a pointless war gradually dissipated the number of soldiers and then the country’s population.

That was not enough to convince the warlords that the war should end, however. Eventually, they found a way to pull bodies from the dead and (incidentally) another world. They were summoned to fight for that country no matter the circumstances. Friends will clash, families will fight and rivals will join. It would only be the matter of which of VALORA, VERITY, or EX FAVILA will get on the best soldiers first.

conscripted (main/logs community); amitynet (network community); warspoils (ooc community)

NAVIGATION
(information booth) • Rules • F.A.Q. • Lexicon • History • Present Day • Timeline & Days System • Warfare System • Military Bases • Important NPCs
(personage) • Applications • Taken Characters • Reservations • Hiatus • Drop
(in-game) • Contact Post () • Character Alignments • Room Assignments • Events • Questions & Concerns • Suggestion Box

Since the game is perfect for Metal Gear Solid characters, I couldn't resist applying as Solid Snake, so that's who I've got there now. Going to stick with him for now, though a pending Seifer application has me tempted to take up a FFVIII character later down the line. lacidiana, who also fell in love, is playing Liquid, and there's a Raiden there too. We'd love more MGS characters. Snake needs his nerdy hetero lifemate! (Seriously though, I'm dying for an Otacon.) Though pretty much anyone would be awesome. (If someone took Solidus we'd have the Snake trio, and Daddy Snake would make it even more interesting. 8D)

But really, I'd be happy if people joined regardless of the fandom or character. I only know two of the people playing there, so yeah. The game was too awesome not to pimp. Join us! You know you want to.

on his face is a map of the world.

I'm always so bad about updating this over summer. Anyway!

First things first, a friend of mine (fanshiilala) has a bunch of anime/manga related stuff she wants to sell, but she doesn't know many people who would be interested, so she asked me if I could appeal to you guys as potential buyers. There are CDs, (Japanese) manga, DVDs, VHS, and more, and it's all really cheap (prices are included), so check it out!

Hey everyone! Here are some things I'd like to clear out. I am willing to cooperate and give deals to those who buy multiple sets anditems.

CDs:
Sailor Moon Best Song Collection [$2]
Arashi - "Nice Na Kokoroiki" single [$3]

Halcali:
Strawberry Chips Single (First Press Special Edition) [$5]
Giri Giri Surf Rider [$3]
Tandem [$3]

All manga is in Japanese. In good condition or better:

NANA #1-15 [$3 each or $40 for all]
Hanazakari no Kimitachi He (Hanakimi) #3-9 [$2 each or $12 for all]
I"s #1-7 [$2 each or $12 for all]
Tennis no Oujisama (Prince of Tennis)# 29, 33, 34 [$2 each]
Kiken na Walking #1 [$1]
Chibimaruko-chan #1-5 [$1 or $4.50 for all]
Nazo Nazo Kyuu-chan #1 [$1]
Baby Pop #1-2 (all!) [$2 each]
Hanada #1-2 (all!) [$2 each]
Pokemon Card ni Natta Wake #2 [$1]

Rayearth 2 #1-3 (all!) [$7 each or $18 for all]
Mahou Tsukaitai! #1 ($3)
MahouTsukaitai! #1-3 (all!) [$3 each or $8.50 for all]

Akuma de Sourou #1-5,7-11 [$3 each or $25 for all]
Kiseijuu (Parasyte) #1,2,4-10 [$2 each or $15 for all]
Watase Yuu [as priced or $18 for all]:
Imadoki! #1-5 (all!) [$2 each]
Alice 19th #1 [$2]
Ayashi no Ceres #1-3 [$2 each]
Minto de Kiss Me #5 [$2]
Pajama de Ojama [$5]

DVDs (Region 1):

Ayashi no Ceres vol. 1 [$5]

VHS:

Revolutionary Girl Utena Collection of the first 13 episodes (dub) [$8]
Sailor Moon S movie(sub) [$2]

Books (in English, all near mint):

Dreamland Japan Writings on Modern Manga [$5]
The Anime Companion [$5]
Anime Essentials [$5]
The Anime Encyclopedia [$5]
How to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 1 [$5]
How To Draw Manga vol 1 (Compiling Characters) [$5]
How to Draw Manga vol 3 Compiling Application and Practice) [$5]

Other:

Sailor Mercury plushie [$2]

If you want to buy or ask any questions, e-mail me at strawberrylion[at]gmail[dot]com :D Thanks!

In other news, my friend from college came down on Friday to visit. Me, her, and Erin pretty much spent the whole weekend hanging out. I finished her up on Supernatural, since she only had the last two episodes of season 3 to watch, and then showed her Batman Begins since she wants to see The Dark Knight and hadn't seen Begins before.

We also took her down to the Santa Monica Pier. That was a lot of fun since I hadn't been there in ages, and the weather was pretty nice. The tickets for the rides there are super expensive, so we only went on the carousel and the ferris wheel. Then we came back and watched National Treasure randomly. Oh, and we played cards a good amount, too. And Scrabble. 8D

The only bad thing is that there seem to be a lot of spiders about lately. We had to deal with two while she was here, and one of them was a bitch. Seriously, that thing was smart and fast. Erin eventually caught it and threw it out, but yeah... It makes me worried that I'm going to keep coming across them.

Oh, and I've started playing The World Ends With You again. I'm still not too far, but I'm getting the hang of the battles a little better. ~~And actually getting grades other than E on them.~~ I've been enjoying it!

you can only come of age.

So here goes! Nice big MGS4 post. I'm going to try and do this by Act, but my memory might fail me.

ACT I: LIQUID SUN

- The first thing that I want to say about the game is that the controls are so weird. I tried it out for a bit in the second act, actually, and while I managed to sneak for a while, the second I had to fire my gun everything fell apart because I couldn't get the buttons right. My thumb kept going SQUARE SQUARE SQUARE and then game was like "NO, YOU SUCK." And I was sad. At some point I'll get the chance to play and get the hang of it, but we all decided it would be better if Andrew just got through it for the first time since it was his game and since he did the first act, he was already used to it.

- The very beginning bit with the Bomb Shell Cooking show or whatever was... strange. I'm guessing Kojima just wanted to weird the fans out and sort of play a joke by making us watch that before getting to the actual game? Who knows, but... huh. OKAY THEN. We figured out later that it's supposed to be TV and you can change the channel and stuff, but that doesn't change how weird it is.

- I'm sure some people are bothered by the fact that the game is so different compared to the others, but I think they did a good job of mixing in new and old. The first act in the Middle East was very different, with the torn landscape and the battles going on, but it was all impressive and really fun to watch, though it took some getting used to. The second act really smacked of MGS3, the third was pretty different, fourth was... well, and fifth seemed similar to MGS2. So there you go. Enough new and enough old to make it a great mix-up of stuff, I thought.

- The Mk. II/III is really cute, though I'm still not sure how practical it is. Andrew tried to used it a few times, but it didn't work out too well most of the time. The most useful thing it did for us was just scout out the area we were preparing to go through and so on. Still really cute, though, and I loved all the parts where Snake had to carry it and so on. 8D

- The Solid Eye was definitely handy. I liked how it forced you to have to switch between it and Rations, since that made it a bit more challenging. In MGS2 you could just always have your Rations equipped and didn't really have to worry about that, so this added something to it. As for the Psyche and Stress meters, I'm not sure if I like them or not. On one hand, they seem a little unnecessary, but I guess it's also a way to make sure it's not too easy. I'm still not sure how the whole Combat High thing works, since the Stress was able to go up to 100% when on that whereas usually it tops at 80%, but I imagine there are some negative effects. That only happened once and it resulted in dying, anyway, so I didn't really get to see the aftereffects.

- The iPod thing was kind of weird and random. It seems like it would be too much effort to deal with it and actually set music, though maybe it's something I'd consider playing with if there ever comes a time when I know the game inside and out.

