Girly Things for Geeky People

Questions actually worth answering.

sailorhoneymoon:

1: Apart from tumblr, what do you like to do in your spare time?
2: Name a favorite of each: food, drink, color.
3: If you married rich and your spouse gave you $100,000 a week, what would you spend it on?
4: Name a favorite of each: book, movie, tv show.
5: If you were given the opportunity to spend 48 hours with absolutely anyone (living or dead), who would you spend it with and what would you do?
6: Name a LEAST favorite of each: food, drink, color.
7: What do you spend most of your money on?
8: What kind of underwear do you prefer wearing?
9: Name a LEAST favorite of each: book, movie, tv show.
10: If you were sat on a plane beside your favorite celebrity, what would you do?
11: What is the strangest thing you have in your room? (You are not allowed to explain why you own it.)
12: What is a weird habit you have, or people have told you have. (Weird, not bad. No nail biting or any of that nonsense.)
13: What would you consider to be the biggest insult to yourself?
14: What are five things you absolutely have to have in your dream house?
15: If you could be reincarnated as any animal, which would you chose and why?
16: Which band (current or past) would you want to go on tour* with? (*Travel with, not preform with.)
17: Name a favorite of each: band, album, song.
18: Why is your favorite band your favorite?
19: How many concerts have you attended? Which was your favorite? Least favorite? If none, who do you want to see live the most?
20: What is one of your favorite song lyrics? (Who is it by?)
21: Who do you ship?
22: What band merch do you own? If any, whose is it and when did you get it? If none, whose do you wish you owned?
23: How did you learn of the band that is currently your favorite?
24: What celebrity do you idolize the most?
25: Which member from which band would you most want to lather in nutella?

Okay! I saw this on Sailor Honey Moon earlier today, and I thought it might be fun. It’s not really girly or geeky… oh well. I can’t hit the mark every time. Also, I’ve been super busy today and this seems like a nice easy post. Yaaay easy post opportunities at convenient times! Questions I don’t have answers to will be answered frivolously. :D

1: Apart from tumblr, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I play some games - Pokémon, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, Skyrim, - I watch a little anime and a looooot of political news, I draw sometimes, I write a ridiculous amount of far too complex fanfiction… oh, and did I mention Minecraft? Yeah, tons and tons of Minecraft. A lot of that has to do with me always spawning in places like this:

Seed: Rainbow Stars

Seed: Flygon

And my old pre-biomes world. This ENTIRE WORLD was like this. I spawned staring at strange stone monoliths and four waterfalls.

2: Name a favorite of each: food, drink, color.

Tuna sashimi, Orange Crush, and white!

3: If you married rich and your spouse gave you $100,000 a week, what would you spend it on?

Oh man, my mind would just boggle. Funny thing, after acquiring a few rare books and lost items from my childhood, the main thing I’d probably do is pay for massive structural repairs to my parents’ house and my brother’s college. After that, I have no idea. Scientific funds? Throw money at Notch? XD

4: Name a favorite of each: book, movie, tv show.

Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce, Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, and Saki.

6: Name a LEAST favorite of each: food, drink, color.

Durian, skim milk, and… uh… taupe?

7: What do you spend most of your money on?

Not including necessities, I guess it would be… stuff at the local Renaissance Fair?

8: What kind of underwear do you prefer wearing?

Haha, I guess this question is geared more towards dudes. Just… uh… underwear. Ones that… uh… fit.

9: Name a LEAST favorite of each: book, movie, tv show.

Errrrrr… I think the answer to all three of these categories is ALMOST EVERYTHING. I’m very picky.

10: If you were sat on a plane beside your favorite celebrity, what would you do?

Stare awkwardly.

11: What is the strangest thing you have in your room? (You are not allowed to explain why you own it.)

The contents of my file cabinet. Because there is nothing I own stranger than fanfiction I wrote at the age of fourteen.

12: What is a weird habit you have, or people have told you have. (Weird, not bad. No nail biting or any of that nonsense.)

My friends worked this out a few years ago - if they fail to catch my attention by calling my name, they can get a response by addressing me as random words. This worked repeatedly, and with several different words.

13: What would you consider to be the biggest insult to yourself?

A dismissive or condescending attitude.

14: What are five things you absolutely have to have in your dream house?

1. Two TVs next to each other, so I can play Animal Crossing and watch political news shows at the same time.
2. More. Storage. Space.
3. A cozy kitchen in earthy, woody browns.
4. Indoor and outdoor balconies!
5. A dry basement.

15: If you could be reincarnated as any animal, which would you chose and why?

A… uh… human? Errr… I don’t know, I kind of like my sentience and lack of having to hunt for my food. Failing that, maybe a… zoo lion? In a nice zoo?

16: Which band (current or past) would you want to go on tour* with? (*Travel with, not preform with.) 

Bahahaha! I’ve never followed a band in my life. Thus, my answer is clear:

17: Name a favorite of each: band, album, song.

