Hey one and all. First off - wanna hear the scoop on kendo? Second off - wanna see pictures of the place I live? Of course you do! The URL is a little nod to the intense scarred man with eye problems. ;9 But no one else is gonna know that except you all. Cool, huh?
Muwahahaha! One-armed men are sugoi yo. Don't worry, Fumbum, I'm not asking you to declare undying loyalty to anyone in particular - just needed to know the name of one chara in the harem! Here's someone for your one-armed man shrine - Folken of Escaflowne.
Bwahahahahahaha! (hums to herself) - I've been a bad bad girl...
I forgot to mention the funniest part of Usopp's ep! Before they get to the island, the gang are chillin' in the kitchen and Luffy is so booooooorrrrrrreeeeeeeeddddddd. Nico and Nami are reading at the table, Sanji is cookin', Usopp is concocting and Chopper is messing around with doctor-y stuff (I think.) Luffy turns around and says to Robin, "So watcha readin? Can I see?"
Everyone sweatbeads and thinks - WHAT? Nico hands the book over to Luffy and just as he's about to open it...Zoro comes into the kitchen to tell everyone that there's an island up ahead. Luffy races out the door and everyone in the kitchen kinda slumps over. Zoro asks, "What?" "Nothing," they all sigh.
Kendo - yeah. I'm sure you're all eager to hear about it (crickets chirp, cicadas drone). Tomorrow? Tomorrow.
:: 6:23 AM
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:: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 ::
Let's try that again. Yummy. Mail order crack. Must have pictures of pretty pretty boys in compromising positions...
(shrug) You gotta be kinda seme to put pirates in cages. I'd hardly call myself a 'power mad Nazi' though. I prefer the term 'evil overlord of the universe.' Hey, I dream the impossible dream.
Speaking of...Anime spoilers ahead.
This week's OP anime ep lesson o' the day is = Kids, don't play with fireworks!
Usopp's filler ep was SO darn cute. Usopp helped a little orphan girl achieve her parents dream of setting off the most hugest firework EVAH! And why, you ask, couldn't the girl's parents do it themselves? Because their last firework kinda blew them to kingdom come.
Parents, don't play with fireworks!
So everyone tells the little girl to cut the crap and get on with her job of helping out with the normal, slightly less dangerous fireworks. Usopp realizes how important the dream is to the little girl and manages to work out a way to set off the firework (a huge round ball o' firework-ness). Ta-da! Happiness and fire and explosions all around!
Poor Sanji-kun. Nami went crazy over the idea that she could see fireworks and he all smarmed up next to her and asked if she wanted an escort and she didn't bat an eyelash while saying - Iranai. You're crushing Sanji-kun's heart, Nami!
Speaking of Sanji - you hadn't seen the movie before? Oh, man, the fan-service in that movie was like...yeah. (drool) I like that movie. There needs to be less clothing in OP. As for Zoro, if you can stop your player at the right time during ze dance carnivale...he's a ballerina. Very manly of you, Zoro.
I'll write about kendo tomorrow. I've posted way too much today as it is.
:: 7:23 AM
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:: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 ::
I feel better. I caught up on Sluggy. Look - Kuro has cousins..
I used to think that being called `kitten` implied weakness. I guess not if the kittens grow bat wings and take out helicopters, huh? Oh - Halloween costume idea for next year! Satanic kitty with bat wings! Fun!
:: 11:09 PM
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Somedays I hate my stupid need for details. If I weren`t so obsessed with `rightness` then I wouldn`t have gone around making up a frickin` OP timeline. I wouldn`t have totally proven to myself that Smoker is a)younger than Bellemere and b) couldn`t possibly have been a high ranking Marine when she joined up. I wouldn`t have totally RUINED the next four or five chapters of my fic and I wouldn`t have had to stare at a blank computer screen going, `What happens next?`
That`s why TRTRW has been on hiatus for awhile. However, I got a glimmer of inspiration the other day so I may be able to post something soon. I really, really, really want to. I like TRTRW and Bellemere has to go and have cool little adventures. I can`t wait til she gets to the island with the dire budgies. That is going to be weird and fun. And violent and bloody.
Have I mentioned that I hate Arlong? Oh yes I do.
