My birthday, Itazura na Kiss, and LOLITA!!

WOW, it's been a long time since I posted on here XD I guess I have a lot to tell everyone ^-^"" Well, it's finally arrived: in a little more than a week, I will officially be an adult 0_0" It doesn't even seem possible XD Well, that's how it is, though XD My birthday's Friday the fifth of October, and this year I'll finally be eighteen! I'm so happy to be able to vote, and to be an adult ^-^
The second thing: Itazura na Kiss! 
Itazura na Kiss is an anime about a girl (Aihara Kotoko (said, as always on here, family name first, given name second)) who's... well, to put it bluntly, rather stupid. She's fallen for Irie Naoki, the cool, smart, hot guy in her year at school, who also happens to be good at sports. But when she confesses, she gets turned down immediately! He didn't even accept her love letter, which she'd put lots of effort into writing and making the script beautiful, and making sure there were no grammatical or spelling mistakes (everyone should follow her example: MAKE SURE NOT TO HAVE SPELLING OR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN WHAT YOU WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO READ!! XD). But when her friends come over for a pity party (they don't call it that, but that's basically what it is), there's an earthquake and her's and her dad's new house falls down! Well, who better to call in a situation like this than an old friend? So, her dad arranges for them to move in with his childhood friend, Iri-chan. Iri-chan happens to have a wife, and two sons - ONE OF WHOM IS IRIE-KUN!!! Now that Kotoko-chan and Irie-kun are living under the same roof, will she have a second chance? Well, you'd have to watch the anime to find out, wouldn't you ^-^ And trust me, it's not an anime you'd want to miss. In the beginning, it's completely shoujo anime - complete with a stupid high school girl falling for the smart, slightly mean, cool high school guy. But there are a lot of things in the anime - PARTICULARLY later in the anime - which are definitely not just for little girls. At times, the anime seemed a little pointless, but later on you realize that all the creators were really trying to do was to wrap everything up so that everyone had some kind of happy ending. In fact, the ending was so sweet that I couldn't help squee-ing horribly all through the epilogue montage XD Luckily, no one was around to hear me (it was after one AM) XD So, who would I recommend this anime to? Well, as usual, EVERYONE, but especially people who enjoy both shoujo and josei. Yes, those are both meant for women, but that doesn't mean that only women would like this anime. There are many elements which I'm sure could appeal to both male and female audiences ^-^ So, Itazura na Kiss gets a HUGE thumbs up, about 4.5 stars (it did seem like it shouldn't have continued in some places, after all), and ninety percent (which is the same as 4.5 stars... XD). All in all, a success of an anime ^-^
Lolita!!
Finally, on to the last topic!! XD Lolita clothing (specifically, MY lolita clothing XD). Well, remember those bloomers I mentioned at the beginning of summer? Yeah, those still aren't done XD And unless someone else finishes them, they probably won't get finished for a long time. I had meant to do a lot more sewing, and learning how to sew, over the summer, but one thing led to another, and suddenly it was the school year again, and I was in crunch time for auditions and colleges XD So, those won't be finished... probably ever XD However, I have found a wonderful, PERFECT seamstress. She's a girl in my school, in the same year as me. She's already made herself a few steam-punk outfits, and when I told her I was trying to learn to sew to make Lolita things for myself since buying them is so expensive, she offered to make me a dress. All I have to do is buy the fabric for her, and show her a picture of what I want (I can sort of design stuff, but I'll probably just find some dress I want her to copy XD). So, you may be getting a picture of me in a wonderful Lolita dress soon-ish ^-^
Well, that's everything ^-^ I hope anyone/everyone who's actually sticking around for this every-once-in-a-while blog sticks around for the next time I get inspired enough by an anime or fanfic or by lolita clothes to write XD

[A|S] PonyNote (Otakon 2012 Best in Show)

I'm not entirely certain what I just watched. But I know it was edited brilliantly, or the wonderful people at Otakon (which I sadly couldn't attend this year ;_;) wouldn't have given it Best in Show. GO KATIE-SAN!!! (vivifxAMV, who's AMV this is ^-^)

