What's on Your Mind?

[What's on Your Mind?]

OMM: THE FORECAST CALLS FOR SNOW TOMORROW!  DO YOUR WORST MOTHER NATURE; JUST TRY AND FAZE ME!!

 

it stopped snowing for us, but we got nearly a foot of snow yesterday, so uh, I ain't complaining

I hope Cleveland treats you guys well, heh

 

 

--

OMM: holy geezus, it's a winter wonderland out here

the snow is a pure and blinding white

the edges and corners of windows are crisp and frosted

the roofs and cars are all thickly and evenly coated like icing on cake

the wind sends wisps and swirls of shimmering sprinkles and diamond dust from trees

 

is this heaven because everything was completely barren and devoid of this crystalline wonderland on Friday

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

i love all the fillers

but not the great divide

avatar day was nice, and i thought that avatar day should have been incorporated into korra

as in. like avatar appreciation day 

i kinda feel bad that azula had that mental breakdown

it is really well done...cause she is a psycho

but to go from almost lord of the world to the mental institute...beautiful

she is getting her mojo back in the comics

maybe she only needed her mother

the thing i dont get is

there are some comics out

why not make dvd movies or specials based on them

im sure a lot would be sold

me first

right away

you should hear how the old gang sounds now 

 

have you been thinking on what if there were a new avatar series and what the universe would be like 

aw c'mon

the Great Divide wasn't that bad

and Korra was a pretty crappy avatar so I don't think there'd be a very good avatar appreciation day, lol

 

I think it's just that her life revolved around getting approval from her parents and controlling her friends

after she lost Mai at the Boiling Rock, her mental state went downhill

she was losing control of her friends, and being given the throne meant that she could no longer gain approval from higher power

and Azula completely lost it

good to know that she's her old self in the comics though, haha

 

I know right???

argh, please please find the time to animate the comics

they will sell

I can almost guarantee it 

 

okay how about this: think about an avatar born in the Earth Kingdom

Toph's grandchild

OHHHHHHHHH

well, y'know... if she had one, lol

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

i dont know, to me it felt like a drag

even in ember island players they mocked it

the firebending masters was a genius episode and it started the second part of the book fire that i call the zuko trips

to them it seem that some dragons survived by hiding

To be honest there is nothing left for azula in korra

to me, by reading the comics, it would seem her life would be revolving around revenge and mental breakdowns

maybe she will form her own clan in the years to come but thats all i can think of for her

i don't see why it can be both

but i would love it if he mixed and matched his a lill bit

but i prefer fire nation iroh

its cool

a lot of ATLA episodes have flaws if you look at them closely

do you remember the episode Avatar Day? 

it has such a blatant use of deus ex machina, but I can't help but want to overlook that because of how well-written the series is

I feel like the same can be applied to the majority of the fillers

 

yes

that episode with the dragons was so well though-out

it had the perfect mix of humor, plot-progression, character development, history, and not to mention, they really showcased amazing art and animation

I think it's strange that we still didn't get to see many dragons in LoK

I mean, we saw that the flying bison managed to recover some population

Azula's breakdown was carried out really well towards the end of ATLA

from head honcho prodigy princess to dethroned and mentally unstable 

it's probably one of the best character regressions I've ever seen

she's such a great villain, and I hope the comic will do her justice

 

ohh, yes

fire nation Iroh ftw

[What Was the Last Video Game You Played?]

 

Don’t worry about being late; gotta make sure you submit those assignments in on time after all!

 

Hrm, hunting for a Bagon shouldn’t have taken that much time though, right?  It’s only found in that specific little patch of land where you find the Dragon Claw TM, but even so it’s relatively common there.  Unless you were looking for an Adamant natured one and just got really unlucky with RNG?  Truuue, all of Hoenn’s route and towns and cities have rather catchy tunes.  They did a great job remixing them, though I wouldn’t say I ever had one of those breathless moments like you had with Littleroot (hahah, that high affinity to music of yours is showing again).  For me, the things I loved about ORAS the most were actually all the new stuff they added and changed.  The nostalgia factor is nice, but if it was just a 1:1 upgrade like with HGSS I wouldn’t have liked it as much as I did.

 

Th-The salt is strong with this one…  I’m uhhh, I’m sorry I asked…………  Since I got my Pokemon games so late (or at least it always seemed my friends had finished the games I was just starting, even today) I always had sufficient time to learn the pro-tips of doing the hard stuff.  I always watched on as a bunch of people I knew played Pokemon, generally third and fourth gen games, in the after school program I was in.  My parents had work so they couldn’t pick me and my brother up right when school ended, and because elementary school homework couldn’t even be considered homework, I found myself watching hours and hours of gameplay every week.  Because of that, I pretty much learned relatively safe and simple ways of tracking down roaming Pokemon.  We were still all scrubs though, so none of us knew jack squat about natures or that doing weird button inputs while the Pokeball was shaking did not, in fact, raise our chances of a secure capture or that getting Arceus traded to your game through GTS (wut, that wasn’t even possible) would not, despite popular misconception, brick your game.  I’m sorry, errrr, to hear that you did not receive the kind of assistance that I did……  That was the most passive aggressive thing I have ever heard read you say type (that doesn’t make any sense, but whatever) and I’m a bit frightened.  What was that about a woman scorned again…?  Hahah, joking joking

 

Whaa--?  B-But the Team Aqua Hideout was one of the easiest hideouts to traverse, both the original and the remade ones…  If you’re talking about that room full of teleportation tiles, I believe the layout was exactly the same in both RSE and ORAS, so when I came across it in Alpha Sapphire I subconsciously remembered the correct path from the countless times I had done in the past and just waltzed right on in.  Aww, and I wouldn’t be too hard on Lt. Surge’s Gym.  A lot of it relied on dumb luck, but it generally worked out before it got infuriating.  The only thing that really struck me as rage inducing was Route 13 in XY.  That placed was ridiculous.  I’m not sure if you feel the same way since you never played it, but goddamn.  Those little patches of dust that signify a Pokemon underground?  The way they chase you around and only move when you move like peskier versions of Hoenn’s Mimic Circle?  The fact that you can’t repel them?  The Dugtrio and Trapinch that always seem to have Area Trap?  That you need to use skates to get to certain places, but the constantly changing direction of the wind makes it hard to control and easy to run into dust patches?  I can’t even think how a route could be more poorly designed than that.  If they don’t fix this route in Z, I’m going to be really angry.

 

Woahhh, 500+ BP and you never spent any of it nor did you bother trying to get a 100 battle win streak??  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given you’re hesitant to even use your PayPal money.  Just be sure not to let that habit carry over when you get a real job.  You have to spend money eventually, hahah.  Woah, you played Yoshi’s Island?  The port for the GBA, I assume?  I’ve never played the game, but just the other day I was listening to a selection of Nintendo soundtracks to get me hyped for the Direct that happened on Thursday, and the opening theme of Yoshi’s Island was on there.  Gosh, that music box melody really hit me hard in the nostalgia, even though I never played the game.  What a beautiful song; really evokes childhood memories.  I especially liked how the music box eventually slows to a stop but is wound back up again.

 

Hrm, according to Bulbapedia, Mirage Island is only present RSE.  Are you thinking about Mirage spots?  Those are only accessible via soaring, apparently, which I have yet to do.  And from what I can tell, none of the Mirage Spots are located where the original Mirage Island was.  Or are you thinking of the Secret Meadow?  That’s located really close to where Mirage Island used to appear.  However, I don’t think they’re the same island, because they look completely different and according to the Town Map they should be bordering each other.  From what I gather, Mirage Island is completely gone, even if its inclusion wouldn’t have added much to the gameplay regardless.

 

Ah, no worries, I completely ignored those posts of yours ahah.  I wanted to take every opportunity to get to know you better of course, but at the same time I didn’t want to spoil ORAS for myself and in this situation ORAS took priority (no offense though, eheheh).

 

Even if 4th gen remakes don’t come out for the 3DS, I’d be perfectly cool with that.  My 3DS library is absolutely massive as it is.  And admittedly, the 3DS was having a bit of trouble running XY and ORAS.  Since you never played them yourself, you’re probably not aware, but when you switch on the 3D effects during the Pokemon battles, there are significant frame drops.  It gets even worse when a Pokemon is in the middle of a graphic-intensive move.  It’s very noticeable and really distracting, which gave me even less of an incentive to have the 3D effect on.  Who knows if Nintendo is going to continue this 3D gimmick going into the next gen handheld, but whether they do or not I hope the 4th gen remakes end up perfectly suited for whatever console it ends up being made for.  The wait is going to be long, but you have to admit, ORAS did only just come out.  Maybe for you it’s been a while, but for me I’m still content with exploring the world of Hoenn in the meantime.  And working on Pearl’s Battle Tower as well, hahah.  We should be grateful there aren’t massive gaps between games like with Smash Bros at least.  Looks like we aren’t going to get a revamped Kanto, since it was announced during the Nintendo Direct that RBY would be coming to the Virtual Console on the 3DS.  That’s a nice way to appease fans who want to emulate the first gen without having to use an illegal phone/PC method and leaves room for them to work on new projects.  Woah there Kenzi, nostalgia goggles indeed, hahahah.  I certainly see why you like Platinum so much.  I can’t say I agree or disagree with you, since I haven’t played the game myself.  My brother emulated it not too long and thought it was pretty much the same as Diamond and Pearl, with the added benefit of Cyrus being far more interesting of a character.  He didn’t gush over it though, so I’m fairly certain a lot of what you’re saying is skewed by rose-tinted memories.  Sinnoh did have a fair share of flaws, after all.  Oh my gosh, you like the music so much…  I think it’s pretty good, though it doesn’t invoke as much of a nostalgic response as RSE’s sound track.  Route 228’s theme is nice and funky, but I was never too keen on jazz when I was in elementary/middle school, which is probably why Unova’s songs blew me away more than Sinnoh’s.  I've only recently found an appreciation for jazz and in fact found this really fresh jazz-based K-pop album not too long ago that’s rather addictive, ahah.  I didn’t explore HG well enough to know what the Battle Frontier was like, so I actually don’t really know what you’re talking about, ehhh…  But if it’s anything like Emerald’s Battle Frontier, then that does sound rather nice.  I hope the 4th gen remakes do turn out nice for your sake, though expecting a Platinum remake over Diamond and Pearl ones is a bit much given the precedent they’ve set.  It’s not impossible, but a little nod to make Giratina more plot prevalent like they did with the Delta Episode seems more likely.  More people played Diamond and Pearl than Platinum, so if they break the precedent now they're going to piss off more people than not.  Ohh and it’s no problem at all!  It’s actually a lot of fun seeing how you geek out over Platinum, ahahah!

 

Dayum, you guys have a pool too?  JP obviously doesn’t, though it was a running gag to try and convince the incoming freshman that there was a pool on the third floor (we don’t have a third floor).  I haven’t gone swimming in ages, which actually probably explains why I wouldn’t be all that comfortable even just shirtless in the presence of females.  I guess it shouldn’t be any surprise that you’ve become more conservative with your body as time passed.  It would be really weird if you’d still be up for a bath with friends at this age.  It’s interesting to know that you were so open when you were younger though; from what you had said before, it seemed like you were conservative your whole life and not just recently.  I wonder if it really does have something to do with your school/city’s environment?  Or maybe guys are just generally more chill with this stuff, since guys here also generally finished changing faster than girls.  I wouldn’t say it’s anything to be envious about though; it really only comes in handy when you find yourself having to use facilities that have almost no privacy (Taplin’s bathrooms are kinda ughh, but I’ve gotten used to them).

 

Mhm, Sanders definitely isn’t the candidate with very realistic goals or ideas, even if I do agree with a lot of what he has to say.  But then again, all politicians promise unrealistic things to an extent.  I watched the debate as well… kinda.  After the Nintendo Direct was announced, a YouTuber I keep up with hosted a hype stream on Twitch, and even though it was just two hours of him talking and getting hype with the chat, I wanted to watch it.  Unfortunately, it started exactly when the debate started, so I had the bright idea of just putting both the stream and the debate on two separate windows, shrinking them down, shoving them over to the side, and doing my accounting homework in a larger window.  I turned the volume up for both the debate and the livestream, and it was a goddamn mess.  Heh, oh well, Directs are rarer than debates, so it was worth it, ahah.  However, it was very difficult to follow what was going on, so I can’t really say much as far as how the debate went.  It might have just been my imagination, but there seemed to be a bit more contention between the candidates than before.  Yeah, I don’t really like Kasich much either, since he always seems to be the one who initiates attacks on the other candidates.  Fiorina apparently really hates Clinton, though she hides it pretty well.  Occasionally she comes out and directly attacks Clinton (I believe she did that in a previous closing statement as well) but for now at least that’s not the focus of her campaign, and at the very least she doesn’t just throw Clinton’s name out of the blue during unrelated discussions like Christie, who spoke in the earlier secondary debate, has the bad habit of doing.  Sigh, there really is no perfect candidate, especially for a centrist like me.  I have qualms about supporting both Sanders and Fiorina, but then again I don’t really see any better options for now.  At least those on the far right and those on the far left can blindly vote for their respective parties and rest easy believing that they made the correct decision, whether or not they’re mistaken in their beliefs.

 

Yup, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert or some mix of both depending on the day of the week.  Just be whatever you want to be and whatever you feel like, ahah.  That’s rather impressive your sister managed to keep in touch with her two best friends from high school!  Of course, I guess when it comes to best friends and really good friends, maintaining ties even over long distances shouldn’t be much of a problem.  For me, I guess I just never made such strong friendships that I would have been distraught over losing them.  I don’t want to sound like some emo teenager who mopes around like “Look at how edgy I am, I don’t need human compassion” *blasts heavy metal and Evanescence*; I’ve matured past that cringy stage of life.  I guess as an introvert, it’s hard to really connect with people on a personal level.  I'm just more in my "zone" when I do thing by myself.  That’s why I was so surprised I hit it off with you so well, eheheh.  So losing “friendships” annually has just been a way of life for me; I hardly think anything of it.  It’s not like I dislike people (I love my family and I really like you after all), but being alone doesn’t really bother me either.  Huh, I don’t know if I’m making any sense.  It’s hard to put it into words, but that’s how it is, ahah.

 

Woah, I didn’t realize you started posting in the OMM thread so late either!  But it is true that all of those threads actually related to DC can get stale really fast.  Heheh, I’m glad you started posting more in the Off-Topic threads.  Aww shucks, look at you, making me out to be all special and everything, golly, you’ve got me blushing again…  I’m glad I could be there for you though.  I always derive so much pleasure from reading and responding to your replies as well, so it’s definitely not a burden either.  I’m really happy I could make a difference in your life.  And of course, I could say the same for you.  My senior year was already off to a great start, but since meeting you my life has only gotten better and better.  Being able to completely open up to someone is just fantastic, so for every time you thank me, I thank you back.  I can’t even remember what my life was like before I met you.  I’ve been happier than I could ever imagine these past few months, and it’s hard to imagine how I could have gotten through those rough patches in life without someone like you to support me from afar.  You’ve made a world of a difference in my life, you amazing person.

 

Hmm, I’ve never tried taking food from the dining halls before, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else attempt it, but I’m sure they’ll let you.  As long as you don’t stack together ten burgers and walk out you should be fine.  Ehhh, I know, now that I’ve been working out my metabolism has really been kicking into high gear as well.  But at the same time, I get stuffed pretty easily when I do eat, so I’m not too sure what’s up with that.  It's not like my stomach shrunk, so maybe my hunger threshold was altered?  Maybe I should try to eat smaller meals but more frequently?  It sounds like a bit of a hassle and I don’t see how that’s going to play into my schedule very easily, but I might consider it.  Mhm, I remember you telling me about your sister’s picky eating.  That sounds absolutely ridiculous, especially since I’d even dare say what I remember Brandeis’s food quality to be was actually better than what we have here at Leutner.  I wonder how she managed in high school?  Hahah, did she pack exquisite French dining for lunch every day or something?

 

Mixed feelings about your name, huh?  I can sort of understand how you feel.  It’s a bit curious you say you don’t like “how your name is portrayed”, since you’d think the reason you might harbor somewhat negative feelings towards it is because it’s too common or something.  I’m glad that my name isn’t too common, but at the same time I feel like it has a bit of an unprofessional connotation, since it can be seen as an abbreviation for another name, even though in my case it’s not.  But I’ve gotten used to it and hardly even think of my name anymore, so it’s all good in the end, ahah.  Yup, I definitely want to know what the results of your eye appointment are!

 

Ohh, my parents would be fine with me staying home if I really insisted that I wasn’t feeling well.  Of course they’d voice concern over the amount of work I’d have to make up, but at least they’d let me get the rest I need.  And of course, I’ve only ever had to miss a full day of school like, twice or something, so it’s not like I abused my ability to do this or anything.  L-Less than four hours of sleep…?  Th-That’s me like every other day, oh dear…  Okay, joking, not that often, but I have nights like that at least twice a week, usually more.  I seriously need to fix my sleeping habits for next semester, especially since I’m planning on taking slightly more classes than I did this semester, some of which might happen earlier than what I’m used to.

 

I guess you do find the chance to listen to lyrical and heavy beat songs, but still…  I didn’t expect you to actually stare out the window while you listen to some songs, eheh.  I always keep the blinds closed in my room, both back home and here in my dorm.  Natural light is nice and all, but back at home the sun always set right in front of my window and the glare seriously ruins the mood of the anime I watch.  The habit’s just carried over, and my roommate doesn’t mind since he’s also quite the shut-in himself who’s so neck-deep in his phone and PC games it sometimes frightens me…  And I’m guessing if you still subscribe to YouTubers but your original graphics channel is down, you’re using an alternate account for that?  I’m always logged in to YouTube because my Gmail’s always open, but I’ve never liked anything, commented on anything, or subscribed to anyone.  I don’t know why, sometimes it feels like I really should express my appreciation for when I stumble upon something I like, but at the same time I don’t really feel like it, eheheheheh…

 

Hmm, but if you’re always invisible, then won’t people just chat you up anyway once they realize that you’re never going to officially go online?  Even if you’re not actually there, at least they have a chance of hearing back from you while as opposed to waiting they don’t have any chance at all.  That might temporarily decrease the number of people who chat with you, but in the long run wouldn’t that result in a higher rate of messages when compared to only briefly logging on every once in a while to trick people into thinking they just always happen to be online at the wrong time?  I don’t dislike Facebook per se; I just don’t need it for anything.  There’s nothing fun on it, and it’s only productive if there’s a group project I need to work on.  If I want to relax and chill out, I have anime and video games to turn to.  If I want to be productive, then I track down some tunes to listen to and get to work.  There’s nothing Facebook really provides, even though it actively tries to get me to log in as often as possible.  “Help your friends recognize you by uploading a profile picture” or something.  It’s kinda cute how hard it tries.  Ahh, there’s that whole “privacy is important” theme coming from your town again.  Lockers are hardly an intrusion of privacy, not once you get really good at efficiently packing and unpacking in the throng of people.  Wait… homeroom is only at the beginning of each semester for you guys?  N-Not every day?  What’s the point of a homeroom then, I’m so confused…  Our homeroom is for the morning announcements, pledge of allegiance (I’ve almost forgotten I don’t have to do this on weekdays anymore), and taking attendance.  In our school, you have to be in homeroom on time otherwise you’re officially late for the day.  You also have to be in homeroom otherwise you’re absent for the day.  Teachers can see whether or not you were in homeroom for that day and whether or not you were late, and if you were absent for homeroom but did not stop by the office to report in late then the teachers are incapable of marking you present on their class roster, so no sneaking in through the back doors (there are security cameras anyway, don’t even try it).  They can also see whether or not you were in other classes for that day, so skipping only one class of the day isn’t recommended unless you want your teacher to have a really bad impression of you.  It’s either all or nothing.  Thing is, you mentioned before that sometimes you considered just skipping just one class for a day.  I was confused at first because that seemed disadvantageous on multiple levels, but now that I think about it… your attendance system is probably completely different from ours then, isn’t it?  How does attendance at your school work?

 

I think a little under half are, or rather were, juniors and seniors.  That percentage is slightly smaller now, since there were a few seniors that especially stood out in my mind at the beginning of the year that, for some reason, have dropped out of the class.  A senior dropping a prereq class?  Sheesh, bless their souls and their wallets.  Honestly, I don’t see how you can’t get your prereqs done before the first semester of your junior year, especially if you have AP credits.  Even if you don’t come in with credits, the system is designed so that it’s still completely possible.  Just take enough classes each semester and don’t fail, ahah.  If you don’t finish your prereqs by the end of your sophomore year, you won’t even be qualified for honor societies like Phi Beta Kappa.  And people have counselors leading them in the right direction from day one, so unless you go out of your way to ignore what’s both good for you and what your advisor recommends, I don’t really see how you can so royally screw up in college.  It can’t just be senioritis.  Seniors who worked hard in their previous years can slack off a bit, but those who slacked off early on and are only finishing prereqs now better be putting in their fair share of work if they plan on graduating.  The majority of seniors in my math class are definitely pulling their weight and trying hard, so I won’t judge how they handled their earlier years, but the seniors just not giving a damn even when they’re at the end of the line?  For shame, for shame.

 

I recognize The Tale of Despereaux’s cover, but I’ve never read it, though I believe I read The Tale of Peter Rabbit somewhere.  I’m not sure under what circumstances though.  Ahhhh, and I recognize the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters but I don’t think I ever read the books.  Back then, I read mainly the Magic Tree House and Goosebumps series, as well as some of the classic stuff like E.B White and of course the picture books by people like Jan Brett and Chris van Allsburg.  Oh, and for some reason I vividly remember the Berenstain Bears books as well.  The Alex Rider series was more popular than The Power of Five here as well; I just happened to stumble upon the first book in the series by chance one day at the library.  It was fairly entertaining and known for the brutal five year gap between the fourth and the final book.  I had to re-read the first four books just so to remember what I going on when the fifth book finally released not too long ago, hahah.  The first time I read To Kill a Mocking Bird, it was for some summer education program my parents signed me up for; the second time it was for actual school.  I didn’t like Gatsby either, and I thought Of Mice and Men was pretty decent, though I read it in one sitting for leisure so I’m not sure how being forced to read it for school would have felt.  Hm, well, one of the “classics” I already mentioned: A Tale of Two Cities.  The other two I believe I have on my profile page: A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (I believe I mentioned this previously) which was summer reading for senior year and Beloved by Toni Morrison which one of the books we reading during senior year.  Both are fantastic, and not even really that old so they aren’t “classics” in the same sense that Huck Finn is a classic.  Also, I liked Beloved all-in-all better than Handmaid’s Tale, but only barely.

 

Well, you have a fair point there.  People will go to insane lengths for the sake of someone or something they love.  I’ve already sacrificed so much of my soul and sanity for video games and anime over the course my life, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat, hahah.  I guess it really comes down to what you’re passionate about, and it’s good that your sister is so devoted to the piano!  I’m not sure whether or not you were allowed to be in both the band and orchestra in my high school.  I assumed it wasn’t allowed since no one ever did it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case given how elitist the band is.  I know in middle school there was this one person who was part of both the band and choir, so at least in middle school it looks like compromises could be struck.  Oh man, it sucks that you had to quit art so abruptly like that.  If it’s not any inconvenience, then yes it would definitely be a good idea to see if you can get some of your paintings back from our teacher.  Ahh, quite the ambitious and curious child you were!  Gosh, I feel ashamed; I’m certain I wasn’t nearly this energetic when I was younger.  Maybe I was when I was a toddler and stuff, but not after I discovered the joys of video games, ufufufufu.  I can hardly remember what I did to keep myself entertained back in the day.  Apart from school and the stuff my parents forced on me, it’s not like I had much work to do.  Hmm, my brother and I started playing the video games behind our parents’ back at a very very very early age, so I wouldn’t even be surprised if most of my free time was preoccupied with devious thoughts like that.  After all, I did pull an all-nighter in fourth grade for the sake of Pokemon, sooo…...  I definitely wouldn’t hold it against myself…  Geezus, how embarrassing, as your senior I am a terrible example.  If anything, it’s your youth and spirit I should be looking up to, hahahah.  Good on you for being so driven and self-motivated to explore the world around you!

 

Eheh, I can’t help it, just the thought of possibly being able to see you is just… gosh, it’s really exciting!  I’m so curious to know what you look like, I can barely contain myself.  Hmm, I wonder if I can find a picture of you online…?  Ehhh, that sounds kinda creepy…  How would you think of me if I put my brain to the test to try and find one?  Probably poorly, right…?  Yeah, never mind, not a good idea……

 

If you were called out in front of everybody like that and that was all anybody would talk about for days, then I can imagine how that left an impression on you.  You must have been mortified.  I know that feeling, it sucks.  And geez Kenzi, don’t force yourself to reply just because you skipped and delayed a few responses recently!  It’s not like you have a month or yearly quota to meet!  Just do what you can!  And of course, if I find myself bogged down with work, especially as this semester draws to a close, I’ll definitely be sure to take a break.

 

Ahh, I actually technically finished my apps on Halloween as well!  It was mainly giving everything the final touches before submitting it that night.  Anyway, if you haven’t already noticed, this response was rather short compared to what I usually write.  I’m really sorry about that, but I have a crazy week coming up and I need all the time I can get this weekend, so if you’re wondering why I may sound distracted and/or rushed anywhere in this response, it’s because I have a lot on my mind.  Hopefully you’re not nearly as stressed as I am, ahah.  If I can use this weekend’s time wisely and not derp around idiotically like I usually do, I should be okay, so don’t worry about me too much!

 

Yeah, I was just trying to hunt for a Bagon with a decent nature, haha. This was all on my sister's Emerald emulator, and I did spend a pretty decent amount of time in there. I only played through the 3rd gen games a few times, so I wasn't able to catch a lot of the minor details they added. They did such a freaking fantabulous job with the soundtrack though, ahhhhhh... Did you happen to catch excerpts of the original RSE soundfont in the Primal Kyogre/Groudon theme? Genius, I tell you. 

 

Ahaha, nonono, I just got really carried away there. I love sarcasm, lol. Mesprit was a pain to catch because I played Platinum blind--no online help or anything. Most of my encounters with it were random and not planned out strategically, so you know, trying to catch it was pretty annoying. But not that irritating, haha. The only person I looked up to for advice at the time was my sister since barely any of my friends played Pokemon (or at least to my knowledge). I only sought for online help after beating the Elite 4, but mainly for completion purposes. Oh yeahh, I also believed those silly misconceptions! Like furiously jamming on the B button to increase your chances of a capture, ahahah. 

 

The room full of teleportation tiles was a nightmare. It wasn't hard though. It was just flat out annoying. I never bothered to memorize the layout either, so every run-through was just as tedious as the last. Lt. Surge's gym didn't even make any sense though! You had to dig through trashcans for a lever? And if you peered into the wrong one, the "puzzle" would reset?? What?? Was there even a smidgen of logic used to create this atrocity??? Were they high??? Oh yeah, let's just make some hulking war veteran sit in an electric-themed gym filled with trashcans. Makes total sense. I agree, Route 13 was also fairly annoying. At first, I thought it was a pretty creative route, but then these Pokemon would keep interrupting the progress of the playthrough. It was funny when the guy ran into them three times in a row without moving a single step, but aside from that, Route 13 was painful to watch. Arena Trap shouldn't be much of a problem as long as you have something that's part Flying or something with Levitate, but they really need to fix the bit about repels not having an effect in this area.

 

Ohh, Yoshi's Island was a blast! Yup, the GBA version. You just reminded me to dig through some of the OSTs, and oh my gosh... every passing response is just turning into a nostalgia-fest... y u gotta do dis to me... I haven't played the game in years... The music box melody kfhlghskdhdklghsklhgkl... And Yoshi's Athletic theme, ahh... I remember bringing the game with me to this summer program at Cranbrook and playing it with one of the friends I made there. I spent so much time playing Yoshi's Island. Ah, good times, man.

 

But both Bulbapedia and Serebii have pages on Mirage Island. Erm... Mirage Islands, then.

 

I haven't seen anyone rave about the 3D aspect of the 3DS, so it kinda ticks me off that the 3D is such an integral part of the console--especially now that I know there are frame drops. But that's fine, I guess. I'm not planning on playing these games for the 3D effects, after all. Part of me is still hoping that they'll hold off releasing the new console for at least a couple of years since I still need to play catch-up, ahah... And I'll be honest, I really didn't expect them to release RBY on the Virtual Console. Good ol' Nintendo never failing to surprise us. I won't deny that much of what I said about Platinum is skewed from bias, haha. It was my first game from the main series, and it was pretty much my gateway to the Pokemon world. Also, as much as I'd hate to admit it, I'm fairly certain that if I played it again I won't have as strong of an impression, so I'm really banking my hopes on the remakes to blow me away because of how amazing ORAS was. And yes, BW/B2W2's music was stellar. It's just that the characters were bland (Bianca was kinda annoying and Hugh wasn't memorable at all), it wasn't very challenging (aside from getting backed into a corner when battling Ghetsis), Alder is one of the worst champions ever (it was also hard to take him seriously with a theme that reminds me of the Naruto chase music), the motive of Team Plasma sounds like something ripped off of PETA, there isn't much post-game material either, but goddamn, the graphics and music were fantastic. Ahh, it's a shame you didn't visit the Battle Frontier, but I hope they find the time to add it to the remakes because I would love to see it again. Yeahh, I wouldn't be surprised if they remade D/P instead of Platinum, but I'm still totally okay with any 4th gen remakes. 

 

Whoa, your school didn't have a pool? So I guess that means you guys didn't have a swim team? Part of the reason I don't like swimming as much anymore is because it forces me to break out of this conservative shell I've lived in for so long. You might ask why I don't have this problem when I play tennis, but I'm not too sure myself. Nah, actually, I'm fairly certain that this conservative mindset of mine would've developed regardless of the environment I grew up in. I'm not sure how big of an impact growing up here had, but I mean, it was my conscious decision for the most part, haha. And yeah, guys tend to be a lot more chill about this stuff around here since during cross country and track season, many of them are shirtless while running through the halls of the school. 

 

Hmm, there actually wasn't anything that caught my eye in this Nintendo Direct. The character reveal was definitely something, but I haven't played Final Fantasy, so I didn't have as strong of an reaction as others. I can imagine the amount of hype that must've come with the Fire Emblem Special Edition announcement, and releasing RBY on the Virtual Console was also pretty neat. Not much else for me to say though. What the... you watched both the Nintendo Direct and the debate while doing your accounting homework on another window?? Well, uh, that's pretty efficient of you to be able to multitask like that... I can't focus on two streams or videos at once, much less doing homework while watching them. Oh, and after watching the Democratic debate a few days ago, I've begun taking a liking to O'Malley. He seems really level-headed and has pretty reasonable proposals. Sanders is still okay, but ahaha, Clinton got rekt. Also, Fiorina shouldn't have attacked Trump the other day. Given how hot-headed he is, it wouldn't be a good idea for any of the candidates to attack him so directly, especially over social media. None of the right wing people seem appealing after the last Republican debate, so I think I'll just focus my attention on O'Malley and Sanders for now.