- Somehow, we missed the Mission Briefing for this act. I guess you can only view it from the main menu? Anyway, haven't watched that yet, OOPS. 8D

- I'm talking a lot about gameplay, aren't I? Uhh, well. First came Drebin, right? He's pretty cool, though we all (when I say we I mean me, Andrew, and Erin) got the idea pretty early on that there was more to him than met the eye. I still don't understand why he randomly has a monkey and is addicted to soda (okay, got that explained now, sort of), but he's pretty cool overall. The fact that he comes in and explains the Beauty and the Beast stuff after the battles was actually more realistic, rather than having them lay there and monologue themselves, so I approved of that.

- Then came Meryl. I really like her character design, but she really hasn't changed too much. The fact that one of the first things she did was throw a tantrum over Colonel Campbell put me off from the start. It's understandable that she's so upset about the whole thing, but throwing chairs and making a hell of a lot of noise in a war zone? Yeah, sorry, no.

- I'm so pleased that they made Johnny a real character, though! He is made of failure and adorable, and it's cool how he's the only one who isn't affected when all of that nanomachines craziness happens. And hey, he can disarm traps! That's pretty cool. I'm amused that they decided to make him such a cutie, though I guess young characters are in short supply these days. As for the other two members, they didn't do much and then their death (oops, they didn't actually die -- there's a lot of "HEY, THESE DUDES ARE DEAD. WAIT, JUST KIDDING" in this game) was sort of random, but ahh well. There wasn't much space to give more development than that, so I think it's fine.

- Oh yeah, I wish there were more people to call. At least there's Otacon, and Raiden and Drebin do call you at times, but you can't call them back. But I'm getting off-topic here.

- So it's pretty amusing that Liquid (I'll get into the Ocelot or Liquid or Oceliquid or whaaaaat? thing later) decided to have all of his super-soldiers be women. Me and Erin have already joked that it's so he isn't tempted to sleep with them. Well, Vamp's the exception, but anyway. The Frogs are pretty cool, though, with all their jumping around and such.

- As for the Beauty and the Beast group, it's pretty cool to have an all-female group. Since the Cobra Unit was mainly male (actually, all male since The Boss is the most man of them all), I guess they wanted to balance things out a little. The fights seemed pretty fun from what I could tell, once you figure out what to do. Their backstories were pretty over-the-top, but that's to be expected with MGS games. At least they had some backstory to them, unlike the Cobra Unit who hardly got any background information at all. I'm not sure if I have a favorite or anything (none of them really struck me, really, since they still don't approach the depth that Dead Cell had, or maybe I'm just biased), though I'm tempted to say Screaming Mantis, because... uhh, MANTIS. I do like that they had a big scene that introduced all of them, though, since those are fun to watch.

- Liquid's introduction was good! Coming in with a blast, as usual. I have to say that Patrick Zimmerman has done a great job with his "BROTHER"'s and just seeming Liquidish in general. I was really upset about the whole lack of Cam Clarke (and I still do wish that he was doing the voice, though I guess there's sort of a reason for that not being the case now? Blegh, whatever), but it has been better than expected, so that's good. I remember seeing that trailer with all of the soldiers plus Meryl and her crew flipping out and vomiting and attacking each other, but it was nice to have it in context. I guess that was about the end of the act, right? Snake passes out and that's that until he wakes up in the plane -- I forget what they called the plane now (NOMAD?), but anyway. MOVING ON.

ACT II: SOLID SUN

- One of my favorite parts of this game were the Mission Briefings. It was so cool to just see all of them interacting and stuff outside of the mission, and to see their living space. Also, I just about died when they first showed Sunny. I knew nothing about her before playing, and I think she's the cutest thing ever. I'm sure lots of people think she's annoying or whatever, but I love her. It's so different to have someone so young in a MGS game, and interacting with people like Solid Snake, so yeah. I'm not big on Snake/Otacon (I've got nothing against it, but it's not really my thing), but I have to admit that they've gotten pretty damn domestic by this point. I'm also wondering how they survived before Sunny when neither of them can cook. Probably just Hot Pockets or something. 8D But yeah, it's just really cool to see them interacting when it's not over the Codec or on the actual battlespace, so I loved how they put those in and I expect I'll go and watch them from the main menu countless times.

- I'm not quite sure when this happens, but I'm guessing it's around this time that you find out that Rose married the Colonel? Wooow, wasn't expecting that one. It kind of came out of left field, but I'm not really complaining too much. It's weird to have Snake calling Rose over the Codec, but she was a lot easier to tolerate when she wasn't putting on an act and when you didn't have to listen to her go on each time you saved. Oh, and that's another small complaint of mine: I MISS CALLING SOMEONE TO SAVE. D: Anyway, we didn't spend that much time calling her or doing much Codec calling at all since we wanted to get through the main part of the game, so I can't say too much about her. (OKAY, A LOT OF THIS CHANGED, BUT THESE WERE MY FIRST THOUGHTS SO I'M LEAVING THEM.)

- So Raiden fell into drinking and getting into bar fights or something, hmm? Oh, Raiden -- I was so happy to hear that, since I like my characters damaged. Good job following in Snake's alcoholic footsteps there, buddy.

- Then came Vamp's first sighting! Erin flipped a shit over that, it was funny. But man, he is looking nice. I still don't get why he was working for Liquid, though. It's one of those other things that might come up in a Codec call, maybe, but my theory for the moment is that he figured it was the easiest way to get himself killed. Work for Liquid, guaranteed death! I love his character design and I'm amused that they decided to go with the chest hair since they wanted that for MGS2 but the graphics weren't good enough at the time. And he really has a thing for collecting relics of people he's killed, doesn't he? He must have a whole crapload of dogtags lying around somewhere.

- Okay, meeting with Naomi. Oh, I wanted to mention that it's great how all of the conversations are done through cutscenes rather than falling back to Codec. I didn't expect them to do that considering all of the complaints after MGS2, but it's still nice to have these long conversations that are just so pretty. Even if all they're doing is standing around and doing mundane things, it just makes it a lot more enjoyable. We were all a little confused when Naomi freaked out at Snake's chest, though... I'm not sure what the big deal was. We were expecting some HORRIBLE DISFIGURATION and then it was fine. Naomi is strange. But I definitely wasn't expecting the whole thing with Snake eventually becoming a biological weapon. As if it wasn't bad enough for the poor guy, they had to throw that in on top of it all.

- Laughing Octopus! I heard a rumor that this was actually what they wanted the Decoy Octopus battle to be like, but they didn't have good enough graphics at the time to pull it off. Anyway, it was cool how she mimicked Otacon and Meryl and stuff. I'm wondering what else she does, if anything, but yeah. Andrew fell for the Otacon trick, so that was funny. Well, not so much fell for it, but he ran straight for the fake Mk. II. XD And got exploded. Pretty neat battle, though.

- I got super-excited when Raiden called, of course. I'm really happy with the job Quinton Flynn has done with his voice. He's made it possible to take Raiden seriously, which is what we all needed for this game. It was so weird to have Raiden talking to Snake from the 141.80 frequency, but I was very pleased by it. But yeah, having Raiden telling Snake what to do was quite the mindfuck. At one point Erin's brother came in and asked, "Wait, Raiden is telling you what to do?" And we got to say yes, yes he is. I don't know, this sounds weird, but I just feel so proud of the kid. He's really changed, and they just really did him justice in my opinion. Also, I liked that implication that he isn't all quite right in the head when Snake asked him about Rose and he said, "She doesn't exist." I mean, he clarified after that, but... well, I'm just going to have fun exploring his mindset and motivations for a while now. I know a lot of it is resolved by the end (sort of?), but this whole space of time between the two games is going to be a focus point for me, I think.

- And while I'm here, I've heard complaints about Raiden and how he isn't the same, he's changed so much, they're just catering to the complaints from the fans and making him a badass, but five years have passed. He's grown up. I personally think he's awesome, and he still feels like Raiden to me. So yeah, those are my thoughts on the whole thing.

- The tracking part of the level was cool, if only because it was new and it wasn't entirely mindless -- like the bit where you had to look for the heavier footsteps because Naomi was being carried or whatever. It was like the scent thing from Twilight Princess but more difficult. Or something.

