I've moved!

If anyone's still interested in reading what I post on this blog, I've moved to livejournal and tumblr.  I kinda just stopped posting here after 2011, but my Gossip Girl reviews (and some other posts) since then are all on my LJ and tumblr. 

My LJ:

http://seravia.livejournal.com/

My Tumblr:

http://seravia.tumblr.com/

~XOXO, Seravia

Harry Potter, fanfiction, and miscellany

So, who reads fanfiction here?  Because fanfiction is the most amazing thing in the world (aside from books obviously, since that's where fanfics spawn from).  Before I get into anything, I'm going to do some shameless self-promotion and ask you all to come check out my fanfiction.net profile.  Come read my stories!  Even if they are currently being edited and some that are up are quite horrible.  Check back in a week or two.  My editing will have finished by then.

I've recently discovered this amazing Harry Potter fanfiction called Reparo by amalin.  Google it.  I'm serious.  The Harry Potter craze has been dying down a bit.  I myself have even stopped being so obsessed.  I'm just waiting for Pottermore now... and that encyclopedia that J.K. Rowling promised she'd publish eventually...  But I discovered Reparo (recommended by a fellow fanfiction author) and I'm totally hooked again.  Anyone else disappointed with how Deathly Hallows ended?  With that huge nineteen year gap between the end of the war and the epilogue?  I know I'm not the only person who would've liked to see the wizarding world, and especially Hogwarts, build itself back up from the rubble it was left in.  I mean, in the epilogue we see that all is well again.  We see that the scars from the past can be healed.  But we don't see the process of that healing.  The aftermath of war isn't pretty, but Harry Potter isn't exactly sugar and spice and everything nice.  After everything we've been through with Harry, I wanted to see him pick his life up again.  I wanted to see him have a life of his own, and not a life with Voldemort hanging over his head (or should I say inside his head, to be more accurate?).

This was/is me.  Harry Potter was my childhood.

Reparo by amalin covers the time period of reconstruction after the war.  Sure, it doesn't go all the way up to the beginning of the epilogue, but you get a glimpse of what life's like when Voldemort is gone... but the terror isn't.  After war, you don't go from fearing for your life to sending your kids off on the Hogwarts Express.  I don't doubt that in that nineteen years they would've all moved on.  But it seemed... hollow, somehow, with nothing to fill the gap.

Now, I must warn you that Reparo is a Draco/Harry fic.  I don't exactly support Drarry, though I must admit that Reparo may have changed my perspective on slash just a bit...  Reparo is definitely rated M (or R if you prefer the more common rating system).  If you can stomach Drarry enough to read a fanfiction that is practically like Rowling wrote another book, go look up this fic.  It's that good.  Dead serious.  Amalin writes the Harry Potter characters so well.  Sure, there are those fleeting moments where the illusion is shattered and you realize it's not Rowling writing, but it's as close as anyone will get without being J.K. Rowling.  She captures the post-war feeling perfectly.  She really gets Harry's character right.  He's noble, kind (but not to a fault), stubborn, uncertain, Harry freakin' Potter, and down-to-earth.

Before I start my rant about fanfiction in general, go look up Reparo.  You won't regret it.  I promise.  If you're dead set against slash, which I know one of my friends is, skip the sex scenes.  Or at least read halfway through chapter four.  It's enough to get most of the tying up of loose ends.  The rest has a lot of the Drarry relationship development though it is interspersed with more tying up loose ends.  I will admit that one of the most poignant moments is later on in the story, but take that as you will.  (Can you tell I'm trying to convince you to read this?)  It's just that we get some info about the good side of the war (not that there really ever is a "good" side... only the winning side) but next to nothing about Voldemort's side. What happened to the Death Eaters that didn't die?  Like the Malfoys.  Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy to be more specific.  When the war is over, they can't run and hide.  You can't hide from the entire wizarding world.  Draco's just a teenager, but he's still been branded with the Dark Mark.  Who would testify for a Death Eater?  Harry Potter perhaps?  Hmm?  War isn't just one side wins and suddenly the losing side disappears.  There's a huge mess to clean up.

Now, all of the above isn't to say that I blame J.K. Rowling for skipping those nineteen years.  I mean, sure, I'm a little indignant, but it's not as if it's unforgivable.  If she wrote through those nineteen years, or even just through the reconstruction of the wizarding world, she'd need a whole other book.  Not as if I'd complain about that... but what we're supposed to be left with is a feeling of hope and a feeling that justice has been served.  Right after Harry's defeated Voldemort, you feel the elation that the terror of the past seventeen years is gone.  You feel the loss of the deaths in the war, but you know a new world has just been born.  Had Rowling written the aftermath, things would have started to get murky.  When it isn't you either raise your wand and say "Avada Kedavra!" or get struck by that green light yourself, the line between right and wrong blurs.  What do you do with those Death Eaters that are still loose?  How do you rebuild a world that has just been knocked flat off its feet?  How do you deal with the terror that still lingers in the hearts of the people?  If all this was added to the end of the book, we would be left with a completely different feeling altogether.  While it would be more realistic and more complete, it wouldn't send the message Harry Potter was supposed to send.