Sakamichi no Apollon

Hi hi ^-^ Sorry it's been so long since I've posted XD I won't lie and say I was busy, because I haven't been, but I will say that I had nothing particularly interesting to report. However, that's changed now ^-^ I just finished the anime Sakamichi no Apollon (the last episode came out on Anime Season today). First, I'll give you a trailer summary ^-^ The main character is a high school transfer student named Kaoru Kawabuchi. His mom died giving birth to him, and his father is in the military. Because of this, he gets shunted from relative to relative, hoping that each one has a piano. Wait, a piano? Yup. His only solace in his ever-changing scenery is his music. At the beginning of the anime, he's only ever played classical music. However, on his first day at his new school, when he tries to run to the roof (the only place he can be alone at school, to get away from the pressure of new people), he finds that there's a boy up there. The boy is huge, compared to his other classmates, and a first year, like Kaoru. He's fighting three upperclassmen at once, and winning. The boy is Sentaro (his last name is only mentioned in the first episode for, like, three minutes XD After that, he's Sentaro and "Sen"), and his best - and only - friend is the pretty class representative, Mukae Ritsuko (family name first). Kaoru starts hanging out with Sen to get close to Ritsuko, but the two boys quickly become friends. Together, Sen introduces Kaoru to jazz, and they play together. The anime is full of drama, intrigue, family struggles, and all the trappings of a good high school romance (and bromance, since there's that, too XD). I can definitely recommend this to anyone who likes shows like Nana (or other Josei anime), but it also has potential for those who like Naruto, and I think those who like Gakuen Alice can also find things they'll love in this anime. In other words, everyone who likes anime or manga should watch this anime!! It's sent me fangirling on more than one occasion, and it even had me crying once (I don't cry very often). Sakamichi no Apollon is definitely an anime that I would recommend to everyone =)

Bands: Tokio Hotel: Fan fiction: Tayla Fyredancer

WAAAAAH!!!! I'm sorry!! I was gone for so long... Did ya miss me??? No? Ah, well XD Okay, today I will be reviewing... *drumroll* Tayla Fyredancer, on Tokio Hotel Fiction. Before I begin, I'm just gonna give you some background on this PARTICULAR fan fiction site. First, Tokio Hotel is a german pop-rock group which consists of twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz (Bill sings, Tom plays guitar), Georg Listing (bass), and Gustav Schafer (drums). These four boys have been wildly successful all over Europe and the rest of the world as well (not so much in the rest of the world as in Europe, but most countries have a fairly large fan-base nonetheless). Now, you may also want some background on the nature of my particular quirk when it comes to this band. As you will know, if you've read my other posts, I mostly read yaoi and shounen-ai (also known as slash, and gay sex and/or romance stories). As you may have guessed, this extends to Tokio Hotel as well. Just for the record, I'm well aware that these four boys are not gay, and that my obsession with them BEING gay is kinda strange. There is a particular genre for Tokio Hotel fics called "twincest." In other words, incest between twins. This is partially because many of their songs speak of forbidden love, and because of certain things the twins have said during interviews (that they can't live without the other, etc.). It's also a product of Bill and Tom being gorgeous, and, despite being identical twins, looking nothing alike (their styles are so different that they don't look the same anymore). Now, back to Tayla Fyredancer. She writes some of the most AMAZING fics I've ever read. Most of her fics are AU (Alternate Universe) so you don't even need to know Tokio Hotel to read her fics (I suggest you look them up, though - they're awesome XD). I have two favorite series' by her. One is a post apocalypse sci-fi, where there are a few safe areas in which humans live, and the rest are dominated by demons. Bill is a college student who has felt like something has been missing his whole life, but he doesn't know what. Bill, in this fic, is supremely gay. When a man shows up who he feels an instant connection with, he immediately assumes that his person must be his soulmate, the one person who was missing from his life. He finds out later (after the wild drunken sex, of course XD) that Tom, his "soulmate" is actually his twin brother, a demon. Instead of Bill recoiling in disgust, he figures "Hey, what the hell; I usually do my own thing anyway. No one can tell me not to - they don't know who Tom is." (Bill's demon side was never quite quashed, even when living among humans.) And so, the wild story of Bill and Tom, Nephilim twins, goes on. My other favorite story by Fyredancer-san is of a slightly different nature. In it, Simone and Gordon Trumper (as previously stated, Simone is the twins' mother. Gordon is their step-father) are traveling minstrels. Gordon plays guitar and Simone paints, and they sell her paintings and Gordon plays with a band. One day, when they were nearing the end of their last caravan route (they had planned to settle down at SOME point, after all), they smell smoke. They start to leave the area, but then they hear a scream. They rush to see what's wrong, and find soldiers killing a man with fox ears. They rush to the man's aide, and he tells them that he has kits, and that his name is Jorg Kaulitz. He asks them to take care of the kits. They then see a woman ushering the kits out the back door of the small cottage - a woman without fox ears. They mark where the kits were going, and hear the woman scream. They wait until the soldiers seem to be gone, then rush after the kits. They take them in, hoping that adopting the kits will be a good move, and the rest, you'll have to read for yourself. Fyredancer's unique ideas blend with stereotypic tropes in a way that makes them seem new and amazingly interesting. Her grammar is always impeccable, and she writes with a certain fluidity that I've rarely seen anywhere else. Her stories show a remarkable amount of creativity. I would recommend her to anyone who asked for a book or story to read.