- Uhh, then the bit where you come across Naomi and Vamp and all that. Good job, Snake, for being able to shoot Vamp in almost exactly the same spot. I'm also amused by how Vamp just passes out or "sleeps" for a little while and then he's up and at it again. Oh, the zombie soldiers were pretty creepy, though it just got annoying during the part where you're doing the escape scene in Drebin's tank. Which was totally awesome, by the way. Drebin's a total badass. It was also nice since that's the first time you deal with the Gecko on more equal terms. Naomi was all right for this part. I approved of the fact that she actually took her shoes off when they were going to be running.

- Then, Raiden's intro! ♥ I'd seen most of this part in trailers already, but it was a treat to see it on Erin's big screen. And there was the part before the actual fight where Vamp was stabbing Raiden over and over again. I really enjoyed that because there's something wrong with me. 8D But a nice long fight between two people who can't really die is a whole lot of fun to watch. I loved their mutual stomping, and the way Vamp moves is just so cool. But man, I mean, this is old news, but the way Vamp pulls Raiden up and back when they're both stabbed through is so bad. By which I mean so good.

- I was worried at first that they were going to leave Raiden there, but then it was okay. I also like the part when he was throwing up ~~semen~~ "white blood" all over the place, because I also like to see my favorite characters in lots of pain. (Yeah, I have issues.) Anyway, this Act is obviously great for all the Raiden service, though I don't know if I'll ever be able to pick a favorite of the five. We'll see -- I already suspect it's four. Anyway, I'm amused that they had to put Raiden in a state where he couldn't fight so there was a reason he couldn't just go in and help Snake out. OH, HOW THE TABLES HAVE TURNED. >:D

ACT III: THIRD SUN

- The mission briefing in this one is all the Otacon and Naomi stuff, yeah? That didn't bother me too much, though I imagine some fans are probably really upset over it. Though considering how the whole thing turns out, I don't think it's something people need to get too up in arms over since Otacon has the worst luck ever. I was very amused by Snake smoking by the vent to hide what he was doing and then trying to swipe it all away once he was done. I said this already, but seeing them in a normal setting and doing normal(ish) stuff like that is just so great.

- Oh, Sunny and Naomi interacted here too! That was really cute. I'm not that big on Naomi, really, but I did like the conversation those two had. The Otacon thing was more awkward and it just showed how Otacon has no idea how to deal with women, which was pretty awesome, and I have to admit I was amused by how Naomi mistook Emma for his girlfriend.

- I'm sure there's going to be so much speculation about what happened between Otacon and Naomi when she yanked him back into the helicopter, but whatever. If they did anything, big deal. He's old enough to take care of himself, I think. Personally, I doubt it, just because it would seem kind of random and I'm not sure that Naomi would go that far... But hey, who knows. It could go either way, really.

- Does this name of this act have any significance to it, or could they really not think of anything better? It just seems random to have all of them have a specific name and then this one is... yeah.

- So, Eastern Europe! Yeah, we (me and Erin, at least) were pleased that they were nice enough to hand over young face camo, and even with the bandana. I mean, they know that we fans are shallow, and yes, I would totally play through the whole game like that if possible. I WILL NOT DENY THAT I AM SHALLOW, but you look at that young face and say it's not a treat to the eyes. I appreciate Snake's oldness and the emo that it brings with it, but come on now. I can't deny that.

- Johnny's "HAY HAY. SNAKE. HAY." was way too cute. I honestly don't know how he's survived this long.

- The following of the resistance member was... nervewracking. The tension feels even worse when you're in such an open setting, I think, and then the searchlight on top of it all. It took some time, especially since we lost the guy once when he disguised himself as one of the soldiers. Andrew and Erin's brother were saying how it was very Splinter Cell-ish, BUT WHATEVER. Solid Snake beats Sam Fisher any day, sry2say.

- Then came BIG MAMA. Man, I had no clue EVA was going to be in this game! That was a real shocker, and while I should have somehow guessed that she was their surrogate mother, it never crossed my mind. I guess that date at the end of MGS3 when it says she disappeared kind of threw me off. SNEAKY. I mean, a lot of people theorized that she was Fox's mom, BUT SHE DID US ONE BETTER. They still haven't given us proper details on Solidus (or rather, the details of his birth), which bugs me, but ehhh.

- THANKS FOR EXPLAINING THE PATRIOTS, GUYS. Oh man. Oh man. We were all just staring at the screen during EVA's explanation, but GEEEEEZ. I mean, we had kind of guessed that Sigint was the Darpa Chief, BUT PARA-MEDIC. AND ZERO? I mean, I know people are going to be complaining about this, but I was really happy with it. I was glad that they tied in the stuff from MGS3 so that it actually connected and made it feel like there was, y'know, a point to that game beyond finding out more about Big Boss and learning Ocelot's backstory.

- Someone should write a fic about Para-Medic getting a sex change. Though apparently this was a translation problem since the gender wasn't specific in Japanese and then the translators assumed Clark was a he, but anyway.

- In the end, Ocelot was doing it all for Big Boss, huh? I think that might go beyond infatuation, but anyway. Yeah, there's some stuff that isn't going to make proper sense there, probably, but once again... I'm cool with it. I don't know, maybe this will bug me once I've gotten over NEW GAME HIGH, but I don't think so... I mean, the whole reason MGS is so fun is to give you crazy-ass twists that leave you gaping at your screen. MGS3 didn't do that too much, so I'm glad this game is. BIG REVEALS ARE FUN, DAMMIT.

- BIG BOSS IS ALIIIIIIIIIIVE. That was an omg moment until the explanation came in. Though it was really creepy to see the poor guy in that bag, all zombiefied and... fjdklaeia. Also, someone should write a fic about what the hell was going through Snake's head when he went up to that truck, because man... That must have been hard. And weird. And just... what. Okay, it was actually Solidus, but Snake didn't know that, and Big Boss did end up alive, though in a very different way, and I'll get back to this later.

- Ohhh, EVA doing her special gun move was lovely. And her bike. And and yes. I don't care that she's looking way too good for her age, it's still cool to have someone from that generation around. It's also hurting my head a little to think that she and Raiden worked together. I NEVER EXPECTED A CROSS OF GENERATIONS LIKE THAT. Oh, and the trouble Raiden went to in order to save Sunny, not to mention how much the two seem to care about each other, is just way too cute. Since he doesn't have his own kid (oops wait, now he does), I think that there is definitely some adoptive daughter feelings going on there and it's all way too cute, even with his complex about being completely alone. But more on this later.

- The gameplay part on the motorcycle was amazing. It really felt like an action movie, and it was just... so well done. I can't wait until I can play that bit myself because holy crap. HOW DO THESE GAMES DO THIS STUFF SO WELL.

- Erin totally called EVA getting injured the exact same way. The fact that it wasn't enough to kill her yet again is pretty amazing. EVA, you are the coolest MGS female for a very good reason. I don't know why people don't like you, because seriously. (Oh, and I love how she talked about The Boss. They're still an intriguing pairing.)

- Raging Raven battle. Uhhh. Pretty big arena there, and the way it all looked was awesome. It reminded me of the Harrier battle except on a grander scale, which is by no means a bad thing. The only thing is that it was really hard to tell which one was her, and now I'm wondering if you could just kill all of her minions and make the whole thing a lot easier. They didn't respawn in the Crying Wolf battle unless you took out all of them, so maybe. This took a while, so there's probably a weapon better suited for it that we didn't use, but yeah.

- After this came the Liquid scene, which is definitely one of my favorites. (This is all assuming it was Liquid on some level, blah blah blah.) I think it's pretty awesome that he's now canonly better than Snake at CQC. (It begs the question why Snake won the hand-to-hand on top of REX, but maybe Liquid practiced since then?) Even though there's no real torture scene in this game (well, there's microwaves), this scene may as well have been one, because oh my god. Liquid, you rock my world, because this whole sadistic, knife-stabbing, shocking beat-down of a scene had me riveted. Man, I can't stop gushing, but SERIOUSLY. And then he had him bent over and pulled him back and shocked them together and god whyyy are you all so gay why why why. Or rather Liquid, why do you have to have such a hate-on for your brother. EXCEPT DON'T EVER STOP BECAUSE I LOVE IT. Also, it's so overdone but that whole thing with villains and beating their nemesis to death but not actually killing them even though it would be so easy is just great.