 

Some of my closest friends are friends I made in elementary school, so we've been friends for a pretty long time, haha. It's just a little scary that I might not be able to maintain my ties with them when we head off to college. One of my friends is confined to in-state schools, another is reaching for the Ivys, another has her eyes on military academies and east coast schools, and another one is kinda clueless and is just applying to whatever. So it's pretty likely that we're all going to get separated, sigh. Well, it's not like I can't visit them though, so that's always an option, lol. I can definitely relate to being in my "zone" when doing things by myself, but don't you ever feel the need to ask for homework help or something? Or maybe one of your friends asks you for help? You know, people you can casually ring up with questions and insults. Or people you can derp around with who make you happy? People you flock to when you see their faces? If you insist that you're fine, that's awesome. But just remember that being an introvert doesn't mean you can't have long lasting relationships with friends, haha. 

 

Oh you, ahah... it's really heartwarming knowing that I made such a big difference in your life, and gosh, you're quite the flatterer. Regardless, I'm really glad I was able to make you happy, haha. Of course, I also love reading and replying to your responses, and I honestly feel so fortunate to have met someone as compassionate as you. Thank you for being there for me during such a rough time, and thank you for being such an amazing friend. And wow, I can't seem to remember what my life was like before I met you either. Everything certainly feels a lot more vibrant ever since I met you. You really are something else, heh.

 

Haha, we weren't allowed to take full plates of food out of the dining halls back at UMich, but we could sneak something from the dessert bar, heh. Hmm, that's weird. You'd think that working out would cause you to become hungrier... Are you hungry after you hit the gym? Maybe your sleep schedule screwed up your eating habits? Oh wut, Brandeis's food was better than Leutner's? I'm not much of a picky eater, but I'm not sure how well I'll fare living off the supposed subpar college food. Perhaps I'll just buy ramen in bulk and stuff it under the bed frame or something, lol. Actually, my sister bought lunch in high school. She was okay with it for the most part, so I don't know why she detested Brandeis food so much. It can't possibly be that bad. 

 

Yeahh, the fact that my name is rather common can also be a bit bothersome. Someone casually mentions my name and I turn around, but they're actually talking about someone else. It doesn't happen as often as you may think though, lol. What I mean by "I don't like how my name is portrayed" is... erm... I just didn't like its vibe, if that makes sense, and I felt this way about it for most of middle school. My friends and I were having a conversation about our names a while ago and they commented that they couldn't think of any other name that would suit me, and I guess I couldn't think of any either, haha. I'm more or less indifferent about it now since it's not like it's a bad name or anything. I normally don't think much of other people's names so there's no need for me to get worked up over mine, lol. Your name took me a little bit to get used to, but I like it. I think it suits you, though I'm not sure why, hm. And about my eye appointment, I guess I really am 20/15. Apparently my eyes haven't changed much since my last appointment, which was a bit of a surprise since I haven't been treating them very well this past year. The eye doctor told me that I'm still getting a tad bit more nearsighted though, but it's not like that was unexpected, lol.

 

Maybe if I caught pneumonia or something my parents would let me stay home... not that I even want to catch a sickness that severe. What on earth... you get less than four hours of sleep at least twice a week?? Well, that was me for the majority of junior year, but those days are long gone. I still only get around 4-5 hours on most days, but it no longer "feels" that way. I discovered that if I woke myself by setting my alarm at two-hour intervals, I'd be able to interrupt my REM sleep. While that doesn't sound very appealing or conventional, it has helped me wake up feeling a lot less groggy. I'm pretty sure there are long-term consequences to this, but I get a pretty sufficient amount of sleep during the weekends, so I guess everything's okay-ish. It's not something I'd personally recommend though since going into REM sleep is pretty crucial to your well-being. It's true that I don't get as much "good" sleep, but hey, if it means I have less trouble getting out of bed in the mornings, I'm all for it. I've been trying this out for the past few weeks, and I think it's something I can live with. Ohh, you're taking more classes next semester? Which ones? Best of luck to you, and get some sleep, haha.

 

Glare isn't a problem since I can just increase the brightness of my laptop. I'm not situated directly in front of my window so it usually doesn't bother me anyway, ahah. I can't remember if we even had blinds back in UMich because I don't think we ever used them. The window was usually exposed, lol. My sister was also a shut-in back home. She always preferred artificial light for whatever reason. It would be a perfectly bright, sunny day outside and she'd have her lamp turned on, so I almost always barged into her room to turn off her lamp and open her blinds in the mornings. Part of me was also bothered by this habit of hers since using a lamp in broad daylight is kinda wasteful. Yup, I had two YouTube accounts I used. My graphics channel is gone, but my personal channel is still up. It's linked with my personal email and I made it back in elementary school, so it's actually older than my graphics channel. Whaa... you... you aren't subscribed to anyone?? Aren't there people out there you watch regularly?

 

Yeah, that's pretty much what happens, lol. Some people just chat me up regardless of whether I'm online or not, but at least I won't feel as compelled to reply to them. Truee, but I love reading the Humans of New York posts, and we even have a page that posts confessions of anonymous people from our school, so those are also kinda fun to read through. I'm also in a few Facebook groups for a couple of the classes I'm taking, which can be helpful at times. All in all, Facebook is ultimately what you make of it. It can be a great place to help you procrastinate on your work, a place to chat with friends, or even a place you can turn to for help. Oh nonono, lockers were a nightmare. Everyone was packed like those canned anchovies between every class desperately trying to reach for their lockers. Unless you happened to  be blessed with an end locker (which I was, in sixth grade, hehe). We only go to our homerooms at the beginning of every semester to receive schedules and fill out forms and stuff. We basically sit in chairs doing nothing but that for half an hour before we're allowed to leave. Yeah, I'm not really sure what its purpose is either. On a typical school day, we just head straight to our first period. If you happened to be significantly late (like 30 minutes or something), you just had to check in at the main office, no big deal. We can't "sneak" into school since we're only allowed through the main entrance after school starts (the other doors are locked). The main entrance is located right in front of the main office where the Safe-Ed people are located. There's no way you'd be able to sneak past them since they basically act as security. You can skip classes if you wanted to, though I'm not sure if the teacher would be able to tell if you attended other classes. Just make sure you avoid him/her for the rest of the day if you want to be safe. The only problem with skipping class is that your parents receive a call informing them that you didn't attend said class. Then they have to confirm with the school that they're aware it happened and whether it's an excused or unexcused absence. So it's not something you should do often if you don't want your parents breathing down your neck 24/7. As for the pledge of allegiance and announcements, those usually happen during second period. But pretty much only half of the class participates/pays attention. The pledge of allegiance wasn't even required for high schoolers until last year. Honestly, the pledge seems kinda pointless. In middle school, we sometimes had contests to see who could speed through it the fastest because no one takes it seriously, lol. Barely any of the teachers do either. It's basically some failed brainwashing propaganda that everyone does a half-assed job reciting. It's almost kinda funny. 

 

Oh wow, nearly half of the class was consisted of juniors and seniors? Geez, what were they doing. Well, good for the ones who're actually putting effort into the class as opposed to those blowing off the class and even dropping out?? I don't see why they would go out of their way to go against what their counselors were advising them to do. And if it really was senioritis kicking in, they'd have to stay in school longer if they can't pass the class, so shouldn't that provide at least a little incentive to try a bit harder? Well, I can't dive deep into the mental processes of college students, but I really don't understand why these seniors would push off taking their prereq classes for so long.

 

Whaa?? You've never read the Mr. Men and Little Miss books?? [insert inaudible gasp] What about Frog and Toad? Olivia? Tuck Everlasting? I think the only book I've read from E.B White is Charlotte's Web. I can't remember if I actually read Stuart Little. Oh my gosh, Allsburg's Jumanji was scary (the fact that it was colorless didn't help either). Well, younger me thought it was scary, haha. Hmm, I don't recognize anything from Jan Brett though... Ahhhh, I loved the Berenstain Bears! I have a collection of those on my shelf, and I'm positive I ran through all of them several times as a child. Oh geez, there was a five year gap between the fourth and final book of The Power of Five? I probably would've forgotten about it before I'd find the chance to pick it back up again, lol. Ohh, so the first time you read To Kill a Mockingbird was for a summer program, huh... how did it go? Of Mice and Men was okay, but it was just kinda... tragic. Almost like the R+J or Oedipus kind of tragic where everything felt a bit too predetermined. Curley and his wife also got on my nerves. A Handmaid's Tale is on my list of books to read, and I haven't read Beloved either, but if you enjoyed it more than A Handmaid's Tale, I'll have to add it to my list as well, haha. I'm sure you know about 1984, so I'll go ahead and say that some of my other favorite required readings were The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and The Glass Castle.

 

Haha same, same. I've devoted far too much time to certain games and anime. It was a crazy phase for me, but I'm still not completely over it at this point. Actually, now that I have a 3DS and a huge backlog of anime to catch up on (and the fact that I want to live a bit more before becoming an... "adult"), that's probably never going to happen thank goodness. Hmm, so I'm assuming that your band never coordinated with the orchestra? Around half of the pieces we play require band members, so the band is pretty essential to our orchestra, lol. I'm actually a little anxious about visiting my teacher to get some of my art back since I haven't seen her in years. I never had the chance to say a proper goodbye either since my dad just cut off all of my ties with her that day. I don't want to drop in out of nowhere just to retrieve some art, but the more I put it off, the worse I'll probably feel about it, sigh. Oh gosh, you're giving me a bit too much credit because I've gotten a lot lazier since then. I'm definitely not as motivated as I used to be since my workload is really bogging me down on some days. I barely have enough time to do anything on my own and I also quit a few of the clubs I was in last year because they were pointless and I had no motivation to continue them this year. And uh, senioritis has taken over so every last drop of motivation has gone down the drain. Seriously, I'm bs-ing my way through some of the classes so much that my younger self would be appalled. I've also felt pretty distracted lately, but it's probably just another side-effect of senioritis. I have a bunch of stuff planned for the break like catching up on video games and anime, and a few online courses I've had my eye on for a while--basically stuff I want to do, and school is definitely not one of them. Haha, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I've also played video games behind my parents' back for a good chunk of my childhood and pulled several near all-nighters as well. In fact, I got caught on several occasions and they were forced to confiscate my consoles. But that still didn't deter me from turning the house upside-down looking for them whenever my parents weren't home, eheh...

 

Haha, believe me, it'd be a dream to be able to meet you in person. Well, you could try hunting down a picture of me online... just know that I won't confirm or deny any suspicions or uncertainties you may have. If you still want to go for it, I'm not going to stop you, but you're on your own for this, lol.

 

Yeahh, the experience kinda sucked, but it's all behind me now, haha. Erm, I just feel kinda bad that you've been able to crank out timely responses while I've been so inconsistent with mine, eheh... Gosh, it's a wonder how you even manage that on top of the schoolwork. In fact, I could say the same for you! You sound rather stressed so don't push yourself to reply when you have school to focus on!

 

Ohh, best of luck to you this week! Don't let the stress get to you, and kill 'em!

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

no way, you are messing with me

thats the only one i dont like from the LAB

the only one worse was in korra S2E6

and i want to know where did zuko get a dragon

azula is most likely dead in korra

now in the comics she is making a comeback

maybe raavas, vaatu is amazing

irohs would be casual , layback

do you know if netflix will pick up that universe

I'll admit it's one of the weaker episodes, but it wasn't bad

yeahh, The Sting felt a little overdone imo

it was kinda unnecessary and just poured more fuel on the whole love triangle spiel, yuck

 

and speaking of dragons

I loved the episode when Zuko and Aang met with the dragons

kinda wish they could've elaborated more on the fire nation's history with them

I wouldn't be surprised if Azula was dead, but thinking about still makes me a little sad since she was one of my favorite villains from the series :c

 

Iroh's might be tea-themed or something

do you think it would resemble earth kingdom colors or fire nation colors?

 

hm, I'm not too sure since I don't use Netflix

don't kill me

[What Was the Last Video Game You Played?]

 

(geez, we keep on pushing DCW to its limit, hahah)

 

Uwah, the Meteor Falls theme just didn’t really stand out to me.  I even had to go on YouTube and look it up to remember how it differs from the original.  I mean, I guess it’s nice, but it’s not really my type of music, so…  Meteor Falls was never a place that evoked much of a nostalgic response in me, since I never spent much time there.  All the redone town and city themes stood out more to me, but not just because I spent more time in the places I could fly to.  They’re all generally more melodic while Meteor Falls’s theme is more atmospheric.  Atmospheric songs are nice and serve their purpose well, but I never remember how their tunes go just because they’re so good at playing in the background without me knowing.

 

Catching roaming Pokemon was a bit of a pain, but part of it was kind of fun, weird as that may sound.  I never bothered to catch any roamers in games I didn’t care for, but something about them was rather enticing.  Oh geez, I will admit though, my brother and I spent so much time trying to catch Mesprit and Cresselia in our Diamond and Pearl versions.  We eventually caught them without using our Master Balls, but it used up a lot of our resources.  The dogs in my HG version are still running around wild, though I remembering helping a friend catch them on her version of the game.  They definitely weren’t nearly as difficult to catch as Mesprit or Cresselia; it took a solid two nights of devoted chasing and a decent number of Dusk Balls.  I know, I’ve had a huge urge to make a Secret Base and start messing around with it, but I’ve managed to stay my hand for now, haha.

 

Once you play the games enough, you just know how things are laid out and it’s not so bad.  I’m still intimidated whenever I think about traversing the waters, but once you get in and start moving you quickly realize it’s manageable.  Aw, directional tiles, right up there with teleportation tiles, are such an iconic feature of Pokemon puzzles though!  Did you not like slippery ice puzzles then either, since those also involve a bit of preplanning before you made a step?

 

I, uh… never actually caught Kyogre in my HG version…  Eheheh, it was fun thrashing through that game with my shiny Typhlosion, but it was Jolly natured (not sure if I ever mentioned this before) and despite being EV trained and running a mixed sweeper set, I really don’t think it would do very well tanking hits against legendaries as I feebly chucked out Pokeballs.  Hrm, guess those leftovers legendaries in that shiny Beautifly Diamond run won’t be going anywhere for a while either.  Oh my gosh, now that I think about it, I still need to beat the Pearl Battle Tower!  I found the time yesterday to actually EV train all of the Pokemon I had previously RNG abused.  I traded them to my Pearl version, fed them vitamins, infected them with Pokerus, gave them Power items, and before long they all had spanking new Effort Ribbons to show for their work.  Now I'm just training them all up to level 100.  I know I don't have to, but I'm OCD and figured I might as well.  That won't be the hard part though.  The most grueling part of making this team is getting them their moves.  Most of their moves are TMs you get at the Battle Tower/Frontier or HGSS move tutor moves that cost BP.  Either way, it's going to take quite a bit of Battle Tower grinding.  Thankfully, my brother already made a Battle Tower team in his HG version, which he lost interest in.  I'll be using that to rack in the BP.  Since Alpha Sapphire revived my love for Pokemon, I have significantly more motivation to beat the Pearl Battle Tower now than before.

 

Edit: Um, oops, completely forgot to address your question about Mirage Island.  I was just a little sad to see Mirage Island removed from the game.  The route description on the town map makes a reference to it, and things like Mirage Spots and the Secret Cavern, Shore, and Meadow were added, but I'm not entirely sure why they got rid of Mirage Island.  Granted, it was a fairly useless island that I never had the luck of exploring in RSE, and it would be made even more useless in the current generation, but I'm sure they could have revamped it to make it more relevant.

 

Sighh, as expected of you Kenzi, spoiling soundtracks for yourself like that…  I’m glad I managed to keep all of ORAS under wraps.  Moments like the final battle with Wally were absolutely fantastic as a result.  It seems you still really liked that moment though, so I’m glad the magic wasn’t entirely lost though you had already heard the OST.

 

Hm, now that you mention it, ORAS’s Elite Four theme wasn’t very exciting when I versed them.  I mean, Metagross was wiping the floor with them easy, so it’s not like I ever felt much threat.  Listening to it now, it’s pretty intense, but I didn’t really feel that when I actually versed them.  Hmm, maybe it was a mix of the missing claps and Metagross just being over powered.

 

Ahahah, I don’t think I’ve ever used Battle Items.  I would have sold them, but I was already so rich and my pockets were overflowing with Pokedollars by the end of the game anyway, so I didn’t even bother (I even had enough money to buy my Metagross those three super expensive Sinnoh ribbons in Mauville City).  Thank goodness too, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to keep Deoxy’s HP under control, and it would have Struggled itself to death before I could catch it.  And what a waste of such glorious IVs that would have been, ahah.

 

I’m sure Gamefreak will be able to do an amazing job with the Diamond and Pearl remakes.  Of course, that might be speaking a bit too soon since we don’t even know what 7th gen is going to be like, so there’s no game engine to make a comparison to.  Unless they decide to double up two gens on the 3DS, like they did with 4th and 5th gen on the DS.  But then again they saved ORAS for 6th gen as a result, so if they do something similar then the 8th gen game engine is what the 4th gen remakes will be on.  And there’s also a possibility for a FRLG remake, but that’s a very very small possibility.  I really don’t think, and really hope, they don’t do that.  I’m honestly sick and tired of Kanto, urgh.  I also really liked Pearl, but that’s mainly the nostalgia talking.  I don’t know what kinds of changes they made in Platinum, but they must have been significant since playing through Diamond not too long ago wasn’t very exciting.  The post-game island was pretty neat, but the characters were bland and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the plot or Team Galactic.  It wasn’t very difficult either (seriously, a Beautifly with 0 IVs in Sp. Atk rekt house??) and generally speaking it was more of a pain to get through than the third gen games.  I’ve restarted Diamond many times, nearly as many times as Sapphire, but unlike Sapphire I’ve almost never finished those runthroughs I started.  Ohhh, route 216 huh?  That’s certainly an interesting song to like the most.  I’m personally a fan of Route 209’s theme, and was stoked to find it was remixed and put in Brawl and Smash 4.  Route 216’s theme isn’t bad either, though it’s not one I hear very often just because I never seem to find myself traversing in that area.  Probably because that snow is a bit of a pain to get through, much like the swampy areas near Pastoria City.  Regardless though, if Gamefreak gave Ruby and Sapphire this much love, I can’t wait to see what they have in store for Diamond and Pearl.  It won’t be out for years, but Alpha Sapphire has revitalized my love for Pokemon, so whatever games they have planned for 2016, even if it’s Z or FRLG remakes, I’m pretty excited for.  Aww, and I’m glad you liked reading all that I typed up, though I can imagine it must have been a bit of a pain to get through.  It’s also nice to hear that you were able to enjoy ORAS vicariously.  It would have been better if you could have experienced it firsthand, but that wouldn’t have been possibly given your parents would never have allowed you to buy a 3DS in time to satiate your craving hunger from a year ago when the games first came out.

 

Ahh, I’m glad to see you got the heater problem worked out.  It sounded like you were really suffering in that cold.  Oh, okay, so that’s how you manage.  It’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to expose yourself like that.  Your body is your business after all; even if there’s nothing about it you’re ashamed about doesn’t mean you’d be comfortable exposing it to people you’re close with.  Eheheh, nah, the way you word that makes it sound like I’m some kind of exhibitionist, hahah.  I may appear to be more open about changing in front of others, but that’s just the way I’ve had to live.  My younger brother and I are really close, since we’re only two years apart, so he’s always been a part of my life.  We’re super chill with each other and are pretty much half naked when we use the bathroom together before going to sleep (since he also has a going-to-bed routine).  It’s been that way since we were practically babies, so as weird as that might sound to you, it’s something I’m completely used to.  Not only that, but in middle school and high school we were forced to change for gym in the locker rooms.  The locker rooms don’t have enough bathroom stalls for everyone to use or even share, so everyone just changes in the general areas of the locker room, which have no privacy at all.  If you’re not comfortable changing in front of others, then you’re just going to have to suck it up and get used to it.  You have to be in the locker room before the bell rings, otherwise you’re marked as late; so no changing in the bathrooms elsewhere in the school (so, uhh, despite your joking, technically speaking we actually weren’t allowed access to stalls…….).  This was the case with both middle school and high school, so I’ve been changing in front of friends, acquaintances, and strangers nearly every school day for the past seven years.  Changing twice a day too, if you count changing back out of my gym clothes and into my regular clothes.  So yeahhh, given how I was raised and the things I was forced to do growing up, I’ve gotten used to changing in front of others.  I don’t strip down half naked and walk around nonchalantly of course, but I don’t do that whole “derping around” thing before changing either.  And of course, this only applies to guys.  Changing in front of a girl??  Geezus, oh no no no, I wouldn’t even be able to imagine myself shirtless in the presence of a girl.  Just thinking about it gets me embarrassed, bleh…

 

Ohh, okay, so you didn’t actually watch the debate.  It seems like you’re quite against Clinton though.  Don’t worry, so am I, ahah.  Of the Democrats, there’s really no doubt the primaries are going to come down to Clinton and Sanders, much like how in 2008 it came down to Clinton and Obama.  I’ve pretty much settled on voting for Sanders in the Democratic primaries.  I don’t know if I’ll vote for him in the actual election even if he beats out Clinton, but at the very least I’ll have his back during the primaries.  Welp, Lessig’s plan did seem like a bit of a publicity stunt, and it looks like even he has dropped out of the running.  I guess we’ll never get a chance to see him on the big stage.  I guess it’s just that his promise reminded me a lot of James K. Polk’s promises to the people when he was running for President back in 1844.  He was also a dark horse candidate during that election, and promised to annex California, New Mexico, Texas, and Oregon, as well as lower tariffs and reestablish the Independent Treasury System.  His biggest promise however, was to serve only a single term.  When he left the White House four years later, every single one of his promises had been kept.  Damn.  Polk is one of my favorite Presidents, and he’s wildly considered by historians to be one of the most underappreciated and underrated Presidents of all time.  We hear about Washington and Lincoln and FDR all the time, but Polk?  For a politician who literally kept all his promises I’m surprised people don’t see him as someone modern day politicians should strive to be more like, especially given rampant mistrust in the government system.

 

Hm, so I actually watched the Democratic debate forum yesterday.  Apart from MSNBC being so disgustingly far left it hurt, the event itself was pretty interesting to watch.  Upon further inspection, I kinda like Martin O'Malley.  He has this sort of intensity about him and he's very good with his words.  I believe he even pauses and hesitates less than both Sanders and Clinton.  I really wish Clinton wasn't running, or at least that it was her with the low single digits in the polls and O'Malley who was duking it out with Sanders.  Given a choice been Sanders and O'Malley, I don't know who I'd choose.  But since I really don't trust Clinton and I want to do all I can to prevent her from moving on to the general election, I don't really have much of a choice but to vote for Sanders.  Sanders, despite his popularity, is still trailing Clinton considerably all across the board, and he's going to need all the votes he can get.  Sigh, O'Malley is just running for President at a bad time; I feel bad for him.  And if I'm not mistaken, there was a Republican debate a little over a week ago that I also watched.  There's not really much to report there.  Trump is still generally leading the polls, though Carson is right behind him.  Everyone else is beginning to fall behind.  It seems like the effort to back a Republican candidate to seriously contend with Trump is beginning to work, though I've also seen a lot of leftists bash Carson, so it's still a bit unclear whether Democrats are just trying to get Carson into the general election but still prefer either Clinton or Sanders, or if it's Republicans who actually don't want Trump to move on and feel that Carson has the highest chance to contend with the Democratic nominee.  Either way, I'm a bit upset that Fiorina is beginning to trail in the polls, since I still like her the most of all the Republican candidates. She's as poised as ever and it's not like she's said or done anything to ruin her chances, but as people begin to bandwagon onto either Trump or Carson, everyone else who had decent chances at the start are beginning to fade in the minds of the general public.  Oh, also, Christie and Huckabee are now off of the primary debate for this Tuesday.  They haven't dropped out of the race yet, and Christie especially doesn't seem unfazed by this setback, so we'll see how this develops.

 

An “outgoing introvert”?  That certainly is interesting; I don’t think I heard about that before either.  But then again, the entire premise that everyone in the world can just be shoved into two contradictory categories and not leave any room for compromise seemed a bit archaic as well.  I wouldn’t suggest you force yourself to identify entirely one way or the other.  I’m perfect content being an introvert through and through, and if the way you live makes you an outgoing introvert, or a reserved extrovert, then so be it.  Embrace who you are and be happy about it.  Words are just words after all.  Their meanings change all the time, and they only are what you make of them.  No need to take the categorization of personality types as the word of God or anything.  When humans try to organize things in the name of science, things can get rather complicated, if the history of taxonomy is anything to go by.  You just be you, ahah.  It’s a bit hard maintaining high school connections, mainly because once you go your separate ways you very quickly run out of things to talk about.  Sure, you can share and compare college experiences, and maybe talk about shared hobbies, but after a while I guess you just find it more convenient and fulfilling to establish relationships with people you actually go to school with and see on a regular basis.  Shhh shhh, I know, you’re going to say that in our case we’ve somehow managed to keep in touch for an entire year and we haven’t even met each other yet, but there are exceptions to every rule, hahah.  And oh yeah, summer break…  Err, with the exception of my closest friends, I pretty much have a complete reset of friendships at the start of every school year.  Most people I’m acquainted with I know for the span of a single year, when I have classes with them, but once summer break rolls around and brand new classes start back up in September, I establish new relationships.  That's also why I’ve let all my connections from JP end now that I’m in college.  It’s not like I had particularly strong ties with anyone in high school anyway.

 

As expected of Kenzi, you saw my post on The Dog of Flanders, haha.  I was going to mention it now myself, but you did the job for me.  Yes, it would be an amazing movie to watch Christmas day, or Christmas Eve, or anytime during the Christmas season.  I’ll definitely be sure to remind you.  Yup, it’s pretty much the completionist inside of me that’s preventing me from putting them on my list.  I know that there’s no way I’ll ever run out of anime to want to watch, so it’s not like I’m ever going to clear out my Plan to Watch list, but it still bothers me and makes the task of getting through my backlog that much more daunting, eheh.

 

The main characters for F/Z were also really popular.  Kiritsugu, Saber, and Gilgamesh were right up there, but I’m fairly certain Rider edged them out when it came down to it.  For UBW, Saber and Gilgamesh maintained their popularity, while we got rather mixed opinions on Shirou as you can imagine.  Eheh, I may not have gotten into the Fate series until just over a year ago, but once I really fall in love with a series I go crazy over it.  The hype is starting to die down now, which is good because the wait for HF has been slaying me.  It was the same with SnK when that aired a while ago.  After the first season ended, I was in SnK withdrawal for the longest time.  I then got distracted by other things, and suddenly *bam* 2016 is nearly upon us!  Whoo, I’m beginning to get excited for season 2!  Oh, and according to UTW, their translation of the second season Blu-rays of UBW will be done around Christmas.  There’s no rush though, since I’d recommend watching UBW again after F/Z, or at least right before the HF movie(s).

 

D’awwwww, geez Kenzi, you sweet little thing, heheheh.  You’re making me blush and grin like a fool; thank God no one else is in my room to question why I’m being a dork in front of my laptop.  In all honesty, my interest in DCW and DC had been stagnant for the longest time.  Well, it’s not like I’m any more interesting in DC now than I was a year ago, though I can’t deny that movie 20 looks like it’s going to be a glorious fustercluck.  However, ever since meeting you, I guess I’ve found a lot more motivation to stop by DCW whenever I found the chance.  We didn’t have our weekly responses yet (those started right after winter break, didn’t they?) and though our main form of information exchange was right here in this thread, I discovered all the similarities we shared through random posts we both made in the Off Topic threads.  I don’t know who started posting there more first.  I guess I just started posting more in hopes of maybe getting to know you better…  Ahh, the way I worded that is a bit embarrassing, but you know what I mean, eheh.  Yeahh, I remember when I thought we were long lost twins as well!  We definitely have found where we differ, but that makes interacting with you that much more interesting.  You’re giving me all this credit for being “down to earth” and having a grip on what I was doing, but I could say the same for you.  There was something about your posts, and your personality.  I can’t really put it into words, but you sounded so level-headed and reasonable.  You were someone who I felt I could respect and someone that I wanted to get to know better.  Oh gosh, I really can’t believe we’ve gotten as far as we have this past year.  This year has gone by really fast.  I’d like to think that that’s an indication I’ve been generally really happy, and I’m confident that you’re to thank for that, haha.  Really, sending weekly responses to you and getting to know you has helped me get through some rough times this past year, more than you can imagine.  How did I ever manage without you, ahah.  (Oh, yeah, the double space thing.  I think one of my teachers way back in first grade or something told me it was “proper” and “professional” to double space after a sentence ends.  I’ve gotten so used to doing it now, I can’t help it, even if it messes up the formatting occasionally.  You’re the first person to actually ever point that out; give yourself a pat on the back you sharp-eyed girl, heehee.)

 

Woah, so that’s what vegans eat?  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised they eat fake meat, since meat of pretty much any kind is amazing and it would be a shame to live life without that delicious source of protein, but that’s still rather fascinating.  I’d be interested in trying some of that stuff, even if it is kinda weird, haha.  Oh, you’re forced to use your weekly meal swipes the first year (or semester, can’t remember) at Case in the sense that you have to sign up for meal swipes the first year.  Let’s say you’d rather just use your own cash and eat out at restaurants every time you want some food instead of going to the dining halls or the other places that accept meal swipes.  Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to and will be forced to pay for meal swipes.  You could just not even touch your meal swipes, but that would be a foolish waste of money obviously.  And to make matters worse, you can’t specify how many meal swipes you want.  They have a set number of options, generally between 2-3 swipes a day.  If you want to only have 7 swipes a week, you’re not allowed to have that.  Furthermore, meal swipes don’t carry over at the end of the semester/year, and they reset every week.  So if you didn’t use your weeks’ worth of swipes, then they’re going to waste.  I eat 1-2 meals a day, so a ton of my swipes are left unused by the end of the week.  It kind of sucks, but you’re given more freedom to customize your meal plan as you progress through your time at Case.  As soon as I can, I’ll just drop meal swipes entirely.  I eat too sporadically and rarely to really gauge how many meals I need a week.  Using my own money should be fine.  And yeahhh, my habit of skipping lunch has carried over from high school.  I try to eat breakfast and dinner, but if I skip breakfast because I wake up too late then oh well.  Guess I’ll just eat a hefty dinner that day, eheh.  It’s not like the food at Leutner is bad.  It looks okay on the surface and tastes rather bland, but I imagine that’s how high school lunches must have tasted.  The service is a bit shoddy as well, but I’m not really picky when it comes to that kind of stuff.  There are apparently amazing places elsewhere on campus that accept meal swipes, so if you’re one of the many people who are sick of Leutner and absolutely cannot stand another bite of the food there, those are options as well.  They’re far away from the freshman dorms though, so you’re going to have to go out of you way to walk there or stop by right before, in between, or after classes.  I’m lazy as heck efficient with my time, so I just settle for Leutner so I can get back to watching anime doing my homework as fast as I can.  And uhhhh, I forgot to mention this before, but when my parents came to visit me during fall break a couple weeks ago, they said I got thinner.  Like, a lot thinner.  I’ve noticed it myself, since my pants that used to fit so comfortably now require a belt to wear.  I-It’s just because I’ve been working out, that’s all, eheheheh……...  Okay, I guess I’m not fooling anyone when I say that.  I have been eating a lot less than before, but only because I’m so bad at getting up on time and miss breakfast all the time.  I really can’t bring myself to eat lunch, but I suppose I’ll try when I need to.  Working out and eating less isn’t good; I need that protein to build muscle after all.  Don’t worry Kenzi, I’ll definitely be taking better care of myself.  I almost wanted to just leave all that out so as to not worry you, but I’d feel bad if I tried hiding something like that from you, so I left it in.  I hope you aren’t upset; I really am fine!