I would like to post a list of hottie anime people, but I think my list would be a) really short and b) really weird. And honestly, I don`t get too excited over many anime guys. To butcher a quote - Anime guys are like tissues; to be used and thrown away.
Oh, Sylph, I wanted to do kyudo too, but they don`t offer it around here. My part of Japan is most well known for taiko drumming and kagura, a type of Shinto dance/play performance piece. I would also do the naginata in a heartbeat if I could. It is such a rockin` weapon of doom.
As for sho-do... my sho-do calligraphy tends to mirror a really early work of Jackson Pollock`s. I`ve participated in the tea ceremony, but once again, there are no lessons in the village. (matcha - cheaper than crack and tastes better too!) Taiko and kendo will keep me busy though, I`m sure.
Yeah - work - better go do that.
:: 9:12 PM
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I still haven't figured out what Kohza girls are like either...serious? Intense? Revolutionary?
===============
(The Scene: An exclusive private school that reminds one of Neil Gaiman on pink drugs. A young woman prepares to defend her 'bride' against the forces of Lucifer who is disguised as a bishonen.)
Revolutionary Intense Girl Stacey: For the revolution of fandom (yanks sword out of Zoro's chest and poses dramatically!)
=============
Yeah. Maybe not.
Speaking of revolution, I've been listening to Aimee Allen's song "Revolution" recently. The lyric, "Four, five, six a.m. - I'm up all night again" is particularly applicable. I've got insomnia like you wouldn't believe. This is good for my productivity but bad for things like my sanity. I'm living on koohi. Not good for the health or the mind or the job.
Sylph's page is awesome! Not that it wasn't before - but it is highlighting that couple of couples Usopp and Kaya! Oh the wintery-ness of it all is so fitting - we all know that the Snow Queen was Kaya.
I had a horrible thought for an excellent fic featuring Usopp and Kaya. Right - so at the end of the series, Usopp's going to become a valiant warrior of the sea, meet up with his dad, and then head back to Syrup to see Kaya. And...yeah, they'll get married. It just has to be like this. But what if Kuro comes back to seek his revenge?! And Kuro would do it too. He was patient enough to wait three years before - a few more isn't gonna bother him. Plus I'm reminded of that song, "The Cat Came Back." You know the lyrics of that one - "The cat came back the very next day. The cat came back, they thought he was a goner, but the cat came back - he just wouldn't stay away..." Oh, the angst and the drama and the action possibilities! I'm sorry, Usopp! I promise I won't write it! You and Kaya deserve to be happy! It's all that mean old Kuro's fault.
Kuro: That'll teach you to torture me in the Smut Garden!
Afuji - lucky dog. Tokyo's the place to be for all the anime/manga goods buying. That reminds me - I have to make a pilgrimmage up to Mandarake again. Promise me you'll check out the OP only store (wherever that may be). And there's a stall near Senso-ji in Akakusa that sells OP omiyage in awesome tins. Not that you probably care about that - but it's there!
:: 5:00 AM
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:: Monday, November 25, 2002 ::
This Wednesday I start kendo! Go me! Ben, the JET north of me in Kimita, invited me to come along. From now on every Wednesday and Saturday I'll be beating the crap out of people with wooden swords. Since I'm already known as budo girl in the village, I figured picking up one more un-feminine hobby would be par for the course. I'll be exactly like Tashigi then!
Aren't you forgetting the main swordsperson in One Piece?
Oops! Gomen! I 'll also be exactly like reverent whisper: kohza.
(beat)
What? He had a sword.
I had to put off watching the OP episode because my GTO tape has to go back to the store. Good old Onizuka - he's a man to emulate when it comes to teaching! :P
:: 7:40 AM
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:: Sunday, November 24, 2002 ::
I'm a little late with it, but I managed to get this done.
Oh! Bespectacled-ness! The link opened fine for me. Thanks Reins! As soon as I get a Kohza spirte, I'll be sure to join. I found a pretty pic for you too.
Normally I am just fan-gurly over the Zoro-meister - not like
reverent whisper: kohza
but today I was struck with an idea. Struck in the knocked over with a nose aneurysm way.
Zoro + kilt = me with massive blood loss.