Of course, this is exactly what fanfiction is for.  If these gaps didn't exist in stories, what would fanfiction authors write about?  Some fanfiction is innocent as could be: holding hands, kissing, talking, etc.  But then... there's the crazy pairings, crazier ideas, and even crazier authors who manage to make all this craziness work and fool your mind into thinking this was all canon to begin with.  Props to them.  When I say crazy pairings, I mean crazier than you could ever imagine.  Even as a fanfiction author.  Think Drarry is strange?  How 'bout Drapple?  Draco and an apple.

See?  Drapple.

Go rewatch the films.  Do you realize how often Draco is with an apple?  Pretty darn often.  How do you write a romance fic about Draco and an apple?  Honestly?  I'm not sure.  I'm not adventurous enough to look it up.  If that doesn't give you an idea of how crazy these ideas can be, I'm not sure what else would.  Of course this isn't to say that you shouldn't go read fanfiction anyway!  Because you should.  Oh, tangent-ish.  Tom Felton knows about fanfiction and fanart.  I mean, I suppose it's hard not to being an actor in the most popular series.  But there's been interviews of him talking about Drarry!  He looks suitably embarrassed each time, but it's pretty awesome.  He mentioned Drapple too.

I absolutely love Tom Felton after seeing him in interviews.  Actually, I love British and Canadian actors right now.  Not American ones though.  With the exception of Chace Crawford.  Before someone asks, I do live in America.  I am not British or Canadian and bashing Americans.  I just happen to love how down-to-earth British actors are.  I'm not sure about Canadian ones, but I imagine they're pretty down-to-earth too.  To quote one of my friends who loves Draco Malfoy, "He's aged very well, hasn't he?"  And yes, he really has.

Aw.  Look at little Tom, swimming in his jacket.  And then look at very attractive older Tom.

He looks much better in real life than in Harry Potter.  It's startling to see how different Tom is from Draco.  I've always expected that the roles actors play are at least somewhat like themselves.  But it appears I was wrong.  Tom is so nice and funny!  He makes a very good villain.  And he and Dan Radcliffe are good friends!  Shocker, much?  He's very indulgent with his fans.  He seems like the one you'd have the easiest time having a conversation with.  Not to mention, he's very, very attractive.  For someone who used to roll her eyes at my friend's obsession with Draco, I'm just swimming in praise for him, aren't I?  I just can't get him out of my head.  I tell you, this is all going to spill out of me the second I see another Harry Potter fan.

I've always wondered about actors' reactions to reading fanfiction about themselves.  How weird would it be to for Dan Radcliffe or Tom Felton to read Drarry?  I mean, for them especially since half their lives have been devoted to this one character.  I would expect that Harry and Draco, respectively, feel like an extension of themselves now.  Oh!  Watch this scene!

Now, for some background.  After filming this scene in Dumbledore's office, Jason Isaacs wanted to add something, so he and the director decided they would do another take and he would improv a line.  However, they didn't tell Dan about this.  So Jason Isaacs said that line about Harry always being around to save the day, and without batting an eye, Dan improv'd his "Don't worry, I will be," line.  Can you believe that wasn't part of the script?  It fit in so seamlessly!  And Dan was what?  Twelve?  Thirteen?

To return to fanfiction, you people really need to go read Reparo.  It's amazing.  Fanfiction is a slippery slope.  When you first start reading, your limits for what you will and will not read will be a mile high.  You'll start out finding out about M rated fanfiction and the crazy things that go on, and say, "I would never, ever read M!"  (The M rating is only one example of a limit.  There are many, many others you may start out with.)  Then one day, you'll find yourself coming upon that fic you promised you'd never read and think, "What the hell?" and read it.  Then pretty soon, you start relenting and reading more of these M rated fics.  Then, god forbid, you find yourself liking these fics.  And then, and then!  Gasp!  You find yourself clicking the rating filter and looking for M rated fanfiction.  And then one day... you'll realize that you no longer have any limits on what you will and will not read.  I must admit that I have cleared the final hurdle and made it to the "limitless" stage.  Just yesterday too!  Thanks to Reparo.  You see, I started out saying I would never read M.  Much like the quote above!  But that line was crossed ages ago.  In fact, that line has been so thoroughly stomped on, scoffed at, and scrubbed away that it's quite funny.  I don't believe I recall the other limits I set myself when I first began this activity we call "reading fanfiction."  But the one thing I always vehemently refused to read was slash (which are male/male or female/female pairings.)  That hurdle has been thoroughly smashed through thanks to Reparo.  It's not as if I haven't given it a try before when I felt particularly adventurous.  I came across a Sora/Riku fic for Kingdom Hearts once.  But I only liked it because it was very short and the slash was so mild that if you squinted just a liiiitle, you could pretend Sora and Riku were just very close friends.  Which they are.  Of course... then I decided maybe I would be okay with slash and looked up Sora/Riku straight out.  Then, I found a particularly explicit fic and was turned off the idea immediately.  Haven't thought to try it since.  When I started Reparo I had a feeling it might be Drarry, but only because somewhere it said Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy.  Being my previously non-slash-reading self, I deluded myself into thinking that just meant they were the main characters.  How my mind managed to work that out... I'm still not sure.  No one uses that notation to denote main characters.  The "/" always means romance.  But the thought just kept popping up in the back of my mind.  And when the Drarry part started... I kinda just accepted it.  My mind had already been trying to convince me it was true from the beginning.  Evidently, it succeeded.  I plan to look up more Drarry.  Though I'm not sure if I could stomach any other slash pairings...