 

Ohhh, yeahh, thinking about it now, though Akazora works for online profiles because it’s short, simple, and relatively unique, it doesn’t work nearly as well when said out loud.  Too many syllables and doesn’t really roll off the tongue too well.  Kenzi works though!  Hahah, I’m not implying that I dislike your real life name; I like both equally!  I suppose it is a bit early to be thinking about this, but it’s something that crosses my mind occasionally.  Oh no no, I didn’t mean to scare you like that!  Contacts aren’t really that bad.  I had to get them when I was in sixth grade, so I had the pain tolerance and mindset of a little boy.  And those were hard contacts.  The soft kinds that are used for daytime wear are apparently a lot more comfortable (obviously, you need to have them in all day).  Of course, if you can preserve your eyesight then there’s no point in even worrying about any of that.  After November 17th, be sure to update me on how the eye appointment goes!

 

Woah, you felt that guilty for skipping a day of school?  I suppose it would make you feel even worse if your parents were upset at you.  Just know that there’s nothing wrong with skipping a day or two if you absolutely must.  While it’s important to be in class for as many days as you possibly can, opting out every once in a while for your own well-being won’t hurt.  God forbid you’re ever seriously ill or injured, but if you are and going to class puts you and everyone around you at risk, then just take it easy for a bit.  Have friends send you the notes for the day and e-mail your professors (yeah, I’m talking about college, but this applies to high school as well).  Just do your best to recover.  Perfect attendance is commendable, but in the grand scheme of things your health should come first.  Never forget that.  Oh, I could have finished that APUSH project a lot earlier, but then my stupid self had the brilliant idea at two in the morning to make the presentation even better by incorporating nerdy history jokes in the slides, which required photo editing, which I wasn’t very good at, which just… my gosh, it was just really bad time management.

 

Hmm, sad memories huh?  From the looks of that flowchart, it seems the music is only a trigger for memories which in turn lead to your tears.  So technically it has less to do with music and more just to do with remembering something from the past.  I’m not going to pry, but I can see how that works.  Some things from my past can be upsetting if I remember them now, but I don’t believe I’ve ever had music trigger a memory that sends me into a sad, unproductive mess.  Perhaps you’re more sensitive to music than most people?  You say that you can’t listen to lyrical songs of any kind or music with a strong beat while doing homework.  I understand how songs with English can be distracting, but that’s only for text intensive things like reading a book or taking notes.  I can listen to English songs just fine while doing math or something.  I’d think most people are like this, right?  To be so distracted by lyrics of any kind seems a bit odd.  For me, I absolutely need music in the background when I’m doing something.  I can’t just sit around and do homework in silence.  But whenever I get really into my work, the music just sort of fades to a blur.  So like, music is nice to listen to, but by mind doesn’t latch onto it.  It just becomes indiscernible noise.  No no, that’s not a very good way to word it.  I don’t know how to explain it to someone so sensitive to music, eheheh.  It’s actually kind of ironic.  You love music so much, but it seems your mind is wired to be so especially sensitive to it that any lyrical songs and heavy beat songs are out of the question for studying, and sad songs trigger you to the point of inability.  In fact, your selection of study music is severely limited compared to most people.  It’s like you love music so much that you can’t listen to it, or something like that.  When do you even find the chance to listen to lyrical and heavy beat music then?  Do you just like, listen to it while staring a wall…?

 

If you’re always invisible, then won’t people start to realize you’re one of those people who’s always set to not available and just chat you up anyway?  I don’t feel a need to set myself as invisible, because I’m rarely on Facebook anyway.  I know most people probably have their Facebook constantly open in a separate tab, much like how I always have my Gmail open (though that’s kind of pointless given my phone sends me a notification any time I get something anyway).  But on the few days I do check in, it’s just to click my notifications and updates and whatnot to clear those queues out.  I then log out immediately afterward only to check back in a few days.  Even if someone did want to chat with me, they’d need to have Lady Luck on their side to even see me online.  In fact, I log onto DCW more often, hahah. Whhhhhaaaaaaa??  You haven’t opened your locker since freshman orientation?  Damn, I can’t even imagine high school without stopping by my locker between classes.  Pfft, pampered Kenzi will never know the thrill and rush of dashing to your locker to throw your backpack in before running to homeroom.  Late to class even without locker stops?  Git gud Kenzi, git gud, heheh.  JP has trained me to walk really fast in a crowd of people.  I walk a lot faster than most people.  Pays off in college at least, though I do wonder what it would have felt like to have walked leisurely between classes.

 

My math class actually consists of not only freshman, but sophomores and juniors and even seniors.  The freshman are those who came in with credits.  The sophomores are those who either don’t have credits or decided not to use them, and who must have decided not to take at least one semester of math in their freshman year. As for juniors and seniors, I really don’t know what they’re doing.  This math course is just a prereq class, so I’m a bit confused as to why they’ve taken so long to take it, especially since they’ve all been forced to declare their majors already.  And I don’t want to sound mean, but honestly, bad students exist everywhere.  And the juniors and seniors in this class… well, they definitely aren’t the brightest bunch.  They’re the ones who are skipping classes the most, even though they’re under more pressure to complete their credits than freshman or sophomores.  Of course, what do you expect from people who pushed off such a basic math course until so late?  A-Are they even going to graduate on time?  Sigh, whatever, it’s none of my business.  You’d think a school like CWRU would have weeded out these kinds of students, but I guess some weak links accidentally or luckily get in.  Then again, if a Harvard student can party too hard, flunk every class, and ultimately drop out, then no university of any prestige is safe from students who just… don’t care.

 

I’ve never actually read any Junie B. Jones books.  I saw them all the time, but for some reason I just decided never to get into them.  I did read a fair share of Captain Underpants though, ahah.  Oh geez, you might have a point, maybe that’s where my penchant for crude humors stems from as well, heheh.  Goosebumps was decent.  It always followed a very predictable formula and it wasn’t very scary, but the books were a fun read for an elementary schooler.  You didn’t miss much for not reading The 39 Clues.  The plot was actually really intricate, but because it was written for middle schoolers and it’s taking so long to finish you would have grown out of it before very long anyway.  A Wrinkle in Time is L’Engle’s most popular work, but I can’t remember if it was my personal favorite.  It definitely was a bit of an abstract story, but I still enjoyed it.  Duncan and Horowitz are pretty good authors as well.  I only read the first book in the Alex Rider series, and I’m actually more familiar with Horowitz’s work on The Power of Fire series.  Let’s see, I’ve read a few books by Spinelli, and I read Patterson’s first Maximum Ride book.  I never read Colfer’s Artemis Fowl, though I’ve seen it around.  I’ve also never read Gordon’s Tunnel series, though I believe I read one or two books from Kinney’s Diary of a Whimpy Kid series.  I definitely want to reread Tale of Two Cities, but not for a while since I don’t have the time.  If you ever want to give Sherlock Holmes a chance, just read A Study in Scarlet.  It was the first Holmes novel I ever read (and first Holmes story ever written) and still my favorite case of the entire series.  Huck Finn was alright, but yeah as you say, it’s not something I’ll read again.  I’ve already read To Kill a Mockingbird twice now.  I’m really not the biggest fan of it.  I get why some people might like it, and I appreciate the message behind the story, but it really doesn’t resonate with me.  To each his or her own though.

 

I guess practicing the piano just isn’t convenient as you get older.  Lots of people have pianos in their homes, but those are the past generation.  As people our age go off to college, they don’t have the liberty to bring their pianos with them, obviously.  They could use an electronic keyboard, but that’s not a good replacement.  They have to resort to either going to the music facilities and practicing on the pianos there or using the pianos located in the common rooms of dorms.  But that comes with the inconvenience of having to go out of your way to practice out in the open and risk other people walking in on you, either to gawk or praise or chat.  If you’re trying to actually practice hard, having people interrupt you can be annoying.  It’s much unlike practicing in the privacy of your house.  And then what are they to do after leaving college?  Young adults these days take a long time to settle down, marry, have children, etc.  As a result, they're constantly getting new jobs and moving across the country or at least jumping from apartment to apartment.  With that kind of lifestyle, purchasing a piano just isn't realistic given its size and the price it takes to transport it around.  Nah, I was a band member all the way.  I never was a part of the orchestra, and only saw the violin as a side instrument.  That’s why it was on the cutting block, ahah.  You pretty much answered your own question; my parents only saw activities that could benefit me in school as practical activities.  There’s only so far taekwondo and ping pong can take me, as opposed to more popular and academic sports such as soccer and tennis and volleyball.  So you used to like swimming?  What made you change your mind?  Or was it just that your parents canceled the lessons and stopped taking you to the pool and you just lost interest?  Geez, pottery as well?  Oh yeah, and I did a bit of art as well when I was younger.  I remember thinking I had some artistic skill back in elementary school, and I guess I was a bit more handy with a pencil back in the day compared to my peers, but I never cultivated that skill so now I’m just kinda meh at drawing stuff.  Ahhh, what an enthusiastic kid you were!  Gosh, I was a lazy little boy.  I really didn’t like all the random stuff my parents signed me up for.  I always felt it got in the way of enjoying my weekends and summer breaks, eheheh.  It’s funny how our parents are such opposites.  My parents would have loved it if I had ever shown actual interest in extracurricular activities.  They were the ones who forced me to do everything that I did.  If I were given the choice, I would have just played video games to “broaden my horizons,” fufufufufu.

 

I see, thanks for being so considerate!  Haha, I guess I don’t have to read it.  It’s good that you typed that all out just to get it out of your system anyway.  I was pretty angry at my econ professor not too long ago, but I decided against posting about him here.  Just know he’s a terribly unfair grader, ugh.  Aw, well it’s too bad that you couldn’t get perfect scores, but at least you improved!  Your profile is already so strong, your scores should be just fine.

 

Trust me, I wasn’t just saying the essay was good just to be nice; it really was fantastic.  You should definitely be proud of it!  And you’re giving me far too much credit, ahah.  I’m awfully flattered, but I only gave you the base premise, not even that.  I just kinda half mentioned you might want to write about your watch.  You were the one who thought of the whole experiment and you were the one who wrote it so well.  Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back before you praise me, hah.  And yeah, I figured you wouldn’t just actually discard your watch like that, not after how much you raved about it before.  I’m glad that you’re finally done with college apps!  As you say, there’s nothing left to do but wait.  Be sure to take the time to treat yourself.  Maybe have some dinner out or something.  It’s always nice to eat a bit extravagantly every once in a while.  Ahhh, I’m anticipating the results!  You’re notified whether or not you’re accepted into Case by December 15th, right?  Heheh, I’m going to keep my eye out for that date.  That’s a Tuesday, so if you’re going to post a response the following Wednesday be sure to let me know the results!  Ahah, geez, I’m so excited for some reason!

 

Oh boy, HCl…  Well I’m glad that your calc teacher didn’t seem to mind.  I’m sure it wasn’t too big of an issue for him.  He’s probably had a lot of weird things happen in this classroom, and as you said, it’s not like you had bad intentions.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had forgotten that even happened.  People who feel guilty about wronging someone else are usually the ones who exaggerate how the other person thinks of them in their head.  Imagine if a friend of yours accidentally did something to upset you, and in that moment you were a bit angry.  That friend could have felt so guilty about it and tossed and turned all night with worry while you just went to sleep and completely forgot about it the next day.  Every time they saw you afterward, they couldn't help but think back to that event and feel ashamed while you're smiling there completely obvious to their worry.  I bet your calc teacher doesn't even think about the HCl incident whenever he sees you, haha.  Phew, those physics assignments sound like a pain.  And I thought the online accounting homework I have is bad.  At least that stuff is just tedious instead of difficult.  Man, I wish you the best of luck with that!  Haha, and English is always my best subject while science is always my worst…  Now that college apps are behind you, you’ll hopefully have more time to focus on physics.  And if best comes to best and you get into Case, you can accept their invitation and completely let your worries go after that.  Then you’ll be able to focus even more on school work.  I say this time and time again, but don’t be afraid to take breaks from these weekly responses!  It sounds like you’re rather stressed and strung up over your workload, and I’d hate to take up too much of your precious time.

 

I didn’t do anything too special for Halloween.  Just relaxed, played some video games, and watched “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” for nostalgia’s sake.  I don’t even really like the Peanuts, but since I wasn’t going trick or treating or dressing up or going to a party, I decided to celebrate it in a bit of traditional way.  I’m guessing you spent your Halloween working on your college apps?  Because that’s what I was doing last year, eheheh…

 

Hah, true true, I shouldn’t be underestimating a city as amazing as Troy.  I’m glad to see that you’re doing well and staying safe.  Aw, and of course, I’ll definitely be sure to look out for myself.  If it’s any reassurance, I only leave my dorm for class, food, and the gym.  And I look both ways twice before crossing streets as well, hahah.  Thank you though, for thinking about me.  I appreciate it more than you can imagine.

(added a bit below the fourth paragraph...)

 

gahh, sorry for the late reply

comp sci is such a pain in the arse at the moment

 

The Meteor Falls theme was pretty memorable for me, so I was really pleased with the remastered version, haha. It never evoked nostalgic response in you? Part of the reason I liked it so much was because I spent a good amount of time in there hunting for a Bagon, lol. Ohh, my favorite city/town themes are probably Lilycove, Ever Grande, Slateport, Verdanturf, and who am I kidding I loved them all. I was hit really hard when I heard Littleroot though. I couldn't breathe for a few seconds because I... I felt like a little kid again... that feeling of playing my sister's Gameboy just flooded all of my senses, t-the nostalgia, ahaah... And the bicycle theme! They did such a good job with the bicycle theme ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

 

Running back and forth between a route and a city and periodically checking whether the Pokemon ended up on the route you were on was enticing to you? If you happened to be lucky enough to encounter it, you also had to make sure you brought a Pokemon with Mean Look or Block so it wouldn't escape. Imagine if you didn't know that. Imagine your naive self walking into a random patch of grass, and suddenly intense encounter music sets in. Imagine yourself experiencing this adrenaline rush while preparing an attack for this legendary Pokemon. Except that it just ran away. Poor you, undergoing one of the most anticlimactic experiences of your childhood. Just grab that Nosepass from the PC you caught then. You can use that to trap Mesprit, no worries. After mindlessly biking in circles for an hour or two... or three... you finally managed to encounter Mesprit again! Hmm, what's this? The Nosepass was too slow and you weren't able to trap Mesprit with Block quickly enough? Too bad you didn't realize that the speed of your Pokemon mattered. Go waste a Pokeball or two on that Golbat you thought you'd never catch. No need to fret, because now you can just go through that arduous process of biking in circles again with your newly caught Golbat! Okay, but make sure you trap it and weaken it enough, and make sure you don't crit the thing! Oops, turns out you didn't buy enough Pokeballs and Potions, and Golbat is almost dead. You shake in anticipation as you sheepishly throw your last Pokeball--your last lifeline--in hopes that a you'll be blessed with a stroke of luck. Sigh, not even one wiggle. It's almost as if Mesprit is trying to mock you! Rinse and repeat. Except this time around, Mesprit decides to Struggle to death before you can catch it. Oh dear, maybe you should've inflicted a status condition on it. Don't worry though. Simply proceed to repeat said process x amount of times until enough rage sets in for you to finally give in and chuck your cherished Masterball at it. Ahh, now you feel accomplished for being able to best it. You laugh a hearty laugh, you save the game... and immediate regret sets in after you realize the amount of effort and rage you could've saved yourself had you done this earlier. You also silently cry to yourself after realizing that you have yet to catch Cresselia. Enticing, indeed! Oops, sorry, got a little carried away there.

 

Oh dear lord, the teleportation tiles were even worse than the directional tiles. Especially the ones in the Aqua Hideout. Geezus the puzzle made no sense. I was too lazy to map out where each tile lead to so I would hold down the left button to see where that would lead me. If that didn't work, I would hold down the right button. And if that didn't work, I'd just run into all of them in the most sporadic manner possible (even if it meant going around in circles again... and again... and again...) until I got to a new area. Definitely not the most efficient way to navigate the area, but my laziness got the best of me. Ohh, ice puzzles were kinda fun. At least I had a sense of where I was going whenever I did those, haha. I can't name every puzzle off the top of my head, but I think my ranking for them would be fairly predictable. The more in-control I am/the less reliant on luck it feels, the less I'll dislike it. You remember Lt. Surge's gym right? That puzzle can burn to the ground.

 

Haha, I never caught Kyogre in my HG either since I never fully completed the game. I was referring to catching it in my friend's HG during one of those card parties I went to. It was still pretty tedious though, as I'm sure you can imagine after catching Primal Kyogre. Ahahaha, you just reminded me that I spent so much time at the Battle Frontier that I had 500+ BP that I never used. I think the only reason I didn't have the heart to spend them was because they kinda represented the amount of work I put into the Battle Frontier. And I guess I reveled in the fact that the number was so high, eheh...  I also had a similar problem with a Yoshi's Island game mechanic... It's nice to know that you're prepping for your run through the Battle Tower though, haha. 

 

Waitt... but they never removed Mirage Island. Well, it's not the same Mirage Island that RSE had, but the island is still there, isn't it?

 

I remember posting quite a few ORAS soundtracks around DCW, so I hope I didn't spoil much for you. Argh, I remember raving about Zinnia's theme a while ago... and I think even Wally's theme... oh dear, I'm really sorry if I happened to spoil any part of ORAS for you, eheh... 

 

They definitely could've done a better job with the Elite 4 theme. It wasn't bad per se, but I think it was one of the weaker soundtracks.

 

Haha, I've never used Battle Items either. I almost always sell the items I don't need, even if my pockets were already filled to the brim with Pokedollars. Oh danggg, you managed to get all three ribbons? You had that much money to spare? And it's a darn good thing you managed to catch Deoxys in time, heh.

 

Ohmygosh, I don't want to hear it. I just got my hands on a 3DS and if... if you're saying what I think you're trying to say, you're saying the 4th gen remakes are possibly maybe perhaps going to be on a different console...? :'c Actually, nah, it's cool. I want to see the 4th gen remakes at peak quality, and if that means they'll be catered to a new console, that's great. But one thing's for sure: I'm going to anticipate their release and I'm determined to play them one way or another, heh. By the looks of it, 7th gen won't be released until 2017... so if 4th gen remakes aren't coming out until 8th gen, then... gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can't wait that long Gamefreak pls don't do this to me... also, inb4 Mega Primal Delta Alpha Arceus. And nope nope nope nope nope there's no need for FRLG remakes. That's a bit excessive, don't you think? Gamefreak's been really good about delivering what the people want, so I know they won't drop some FRLG remake out of nowhere. Okay, you missed out on a ton by not playing Platinum. But at the same time, I haven't played Platinum since I last opened it on my DS years ago, so everything I'm about to type will likely be littered with childhood bias and nostalgia. For starters, the Distortion World, holy geezus. That place was backwards af and completely insane and it blew me away, like wtf is that place. And Giratina is freaking badass. Also, the Battle Frontier. I spent a good chunk of my post-game at the Battle Frontier. It's so diverse and since there are five facilities you can derp around in, you won't get bored easily. Of course, since you've played HG, you already know what it's like. You can also rebattle the gym leaders daily, the graphics are a ton better (just my opinion though), and you can chase after the legendary birds roaming across the region. And after typing that out, they better make a Platinum remake instead of D/P remakes. Ohh, Route 209 is cool. It's definitely one of the defining themes of D/P/Pt along with Route 201, Route 203, Route 210, and all of them? 4th gen has some of the best route music. Route 228 is also a personal favorite (both the daytime and nighttime versions). Oh, and I also love the fact that D/P/Pt introduced daytime and nighttime themes. That was awesome. Ughhh, Sinnoh is so jazzy with Route 228 and I love it soooooooo muchhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!! I'm having a rush just digging through all these OSTs and wow, this really takes me back. Oh gosh, the good ol' days, indeed. I won't deny that Route 216 was a pain to get through, but once the theme kicked in, oomph. It was a blast. I sometimes flew back there and left my DS on just so I could listen to it on repeat, hehe. Sinnoh is also the region with easily the most diverse terrain with mountains, snow, tropical areas, haunted areas, a safari, a resort, a volcano, a desert, the underground, marshes/swamps, parks, lakes, forests, Distortion World??? You could argue that certain regions also encompass some of those terrains/areas, but geezus, Sinnoh has it all. Hoenn was mainly focused on the tropical aspect, Unova was mainly focused on the urban aspect, Kalos was France-themed? ...and I'm not entirely sure what to say about Kanto and Johto. Oh gosh, I just love 4th gen so much. And not to mention the godly soundfont, omphhhh... If I'm raving this much about 4th gen, just imagine how I'm going to react when the remakes come out. Wowowowow, I can't believe I rambled on so much. You must think I'm insane or something if you don't already. Oh reading and replying to your journey through ORAS was no trouble at all! If anything, I should be apologizing for trailing off so much, eheh.

 

Haha, that's understandable. I used to be pretty open when I was a little kid. I remember times when I bathed with my best friend back in NYC when we had sleepovers together. I couldn't have cared less if my parents or sister wanted to help me change into or out of my clothes. I probably wouldn't have cared if they watched me shower. But something triggered as I got older, and doing any of the stuff I did back then would feel like taboo. I'm not even comfortable changing in front of my family members now. Gosh, how times have changed. I'm also really glad that our school allows us to take gym over the summer since I didn't have to worry about changing too much. Actually, we were all forced to swim everyday towards the end of class so we did have to change into swimsuits in locker rooms. But if I recall correctly, most people either hung towels between themselves and others, or just waited in line for a bathroom stall in order to change. Most of us also showered in the locker rooms after swimming as well, but we all had our swimsuits on since every showerhead was out in the open. So I think it's safe to assume that not very many people were comfortable changing in front of others. Well, this was for the girl's locker room at least, lol. I'm assuming that your school also had separated guy's and girl's locker rooms, right..? Even though I wasn't born here, I was still largely raised in an environment where privacy is considered top priority by most, so I guess that might answer why I'm so conscious about changing in front of people. But at the same time, I have no idea what the guys did, so like the people at your school, they might've just sucked it up and changed in front of each other--which I guess wouldn't be a huge surprise since they were always the first ones at the pool. I'm actually a little envious that you've grown up with such a tolerant mindset for changing in front of others--even if it's only in front of guys, haha. 

 

After listening to what Sanders had to say, I've noticed that his decrees seem a bit overly optimistic. No wonder everyone seems to be supporting him. Still, everything he said is true; we should be investing in environmentally friendly and energy efficient ways of getting around, minimum wage should be raised, and yeah of course everyone deserves a college education, but implementing all of those within a four year time span? Uhh... that's not going happen. Everyone seems so caught up in this utopia he plans to create that they don't realize how much conflict this will make. First of all, a lot of what we operate runs on fossil fuel, so this energy efficient country he plans to make isn't going to take over in merely four years (I hope people realize that). I was pretty pleased with the argument Rand Paul put forth yesterday that addressed this issue. Minimum wage from $7.25 to $15?? Yeahh, a lot of employers won't be happy about that. And the whole free college education thing... it's probably going to come right out of everyone's pockets through taxes. Sure, he means well, but I hope he realizes that he can't just shove all of these new declarations down our throats the moment he steps into office (if he does), because that's what he sounds like he's going to do. He has my support at the moment because he has some pretty good ideas and because I'm not a big fan of Clinton, Trump, or Carson. And you know, Sanders does make a good argument. I was pretty happy with Theodore Roosevelt, and everything he did was pretty agreeable--particularly the policies he implemented. I don't have a favorite president, but he's definitely on the top of my list. Polk is one of the more overshadowed presidents, but the fact that he actually carried out everything he promised to do is pretty commendable.

 

Actually, after watching a small bit of the Republican Debate yesterday, Carson is now ahead of Trump, interestingly enough. What irked me the most about this debate was that much of it was focused on attacking Clinton rather than putting forward ideas. As much as I dislike Clinton, the bashing still left a sour taste in my mouth. They were practically saying, "support me if you don't want America to be ruined by Clinton." They were circlejerking the idea over and over again. I really liked Fiorina up until her closing statement when she decided to hop on the attack-on-Clinton bandwagon. Comparing yourself to others in order to bolster your campaign is cheap and childish (I'm also looking at you, John Kasich). I know it tends to happen since everyone's put on the spot (so pretty much everyone's guilty), but it still doesn't change the fact that the argument is low-hanging fruit at best. Not to mention it gets old real fast.

 

I thought the whole introvert and extrovert thing seemed pretty black and white. Since there are only two categories, I figured you're either one or the other. You're either an introvert or extrovert. Kinda like how you're either a guy or girl (I know there are exceptions and controversy surrounding this, but I'm just using this example for simplicity purposes). So after realizing I didn't know where I belonged, I felt a bit conflicted. I could classify myself as an ambivert, but in all honesty, I never liked the idea of an "ambivert" since it sounds so ambiguous. But you know, this stuff is pretty trivial so it's not something I'm going to bother diving into any further. Maybe I'll just break out of this idea of identifying myself as an introvert or extrovert. I'll just be introverted or extroverted when I need to be, lol. Yeahh, you're right. I guess just the fact that I might be losing my friends is a little disheartening. My sister is still pretty close to her two best friends. One went to Cornell and the other went to UMich so I'm not entirely sure how she managed to maintain her connections with them. Hmm, maybe I'll find the time to visit some of my friends in college. Oh gosh, you had a complete reset of friendships after every summer? So if you ended up in some class with a friend you made in the year prior, you'd treat him/her like an acquaintance? I haven't made many new friends this year since I'm pretty much stuck with the same people each year, lol. The connections I've already established tend to stay intact, and acquaintances usually stay as acquaintances for the same reason.

 

Phew, you have a crapload more PTW anime than I do. And I thought my backlog was already pretty big, haha. Best of luck with that! I saw the reviews on The Dog of Flanders and I'm looking forward to watching it!

 

Ohh, I probably would've casted a vote for Kiritsugu for F/Z, and Illyasviel and Gilgamesh for UBW. I also liked both Lancers a lot. And yeahh, Shirou was kinda meh and reminded me too much of Eren. Gosh, I hate waiting for anime to come out, especially when it ends with such a vague cliffhanger. *cough* SnK *cough* Colossal Titan *cough*. At least UBW ended with some closure, haha. I can't believe 2016 is almost here. Time to hop on the hype train, heh.

 

Oh you little... making me cover my silly grin with my hand while I was reading this in case my parents decided to barge into my room, eheh... Your words were awfully sweet and you're far too kind, ahah... I guess the main reason I decided to approach the Off Topic threads a bit more was because the DC threads were pretty slow. It was always the same people necro-ing and replying to those threads, and I barely found any opportunity to generate some discussion with other people. Hmm, I guess I really can't remember which one of us started posting in the Off Topic threads first. I just dug through my DCW history, and apparently, I didn't approach them actively until November, and wow, I didn't make a single OMM post until November 23. Huh, interesting... that's actually a lot later than I thought. And I guess I started posting more often because I also wanted to get to know you better, hehe. You also seemed like the kind of person I could respect. Your sense of humor and personality stood out to me, you sounded pretty grounded, and there was also something about your posts... I can't exactly put it into words either. Perhaps I was just charmed by the stuff you posted, haha. It really is astonishing how quickly this year has gone by. And I also want to thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my posts for this long. I wasn't very open about myself when we first talked, but after I realized I could trust you, ah well, it was very relieving to say the least. I didn't realize how much I needed someone to talk to. Ranting to a Word doc with incoherent gibberish, caps lock, and stream of consciousness was okay and all, but keeping my feelings all pent-up to myself had me on edge. I didn't want to burden friends by venting about these petty things, and I felt very isolated. I kept everything to myself and figured I could work out my problems as I went along. Just knowing that there was someone on the other end willing to listen to what I had to say was really comforting, so I wanted to thank you for that. The thing is, I've always wanted to comment on your habit of double spacing, but I could never find an appropriate time to squeeze it in. I was also told that the format was "proper" (around middle school I think), but I never bothered to follow through with it. And I'm sure there have been people who've noticed this since it was one of the first things I noticed about you, lol.

 

Wow, they just force freshmen to buy meal swipes? Seems rather unreasonable since everyone has different eating habits. It's good that they allow more flexibility throughout the years though. Do they at least allow you to take food from the dining hall? And there were days when you only ate dinner? Aw geez, don't do this to yourself! My sister also got a lot thinner when she came back to visit us. She purposely starved herself because she couldn't stand college food, which was a bit worrying. Ah well, if you say you're fine, I'll take your word for it. I appreciate that you took the time to inform me, but make sure you treat yourself better, haha.

 

Haha, the thing is, I've always had mixed feelings about my name. I'd prefer it over an oriental name but... I just don't like how my name is portrayed, I guess? But at the same time, I can't imagine myself being named anything else, lol. I really disliked it back in middle school, but I'm beginning to warm up to it now. Still, even if contacts aren't that bad, I really am better off just taking better care of my eyes. I'll be sure to update you with my next response!

 

My parents would never let me skip a day for my own well-being. The only way they'd let me is if I could convincingly tell them that I won't be doing anything in class that day (it only worked for one class though). That said, senior skip day could be an exception, heh. I honestly couldn't care less about perfect attendance, but thinking about the amount of catch-up I'd have to do is daunting. I've never had any injury or sickness cripple me to the point where going to school ends up as a much bigger struggle than usual, but there were definitely days when I wanted to hide under my covers and take a day off because of how tired and unmotivated I felt. You know that heavy feeling in your chest whenever you wake up with less than four hours of sleep? Every Monday last year, I'd count down the days when I would wake up feeling like that. Thankfully, I've found ways to counteract that this year, but it still doesn't change the fact that going to school on certain days can be quite tiresome. Haha, you can't blame yourself for having an epiphany though. Most of my best ideas also come during the late hours of the night, lol.

 

Ah yes, but that's one of the main reasons I love instrumentals so much. I listen to lyrical and heavy beat music when I'm surfing the interwebs, Facebook, etc., you know, leisure stuff. And you're not too far off when you asked whether I listen to them while staring at a wall. I love gazing out my window whenever I need a small break. I have a pretty nice view of the neighborhood, and staring at the trees and bright blue sky in the distance gives me comfort. I guess I could do stuff like math homework under lyrical or heavy beat music, but not as productively as whenever I'm listening to the instrumentals. I also need music in the background whenever I'm working, so I'm always actively adding good instrumentals to my list of things to listen to whenever I happen to stumble across some. I wouldn't say my selection of study music is terribly limited though. I have a pretty extensive list of what I can listen to (hooray for OSTs), and I also have a few musicians/remixers I've subscribed to, so it's all good, haha.

