Woo, haven't updated in awhile...feh, so much for the daily Disney binge thing; that was too hard to keep up with. The movies I did watch recently, however, were 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (which I'd never seen before), 'Oliver and Company' (also first time seeing it), 'Bambi', 'Fun and Fancy Free'; and then I just watched 'The Little Mermaid' last night with the whole house, and it was hilarious fun quoting and singing along with the movie practically word for word. Ah, the memories. ^^ My love/hate relationship with Disney continues.

And now, the geeking out:



So I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last weekend while at work. Most people already have very in-depth analysis and theories on it, and are much more up-to-date with information and theories, so I'll just share a few of my opinions and thoughts.

I *really* enjoyed this latest installment of HP joy. I think Prisoner of Azkaban is still my all-time favorite, but this ranks up there. It moved a lot quicker than previous ones (which was most of my complaint with Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix), and Harry was less of a whiny hormonal teenage (another complaint with OotP) and a much more mature, proactive protagonist. Of course, his wonky obsession with following around Draco Malfoy still strayed into the juvenile, even though he did end up being right, of course. I was quite happy with where the couples ended up, as I am a big Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny shipper. *points and laughs at H/Hr shippers* Although at the end, when Harry tells Ginny that they can't be together because it was too dangerous, I wanted to chuck a brick at his head. Strangely, that situation also reminded me of another story, but I just can't remember which one... And Remus/Tonks? Ehh, sure, I'll go for that, although it did seem a little out of the blue. I think I'll always be a Remus/Sirius shipper at heart. ;)

On Dumbledore dying: saw THAT one coming from ten miles and a year away. Honestly, I would've been shocked if he *hadn't* died, as that's an almost required storytelling device at this point in time. Harry has to be cut off from his mentor, his greatest protector, and face his nemesis alone: it's standard Hero's Journey fare, which is why it works so well.
Of course, that didn't mean his death was any less tragic, or that the funeral was any less sad. It was definitely a well-written sequence; my heart went out to all the characters completely. And the scene before Dumbledore died, at the Horcrux lake...was just plain creepy. It was a bit of a shocker to see Harry having to be the one supporting his mentor, and I think he succeeded at it even more than he realized.

And the big question: is Snape really evil? Some will say that's not even a question, and I can understand why. Even though Dumbledore dying was not much of a shocker, Snape being the one to "pull the trigger" certainly was. On the surface, I would say that Snape is definitely evil, but there's just something about the second chapter ("Spinner's End") and the chapter will Snape makes his getaway that leaves a feeling of uncertainty in me. For one thing, Dumbledore did claim to have an "ironclad reason" for trusting Snape, and I simply don't trust him to be wrong, even about this. It's quite possible that Dumbledore was even expecting Snape to kill him. After all, when you throw an unbreakable vow into the mix, there's bound to be dire consequenses. Also, when Snape and Harry are fighting, Snape never allows Harry to use an unforgivable curse, but still won't kill him. This doesn't make much sense unless Snape has more up his sleeve than "just plain evil."

Other random thoughts: I really liked the character of Slughorn, annoying as he was. He was proof that not all Slytherins turn out evil. After all, he had all the Slytherin qualities: ambition, cleverness, superiority, etc.; but didn't use those qualities towards evil. And he wasn't a whiny goth, thankyouverymuch.
Luna Lovegood has grown on me. I agree with Ron; I think she should keep doing commentary for Quidditch matches from now on. ;)
Who is R.A.B.? Well, the theory I've heard straight from the roommate's mouth has been that it's Regulus Black, and I see no reason to disagree. I don't remember much of the Black family history, unfortunately, so I would have to go back and reread stuff on Regulus to make sure. However, from what I've been told, he seems to be the most likely choice.
Dememtors breeding = huh? Ewwww. XP

All in all, this book has made me *extremely* eager for the final installment. I can only imagine how much fun JKR is going to have breaking all of the rules for this book. Will there even be a Hogwarts open next year. And if there is, will our heroes even be attending? Harry has indicated that he doesn't plan on coming back (which, considering Fred and George, is not unheard of) and I would be shocked if Hermione and Ron didn't follow him every step of the way. Obviously, Malfoy's not going to be showing his face around Hogwarts anytime soon. Will they finally tie up what seems to be a growing theme of unity: unity of the Hogwarts houses, and of other magical races, such as the centaurs, giants, elves, etc.? Will Sirius come back like that feeling that keeps nagging at me says? (probably not, but we can wish...)

I guess we'll have to wait a few years to find out. Curses and such! XO Oh well, I suppose there's always 'Goblet of Fire' coming out this Thanksgiving to tide us over... XD