What I have realized is that anyone can write a typical straight romance story.  But it takes an adventurous, daring, and above all good author to write slash.  Because of today's society's prejudices (even if they aren't widespread and are, for the most part, unspoken), people hesitate before writing slash.  You don't do it unless you're sure you want to.  If you're teetering on the edge, most people will choose the safer option and write straight romance.  Moreover, romance is meant to be a side plot.  Romance alone cannot sustain a story.  Not to add to the Twilight bashing, but that's why Twilight fell apart, in my opinion.  Romance can catch your attention, which is why so many people got into Twilight.  However, it can't hold your attention indefinitely.  Think of the classics, the books that have survived the ages.  Sure, many of them include romance, but they aren't centered in it.  For anyone who's read Gone With the Wind, yes Scarlett and Rhett's relationship is big part of the book.  But more importantly, it's about the South during and after the war.  It's about survival.  It's a book that takes place during the Civil War on the losing side.  Without that, the story would fall apart.  Few authors have managed to achieve the balance of romance and story in a book.  I'm afraid that J.K. Rowling does not fall under those few for me.  Well... actually, I should say that she does until we reach the sixth book.

Getting back to my initial point about fanfiction authors, most also fail to achieve the precarious balance of romance and plot in a story.  A quick, fluffy romance fic will be entertaining and satisfying to read, but not necessarily memorable.  Off hand, I can only name a couple fanfictions from the fandoms I read that I truly can't forget.  Reparo is one of them from Harry Potter.  Another is actually a trilogy with the first called Promises Unbroken by Robin4.  I've done enough ranting about Reparo.  There's little more I could say without giving everything away.  Promises Unbroken is about the Marauders and what could've happened if Sirius had remained Secret Keeper for the Potters and refused to give the location to Voldemort.  It's simply amazing.  It basically throws out everything we currently know about the HP universe and creates a whole new one but still manages to keep the characters we love in character the way we'd expect them to be if Rowling were the one writing.  This is another fic you all must read.

Wow, still haven't gotten to my point.  All I really wanted to say is that authors who write slash tend to be better authors than the ones who don't write slash.  I believe it's because it takes a special, confident author to write slash, naturally making them more inclined to write good stories.  Of course, I do not speak for every single slash author in saying that they are amazing.  Nor do I speak for every non-slash author in saying that they are not amazing.  I'm sure there are some horrible slash authors, I just haven't come across them because I haven't looked up slash yet.  And there are some truly great, unforgettable authors who do not write slash.  My standards for fanfiction have fallen some.  I often settle for average fanfictions to read because it is becoming increasingly difficult to find amazing stories in the romance section.  It's just a treat when I do manage to find one of those amazing stories.  However, for slash, my standards seem to be extremely high.  Impossibly high perhaps.  We shall find out about that soon.  In order to draw me into a slash fic, it really has to be amazing.  Otherwise, what am I doing reading it?  I can find a fic of equal quality for a pairing I like better that's not slash.

I suppose "miscellany" was not covered in this incredibly long blog post.  I did mean to go into Kingdom Hearts, but that may make this double in length.  To be brief, I had the hardest time beating Ursula in Atlantica the first time around.  Such a hard time that I even left Atlantica to go back to Traverse Town to smack some soldiers around for catharsis.  I managed it at the end, but now I have to beat her for the second time.  In giant form too.  Wooo...  Who else hates Atlantica?  I certainly do.

December 5 - Riding in Town Cars with Boys

Riding in Town Cars with Boys (Season 5, Episode 10)

Ahhh!  Hiatus!!!  Nooo!!! I can't wait till January 16th to see what happens!  Saw the preview for The End of the Affair?  The music... was very different.  It was so slow and sad.  It was so unlike the music Gossip Girl usually uses.  Music is a way to set the mood.  What mood are they trying to set?  It scares me.  I mean, they won't kill Chuck.  They already played that card once for the season 3 season finale with Chuck ending up shot. They can't kill Chuck.  They already killed Bart.  Seeing Blair and Chuck in those stretchers... and seeing Chuck comatose.  It was horrible.  And Blair pleading for Chuck to live.  And she lost her baby.  I just know it.  Her crying after Serena told her she lost a lot of blood.  Who didn't see this coming?  I just hope they can properly deal with the grief of losing the baby.