I think Zoro is the only OP member who could pull it off. And then there's the fun game of wondering what Zoro would wear under his kilt.
This was all inspired by last night's partying - copious amount of alcohol + a lad named McGregor = weird thoughts. I'll get around to Jump and the newest ep tomorrow. I heard rumors of a Johnny and Yosaku reunion for next week's ep, so I'll have to check out the credits. Here's hoping!
:: 9:30 AM
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:: Friday, November 22, 2002 ::
Reins: Which part is kowai? The inflammatory phrasing of that thought - or the fact I'm allowed to warp...I mean shape the future leaders of Japan? :P Thanks for the link-up BTW and I am anxiously awaiting the tears inducing fanfic link. Ain't nothing like a little angst to make the weekend go by faster.
I really need to stop 'gathering ideas' for the Smut Garden. It's warping my thought processes. Like today, instead of coming up with a lesson plan for next week, I played the "What cliques need to be invented" game. These are the ones I came up with:
I want "fav chara" under my Christmas tree. (that only works if you celebrate Christmas)
"Fav chara" - serve me some of that for breakfast!
"Fav chara" is hiding under my bed.
"Fav chara" has sexy glasses (a clique for glasses-wearing charas...like Kohza! Or Kuro! Or both!)
I had more but I forgot. I need to stop drinking so much coffee.
Only two more days until the next OP episode - four months and some odd days until the next OP movie - and one day until the next big S. Tanuki update! Wahoo!
Oh well now I`m not only battle-weary and jaded but I am also depressed. I am going to miss the Hell City Tattoo Fest in Columbus. It`s next year in June - when I`m still in Japan. How come all the cool fiestas and cons and whatnot are in the summer when I am not in America? Why? WHY?
Settle down, says a voice. You`re in Japan getting paid obscene amounts of money to play with children.
Yeah! Children that frighten Chucky! I should be getting hazard pay too!
Well, I`ll just have to make myself feel all better by writing about tattoos in One Piece and putting it up on the website. Nemeth - you insinuated your gypsy-lovin` Chinese taking-out, pierced post modern philosophy into my subconscious and I will never get it out.
Someone asked me why I was worried about Eneru. Let me repeat myself - a group of fans that spawns serious Croc x Lu, Chopper x Sanji, and Usopp x KARUE doujinshi (just don`t ask) is not going to leave Eneru alone. This `god` situation bodes. Eneru`s a self-righteous guy who runs around without a shirt on and has eyelashes - shades of SKU all the way. And we all know what the guys in Utena are like!
'If you don't have your bird, then what's left to do but pick a fight with some bloke?' - a British mate describing how his countrymen approach the clubbing experience
Does this remind you of anyone? Anyone? Curly eyebrow?
And now for something completely different...
=================
People I have met that remind or have the same name as an anime/manga character: I like playing this game - if you go to the website you know this fact already.
First off - my students.
Nami Omae is in my first year class. [OP] She is not at all like the Nami we know and love - she's cute as a button and sweet as sugar. And she means it.
Haruka Koguri is in my third year class. [Sailor Moon] She is not like Haruka either - though they both do enjoy 'manly' sports. She's captain of the basketball team.
Kimihide Omae (Nami's brother) acts so much like Miki Kaoru from Utena that I have actually called him Miki-kun instead of Kimi-kun.
Other people that remind me....
Jon's younger brother - It took me about two hours of staring at him but I finally figured out who he was reminding me of...dead ringer for Ace. Same dark hair (dyed), same length, and same nose. It was the nose that did it really. He's got tattoos but they're all spelled right. He's from New Zealand by the way. And no, I didn't jump him or anything - he just looked like Ace. I know the difference. I'm a fangrrl, not a fangurl - the extra 'r' means I still have brain cells left.
Shut up - I know I drooled over the Kohza pick on rein's site. First time I've ever wanted to glomp on a cosplayer... miaow.
I never talk about the current manga do I? I mean to, it`s just usually I analyze it with Sharnice and by the time we`re done with it, I feel like typing up my opinions would be like having the same conversation again.
I`ll break that rule and discuss how freakin` cute Nami was in last week`s ish - AH! Pigtails AND Glasses! Suteki naaaaaa! Nami, everyday you become my hero more and more.
