Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Disappointment (a little)

 
Okay, I'm not a hardcore gamer or anything, but I am a massive fan of the Kingdom Hearts series. I don't care for the gameplay or anything, I just love the storyline and half of its characters; I even adopted Roxas in one of my fictional works. So anytime they put out a new KH game, I'm watching the cutscenes on YouTube. Guess what I did this weekend: watched the cutscenes for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. I'll be honest, some of the things they wound up doing pissed me off a bit, and I'm here to rant about it.
Warning: This is going to be a spoiler-heavy post.

So, in this game, Yen Sid decides to make Sora and Riku take the Keyblade Mastery Exam to become Keyblade Masters (Yes, Riku's hair is shorter). I was thinking 'Sora's already a Keyblade Master; he'll ace this.' Their test was to awaken seven sleeping worlds (don't ask, I didn't care enough about this part) and off they went, separately. During their journeys, they both run into a younger version of Xehanort (the baddie of the series) and either Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, or Xemnas, former leader of the previously destroyed Organization XIII, were in his company. As we go on through the game, we realize that Xehanort and his various forms are still out there and there is a plot afoot, aided by time travel (yes, I said time travel). Well, we get to the end of the exam and the end of the game, and by some stupid crap, Sora wasn't made a Keyblade Master and Riku was. I'd totally let Riku have it, but I went through three games of Sora proving he was boss and the main character, only for him to not get a damn title. Screw you, Yen Sid, screw you. Merlin was better.
Also, there are clips of certain former Organization members waking up. My first thought: 'Yessss! My favorite characters are coming back!'Then, things start to get a little weird. Axel is one of the ones revived, and his tattoos are missing. Later, you find that the former Nobodies are complete again; therefore, Axel is now known as Lea. Another thing about Lea? He can use a keyblade. Yes, you read that right. Don't believe me? Get to YouTube. It turns out, when someone loses their heart and they get a Nobody, that Nobody starts to immediately try to make a new heart as quickly as possible. That means Xemnas lied to every poor soul in that black-cloaked organization, including Demyx! That boy goes through enough! So Zexion, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Xaldin were restored to their original selves, along with Axel, because their hearts and nobodies were both destroyed. I'm slightly confused as well, everyone. I don't care; I just want the Organization of Hilarious Hotties to come back.
Oh, Xehanort's plot? Star a keyblade war. How will he do that? Well, it turns out the Organization was actually made to create thirteen vessels for different pieces of Xehanort's heart to be the thirteen darknesses to fight the seven pure lights a.k.a. the Princesses of Heart. Seven keyblade users will rise up to protect the lights, thus, starting a war. There: the plot for KH3.
I flipped out that Saix was also revived and was alright. Sure, he's one of the thirteen darknesses and the last thing I want is for him to become a Xehanort clone, but the fact that he's alive means he stands a chance to escape!! I love that sexy, sexy man, even though his name is Isa now. I hope he gets out of KH3 alive.
I've pretty much decided that this series constantly plays a game of "Let's see if we can make this Xehanort character even hotter", and they usually succeed. I don't know what to make of Tetsuya Nomura's road with this storyline and its details, but at least he keeps his female audience in mind.

Mahbu vs The Night!!

Everything kind of went to hell for me around midnight.
I was sitting on my front porch with one of the stray cats that adopted my house, Francesco (don't let the name fool you, it's a girl), when Zazu, another cat that loves to lay all over our lawn and I'm pretty sure raped Francesco before, decided to drop by. Francesco hates Zazu like a feminist hates any year before 1920, and proceeded to express her ill-feelings for him by bitch-slapping him in the face when he got too close. Usually she just hisses, but this time she felt the need to get violent, and I can't blame her; for some reason, Zazu wanted to violate her personal bubble no matter what kind of fit she was throwing. He proceeded to stalk her around the porch, and when she finally tried to slink away along the house, he pushed her against the wall and chased her to my backyard. Now out of the demons' presence, I ran inside and jumped into bed, a little scarred from witnessing that.
This, however, was not to be my final trial of the night. I heard a rustling, and, after looking at my roommate on the couch, I could eliminate her, since she was napping. I was the only other alive thing in my room that I was aware of, and I wasn't rustling anything. It could only mean one thing.......bug. Slowly, I turned my head to the Walmart plastic sack by my night box (a nightstand for poor people and people who are too lazy to unpack) and there it was, a cricket. My reaction? Quietly grab one of my work shoes and beat the living crap out of the rude bastard. I don't recall extending a friggin' invitation to the creatures of the outside world. After I went Conan on it, I scooped him up and drowned him in the toilet before sending his carcass to Bane or anyone else living in the sewers as a message: try me, sucka.
Yeah, tonight wasn't exactly my night. *sigh*