- Then came the really melodramatic part. I just love what they've done with Liquid in this. He waits for them to completely surround them, acting all cool and collected, and then goes bit by bit in proving his point and doing his BANG thing and just... fjdioajfea, Liquid, you're so fantastic. It was pretty intense watching them all get shot and everything turn into chaos in such a short period of time, too.

- Having Johnny remove his mask in order to give mouth-to-mouth seemed appropriate, and yeah, he's a cutie. But he's got facial hair, so that's something! A step above Raiden in manliness, right? Someone said he looked like the result of Liquid and Snake having an assbaby, and I guess I can kind of see that. XD While I don't like Meryl that much, her interaction with him is cute, I must admit. At least she's moved on into a somewhat healthy relationship.

- But yeah, interesting to see the difference between generations. With Meryl and Snake, they have a somewhat bitter break-up, though they're still willing to work together. With Raiden and Rose, there was possible beating going on and they've almost completely lost contact, though they still have some concern for each other, and in the end it turns out that she was actually lying to him yet again, but to help him and none of this comes off as very healthy to me. This is the current generation. Meanwhile, EVA throws herself onto (what she thinks is) Big Boss' burning corpse. HMMM. Though considering that she didn't hesitate to bear his clones despite the fact that he didn't want that, uhh, yeah, okay, maybe all of these relationships are a little FUBAR. Ouch, though, what a way to go. Kind of wish there was some interaction between EVA and Liquid, especially considering her comment about how she knew more about Liquid than Snake did, but anyway.

- I liked how Liquid made a point of "killing" Big Boss. I mean, that was one of his huge sore spots, so it makes sense that he would make such a production out of it. He really hated the guy, and since we now know that Big Boss didn't really care about his kids... Well, you could understand why. STILL WANT MORE INFORMATION ON SNAKE AND LIQUID'S CHILDHOOD, though I suspect that will remain a mystery for forever.

- Poor Snake. He's got enough going on, and yet he still has to get half of his face burned off. I'm just glad he didn't lose an eye, because seriously. This game seems to be better titled, Let's See How Much Shit We Can Make Snake Go Through. I mean, I guess all the MGS games are like that, but holy crap, poor thing. I was saying "POOR BB" every other second, I swear.

ACT IV: TWIN SUNS

- This was when Mei Ling was actually shown, right? She was mentioned before, but I was surprised that they actually put her in since they didn't bother to for MGS2. Well, her voice was in there, but yeah. She ended up with a pretty cute role, I think. Didn't she mention that she had wanted to be a pilot or something? (Maybe I'm mistaking this for something else entirely.) This is pretty close, so yeah. 8D

- OH MY GOD GOING BACK TO SHADOW MOSES HOW COULD THIS GAME GET ANY BETTER. SERIOUSLY. HOW. I didn't know this was coming at all, and neither did Erin or Andrew, so we were just floored. They really outdid themselves. It was just so great knowing where everything was and where to go and reliving it with Snake and imagining how hard it must have been on him to go there again considering everything that happened there and the reminiscing with Otacon and oh man. 8D THE BLOOD WAS STILL ON THE WALLS.

- But let's stick to the mission briefing -- this one was very important because Raiden wakes up. It was cute how Sunny was trying to keep Snake away from Raiden and stuff, but I also thought it was good how Snake was (originally) willing to take him along despite how injured he still was. Because they're all hurting, and if Raiden was willing to go, then Snake was willing to trust him. Or uhh, that's how I interpret it, anyway. But yeah, this whole scene fucking killed me. Killed me like a scene hasn't killed me in a long, long time. The way they were talking to each other and the light, dark, and shadow metaphors, and the lightning in the storm, the LEG-CLINGING and the "I DON'T HAVE A FAMILY" and the desperation and the LEG-CLINGING. Oh, also the fact that at first he couldn't get up off the table because of the strap things in his back (I have good terminology, durr), but then Snake said something properly inspirational and then he could, and OH MAN THE SYMBOLISM. I didn't expect there to be much good Snake and Raiden interaction in this game, BUT HOLY CRAP, THAT IS SOME DELIVERY RIGHT THERE. Definitely the most heartwrenching scene up until then. I'm obviously biased because they're my two favorite characters, but it hit home on everything I love about their dynamic. I will watch it over and over and die every time.

- Otacon flying the helicopter while in his coat gave me MGS2 nostalgia. Which is a good thing.

- Oh, the dream Snake has in old graphics was really cute, too. ♥

- Man, the whole Shadow Moses thing was all just such a treat. The same but different! Snake's flashbacks to the Codec calls! I don't even quite know what to say except that I like how they mixed things up and kept it familiar at the same time. Enough of the old areas were revisited while also adding in stuff to make it a new experience.

- I wasn't expecting the Crying Wolf battle to be a sniper one, and it was frustrating at first since we couldn't figure out how to go about it. Also, all the Frogs being around just made things that much worse. But eventually we figured out a strategy that involved hiding under the truck and then luring her out, which worked pretty well. It took a while, but that's kind of what sniper fights are about. I'm curious to hear how other people went about some of these boss fights, though. Oh, and getting a rail gun? That was fantastic. Considering the Stinger is my favorite weapon in MGS, I'm getting the feeling I prefer the large weapons. NOT SURE WHAT THAT SAYS ABOUT ME.

- The joke about changing the disc right before the Blast Furnace amused me. YEAH, IT WAS SILLY, BUT IT WAS AWESOME.

- I'm really glad that we got a fight with Vamp. I wasn't sure if we would, since the player has fought him before, but once again this game fails to disappoint. It was pretty similar to the other battle (I guess), but having to stab him with the syringe mixed things up a little. I like Vamp fights just because it's so fun to watch him and they seem like the sort of fights that you could get really good at with enough practice since it's all so close-quarters and it really is one-on-one unlike some of the others where they have 344932849302 people backing them up.

- But then Raiden came in to save the day, heee. YOU HAVE BECOME SUCH A GOOD NINJA. Umm, I was glad that I wasn't the one playing for the next part, since I ended up wanting to watch the right side of the screen instead. RAIDEN BIT VAMP AND FOUGHT WITH KNIVES SHOVED THROUGH HIS FOREARMS. I didn't catch all the details because I would worry for Andrew and glance to the left side sometimes, but yeah. I am going to fail so hard when I play that myself, DAMMIT.

- I kind of wish Vamp had said something about Fortune and Scott Dolph as he was dying, but ahh well. I was pleased enough that he called Naomi "Queen," and would have been even more pleased if he had ever called Liquid "King." OH, but that thing he did? WHEN HE TOOK OUT HIS KNIFE? I know you're a very sexual creature, Vamp, but wooooow. Erin yelled out, "WOW THAT WAS LEWD" and it was funny 'cause her brother and his friend were also in the room.

- The Naomi cancer thing was kind of random. I really don't know what to make of her in general since Otacon himself said that we'll never really know what her motivations were. (Kind of have a clearer picture of it now, but yeah.) I mean, I'm sure I could puzzle it out if I thought about it enough, but I don't really care that much. I mean, obviously she was talking about "our will" and all that, but yeah. Just weird. Also, how she was all over Vamp and stuff. I'm not sure what kind of cancer she could have had, that it would have killed her so quickly, but... Well, maybe it was nearing the end when she gave herself nanomachines and then when she suppressed them all the strain her body had taken since then sort of hit her all at once and that's what killed her?

- Poor Otacon, though. Even though he was only watching through the Mk. III, it still managed to be a sad scene. Like I said, I don't really care about Naomi, but I was sad for his sake. And he's losing Snake on top of it all, god. Oh, and I didn't realize this until just now, but the whole scene was kind of a repeat of the Emma death scene -- well, for the obvious reasons, but also because both Snake and Raiden were there again and having to deal with the awkwardness of it all, and also because they had to leave the body.