Now, let's talk about this week's episode.  Nate the businessman is awesome!  Being in control suits him.

"Bibbity Bobbity Boo!  I will never leave you again!"  Oh, I love Dorota.  She's awesome.  She's comic relief and the voice of reason.  She's Blair's conscience.

Blair - "Princesses don't go to Queens."
Dorota - "Need to marry Louis to be a princess."
Good come back Dorota.  If Blair can give up her dream of being a princess for Chuck, then she truly loves him.  All Blair's ever wanted is to be a princess.  That's why she fell for Lord Marcus and Prince Louis.  And before that, Nate was Prince Charming.  Chuck didn't fit into the picture because he's not a prince.  But if she's willing to find that dividing line between dreams and reality and plant herself on the reality side of it, then she's finally figured things out.

Serena and Dan?  Heart-to-heart?  Very sweet.  But I really hope they're not trying to bring back the Derena relationship.  I feel like they've been hinting at it for forever.  Serena's been getting all jealous of Blair since she found out she and Dan are friends.  Geez.  She's Serena Van der Woodsen.  She's not supposed to jealous of Blair Waldorf.  Jealousy is not pretty on you, S.  Your jealous.  So you ruin your best friend's future?  Classy.  Real classy.  Don't get me wrong.  Louis deserves better.  But Serena isn't Louis' best friend.  She's Blair's.  It's like how my best friend's roommate asked me for my friend's secrets.  I gave them something harmless then told my friend about it.  Her roommate got mad at me for doing that.  ...Hello?  I'm her best friend!  Not yours!  Why would you think for a second I would keep it a secret from my friend?  With Serena, your best friend is somewhere she shouldn't be considering she's engaged.  You don't go running off to her fiance to tattle!  She's going to help Louis get the ending he deserves?  What, by killing the ending Blair deserves?  Where does your loyalty lie, S?

Serena actually realized that Dan was the best guy she dated.  You know, she blames Lily all the time for jetting off for a boyfriend, for getting married a billion times, and for choosing the men in her life over her children.  But Serena, look at yourself.  For almost every guy in her life, she's had to give up her family, or at least part of herself.  And she does it willingly!  Aside from Nate and Dan, there's Ben, Trip, Aaron, Gabriel, Carter, and Colin.  (I'm not positive that this list is complete.)  Your mother chose the men in her life over her children?  Then like mother, like daughter, huh, S?

"I don't think I've ever gotten it right before him... or since him."  Wow, S.  Such insight.  Who knew you'd ever figure that out.  Hindsight is 20/20, after all.

I really wanted Dan to tell Blair how he felt.  He needs closure.  But I have to say, what he did was much more admirable.  He's starting the slow climb back up to being the Dan he used to be.  The good Dan.  The one who didn't get drunk and crash bridal showers.  It was so cute seeing Blair and Dan hug!!!  Blair stil cares about Dan enough to go to him and pour her feelings out.  I love Dan and Blair together.  They're from two different worlds, but intellectually, they're the same.  Blair is the smartest one out of her friends.  She and Dan are the only ones who could get into Yale on merit and not because of their family name.  What matters is what's inside.  On the surface, Dan and Blair are like oil and vinegar.  But even oil and vinegar mix together briefly when you shake the bottle.  Dan and Serena could never work long term because they can't understand each other.  Sure, Serena is trying to be all good now.  But she can't keep it up.  The party girl comes out every once in a while.  The problem is, when the old Serena reappears, disaster strikes.  Dan is intellectual, he cares about books.  Serena cares about... what exactly does Serena care about?  Getting her way?  Doing what suits her?  I'm not saying that Serena needs to be well-versed in the classics and be able to recite Shakespearean sonnets to be with Dan.  The problem is that they don't value the same things.

Oh yeah.  Loooooved the Dan/Blair hug.  Blair ruined it by being, well, Blair.  But it was sweet while it lasted!  I can't believe Dan actually set up that candlelit room to get Chuck and Blair together.  I totally thought it was gonna be him confessing his feelings.  I actually banged my head on my desk when I first saw them walk in.  I was like... No!  Dan, that's so cheesy!  You can't seriously think you should confess how you feel like this.  And then he didn't.  So I loved him again.  Poor Dan.  Even though his heart was breaking, he did what he had to to make Blair happy.

Loved Blair's reaction to the room.   "You brought me to watch a human sacrifice.  Or and episode of the Bachelor.  Either way, I'm not happy!"  Laughed so hard.

What's with the oil on the ground under Blair's limo?  I'm not well-versed in cars, so I have no idea if that was supposed to be a "Ooooo!" moment.