I swear, I'm still America-Proud

I've been watching the XXX Olympics (I'm snickering as I type this; I'm so immature) and while I'm proud to be an American citizen and all, I find myself rooting for other teams. I'm rooting for other teams, because I want to live in their countries. I want to live in their countries because either I'm a total Graecophile(sp?) or...well, there are hot guys from that country. So my top three countries are Greece, Japan, and Denmark. Yeah, Denmark's that random one most people wouldn't expect from me, but Mads Mikkelsen is too gorgeous for words.
I'm too involved whenever it's on. I started screaming at the rowing teams yesterday before I started running errands, which I usually save for NBA games (by NBA, I mean Lakers) and wrestling (by wrestling, I mean WWE). Yep, I've become that sports fan whose life depends too much on the games I watch. I sure do jump levels like a champ when it comes to fandoms.
I'm excited to see men's basketball. Kobe's playing for the US, and my Gazelle (Pau Gasol, for those who don't know my nicknames personally) is playing for Spain, so I'm looking forward to my little NBA reunion on-screen. I'm a little sad that Lamar isn't playing, but mostly because he was signed to the Clippers this season instead of the Lakers, so I won't see him much unless I watch the Kardashians. Ugh.
Was this a pointless post about my occasional viewings of the Olympics? Yes. Am I apologetic? Not really.

The Dark Knight Rises

To my complete surprise, I managed to see The Dark Knight Rises on opening weekend. And I got to have popcorn. Score!
Let me say this: I believe anyone who didn't think this film was good was expecting too much from it. I didn't expect it to be as good or better than The Dark Knight, but it was still pretty bad-ass and I loved every minute of it- until the end.

This is probably the first time I've ever been attracted enough to Christian Bale to where I'd lock him up in a closet for a week and not share him with the rest of the world. Man was hot in this one. Bruce Wayne wasn't as Bruce Wayne-y as he usually is, but the man went through a lot in the last movie. I actually like this broken version of Bruce. It was weird watching him get beaten up so much, but at the end, he reminds us all why there's only one true Batman. But enough about my ramblings on how hot this man is.
So let's talk about how hot Bane was. And before you ask, yes, the muzzle enhanced Tom Hardy's sexiness. Yes, I'm aware of how creepy I am; my brother keeps me very informed of this fact. He wasn't as charismatic as Heath Ledger's Joker, but he wasn't supposed to be. Bane's sheer size scared the hell out of me and his nonchalant way or killing whoever stops being useful at the time made me determined to always be useful in his presence. He seemed intelligent, and I definitely don't want to play mind games with that....colossus.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: love you, good sir. He plays a cop-turned-detective named Blake who pretty much takes over Commissioner Gordon's spot as the regular-guy helping-hand of Batman, and was pretty fabulous at it. The entire time I was watching him, I was thinking "Dammit, Nolan, make another Batman movie so he can be Robin! I love him!"  Smart kid, good heart, deserves "sidekick" promotion immediately.
Anne Hathaway got major props from me for her portrayal of Catwoman a.k.a. Selina Kyle. She seemed like a hard girl, and was very badass, yet slinky and sexy at the same time. I loved watching her gradual turn-around in the movie, and how she looked bent over that bike.
With everyone else, it was like a friggin' high school reunion. I kept recognizing people and had no wifi to check imdb to remember who they were. Marion Cotillard was in this, and so was the guy who plays JJ's baby daddy on Criminal Minds. Also, Scarecrow makes a cameo. Yeah, that man can't leave this series alone. Neither can Liam Neeson, though I believe Aslan can come and go whenever he wants. And our other celebrity face for God, Morgan Freeman, is of course back to grace us with his Foxy charms.
Speaking of Lucius Fox, Batman's gadgets and rides are to die for! Of course, we see the Batbike again, but we're also introduced with another new mode of transport. I was there were more Bat toys as well, but I can forgive that.
I was very mad to find out Christopher Nolan doesn't want to do another Batman movie, even though Christian Bale would do it if the director was on board. I'd really, really like to see another one, but this time with more Batman. I'd love to see a Nolan-directed movie with Robin, maybe Batgirl, Mr. Feeeze, Penguin, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler. Yes, I want my corny Batman villains back! I'd just love to see how those characters would come about in Nolan's universe. Plus, I'd like more chicks that aren't trying to sleep with Batman.
This movie was better and sexier than I expected, and with The Avengers and Magic Mike, has officially joined the 2012's Porn for Women list. Everyone should buy a ticket to go see it. Warning though, don't drink anything before the second half of the movie. This bitch is long.