The last ish kind of disturbed me though. The gang had a celebration in the middle of a scary forest surrounded by their enemies - because Luffy wanted a campfire. So they break out the food and the beer and start dancing around the fire. Non dancers were Zoro and Robin. The disturbing part was how much of a cariacture it was of a Native American pow wow (complete with Southwestern howling coyotes). In fact, the Skypeia arc has a lot of Native American influences and it`s giving me a bit of the prickles. I know - it`s only a frickin` shonen manga. I know - cut the PC shite. That`s all well and good, but I still felt uncomfortable about it. I live in Japan and I know how kids are going to take that representation. It`s just going to be thrown onto the pile of stereotypes that they are exposed to by the media and their parents (some of their parents anyways.) I`m not saying that the adults who read Shonen Jump are going to buy it all...but you`d be surprised what kind of stereotypes live and thrive and are perpetuated by the media here. It makes me sad and I hate to see that happen in OP.
But Lucky rocks and she`s not much of a stereotypical `squaw` that most manga-ka would throw into the mix, so like all things, this too will pass and I`ll get over my little PC bump in the road. Plus it`s not like Oda hasn`t spammed a number of other things (but it`s different spamming your own culture and pop culture, says a little voice in my head.)
OKAY! Enough with the philosophy. Moving on to this weeks ish - I haven`t had a lot of time to peruse it, but I did notice the COLORSPREAD BABY! And what a color spread; there ain`t nothing like the OP group in BDUs. Excuse me baby, no parking on the battleground! Indeed!
Plus we meet the god Eneru for the first time - aka the god who is probably going to feature heavily in the next bout of yaoi doujinshi. He`s got eyelashes, he`s built, and he`s sitting around being served by a bunch of beautiful women. I fear for the safety of my boys - I fear about their first encounter with the god and how it`s all going to be warped and twisted in the doujinshi. I know it will be - after all, any group of fans that can spawn Chu x Nojiko fan art (WTF?) can twist anything to their perverted desires.
Random militant slashing should be done ONLY in Harry Potter.
Forgot to mention this little anecdote. One of the boys in the sixth grade class was wearing glasses and he kept pushing them back on his nose with his middle finger - normal enough since the middle finger doesn`t have the same connotation as it does in the States. I explained to him what it meant at home and all the kids laughed (cuz that`s what kids do.)
Then another kid with glasses asked, `Sensee, does _this_ mean anything bad?` Then he pushed the edge of his glasses up with the palm of his hand. You know. A la Kuro.
All the kids giggled at the Kuro no mane. I laughed and said no and we got on with class.
Just wanted to share another example of how OP brightens my life.
:: 10:48 PM
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This weeks ep - we are in filler land right now, sailing the Grandline and having inconsequential adventures while reminding everyone what our life`s dream is. This week`s reminder was - Sanji is looking for All-Blue. It wasn`t a very amusing episode at all - Sanji helps a little Marine chef-kid make the famous Marine Curry (supposedly the best in the world; obviously Sanji hasn`t had a go at it yet!)
The only really good thing about this episode (oh, other than gratituous Sanji shots) was a new ending! Thank goodness. I really did not like the last ending song and animation at all. I like the song a little better but the animation - YEAH NICO ROBIN!
I`ll describe it, because it rocks hard. Nico`s in the crow`s nest while everyone is sleeping. There`s a little flashback to Chibi Nico - she`s standing off to the side of a street and watching people walk by, she`s sleeping on the edge of a huge bed curled into the fetal position. I`m getting a little sad for Chibi Nico but then it flashes back to adult Nico. She`s watching shooting stars and she looks happy!
Cut to below decks - Nami is sleeping at her desk, a hand blooms from the wood and gently shakes her awake. Cut to the boys side - the guys are smacked around, thrown out of their hammocks, beaten awake! (muwahahahaha!) Everyone comes out to see Nico standing in the crow`s nest watching the shooting stars - Luffy and Chopper start dancing on the deck...the end.
I looked at her over the counter - she was slightly obscured by the towering pile of purchases before her. The items themselves covered the gamut from H-doujinshi to keychains to posters but there was a common theme.
I grinned. "Yeah, just a little."