Wonder if Max had anything to do with Nate's chauffeur taking him to the UES instead of the airport.  When he saw Nate outside Chivy's party, he kept staring after Nate's limo.  I wonder if he was memorizing the license plate...  I'm not sure what good that would do though.

Serena sounded so disappointed when she realized Dan really wanted to tell Blair he loves her.
Dan - "How do you kill a feeling?"
Serena - "I don't know..."

The scene reminded me so much of that scene just before prom with Chuck and Serena!  Watch the video!  I mean, I guess it's not exactly the same, but it's similar.  And Dan says that he just wants Blair to be happy.  Sigh.  Love.

Can I just say that the New York City skyline at night is gorgeous?

"I'm the fraud."  YES!  The words I've been waiting for for six months!  Since the end of season 4!  Finally!  And now... we wait another month (or more) to find out what's gonna happen to Ivy.  She's finally stopped being Charlie.

What do Diana and Jack have to do with any of this?

Change is the only thing that's constant.  Trying to stop it is like trying to stop the tide.

~XOXO, Seravia

Artemis Fowl

Has anyone read Artemis Fowl?  There's seven books out right now and we have a title and release date for the final book!  Ahhhh!  The last book is called Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian.  It's coming out July 10, 2012, at least according to Amazon.  It's so exciting!  I was so obsessed with Percy Jackson as recently as two days ago, but then I found out about the last Artemis Fowl book and my obsession immediately transferred from PJO to AF.

I loved the first six books.  Actually, maybe six is going a bit far.  I loved the first five.  The sixth... was only awesome because it gave us so much Artemis/Holly romance.  The plotline... Wow.  Opal is getting seriously old.  And now there's two of her?  Why?  Really, why Eoin Colfer?  I mean, time travel, awesome.  Artemis stealing magic, awesome upon awesome.  Arty/Holly kiss?  Holy Zeus!  But Eoin Colfer crushed my hopes and dreams...  There's this video of him talking about... stuff that I don't remember, but he mentions the relationship between Arty and Holly.  He says that he'd never actually let them get together because they're two different species!  You can't do that!  I was like... nooooo!  You can't do this to me!  I live for Arty/Holly!  (At least, in the AF part of my brain, I do.)  But yeah.  The Time Paradox was awesome in terms of Arty/Holly.  But... I didn't love the rest quite as much.  The Atlantis Complex... now that was just screwy.  I mean, don't get me wrong, TAC was good at some points, but it didn't exceed my expectations.  Turnball Root and his wife... I mean, great fairies and humans can be together.  That's gold in terms of Arty/Holly.  We have something to go on!  Artemis and Holly could get together!  I mean, things didn't turn out well with Turnball and his wife... but Turnball's a jerk.  Artemis... can also be a jerk, but he's much better than Turnball.  This pairing came from nowhere though.

Artemis developing Atlantis Complex... seemed so strange.  I mean, I don't doubt there's a fairy disease like that, because you know, if you're more advanced in medicine, you're more advanced in disease too.  But it was such an abrupt departure from the other books.  And now I'm sure a good portion of The Last Guardian will be spent on talking about Arty's Atlantis Complex.  Artemis isn't supposed to get sick... he's Artemis Fowl!  And then Orion?  Who just happens to be in love with Holly?  C'mon.  If that isn't Eoin Colfer throwing us a bone, then what is it?  I know Artemis isn't going to live as long as Holly, but that doesn't mean it can't work while he lives...

I've been skeptical about The Last Guardian.  One, the title is cheesy.  Everything before was... tasteful and a little puzzling until you finished the book.  Except maybe Atlantis Complex, but that's one I have issues with.  It's something about in the war between fairies and humans, the fairies that died were buried around a portal leading to the fairy world.  And now Opal opens the portal, and of course, this portal just happens to be located at Fowl Manor.  And these fairies will possess humans, so they'll be possessing the Fowls.  And apparently, rabbits and a porcupine.  Strangest thing I've ever heard an author say in an interview.  I didn't even know porcupines existed at Fowl Manor...  So of course, this'll be another race against time.  I'm sure they'll almost die, but make it.  And in a previous interview, Colfer's mentioned that Arty has to make the choice between being a good person and giving up cash, or being a bad person and getting a pile of cash.  And Arty will choose to be good.  And he'll give up the fairy world... So I'm so confused.  I don't know if the info from the previous interview is accurate anymore either.