Album: The White Album (I guess? I grew up with a cassette of it.) Song: I guess my favorite at the moment would be Boat House, or just generally anything by The Pillows. As for band, haven’t we been over this already?

18: Why is your favorite band your favorite?

Oooh, I guess it’s because they seem kind of mysterious. Who is “Chasin’ After You” addressed to? Also, Yaten is dreamy~ <3   /oblivious fangirl

19: How many concerts have you attended? Which was your favorite? Least favorite? If none, who do you want to see live the most?

Seriously for a moment - I’ve never been to a concert in my life and I have no desire to. Full stop.

20: What is one of your favorite song lyrics? (Who is it by?)

Ffff, I spent way too long trying to come up with one but I’m totally blank. My answer is: at the moment, none.

21: Who do you ship?

Is this supposed to be another band question?

22: What band merch do you own? If any, whose is it and when did you get it? If none, whose do you wish you owned?

I definitely wish I owned Three Lights merch. That would be sweet. :D

23: How did you learn of the band that is currently your favorite?

Hmm, I wonder how…

24: What celebrity do you idolize the most?

Hmmm… I guess Notch? He’s a self-starter with an ultra-transparent company and he changed the face of gaming. I’ve also heard somewhere (but I can’t seem to confirm) that he’s a college dropout, which really bolsters my confidence when I’m buried under an avalanche of TV ads for college that state in a disturbingly direct manner that if you don’t have a degree you don’t matter.

25: Which member from which band would you most want to lather in nutella?

Nutella… can be worked into a lather??

(Sailor Moon screencaps courtesy of The Oracle)

From Sailor Failures:

Anonymous asked: :0 sorry if this has been asked before, but I’m curious. What are your favorite versions of each of the major characters? Like, manga!usagi, anime!usagi, seramyu!usagi, or PGSM!usagi, etc.

[…]

That was a… long, long answer. I hope it was interesting. It was very interesting to think about, so I pose this same question to my followers; what are your favourite character versions?

(Part 2!)

Mamoru - Maaaaangaaaa so so much! Somewhere between his often harsh personality and his terrible fashion sense, I easily lose my affection for anime Mamoru. PGSM Mamoru was actually really interesting, and the writers did some unique things with him, but he doesn’t manage to beat manga Mamoru in my mind. Seramyu Mamoru is actually the only one to give the manga form a run for his money, but only because I’m a sucker for Yuu Shirota. Any case, Mamoru in the manga wins out for three simple reasons: his relationship with Usagi is much warmer and more developed, he has a regal bearing not present in other media, and he gets not only real powers but his own Sailor Crystal.

Chibiusa - Again, I find that my answer is manga. I do love Chibiusa in the anime, particularly after her return in seasons three and four. But manga Chibiusa gets more character growth than her anime counterpart. She gets real, powerful attacks. She even grows into herself enough that the Silver Crystal she’d inherited transformed into her own Pink Moon Crystal. Finally, as I keep revisiting, the manga just has such a gracefulness to it that really shines through in particular characters - Chibiusa in arcs four and five would be one of them.

Haruka - Now, I love Haruka in the manga and I love Haruka in the anime. But Haruka in the musicals - specifically as played by Nao Takagi - skyrockets past the others and into perfection. This is particularly important relative to her relationship with Michiru. Nao and Yuuka just built up such a rapport over the years, and it really showed in their interactions onstage.

Michiru - I suppose you could have seen this one coming! Yuuka Asami is the Neptune-half of this fantastic pair. Truly, these two are amazing.

Setsuna - Manga! I feel that Setsuna gets more character development in this version than the anime, and frankly although the musicals did give her a great deal of development it’s mostly stuff I kind of dislike! In the manga, though, Setsuna gets to both defy time itself and to attend college. She gets to be the solitary guardian of the Gate of Time and she gets to be Setsuna-mama. Some of my favorite moments with this character in any version are the scenes partway through arc four which show the home life that she, Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru share.

Hotaru - This one was a fairly difficult choice, as I really don’t find too many differences between Hotaru in the anime and Hotaru in the manga. She’s an interesting character in that a really surprising number of her scenes in the anime are almost exact copies of their manga counterparts. Ultimately, I had to decide based upon the scenes the two forms don’t share - and the anime won out primarily because of just how many more things she got to do (particularly in season three) due to the presence of filler episodes. Manga Hotaru scores big points for the fact that she’s a cyborg for a while, but anime Hotaru got to ride in Haruka’s car, go on a picnic with Chibiusa’s family, and play cards with a Daimon that had taken over her house.

The Starlights - Oh, the anime so much for this last one. In the musicals they were given much more madcap personalities which I really really disliked, to be honest. And, actually, I haven’t gotten to read much more than the last few chapters of the Stars manga, so I’m not all that familiar with their manga forms! So until further notice, I prefer the anime Starlights by default.