===============
This is the story of my foray into Mandarake aka Shangri-La of Used Anime Goods.
Last night, as I was walking around Fukuoka with a group of friends, searching for a bar called "Happy Cock," (long story that one) I looked up into the skyline of the city and saw, in bright red lights, Ma-N-Da-Ra-Ke.
Today I made excuses from my friends and while they went to HMV and Tower Records, I snuck off to spend all my money.
The Mandarake building is four stories and basically windowless. I was one of the first people inside when it opened at 12:00 - and I didn't stop getting stared at by the other customers. I guess a single white female customer is a pretty rare experience for the store; sheesh, I can't imagine why!
I took the escalator all the way to the top and worked my way down through the toys and doujinshi and cells to the bottom level with the used manga. At one point I was so overwhelmed I almost burst into tears - there was so much to see and I didn't know where to start!
An interesting feature of the store is the karaoke stage on the toy floor - one of the employees sang "Run Run Run" while I searched the aisles for OP keychains (found and bought = Mr.Prince, kicking Sanji, Alabasta Vivi, Pell, and the bathing duo of Sanji and Nami.)
I also picked up two Duobrand doujinshi (both all chara), one T-Cell (Lu x Zo, Na x Vi) and one all chara Wasab'z. No RSK or Hachi Maru but I think I made out like a bandit. I killed one and half hours in that building and could easily have gone for another one and a half.
The best purchase is my Nami statue. She's in her dress from the third movie. She looks AWESOME! You look awesome, Nami Onee-san!
Nami: I know it.
Sanji: I know it too!
I tried to get the Kohza keychain from the toy machine, but nine tries later I had run out of hyake-en coins. I think that was kami's way of saying - give it up, girlfriend!
I am very, very, very, very glad that the nearest Mandarake is four hours away or I would be in much worse trouble than I am currently (opens wallet; little gnats fly out).
Oh, I saw sumo too, but that is on my other blog.
:: 9:09 AM
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:: Friday, November 15, 2002 ::
So now I know I have seriously crossed the line in terms of OP. I was discussing the sumo trip with a friend and she said - `the sumo will be great! And can you imagine the shopping?`
Visions of Hachi Maru and T-Cell doujinshi danced in my head. `Oh yes indeed,` I replied. `I cannot wait.`
`Me neither,` she said. `Think of all the candy there will be!`
Eye candy... saliva suddenly flooded my mouth as I pondered the pictorials I would soon be exposed to - must have more R S K for my collection...
`I haven`t had a Butterfinger in ages. And maybe they`ll have root beer and I hope my favorite cereal and - `
At which point, I realized we weren`t talking about a hedonistic doujinshi shopping spree. Fukuoka has one of the biggest foreign food stores in the south of Japan, I guess. Well I`m taking a miss on that. Mandarake calls; but it just goes to show how much of a fangrrl I`ve become.
:: 1:06 AM
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:: Thursday, November 14, 2002 ::
For all of you who check this blog (all one of you), I won`t be updating this weekend because I will be watching sumo in Fukuoka. Oh and visiting the Mandarake used doujinshi store.
Isn't it funny how you think you're in control and then you turn around and find that the hand that holds the rudder isn't yours?
The other day I was going to write angst - just for the heck out it. So I thought I'd put some angst music on to get me in the mood - a little LotR soundtrack, near the middle, when Gandalf kicks it.
So I put in my MD, hit play and hear...
"I LIKE TURKEY!"
yes, I had mistakenly picked up the Space Ghost Musical Barbeque MD.
And that was it - my concentration was shot. No angst for me; and I was immediately inspired to write a humor fic. Ha, how could I not be after hearing Brak's heartfelt rendition of "Don't Touch Me"?
Don't touch me. Don't touch ME! Don't TOUCH me!
So blame all the insanity on Space Ghost; him and Pocky are smut-inducing.
:: 8:45 AM
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:: Sunday, November 10, 2002 ::
Last night`s episode had me in stitches for a full fifteen minutes. It was the first episode where I wondered when the first commerical break was going to be - I needed time to recover!