- B-BUT THEN. RIDING ON REX. I never even considered that a possibility, oh man. As Erin said, this game gives you things you didn't even know you wanted. But as if busting out of Shadow Moses on it like a badass while Raiden backs you up wasn't good enough, then there's what happened afterward. REX VS. RAY. FUCKING REX VS. RAY. I NEARLY SHIT MYSELF (not really, but work with me here) WHEN RAY SHOWED UP BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY MECHA I TRULY ADORE. The fight seemed pretty easy, but it didn't matter because of the epic that came along with it all. Ohhh man. I am amused by the fact that Snake wins, even though Liquid has so much more experience with piloting the damn things. LIQUID, YOU ARE MADE OF FAIL. Even when you're almost controlling the whole world, you still can't best your brother.

- But the scene after that with Liquid running off and Snake chasing after him and Liquid being a little brat was so great. It was such an immature, only between brothers thing to happen, which is weird yet great 'cause they're the farthest from normal brothers that you can get. AND THEN MT. SNAKEMORE? IS THAT WAS THAT WAS? I'd have to get another look, but WTF, LIQUID, YOU ARE SO OVER-THE-TOP I LOVE YOU.

- Then came another shining moment from Raiden. I swear, every scene that he's in is great. Dislocating his shoulder, cutting off his own arm, and then getting crushed under some large vehicle of Liquid's all for Snake's sake? YES, YOU REALLY ARE A NINJA. I was bawing around this time, of course. Not to the point that you might think, but I was not pleased. :( I mean, if he was going to go, that was a hell of a way to do it, and if it had really been a death scene, it would have been a very nice-looking one, but it turned out all right. I still think it was really weird how they made it pretty damn obvious that he was a goner and then it turned out that NO, JUST KIDDING, HE'S FINE.

ACT V: OLD SUN

- I probably didn't pay as much attention to the mission briefing as I should have because I was upset over Raiden. I didn't realize that Mei Ling was so bad at public speaking, though. Or... doing stuff with projectors and pointing at things, at least. The most amusing part of this for me was just Snake's whole demeanor through it. Just being a smartass and stuff. He is not a team player. 8D And while I don't really like Meryl, her comment about how "This isn't the time for your stupid jokes." made me laugh. It was probably the point where I liked her the most. Oh, and why did Johnny try to grab Mei Ling's ass? GEEZ, GUY, HAVE SOME RESTRAINT.

- Yeah, uhh, Drebin showing up everywhere is very tricksy. What was that fire thing? What what? Randomly, though, I like how he and Snake interact.

- The catapult idea was so ludicrous, to use Andrew's word. And yet still awesome! But what pisses me off is how Snake landed just fine, but Meryl, who is younger and in better shape, ends up hurting herself. I mean, Johnny fell into the ocean, but at least he's shown throughout the game as being incompetant, so it's expected.

- That first area that you have to sneak through on the ship is a real bitch, geeeez.

- Screaming Mantis! Uhh, okay. I liked how this was similar to the Psycho Mantis battle, but different enough that it made it interesting and had me, Andrew, and Erin puzzling for a while. We got it eventually, of course, and it was easy once we knew what to do, but yeah. The Mantis and Sorrow dolls were so cute! Can you get both of them? We only got the Mantis one, but I was wondering. Oh, and once again Meryl continues to fail. I know it's the fault of her nanomachines, but DAMMIT, WE WENT THROUGH THIS NINE YEARS AGO. At least it seemed easy to just grab her and syringe her, but blegh.

- Return of Mantis! Yeah, I wasn't expecting that. On one hand, it was kind of random, but it seemed like a way for them to once again cater to the fans, since he's a fan favorite and all that. Besides, his little freakout over the lack of a memory card was awesome. And really, who doesn't love Mantis? It was neat how it incorporated the whole Sorrow thing with it, too.

- The whole scene with Johnny and Meryl fighting off the Frogs and talking about marriage was corny, yes, but it worked well enough. 8D It reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I guess having lovey moments while in the heat of battle is the big thing now! I thought it was actually kind of funny/cool that she made a point of asking him, though. I also think it's funny that their first meeting was Meryl knocking him out and taking his clothes, but yeah. And haha, DUCKED OUT 'CAUSE HE WAS SCARED OF NEEDLES. That's way too perfect.

- Aww, Raiden, there you go, putting Snake's Psyche bar all the way back up. :D I'm still not sure how he lost his second arm (I guess it was crushed by Liquid's ship?), but whatever he was doing with the lightning was pretty awesome. How did he do that? (NANOMACHINES?) Anyway, Snake and Raiden had a great conversation here too. THE SHOULDER GRABBING. I'd always taken note of how Snake tended to put his hand on Raiden's shoulder in MGS2, so it was great to see it here again. And he did some chest-touching, too, but anyway. Yeah, this was also corny, BUT I LOVED IT. "Your body may be a machine, but your heart is human" or whatever it was. And Snake doing his whole, "Look at me" thing again. Hnnn. This is also really sad because for them, they probably think it's the last time they'll ever see each other. And so Raiden's "last words" to Snake being, "Thanks, Snake" seems to fit.

- Oh my god, the scene with the mircowaves was so intense. I know there's not a proper torture scene in this game, but this might as well be it. One of the most powerful parts, I think, because geez. And then watching what everyone else is doing at the top of the screen and auuugh. Snake looks so messed up afterward, and while I know that it's his suit that's screwed up, the fact that they made it look like muscle and stuff was a nice touch. Because oh man, grossss.

- This game wanted to give me a heart attack by making it seem all ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES. I mean, I kinda knew it would work out in the end and all that? But yeah. ALSO, I love how Snake frickin' bellows Otacon's name. And tossing those little machine guys off of him once it's all over with was really funny. XD;;

- Even though I'm not big on Naomi, the whole part with her message to Snake and Otacon was really well-done.

- Then came the big end-fight! Though the scene before it is only badass if you think of it as Liquid, 'cause come on. :| I'm being a brat about this, 'kay. UMM, anyway, I totally called them injecting each other. I mean, it was kind of obvious, but yeah. And it was cool how it cycled through the games, and I didn't realize old man fights could be so cool. Though Andrew made a comment about it being one step away from a bum fight and I lollered. Also, Liquid with his coat open = HAHAHA YES. I was also amused how it seemed like Snake was literally beating the Liquid out of him, but anyway.

- Epilogue came around this time, right? So yeah, I thought it was really cool how they made Meryl look, y'know, built in that wedding dress. It was more realistic and it showed that they had integrity. If she had looked all slender, it... wouldn't have really made sense. The wedding and stuff was cute, Sunny looked adorable in her little dress and Drebin crashing it was awesome. Also, I knew the damn monkey was going to get the bouquet. Poor Mei Ling. 8D

- I really liked the whole conversation that Otacon and Drebin had there. And I loved Otacon's get-up with the coat and gloves. Don't usually say this about him, but mmf. And Drebin backstory was neat, though I'm still confused about the fire thing? Maybe I just missed something. XD Anyway, yeah, when Otacon was bawing over Snake I was like "FJDOIAJFD WHY." And the whole, "He's gone away for a while" was so typical, but ngggg. ;__; Oh, and that friend Sunny made was random, but I guess it's just to show how she's getting outside? Oh, and that reminds me. I loved the parallel there between her and Snake with getting outside, since he talked about that later on too. There was all of this referring to being liberated and stuff that just had a nice feel to it, I guess. And Otacon telling Sunny it's all right now, because there isn't danger anymore. But yeah.

- Yeah, so I figured Snake was dead when the gun went off and all that. I MEAN, at first I was thinking that they were making it so obvious that he was going to die, so it wouldn't happen, but then I decided that they were just doing it as mental preparation for all of the fans. And it was preparation, since he is going to die still, and pretty soon, but at least he didn't die in the actual course of the game, and there's still some time left. It had a bittersweetness to it that I approve of, 'cause... yeah, it still ends things, but it's a much lighter end compared to him just blowing his brains out. :| Considering his life, it's nice that it could be peacefully, I think.