 

Yeah, a few of my friends already know that I tend to stay invisible, lol. At least when they have the urge to open up a chat, they won't be able to tell whether I'm really online or not, eheh... wow, I feel like a jerk wording it that way. Haha, I also have a Gmail tab open at all times! I don't get notifications on my phone since I turned them off, but a small popup window opens on my laptop whenever I receive an email. I also keep a Facebook tab open for times when my phone is out of reach. Oh wow, you check DCW more often than Facebook? Ahah, do you really dislike Facebook that much? Oh geez, I really hated the idea of lockers. Everyone would swarm to them between every class in middle school, and my personal bubble felt violated getting crammed into that mess. Even though my tote bag lessened the amount of locker visits, there are only so many textbooks and folders it can hold. Thank goodness we're allowed to carry around backpacks in high school. And whaaa... you guys had to run to homeroom that often? We only have to visit our homeroom at the beginning of every semester, lol. Well, uh, in my defense, it's actually completely my doing that I'm almost always late to class. Wait, that doesn't sound any better. Okay, let me clarify: it's because I usually choose to stay after class to wait for my friends (or sometimes the other way around). Most teachers don't care if you're late as long as you come into class at a reasonable time. I'd say anything past 1-2 minutes late is pushing it.

 

Oh geez, there are juniors and seniors in this math class? I'm just as surprised as you, if not more so. I didn't realize CWRU was so liberal in allowing people to take their prereq classes whenever they wanted to. How much of this math class would you say is consisted of these juniors and seniors? Skipping class so actively isn't very good no matter how you slice it. But maybe senioritis set in for them...?

 

I read A Wrinkle in Time way back in early middle school, so I didn't have any solid opinions for it other than the fact that it was strange book, lol. I really want to take the time to revisit some of these old books I read in elementary school like The Tale of Despereaux (which I never got around to finishing), The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, and probably a bunch more for old times' sake. Gosh, I feel so old. I can't believe it's been nearly a decade already. Hmm, I'm actually not familiar with The Power of Five probably because Alex Rider was more popular around here. I haven't seen many people carry books from The Power of Five. A Study in Scarlet, hm? I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks for the suggestion! Ohh, you've read To Kill a Mockingbird twice? What for? Haha same, I'll admit it's not exactly a personal favorite either. Same with Gatsby and Of Mice and Men that some people seem to revere to pieces. What were some of your favorite "classics" or required reading from school? 

 

Ohh, I beg to differ. My sister found ways to continue playing piano in college by coordinating with violinists and forming ensembles. She even got a keyboard for her apartment, haha. She seems rather happy with it, so I think it's safe to say that she's not letting this inconvenience bog her down. I'm not the least bit surprised given how much she loves the piano. I don't think practicing in the dorms is much of a problem. It won't disturb most people as long as you use the soft pedal. I guess getting interrupted by people walking by can get frustrating, but you could always head off to a music facility like you said. Sure, it sounds inconvenient, but it's just as inconvenient as going out of your way to work out in a gym. There's nothing wrong with buying barbells and doing reps in your dorm, right? But I'd assume most people don't do it for similar reasons. If you really love it, you'll find ways to work around the inconvenience, haha. Oh poo, I had a glimmer of hope thinking that you might've always been an orch dork at heart, heh. I think it's strange that your parents forced you into playing a band and an orchestra instrument at the same time. You can't be in both orchestra and band, after all. Actually, I take that back. You could technically be in both band and orchestra at our school if you played with the orchestra during concerts. I'm not entirely sure why I quit swimming. I used to love it, but I dunno, I guess I started getting tired of it. Haha, pottery was a lot of fun. I still have most of what I made stashed in the back of my art closet. I wasn't terribly good at it though. But at the same time, what are you going to expect from a little kid, lol. Art was a big part of my life up until sophomore year. My mom hung a few of my paintings in her workplace, which felt really flattering. I had to quit abruptly after my dad had this sudden realization that it was a waste of time; that grades were far more important. I was in the middle of painting a dog at the time, sigh. A lot of my work is still with my teacher, so maybe I'll take the time to retrieve them sometime soon--even the unfinished dog I was painting. Whaaaa?? Those random things my parents signed me up for defined a good chunk of my childhood, haha. If I recall correctly, my most spoken phrase at the time was "I'm bored." I always pestered my parents to take me places because I wanted to do things. It didn't matter where. I would've been perfectly content going to the grocery store with them. Going to those random summer programs was so much fun, heh. In fact, one of those programs I went to planted the seed for my graphic designing hobby. I did silly things like photoshopping the Eiffel Tower on fire (and I still have the picture, hehe), but it wasn't until years later that I decided self-teach myself with the minimal knowledge I gained, which eventually turned into my old YouTube channel. And the rest was history. Ahh, good times. I also loved working with pastels and doing any hands-on activity. I was still very much addicted to my Pokemon games, but they never got in the way of these activities I did. Hmm, now that I think about it, perhaps the reason my parents let me continue tennis and violin was because they were school activities. 

 

Aw geez, thanks, ahah. But really though, thank you for helping me. I seriously don't know what I would've ended up writing if it weren't for you. Oh gosh, I hope your confidence in me isn't misplaced. I'm still pretty nervous about receiving the letter in a little over a month. I appreciate your enthusiasm though, haha.

 

Ahh, but the thing is, my friend saw me ask him for a rec letter and she began teasing me about the incident shortly after, so memory of it definitely didn't die out. Word about the incident actually spread around the school for a few days. My calc teacher interrogated me in front of the class about how I even got my hands on HCl, the concentration of the chemical, why I brought it to school, and you could see and hear the concern in his eyes and tone. I've said and done some pretty stupid things, but this is definitely on the list of some of the stupidest things I've ever done. I can't stop kicking myself over it. You're right though. Maybe he did forget about it by now. He seemed quite happy about the thank-you letter I sent him, so maybe everything really is okay. I don't plan on taking any more breaks from these responses since I've already taken so many these past few weeks. Don't be afraid to take some breaks yourself if you ever feel the need to though, haha.

 

Uh, for your information, I actually finished my college apps before Halloween, hmph. Kidding. I actually finished on Halloween, ahah... Worked through the majority of the day and finished around dusk. It was probably one of my more productive days, lol.

 

Glad to hear that you're doing rather well yourself! I suppose that's one less thing I'll have to worry about then, haha.

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

ahhh, yeah

the play was aweeeeeesome...cant believe i forgot about it

i know one filler you really dont like and thats the great divide

what is a bit of a shame for me is that we got to see a bit of every nation after the war but not the fire nation

the water tribe looks good now, the earth kingdom...is pretty much the same

the air temples look renewed

but the fore nation...nothin

i would make a great amon or vaatu

kataras is the weakest one i think

there should have been toph and iroh jackets

oh what the, you didn't like The Great Divide?

I thought it was great, lol

 

well, in all fairness, the entirety of ATLA was dedicated to the fire nation waging war on the other nations

but I agree; they should've included more of the fire nation in LoK

I want Azula back :c

 

hmm, Vaatu and Raava's jackets are too flashy for my taste

I would've loved to see a Toph jacket

not sure what Iroh's jacket would look like though

[SCIENCE!]

I don't really mean "infinite" resources like a bottomless glass of water where the thing does not run out, magically but rather the water you drink from the glass is just recycled over and over again. My wording there was wrong, sorry. (As always haha) So yup, I meant it as a self sustaining environment where 99.9% of the resources they use, they recycle it again. Another good metaphor for it would be a farmer with a family where his/her farm completely sustains their basic needs without any need to source out.

 

Practically, it's an eternally sustaining environment, as long as no terrible external factor comes in to rattle the equilibrium. As for the overpopulation, well if we humans, ourselves, are really disciplined and well versed about the effects of of that thing and aren't terribly 'self-indulgent'. Overpopulation should never happen. We can even probably reach the point where our population's birth rate almost equates the death rate. In that case, a kinda-stagnant population count. And for the actual individual consumption of resources, same thing, if we are disciplined bla bla bla. The resource consumption of each individual should be somewhat the same.

 

Now, if an intelligent civilization has a stagnant population count and a equal resource consumption for each individual, there should be an unchanging level on the total consumption of the said specie. And if they also do not actually use up 100% or whatever near 100% percent of the resources they have in their planet, any resource usage spike should not cause a complete catastrophe since they have 'reserves' in the case of this happening.

 

So in short, an intelligent civilization that just recycles their resources (almost) completely, has a nearly fixed population count + a nearly equal resource consumption for each individual and maintains a resource reserve, should, in theory, have an 'eternally' sustaining habitat, as long as you set aside any disastrous external factors (like comets and asteroids).

 

===

 

On the curiosity thingy, I don't have any satisfying answer but again, I'm pretty sure you have encountered people in your life that you can say is incurious. Now, just Imagine a freaking alien specie which is singly lead by a dictatorial leader who is incurious and would never fund a freaking exploration for the purpose of fulfilling curiosity and instead just focuses on maintaining their specie using the said technique above. I mean yeah, the dictatorial leader would not live forever but the thing he/she did would kinda stall the progress of the species towards reaching stellar capabilities.

 

Haha, just here in our planet, there have been already several leaders that did nothing to advance science and worse, there are those who even opposed to it like because it doesn't align with what they believe. Thank God, the stars aligned on us.

Being able to recycle 99.9% of the resources they use? That sounds incredibly cost inefficient. Having the ability to recycle nearly all of the resources they use is implying that they're able to treat their waste as resource, which is basically the human equivalent of converting feces into food or turning coal into diamonds (which, for the record, is possible, but there's a reason we don't do that; refer back to my second sentence if you need a refresher).

 

Also, I have no clue whether we're reaching the peak of technological capability or if we've merely scratched the surface, but your description of this "eternally sustaining environment" sounds overly optimistic. For starters, humans are self-indulgent. There's no doubt about that. We're very opinionated creatures, we're easily brainwashed by propaganda, we seek drugs that have the capability of killing us, and heck, we've waged war on ourselves on several occasions. There's no way I'd go so far as to say we're "disciplined". We all have opinions on what we should invest in, we debate ethics because we're split in what we think is morally right, we're unsupportive of our own species because we fail to address poverty, we've created monopolies that take away from our own species, we tend to be frail both physically and emotionally--and it's because we're human, and humans are flawed, especially on a grand scale. Perhaps robots can fulfill your expectations for this "eternally sustaining environment" (which is still a stretch since we'd be the ones programming their CPUs, go figure), but humans are far from that.

 

Anything that can be swayed by hormones or neurotransmitters will have opinions. Conflicting opinions create issues. Simple as that.

 

As of right now, we're reproducing far faster than we're dying off. Modern day medicine has increased our average lifespan, and we've created more efficient ways to decrease mortality rate and to ration out resources. Who knows what the human carrying capacity will be. Still, over-consumption and waste production is currently a huge issue for us because we're too shortsighted to look at the big picture or the long term consequences of current day activities. We're very experimental and curious as well. And for this reason, we're still dealing with the CFCs that were released into the atmosphere decades ago because we weren't aware of the consequences. Same with the wastelands of garbage we've dumped in bodies of water. Feel free to take a look at the Cuyahoga River Fire if you crave further evidence.

 

So in short, an intelligent civilization that just recycles their resources (almost) completely, has a nearly fixed population count + a nearly equal resource consumption for each individual and maintains a resource reserve, should, in theory, have an 'eternally' sustaining habitat, as long as you set aside any disastrous external factors (like comets and asteroids).

Key word here is theory.

 

The thing is, your description/theory of an "eternally sustaining environment" relies on common sense and implies that we must overcome these obstructions in order to attain such a utopia, which, as unfortunate as this may sound, is far too much to ask of humans.

 

We kill off our own species with firearms like it's recreation.

We create landfills that deplete our own available habitable space.

We have access to weaponry that have the ability to wipe out our own species.

We partake in activities that are detrimental to our own species as a whole.

And like you said, we've also had dictators that have prevented the progression of our own species.

 

Yes, it's counterproductive and it defies common sense--it's human nature.

It's also why we fail to create an eternally sustainable environment. 

 

Now, you might be thinking "wtf Kenzi, this has nothing to do with other intelligent life forms."

So allow me to address that with one final sentence: There's nothing that says other intelligent civilizations can't suffer from impediments of similar caliber.

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

Tales of Ba Sing Se were so awesome, iroh takes the win on that segment. I feel that the beach is a close second if not on par with it. But man, the runaway, was hilarious.

I know i know, i totally loved that move they made

and season 1 was going strong anyway then they brought back Dante and it became epic

i getcha, i prefer my bending to be in motion not just a pose

it ruins Republic city

i loved that city, and how great they designed it

dislike on the portal

by merchandise you mean

I normally hate fillers, but I loved all of ATLA's fillers

all of them, heh

the beach was hilarious

and the play had me in tears

 

I felt like it was fanservice bringing back Dante, but hey, I ain't complaining

 

yeahh, the portal caused a bit of a mess

I loved the vibe of Republic City, so I guess it was a shame to see it in ruins like that

can't argue with ya there

 

the Korra Water Tribe jacket seems like something I'd get, haha

[SCIENCE!]

first of all, here you go:

 

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.

 

personally, i feel like the fact that we've found no signs of life at all to be a bit of an anomaly to begin with - i believe that we should have seen some sign of extraterrestrial life at some point. 

true, I won't deny that, but think about this: how much of space have we really explored?

haha, it's kinda funny since the reason I believe we haven't found any extraterrestrial life is because space is so vast.

and the fact that there seems to be set conditions for life to even form, much less intelligent life

 

I might sound like I'm contradicting myself with that last statement, but if you just take into consideration how massive space is and how much time the universe has been in existence, the chance of there being intelligent life suddenly sounds a lot more plausible

 

do you know how much we have managed to change the surface of the earth? if you looked around at basically any point of the earth, you would see some sign of intelligent life roaming about, whether it be our monuments, cities, or trash. i find it difficult to believe that we would miss signs of similarly intelligent life. granted, they may not be that obvious, but judging by our own species's experiences, they might be.

we've only found <2k exoplanets, so I think it's a bit too early to kick the bucket

plus, we can't generalize intelligent life based on what humans have the tendency to do

for instance, what makes you think intelligent life is limited to only acclimating to the surfaces of planets?

 

I think it's very likely that there's intelligent life out there

it's just that we don't have an efficient way to communicate with/scour for them

 

 

The Taurids meteors, which have been visible since October 20th and going to continue to being visible through November 30th, are going to be hitting their peak from November 5th - 12th. Up to about a dozen meteors could be seen per hour during this window, obviously how many you see will depend on luck, weather conditions, and how much light pollution is in your area. It sounds like these will be visible from anywhere on Earth too! (None of the articles I read clarified that you needed to be in a certain hemisphere, so I can only assume that is the case. Sorry if I'm wrong about that.)

oh hey, I think I know what I might be doing Thursday night

[What Was the Last Video Game You Played?]

sheesh, broke the word limit again so I had to take out the quote, lol.

 

I think it's just the fact that they've been getting better at creating misleading trailers. I still haven't gotten around to watching the movie yet, but I'm expecting a pretty anticlimactic ending. Or at the very least something that's idiotically overdone and Hollywood-esque.

 

I'm rather surprised you didn't comment on the Meteor Falls theme, haha. Definitely one of my favorite remastered soundtracks from the game. I was also kinda disappointed that the overall vibe of the area was lost. Erm, in the sense that it didn't feel as mystical aesthetically, I guess. I really liked the purple hue from Emerald and I was kinda sad they didn't keep that aspect of the cave. But you know, ORAS is a remake of R/S and not Emerald, so I guess that's understandable. Ohh, I didn't notice that the Tubers never swam in the water by themselves. Good eye, haha. 

 

The Lati@s sidequest kinda reminded me of the ORAS demo that was released a while ago. But yeah, it wasn't weaved in too well and felt a bit abrupt. Oh geez, you liked chasing after roaming Pokemon? Mesprit was a pain for me and I just gave in and threw a Masterball at it. I can't remember what I did for the legendary dogs since I never fully "completed" HG. I don't think I ever caught Tornadus either, hm. Oh my gosh, the secret bases look like so much fun! Let me know how it goes if you ever get around to it! Also, being able to fly to routes seemed really innovative when I first saw it... even though it's a feature that should've been implemented a while ago, lol.

 

Not gonna lie, the surfing aspect of R/S/E was a pain. Well, it might've been just me since I always got lost and kept surfing in circles, eheh. Gosh, I really disliked the directional tiles. Navigating through the Rocket Hideout wasn't very fun and neither was Tate and Liza's Gym in R/S/E. It wasn't hard, but it was pretty annoying stopping in my tracks every few seconds to map out which tile I'd be stepping on next. So, as you can imagine, I actually thought Tate and Liza's Gym seemed more revamped rather than toned down. But I agree that the lack of a challenge was disappointing, not that that was unexpected since the games have been getting progressively less difficult.  

 

Ohh, yes! I also loved the amount of detail they put in for Kyogre and the Cave of Origin. And if you remember battling Kyogre in HG, Aqua Ring was, uh, a nice reminder for the amount of frustration it took to catch the darn whale. Also, I didn't know Hold Back was even a thing. A bit pointless since it's pretty much just False Swipe under a different name. Kinda like how Detect is basically Protect but with less PP. Hmm, what do you mean when you said you were sad that "Mirage Island is no more"?

 

The letters were the most heartrending part of that little backstory. As you know, I love backstories, so going through those letters was just... oomph. The backstory itself was also fairly dark, but intricate and subtle enough to be just a nice accent to the landmark. That was a really nice touch, hehe. I really liked how it wasn't shoved in our faces but required digging--kinda like an Easter Egg for those willing to look into it. The bit about the Hi Skitty doll and the Nuggets didn't leave me in tears though. I felt something welling up and I just wanted to hug the guy. Ahah, I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it!

 

I loved what they did with Wally's character development! When I first heard Wally's theme (before I saw the playthrough since I kinda spoiled the soundtrack for myself, eheh), I was like, "damn, why would they bother giving such a timid character this intense of a theme?" Little did I know I was going to get blown back. The backdrop of red flowers definitely made the battle one of the more memorable ones, and the theme? Goddamn. Ahhhh! What a turn of events! It just kicked in out of nowhere and went full speed ahead right into the battle. I saw the Key Stone, but sheesh, watching Gallade mega evolve still caught me off guard. By that time, I was still trying to process what was happening and then the battle ended?? A theme I originally thought was really unfitting suddenly made the battle one of the most impactful battles I've ever witnessed. I felt bad for the guy after he lost, but oh man, still, that battle.........

 

Haha, no problem! Glad to see you got through the Elite 4 with such ease! How did you feel about the Elite 4 theme? I felt like something was missing... probably the clapping. The theme felt kinda empty without it, ahah... or maybe I'm just being too picky. I also thought the scene with Brendan and May was kinda cute, hehe. The remastered, slower version of the encounter theme was a really nice way to tone things down, and the sudden change in textbox format was like, whoaa. It felt pretty significant. And then wrapping things up by walking to where they first met, and then looking up at the stars after having a battle to wrap things off. Ahh, it was just such a satisfying ending and it was carried out really well. 

 

I really liked the Delta Episode even though it was such an obvious appeal to older fans, but that still didn't make the encounter with Deoxys any less hype. Seeing that little triangle made my heart stop. Riding Rayquaza was also a neat addition, haha. Oof, you were forced to resort to using battle items? I probably would've sold all of them, lol. And geezus, holy, what the dkgjslkgfkjghf??? How, what you... eh?? A Deoxys with perfect IVs in the attacks, speed, and sp. def?? It's funny that you ended up with a Hasty nature with 0 IVs in defense, but sheesh. What a lucky duck you are, haha. Zinnia's theme is also freaking badass. I just wish they could've elaborated more on her story.

 

Ohh, so ORAS had that big of an impact on you? Gosh, I wish I could've played it for myself, but it's too late for that now, eheh... I really hope they make the 4th gen remakes just as good if not better. 4th gen is, by far, my favorite generation. Easily the most diverse region with a lot of post-game material (Platinum, at least), great soundfront and soundtrack, storyline, characters, and it was also fairly challenging. If this is what they can do to R/S, I can only imagine what might happen to D/P. Especially the route 216 theme. I love that theme so so so much, ahahahaha... It might be my bias and nostalgia talking for me, but gosh, I love gen 4. I still love Platinum more than ORAS, though it may not be warranted since I don't have any firsthand experience with ORAS, eheh. Hmm, I guess I probably wouldn't feel the same way if I played D/P instead of Platinum. Platinum was just so revamped and everything... oh gosh, I'm rambling on again. Just reading your rave about ORAS made me want to go off on a tangent of my own even though you already know how much I love 4th gen, ahah. Still, I loved everything they did with ORAS. The soundtrack, the character development, the slightly darkened atmosphere, the extra additions like Professor Cozmo's backstory, the Delta Episode, etc. They were all carried out so well, and witnessing people's reactions to these enhancements made the experience pretty enjoyable as well. It was really nice being able to read your thoughts on the game, so thank you for taking the time to type them out!

 

Oh nonono, the heater only "broke" recently when I tried to turn it on. I noticed no temperature difference after about an hour, and the thermostat didn't indicate any temperature change either. Well, I called my dad in to tell him about it. And it turns out there was a bird's nest clogging the furnace. Haha, how cute! I was still stuck without heating for the rest of the week, but I think everything's a-okay now. Thanks for the hug though, ahah. *hugs* Well uh... I still had my undergarments on when I was changing back at UMich but I'm just not comfortable changing in front of people, eheh... I only changed when my roommate was facing the wall. I'd derp around "getting organized" until she turned away for a few moments. Then I'd grab whatever I was planning to change into and put them on as quickly as possible. I know, I'm weird. I can't even change in front of my parents or sister without getting stupidly conscious about it. It's not like I have any scars or marks to hide (most of my scars are on my left leg anyway), and it's not like I'm not comfortable in my own skin. I guess I just don't like it when people see me in such an exposed state? I don't even know if that makes sense. My sister doesn't change in front of me when she doesn't have to (but I walk out on her when she does), and I rarely saw my roommate change (not that I wanted to since I always turned around to respect her privacy whenever she did). I've never changed in front of my friends, and I've never had friends change in front of me (jk, there were a few exceptions, but those were pretty dire circumstances). I'm well aware that there are guys/girls out there who are more open about this though, and I'm guessing you're one of them, haha. For tennis, I just wore my uniform underneath my clothes. Not a problem since our uniform was just a skirt and tank top. On days when I was too lazy to put on my uniform in the morning, I'd change in the bathroom stalls at school. A lot of my friends also did this, lol. Did you guys not have access to bathroom stalls or something? Kidding, but I found it strange that you'd question something like this, haha. 

 

I actually only watched bits and pieces of the debate after reading an article that summed up what happened. That particular quote from Clinton caught my eye. It really irked me and now I can't seem to trust anything she says. Like her comment on that one Humans of New York Facebook post didn't seem very sincere either (not sure if you saw this since it was a while ago). I know the message of the post was pretty heartwarming and all, but part of me felt like she only posted her support for campaigning reasons, as unreasonable as that sounds. Sanders's popularity has skyrocketed, if the numerous Facebook posts I've come across are anything to go by. He seems to be one of the only candidates who truly wants to carry out what he says. Everyone else seemed kinda fake and said what they thought the people want them to say. I feel kinda bad for the other three candidates since I haven't been following them at all, and especially since they don't seem to be gaining much ground either. Sheesh, Lessig plans to resign once the CEA becomes law? Sounds kinda like a publicity stunt if that's the only thing he has to offer. I wouldn't mind hearing what else he has to say, so I also hope he gets some more attention.

 

It's funny you mention that because I've been questioning my "extroverted" tendencies recently. My parents think I'm antisocial, and so does my sister. I love being in the quiet and taking in the scenery. I like relaxing by myself in general and just staring off into the distance. Parties are fun and all and of course I love being around my friends and making new friends, but being by myself for a few moments and just thinking to myself is what really makes me feel at peace. The only reason I've been reevaluating myself is because I noticed a comment somewhere that said something along the lines of "there's such thing as an outgoing introvert." So lately, I've been on the fence about whether I'm an extrovert or introvert. I still love talking to my friends and being in social situations on most occasions, but there are times when I just don't want to go to a social event; times when I just want to stay home and catch up on things I want to do. Sometimes my friends come up to me and ask me if I'm all right when I finally decided to shut up for a few moments to just think to myself since I'm usually pretty talkative around them. Reading that comment was like a "has my whole life been a lie" kind of revelation. "Introvert" and "outgoing" also seem like such contrasting words so I never knew "outgoing introverts" were a thing. I love being by myself as much as I love being around my friends, so I guess I just don't know what I would identify myself as anymore. Whoops, sorry for the random tangent. I was just having a minor existential crisis and needed to write out my thoughts somewhere, lol. Oh dang, you'd just let your connections drop like that? Even with your close friends? I feel like that might be a problem when I head off to college since there'd really be no way for me to contact them aside from texting and messaging or maybe calling... hmm... Well, even if the friend is someone I haven't seen in a while, I'd probably still talk to them. It depends on a lot of factors, but I'd still go for it most of the time. I won't start a chat through social media though. It'd probably be in person. If you'd just let friendships end after not talking to them for a few months, what happened to your friends after summer break then? Y-You can't imagine a future without me? Aw geez, you're too much, ahah<3

 

Actually, despite what I said before about being flooded with anime to watch, I saw your thoughts on The Dog of Flanders, and I want you to remind me to watch it once Christmas rolls around, eheh. Haha, is your inner completionist preventing you from stacking already-aired anime onto your PTW list? That's understandable since I also have a few OCD tendencies. But my backlog is already pretty big, so it doesn't matter to me what I add to it at this point, lol. 

 

Wahhhh, I can't believe I screwed that up, lol. Yeah, I meant Gilgamesh vs. Rider, haha. Ohh, so Rider was the most popular character? That's interesting since it's usually the main character(s) of shows from polls I've seen. Dang, so you really did only get around to watching F/Z the summer before senior year. Given how much knowledge you had on it back when you recommended it to me only half a year later, I could've sworn you were an avid fan for at least a year or two. UTW huh... I'll be sure to keep them in mind when I find the time to rewatch F/SN. I had some good laughs from the "Just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right" line (I know what was intended though), but thanks for the heads up! Haha, it was the complete opposite for me at one point. After bingeing on DC, I found it difficult to revert to any subtitle-free show because I was so used to reading the dialogue, lol. 

 

I dunno, you just seemed like one of those people who had a grip on what you were doing, haha. Most of your posts pertained to updating the masses on upcoming DC openings/endings and specials and the like. You didn't post too often (heck, you rarely approached the off-topic threads, and I guess I didn't either), but you seemed like someone I wouldn't mind getting to know. Then I saw your post on Pokemon Y in this thread and I jumped on it. I don't believe I saw you posting in the OMM thread before then, so I didn't know you very well at the time. Everything you posted just made you seem... very down to earth. So yeah, nothing seemed inherently "weird" about you (except the fact that you insert two spaces after every period, which is a format I thought died out by now, haha). Then you started approaching the off-topic threads a bit more with those gifs and memes of yours and I thought to myself "holy moly, this guy..." I was familiar with many of the gifs and memes you posted but I never thought to use them to "enhance" my posts or anything. You were just different. I loved and still love that about you. I noticed how our lives paralleled in quite a few different ways, which was really strange (like geezus, you felt like my long lost twin at one point), and how much our interests crossed paths. But as I talked to you more, I started noticing differences as well. We're nearly the same in some aspects and complete polar opposites in others. It's been lots of fun getting to know you, haha. There's not much else to say for my first impressions of you. It felt like a really fast year, but at the same time, it's completely baffling how far we managed to take this in such a short time span (or long, depending on how you want to look at it). I never would've guessed in a million years that this is where I'd be after starting this conversation with you on October 25th, 2014. Where would I be today if you hadn't posted your progress on Pokemon Y? If I decided not to reply? It's amazing how these seemingly trivial events can be such life-changers, ahah...

 

Since I almost always skipped breakfast (and I still do if you don't count the bread I bring to school), I pretty much needed a solid lunch. I could skip lunch if I had to though. Yeah, I hated the sandwiches a lot. Sandwiches in general can be great (love Panera Bread), but the sandwiches made from stale supermarket ingredients are just bleh. Flaxseed whole wheat bread is disgusting. I don't care how "healthy" it is. And that reminds me, my parents were invited to a party hosted by a vegan not too long ago. They were given some food to bring back home and offered some to me. Well, I tried the "shrimp" and uh... I don't know what I was eating. It was probably one of the strangest experiences I've ever had. Same with the "beef" and "fish". Yeah, they tasted like what they were supposed to taste like and they looked like what they were supposed to look like, but... I wasn't very comfortable knowing that what I was eating was just something masquerading as these foods. Like, the texture and flavor also resembled that of shrimp, beef, and fish somehow, and I was really weirded out by that. Also, what do you mean by you're "required" to use your weekly-meal swipes? And you're never short of them because of how little you eat? I know you said before that the food at Case isn't bad, so why would you starve yourself like that? Don't tell me your habit of skipping lunch in high school carried over to college...

 

Oh geez, I don't think it'd even be possible to explain that to people, haha. "Uh yeah, 'Akazora' is just his username for this online forum we met each other on." I'd probably stick to calling you by your real name just because it's also easier to say. Unless I can find another nickname to call you by, hmm. I could call you "Al" or something since it's like a combination of the two. Ahah, it's way too early for me to think about this stuff, but it's something I'll keep in mind. Wow, okay, I guess I'm never getting contacts then. "I thought I was going to die back when I first started using my night contacts." Yeahhhhh, I'll just stick to taking better care of my eyes. I don't want to put myself through that. So I finally got an eye appointment on November 17. I'm actually a little nervous because I feel like the eye doctor is going to scold me for how poorly I've been treating my eyes, eheh.

 

I've never skipped school because of a sickness. Actually, I've never skipped an entire school day for my personal benefit until junior year. At one point, it became too much and I decided to stay home to skip a calc test one day. My parents definitely weren't happy, and neither was I. It took a lot of effort to persuade them, and I could tell that their faith in me was dying. It was such a demeaning experience. Oh my gosh, that was awful. I felt so guilty. I still had to take the test the next day, but enough guilt set in for that to become the first, and hopefully last time it ever happens. Other times, I'd just skip class by heading off to the media center if I found myself feeling unprepared. It rarely happened, and I've never even thought about skipping class for that reason until junior year. Geez, that APUSH project forced you to pull an all-nighter even with the extra day? What on earth were you even working on, lol. It's good that it all turned out well though, haha.

 

I don't cry most of the time, but the feelings of sorrow (maybe that's too strong of a word, hm) that come from listening to these songs are enough to keep me away from them. Impossible Dream is an example of one of them. I listened to this just now to see how well my emotions would fare (I did cry over this a few years ago), and weirdly enough, it didn't affect me much this time around. Yeah, I didn't exactly feel happy listening to this (it's still one of my favorite compositions from Joe Hisashi), but I wasn't exactly "sad" either. I still had to listen to another song immediately after so I wouldn't have the tune stuck in my head though. Sad music -> sad memories -> sad feelings -> sad Kenzi (just to sum it up). If I'm listening to melancholic music when I'm already feeling down, that's just asking for trouble. I won't be straight up bawling or anything, but tears will roll down, head might be buried in my arms, and nothing would get accomplished. Gosh, I love listening to OSTs and instrumentals, more so than lyrical songs at times. How is it that you can listen to lyrical songs while doing homework? Anything with a really strong beat (which I guess can include some OSTs and instrumentals) and lyrics is really distracting for me, haha. 

 

Actually, half seems like a bit much. I think maybe a quarter of my wardrobe is my sister's at most. Or at the very least, clothes we picked out together. I'm not even sure how I managed to familiarize myself with the stuff people tend to wear. I wasn't conscious about this kind of stuff at all until recent years. 