Victory!! Kind Of

At the end of May, I decided to enter a lyric-only contest from We Are Listening, a songwriting site. My parents paid for my entry fee and I sent in a song I wrote in 2010 called "Wake Up". Yesterday I got the results back, and although I didn't win, my scores were very good! In four out of six categories of that song, I was considered at a professional level! This is the first step among many to beginning my music career, and I'm very appreciative of We Are Listening for the opportunity to enter their contest. I can't wait for the next time, and I'll be stepping my game up!

Game of Thrones, My Obvious Trap

I don't know why, for one moment, I thought I wasn't going to find Nirvana watching Game of Thrones. It's practically a Sara Douglass descendant and everything that could possibly wrap me into a show and worry about my sanity at the same time: incest, accents, political snakepits, and attractive people. Oh, and swords, must never forget the swords. It's utterly fantastic, and it made me realize just how sick, heartless, and dramatic I need my tv shows to be. That's the formula of how to trap me into your show, Hollywood; ancient lands and the sickest people crawling on the Earth with crowns on their heads and swords on their hips. This show was so good, I don't even particularly mind that there isn't as much magic and sorcery as I would've liked with my sex and accents. I somehow got sucked into all of this political drama; it makes me really, really wish Anonymous had gotten the HBO treatment.
What made me interested was a picture of Cersei that I saw on a news website. I was like "Okay, she's gorgeous, and I want her to be Selene in my never-gonna-happen Greek mythology movie." Found out where she was from and researched her part of the show and damn, bitch got problems. Honey, I don't care how close you are with your brother, but you cannot sleep with him. And them let him get you with child. More than once. No wonder your son looks wonky. I didn't let the Dollangangers get away with it, so neither with you.  It really freaked me out when I watched the show for the first time yesterday and realized that her sexy twin brother was the guy I had cast as Hercules. Dammit. Their dwarf brother is awesome too, and he's probably one of the most enjoyable characters on the show.
That Stark family is something else, and are not in any relation whatsoever to Iron Man, to my disappointment. Their youngest daughter, Arya, looks just like a young Lucy Hale, who happens to play a girl named Aria in Pretty Little Liars, and is one awesome human being already. She appears to be the only one with morals in this show so far, aside from some of her brothers. Their dad, Eddard Stark, found a dead wolf and her pups in the forest, and let all his kids have one. Epic. Wish that was the story of my life. I'm expecting more drama from them, especially where it concerns poor Jon Snow, their illegitimate black sheep.
Everybody else is still pending for me, since I've only seen three episodes so far. But dammit, they have me hooked. Now all they need is Mads Mikkelson as some hot honor guard captain for a Mediterranean king and I'll be injecting it into my bloodstream. How obvious is it that I'm pissed at Clash of the Titans for killing Draco?

The Newsroom? More of That, Please!

HBO, you didn't get me with True Blood. You got me interested with Game of Thrones and Big Love but I have yet to give those shows attention. You have, however, hooked me with your smart new drama The Newsroom. Oh readers, you haven't seen it yet? If you're ready to be inspired and mentally stimulated, then you ought to check it out. Need more incentive? Let me direct you to the next paragraph.

Aaron Sorkin's newest creation stars Jeff Daniels as successful news anchor and editor of  News Night Will McAvoy, whose success is is largely stemmed from not offending everybody. But his affable on-air image was shattered when he impulsively and bluntly goes on a rant about America's low standing compared to the rest of the world at a university Q&A. Now, three weeks later, the majority of his staff leaves, including his executive producer Don Keefer (Thomas Sadoski) due to his off-air poor treatment of his employees and rough attitude, leaving him only with his accidental assistant Maggie Jordan (Alison Pill), his blog-writer Neal Sampat (Dev Patel), and a few others. Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterson), Aaron's boss and CEO of ACN, hires Mackenzie MacHale (Emily Mortimer) as Aaron's new EP, who shares a difficult and hostile past with the news anchor, and she brings along her senior producer Jim Harper (John Gallagher, Jr.). The show revolves around the new team's efforts to change the pace of the news program while dealing off-air predicaments.
I watched the pilot for the first time last night, and I was absolutely blown away. This show starts with the most epic, and brutally honest, rant I've ever heard, and the show pretty much tells us that the majority of the country is stupid, but we can fix that. It's a smart, and surprisingly funny, written show that inspired me to get informed about the world around me. And if that's the reaction I have, then less-lazy people than I should watch it.
I plan on recommending this show to everyone, even if they may not understand it. The characters are immediately loveable, the dialogue is great, and the behind the scenes look of the newsroom is incredibly interesting. If you want some smart and thought-provoking television, then watch it, and follow it.