- Ahh, and now about Raiden. I'm... kind of bothered by how that all ended up, but I guess they had to make it happy. I just don't think a happy ending would really work out for him, all things considered. And with his complexes about being alone and even saying that she meant nothing to him anymore, it seemed sort of random that he was suddenly like, "Oh, okay." On the other hand, there's the implication that the miscarriage is part of what made things worse, so now finding out he has a kid probably changed his mind somewhat, but still. What Rose did wasn't exactly healthy for him, even though she claims it was all to protect him, blah blah blah. I mean, he's still going to have the trauma from all that to deal with, even if it got fixed in the end. I guess my point is that I can't see it being all sunshine and rainbows for him from here on out, though it is pretty adorable that he's got a kid. I was amused by him being all "HMPH" and turned away and then being dense enough to be all, "What, Campbell's kid? :|" HELLO, RAIDEN, THAT BOY HAS PLATINUM HAIR. Anyway, it just goes to show that he's still his same old self. I still don't get how he got fixed? Or how he got so injured that he had to be made into a cyborg in the first place. My pipe dream is that we'll get a game about him between MGS2 and MGS4, but yeah. I mean, I am glad that he didn't die, but it just seems unrealistic to have an ending that basically implies that everything's fixed for him now. Since, as Snake said, his life has been a living hell and it isn't that easy to undo all of it. BUT YEAH, I'll shut up about him now.

- Unfortunately, I saw an icon of Big Boss before we got to the end. :\ I figured it was a ghost or a hallucination or something, though. I wasn't expecting him to be ACTUALLY ALIVE. Uhh, yeah, wow. Seeing him and Snake interact was really a treat. Obviously they did in the original games and stuff, but that's so different from how they are now. Anyway, while I didn't cry through the ending, I did get teary-eyed and baw a lot, and one of the first time was when Big Boss pulled him into the hug and they lowered their guns. It was just great to have them talking, and to hear Big Boss' thoughts on Snake and stuff. A lot of his big explanation was hard for me to follow at the time since it was pretty late at night, but I liked how he did all of these things to keep on reminding the gamer that yes, this is the guy you played as in Snake Eater. I mean, Solid Snake is my number one Snake, but Big Boss is really interesting and it was great to have him fleshed out even more here.

- Harvesting his clone sons for a new body, though? Uhhhhhh, I mean, I don't think that he made up that plan. I guess EVA and Ocelot did, but man, that's pretty harsh. :| Those two are a little obsessed, Y/Y?

- So yeah, the OCELOT WAS FAKING IT ALL ALONG DURR :B thing was lame. I'm going to stick with my feeling that Liquid was still there to an extent, given the stuff with The Sorrow and some other bits of evidence, but I won't get into this because lacidiana is already writing many thoughts about it. And I already went tl;dr about Raiden up there.

- I also went baw about Big Boss asking Snake to take him to The Boss' grave, and just Snake's attention to him in general as he was falling over himself and stuff. Like, you get this feeling that Snake's in awe (for good reason), and I just feel like Snake's thoughts are in sync with the player's so often that it's really easy to connect with him, but anyway. More baw at the salute, and also his words to Snake about, "I never saw you as a son, but I always respected you as a soldier and as a man." or however it went. A-and then the cigar. And Snake lighting it, and Big Boss' final words, and the way it dropped, fjdaiodrfj. So good.

- The conversation at the end was great, too. Really adorable. ;_; I also liked the implication that others would be witnessing, so that gives us a feeling that Snake is going to see all of these other people again before he dies, and he'll get to say a proper goodbye. And holy crap, quitting smoking. I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THE DAY.

- Anyway, yeah... It's still weird to think it's over now, but I'm glad that they ended it before they were making too many of them and the series just degenerated. I really enjoyed it, and while there are some things to nitpick (no peeing scene either D:), the sheer amount of awesome totally made up for it. There's probably more that I could say, but this thing is long enough already. Feel free to comment and I could probably ramble on more. ♥

come in an explosion.

I am home! School is over (for now)! I got here around 3:30 on Friday, and the first thing I did was clean the fridge out at my mom's orders. There was a barbeque planned for later that evening since my uncle was leaving the next day and my dad wanted him to get a chance to see me and my brother, so we had to clean. Andrew ended up coming over and we watched my brother play some Grand Theft Auto IV and then ate before heading over to Erin's to start up MGS4.

We spent Friday night and most of yesterday playing (well, I didn't play much, but I certainly don't mind watching and it's Andrew's game and the controls are going to take some getting used to anyway), and I've been completely blown away so far. I'll make a nice big post with all of my thoughts once we're finished. We've gotten up to the boss fight in the Third Act.

Anyway, I'm very giddy because of that, but right now I'm just lazing around. I'm going out with my family for an early dinner for Father's Day later, and I'm hoping we can meet up again for some more MGS4 after that. I should shower and eat something, though. I will once I've posted as Guy.

i can't seem to break through.

Kay, may as well do this! I haven't done a survey like this in a while.

Hi, my name is: Court

When I’m nervous I: Bite my nails more than normal and just keep thinking about whatever's bothering me until it's taken care of.

Last night I: Studied for my final and chilled with my suitemates.

PART 1: YOU
Were you a planned baby?
Yes, actually. My older brother wasn't, though. And random factoid: I was born on my due date. Good job being on time there, self.

Were you the first?
Nope, I'm second. But second is the best.

PART 2: YOUR PERSONALITY
Do you have low self esteem?
Yeah, I probably do. I like to think that I don't, but... Well, I don't know. I am about some things and not about others, pretty much.

Are you happy right now?
Yeah! I move home tomorrow! And get to see my mom. 8D

PART 3: APPEARANCE
Are you comfortable with the way you look?
Noooope. I have so many problems with it.

Describe your hair:
Way too thick and frizzy. It only looks good right after I've dried it. I should get into the habit of straightening it, but that's a lot of effort.

PART 4: RANDOM
Ever been kicked out of a bar?
NOPE. And I'd be glad if I never have to set foot in one unless it's one that has a restaurant attached to it or something. :|

PART 5: THE OUTDOORS
Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?
Indoors! Though I'm not opposed to outdoors, especially not the ocean.

How’s the weather?
Sunny!

Do you like walking in the rain?
I do if I'm dressed for it and can listen to appropriate music while I walk, and possibly mutter "Kuwabara, kuwabara" under my breath. 8D

Do you like thunderstorms?
YES. They're so fun to watch and listen to, though yeah, kind of sucks if it results in my power going out.

PART 6: FOOD
Are you a vegetarian?
Oh god no. I LIKE MY STEAK RARE.

Anything you absolutely could eat forever?
You know, I've said this about so many kinds of food, and I can't really remember them now. Strawberries, maybe? Or sushi.

What is your favorite dessert?
That's a good question. Uhhh... I really like carrot cake and pumpkin pie.

PART 7: RELATIONSHIPS AND LOVE
Do you want to get married?
Definitely not in my plans right now, but I'm not even big on the whole relationship thing. If it happens somehow, then I'm not going to oppose it just because I made some vow not to or something, but I really don't see it happening anytime soon.

Been married before?
Nah.

Are you truly in love?
Yes. Currently, with Tony Stark. :| This will have changed by next week.

PART 8: RANDOM QUESTIONS
Where is your cell phone?
In my pocket. It loves it there.

Cheesecake?
Eww, no.

Your dream last night?
This is such a great time to be filling out this survey, since I had an awesome dream last night. It basically involved Robert Downey Jr. coming to visit some class of mine, and he was talking to each person in it (it was a small class) for a short while, but when he got to me he had to leave so he was like "HAY I'LL GIVE YOU A RIDE" and so we chatted in his car, but then he started driving the wrong direction and so we had to turn around, and then we ended up getting out and walking for some reason. (I remember thinking, "Man, I need to get a picture with him to post up on my LJ!") Then I think he turned into Adrian Pasdar, and he started telling me about how it was like to act with the rest of the cast. He liked acting with Sendhil, for instance, and of course had only good things to say about Milo. ANYWAY, that's about it.

Your favorite drink?
Coca-Cola. It's my lifeblood.

Where did you grow up?
Los Angeles.

Tattoos?
Nope.

Ketchup?
Life is meaningless in a world without ketchup.

Your computer?
Toshiba, 13" (I think). His name is Roy, though that's actually short for something. Desktop looks like this.