(all pictures courtesy of The Oracle)

30 Day Sailor Moon Challenge - Day 27

Day Twenty-Seven - Scout you are most like

This was a really hard decision. None of the Senshi seemed to be all that much like me. I look just like Makoto. When I was young I empathized the most with Makoto, and later Haruka. Michiru’s assorted artistic aspirations are not too dissimilar from my own.

Then I landed on Seiya.

Seiya is not a character I ever really compared to myself to. He’s flirty, smooth, and in the football club. That’s kind of the opposite of me! I’m generally cold, abrasive, and extremely lackadaisical where sports are concerned. (I guess that’s basically like Yaten!)

But once I get to thinking about it, I realize we do have some surprising similarities. Like my comparison to Michiru, we share some artistic aspirations (although mine fall more on the writing/drawing side of things). We both love music, we both fall in love a little too easily, and we are both capable of being extremely driven to the point of near obsession. In the Materials Collection, Seiya is noted as having “unkempt hair”, as well as being “not very understandable” and “a worrying super-pessimist”, which are all traits I possess.

To address superficial similarities, we’re both the same height, we have hair of about the same length, and we are both born in the sign of Leo. And on a really weird note, we’ve both ended up doing musicals under the direction of really psyched-up Catholic directors.

But what really seals the deal is all weird gender and sexuality questions circling around this character. NOTE: IF THESE ARE HOT-BUTTON ISSUES FOR YOU FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE JUST SKIP AHEAD TO THE SECTION PAST THE NEXT SCREENCAP. This blog doesn’t typically put so much focus on these topics, but this is a big part of why Seiya is my choice for Day 27, so I’m deciding to include it.

In the anime, Seiya is male as a civilian and female as a Senshi. No matter which form Seiya is in, his/her mannerisms and affections for Usagi remain the same. The whole thing isn’t treated as comic, either, and all the gender-flipping is left totally unaddressed. As someone who identifies as 50% male 50% female genderqueer (and 50/50 bisexual, at that), I really feel a lot of empathy toward Seiya. Even back before I knew the word genderqueer or that it was even a thing I felt this way - the only difference is that it was harder to put into words.

So yeah, Seiya Kou AKA Sailor Starfighter is the Senshi I am most like.

(screencaps courtesy of The Oracle; 30 Day Sailor Moon Challenge by fyeahsailormoon, though since its unavailable there currently I’ve been using the copy over at rara avis)

30 Day Sailor Moon Challenge - Day 24

Day Twenty-Four - Sailor Moon moment that makes you cry

Well then. I have to say I wasn’t looking forward to filling today’s prompt. I don’t like to be sad, after all. But somewhere in the course of getting ready to write this mini-article, I ended up watching an episode and a half of Stars and intently perusing the screenshot galleries for six more episodes after that. So now it’s one in the morning and I am running two and a half hours late.

So, as for today’s moment: I have chosen the last third or so of episode 188 (An Invitation to Terror! Usagi’s Night Flight).

Throughout Stars up to this point we have witnessed Usagi and Seiya clinging to each other emotionally. It seems as though neither of them have really admitted this to themselves, nor have they considered why this is. Sitting here outside the TV, it seems to me as though Usagi is finding comfort in Seiya due to Mamoru’s absence, whereas Seiya is drawn to Usagi because of how her power and temperament are similar to that of his Princess.

This scene, as far as I’m concerned, serves as the crux of the Stars series up until about episode 195. Sailor Aluminum Siren manages to get everyone in an enclosed space and tries to acquire Usagi’s star seed - the Silver Crystal. Seiya can’t take the pressure of the situation (especially considering he had just promised to Usagi that he would keep her safe) and transforms in front of her. Taiki and Yaten follow suit.

The three fend of the attacks of the Phages and try to shoo the other girls away. The four Guardian Senshi and Usagi then transform in front of them.

It’s hard to appreciate this scene and how powerful it is in context just from my cut and dried description. It signifies the end of friendships that had been growing for sixteen rather intense episodes. But even more than that, it is the moment Seiya and Usagi are torn apart.

Even if you don’t ship these two characters - and I haven’t for a few years now - it’s clear to see how the two were keeping each other emotionally upright. For the next several episodes, without each other to lean on, Usagi and Seiya both succumb to their loneliness and grief.

Even in season one, when Mamoru is injured and kidnapped, even in season two when he breaks up with her, or at the end of the Nehellania arc when he grows cold and distant, Usagi isn’t thrown into such a deep blue funk as she is starting at the beginning of episode 189. Seiya, for all that we don’t know him as well as the star of the show, seems to fare no better.

In truth, I suppose my “moment” for today is actually the entirety of episodes 188-200. Almost every event in those thirteen episodes can put tears in my eyes. But it all starts right here on the plane. That is why this scene is my choice for “Sailor Moon moment that makes you cry”.

(screencaps courtesy of The Oracle; 30 Day Sailor Moon Challenge by fyeahsailormoon, though since it’s unavailable there currently I’ve been using the copy over at rara avis)