And speaking of waiting for new obsessions...hooooooooly CRAP, bunches of new KH2 news has come out since the Square-Enix party! I can barely process it all since it's sort of jumbled, so I'll just talk in bursts of geekage:
- Apparently, there's a part while in Disney Castle where Sora has to protect Minnie Mouse as he makes his way to the throne room. If Minnie's HP runs out after being hit by too many Heartless, you have to start over. However, you can ALSO do a combo attack with her where Minnie unleashes Holy on the Heartless. So...Minnie Mouse = KICKING ASS. To which I say: OMGWTFfdsj9fdjsaopfu!!!11oneeleven *SPORFLE* XD XD Minnie has never been one of my favorite characters, but if they have her kick serious ass Yuna-style, my respect for her will grow by leaps and bounds. Just: WAAAAHZOMG
- Sora's merge mode with Donald, or "Wisdom Mode" has been unveiled! Apparently, Sora glides along the ground instead of running fast, and he can use a bunch of magical combos if chosen in quick enough succession. Super-swanky! XD I wanna try it out soooo bad.
- 'Steamboat Willie' as a world is confirmed! XD And it's in black-and-white, old-screen mode as well! The awesomeness of that blows my mind. And now here's hoping that 'The Lion King' makes it into the game, although from news blurbs thusfar it seems likely it will be. (It is Nomura's favorite Disney movie, after all.) ;)
- OMG swanky new poster with good shots of Kairi, Mickey and BHK! XD And on the sides you can see DiZ and another hooded character...hmmm, perhaps Riku? *ponders*
- Speaking of Riku...it seems like they're playing up that he's evil again, at least from the MINISCULE scraps of information they've given, which I don't buy. Not after all the stuff that he went through in Chain of Memories, and *definitely* not with Mickey by his side. But, naturally, they're going to make Sora fight him a few times because apparently they HAVE to fight every game. CUUUUURSE THEM!
- A bunch of translations have been provided on KHU, but most of them...make no sense. I'm reluctant to take anything at face value until I can see all of this in context. Although it would make sense (to me) that DiZ is working against the Organization, some things make less sense. For example: Sora and Sora? Bzuh? I'm sorry, but if BHK's name also ends up being Sora, I'll be almost as miffed as if they named him Aros. I'm hoping those weird discrepancies will be cleared up with context and correct translations.
- More PotC joy, including news of combo moves you can perform with Jack Sparrow! Yaaay! XD The combo moves were tons of fun to use in the demo, so I'm looking forward to more of them in the actual game. And more merge forms, please? ;)
- Both Cloud AND Leon are back for more ass-kicking! And Cloud is seen in his Advent Children outfit! *dies of happiness*



And now, real life:

Life's been going on pretty okay at the moment. My family went to Idaho for a week and a half to go backpacking and mountain climbing in the woods, the crazies. They just got back Friday night, and shared many interesting stories of hiking around, and driving away the moose that invaded their camp. o_O While they were gone, it was my job to watch Sunshine, our lovely labrador. She was a bit of a handful, as I tried to keep her at my house. Because of the two cats, she was usually confined to the backyard outside, which did not make her happy. She was raised indoors, and is very much a people-dog, so being alone in a strange environment made her very nervous. Usually I either played ball with her outside, or let her sleep in my room. She got through the week okay nonetheless, and I liked having her around for awhile; she's such a sweetie. ^^
Speaking of new animals, Beth got yet ANOTHER cat (soon the cats will outnumber the people in this house...) but she's a very pretty part-Russian-blue named Portia. She's one year old, and still a little shy, although she has wandered into my room on occasion. With another week or so, she'll probably be used to the other cats and they'll get along swimmingly.

This last Friday we did a joint-celebration of mine and Leighton's birthdays, which was super-fun. We went swimming at my parents' place, and the water was *ridiculously* warm, which surprised all. I need to go swimming more often; it's not like I get out that much anyway. :P We then went and ate at Malibu Seafood, which (again) I hadn't been to in awhile, and was quite good. Best fish and chips this side of England, since they catch everything that morning from the ocean right across the street. And then: presents! Woo! XD I got a bunch of stuff I asked for/wanted, including Shutterbox #1 and #2, Hot Gimmick #1 and #2, 'Bambi' on DVD (is such a dork XD), some neat stuff from France that Neko got, and Scott McCloud's 'Understanding Comics.' I seriously sped through that book in one day, it was so fascinating. I'm going to force-loan it onto everyone I know, just so they can gawk over the interesting theories along with me.
Erks, I need to get Leighton a present... o_O

Saturday morning we went and helped Alix move a bunch of her stuff over, which didn't take to long since it was five of us moving one person's stuff. However, there seemed to be lots of effort involved, just because it was SO DAMN HOT. It was one of those days where it's too hot to move, let alone carry boxes from the garage to the truck. It's shocking how much energy intense heat can sap out of you...we probably could've gone much faster and easier if we hadn't been sweating buckets every three steps.
Both Alix and Neko have been hanging out at our house a bunch recently. Although it is for reasons of suckiness (moving is evil, and family junk is worse XP) we are still always glad for their company. ^^ Hope they hang out some more.

Operator status: Sunday morning, so of course it's quiet. Significantly easier than my internship, where I've gotten saddled with tons of very tedious, mechanical, time-consuming labor. I understand that it needs to be done, and I do it with a smile, but it *really* wears me out by the end of the day.

Drawing: Finished the RSOM 6 thumbnails, yaay! XD I'm actually getting much more excited about working on this project, even though I'm worried that the pages are kinda cluttered and occasionally text-heavy. I think, when the circumstances are right, doing a collaboration story gets me more pumped than doing it by myself. *oggles Wyna's drawings* Otherwise, am doing my usual fanart fare and original story sketches.

Writing: Errm, nothing terribly substantial. May start beta-ing someone's KH fic. ^^ I'm mostly too busy drawing, reading manga and watching stuff (yaaay Tsubasa! XD) to write.