Your life?
About to get better since school is ending. 8D

What are you thinking about right now?
Uhh, this meme? And the fact that I need to go change over my laundry soon, and then I have to get to my final at 4:00.

Favorite color(s)?
Red! The zip-up hoodie I've been wearing non-stop is red, though I do miss my green one.

When is the last time you laughed?
A little while ago roommate told me a story about something that happened at her work.

Last received call?
Apparently it was from my dad at 6:39 PM yesterday. That's received, though. I called lacidiana after that.

Part 9: LIFE
What friend knows the most about you?
lacidiana, evildrew, bleupanpan, and nanceinsnow.

Who do you blame for your mood today?
My mood is good, so... just general happiness?

What should we do with stupid people?
Uhh, keep them from breeding?

What is making you sad right now?
Nothing! Except that I'm going to be leaving my suitemates. :|

What was the first thing you did this morning?
Went "auuugh" and sat up only to lay back down on my bed for a little longer. Then I dragged myself out and got ready.

Last person you went out to dinner with?
Last night I went out with my suitemate and her friend.

Do you drink lots of water?
No, but I really should.

How do you vent your anger/sad?
Talk to people about it until I calm down or convince myself it isn't worth getting worked up over.

What theme does your room have?
Well, we used to have stuff all over the walls, but a lot of it has been taken down now. D: Though my stuff is mainly still up because I'm lazy.

Are you a mama’s child or a daddy’s child?
Mama's. ;__;

The last website you visited?
Yeah, uhh, LJ.

Who was the last person you took a picture with?
Emily, my suitemate. 8D I fact, I can show it to you. I'm seme-ing her. :E

Last person you went to the movies with?
Also Emily, to see Iron Man for the second time.

What did you do/will you do for your birthday this year?
Probably nothing. :| Maybe just a small thing with whoever's around at the time (which will be, like... no one), but yeah.

Is anything alive in your room?
Me and Tacy.

Today, would you rather go back a week or go forward a week?
FORWARD. That way I'm home. If I went back I'd have to do finals all over again.

What are you looking forward to right now?
Getting home and playing MGS4 with Andrew and Erin.

Part 10: IF YOU HAD TO
If you HAD to dye your hair a color what color would it be?
I've always thought of dyeing my hair some cool color, or mix of colors, but probably a reddish shade or something. I dunno, I doubt it would turn out well which if why I haven't done it.

If you HAD to get a piercing (not ears) what would you get?
fdauioefda why. Uhh... I guess I'll steal Brenda's answer and go with eyebrow.

try to keep up with her as she turns away.

I got accepted to the study abroad program!

Yeah, so unless something goes terribly wrong, I'll be studying in Japan during spring and part of summer of next year. I'm going to be going to Doshisha University in Kyoto. Victoria, my bud from Japanese class, also got in, so we'll be able to cling to each other while we adjust there.

People who are going to be in Japan at that time: we should organize meet-ups! I know it's a long time from now, but yeah. 8D

exactly what it's like to lose and die.

So I got introduced to this band called Danger Radio, and I'm really liking them. I only have five of their songs (I don't think their full album is actually out yet?), but they were at that concert I went to a month or so ago, even though I didn't see them there. Anyway, it's very upbeat, fun stuff, and I wanted to share. ♥

Danger Radio, "Party Foul"
Danger Radio, "Slow"
Danger Radio, "Keep It Up"
Danger Radio, "Sparkle Baby Shine"
Danger Radio, "Punch Your Lights Out"

I'd say "Slow" is my favorite, but they're all good.

The studying has been going well. I met up with a few friends earlier today to go through the study questions for one of my classes, and it didn't take as long as I thought it would (a little under three hours, maybe?). Last night I did one of my take-home essays (it was about the visual representation of the enemy, comparing a video game to a journalist's graphic novel, and I like how it turned out), and I'm going to do the other one tomorrow.

I've had more downtime than usual, actually, so I've been reading manga and comics for the hell of it. I don't want to get too involved into a video game yet because I know how time flies when I'm really into one.

the scales that do sliver, deliver me.

One final down, two to go!

Since I don't have any other exams or anything due until Wednesday and Thursday, I vowed to do nothing today. So other than taking that exam (which was easy, thankfully), tagging along with my suitemates to their Human Sexuality class, doing laundry, and catching up with posts, I haven't done much. It's nice!

Granted, now I need to find a way to spend my time. I was thinking of maybe working on that Heroes fic that's been collecting dust, but it's more likely I'll just sit around and watch the time go by and play video games or something. (I was thinking of Brawling later tonight since it's been a while...)

Oh, right! So the dorm I've been living in for the past year is called San Rafael, and we got emails today saying how there were San Raf shirts being sold for only five bucks. I didn't really care enough, but two of my suitemates went and get some for themselves. They came back and showed me, and the design has Rafael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it. He's my favorite, so then I had to get one. ♥ I considered taking a picture, but ehh. Oh, and our RA dropped by with presents for us. ;__; So sweet!

Random thought of the day: Don't you hate it when you hear the lyrics to a song a certain way, but then you find out that they're actually differently, but the way you heard it is a lot cooler? My example would be from Red Hot Chili Pepper's "This Is The Place." I heard one lyric as "On the day my best friend died, I could not get my carpet clean." Which is creepy and awesome, but it turns out that "carpet" is actually "copper." LAME. If anyone else has instances like this, I'd like to hear them!

they'll never hurt you like i do.

My TA just sent out an email about a review section last week, and he used a tilde:

"Good luck in all your finals next week~"

WHAT THE HELL.

Also, I don't have Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication album on here, and it's my favorite of theirs, so this is a tragedy. Does anyone on the flist have it who wouldn't mind uploading it for me? I will totally upload an album in return if you'd like. I have... a good amount of music? (4,178 songs.) But thanks in advance!

Man, this song brings back memories.

this is my vindication with a little decoration.

You know, reading bunches of pages for class and doing homework is easy enough, but when it comes around to study time (for big tests, not quizzes) I end up wanting to do anything but. I don't have very good study skills, I don't think, and while it always works out in the end, right before finals is one of the only times I actively procrastinate. I know it makes no sense. :|

So here I am! All of my reading/work for this quarter is pretty much done. I have class tomorrow and a final on Friday, then two more finals next week. One of the ones that's next week also has a take-home part, though, so I'll have that to work on. And I think I'm getting study questions for my other class. What's nice is that I don't have anything to go to Saturday through Tuesday, so there'll be a lot of time to put off studying and to actually study.

Anyway, summer's coming up! The idea is to get a parttime job just for the extra cash and hopefully to save for studying abroad, provided I get accepted. I'm not sure how that's all going to work out, though, since I don't have a car, even though I can legally drive now. I might get to share my brother's car, but I have no idea if that would work since he enjoys going out at strange hours and would probably make a big fuss about my driving it. So I might just apply to nearby places and bike, even though biking on normal streets terrifies me. I probably just have to get used to it...

Also, I need to make up a big list of STUFF I NEED TO PLAY, because... there's a lot. A whole lot. And summer is video game binging time, which I am totally ready for. Cannot wait for SWELTERING HEAT, it's too cold in Santa Barbara. I know it's really not cold at all, but this is like frozen tundra for me. Even when it's sunny it's still cold somehow, and I protest.

Oh, and you crazy kids (forgetting the fact that you're all older than me) in LA who I'm returning to: My conservative guess for when I'll be home on the 13th is 3PM, so EPIC MEET-UP THAT NIGHT Y/N? evildrew and lacidiana, we at least need to get together for some METAL GEAR SOLID if all goes well. ♥

oh yeah, i can fly.

So, I pretty much just got back from my trip home for the three day weekend, and man, traveling like that can really tire a person out. Since I was taking the train, it required walking from my dorm to the bus stop (with my backpack and duffle bag), taking the bus downtown, taking the shuttle to get across downtown to the train station, and then taking the train for about three hours until I arrived in Union Station in downtown LA. I started playing The World Ends With You on the train, but I'm still only at the beginning -- just met Beat and Rhyme. Anyway, Erin and I somehow had miraculous timing so she got there right as I arrived, and then we went and got some food. I had a burrito from Tito's Tacos which was wonderful, and after hanging out for a bit we went and got that yogurt stuff from Pinkberry. Mmm, strawberries and bananas for toppings is the best.