Ponder the previous books with me.  Artemis Fowl, Arty is the bad guy and he and Holly basically tie.  He gets half the gold, Holly takes the other half away.  You win some, you lose some.  The Arctic Incident.  They start cooperating, saves Arty's father and quells the goblin rebellion.  Eternity Code.  C-Cube, more cooperation.  Arty's dangerous.  Mind wipe.  Opal Deception.  Arty gets his memory back.  Opal.  What else is there to say?  Lost Colony.  Saving demon colony.  The whole losing three years thing was a little screwy too.  Time Paradox.  Goes back in time to save JayJay to help Angeline who's actually being possessed by Opal.  Convolutions galore.  Atlantis Complex.  Arty's basically crazy. He's a prisoner of his own brilliant mind.  They need him, he can't help.  Turnball's loopy.  Last Guardian.  Fairy spirits possessing the Fowls?  There's a portal from the fairy world to the mudman world?  What?  Why was none of this ever mentioned before?  Does no one else see the train of thought derailing?  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited as hell.  But I'm just hoping it exceeds my expectations.

Now, I shall rant about a project I did for my Mythology class involving Artemis Fowl.  Oh I know perfectly well that AF has nothing to do with mythology. Unless you interpret mythology as stuff that isn't real.  But we're talking Greek mythology, norse mythology, etc.  We were told to do a 45 minute presentation on a film of our choice.  I chose to do a book.  I chose Artemis Fowl.  I decided to prove that Holly is the reason for Artemis' change from the criminal to a good person.  We all know that's true.  But hey, you could say that Butler or Angeline caused the change!  I found so much stuff supporting Arty/Holly!  The books are a freaking gold mine of Arty/Holly romance!  How could Eoin Colfer deny that it's happening?  The most important piece of proof I found was in The Opal Deception.  Foaly said that Artemis would revert back to old Artemis after his mind wipe.  He does to some extent, but not completely.  But after meeting Holly, he doesn't believe that Holly's his friend. But he trusts her.  He starts changing again, BEFORE getting his memories back.  He decides he doesn't need compensation for helping Holly before he regains his memories.  Ha!  Holly is the catalyst for his change!  It's clear as day.  And I can actually find solid proof!  I'm not just saying it!

Phew!  Can't wait for The Last Guardian to come out!

~XOXO, Seravia

November 28 - Rhodes to Perdition

Rhodes to Perdition (Season 5, Episode 9)

Whoa... I'm a week late, but this episode was full of... awesome and crap.  Oh, and the preview, and that apparently, the episode today is the midseason finale!!!  Noooo!  No hiatuses!  My winter break ends on January 16th!  I still won't be able to watch GG at home the entire break!  Whyyyyy?  One more thing, I'll be making references to a page here.  So here's the link if you'd like to look.  Very funny too.

Okay!  *rubs hands together excitedly*  Let's get started!

CeCe's back?  Yay...  Although this time, she seems to be different.  She actually seems to care.  And she's actually sick this time!  Gasp!  Wonder what it is.  If it's cancer again... I'll scream.  Cancer plotlines are so over done.  Although I'm sure it's not cancer.  Cancer doesn't make you pass out like that.  Anyone have guesses?

The article I have linked above refers to Charlie/Ivy as Chivy.  Love that.  From now on, that's what I'm gonna call her.  So, how is Chivy not dying of guilt!  The Van der Woodsen/Rhodes/Humphreys/whatever else they are constantly bombard Chivy with "You're a Rhodes now!" or how much they want her here because she's family.  Oh yeah, CeCe was there for Chivy's birth, and her bones are telling her that this is her granddaughter?  Wow.  CeCe.  You've got more issues than just an illness.  And really believing everything that come out of Chivy's mouth?  I mean, to some extent, when you first get back in touch with a relative you haven't seen in a long time, you're a little wary and you're kinda on your best behavior.  But after a while, that stops.  If she's a Rhodes, that means she's got champion lying/scheming talent.  You'll really believe everything she says?

OMGG!  In the beginning when Serena took off her heels, she lost sooo much height!  It's like she shrunk!  I don't know why, but that amused me to no end.

Dan... you don't rebut every mean comment.  You'd be there all your life.  Oh wait, that's what he's doing.  He's supposed to just take the comments gracefully.  Oh Dan... you're heading down a road I don't like.  Don't go back to season one!  I love new Dan!

I think Blair's still searching for her fairytale... and she thought Louis could give it to her.  He was so romantic, with bringing her her shoe and being an actual freaking prince!  But... he's changing.  And she's realized that she doesn't love every facet of him.  That's the problem with fairytales.  They're not real.  Poor Blair.

Nate's leading a whole business!  Holy Zeus!  Loving this new Nate!  Suddenly smart... and has business sense... wow.  Me likey.  But... Nate, where are your brains coming from?  Did they suddenly wake up in your head or something?

Serena's an insurance policy?  Whoa, UES is very catching, and Max has clearly caught it.  Very, very quickly.

Blair's sad that Chuck let go of her, isn't she?  She's totally still in love with him.  Hearing about Chuck giving back the engagement ring... that must've been such a hit.  Although I loved that scene.  Chuck just sets down the ring and walks away.  So poignant.  My friend asked me why Chuck would do that.  Why he would leave a Harry Winston ring in the open.  I was like... don't ruin it!  It's was so beautiful!  The point of the scene was to show Chuck letting go, not getting the ring stolen!  Which... I guess it was nearly stolen once when he was shot.