So Luffy catches this, well, basically a ship to ship salesman and the guy is pushing off all these interesting sometimes useless always expensive gadgets on the crew. Sanji considers an awesome knife set...but then Nami wants paper - good paper, so that she can draw her map of the world. Once the salesman figures out that he`s on Luffy`s ship, he leaves so fast that he leaves the paper.
Well Nami`s a happy camper. While the guys are cleaning the ship (not Robin coz she`s a lady), Nami works. But of course, the idea of `do not disturb` doesn`t get across to the boys. Sanji and Zoro get into a fight (big surprise) and Nami`s map gets screwed up. She tries again; Luffy and Usopp fool around and end up ruining the second map. Third times the charm - and Nami warns that if anyone disturbs her, they have to pay an outrageous fine.
Wouldn`t you know it - the gang falls asleep and a huge storm brews up. Chopper wakes up, can`t wake up any of the guys and runs to Nami`s door - but stops and cries `The fine!` It is the most PRECIOUS THING IN THE WORLD! Yes, Chopper is cute - insanely cute.
Bellemere flashback - Nami finishes the map, gets outside in time to wake everyone up and gives out orders. The ship makes it through and tada! Happy ending. It was a good ep!
:: 11:59 PM
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Well I am chugging right along with 'An Officer and Some Gentlemen.' There was serious writer's brick going when it came to that story - I had an ending and a beginning, but no middle. Plus Smoker is a hard guy to write in character. He's very serious and has a dry sense of humor and I'll be the first to admit that character type is not my forte. It's also hard to write him interacting with Tashigi without it sounding like he hates her and it's hard to write Tashigi without making her a big old wussy. Hey you two - stay in character or pay the price.
Luckily I got over that little hurdle this week and have managed to get started again - only now some of the secondary characters are hijacking the plot! How dare they! In fact, how dare this story have a plot at all! It was originally supposed to be a 'Smoker payback' torture fluff piece. It was my apology to Tashigi for the Jill Came Tumbling story. I figured Smoker had it coming. Anyway, it managed to get a plot and tell a story. And now something that was supposed to be about six pages max is at ten and still growing.
When did I lose control, I ask? I hope everyone enjoys it when I put it out there in the vast coldness of cyberspace.
:: 2:31 AM
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:: Thursday, November 07, 2002 ::
Just for everyone`s information - today I was feeling pirate-y so I am wearing my glow in the dark jolly roger bandeau bra.
Because you KNOW you wanted to know that.
:: 8:27 PM
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Repugs everywhere. I am going back to bed.
Just kidding! Today`s song is...
Goodbye Arlong (a scorpio_kaur parody of Goodbye Earl)
Right away Monkey D. sailed from Baraties
To help his navigator
He stopped Nami`s hand
and they worked out a plan.
It didn`t take `em long to decide
THAT ARLONG HAD TO DIE!
(nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)
GOODBYE ARLONG!
Fanfic status - Chapters 1-3 of Watermark will be up on my website and so will that third chapter of TRTRW, just because I am lazy. I`m working on a list of OP seiyuus and other roles they have done as well as a timeline of OP events.
I`m in a quandary (can you be IN a quandary? Or do you just have one? Should I be typing when I have so many drugs in my system? Probably not.) The quandary is that I am such a stupid nitpicker that I can`t continue my frickin` fanfics until I get DETAILS sorted out. Stupid, stupid details. So TRTRW is on hold and so is Watermark (the vi/ko thing for want of a better title.) And Fiddle Dee Dee is on hold too - I can`t understand why writing a humor fic is so HARD! Stupid Smoker; stay in character!
I just bought a Duobrand doujinshi. Fruit baskets have taken on a whole new meaning now - before they meant painful paper cut frozen fingers and now they mean that AND something entirely different. Damn the duo of Duobrand. Strawberries are ruined I tell you - ruined!
OP the anime is okay right now. Filler eps bore me. I WANT ACTION! No more flashbacks. Plus I am still mourning the loss of Vivi. No more slightly confused, worried Vivi to play off of; the cool counterpoint of Nico makes up for that kind of but it`s not the same. I consoled myself at these turn of events by buying a Sanji notepad the other day.
Don`t you all wish you lived in Japan? Muwahahahaha!
G`night. Hopefully when I wake up the US will be a democracy again.
:: 11:32 PM
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