Anime: FanFiction: Lomonaaeren

Hellowses ^-^ Today, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite Harry Potter fan fiction writers, Lomonaaeren. She writes mostly Drarry (HarryxDraco) slash, but don't let that keep you from her. Yes, she writes something that most people don't support for the Harry Potter fandom (I myself have to remind myself when I'm reading it that just because it's not cannon, it doesn't make it bad), but she writes it in such a way that one forgets that it's not cannon, at least while one is reading it XD She also writes gen occasionally, and has some very good AU-in-line-with-cannon fics. At present, she's posting for her Drarry fic "Anarchy as Art" more often than her other stuff. Anarchy as Art takes place after the war; Harry did not marry Ginny in this. Apart from Harry not marrying and having kids with Ginny, everything else happened according to cannon. Malfoy, Harry knows, is a thief who brews illegal potions and teaches others to work the same way he does. However, with Malfoy's generous donations to the Ministry and St. Mungo's, as well as his flawless public manners and face, no one believes Harry. They all think he's just obsessed with Malfoy. Harry's an auror, and his boss is a nightmare. He believes in paperwork to the nth degree, and refuses to believe a series of telling events simply because Harry might be biased. Add to all that the sexual tension of Malfoy trying to make Harry fall in love with him and come to the dark side, and you have a fic that's just begging for Harry Potter lovers everywhere to read it XD

Anime: Another

Yo! Tsukiko here again, this time to talk about the anime Another *shivers* First, show of hands, who's heard of it? *no one puts up their hand* O~kay, I figured that XD  Now, I just wanna say that any spoilers I give will be from the first episode, so don't fret about me giving too much away ^_~ First of all, it is NOT for the faint of heart. It's categorized as horror and school life, but I think there's a little bit of suspense-thriller thrown in there as well. However, if you don't like those genres, don't let that tear you away from this wonderful scare-fest. It's set in the town of Yomiyama (which can be written several ways in Japanese kanji, but I'm not going to get into that here), where, in Yomiyama North High School, class 9-3, there is a curse. A curse that does what, you might ask? Now, here's where the story gets a bit confusing. The one thing we definitely know throughout the anime so far, is the story that started the curse. Just so you get a feel for the anime, I'll tell you the story of how the curse began... Twenty six years before the start of the anime, there was a girl called Misaki in class 9-3. She was well liked by everyone, because she was smart, kind, and good at sports (sounds like a perfect person, right?). But then, she died. Everyone in the class was devastated, including the teacher, until one day, a boy stood up in class and said "She's not dead; she's right there!" and pointed at Misaki's empty desk. For the rest of that year, everyone acted as though Misaki were there, and they even put a chair for her in that year's picture. But it didn't stop there... and that's where I (and the beginning credits of the first episode of Another) end my narrative XD To sum up, Another is a wonderful anime filled with suspense, gore, horror, death, and everything else that comes with being a ninth grade student XD

FanFiction.net: Good Writers?

HELLO!! Today, I'll be talking about one of my favorite writers on FanFiction.net, elarielf (who I call "Elari-san"). Alright, now, Elari-san mostly writes for Code Geass (which, if you don't know what it's about, I suggest you watch. It's a BRILLIANT anime). Elari-san writes some yaoi (mostly one-shots), some shounen-ai (occaisional one-shots, with mostly multi-chapter fics otherwise), and some gen (mostly multi-chapter fics). At present, she's writing Snapshots, which is a wonderful AU story where Lelouch is several years older than Suzaku. In this world, Lelouch escaped his father without Nunnally, to live on his own. He found an apartment across from Genbu Kururugi and his son, Suzaku, and ended up as Suzaku's baby sitter. Suzaku ends up falling in love with Lelouch, and Lelouch with Suzaku, and Lelouch must protect the virtue of mini!Zaku as he grows up (but it's more drama than comedy). At present, there are about two hundred chapters in Snapshots. But don't let that scare you ;) Elari-san's writing is compelling and well written, with almost no grammatical mistakes (yes, I'm a grammar nazi XD). If you haven't yet read Elari-san's work, I suggest you check her out. Even if you don't read Snapshots, she has several other fics she's working on, all of which are brilliant. She's in the middle of gen fic, Turning Points, right now, as well as the companion fic to Snapshots, Retouched Negatives. Both are just as good as Snapshots, though I won't go into detail about them. For those two, you'll have to read them yourself ^_~