Where the Hades is the actual Charlie?  Carol's like, they'd kill me if they found out what really happened to Charlotte Rhodes.  What happened to her???

Wow, S, jealous much?  Sweet to evil in 60 seconds!  This is why I don't think Serena changed.

"I see the groom is here too."  Awwwwww!  Chuuuuck!

Really?  Chivy says that Max is blackmailing her with a tape and is afraid that he'll do the same to Serena?  Too late!  Been there, done that!  Georgina, anyone?

What happened to the Nate and Dan bromance?  I mean... I know Nate was mad at Dan after Inside, but I figured he'd forgive Dan.  He's Nate!  He didn't even send tips to Gossip Girl!  He's the most good one there!

Nate - "You still love her, huh?"
Chuck - "I can't imagine the day I won't."
OMGG!!!  So sweet!  Chair is making a come back!  I wish Dair would make a come back too...

Max has no power, how the Hades is he going to do anything to Chivy?  "No one can touch me anymore.  I'm a Rhodes now."  Wow, Chivy.  Conceited!  All she wants is a family?  You don't go deceiving a perfectly good (albeit messed up) family to get one!  I still feel no sympathy for Chivy.  Sorry.

The preview for this next episode!  Ah!  Blair's back in Brooklyn?  I can't wait!!!  And there's a hug!  Holy Zeus, I can't wait!  Dair really is making a come back!  Or it better be.  Every other time they hinted at Dair they shot it down.  I just hope they don't make us wait till after the hiatus to shoot us down again.  Last season, they freeze-framed the long-awaited Dair kiss, and then made Blair say it meant nothing after two months!  Two months!  I can't do that again!  And a Chair kiss...  Hmm... they've been pretty faithful to Chair in the previews.  Maybe that'll actually happen.  And a car crash?  Who dies?!  Last time, Bart died!  Maybe we'll have another death this time.

I got no inspirational message this time.  Sooo...

~XOXO, Seravia

NaNoWriMo

First, let me say that I'm sorry I haven't reviewed (*cough*ranted*cough*) about the most recent Gossip Girl episode yet.  I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet for a very good reason!  I've been doing a writing challenge called NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  Every November, they hold this writing challenge challenging you to write 50,000 words in the thirty day month of November.  If you finish, you're considered a winner.  It may not seem like a huge achievement.  All you have to do is write it right?  It's not like anyone's reading it.  You need a daily minimum of 1667 words.  Trust me, it ain't as easy as you think.  It eats your life!  Eats it I tell you!

This entire month, I haven't met the daily minimum on a single day.  Finally, I was determined to meet the minimum of 48,333 yesterday.  So I did.  I had a test today.  I was supposed to study.  Which I did.  And then I immediately wrote another 6000 words yesterday just to meet that minimum.  And I finished today!!!  Gods is it nice to not have this hanging over my head anymore.  I couldn't even enjoy my week long thanksgiving vacation thanks to NaNo.  But it's over!!! Yes!  Such relief!  But so much fun while it was happening too.  I found someone who goes to the same college as me on the forums and we met up at the Student Union to chat.  It was pretty cool.

I wrote a story set in ancient China in the Qing Dynasty.  The fourth prince named Hong Li finds a wounded bird and brings it home to take care of it.  But eventually, he finds out that this bird is an angel named Bao Ling.  He falls in love with Bao Ling and she falls in love with him too.  But he can't be with her because he has to be faithful to his duty as a prince.  He's forced to marry and take the throne.  He begs Bao Ling to run away with him, but Bao Ling refuses, knowing he has a duty to his country.  Hong Li never forgets Bao Ling and his love for her.

My story is my baby now.  I just have to finish it...  I ended with 50,082 words and I still have a chunk of story left to go.  So much work, but I can't wait for next year so I can do it all over again!  See the badge on the right side of the page?  It's for my winning NaNoWriMo this year!  Check it out!  And try NaNoWriMo!

Kingdom Hearts

Does anyone play the game Kingdom Hearts?  It's a video game series developed by Square Enix, featuring Disney.  It's an awesome game, just FYI.  If you like Disney, playing video games with plot and action, you'd love this game.  I'm personally not a fan of video games to begin with, but I started playing this game because my friends all loved it.  Funny story.  My parents asked me if I wanted a PS2, because that's the console KH1 and KH2 are on.  I told them no.  And then... guess what?  They got me a PS2!  Wasn't that excited at first, but KH is an awesome game.  I think video games need both a plot and some kind of action, so you're not just running around aimlessly.  And this plot is very family friendly, but at the same time gets into darker tones.  Cliched at times, but hey, anything connected to Disney movies is always somewhat cliched.  That's the epitome of the Disney princess movies.  And the action isn't killing... not really.  The games are near impossible to explain because they've become so convoluted.  But I'll try.  A boy named Sora finds that he can wield a blade called the keyblade (which is exactly what it sounds like, a blade which looks like a key) and has to go to different worlds (mostly Disney worlds) and destroy the Heartless (created from darkness) which are trying to take over the worlds.  He succeeds, and then stuff happens.  And he has to do it again... kinda.  And there's a lot more convolutions, but that's the bare bones.