We just hung at her house for the night so that we could be ready to go get everything together on Saturday for the surprise party we were throwing for Andrew. This involved a lot of driving around picking people up, but there was a cake made from scratch and I got to decorate a room, so that was fun and kind of nostalgic. Also, party poppers with very shiny confetti. So we had pizza and ate cake and then caught a showing of Iron Man.

...So yeah, I kind of have a crush now. That movie was ~~outlandish and~~ fantastic. RDJ proved himself to be way hotter than I expected, even in the suit. Anyway, this resulted in me searching the internet for random Iron Man/Tony Stark stuff. Most of it I found at scans_daily, so yeah, disclaimer: I didn't scan any of it, cap any of it, or draw any of it. But I figured I'd share!

First, let's start off with something anyone who has seen the movie can appreciate:

Yeah, can't we all appreciate that one. 8D Next, famira was the one who originally informed me that there existed a movie where RDJ and Tobey Maguire were gay, which was relevant to my interests considering Iron Man/Spidey, and she presented me with this cap she found:

... Yeah. TALK ABOUT ROBBING THE CRADLE. Then I stumbled across more on scans_daily:

On that Tony and Peter note, here's them being dorks:

Funstation? Oh man. 8D But I think it's cute that it seems canon-ish that Tony Stark likes video games, seeing how he had a Wii in the movie. ♥ More Spidey and Iron Man, with some Hulk thrown in:

Context of that was that they were going to use Ant-man's technology to find... uhh, some villain who I can't remember now. 8D Anyway, everyone apparently enjoys making fun of Iron Man (especially for being a boozer). Now random Wolverine and Iron Man, because it amused me:

And we all know that Tony is such a respectful guy, right?:

The promised naked Tony:

Annnnd last but not least, Tony in a dress:

Ask for the context if you want it. ♥ Anyway, I want to know how it is that I can get into things so easily. I AM SO WEAK-WILLED. Anyway, might post more in the future if I end up heading over to daily_scans again. 8D Need to find more Peter and Tony interaction.

After the movie, we went back to my house where I tried to get some posts in and do homework, and then on Sunday I got to chill with my brother and watch some Sweeney Todd. My mom also came back from her trip to South Africa that day, so I was glad I got to see her and get the candy my grandma sent back for me. 8D Then we went back to Erin's to meet up with everyone again, finish off the cake, and watch Hook. Then back to my house because I had to be at the train station this morning to make the trip back again. The train ride was very nice, though. It goes right by the beach and I got to see all the people set up for their Memorial Day barbeques and such. A lot of them turned to watch and wave at the train.

Tonight brings yet another burrito and possible Supernatural watching, plus continuing on my Iron Man kick. (It's a damn good thing I only have six icons because I would be so tempted to upload one of Tony Stark otherwise.)

the light that you shine can be seen.

will be giving into it next season to drag his brother out. And possible demon!Dean, even. Season 4 should be interesting, in any case, so long as they don't screw things up, what with shows having that tendency to get worse as time goes by.

war in the age of intelligent machines.

Man, I'm so drained for some reason. Tuesday is my super busy day, so I guess it makes sense, but still. I also had an off-and-on headache all day today, but I finally buckled down and took something. And I think showering woke me up a little.

Anyway! Today in Japanese Pop Culture we watched from the middle to the end of Akira, and man, it is weird. I mean, I saw it once before in middle school, but sheesh. Though we were watching the dub and I kept thinking, "Wow, Kaneda really sounds like Guy" -- and I was right! WTF, Johnny Yong Bosch, why are you everywhere.

Oh, and I got an A- on my Narratives of War midterm. Whoo! Oh, and I did a Japanese presentation this morning that I think went pretty well. I turn in my study abroad application tomorrow.

Guess that's it. Still all fjdaoiej;fda over upcoming Supernatural finale.

being neutal is choosing a side.

My midterm has been taken! Yes, I only had one, but I've had lots of Japanese projects and I had a six-page paper due... last week? Something like that. (I have three finals, at least?) Anyway, I took the whole time for it, which is very rare for me, but I wrote a lot for each question. (It was all short answer.) Anyway, I feel pretty good about it, so I look forward to seeing my grade.

Anyway, as is probably obvious by now, I've been really busy with school. I've had to go and watch some movies on Monday nights for my Narratives of War class. The first was Apocalypse Now, and the second was No Man's Land. I had seen bits of Apocalypse Now before, but only the beginning and the end. Good movie, and the visuals in it are amazing -- not to mention the intense ending. It was also cool since I actually read Heart of Darkness in 12th grade, so I could make the connections. No Man's Land is about the war in the Balkans (Bosnia, Serbia, etc.) that took place in the '90's. It's a foreign film, and it was also really good. It did a good job of showing different aspects of the war while also focusing on individual people, I think. Anyway, we're also going to be watchingWest Beirut and Jarhead, the latter of which I've seen before.

Other than that, it's been normal schoolwork and studying and so on. I think I should have some more free time in the next few weeks, since midterms are done and I don't have papers for a bit. Oh, actually! Another thing that's been keeping me busy is my study abroad application. That's due this coming Wednesday, so I'll be glad to have that out of the way since it's been quite the process. (Still a little freaked out at the idea of possibly going to study in Japan for four months, but it's also really exciting -- and I know others who have done it, so I can do it, too! Right? Right!)

Anyway, I hope this "dry spell" in my schoolwork willl give me some time to actually play some games, since all I've been doing lately is Brawling. Last weekend I went downtown for a bit with my suitemates and I ended up buying The World Ends With You and Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. Yes, I finally got PW3. :| TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH. Anyway, I used the Gamestop gift cards that I've had since Christmas to get those, so I only actually spent six dollars. I want more DS games, like Animal Crossing (yes, shut up, it's fun, if totally pointless), and Phantom Hourglass, and Apollo Justice (once I've beaten the third game, anyway). It's weird... At the moment I want DS games a lot more than Wii games. I guess there's more stuff out for it, though. I still kind of want the NiGHTS game for the Wii, but I'm not sure if it turned out to be any good? Granted, I'd probably enjoy it anyway just due to nostalgia. I heard that Mario Kart for the Wii didn't get very good reviews, so I'm not so sure about that one. Not to mention I'm attached to my Double Dash!! Oh, and that new Wii channel is pretty cool! Sure, it's just advertising, but I want to be advertised to! The fact that you can use it to download DS demos onto your DS is also the coolest thing ever.

Man, did I abuse italics in this entry or what? Anyway, Supernatural tonight! I am excited. Only two episodes left, oh man.

did you ever think of me.

Two posts in one day? Inform the papers!

HAHAHAHA. <-- That about sums up my feelings. Actually, it doesn't, which is why this cut is necessary.

Umm, well, the cussing. Starting with Sam's first "Holy shit!", it was love at first sight. (Or... hearing. Whatever.) I know it shouldn't be such a huge deal, but I was fangirling every time they were bleeped out. That doesn't mean I want people who write the Winchesters to have them cussing every third word, but you know. (Dean's "What the fuck are you doing?" was also noteworthy.)

SAM + PARTY HAT HAD ME LAUGHING SO HARD. Well, on the inside. I don't usually laugh out loud if I'm on my own. And then there was Sam's chair-breaking. Gj, Sam, gj. (Yeah, I think that Sam might actually be my favorite out of the two. It's so hard to choose, though. But but but yeah.)

Oh, and of course, gay saving the day was awesome. I don't usually expect any gay with my Supernatural since Sam/Dean isn't my thing, so that was a nice surprise. 8D D'awww.

Nice week looks exciting, too! DADDY WINCHESTER. Well, who knows if it's actually him or just some creature/demon tricking them, but either way it's going to probably involve Dean guilt, so I'm all for it!

Man, this brings back that urge I had to write Sam, but I have nowhere to do it. :( And I can't write fic since I don't really have any ideas and I already have two Heroes fics I need to be working on. SIGH.