 

I know I was pretty adamant for my stance in not wanting to download games, but I can't believe I almost forgot about Deemo, eheh... I normally stay "invisible" on Facebook so people don't feel compelled to chat me up on random occasions. Plus, I'll get the message on my phone when they decide to anyway. I'll reply if it has to do with homework or if I can anticipate the conversation lasting only a few seconds, but if it's just idle chat like "how's your day been" or a random YouTube video someone sends me, I'll probably wait to reply to it. It's not like I want to ignore them, but constantly interrupting my work time to reply can get pretty distracting. Haha yeah, we're allowed to carry our backpacks around school. In middle school, we had to keep them in our lockers. It was a huge pain, so I found a loophole by carrying a tote bag with my folders and textbooks in it around the school. I'm actually rather surprised no one else bothered doing it. But my math teacher caught on and banned my tote bag from her class, lol. Not because she didn't want me bending the rules, but because she was concerned that it would be bad for my shoulder (the textbooks were pretty heavy, not gonna lie). The decree was bothersome, but it was sweet of her. I'm really glad we're allowed to carry backpacks in high school. I haven't opened my locker once since freshmen orientation, haha. Whaa... you guys weren't allowed to carry backpacks around? Sheesh, I'd be late to every one of my classes if that was the case here. Wait, scratch that, I'm actually late for the majority of my classes even with a backpack. I can't imagine how rushed I'd feel if I had to stop by my locker between every class.

 

Ahh well, can't argue with you there. But given how infrequently you guys have classes (or at least compared to high school when you had to attend everyday), wouldn't you guys want to make the most of what you're given? Wouldn't missing class would have a much bigger impact on your grade? I can't speak for college students, but that would be my reasoning. You know, aside from having some form of intrinsic motivation and not wanting to disappoint your parents. I've found myself skipping classes in junior year out of desperation and not necessarily out of lethargy (sometimes a mix of both, I guess). It was only around second semester though and it was done to keep my sanity intact. I'm going to try my best not to let this carry over to college since the education I receive would be for my own good in the long run. I'm actually a little surprised that people are already skipping classes in college this early in the year wait, what the, it's November already?? especially since they're freshmen. I mean, if they're receiving C's and D's without a care in the world, why even bother taking the class, lol. 

 

Oh shoot, forgot to mention Junie B. Jones. Gosh, I really disliked her character but I loved the books. Can't forget our dear Captain Underpants either, lol (my mom was very reluctant to let me borrow them from the library, ahah). Hmm, maybe my love for toilet humor stemmed from that. Good times. Goddamn, a book a day? Phew, I was nowhere near that. Maybe a few books per week at most. Haha, I never touched the Goosebumps series for whatever reason. I always ran into them at the library, but I always found myself avoiding them. In hindsight, I'm not sure why. Same with series like The Boxcar Children and The 39 Clues. The only Madeleine L'Engle novel I read was A Wrinkle in Time, which I thought was a strange book. I've read books from all of the authors you've stated except Lois Duncan and Anthony Horowitz (I did want to get into Alex Rider though). Jerry Spinelli, James Patterson, Eoin Colfer, Roderick Gordon, and Jeff Kinney were also among a few popular picks. Ahah, maybe if I find the time, I'll see if I can muster up the courage to revisit A Tale of Two Cities (literally the only times I dozed off in middle school were when I was reading this) and Sherlock Holmes. Yeah, I guess Huck Finn was okay, but it's definitely not a book I'd go out of my way to reread again. Or at least not anytime soon. Really wanted to sock Tom Sawyer at some points in the book. And speaking of rereading books, my old freshman English teacher told everyone to reread To Kill a Mockingbird once we're older. She made us promise we'd find the time to read it again as an adult. I've taken her words to heart since she seemed like she really meant it, but I'm actually surprised I still remember this.

 

Oh gosh, I really wish I continued piano. I absolutely adore the piano and I have a huge soft spot for piano instrumentals and I hold an enormous amount of respect for all pianists. I subscribed to a few pianists I used to listen to religiously, and self-taught myself how to play random songs because I looked up to these people so much. Most people I've met find playing the piano to be a chore, or at least in their early years. I find it strange that this isn't the case for most other instruments, or maybe too many of my friends play the piano. Yeahh, I also feel like I plateaued at some point back in middle school. Out of curiosity, I began recording myself, and I realized how much I sucked because I noticed that I was playing pretty flat. My teacher never commented on my tendency to play flat, so the revelation was a bit shocking. I think that was the biggest brick wall I had to face for the violin in middle school. Oh, and the fact that I sucked at sight reading, and still suck at sight reading, sigh. Wait a second... if you played violin and oboe in middle school which one was more of a side instrument? And were you in band or orchestra at the time? Also, what do you mean by taekwondo not being a "practical activity"? Soccer is just kicking a ball, basketball is just throwing a ball, and tennis is just hitting a ball (I know, I know, these are huge generalizations), so it's not like playing soccer, basketball, or tennis would have any practical use either, lol. If you think about it, most sports are pretty weird. Tennis is essentially trying to hit a ball back and forth over the net using some paddle-like object. Haha, what a waste of time. But judging by the looks of it, your parents seem to determine whether an activity is practical based on whether it's a common school activity. That's kinda interesting. My parents never really forced me to do any sports/activities. They just offered to send me to these activities if I enjoyed them. I used to love swimming so my mom would often let me take swimming lessons. Ice skating was fun so I guess they also let me skate for a few years. Same with stuff like pottery, drawing, tennis, violin, etc. But I had to drop a bunch of them eventually because my parents thought they were interfering with schoolwork and deemed some of these activities a waste of time. I loved doing these activities and going to summer camps to broaden my horizons, so I was almost always the one pestering my parents to sign me up for them, haha. Of course, this was mainly back in elementary school and early middle school since my parents did a complete 180 afterwards. 

 

Nah, dumping that much salt on you would be uncalled for since it's just my own little issue, lol. Plus, I figured you wouldn't want to read or reply to some bulky paragraph (it's unreasonably big) about my crappy test-taking skills. I still have it saved if you really do want to read it for whatever reason, haha. I didn't get full scores, but there was some improvement. I kinda want to see what I got wrong though. I still ended up sending them because at the very least if my scores won't help me, I'm pretty sure they won't hurt me.

 

I'm glad you liked my essay! I was constantly editing and re-editing, and at one point, the more I read it, the more I began disliking it, but I'm just really relieved that you liked it. I just hope your reactions aren't swayed because I incorporated some of your ideas into it, eheh... Honestly though, thank you so so so so so much. Seriously (you da real mvp). I never would've thought to write about my watch. Thank you for all of your help. Thank you for helping me eliminate and come up with topics to write about. I really don't know where I'd be without you. It's kinda funny since I initially wanted to write about time and something Steins;Gate-y (also tried rewatching it for inspiration over the summer, lol) but didn't know how I would approach it. And sorry for antagonizing you, ahah... There's still no place to enter a title, so I just included it as part of my essay. Not a big deal since I'm sure they can tell that it's a title. Oh, and I wanted to clarify one more thing: I still love my watch. I'm not planning on permanently taking it off, but I have been more conscious about the little contraption lately. I had to stretch a few details of my essay for this reason, eheh... So I'm finally done with my college apps! A huge weight has been lifted off my chest, and it feels freaking great. The uncertainty is still stressing, but at least all that's left to do is wait.

 

Haha, I actually don't think I've ever mentioned the incident with my calc teacher. Well, I brought hydrochloric acid to class one day. A few friends wanted to use it to make a battery for AP Chem (battery with the highest voltage gets extra credit), and I had a ton left over from the previous year, so I figured I'd give it to them. Went to a friend's first hour to transfer a bit of it into her flask (I had multiple friends ask me for some, so I couldn't let her take the entire container). Then I rushed over to my first hour calc class. I don't know what I was thinking running there with HCl. Somehow, some of it leaked onto a desk (I know the cap was screwed on tight, but maybe there were some wet areas on the bottom of the container from the transfer). Of course, my calc teacher asked what was in the container. Uh oh. Had to move the desk out into the hallway and clean it up since HCl is a highly corrosive chemical and coming into contact with it is... bad. Can confirm, since I got some on my finger sophomore year and temporarily turned it chalky white--and that was only diluted HCl. God knows what would've happened if I came into contact with concentrated HCl. I was really lucky that my calc teacher is pretty chill and isn't one of those uptight teachers who reports everything to the administration. It's not like I had any bad intentions or anything (and I'm sure he knew that), but I would've gotten in trouble for sure. Like geez, what kind of kid just casually brings HCl to class. You'd probably have to evacuate the classroom if the entire container happened to tip over and spill onto the carpet or something. For starters, it reeks. Not only does the vapor have this pungent sting, but it physically hurts to even have a small whiff of it (not that it's safe to inhale it in the first place). And it's a pretty dangerous chemical in general (HCl burns can be... grotesque). Gosh, I'm an idiot. What was I thinking? Why didn't I just leave the container in the chem room?? I was rushing late to class so maybe I didn't have time to think clearly, but leaving such a chemical in the chem room is just common sense. Arghhh, what a brainless move on my part. I can't believe I never thought to do that. Granted, this was a while ago, and I haven't brought it up whenever I'm around him, so I'm hoping he forgot it ever happened, eheh... I originally wasn't going to ask my calc teacher for a rec letter in case the incident might end up triggering some beef, but a weird turn of events happened when he invited me to visit him to talk about how my life was going. The conversation went pretty well, so I guess I'm still on good terms with him, haha. Wow, I actually didn't expect to write that much about the incident. This is already enough to be a standalone paragraph, so I'll break it up here to help ease the eyes.

 

Oh believe me, I do intend to take a break. Still, Physics C is a huge pain right now. We get these Webassign problems that are due at 11:59pm on certain days, and they're freaking hard (and my procrastinating tendencies don't exactly help). Hell, I'm forced to seek online help most of the time because I don't have the slightest idea what's going on at times. These problems can take anywhere from 30 minutes to many, many painstakingly long hours to complete. Meaning, there have been days when I wasn't able to finish on time because I underestimated how much time it would take me (like, c'mon, I left myself four hours to do one of these Webassigns one day, and I still didn't finish on time). I don't want to ask my dad for help since I can't understand Chinese physics jargon and he gets really really frustrated whenever I can't understand a concept he's trying to teach. Apparently what we're learning right now is only the foundation, so it's not going to get any easier. It's going to get harder, and it's going to go downhill, or so I'm told (or I could be wrong, since electrostatics is supposedly one of the hardest topics to learn both conceptually and mathematically). I understand the calc concepts and what he's writing on the board for the most part (basically the "okay, I think I can see what he's doing"), but does he expect us to be able to derive that kind of stuff from diagrams on the spot?? Like, geezus, it's all Greek to me (both figuratively and literally). I don't have a good feeling about this. Dozing off in the class is also pretty detrimental since skipping over the foundation is obviously not a good idea (oh dear lord help me). Sometimes I wonder what even compelled me to take this class. Kinda funny since I'm doing the worst in Physics and the best in Lit at the moment when English is usually one of my worst subjects. I'm not exactly sure what's going on in comp sci either, but I'm damn glad I switched into the class since it's almost like a free hour for me to cram for my following classes on some days (I feel kinda bad about it though). The only reason I've been able to scrape by is because I've been working on the codes with a group of friends. At times, the codes make sense. Other times, I feel like I'm reading and typing gibberish. Welp, I've rambled on far too much now. But back on topic-ish, we have our exams at the end of every semester. They're considered midterms or finals depending on whether the class is one or two semesters. There's no way in hell I would've been prepared for any midterms as early as October given my current state, so thank goodness January exams, woohoo.

 

Well, you do have a point there. I sometimes feel the same form of pride when I pull all-nighters (probably not as often as you do though). But it turns into immediate regret once I begin feeling the aftermath after the first hour of school. It's not worth it, lol. Ohh, glad to hear that midterms went well! Thanks once again for being so patient and understanding about these responses. Hopefully you also had a nice Halloween!

 

Have confidence in knowing that I live in the safest city in Michigan and one of the safest cities in the country, haha. My parents would never let me drive on the highways by myself, so I'm only on the main roads most of the time. Rest assured, I'm fine, lol. If anything, you should be looking after yourself. Don't be selfish now; how well do you think I'd react if I found out that something happened to you, hm? Haha, stay safe (apparently, someone was recently shot and killed while driving a car in Cleveland??). I haven't been thinking too much about my health lately mainly because it feels like I'm operating on autopilot at the moment. But even then, I'm still slacking off in a few of my classes. Oh well, that's fine, I guess. I'm sure that'll change since I'm finally done with college apps now. Thank you very much for the kind sentiment; it really means a lot to me, ahah.

[SCIENCE!]

it's not about whether they see the universe differently, it's about the fact that we can't seem to find any dang aliens.

mathematically speaking, the possibility of a species evolving to be basically identical to humans is 0.

The only reason I'm not a firm believer of the Great Filter is because you have to take into account factors like how long the universe has been in existence.

 

While it's true that there's little to no chance that there are life forms that have developed like humans have, well actually, it's exactly that. Everything we are today happened completely by chance. That isn't to say there aren't intelligent life forms that have developed enough to be considered a civilization though. It's just that it might have occurred in a different manner; a civilization created through other means. The human race is no ultimate template that dictates how intelligent life forms should come into existence because anything could've happened in a time span of 14 billion years. For all we know, these life forms may very well be in their primitive stages of development. Or heck, they could be far more advanced than we are. 

 

As for why we haven't found any evidence of these intelligent life forms... the universe is absolutely massive. So massive that we're practically confined to an observable universe. At the same time, these life forms may be trillions of light years away, outside of our observable universe (which is already 93 billion light years in diameter, if that helps put things into perspective). Communicating with said life forms would be extremely inefficient as the information they send to us would be terribly outdated by the time it even reaches us, assuming that we'd even be able to communicate with them.

 

I also found this to be an interesting take on the subject:

There’s plenty of activity and noise out there, but our technology is too primitive and we’re listening for the wrong things. Like walking into a modern-day office building, turning on a walkie-talkie, and when you hear no activity (which of course you wouldn’t hear because everyone’s texting, not using walkie-talkies), determining that the building must be empty. Or maybe, as Carl Sagan has pointed out, it could be that our minds work exponentially faster or slower than another form of intelligence out there—e.g. it takes them 12 years to say “Hello,” and when we hear that communication, it just sounds like white noise to us.

 

The Great Filter simply seems like a too definitive of a theory for life for me to fully support it. I'm not disagreeing with your beliefs since it does have quite a few valid points; the idea of these barriers just isn't my cup of tea. For this reason, I'm still open to hearing the opposing side seeing as you're a firm advocator for it.

 

love your analogy with the "trying to shine a light into the darkness", btw.

 

 

(Whoa. I just sounded really geeky their for a second )

a little off topic, but I find it interesting that you often feel the need to openly state this.

 

(I imagine an intelligent specie which doesn't have sense of sight or hearing but rather, they communicate through patterns of winds hitting the pores in their skins. If that's the case, how can they know that there's space if they can't see it?)

That's like saying humans are limited to only exploring land because we don't have to capability of breathing underwater.

Species X's means of developing a civilization can be completely different from Species Y's. How we evolved may seem advantageous to us, but that doesn't mean other life forms such as Species X (that, I guess might communicate through patterns of wind hitting the pores of their skin) haven't found ways to adapt and explore based on the characteristics they evolved with.

 

If a specie thrives in an environment which has somewhat an infinite stuffs that fulfills their need, I don't think they would ever need to expand and move somewhere else. Just look at us, our brain is hardwired to tell us to stay in comfort zone. We only reach out if we need to.

All the more reason to go spacefaring then. Supposing such a utopia exists, infinite resources means unlimited energy to allocate into further feeding into their curiosity. Oh, and if overpopulation ever becomes a problem, there would be no need submit to a population cap when they can expand their civilization through spacefaring using the supposed infinite resources they have.

 

 

 

 

--

I really want to add more to the discussion, but I've been stupidly busy trying to work on apps and stuff, urghh.

I shouldn't even be posting, but I just really wanted to contribute a bit of my thoughts.

 

sorry for intervening, ahah...

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

Cant help but wonder if it were like the old format, would we have gotten more of the old cast in it

its budget is close to some tv shows budget

wish i could find a list on how much the voice actors made

i knooooooooooooow

i mean seriously, a comic

there is no bending in there

and the art is...kinda off

but the art has been improving

i have read smoke and shadow and as a story its nice 

the art here is really great, looks like improvement 

 

do you think the spirit portal in RC is kinda dumb

 

ATLA came out on DVD today, 30$...thats money talks

 

it must be him

he does not like us taking the attention away from the "other" anime chat topic (i love teasing him about this)

I would've loved if LoK went back to the old format

the fillers were great; really loved The Tales of Ba Sing Se

...and maybe there might've been some backstories with more Sokka :')

 

speaking of voice actors, Zuko's voice actor has such a distinct voice

like, there was that one moment when General Iroh appeared in LoK, and omfg my heart almost stopped

and I was thinking "dude, that's Zuko's voice actor holy shti"

I also had the same reaction when I had the urge to rewatch American Dragon Jake Long (it was one of my childhood shows) dffhsdgklghldfkjghsdf

freaking love Zuko

 

one of my friends has been bugging me to read the comics, but the art style is... it's not bad, but it's not something I'd get used to any time soon

 

the spirit portal was fine, imo

it's just the way they introduced it and how the rest of it was carried out that didn't go so well

 

I'm probably not going to buy the DVD, but I might be interested in investing in some other merchandise

 

hehe, I'm sure he doesn't mind too much

 

 

But seriously, yeah, it was me.  After all...

something tells me you'd really enjoy 1984

 

 

it's always nice having onii-san looking over us and keeping everything in check, after all...

[What Was the Last Song You Listened To?]

H-How could you Kenzi...??  This is the song my high school's wind ensemble played every year and is pretty much their theme song...

[triggered]

Y-You better take responsibility for this, b-baka...

late reply is late, eheh...

 

hey, us too!

I love playing this piece with the band!

...except that I don't experience PTSD when we play it...

...and the fact that it's actually one of my favorite songs of the holidays...

 

h-how would I have known that something like this could trigger you...

 

 

--

Fantasy Overture- Tchaikovsky

aka the Romeo and Juliet theme

we're playing an excerpt of this in orchestra, lol

[What Was the Last Video Game You Played?]

 

Yup, you summed up why I really don’t like Detective Conan anymore pretty well.  I’ve seen a lot of anime, and while it’s still hard to make comparisons because most of what I watch are short and have “read the source material” type conclusions, I still feel DC is pretty subpar in general.  The animation is nothing to praise, the music is only nostalgic, the characters are bland, the mysteries are many times unrealistic and formulaic, and the plot, which is the only decent thing about the whole package, is taking so long to develop it’s not even worth it.  Granted, because it’s a case-based detective anime, a lot of these things are to be expected.  Tons of other mystery shows suffer from monotony to an extent.  House, which is a medical drama that actually feels more like a detective show, gets predictable after a while.  It always starts off with some random person collapsing or falling ill in a dramatic fashion before transition to the opening credits.  Then the doctors talk about possible causes, but it’s never the obvious suspect (duh, it’d be boring that way).  As they try tests to determine what’s wrong with the patient, they’re faced with contradictions and unexpected results, leaving everyone stumped.  Except for Dr. House.  He always perseveres in the end, usually at the last second, due to some revelation he receives when someone makes an off-handed comment.  He’s eccentric and hard to deal with, which causes tension, but because he’s always right by the very end of the episode, it’s all good.  Occasionally there’s plot and humor thrown in the mix.  Honestly, House is just the live-action medical version of DC.  It may be impressive for two or three episodes, but after watching about ten in AP Bio it got really stale.  Those CSI shows probably follow the same pattern.  I haven’t seen enough of Sherlock to come to any definitive conclusions, but since it’s more plot focused and doesn’t air as often, it might not suffer from predictability.  Of course, there are still the clichés of main detective character who makes amazing deductions on-the-spot (that are unrealistic because too many assumptions are made, but whatever), the sidekick who is not nearly as smart, the fact that the detective runs into mysteries far too often to be plausible, and the incompetent police and law enforcement to tie everything together.  Sigh… of course, going into a detective show, whether it be anime or live action, and not expecting to find these tropes would be foolish, eheh.

 

Pfft, it’s an official Pokemon app, there need not be any practical reasons for it, ufufufu!  You’re right about it possibly being a distraction though.  When I get it, I hope it doesn’t make me addicted to my phone.  I hope we get some more info on it soon.  They just dropped the bomb with the announcement but haven’t followed up with anything substantial since then.  I know it’s going to be out in 2016, but I’m afraid it might end up being a late 2016 release.  I’d probably cry if that were the case.  And I’m totally going to get the Pokemon Go Plus accessory.  It’ll make me look like even more of a dork, but I just can’t resist, haha.  I never used the Pokewalker, actually.  I had purchased my HG version from a friend for cheap since he just didn’t want it anymore (maybe he was saving up for some new games, I’m not too sure) but he had lost his Pokewalker so I wasn’t able to inherent that.  I only needed HG for my Pearl Pokedex anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.  It seems like a cool concept though, one that they hopefully really expand upon and perfect with Pokemon Go.  What did you think of the Pokewalker?

 

*sniff* But the move tutor is post-game and requires Battle Points… at that point I’ll probably consider myself done with the game and won’t have any need for extra PP.  Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk; at least Meteor Mash’s animation looks a bit better than Iron Head’s.  Now that you mention it, you’re right, the grunts aren’t polygonal like Team Flare’s are.  In fact, if you didn’t bring it up, I wouldn’t even have noticed.  I don’t mind that they just used their regular artwork.  It’s not readily noticeable and doesn’t take away from the experience.  Oh geez, I didn’t have any time to play Alpha Sapphire this past week, and I don’t think I’ll have any time later this weekend either.  Midterms are pretty much already here and it doesn’t help that my SAGES and accounting professors are going ham with the homework.  During fall break (October 19th and 20th as well as the preceding weekend) I’ll try to blaze through as much as I can to make up for lost time, heh.

 

Even if you don’t wear jeans, I still think it would feel kinda restrictive.  I could still go to bed with clothes on if I tried (I’ve fallen asleep during tests and in the shower before), but I’d have to be pretty tired.  I guess I know what you mean by feeling vulnerable and exposed.  I wouldn’t be comfortable roaming the halls of my dorm in just my boxers, even if there are pretty much only guys up there.  And sometimes I do wonder what I’d do if I had to get out of bed and run outside because the building was on fire or something.  I imagine either I’d have enough time to throw on clothes of some kind, or at least grab my robe, or at the very worst hug blankets over myself and make a mad and silly dash for the exit.

 

I feel like all the Republicans have some chance of winning the primaries, especially Trump.  He’s been leading the polls ever since he shot up in the rankings during the summer.  Despite losing a bit of support after the second debate as people began rallying behind Carson and Fiorina, no one can come close to where he ranks.  Of course, there’s still quite a bit of time before Super Tuesday, so anything can change.  If Democrats really don’t want Trump getting the nomination, they might be able to throw their support behind one of the other leading contenders.  Whether they choose Carson or Fiorina or even Rubio, it’s going to have to be a focused effort.  If their Republican primary votes splinter, then there’s a very high chance Trump will move on to the final round against either Clinton or Sanders or possibly Biden.  The thing is, I think Democrats are already trying to support the others.  Months ago Carson and Fiorina were nobodies and now they’re rising above the pack.  Now, I know I might be generalizing, but I can’t help but think the left wing is supporting Carson because he’s black and Fiorina because she’s female.  Even the next most popular candidate in most polls, Marco Rubio, is Cuban American.  They are all part of “minority” groups.  Meanwhile, the white male candidates (Bush, Cruz, Paul, Christie, Kasich, Huckabee) are faltering in the polls.  From the looks of it, Carson, Fiorina, and Rubio are getting support because of the fact that they’re of the minority and just seem to be more liberal.  I really hope this isn’t the case.  Voting based on race or gender is a terribly shallow reason for making a decision.  Oh, he’s black!  As a Democrat I’ll probably like him.  Ah, a female?  Sweet, more chances for a woman in the White House!  A Hispanic as President?  History in the making!  Like… seriously?  Please please please let me be wrong.  I want people to back a candidate who can lead our nation, not some minority for the sake of a petty “look, we’re a diverse and forward-thinking country” message to the world.  I’m not saying Carson, Fiorina, or Rubio would make poor Presidents (Fiornia’s my favorite Republican so far).  I just don’t want any of them to be elected because of their minority status.  That would only serve to prove that this country is just a self-gratifying hive mind, as opposed to one that has actually overcome its racial and gender problems.

 

Ah, so those kiddies are only just borrowing the iPads.  I still think that’s kind of crazy though.  What if they download a bunch of games on there and get emotionally attached to it?  Then their parents are going to have to go out of their way to buy their child an iPad to actually own and transfer over the data, or whatnot.  I guess they wouldn’t have to, but if that iPad awakens an addiction in their kid then they don’t have much of a choice.  Eheheh, my mom is pulling that whole “don’t screw things up at Case otherwise we’re going to throw away your video games” stint on me.  I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive me for not going to Rutgers.  At least getting a good grade is easier here than in JP Stevens, for this first semester at least.  They could just be going easy on us freshman, heh.  Aw thanks, but it was far from the most impressive deduction I made.  Cranbrook was just fresh in my mind when I saw your post, which is how I made the connection, and I assumed a bit too much which is why I had a feeling I was mistaken somewhere, which I was.  But it makes sense that such a posh school would be capable of accommodating middle school as well as high school.  I can’t even imagine why someone would attend for seven years, financially speaking, but then again I wouldn’t know how rich people think.  Hm, I guess running into a really good friend from your childhood would be nice, but that’s never happened to me.  I’ve never had a close friend move away before.  Not a really close one at least, which is why I’ve never had the experience that you did.  I only “lost” my close friends because they just ended up in different classes than me and we slowly stopped talking.  They all stuck with JP though; it’s not like we have very good private school substitutes.  The girl I ran into at the tutor place was just as reserved as I was, so we both recognized and acknowledged each other but didn’t really talk aside from that.  It’s nice that your friend hasn’t changed though!  I know someone who… really changed over the years.  And not in a good way.  Eh, it’s a bit of a shame, but life is what it is and people will do what they do.  There’s no helping it.

 

Yeah, realistically speaking I’ve come to terms with the anime industry and just go with the flow.  There will always be shows out there who take themselves seriously and dare to be different, few and far between as they may be.  I’ll keep my eyes peeled for those and keep myself mildly entertained frustrated with some run of the mill shows in the meantime.  I’ve weathered it out for so long, and it’s not like I have anything better to do with my free time.  Perhaps when I’m older and earning more than random newspaper and Swagbucks money I’ll support the people behind the anime I like, even if it ends up being more of just a gesture.

 

Hahah, that’s really nice of you to say!  And I guess you never really struck me as someone who’d enjoy crude humor much either, at least not when I first met you a year ago and all I knew about you was your avid interest in Pokemon games and love for Nichijou.  Not that I mind of course.  This is yet another thing I guess we have in common!

 

If you’re really bothered by their age, Nodame Cantabile is something you might want to check out.  It’s also a romance anime between two musicians, except they’re actually college students.  I know, even a step above high school, woot.  I haven’t personally seen it myself but plan on watching it eventually.  It’s 23 episodes long and rated an 8.52 on MAL, so from the looks of it it’s a very solid series, even if its animation won’t be able to match Shigatsu’s.  Even from the beginning, dissenters have been calling Shigatsu an adolescent’s version of Nodame, haha.  Arima’s glasses bothered me too at first, but I got used to it.  I don’t know how I did, but I almost forgot that was even an issue for me as well until you brought it up.  There are more glaring issues with the anime than the character designs, so I must have learned to ignore it.

 

Ooh, it’s good to hear you’re looking forward to watching it!  I only watched Fate/Zero a total of four times because I wanted to be as knowledgeable about the series as I could for the club.  The first time I watched it last summer I only watched it for fun.  I was looking for anime to show the club but hadn’t settled on anything yet.  I knew UBW was going to start airing in October, and going against what most people recommended at the time (though the tables have completely flipped now), I decided to watch F/Z in celebration of that.  Watched it, loved it, and knew it was going to be the club’s anime, along with UBW.  The second and third times I watch it were technically over the course of the entire school year.  A week in advance, I rewatched the episodes that I would be showing to the club, and when the meeting actually occurred, I was always in the room so I watched it again.  For example, let’s say on October 15th I planned to show episodes four and five of F/Z to the club.  To prepare, on October 9th, the Friday prior, I rewatched episodes four and five to ensure I knew what to expect and was ready for any questions or concerns at the end of the meeting.  On October 15th though, since I was in charge of setting up the technology and I never had anything better to do, I’d watch the two episodes a third time in the company of the club members.  This repeated weekly, so the next step would have been to watch episodes six and seven on October 16th to prep for the actually meeting on October 22nd.  As for why I watched it a fourth time, it was to show my sister during winter break.  She’s not really into anime, so we (my brother, my sister, and I) watched it dubbed since she said she can’t read subtitles.  We finished it in five days I believe, and I think she enjoyed it.  At this point, I know how the story plays out episode by episode, eheh.  I don’t think I need to watch it a fifth time, but since Heaven’s Feel doesn’t look like it’s going to be out for a while, I’ll most definitely forget some things by the time the movies are all released and might as well watch it one last time at the very end to cap off my Fate experience.

 

Hahaha, pipe up indeed.  I make one off-handed comment about Pokemon Y back on October 25th 2014, a few hours later you reply, and now after nearly a year we’re still talking about it!  (*ahem* because that’s totally what we have going on here underneath the spoilers, eheheh)  It wasn’t until the New Year that we got into a weekly pattern we keep even now, however that happened, but from the looks of it October 25th was the day we first met, kinda.  We definitely saw each other around the forums prior to then, but I don’t believe we ever really interacted.  Starting a conversation with a stranger online might not seem like much, but look how far we two idiots have taken it.  Ahh, I really hope we can meet for the first time again, in person though.  Perhaps next year, heehee...  Uhm, well anyway, back on topic.  Aww, I’m really happy to hear that my little ramble didn’t bother you.  Likewise, it’s good to see that you’ve taken up your quirks in stride as well!  Considering how positive you are as a person, I guess that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, haha.  And we’ve all had those dark times.  Same as you, I was riding some rough waves in late middle school and early high school.  But we have both seen the light and grown from our formerly immature selves, which is great!  You just keep being you.  As you say, though you may not be normal, I wouldn’t want you any other way.  I’ve come to absolutely adore everything about you, from your attributes to your faults.  You can find normal things anywhere, but best friends aren’t supposed to be just things you can readily find on the side of the road.