Isn't this awesome? 

I played and finished the first game years ago.  I actually only finished the second game over the summer. (I've had the games for at least four years.)  But that's beside the point...  I recently got back into the game so I'm replaying the game on expert mode.  All the KH games have secret endings that you can unlock if you fulfill certain criteria.  Most of these secret endings are trailers for the next game to be released, or at the very least, alludes to future games.  All these videos are on youtube, certainly, but I'm just obsessed with seeing them on the TV screen and feeling the satisfaction that I was able to unlock it.  Haven't been able to unlock them yet... I have three of the KH games.  KH1, KH2, and KH: Birth By Sleep.  When I played KH1, I wasn't aware of these secret endings, and it was the first video game I've ever played that I've ever been invested in.  I barely got through, had no skill whatsoever, and literally mashed buttons until I a) won, or b) died.  Most times... it was choice b.  When I got lucky, or at a high enough level, I'd win.  But then I learned about unlocking secret endings, and decided to do everything I could for KH2.  I gave up... it was terrible.  I beat the hardest boss in the game, Sephiroth (and sat there shaking in excitement for a good five minutes afterward) and then gave up because I couldn't beat a mini-game called Cargo Climb.  Yes, it was just as pathetic as it sounds.  All that blood, sweat, and tears, only to give up thanks to a mini-game.  Sigh.

Beat him.

Got beat by this.

Now, playing on expert, I sorta know what's coming up, and I have some skill in playing the game.  I had to learn while playing KHBBS, in which mashing buttons doesn't work.  So I think that helped in getting through expert mode more smoothly.  What took me fifty tries to defeat the first time now takes less than five.  Of course... some things that took me one try to beat now takes me fifty... So, I'm iffy on this whole improvement thing.

Isn't this just epic looking?  It's from a cut scene, but this is the kind of stuff you see!

This is the Battle of 1000 Heartless.  Yes, it was literally 1000.  It was not exaggerating.  But... it was actually quite cathartic hacking my way through them.  

There's this world called Monstro.  It's a giant whale from Pinocchio, I think?  I'm not that familiar with Pinocchio.  But Monstro literally swallows you as you're travelling between worlds.  See, you have something called a gummi ship that allows you to travel within the deep space all the worlds are floating in.  And... Monstro is just swimming in this deep space.  And it swallows you!  As you're trying to get to a different world!  It's quite traumatic the first time.

Imagine being swallowed by that!

Your gummi ship stalls, and you just see this giant... thing coming at you.  And when it gets closer, you see it's a ginormous whale that's at least ten times larger than your ship.  It flies around you a couple times, and then it's mouth opens and you get swallowed!  It's crazy!  Oh, and when you get inside the whale, you literally travel around through the insides of the whale, jumping around in its mouth, its throat, its stomach, and chambers (in its stomach, I think).  Not only that, the ground under your feet (which is the innards of a whale!) jiggles... And all the walls and the ceiling around you jiggles too!  Just on its own!  It's not like you step somewhere, and it jiggles.  It just jiggles randomly, all the time!  It's really freaky.  It's also really colorful and spotted.  Considering where you are... it's just freaky.  And then, the boss you fight is called a parasite cage.  Which makes sense since you encounter it inside a whale.

This is the parasite cage.  Imagine fighting this... inside the stomach of a whale.  

But when you finish fighting the parasite cage the second time, Monstro sneezes (yes, it sneezes!) and you get sneezed out!  I just re-finished Monstro and just realized that you get sneezed out.  I originally thought it just spit you out cuz it decided you were giving it a stomachache or something.  Which is equally plausible!  Probably more so... since you weren't jumping around Monstro's nose... so I don't really know why you would get sneezed out anyway...

There's a crapload more I could rant about.  And a crapload more that I want to rant about.  But it's past midnight, and I should really stop... I'm sure there will be many more posts about Kingdom Hearts (especially since I'm on break right now) so bear with me!  So I'll do my best to intersperse these random posts with something about Gossip Girl.  Now, I shall leave you with one final epic picture.  Er... maybe two.

This is The World That Never Was.

This is a map of all the KH worlds from all the games.  (I think.)  

I think that first picture of The World That Never Was is just beyond epic.  I've noticed that every single world has a light and dark side.  You can see an image of each world before you land, and like the picture you see above, part of it is light (to top, white castle) and the other part is dark (the bottom, dark city).  I don't know how well you can see all the worlds in the second picture, but they're all pretty epic.

~XOXO, Seravia