(no subject)

[niko]

General Fannish
It took me all season, but I'm certifiably hooked on "Supernatural" now.  My only regret about last night's ep. was the promise of Dean owwies in the trailer doesn't seem to happen until next week.  The bastards.  ;-)  Still, the lovely angsty family stuff was well worth the price of admission.  That scene with John finding out about Sam's visions, and that last scene with Dean finally expressing exactly how much he needs to keep his family together.  *melty goo puddle*  Wish I could find a gen-centric hub for the fandom.  The Wincest I'm finding everywhere is just not my thing.

Finished up "Kingdom Hearts 2" (well, technically, I'm sitting at the last save point deciding whether to try for the perfect ending...all the stuff with Riku near the end has me not wanting it to end so soon.)  Overall, the game was enjoyable but not really one for the ages or anything.  The individual Disney worlds had a lot less charm to them this time around, and the game was way too short.  The overall plot arc, though, was very very good.  Gawd, could Axel/Roxas be more hot?   Playing Suikoden V right now.  It's living up to expectations, but still not quite in the same league as the first two of the series.  (Or I may just still be bitter that my personal favorites don't seem to have made the recurring-character cut.

Anime
Almost finished with Final Fantasy: Unlimited.  This is gonna be a tricky review.  It's the first title I've watched for AOD that I really have not enjoyed at all.  Even "D.I.C.E." was entertaining in its own way, but FF:U has just been a slog.  However, it *has* gotten better toward the end, so if I'm being objective, I can't give it an utter pan.  But then again, I want to knock it down a few grades just for trading on the "Final Fantasy" name without coming anywhere near the quality of storytelling that that name should imply.

Watched the second volume of "Memory of Oblivion" last night.  I can't really pin down why I like this series just now, but it's pleasantly surreal and creepy.

Doing ACen next weekend.  My first con of the year, and my first time at this particular con.  Looking forward to it. :)

Reading
*FINALLY* finished Memories of Ice.  Man, what an ordeal - but in a good way!  I feel like this book just chewed me up and spit me out.  It was so involving and engrossing that I was right there with the characters...but the characters went through such horrific times that it was also very draining.  

SPOILERS HO!  (Heh...not that anyone's reading this who'd give a fig.)

People talk a lot about the high tragedy of Deadhouse Gates, but I have to say that, for me, the decimation of the Bridge Burners in MoI topped it by several degrees.  I was utterly sobbing at several points in the last hundred pages, and actually found myself setting the book aside to give myself a bit of a breather from the sadness.  I can't remember the last time a book made me *hurt* this much.  And yet I loved every minute of it.  I wish all the people who hopped on the fantasy-movie bandwagon after LOTR and Harry Potter would tackle something big and dirty and grown-up like this.  The scale of these battles, the sheer scope of the story...I'd love to see it tackled by a serious director with WETA behind him.

Anyway, it was quite exciting to pick a new book to read after all these months.  I need something a bit of a lighter next, I think, so I'm going into the next "Myth" book (Robert Asprin) in my queue.  First thing I notice off the bat: NO CHAPTER QUOTES!  *tsk, tsk, tsk* Where's the logic in that, I wonder.  Those quotes are so much a trademark of the series...