 

Oh hey, your lunches don’t actually sound too different from ours!  Pizzas, salads, and sandwiches were the four mainstays of JP’s lunches.  There was of course the “main” menu, which rotated a various amount of random stuff.  We didn’t have soup though, unless it happened to be part of the main menu, and our parfaits are these cheap little double-layered things.  The food didn’t actually look to bad there.  Of course, I was always a teensy bit hungry while I sat there watching everyone else eat, so it’s possible that the food wasn’t very good at all.  Some people tried forcing me to eat the cafeteria food, to break my fast.  I didn’t budge, not even for a single French fry, all four years.  Without a doubt, one of the greatest accomplishments of my life, heehee.  You brought lunch from home?  What did you usually bring?  And was it prepared in advance the night before or something that was made the morning of?  Ehehe, I’ve actually come to the realization that lines begin forming immediately at Leutner.  Like, by the time I’m done eating at 5:15, the cafeteria has filled up substantially and the lines are decently long, except for Fridays and the weekend.  Seems like everyone is catching on that there’s significantly less headache if you eat dinner as early as possible.  K-Kenzi, I think you’re underestimating the amount of homework you can get in college, eheheh.  I barely have time for my own interests, let alone leisurely exploring the campus after dinner.  It’s a small and cozy place anyway, nothing big like UMich, so I know that by the time I’m done with my four years here I’ll know the place inside and out.  If you really want to go exploring, do that during orientation week, more specifically the days when orientation events are winding down but classes haven’t started yet.  You have hours on end to kill, so grabbing some acquaintances you’ve made and walking around to familiarize yourself with the location and layout of places wouldn’t be a bad idea.  But once the workload really kicks in, you won’t have time or be in the mood to explore.  Ah, only one meal a day is perfectly manageable, for me at least.  My metabolism is pretty slow, so I’m never keeling over in hunger even if I haven’t eaten a bite in 24 hours.  I’m hungry of course, but not to the point of distraction.  My brother’s the opposite; he needs to eat small portions of food regularly over the course of the day, since he gets hungry fast and gets stuffed fast.  And rest assured, I make sure to fill up when I do get the chance to eat, I don’t want you to think I’m living off of a salad a day (even that I can’t handle, oh my gosh).

 

Ayyy, very creative nickname of a nickname.  Clever girl…  My sister doesn’t wear glasses, but her eyesight is apparently in pretty bad shape, and I believe my mom’s been bugging her to get surgery or something for a while now.  She manages fine enough for now, though I’m not too sure why she isn’t investing in vision correction of some kind.  You should be grateful you got your dad’s eyes!  Your sister’s probably envious; glasses and contacts can be a bit of a hassle.  I never wore glasses long enough to truly get used to them, though putting in and taking out my night contacts has become second nature to me.  W-What if your doctor mistakenly has it backward but all of his patients are too embarrassed to correct him??  W-W-Wh-What if you were born with 20/10 vision which has since deteriorated to 20/15 and you think the “normal” eyesight of plebs is too poor for your high class tastes????  Well then princess, you better mind how late you stay up gazing into your computer screen else your eyesight plummets to 20/20!  Can you imagine?  Stooping so low as to settle for 20/20 vision?  Oh, the horror, absolutely unthinkable, we cannot have any of that talk around here, it’s making be feel dirty, making me feel like a poor commoner.  Heheheh, just joking of course!

 

Ohh, I’m not very good at this science-y immune system stuff, so you’re probably right.  I still have trouble keeping all the terminology straight, but from what I gather, what you’re saying makes sense.  Hrm, I believe it’s just normal colds I catch.  In truth, whenever I’m sick, I never know what it is I’ve caught.  It’s always similar symptoms though, like a congested or runny nose, a sore throat, nasty coughs, disgusting sneezes, a mild headache, etc.  It’s rarely all of these at once, but rather a random mixture.  I’m assuming it’s just regular colds and not something like the flu, though truth be told I really have no idea, eheheh.  I can’t imagine you as the type who loses interest in anime and video games especially.  I know you have your whole life ahead of you and a lot can change, but still, hah.  We sort of talked about this before, right?  Didn’t we both promise each other never to forget the kid inside of us?  Growing up and living a monotonous life as an “adult” sounds terrible.  While it wouldn’t be right to just ignore our responsibilities and be immature for the rest of our lives, it would also be a shame to forget what life is all about.  To forget what it’s like to genuinely laugh and be happy, you know?

 

Wow, Tong Hua brings me way back.  I haven’t heard that song in years.  It’s not nearly as popular today as it was a while back, since music trends obviously change all the time.  And don’t worry, I love sad songs, though I appreciate the warning in advance anyway.  It’s kind of interesting that you’re affected by sad songs so much, despite never really being moved to tears when watching movies or anime.  I’ve cried a fair amount watching the silver screen but my mood isn’t adversely affected whenever I listen to melancholic songs.  Jay Chou is somehow everyone’s gateway into C-pop, or at least was back in his prime.  My sister went through a phase as well, back when she was younger, hahah.  I’ve gotten better at recognizing Chinese singers by their faces, voices, names, style, and songs, but I wouldn’t say I’m too knowledgeable on the subject yet.  And as far as J-pop is concerned, I’m only well versed in those that are part of the anime community.  There’s a huge difference between anime singers and just regular Japanese singers, so the scope of my knowledge is limited in that sense.  I haven’t really gotten into K-pop.  Occasionally if I’m craving a different change of pace, I just YouTube “kpop” like a newb and click on the “Top Tracks” playlist YouTube automatically generates on the right hand side.  It seems to be more dance-orientated and upbeat than either C-pop or J-pop, but it’s not too bad and can help give me a kick of energy if I find that I’m sluggishly getting through my work.  And foreign songs are the best for when I’m reading text books or articles for the sake of absorbing complex information, since I’m not usually distracted by the lyrics.

 

Ohohohoho, I know, if I’m not going to hell for purchasing and playing video games behind my parents’ back, then I’m totally going to hell for giving out those quizzes.  I’m probably on a blacklist somewhere and am not allowed within a ten meter radius from children.  Hah, but seriously, the extra credit questions were there either because I stumbled upon a fun trivia fact and wanted to share it or because I wanted to ask a question but it was something even I wouldn’t have been able to figure out without looking it up.  And though I said I would share the Fate quizzes with you, upon reconsideration a lot of the questions (the quotes especially) I chose covered topics you might not have noticed in your first run.  I want you to rewatch Fate/Zero and have those “ohhhh I didn’t see that the first time!” kind of reactions, and I feel that a lot of the questions on all my quizzes would tip you off to those in advance, ehehe.  Once you watch F/Z again, whether it be before or after HF, I’ll share the quizzes with you and we can see how well you fare then, hahah.

 

Naw, this was way back when we were still wee lads.  My parents figured a little bit of video gaming here and there couldn’t hurt, especially if they limited it.  Once they realized how attached we got to video games and caught us playing when they didn’t allow it, they were more and more hesitant to buy whatever games we asked for.  From what I can tell they’re not nearly as strict about this as your parents are though, since they’ve purchased a ton of video games and consoles and accessories for my me and my brother over the years.  We had to coerce them and they still don’t willingly let us play, but it’s better than nothing, ahah.  Huh, your parents actually care about your outward appearance?  That’s kind of funny, usually you’d think it’s the other way around.  Like, a girl would more likely be the one nagging her parents to buy the latest in fashion, not so much the other way around.  But as you say, the way you dress really isn’t that important.  As long as you like, shower reasonably often and look self-respecting then you’re fine.

 

Hmph, okeey Kenzi, trying to justify an addiction by insisting you’re not that reliant on your cellphone, I see how it is…  But in all seriousness, I guess it’s good that you’re not one of those compulsive texters.  I still have yet to receive a Facebook message or text that isn’t related to school work though.  Hmm, maybe building a reliance on phones takes time?  Maybe Pokemon Go and those Nintendo apps that are going to be coming out will help with that, heheheh.  I don’t see it ever being useful like my computer is useful, but I can see it becoming something I choose to play over my 3DS whenever I have a few minutes to spare, so there’s that.  Huh, an extreme form of procrastination?  Geezus, what a frightening thought.  Time management is my biggest struggle right now in college, more so than the workload and exams.  There’s a lot of homework for sure, but it’s only bogged me down as much as it has so far because I waste so much time, heh.  Completely shutting down my senses with alcohol sounds like a horrid business, whether for recreation or for counteracting depression.  And I’m perfectly content with my life right now, so it’s not like I have any need to escape reality.  And I watch anime and play video games for entertainment, not to ignore my responsibilities.

 

Ah, so your physics teacher is using clickers too?  I can imagine it’d be pretty fun, but none of my classes are large enough to use them.  Participation is really up to the professor.  Some of them don’t care if you show up so long as you do well on exams.  My econ and math teachers are like that.  Realistically speaking though, there’s no way you can skip class all the time and still do well on tests.  Others like my SAGES professor take attendance every day.  If you’re late or absent, regardless of the reason, you get points off.  It affects your grade enough to give you the incentive to be in class, but not enough that your grade is ruined if you absolutely have to miss class for whatever reason.  And then there’s my accounting professor, who doesn’t technically take attendance but occasionally gives little pop quizzes or small in-class assignments randomly that count for a few points.  If you’re not in class that day, then you get a zero for those assignments.  There are many different ways of making sure that students show up to class.  So though I don’t think any professor will out-right flunk you for not showing up enough, you’re most likely going to fail yourself if you don’t do yourself the favor of going to class.

 

Ooh, look at you, you little scientist, prepping yourself up for success from such an early age, hahah.  That’s really impressive that you read all those anatomy and astronomy books when you were so young.  And just imagining you scribbling out those crazy theories of yours as a child is really cute, heheh.  Nonfiction was never really my thing.  I think we did have some for-children science books at home, but I was more interested in looking at the pictures than actually reading and absorbing the information.  Even in elementary school, I liked reading stories.  I don’t think I read nearly as much as I did in middle school, but given that I read everything on that summer reading list right after fifth grade shows that I practically inhaled novels even at that age.  And it wasn’t actually the sixth grade summer reading list, it was the entire middle school summer reading list.  So fifth to sixth grade, sixth to seventh grade, and seventh to eighth grade books were all on there.  Technically some of them were above my reading level, but the only one I remember giving me a hard time was a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, which consisted of multiple novels and a few short stories.  I loved the heck out of it though, even if it wasn’t the easiest read.

 

Hmph, look at you, mocking the irony of my dorm situation…

 

Woah, I never would have guessed that you ever did figure skating, even if it may not have been for very long, when you were younger.  That’s certainly not the most common recreational activity for kids.  My parents made me try a bunch of stuff when I was younger, but it was me rather than them who didn’t feel like continuing with all those activities.  Let’s see, there was violin, piano, basketball, soccer, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, and table tennis.  My parents were hoping that I would take a passion to at least one of those, but I never really did.  The oboe is what I gravitated to for the majority of my life, but I’ve since dropped that as well.  Ehhh, I feel kind of bad for wasting all their time and money like that, but I guess it’s still better to try something and realize you don’t like it than not try anything at all. 

 

I’m glad to hear that the SAT IIs went well!  Or at least, that you believe you did well!  It always sucks when the actual test is nothing like the practice.  Happens a lot with the SATs it seems.  Practice tests and reality can very so drastically from each other.  Regardless, here’s hoping for perfect scores!

 

Oh nahh, you didn’t make me stay up late at all.  It’s not like I was staying up procrastinating on my homework or anything of course not do you really think I’d do something like that ohohohoho…………  *ahem* And as for fixing the typos, I don’t really know why I did.  I just had a random urge to skim over what I wrote and caught a few errors, so I decided heck might as well fix them, eheheh.  Aww, thanks, and likewise regarding your little addition…

 

I’m glad to see that you’re going out of your way to show demonstrated interest in Case!  I don’t think it’s overkill at all, since they’re probably really happy to see such a good student take such a liking to them.  The Early Action deadline is in just about three weeks now, so I hope your essay and application in general are coming along nicely!  I may be busy with midterms this week (which is why I couldn’t afford to type up nearly as much as I usually do, something I deeply apologize for) but I’ll be rooting for you all the way!  Best of luck in this last stretch!

 

Haha, I've always disliked how formulaic DC episodes tend to be. The earlier episodes had a bit of variety, but the newer episodes are face-desk worthy. And you're right, the music isn't anything great. I'm not sure why I'm so fond of the music since I don't feel the same kind of nostalgia for most other shows. Oh, and I still haven't gotten around to watching movie 19 yet. The movies have gotten progressively worse over the years, so it's not like I mind putting it off. Maybe the fact that it's the highest grossing DC movie to date will invoke some form motivation for me to watch it sometime soon. We were never forced to watch House in AP Bio. It tends to garner a lot of praise, but I haven't watched a single episode on my own, so I can't agree or disagree with you on that. But seeing as it tends to adhere to the same tropes that make DC such a pain to watch, I don't think I'd enjoy it either. We sometimes watched Numb3rs during precalc. It's a CSI-esque show, so the drama and over the top mathematical calculations are to be expected. And yeah, it was great for the entertainment factor, but it became really repetitive and stale after the third or fourth episode. I have yet to stumble across a good mystery/detective show, but I might jump into Sherlock if I have time.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon Go turned out to be a late 2016 release. They dropped the information on us so late in the year, so having an early 2016 release doesn't seem very likely. You still gotta make room for the hype, haha. I don't think I'm going to get the accessory though. Or at least not until I see what it really has to offer. But like I said before, it can serve as a huge distraction, so I'm still on the fence about this. Oh, the Pokewalker... you adorable little piece of junk... It's functionality wasn't very good. What I mean by that is, it wasn't very good at what it was supposed to do. It never really "counted" steps and it was just generally a hassle to toy around with it because the darn thing is so limited in what it can do. But you know, you can't expect much from a little trinket that's supposed to serve as a supplement to a game. Never really caught any good Pokemon with the thing. Still had a stupid amount of fun though, haha. Although you didn't get to experience the Pokewalker, I'm pretty confident saying that you didn't miss much.

 

Even though they only used Sugimori art, I actually liked ORAS's battle cutscenes more than XY's, lol. Ohh, I hope midterms went well! A few of my friends at UMich were also feeling the same pressure so I guess you guys were all in the same boat! It kinda sucks how you guys had exams so early in the year, but I hope you treated yourself well and killed 'em, hehe. 

 

What the... you've fallen asleep in the shower?? Wut. How is that even possible. Feeling restrictive isn't a problem for me since I wear loose-fitting clothes to sleep. Sweatpants in the winter and t-shirts in the summer. I can see why you feel the need to sleep bare in the warmer months, but in the winter? Oh gosh, wouldn't you freeze to death? The heater/thermostat in my room broke recently, so I'm stuck in 50* conditions whenever I'm in my room now. I currently have a blanket wrapped around me as I type this very paragraph. Gosh, it's cold. It's supposed to warm up this week, or at least I hope it does. Haha, and similarly, I'm not comfortable changing clothes in front of people (not even my roommate back at UMich), much less sleeping bare in a college dorm. And uh, if the building happened to catch on fire, then... I'm not entirely sure what I'd do if I wasn't properly clothed. 

 

Ahh, as you know, the Democrat debate was held about a week ago, and speaking of voting based on race or gender... Yes, voting based on race and gender is incredibly shallow, but having a candidate playing the gender or race card is just as bad. "Well, I think that's pretty obvious. I think being the first woman president would be quite a change from the presidents we've had up until this point, including President Obama." Just the way Clinton says this so smugly irritates me. Don't you have anything better to contribute? Who the hell cares which gender you are. What are you going to offer the country? If being female is the only enticement you can think to bring to the table, that really says something about your character and priorities. Voting for her because she's female is like buying the shell of a sports car for display. Sure it looks nice, but just "looking nice" isn't going to get you very far. No one should vote for a president for looks. I can't believe she bothered to stoop that low. Even if it was a spur of the moment statement or slipup (doubt it, since she's proven herself to be a pretty well-expressed speaker), she didn't have to bring gender into it as one of the defining factors for voting (or at least that's what I thought she was trying to imply). And there's no doubt the feminazis are going to jump on this opportunity to further inflate Clinton's votes because she's female. Sometimes I feel that one of the main reasons Obama won the previous elections was because of his race. Everyone was just so stirred up by the fact that he became the first black president. While there's nothing wrong with that, I kinda wish there was a way for us to tell whether some of the votes truly were based on his political views. It's actually a little funny since being part of the minority usually serves as a disadvantage. We're far from overcoming gender and racial problems, but I still hope the majority of America has enough common sense to look at the candidates from equal ground rather than glorifying or debasing them from a gender and/or racial standpoint.

 

Since the iPads technically belong to the school, you can't download things all willy nilly. But you can surf the internet and stuff. Gosh, what a waste. We have crappy routers and internet at school, and this is what the school district invests in? iPads for the little kiddies to toy around with? Like geez, they even got an actual Apple employee just to hand them out, wtf. If this counts as anything, this friend of mine also has a little brother who attends Cranbrook. Yeahh, I don't get it either. Ohh, even if my close friends end up in different classes, we almost always find time to talk to each other in the hallways when we run into each other. We could end up with the same teacher, but not the same period so we ask each other for homework help on occasion. Or maybe we're in the same club. However, there was this one friend I was really close to back in middle school and early high school. He was arguably my best friend at the time. I believe one of the main reasons we aren't as close anymore is because we didn't share a single class in high school until this year. We chatted with each other on gmail multiple hours on end for multiple times a week during middle school and early high school, but times change and we branch out to new people and interests can split paths, I suppose (could write a whole backstory on this, but I'd rather not bore you). We exchange punches and make faces at each other in the hallways and have small talk whenever we have the chance, so he's still a relatively good friend of mine. I don't think I've ever truly "lost" a really close friend. We might stop hanging out after being separated for a while, but that doesn't mean all of that history we've had together went down the drain. I might lose a few friends who are more like acquaintances, but almost never a close friend. And while change isn't entirely bad, I do have a few friends who I'm not as close to anymore because of it. They didn't necessarily change for the worse; they just adopted new personalities after hanging out with new people. Haha, the only thing that changed about my friend at Cranbrook is his height. >6ft? Phew, that's huge, lol.  

 

I'm actually a bit surprised that you managed to endure so many subpar anime. Like sheesh, your average rating on MAL is just under a 5?? I just... I know rating systems tend to differ between people, and maybe you're just a harsher rater, but being able to stomach anime deserving of 5s on a regular basis is crazy. Maybe you're just a lot more tolerant than I originally thought, haha.

 

Ahah, sorry, I was only bothered by their age because it's just really hard to take middle schoolers seriously when they're trying to make some profound point or something. And in a few years, I'll probably feel the same way towards high schoolers. Goddamn Akazora, my backlog of anime is getting bigger and bigger with each passing response. Not that I mind though, lol. It's just that my list is beginning to feel more like a to-do list since I still haven't gotten around to watching any of them yet, haha. Nodame Cantabile, hmm? Definitely sounds like a good watch, heh. 

 

Out of curiosity, how well did your reactions fare when you showed episode 23 to the club? Specifically the scene after Gilgamesh and Archer fought, hehe... Hmm, so you discovered F/Z the summer before senior year? That's actually... a lot more recent than I thought. And forgive my crappy memory if you mentioned this before, but when did you create this club? Would you also recommend the dub? (random off-topic comment/realization that "club" looks like "dub"). The club was definitely lucky to have such a dedicated president, haha. Setting up technology and rewatching to make sure there were no unanswered questions on top of creating and grading quizzes to test the members' knowledge on the anime (not to mention you also watched it four times in total). Your sister's not into anime but you managed to persuade her to watch it? Gosh, I can't even get my sister to watch Steins;Gate, and she used to be a huge anime fanatic, lol. And what do you mean by "she can't read subtitles"? 

 

We would've dissected Pokemon Y inside out by now given the length of our responses and how often we post if we truly were still talking about it, lol. And while we never really interacted with each other until October 25th, something about your posts always stood out the most for some reason (even before we met)--I can't quite put my finger on it. October 25th, huh... damn, it's been nearly/only a year? It sure as hell doesn't feel that way, haha. But I guess now I finally have a recent fond memory to tag onto autumn. I'm not even sure myself how we got into this pattern of regular responses, but if we both take a step back just to look at how far we've taken this... it's insane. Any outsider would think we're insane, lol. No one would believe me if I told them that my best friend is someone I met on a quaint little forum. You know, with that whole spiel about stranger danger and catfishing, I wouldn't be able to explain it to them either. Hehe, I can't even explain it to myself! It's funny how life works. And that's awfully nice of you to say that about me. I admire everything about you, from your amazing sense of humor to your quirky personality. You never fail to make me laugh or smile, haha.

 

Gosh, I still can't believe you never ate lunch during your four years at JP. Sheesh, I just... how?? Did you at least attempt to eat a solid breakfast? Haha, if I was with you at JP, I would've tried to break your fast for sure. Oh, and I lied. I seldom bought lunch, but I do remember buying a sandwich at one point after forgetting my lunch at home. It wasn't bad, but it was a ripoff. Then again, all school foods are ripoffs. For the majority of freshman and sophomore year, I brought some sandwich made the day before. I'm so freaking sick of sandwiches. I experience some form of PTSD just thinking about the thick, tasteless, whole-grain and flaxseed bread that was paired with processed "meat", 1% cheese, and iceberg lettuce that caused the bread to develop this waterlogged texture. The sandwich tasted like it got dropped in the Atlantic Ocean after getting regurgitated from a dog that dug it out from a dumpster--of course this is all assumption, but who knows, I might not be far off. Towards the end of sophomore year, I couldn't even force it down anymore. I'd just skip lunch entirely because I figured starving myself would be better for my both my physical and mental well-being. Yes, it took me nearly two years to come to that realization. I can't even go to the bread section of the grocery store anymore. The "odor" of that specific kind of bread is just too overwhelming. The bread I bring to school for "breakfast" is entirely different though. For junior and senior year, I brought/bring boxed lunch. Just rice with some food leftover from dinner the day before. It's been okay. Ahaha, sorry. I didn't have as much work to do back at UMich, so exploring the campus after dinner was a regular thing for me. I didn't mean to undermine the college workload that much, eheh... 24 hours of no food and I wouldn't be able to function. I can go without meals entirely and just live off of snacks/small portions of food, but I most certainly wouldn't be able to go 24 hours without food. I haven't tried it yet, and I don't plan to either. And it's good to know that you really aren't living off of a salad a day, ahah.

 

Technically, it's a nickname of a username, but I suppose "Akazora" could also pass off as a nickname, haha. Whoa, your sister's eyes are in pretty bad shape but she still doesn't wear any glasses or contacts? How does she even function?? Holy moly... Yeah, I'm really glad I got my dad's eyes. My mom and sister keep telling me about how much of a pain glasses are, and shoving plastic onto my cornea doesn't sound very appealing either. Haha, if anything, I must've misheard him. There's seriously no way I could have 20/15 vision. Apparently, I'm actually overdue for my eye appointment, so I guess I'm going to have to schedule one soon. My eyes definitely aren't as good as they used to be. They aren't a burden for me yet, but I'm starting to get more conscious about the stuff I'm beginning to have difficulty seeing. Uhh, pfft, yeah. You plebs better know your place since my visual prowess clearly makes me superior to those with eyesight as lowly as yours. Simply conversing with paupers like you makes me feel as if I'm being drenched in an unfathomable amount of idiocy because, of course, the hierarchy of eyesight is what determines which of you peasants are worthy enough to speak to someone with eyes as prevailing as my own, after all. Thank goodness that's been established. Dear me, I don't know what I'd do if we were to be plunged into anarchy due to something as juvenile as intermixing with you... you commoners! Oh God forbid!!

 

Haha, what you wrote seems like the common cold since I also exhibit these symptoms whenever I get a cold (or at least what I think is a cold). Sometimes I can become sensitive to light and physical contact with anything; something as simple as lightly brushing something against my skin can produce a world of discomfort when my colds get really bad. Flus are more like bed-ridden and throw up-y kind of symptoms--a lot worse than colds... I think. Huh... now that I think about it, I'm not quite sure I know the difference between the cold and flu my seventeen years of living have all been a lie. But most of my friends who catch the flu tend to miss school, so I'm fairly confident that flus are a lot more severe. I've never had to skip school because of a sickness so I always assumed that I never caught the flu (plus, the flu shots I got seem to be getting the job done). Nope, I don't see myself losing interest in anime or video games anytime soon. I still have lots of room to make memories with the kid inside of me, and I know you do as well, haha. It's no fun to live a life without any fond memories or experiences to look back on. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about our promise, hehe. 

 

Oh geez, I've been moved to tears while listening to songs, no joke. Not very often, but it does happen every once in a while. Anime and movies though, not so much. Instrumentals, lyrical, anything, really. Melancholic songs affect my mood greatly. It's kinda weird. I avoid depressing songs so I don't get too distracted. Don't get me wrong; there are a lot of good emotional songs out there that I can name, it's just that... I don't like feeling sad, lol. I don't like mourning over nothing. It feels empty and meaningless, and it makes me confused. Hmm, so you've never been affected by listening to sad songs? Gosh, lucky you. I can't even bring myself to listen to songs like Tong Hua because of how depressing they are, sigh. I'm not well versed in C-pop, J-pop, or K-pop. I have a list of songs I sometimes refer to when I need something to listen to, but I'm not going to stalk the artists for their albums or anything. If something sounds good, I add it to my list. Doesn't matter where it's from. Doesn't matter who it's sung by. It can be Ukrainian for all I care. Ahaha, and I can't listen to any songs with lyrics whenever I'm doing homework. It's simply too distracting, so I almost always resort to instrumentals whenever I can.

 

Ohhhh, is that so... I guess I have even more incentive to watch F/Z then, haha. I appreciate you taking that into consideration, so definitely remind me to ask you later once I get around to rewatching it. Also....... y-you want to see how well I'll do on those quizzes? Oh dear, I do hope you keep your expectations in check because I don't have a very good feeling about this...

 

My parents were definitely a lot easier to sway when I first got my DS since I didn't have too much on my plate, but now? It's a hard life. I only have one video game trinket they willingly bought me. And it's this cute little Yoshi plush I got in California (and I think the only reason I was able to persuade them was because we were vacationing with really close family friends). This was way back in middle school though. Ahaha, I rarely nag my parents about clothes. Half of my wardrobe is my sister's, but I still know about the fashion trends going around school. Floral skirts with boots, Under Armour leggings, Dr. Martens, Toms, galaxy-themed everything, Sperrys, military boots, etc. so I'm pretty confident I'm not left in the dark about this stuff. These kinds of fashion trends spread like wildfire. But at the same time, why should I toss away $60 just to wear some shoes or clothes that don't really appeal to me? If I find something on the clothing rack that looks nice, sure I'll buy it... as long as it doesn't cost a fortune. 

 

I don't have a single game on my phone, and I intend to keep it that way. God knows what'll happen to my "reliance" on my phone if I downloaded games. Pokemon Go might be the exception, or I could just look up some reviews and stuff. It's definitely a lot more limited than my laptop, and tapping on glass can't beat typing on a keyboard. You receive texts and messages pertaining to schoolwork? Pfft, what a nerd. Haha, kidding, I tend to receive/send those kinds of texts and messages as well, but it's also helpful getting notifications about social events and activities. Or maybe something happened to you one day, and you just can't help but want to rave/complain about it to a friend. Or vice versa. Time management is also a huge struggle for me. I definitely wouldn't be as stressed as I am now if I just quit putting off studying and doing assignments. I'm not even sure how it happened. In sophomore year and years prior, I'd take any opportunity I could get during the school day to finish my homework. Now I can't even bring myself to take the folders out of my backpack during lunch unless it happened to be due on the same day. I'll try to kill this habit though... later. Ahh, no, I didn't mean to imply that watching anime and video games were ways to escape responsibility. Watching anime and playing video games aren't as fun when you have a constant tug at the back of your head, after all.

edit: waitwaitwait, I completely forgot about Deemo. Deemo (and possibly Pokemon Go) is probably the only game I'll download, ahahahaha...............

 

Nono, not clickers, but plickers, haha. The class size isn't too big (around the low 20s), but it's still kinda fun. I think it's a pretty neat concept. Read the Question of the Day and then hold up a sheet of paper for the teacher to scan as a way to submit your answer. It's kinda funny how some professors go through such lengths just to get students to attend class, especially since college education is paid education (basically you do what you want with your money; waste it if you want). You'd think that public high school teachers would be more strict about attendance since we don't have as much of an incentive or obligation to attend. Or at least not as much as college students who have to pay out of their own pockets do.

 

Haha, in elementary school I read stuff like the Magic Tree House, Geronimo Stilton, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and a bunch of other series I've probably forgotten. I was late to the party and read the Harry Potter series in middle school. I remember going to the local library and school media center pretty often back in elementary and middle school, but it still feels like I haven't read much. I was probably too young to really take anything out of the books I read, lol. I usually gravitated towards realistic fiction, fantasy, and sci fi, but as I began reading more books, I started getting tired of first person, regardless of genre. Towards late middle school, it went to the point where I'd straight up set a book down if I saw any hints of it being written in first person--especially if it was a contemporary book written in a girl's perspective. I never had a problem with this whenever I picked up a nonfiction book. I also really loved crafts books and getting something "practical" out of what I read. I struggled to get through the Sherlock Holmes stories and A Tale of Two Cities in middle school, and I'm even a little afraid to revisit them because of how intimidated I felt, especially since I was surrounded by classmates who seemed perfectly comfortable reading books of that caliber. Haha, and I still struggled to get through books like Candide and Huck Finn in high school.

 

Haha, yeah, most people don't, and it's not too surprising. I was figure skating for a good chunk of late elementary school and early middle school, but it has been such an insignificant part of my life that I often forget about it. I'd also fall flat on my face if you asked me to get on the ice rink at this very moment. You played tennis?? And y-you quit?? H-how... tennis is so much fun... Violin too, but you play oboe (and also decided you didn't like the violin as much) so advocating for the violin would seem like wasted effort, lol. The main reason my parents made me quit piano was because my sister was better, which is no surprise since she had quite a few years of experience on me at the time. When we moved to Michigan, the teacher we went to only had space for one more student, and you can guess what went down from there. Ohh, you actually tried quite a few activities! Taekwondo, hm? It's a little silly to ask, I'll admit, but was there any particular reason you didn't like violin, piano, basketball, soccer, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, and table tennis? Or rather, what about the oboe stood out to you over these other activities?

 

Perfect scores? Probably not, to be honest. I always find myself making silly mistakes, regardless of how confident I feel about the test. I actually ended up writing a huge rant/tangent about this (ty for triggering me, kidding, kidding), but decided to cut it out so I wouldn't be dumping a truckload of salt on you out of nowhere. Thanks though, haha.

 

My essay has been coming along okay. I ran it through a few friends and they seemed to like it. I also went to a couple of English teachers and I'm anticipating feedback soon. There are still a few rough edges, but that's to be expected since I typed up the majority of it during that near all-nighter I mentioned in the PM (had to scrap the previous intro and conclusion I wrote since I didn't like them). It's also 70 words above the limit so I need to work on trimming it down. I could send it to you after that's been worked out if you want to see it. The rest of my application has also been okay. I still need to type up supplements for a few other schools, and maybe smooth out a bit of my application some more. Oh, and I got my rec letters turned in, so I need to write out a few thank-you notes soon (weird turn of events since it turns out I'm actually on good terms with my calc teacher even after that... incident... maybe he forgot it ever happened). Also sent a few emails to an admissions counselor. Even though it doesn't sound like much, this whole process has been interfering with the amount of time I can dedicate to schoolwork and our weekly responses. A lot. Haha, the near all-nighter I pulled wrecked my sleep schedule and I had to catch up on some material after crashing in a few classes. I don't even know how many hours I average anymore. Sometimes I'd be doing some homework at 11pm, then fall asleep and wake up at 1am, then work again, then sleep again, then wake up again for school. Or maybe I'd be too tired to work on anything and just sleep at 11pm until 3-4am and then work until 6am when I have to pack for school. The only saving grace at the moment is the fact that my courseload isn't as difficult as the one I had last year (physics is still a pain though). Oh, and thank the lord tennis season is in the spring. Gahhhh, I can't believe I wasted my entire summer without coming up with a single essay topic I ended up using. My life would be a crapton easier if I had just finished it over the summer. Or maybe my time management is a lot worse than I originally thought. I'm willing to bet that it's a mix of both. So yeah, I brought this upon myself, but eh, gotta roll with it at this point. I'm still happier than I was during junior year though, so I guess that's a plus, lol.

 

Also, regarding your PM, damn, why you gotta pull so many all-nighters, man (and you seem rather proud of them too, for some reason, haha). Still, I'm glad you're happy and well-situated with the college life (despite the of all-nighters you seem to be pulling... hm...), and again, hopefully your midterms went well for you! Thank you for the good luck sentiment and for enduring my untimely responses as well, ahah.

just edited a bit of the politics and the phone paragraphs

...and the last one

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

Cant say that he didnt, most times i was like get this thing moving we dont have many episodes.

Meelo will fart bend you for the disrespect.

I was reading that a single episode for TLA costed 1M and the last 4 costed 6M together to make. Korra is 1.667M per episode with the last 2 being 4...i think.

Did you read the new ATLA comic book chapter. I kinda spoiled my self and did read the plot. I dont like it when visual greatness is put to paper cause it loses its....you know. Im hoping zuko and mai get back together again

yeah, can't argue with you there

given how few episodes there are per season, it kinda annoyed me how rushed some of the show felt

 

wouldn't be surprised if Meelo did, tbh

 

I know 1M is pretty standard for some shows, but the magnitude of the number is still staggering

the difference in quality of the art and animation from ATLA to LoK is nothing to scoff at, so it's no surprise that LoK had a higher production cost, but it's still nice to know they were willing to splurge more on the last few episodes in order help it end so nicely art-wise

 

nope, I don't read the comics

I was pretty disappointed when they announced the release of Zuko's backstory because I really wanted to see it in its true glory...and not as a comic

 

 

--

LOL, this thread was moved to the Music, Movies & TV section

that's actually hilarious

ahaha, Akazora, was this your doing?

[What Was the Last Song You Listened To?]

Ah yes, the meme I always happen to stumble upon at four in the morning that serves as a reminder that I should seriously get off YouTube and actually finish my damn homework, Jesus Christ almighty.  It's a very good indication of when I've ventured too deep into the Interwebs and should stop before I mentally traumatize myself.

save yourself while you still can

it's too late for me; I've already gone off the deep end

 

 

--

why.

it's still October

I think I'm going insane.

[Anime-This-Season Chat/Discussion]

So I checked out a few clips of Ore Monogatari out of curiosity.

There's not much that seems spoiler-tag worthy since it's pretty obvious what'll end up happening.

 

...and it's not bad

Soundtrack is pretty standard, but definitely stands out when it needs to.

There's this cute little innocence that envelops the romance between the two unsuspecting lovebirds.

While part of me wanted to punch the computer screen because of how dense these two characters seem to be, I can't deny that the show still has a nice, charming atmosphere to it.

 

The show is definitely "different" to say the least. It's not over the top, and it's straightforward enough to get the point across. The humor and how the interactions between the characters are portrayed is done very light-heartedly and casually, which is just to my liking.

 

On the surface level, there's no doubt this is one of those fairytale romances I despise so much, but I do appreciate how it attempts to break out of the standard tropes that are forced upon most romances.

 

So it's not so bad. All in all, I actually kinda liked the few clips I watched.

[What Was the Last Song You Listened To?]

yee

 

omfg what have you done

why has this been stuck in my head the entire day

why did I instinctively decide to pluck out the notes on my violin out of boredom during orchestra

why did I even bother searching up this "song"

why was I humming this during the school day

why is this even a meme

why are the parodies best things

how did this go viral

how did you even discover this

what have you done to me

 

and it's still stuck in my head

why

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

that why i like you kenzi, great thinking

but mako was the no.1 guy even though he didnt act like it, more like i will take on any responsibility

have you noticed that his background, of the way his parents were killed, is the same as batmans

 

meelo rules all 

 

im in clain to agree with you age thing, however im not sure about your american pg laws regarding tv so i cant fully agree

atla had some dark stuff too, burning his face, bloving up, genocide...and they shoved the bones of the air nomads, depression and more

still great

one question, if kuvira took over the earth nation

does the norther air region belong to her

i does look like it is on earth kingdom land

like china and tibet 

Mako had a pretty bleak background though that's still no excuse for his douchey personality

I know he meant well, but his character still annoyed me a bit

 

Meelo ruled all until season 4

 

true, ATLA had some pretty dark aspects as well, but the incidents of genocide/murder weren't highlighted as much as they were in LoK

like geezus, Zaheer asphyxiated the Earth Queen with airbending

you can't get any more blunt about murder than that

 

I'd assume that if Kuvira had the ability to take over the entire Earth nation, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd be able to get her hands on the rest of the nations through propaganda as well. But region-wise, I'm not too sure. I'm not very familiar with the map/locations of these nations or which territory belongs to who.

[What's on Your Mind?]

can I ask something? (for everyone)

 

is there any market in your place that sells everything, from any kind of food to clothes? or maybe only clothes?

if yes, do you mind to tell me the name of the market though pm? or you can just give me the hints and I will search it by myself

thank you very much! *bows*

EDIT:

oh whoops

missed the part that said you wanted it through pm

I just sent it, haha

 

 

OMM: The Smash Ballot is finally closed, and now all we have to do is wait for the results.

Please don't take too long Nintendo, I can only be so patient.

Ice Climbers aren't going to win though

there is no meaning to life anymore

jk

I'm still eager to see the results, heh 

 

 

--

OMM: so we were writing a thesis in class and I kept calling it hypothesis

I would always catch myself in the act and correct myself though

it would go something like this:

"Yeah, you mean the hypothesis? Wait no, sorry, I meant thesis."

and then something like this:

"Don't worry about the hypothesis too much................. wait, I actually meant to say thesis."

etc.

but never once did I find myself saying "thesis" without having to correct myself beforehand during the entire class period

which was 3-4 times at the very least

 

wtf

[What Was the Last Video Game You Played?]

 

Ahahah, I find it interesting how you can formulate an intro and conclusion before the body.  I’m the exact opposite: starting and ending essays are always the hardest parts for me.  E-experiment you say?  Just… don’t do anything crazy like these guys did.  You don’t have to go that far just to prove you like science, eheh.

 

Aw, it’s nice that you’re not charging for graphics anymore.  Not implying that it was bad of you to have charged people at all back when you were busier, hah.  But yeah, I can imagine if you’re not actively advertising or growing your fanbase and whatnot that you’d have much less requests than before.  Oh geez, all of the DC episodes?  Yeahhh, I don’t know what you were thinking either.  Even if you’re watching the plot related episodes and still behind, don’t worry about it.  The manga’s just raising more questions and not resolving them, so not a lot has changed.  If you ever get frustrated enough, you could always just read the manga instead.  It’s faster and you can just sort of skim over the mystery parts if you’re not too invested in the cases.

 

Wut, Ash doesn’t have a Greninja yet??  Is there even a logical plot in the anime???  Geez, this whole thing is turning into a mess.  Then again, it’s just the Pokemon anime.  So long as it doesn’t influence the games too negatively then it should be okay (inb4 your starter in “Pokemon Z” receives the customized design of your avatar when it’s fully evolved).  Oh my gosh, that Pikachu and the others… kill them quick before they procreate…  I’m pretty sure Pokemon Go will be a bit of a gimmick and relatively underwhelming, but I’m still really looking forward to it.  As you say, there’s the nostalgia factor to consider, and that trailer was just too damn hype.  I think I watched it at least five times the day it was revealed.  It was like when the second season of UBW first started airing and the new opening was so good I couldn’t resist watching it sporadically throughout the day, hehe.

 

Hmm, I guess you’re right in saying accuracy is more important in a speed run.  My Metang (one level off from being a Metagross) is just OHKOing even things that resist it, what a savage.  I should also watch out for PP.  I just replaced Iron Head with Meteor Mash, and while I felt like it was a good idea at the time I’m starting to think maybe the extra PP that the former has over the latter would have been more useful in the long run.  Ehhhh, since Iron Head is a tutor move that came automatically with Beldum, I don’t think the move reminder will be able to bring it back.  Whatever, I’ll make do with what I have, and since I’m probably going to use Brick Break when I get it that will help with maintaining my PP.  I didn’t make much progress from before.  I got through Flannery’s gym rather easily (Metang listened to me almost all the time, which was nice) and then was taken automatically by May to Petalburg to beat my dad.  I was then whisked off to Mauville by Wally.  Why does ORAS love automatically taking you places?  Was walking around really that much of an inconvenience in RSE?  I didn’t feel it was, hm.  Anyway, my level cap is now 60 (yay for back-to-back gyms!), I have Strength and Surf under my belt, and I have a lot to explore.  I’m probably going to hit up the Trick House first (now that I have Strength), then move up to check out the desert and that one little area in Fiery Path that also required Strength to access.  Then I’ll Surf along Routes 105, 106, 107, 108 (and the Abandoned Ship!), and finally 109.  After I’ve experienced everything there is to experience on the west, I’ll Surf across the small body of water on Route 118 and continue on the with plot.  Heheh, can’t wait to get started!

 

B-But you were the one who described how you dressed for sleep; I-I never asked you for that!  Pfft, you’re still the instigator…  I was just so surprised because I thought no one ever slept with clothes on.  Like, pajamas sure, I’ve seen enough stock photos to know pajamas are probably the norm, but wearing everything down to socks just seems excessive.  Don’t you ever want your skin to air out a bit?  I dunno, if it’s really that cold and if you’re used to it then there’s nothing wrong with that, haha.

 

Oho, yeah, Trump is really hot headed and a lot of what he says makes it sound like he’s looking to pick a fight.  It kind of reminds of a rebellious teenager who just spouts out stuff to his parents in an attempt to rustle jimmies.  It’s funny, and while I know I shouldn’t be making light of politics, I still feel he adds a very interesting personality to this battle royale election, at the very least.  He’s kinda like the Gilgamesh of this fight!  Haha, Sanders is making waves.  There’s even a Bernie Sanders club in Case.  I have no idea how that got approved.  Welp, might as well try my hand at establishing a Pokemon club now.  He’s interesting because he’s actually an independent as Vermont’s senator, and a self-described democratic socialist.  Kinda like Trump, he’s someone who I guess doesn’t fully fit in a political party but leans left enough that he’s tagging along with the Democrats.  He’s holding himself rather well against Clinton.  Unfortunately, none of the other candidates are really standing much of a chance at this point (except for Biden, if he runs), and there almost doesn’t seem to be a need for a debate since very few people are willing to commit political suicide and run against Hillary.  Is the debate in a few days seriously going to only have five participants?  Bleh, bit of a buzz kill, it would have been far more interesting to see a larger starting number whittle its way down.

 

Likewise, you guys have surnames on the back of your sports attire?  I thought it was a thing that no schools did…  And uh, yeah, what made you think color guard would be different from all the other sports?  I-Is it customary for color guard to change uniforms all the time?  Oh my goodness, who would pay for a high school like that?  That’s honestly just like a college.  From the museums to gardens, it sounds like Case Western (technically the museum and garden are off campus but they’re free for students and literally right across the street, so shhhhh).  You have to be a millionaire with only one child to safety afford both Cranbrook and a private university.  I don’t really see the point of going to a very good high school though.  As long as it’s not an inner city drug and violence ridden school, it’s good enough (I say as I have a dramatic PTSD flashback of JP Stevens).  I can’t believe your parents urged you to attend.  That’s just… insane.  My parents were against me coming to Case and wanted me to go to Rutgers, that’s how tight they are with their money.  Ohh, and I read your OMM post.  If I’m deducing this right, that old friend you ran into attends Cranbrook and that’s also where you took the SAT IIs?  You mentioned “campus” instead of “school” and also said that you guys “ate lunch together”, so I figured it wasn’t just some random nearby public high school.  I’m guessing you haven’t seen him in years because you parted ways after middle school?  He could potentially be one of the friends who was going to go to Cranbrook that kinda made you tempted to attend as well.  It’s nice to hear that you happened to run into a friend after so many years!  That kind of happened to me a while back when I was also a junior in high school.  I had an SAT tutoring mini-session, and one of the girls there was someone I had met, ironically, way back in middle school in a completely unrelated tutor class.  We weren’t that close back then, but we still both recognized each other, and it was weird, hahah. 

 

Before my old watch broke I still didn’t keep in on all the time.  As of now, I’m in the same position that I was in when I had my old watch: I like wearing it in public and when I’m not on the computer, but once I hunker down to type up a long essay, browse the Interwebs, watch anime, etc. then I take it off.  The time is right there on the screen anyway, rendering the point of a watch moot, so it’s not inconvenient or anything.

 

Honestly, the best thing we can do at this point is support those that make quality anime.  If you liked Ping Pong, even if you can’t get yourself an official poster or figurine (because they don’t exist), then buy the DVDs.  You don’t plan on rewatching it?  That’s fine; buy it so you can display it on your shelf and gaze upon it fondly every once in a while.  If enough people did this, maybe those who want to try something daring but are unsure of how it’s going to sell will be more willing to abandon the ecchi formula.  Let the creators know that there’s an audience for these kinds of shows and convince them that it can be profitable.  Now, I say all this, but realistically speaking I understand that other factors come into play.  You and I aren’t exactly in any financial position to throw cash out willy-nilly in an attempt to make a “difference” in an industry already neck deep in a problem.  And just buying DVDs isn’t going to hold up against those who buy figurines, posters, and body pillows in addition to the DVDs of their favorite harem show.  Still though, it’s not a bad idea to at least be aware of the situation and keep in the back of our minds what needs to be done to turn things around.

 

Ahh, I’m freer with my language and how I express myself now?  Huh… did I change that much?  Or maybe, I could just be more relaxed and comfortable conversing with you now than when we first met almost a year ago.  Oh dear, how embarrassing, I hope I haven’t given off the wrong impression and made you think I’m weird now or something.  Rather, since you’ve probably already come to terms with my existing quirks, I hope you don’t think I’m even weirder than I was before, hahah.  Even though I enjoy crude humor, in person I don’t make perverted jokes or anything like that.  This probably sounds hypocritical, but saying vulgar things in person makes me feel uncomfortable so I very rarely do.  I’m actually rather conservative when I talk in person.  If an opportunity presents itself to say a witty sex joke in real life, I won’t take it.  But if I read something online that’s just asking to be replied to with a Lenny face, I’m more willing to go for it, eheh.  Hmm, I don’t know if that makes much sense, ahaha.

 

Mhm, harems of any kind can be very off-putting.  I’m glad you’re looking forward to what I’ve recommended!  Actually, I found some time to rewatch Hoshi no Koe the other day, and unfortunately it wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered it being.  It’s clearly just a “prototype” of 5 Centimeters Per Second, as they were made by the same person, but it’s inferior in pretty much every way.  However, the interesting thing to note is that it was made almost entirely by a single man, Makoto Shinkai, on his Mac in the early 2000s.  The plot and animation and art are all done by him, occasionally crude as it may be.  It’s only 24 minutes, so I don’t think you’d lose much watching it regardless, just so long as you see it before 5 Centimeters Per Second.  But on the other hand, if you decide not to watch it, then I don't think you'll be missing out on much.  It's up to you, in the end.  I also got around to “rewatching” Even no Jikan.  I originally watched the OVA version, which was the first version to come out before it was made into a movie.  They’re identical, with just a few extra scenes in the movie to make the transitions between the six parts more streamline.  Thankfully, that one’s still just as good as I remembered it being, hahah.  Yeah, there’s really no need to watch Shigatsu.  Look up a few AMVs if you want; it’ll be far more entertaining and you’ll pretty much get the gist of it.

 

It’s just speculation at this point, since there’s no hard release date for HF.  ufotable likes to give themselves at least a one season break between works, which is why both Fate/Zero and UBW were split cour.  When they tried to animate two seasons back to back (UBW second season and God Eater), they ran into major problems.  God Eater was plagued with delays and the last four episodes are going to be aired in the winter because they ran out of booked television time.  They had to outsource a lot of their work, which they tried to avoid in the past, just to get out nine episodes in one season.  They’re going to lay low this fall as they recuperate from their losses.  UBW’s second season Blu-ray is released in a few days on the 7th, and hopefully it sells well enough to make up for the flop that was God Eater (and I’m also looking forward to the animation changes and extra scenes, heheh).  The Tales anime is only confirmed for 2016 as of now.  It will mostly air this winter (starting January) or this spring (starting April), though I’m leaning toward the latter.  When the “new” F/sn was announced, before it was even confirmed which route would be adapted, it was early winter of 2014.  It ultimately aired in fall of 2014, which means there were about three seasons between the announcement and the ultimate start.  If they treat Tales the same way and leave just under three seasons for them to air it, then it will start April 2016 as it was revealed early summer.  They will then most likely take at least a one season break during the summer and release the HF movie in fall, which will be late 2016.  I know, that’s an entire year of waiting, but that’s how it’s shaping up to be unfortunately.  And we don’t even know how many movies it will be.  It will probably boil down to either two 3 hour or three 2 hour movies, with a few months between each.  The Kara no Kyoukai movies varied from one to two hours in length with gaps between each ranging from a few weeks to up to eight months.  HF is in a really rough place right now, but all we can hope is that with the time they’re taking they’re going to learn from mistakes made in UBW and produce the highest quality work they possibly can, however long it takes.  If you ever have the time and urge to binge rewatch F/Z before HF comes out, then you can.  You’ll definitely enjoy it more now that you know how part of F/sn plays out.  You might have to watch it an additonal third time though, after HF finally finishes, before you get all the references, but hopefully that isn’t much of a hassle.  I’ve already seen it four times through entirely and plan on seeing it one last time after HF, eheheh.

 

I’d say hold off on the Tales anime until at least the first few episodes come out, or maybe until the whole thing's finishes.  It could just end up being a generic RPG styled anime that’s being hyped up by the diehard fans.  I really hope it does well though, for HF’s sake.  ufotable needs all the money it can get.  Ohh, hahah, I call myself a loser all the time and truly believe I’m a huge dork, but I don’t get myself down about it.  I’ve pretty much accepted the weird side of me and say these things lightly; I don’t mean anything by it.  I’m more than content with my life and with who I am.  I do appreciate the concern though!  So rest assured, I’m perfectly fine; there are others out there in need of far for compassion than me.  I will say though, sometimes I do wonder what my life would be like if I did what the “cool” and “normal” kids did.  What if I listened to EDM and whatever’s popular on the radio instead of J-Pop, C-Pop, and video game OST?  What if I spent hours binging Netflix instead of hours binging anime?  What if I didn’t shut myself in and play video games all the time?  What if I actually went out with friends?  Perhaps go to the mall or movies together?  Maybe even just hang out at a friend’s house?  What if I had more friends in general?  What if I studied with others instead of by myself?  What if I ate with people I know instead of alone?  What if I was more open with others?  What if I smiled more?  What if I spoke my mind more often?  What if I had gone to prom?  What if I actually went to parties?  What if I was open to alcohol and drugs?  I sometimes wonder these things, but every time I do, I realize I don’t crave any of it.  There is no regret.  I never wish I had done things differently.  Would I be happy if I did what’s “popular” to do?  Maybe, but I wouldn’t be me.  There are plenty of people out there who live life completely different from me, and they’re probably happy.  I’m not trying to imply that my way of living leads to a happier life.  But I do think that the way I’ve lived is best for me.  Every decision I’ve ever made in my entire life was done with the intention of making me the happiest I could be.  Happiness is what we live for after all.  Have I made mistakes?  Sure, of course I have.  I can’t predict the future.  I’ve cried, I’ve gotten upset, and I’ve been bitter, but I don’t regret anything I’ve done.  I made the best decisions with what I knew at the time, and if things still didn’t work out, then that’s just how life is going to be.  I’m unbelievably happy.  I love my life and I’m excited for each new day.  My mom said that of all her children, I was the happiest.  I smiled earlier and more than either my brother or my sister did.  I was a giggling, curious little toddler.  Now that I’m 18, she wonders what happened.  I don’t smile as much as I used to, I don’t appear to be very energetic, and I’m not outspoken.  She wonders where that happy little baby went.  In truth, he never left.  He’s always been here, inside of me.  I’m still just as happy as I was when I was little, perhaps even more so, but I don’t always express it.  I’m happy, I know it, but I don’t always choose to show it, so I will not clap my hands.

 

(Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry for rambling!  I got kind of carried away and the words sort of just poured out.  Hmm, looking back at this, this would make for a decent standalone introspective essay if I brushed it up a bit, hahah.)

 

Hah, well, I can’t disagree with you there.  I’m a Windows person all the way; could never figure out Macs.  I don’t even remember why my parents got a Mac Book in the first place.  Guess they just wanted to see what the hype was all about?  There are still a ton of people who use Macs, at least if my accounting class is anything to go by.  If you grow up with it then I guess you’ll probably prefer it over Windows.  Oh wow, you haven’t updated your laptop in that long and you're still doing fine?  I guess updating doesn’t really make much of a difference, but it’s still nice to always have the newest version of something.  Haha, probably just the OCD side of me talking.

 

Yup, the food smuggling continued in high school.  Most teachers are pretty strict in class.  You know the whole “you can have a drink but only if it’s water because sugared beverages when spilled attract ants” spiel.  I didn’t mind, since my metabolism is pretty slow and I’m not much of a snacker.  People found a way around the system for the most part though.  Girls used their purses and guys just… I dunno, shoved whatever they could in their pockets I guess?  Oh wait, I guess they used drawstring bags (because we had to change for gym class of course) to conceal their goods as well.  If you were lucky you could get a teacher that was pretty lenient with the food rules, but even the nice ones didn’t have tolerance for a full blown lunch on your desk.  In fact, you aren’t even allowed to take food out of the cafeteria (not even drinks), so it was a process just to get the food circulating the hallways since the lunch ladies stood guard at the doors to make sure nothing suspiciously scrumptious left the cafeteria.  All for the sake of pest control, heh.  Was the lunch they served at Troy good?  At JP I heard it was okay; at the very least people didn't complain too much.  Wha— only lunch and dinner?  B-But breakfast is the most important……  I’ve gotten into the habit of eating a brunch right before I leave for class and then a dinner at 5 pm on the dime.  My brunch is either more breakfast or more lunch depending on how late I wake up, and I eat dinner so early because Leutner opens at exactly 5 on the weekdays and if you go in at 6 or 7 the lines are significantly longer.  I’m the kind of person who grabs something quick, finds a quiet place alone to wolf down my food, and runs back to my dorm to continue watching anime studying.  If I oversleep and miss my brunch, then whatever.  I can survive with just a dinner, literally no snacks at all.  For dinner, I always eat just enough so that at two in morning I’m not craving Chinese takeout, but not so much that when I go to the gym at 10 my stomach is too full to work out my abs, heh.

 

Pfft, I see what you’re trying to pull Kenzi.  You’re feigning innocence and insinuating that I’m the pervert, hm?  The whole “smelt it, dealt it” tactic eh?  I see right through you Curious Kenzi, don’t think you can fool me!  Ehem, but in all seriousness, my fingers always look like prunes after a shower…  Yup, my eyesight is terrible and I use night contacts.  Poor eyesight runs in the family.  My parents both had glasses before having LASIK to correct their vision.  However, since they’re getting older, they’ve gotten glasses again to help them read small print.  My sister never wore glasses, but her eyesight is below average.  My brother also has night contacts like me.  My uncle, aunt, and cousin (the ones that live in America) all wear glasses to an extent.  Errr, I think you’re mistaken Kenzi.  To my knowledge the smaller the second number is the better your eyesight is.  20/20 means that at 20 ft away you can see what the average person sees at 20 ft.  20/15 on the other hand means that at 20 ft you can see what an average person sees at 15 ft.  In other words, your eyesight is better.  If your eyesight is 5 meters worse, then you should be 20/25, or only able to see what an average person sees at 25 ft when you’re at 20 ft.  My night contacts when I wear them are pretty amazing; they bring my eyesight to about 20/10 or 20/15 when I have them in.  Of course, when they’re not in, my eyesight varies from 20/20 to 20/40 depending on how long it’s been since I last had them in and how long I slept with them in.  I experience huge fluctuations in vision on a daily basis, heh.  But it's still pretty cool your eyesight is relatively good even after all the abuse!  Is it safe to assume your sister wears contacts?  Also, do your parents have good or poor eyesight?  Oh yeah, and now if you ever catch me online really late, you’ll know that the earliest I’ll be going to sleep that night is whenever I was last online plus an extra hour for my “going to bed” routine.  Ehhhh, probably not the most reassuring thing to know, but now you have a better idea of just how rekt my sleep schedule is!

 

Whah, you’ve never had two colds back-to-back?  Either you’re a lot healthier than I’ve been giving you credit for or I’m far sicklier than I thought.  I might be wrong, but isn’t your immune system most vulnerable right at the end of fighting off another sickness?  That would imply you have the highest chance of getting sick when you’re recuperating from a previous illness.  I’m surprised it’s never happened to you before; I catch back-to-back sicknesses relatively often.  D’awww just imagining you as a little kid going trick-or-treating is the cutest thing, ahahah.  And I’m glad that you at least have fond memories of Halloween and Thanksgiving from years gone by.  It’s a pity that Halloweens and Thanksgivings don’t hold nearly as much excitement as they did back in the day; even I feel that way.  Most of my love for those holidays is rooted in nostalgia.  I haven’t really done much for Halloween the past few years and as great as Thanksgiving still is, my cousin has been growing out of video games for a while now and doesn’t really feel the hype of Smash 4 as he did with Melee (he’s two years my senior by the way).

 

Oh my gosh, your family does exactly what my family does.  They have it playing as they prepare dinner, and when I go down to eat I mindlessly watch only understanding about half, and when I head back up to do my homework I can still hear it going on in the background.  Hrm, I don’t think I’ve ever watched that drama before.  My parents don’t really watch dramas like they used to.  They’re more fascinated with Chinese reality television or game shows, since you can just watch a bunch of stuff kinda out of order and still follow it well enough.  I didn’t mean to get into The Voice of China as much as I did.  But the dynamic of the show is pretty addicting and it exposes me to a ton of Chinese music, so that’s a plus.  I’ve complied a bunch of songs I like from watching that show; it’s a nice change of pace from the hundreds of Japanese songs that I have, eheh.

 

Ufufufufufufu, ridiculously difficult quizzes on anime are what I live for!  Seriously, I gave crazy hard tests.  They generally consisted of matching, multiple choice, quotes, and an extra credit question.  If you’re curious, I’d be willing to share some of the Fate quizzes from last year.  I believe the current exec board has completely overhauled the system and isn’t giving out quizzes anymore.  Admittedly, I think those quizzes scared people from coming to meetings, eheh.  Oh well, I had a ton of fun making them so it’s fine.

 

Ah, though my parents used to watch the DC movies with us, they’ve come to regret that decision.  At least, my mom does.  They only showed it to us because they thought it would be a fun way to learn some Chinese, but that plan quickly backfired when my brother and I starting watching a bunch of other anime (obviously not in Chinese).  So now my mom thinks she was the cause for our downward spiral into cartoon addiction.  Same with video games.  She only bought us a GameCube and Game Boy because she wanted us to fit in with the other cool kids, not knowing how much of an “addiction” my brother and I would develop.  Heheh, it’s kind of funny, but I do reassure her that my life is significantly better for these introductions.  She doesn’t believe me of course, bleh.

 

Oof, even my parents would never snoop around like that.  Your mom must have taken all those cyberbullying PSAs way too seriously (not making light of cyberbullying or anything, it’s still a problem).  Hopefully there wasn’t anything embarrassing you had up there.  Woah, you use your cellphone for a lot!  Are you sure you aren’t addicted?  I never get any messages on Facebook or even text messages (something something forever alone).  In fact, I haven’t checked my Facebook in three days, and it’s only been that recent because it wouldn’t stop bothering me with the whole “you have 1 new notification” thing.  Whenever I check it’s something really stupid, so I just logout without even bothering to check my home feed or wall or whatever that thing is.  It’s quite the bother, maybe I should disable notifications all together?  I also almost never use my web browser.  What’s there to look up anyway?  I’ve never been put in the position where I had to urgently Google something.  It’s a lot easier to do on your computer anyway.  Same with checking the weather.  And I never remember to actually utilize the helpful features.  Wow, that’s a lot of homework to remember!  Man, I need to organize my schedule to make sure I have time for it.  [after I get back to my dorm]  … Wait, couldn’t I have just used my phone?  Ohh, that’s really cool, I wish I could take a picture of it!  [10 minutes after I experience a Kodak moment]  … Hold on, there’s a camera on my phone isn’t there?  I’m so used to not having a phone, that I forget the weight in my pocket is good for more than just pretending I'm busy and have something to do when I'm awkwardly sitting around.  If my OPO just up and disappeared tomorrow, my life wouldn’t be that much different.  The usefulness of a cellphone is something I can conceptually understand but not something I can personally relate to, eheh.  I’m not the biggest fan of the way alcohol smells either.  Since alcohol is a depressant, I guess it helps to calm people down and forget their worries?  People drink to escape reality a lot of the time.  I’m sure it makes you feel better, so I’ve always imagined being drunk like being tired out of your senses, but in a comfortable way instead of an exhausted way.  It doesn’t make much sense, I know, but then again the idea of getting drunk never really made much sense to start.  Might as well just explain nonsense with nonsense!  If you want to take a break from life for a bit and let your worries go, why not play video games or watch a movie?

 

Ohh same same, when I say it’s good to sit in the front, I don’t mean the very first row.  As you say, the second and third rows are the best, haha.  My classes are only small because I’m not taking intro level natural science classes.  Bio, chem, and physics classes take place in legit auditoriums (not enough room in a single lecture hall) and are hundreds of people large.  You’re required to buy an i>Clicker to participant in the occasional multiple choice questions they put on the projector, since taking attendance isn’t feasible.  They know which clicker you’re registered to, and if you don’t answer questions when you’re supposed to then they know to take off participation/attendance points.  Regardless though, these classes are the minority even though the majority of people at some point take them.

 

Eheheh, yeahh, I was a bit of a mess.  I didn’t start falling asleep during tests until senior year.  I don’t even know what happened, it’s as if a switch went off in my body and now tests take far more physical effort than they used to.  Or may my sleep schedule has been getting progressively worse over the years and it’s finally come the point where an exam can’t even keep me awake.  Ahaha, nearly pulling an all-nighter the night before senior year reminds me of when I stayed up super late on the night right before my first day of middle school, ironically enough getting my summer reading done.  I had an excuse though: being the nerdy little bookworm I was back then, I was determined to read every single summer reading book for every single grade.  We got a list at the beginning of summer break with all the books.  I believe we were required to pick just two, obviously from the sixth grade list, but I was a fool and thought it was a good idea to read every single book.  What a summer.  It was absolutely amazing, haha.  I wish I still had the list with me so I could reflect on just how much reading I got done in such a short period of time.  It must have been at least 20 novels in total, many of which were pretty good.  The Physics and Astronomy Club lecture was okay.  The professor who gave the talk on dark matter was probably more engaging than any of the teachers I have; it’s a shame I was so tired though, heh.

 

From what I’ve heard, like the rest of Case, the Greek life here is pretty tame.  Of course, I also thought Case was going to be completely full of nerdy kids, and I end up on the floor with partiers; just my luck.  When you rush sororities, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know the members and get a feel for the kind of atmosphere they have going on there.  You’ll probably be able to identify the rowdier groups pretty easily and avoid them.  It’s like a club as well, so also keep in mind that there’s a time commitment involved.  It’s ultimately up to you whether or not you want to join a sorority, and it’s hard to really commit to an opinion until you actually get on campus anyway.  Still plenty of time to think it over!

 

Hm, so they’ll probably get you a new phone around graduation?  Haha, that’s good to know!

 

Whaa, your parents would think you’d be wasting time at the gym?  Geez, my parents have been urging me to get physically active.  Something about how if I'm not fit guys won't respect me and girls won't like me, or some twisted fallacy along those lines, haha.  It’s definitely a lot easier to go to the gym in college because of the convenient location and whatnot, so I’m glad you’re considering it!

 

Last time I played Super Smash Flash was in freshman year of high school.  Apart from the controls, the pixels actually bothered me as well.  Like, I know how pixelated games can have a nice nostalgic style to them, but Smash was never meant to be pixelated.  It was always supposed to be polygonal.  That’s also why the Smash-inspired indie game Rivals of Aether feels off to me.  It looks like it could be fun but… it’s pixelated.  I don’t know why I get so hung up over that fact, ahah.

 

I’m glad my good luck managed to reach you on time!  Now that those tests are out of the way, I hope at least a bit of stress has cleared away.  How well do you think you did on the SAT IIs?

 

If it’s on the other side of the world, I will chase it down!  If it’s overcast, I will go off into the horizon until I find somewhere that isn’t!  Nothing can stop a man with a mission!  Ahah, I actually won’t try that hard if that’s what the situation boils down to.  There are plenty of gorgeous things right here on Earth to gaze at; missing an event like that is small in the grand scheme of things.

 

Oh no no, there’s no need to apologize!  I believe the average length of our responses has increased since before summer break started, so you’ve been writing more than you usually do.  And as for being kinda late, I don’t mind.  It was awfully nice of you to have reserved that Wednesday spot (ahah, yeah, I saw that), though don’t feel pressured to do that every time you’re a bit behind schedule, hahaha.

Fixed a few typos, heheh...

 

The intro and conclusion are normally the hardest for me, but I dunno, haha. Maybe it's because a personal narrative essay is so different than what I'm used to writing. Nah, don't worry. I'm not trying to kill myself or anything. And the experiment doesn't have much to do with science, lol.

 

Yeahh, I was going through a "phase" ahah... The last anime I watched before I re-discovered DC was SnK, which was well over a year earlier. So yeah, you can imagine how skewed my opinion of DC was. "Oh hey, I just unearthed a part of my childhood. I also didn't watch enough anime to give it a point of comparison so it's not like I feel biased towards DC or anything, pfft." After watching anime like F/Z, Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong, LWA, etc., I suddenly realized that DC is a pretty subpar anime at best (or at least compared the anime I just listed). It has little to no plot progression and it's basically a cash cow. It's not something worth investing in since I can easily lose interest and/or drop it completely without missing much. And the worst part is, I was legit planning to see through to watching all of the DC episodes. So uh, thanks for helping me snap out of that mentality, lol. The cases also get a lot more stale and obscure in the later episodes/chapters so I don't know how long I would've lasted before cracking. And for this reason, I don't see the point in catching up on the anime/manga at the moment, even if I could just as easily skip over the mystery parts. I'm also really sick of how definitive Conan is in his deductions because all of the characters treat what he says as the be all and end all. Uh, like, you don't have to be left-handed to use your left hand to spray paint. If the particular situation called for using a left hand, why would someone go out of their way to use their right hand just because they're right-handed? If the cup holder is on my right side, would I avoid using my right hand to pick up my drink because I'm left-handed?? Stuff like this irritates me in his deductions. The officers and DB and other tagalongs/company just praise him for the "godly" deduction and arrest the culprit. And don't get me started on how bland the majority of the characters are, ugh. I understand Gosho has been writing these for over twenty years so there's bound to be a few bumps in the road, but it's the little things like this that make watching DC a chore nowadays. I also get that DC is supposed to be a whodunit and not something that's focused on plot, but the practically nonexistent plot is the only incentive for me to watch it right now. The fact that it drags on so much is kinda discouraging. The last episodes I watched were in the Scarlet Arc, and I got so bored that I just opened a new tab to read some online articles. I flipped back and forth so I could catch enough dialogue to understand what was going on, but yeah. My interest in DC has been dwindling. It's also funny how invested and worked up Conan is in every case he encounters, I guess. 

 

Haha, as far as I know, Ash is still ten years old, lol. If the starters in the new Pokemon game can receive customized designs of your avatar, I will cry. And not the good kind of cry. I wouldn't mind if it could wear a hat or something though, heh. I still have mixed feelings about Pokemon Go. I honestly don't think the actual app is going to be as dramatic as the trailer makes it out to be--especially that scene with Mewtwo (I know; it's just for marketing purposes, but still). The only "practical" use I see for it is encouraging people to travel to new places. That, and the ability to interact with others (or lack thereof). And the accessory looks like it's going to be a huge distraction for some people. It buzzes, you see a rare Pokemon, you direct your attention to the Pokemon instead of whatever you were doing before. Don't mind me; I'm just rambling at this point, lol. The accessory also reminds me of the Pokewalker for some reason. Ahh, good times. Even though the darn thing rarely worked, I still had loads of fun derping around with it. The app still looks pretty polished, so I'll probably check it out.  

 

It's fine if you deleted Iron Head for Meteor Mash. Even though you wouldn't be able to go to the move relearner, I'm fairly certain the move tutor can fix that. Haha, I actually thought it was kinda neat that they gave you the convenience of getting whisked away instead of having to bike there. Also, this is a random question, but what did you think of the grunts? Like how they're just flat Sugimori art instead of polygonal in the battle cutscenes. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it's just a minor complaint I saw floating around. Ohh, it's good to hear that you're holding your ground relatively well against these gym leaders! Then again, it shouldn't be too surprising since you're basically twenty levels ahead of them, lol.  

 

I-I only described how I dressed for bed because I figured you wanted an explanation after explaining how surprised you were. A-And it's not like describing what I wore to sleep was that big of a deal anyway, hmph. Haha, and likewise, I knew that wearing pajamas was normal, but didn't think that sleeping bare was that common. Sleeping bare is just a little bit out of my comfort zone since it makes me feel kinda vulnerable and exposed, eheh. Airing out my skin never felt like a problem for me. I'll take off my socks in the spring/summer, but I'll wear them during fall/winter when it gets a little colder. And ehh?? You thought no one ever slept with clothes on?? Everyone in my family sleeps with clothes on... and it's not like we're wearing jeans to sleep..........

 

I guess the reason Trump has been getting so much backlash lately is because a lot of people genuinely believe that he could win the election. If you want my opinion, I don't think it's going to happen. He already angered a huge chunk of the country. I'm just laughing at the memes circulating the internet. And you're right; he does add a pretty interesting personality to the election. But at the same time I don't know jack about politics so maybe I'm being overly nonchalant here. What the... there's a Bernie Sanders club at Case?? Sounds kinda cultish, but um... Sanders seems like a good guy, so uh... Dang, only five participants for the next debate? Yeahh, most of the other candidates have been left in the dust so it kinda defeats the purpose of holding one if there are so few participants. Not as many options for a Bad Lip Reading as the first Republican debate had, but it could still potentially turn into something good. Oh geez, lol, what am I even saying. 

 

Whaa, you've never seen people surnames on the back of their sports attire? That can't be. Surely there must've been some people roaming around NJ with these kinds of clothing. And uh, we do have different color guard uniforms every year, eheh. Oh, and about the whole iPad thing I mentioned earlier... apparently the students have to return it by the time they reach high school. Phew, really glad a friend cleared that up for me because there's no way in hell the school district had that much money. I still think investing in those iPads is a ridiculous idea though. Also, I read the school newspaper yesterday, and the school district received a huge bond last year. So I guess that explains all of the renovations we've been getting lately. Yeahh, if you walked on the campus of Cranbrook, you'd notice it resembles a college campus. Dining halls, fountains, infrastructures, it's freaking gigantic. You have to drive to get to some places. The tuition is also comparable to most colleges and it's insane. I'm not sure what my parents were thinking either when they urged to send me there. Troy's far from a bad school, and I also didn't want the whole "you better not eff up cuz we're coughing up 30k for you to get a solid education so you can get into a good college" hanging over me. Also, it's possible to go to Cranbrook on a scholarship. You'd have to be an inherent genius though or have some attribute that really sticks out. Ohh, you managed to get all of that from a simple OMM post? You're quite perceptive, I'll give you that much. I didn't expect the connection to have been so easily discernible since I could just as easily have been referring to a college campus and not necessarily Cranbrook's. For all you know, the friend I was referring to could've been a college friend or something. But nonetheless, good eye. You hit the nail on the head, except for the middle school part. But I can't hold that against you since there's no way you would've been able to know that. Plus, it's already pretty impressive that you managed to get everything else right, haha. The guy actually went to middle school in Cranbrook. He could've potentially gone to Troy HS, so he's a traitor, ahah. Seeing him for the first time in years so unexpectedly was just... it really brought me back. Derping around with our silly antics and making light out of pretty much everything you can imagine with accents and imitations, raving about how good some of our friends are at tennis, complaining about the lack of sleep we get, catching up on each other's lives... good times. Heh, really glad to see that he hasn't changed a bit. But it's a bit silly to go to this school (especially since it's so expensive) solely because a friend went there, so I didn't. Ohh, isn't running into old friends just a grand ol' time? I've actually had this happen to me quite a few times. There was this one girl I recognized during a Science Olympiad competition in middle school, and there was another girl who approached me while I was playing tennis but I couldn't remember her face for the life of me (so it was kinda awkward), but it was still fun talking to her. Haha, glad to see that you had the experience yourself! It's a pretty weird feeling for sure, but ya gotta admit it's also kinda fun, heh.

 

I actually think it's kinda inconvenient putting it on and taking it off all the time. Maybe this is just my laziness speaking for me, but why not keep your watch on the whole time? I've worn it for so long that it doesn't make a difference to me weight-wise. And I don't see anything wrong with having a second clock on your wrist; the more the merrier, eheh... But if you say keeping it on bothers you that much, then whatever floats your boat man, haha.

 

You do make a good point since I barely have any anime merchandise. For starters, you're right; I can't just toss around money I don't have, and it's not like my parents would let me use their money to support the Japanese "cartoons" they're so against. I haven't shown much support (in terms of purchases, I suppose) and beggars can't be choosers, after all. But at the same time, I feel like part of the reason anime like Ping Pong don't garner much support is because a lot of outsiders tend to turn away from anime as a whole because of the ecchi label. When they think of anime, they don't think of quality entertainment. Of course they don't. Much of what floats around on the internet is basically ecchi. I'm saying this with rule 34 in mind. The fanart that people see? Even if the anime doesn't have a smidgen of fanservice--something like SnK is a prime example--there will be, without doubt, fanart that give off the wrong idea. The same can apply to video games or anything really, but we're talking about what outsiders see. Half of the problem is just how anime is portrayed and perceived in general; the misconstrued idea that anime is just mindless fanservice. Why would any outsiders who're looking for quality entertainment want to invest in something so shallow? Of course they wouldn't. So why bother targeting these people in an attempt to set things straight when the anime industry can just continue on in enormous the hole they dug themselves in? A hole that much of the internet also helped dig? There would be little to no progress, it's not terribly profitable either, and it's not like they can fix the mess they're in right now. I doubt any of this will change in the near future, but this is also something else to keep in mind. Perhaps if enough people showed support, a difference could be made. But part of me still believes it's wishful thinking.

 

Ahaha, not at all! Your quirks is one of the main reasons I've taken such a liking to you, lol. I don't find myself cracking perverted jokes in person to and fro either, and I definitely won't be obnoxiously shouting "that's what she said" every other minute for the sake of my entertainment, but I might say something every once in a blue moon just to lighten up the atmosphere a bit.  If a friend says something that can blatantly be taken as a sexual innuendo, then... pshh, how can I resist. Online though? I guess you could say I do enjoy crude humor, hah.

 

I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to get through my backlog over break, so 24 minutes doesn't sound too bad. Thanks for the heads up! Okay, so I took your advice and watched a few AMVs of Shigatsu. First of all, holy geezus they had a huge budget for the art. If it weren't for your negative impressions, I might've actually ended up watching this. Just the idea that the main protagonists are so young still annoys me quite a bit. Why not college students? That was one of the main thoughts while watching the AMVs. Also, why is it that a portion of Arima's glasses is cut off of his face in some scenes (typically the ones that feature a side view of his face). I'd assume it's so the audience can see his eyes and expressions, but it still bugs me. It's so distracting. If they didn't want the hinges of the glasses blocking his eyes, why didn't they just draw his glasses with a thinner frame. And a lot of the supposedly heartwarming exchanges between the two seemed really underwhelming and overdone. They're middle schoolers for fduck's sake.

 

I appreciate you writing out your speculations for the release dates, but man, I can't wait that long, ahaha... Fall 2016? With a few months worth of gaps between each release? Hmm, I wouldn't be surprised if I cracked before then. I still have that backlog of anime to watch but I don't think it'll last me until the HF movies are released. Not that I mind rewatching F/Z early or anything since I'm actually looking forward to it, lol. Oh sheesh, you've already watched it four times?? I'm assuming the first time you watched it you only intended to get your feet wet. And the second time was either for pleasure or to familiarize yourself more. Or I could be completely wrong. Perhaps the third time was to prep yourself for the release of UBW, but what was the fourth time for? And then you'll be watching it once more after HF? Geez you're dedicated, haha.

 

Hah, I've never considered myself a "normal" person either. In terms of my interests, at least. I'm not too caught up with singers like Taylor Swift and I haven't watched western shows like Grey's Anatomy. I'm far too obsessed with instrumentals and OSTs to care or complain about what plays on the radio. I rarely go to the movie theater either. But who cares. Being "normal" is boring. Most of my friends don't know about this side of me though. On the outside I'm just like any other kid. I don't consider myself as someone who's popular, but I hang out with friends regularly, eat lunch with them, study with them on occasion, you know, "normal" kid stuff. If I hear any mention of games I've played, anime I've watched, music I've listened to, I will pipe up without fail. It's just so rare to find people out there who share my interests. Or just someone to talk about them to. I love being different. It's just so easy and so much fun to click with like-minded people. It's really hard to find that kind of compatibility, but it's honestly so exciting to find these kinds of people as well. Not necessarily the waifu extremists though. But sometimes I do wonder how I would've turned out if I hung out with the "popular" people, or if I was more "normal", and it sounds like a nightmarish hellhole. I wouldn't be the weird, crazy, spontaneous idiot I am today if I happened to take on that persona. My character and everything I am today stemmed from my interests. My YouTube channel, one of the biggest parts of my life, was only created because of my obsession with Pokemon. The internet culture I'm so familiar with today built a bit of my personality. I've learned a lot from observing the normal people that would've never come from being one of them. Why get worked up about all the drama and gossip that ensues from the cliques that form all around school? Why is that "normal"? Why get hung up on something so ephemeral? I've had some ups and downs--especially in middle school and early high school when I was likely more cynical than I'd ever been. But after coming to terms with my weirdness, I'm now happier than I've ever been. Actually, that's an understatement. I didn't just "come to terms" with my weirdness; I grabbed it by the collar and embraced it. 

 

You want know who I am? What I am? Well, to be frank, I still have no clue, but I am most certainly not "normal"--I can tell you that much. I'm very much content with how I turned out and how my life turned out. Every single one of the experiences I've had were meaningful in building myself up as a person, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Haha, I was actually planning to type up an essay about my quirks a few months ago, but it didn't work out since I kept jumping all over the place. It was rather difficult to hone in on one aspect of my life since I could potentially write about all of them. It's also such a general topic that I figured there'd also be a bunch of other people who'd also want to attempt it or have tackled it before. And I absolutely loved reading your little tangent about your dorky side. It's always so inspiring to read about someone who's found their place, ahah...  

 

Yeah, a lot of my friends use Macs and I just can't seem to find my way around them. I read somewhere that updating actually makes your PC slower. That, plus the sporadic restarting, was enough for me to want to disable the automatic updates. 

 

I think it mainly depends on the teacher you have. The teachers who teach regular classes tend to be more strict about what happens in their classrooms, and most of the AP teachers tend to be lax about eating and drinking so long as it doesn't cause a mess. Food is allowed to leave the cafeteria since we have a school store that's loaded with snacks and candy. I can even eat my lunch in comp sci as long as I finish my work beforehand, lol. Sheesh, your school was that strict about food circulating the building? We've never had a problem with pests even with the somewhat lenient system we have. I almost always bring food from home, so I rarely eat the school lunch. I've seen it and it doesn't look bad. We have a ton of variety though, so not liking a certain option was never a problem. Don't like pasta or whatever else is on the "special" menu? Not a problem. Go load yourself with pizza or salad. Maybe you're sick of pizza. Grab a parfait or on-the-spot handmade sandwich or wrap or something. Worst comes to worst, just cough up a few bucks for some chicken. Perhaps you're sick of eating solid foods. Okay, then buy a cup of soup. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few menu options, but that just about sums it up. I'm not sure how good the stuff is though. Yeahh, I really don't like breakfast. It is by no means the most important meal of the day. I can verify that from experience. As long as I have brunch/lunch and dinner, I'm good for the day. Haha yeah, the same happened at UMich. The dining hall would be open around 5pm, but the lines would only build up around 6-7pm. Oh dang, you just grab something quick and rush back to your dorm? Don't you like taking a leisurely walk around campus after a meal? I know I did that on occasion during my time at UMich, but maybe it's because I didn't have much work to do. And oh my gosh, how is it possible to survive on only dinner?? I can sometimes go without meals if I bring a few snacks with me, but sheesh, what are you doing to yourself :c

 

Feigning innocence, hmm? Heyhey, don't play victim with me just because you happened to interpret my perfectly respectable question into this sick, twisted, perverted tale of yours. Heh, Accusatory Akuzatory Akazora strikes again. Haha, when my fingers look like prunes, that's when I know I've stayed in the shower too long, lol. I probably got my eyes from my dad since my mom has pretty bad eyes. My sister probably got hers from our mom. Oh shoot, both of your parents had to get eye surgery? Phew. I still think it's funny how a lot of people in your family wear glasses/contacts but your sister doesn't, haha. Oh whoops, you're right. Waitttt... I could've sworn my eye doctor told me I was 20/15. But I know my vision's gotten worse (and I don't think it's as great as 20/15 either) so that can't possibly be it... you know, I should probably consult him sometime soon. I usually have my appointments towards the end of the school year so I'll have to ask him about that when the time comes. Yeahh, I'm relatively surprised myself that I've lasted this long without needing any vision correctors. I really hope it doesn't catch up with me though, eheh... I've taken my eyes for granted for far too long and admittedly, I need to take better care of them, but I don't think I can, honestly. Staring at my laptop screen for a good chunk of my day is vital to my well-being, after all. I know, I know, I don't set a very good example. Yup, my sister wears contacts. She used to wear glasses all the time, but now she interchanges between contacts and glasses. So the next time I see you post something at 4am... the earliest you'd be going to bed is 5am, huh... not helping, man :c 

 

Oh hm, I always assumed that most people didn't get two colds back-to-back because the immune system was already primed from fighting off the previous one. If anything, the second cold is probably just a different strain of the virus, but the interferons the cells already produced in response to the previous cold should've been enough to fight off the following cold before symptoms arose. I guess the fact that your second cold wasn't as severe as your first one also shows that your immune system wasn't necessarily weakened. If the first bug you caught gave you symptoms on par with the severity of certain infections like the flu or pneumonia, I'd imagine that it could've potentially depleted your body's energy reserves even if your immune system was heightened from the previous infection--so you're not wrong in that respect. I've never had that happen to me so I can't attest for it though. I also can't remember the last time I ended up sick from stuff other than the common cold or fever, so I can't serve as a point of comparison for you either. Hmm, is it just back-to-back colds or do you also regularly catch stuff like the flu? Yeahh, it's a shame that Halloweens and Thanksgivings don't have as strong of an impression nowadays. Most of my cousins are back in China so I can't exactly play any video games with anyone during Thanksgiving outside of family friends. My sister's up in Boston but even she's not feeling the hype of these games anymore. It's scary imagining that this might be me one day, ughhh pls nooooooo..... Gosh, I feel old.  

 

Nowadays, I mainly hear a bunch of gunshots and screaming going off in the background when I'm up in my room. They don't watch reality television shows as often anymore. They seem to like the action stuff. Or at least my dad does. I'm not too familiar with most Chinese songs unless you count the anthem, which used to go off like every other day in this household, or some of the more well-known ones like Tong Hua. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's a depressing song, so uh, click at your own risk. I'm fairly familiar with Jay Chou since my sister was pretty obsessed with him at one point. J-pop, C-pop, and K-pop are all cool in my opinion. Can't understand the majority of what they're saying, but you know, there's this sort of magic in being left in the dark about that.

 

Oh my gosh, you're awful. What kind of sick man would give out crazy hard tests and reap pleasure from watching kids groaning and wallowing in their own misery. I'm experiencing anxiety from just the thought of something as abhorrent as this so-called "test" you gave. You are the strict definition of a sadist. I can't believe I'm friends with a monster like you :c Ahahaha, jkjkjkjk, couldn't resist. Hehe, I'm curious to know why you included an extra credit question. Is it like an added insult to injury to the already near impossible test you distributed? Okayokay, now I'm done. Just messin' with ya, ahah. But sure, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the tests you made, heh.

 

What on Earth... your mom willingly bought a GameCube and Game Boy just to help you guys fit in?? My parents are so out of touch with what's "cool" lol. They care far more about my outward appearance. "Oh hey, look at that girl's boots, you should wear something like that." "Why can't you dress like that girl. Look at how pretty her dress is." "Don't worry about how much it costs, don't you want to fit in?" It's hilarious how much money they're willing to splurge on me just so I can fit into their idea of some "normal", soft-spoken girl. I rarely accept their offers though since part of me is hoping they're joking. I don't mind looking nice, but c'mon, haha. Still though, they would never buy me any game consoles for no reason. I almost always have to fork over half of my soul for a game or a console, lol.    

 

Yeeahh, my mom's concern about cyberbullying just came out of nowhere. When I found out that she snooped through my Facebook because of that, I couldn't just sit there and not confront her about it. I do have some rather embarrassing stuff I posted in middle school and early high school, so uh... I dunno. I guess I just wanted to reassure her I wasn't getting bullied or anything. Eheheh... I wouldn't say I'm "addicted" to my phone since I can reluctantly live without it, but it's definitely a bigger part of my life than I would like to admit. I can't just outright ignore text messages or phone calls since that's kinda rude. Plus, I need to confirm with my coach whether or not I'm coming to practice every week, and this phone is the only way I can notify him. Otherwise, yeah, I could go without a phone. I actually went without using my phone for the majority of sophomore year and I only used it to call my parents. It just sat like dead weight in my backpack, and most of the time I only took it out to charge it. Then junior year came along and I started adding some more people on my phone and downloading the Facebook apps, and I finally acknowledged that my phone could send and receive emails. Then for tennis, the team added me to this app that allows everyone to send and receive messages through a group chat. I started using the weather widget more often, I got lazy about writing down assignments and just took pictures of them with my phone, and uh, my reliance on my phone just skyrocketed. Yeah, it doesn't have as much capability as a computer, but having a phone is hella convenient. Perhaps someone sends you an urgent text or message through Facebook, and bam, you can reply instantly. One thing I did find rather annoying was the little ping it made every time someone texted/messaged me. I turned off the sound effects so it wouldn't disturb anyone if I ever forgot to put my phone on silent. And for this reason, I never became a compulsive texter. I never impulsively pick up my phone whenever I hear a notification ping from someone else's phone because I know I turned off the sound effects of my phone. But it's still funny observing the hoards of people who do, ahahaha... I guess playing video games or watching a movie doesn't exactly have the same effect as "escaping" through alcohol. Even if video games and movies can serve as distractions, you still have the constant tug of "I should really be getting around to paying my bills..." in the back of your higher mind. Drinking serves as a way to suppress that. Or at least that's what I thought. Drinking out of your senses shuts off your higher mind and offers true escapism in that you're unable to properly assess your situation anymore. In other words, you become less conscious about your responsibilities. Playing video games and watching movies simply doesn't offer the same kind of escapism--especially if you're grieving over death of a loved one or your financial situation. Not that I'm trying to advocate drinking your worries away or anything. You're going to have to pay your bills eventually, lol. Sure, it sounds like nonsense, but in a way, drinking is like a more extreme form of the procrastination we deal with on a daily basis. But yeah, just the stench of alcohol is enough for me to turn my head away from drinking. I've also seen far too many lives ruined to want to follow that path. 

 

Damn... the bio, chem, and physics classes are hundreds of people large? Ahaha, well then... Ohh, that's funny. My physics teacher got around to using plickers to ensure that everyone is participating in the multiple choice question he posts on the board everyday. It's kinda fun, haha. Oh wut, you get participation/attendance points in college classes? I thought it was if you didn't show up enough times you flunk the class. 

 

Hehe, I do love reading a good book, but I haven't gone through enough books to call myself a bookworm. I'm often reluctant to get through summer reading, and I don't read as many books for leisure as I did back in middle school. Most of the books I read in elementary school were those astronomy and anatomy books with loads of descriptions and pictures in them--none of which I can remember the names of since I always borrowed them from the library hoards at a time. Planets, stars, parasites, up-close pictures and diagrams of everything--I was so fascinated for some reason. I'd try to make sense of the jargon and I felt so cool being able to list off all of the planets by heart in first grade. And I just went on and on about my favorite planets and what would've happened if Earth got sucked into a black hole, and I drew and scribbled pictures and attempted to turn my silly theories into books with markers and crayons, ahahahah... Most of the novels I read leisurely were in middle school. High school didn't leave me any room to snuggle with a good book, and most of the summer reading I did was kinda meh. Actually, being forced to read any book makes the book feel kinda meh. There were only a few that made an impression on me, and the only ones I can name off of the top of my head are 1984 and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It's just really hard to look forward to doing any forced reading after getting through revolting shams of literature like Treasure Island. Damn though, you read all 20 books off of your sixth grade list? You were quite the determined bookworm, haha. 

 

I figured Case was one of the nerdier schools, but ahaha, what are the chances you'd end up with the partiers when you're the very person who tries his best to avoid them. I thought that was pretty funny, hehe... Yeahh, there's no point in getting worked up about whether or not to join a sorority when I should be more worried about getting my college apps done, eheh. 

 

I guess the fact that I already play tennis is enough for them. Anything I do outside of academics is considered a waste of time in their eyes. They made me quit piano (only had half a year of experience though), figure skating, drawing, swimming (jk, I quit swimming on my own). But recently, they've finally let up and just accepted the fact that I'm a stubborn little girl who refuses to quit tennis and orchestra. They were really against me when I was a freshman. "Geezus, why won't you quit already!" something like that in Chinese. But they kinda got off my back this past year. As long as the activities don't interfere with school too often, they seem to be okay with it. So yeah, joining the gym at this time is a nono. But I still get my dose of tennis at least twice a week, which should be enough to counterbalance my crappy eating habits, eheh... Haha, my parents pull that line on me all the time. Something along the lines of if you don't do this, guys won't like you and no one will ever want to be your friend, lol. 

 

I wasn't too bothered by the pixelated graphics since I thought it was an interesting spin on the game. But I definitely agree that Smash looks better polygonal. Games like Cave Story are the complete opposite. In my opinion, Cave Story looks better pixelated, but maybe it's because it never looked like something that should be 3D. It could be just me though, haha.

 

The SAT IIs weren't so bad, but it sucks to know that 90 percent of the material I went over wasn't on either of the tests, sooo... it kinda felt like wasted effort. You know, that feeling of getting tricked when you get a study guide from a teacher but none of the stuff happens to be on the test, lol. 

 

Haha yup, plus there are places like the glowworm caves that are worth visiting, so missing out on a phenomenon that's out of your control shouldn't be a big deal.

 

Oh dear, you caught that little message? Well, I figured you would since I posted it so late, but still...eheheh... I hope I didn't make you stay up too late that night. And it's awfully sweet that you keep going back to add more or to fix your typos, ahaah...

 

EDIT: Oh, and an admissions officer from Case visited our school a few days ago. I've already stalked Case enough, but I figured I'd go anyway. I had a good chat with her too, so maybe I'll send her a followup email soon. I'm hoping everything I'm doing isn't overkill, lol.

added to the end, if you don't mind

[Avatar The Legend of Korra]

you know what i hated

that bolin and korra didnt end up together

what was wrong with that

i mean the main character does not have to end up with the no.1 guy

would i have loved it if tenzin and lin were together...yes

am i gonna bitch about it...some small times

he got a bit older

sure he was awesome as a bald kid, but he is still awesome after season 3

BAD BAD kenzi

thanks, i wonder what other changes ill notice when i rewatch them

cause ATLA started first, it had less darker stuff in order for the audience to warm up to it

and thats weird to me cause during that time pg was more restricted then it was during korras time ( suicide murder, poison, ptsd, suffocation, blowing up, killing, more parents sacrificing their kids...all kinds of crazzy

oh my gosh yes

I was BolinxKorra all the way during the first season

Mako is no. 1 guy?

pfft, yeah, right

decent looking, I suppose (everyone from the fire nation is good looking for some reason), but he's a jerk

 

sorry man

Meelo was really irritating in season 4

if that makes me a bad Kenzi, then so be it

 

yeah, season 3 was really brutal

especially when P'Li died

like wtf her head combusted

and the whole thing about administering mercury into Korra's bloodsystem, phew

season 3 was great

 

ATLA was directed towards kids when it was first made

LoK was directed to those same kids who grew up with ATLA

think about it

I grew up with ATLA with all this kid-friendly stuff

the creators knew that many years have passed since then and acknowledged that the fanbase has matured and can handle this kind of stuff now

in other words, the dark atmosphere of the show is deemed more appropriate and appealing

that's why LoK is so dark

 

the creators didn't have an age group in mind when they created LoK

they were merely targeting the audience that grew up with ATLA, and that was awesome of them

[What Was the Last Song You Listened To?]

do I really want to spoil the entire UnderTale OST for myself

do I

.....

....

...

..

.

.

.

 

ugh I want to play the darn game so badly

the music is effin amazing

[What's on Your Mind?]

damn, just ran into an old friend in the hallways of a testing center

haven't seen the guy in years so we walked around campus, ate lunch together, played catch-up, talked about how our lives were going

it was pretty nice

 

he also happened to have a OnePlus One on him, so I finally got to see the phone in person

it's a pretty slick phone

 

gosh, where did the time go; it's been years since I last saw him and he hasn't changed a bit, haha

even though he goes to the school, I honestly didn't expect to see him there