Self-Indulgent Cameos

I finally started reading Daemons of the Shadow Realm. It was only a matter of time. After all, the author wrote my favorite manga/anime: Fullmetal Alchemist. 

One of the characters in this new series is a mangaka (manga writer/artist). And everyone gushes about how good his work is. Like how writers like to include writer characters (and so on). 

I just read a chapter in which the TV was playing in the background. And what was on the TV, but the Fullmetal Alchemist anime. Well played. Even if it was a sad episode they picked. 

I wonder if I missed any other hidden references. 

Explaining the last episode to someone who never saw the show

I just finished rewatching Arcane. Though I do like many of the characters, I rewatched it for Viktor's sake. 

I started the final episode (Last year, I actually saw part of this one at my cousin's house - the weird white dolls swarming all over the place). My mom happened to come through right as it started. Of course, she took a seat and started eating a sandwich. I started trying to explain things to her, and somehow she managed to follow it okay. I cheered for the good guys, so she knew who was on what side. 

"The bad guys look intimidating. Actually, that guy looks intimidating, but he's a good guy." Not the best bit of advice for this particular show. 

"That's the evil queen. She's basically a one-woman army. But her daughter just found out she has magic, so she can fight back. But it was really dumb of Caitlyn to give the evil queen a weapon. She knows she's no match for her." Then the Black Rose thing appeared, and I had to admit, "I don't really have any idea what this scene is about."  

Yeah, I'm impressed she managed to follow any of it. And that she hung around through the whole evil queen fight. She saw the evil Viktor walk in, and commented on the weird third arm. I just told her that it was a good person who had been weaponized. I decided not to say that it was once my favorite character from the show XD

Instant Camaraderie

There have been a couple times now where I hear someone say that they were a nerd before it was cool to be one. I'm pretty sure John and Hank Green said this (or maybe just one of them). And the guys from Cinema Therapy said it too. 

That's not the same way you say something like, "I liked the Beatles before they were popular!" No. It means that before it was cool to be a nerd, you were teased or bullied for it. 

I think some time while I was in high school, it started to be less lame to be a nerd. I still accredit that to How to Train Your Dragon. But through elementary and middle school, I was picked on for being a nerd. So when I hear someone say that they were a nerd before it was cool, I feel an instant camaraderie.  

I've been researching the threatened post about Viktor, and I stumbled upon an interview that his voice actor did. He said that "when I was a schoolboy nerd, they weren't really cool." So of course I was thrilled. 

For a while now, I've had a strange series of foot injuries. Well, not just a while. A pretty damn long time, to the point where I think I'm walking on my foot wrong, and causing further problems. At the moment, it will be okay until I aggravate it. Which it currently is. So as I'm limping around, I can't help feeling an extra kinship with Viktor. 

And on top of it, I tweaked my back a little bit yesterday. Yep, back and right leg. Certainly not as bad as what Viktor's dealing with, but we could go on a nice, hobbling walk together. 

I stumbled upon a TV interview with the author of Princess Diaries. She was talking about the Disney movies based on her books, and said something that made me laugh. 

"There's Disney's, which is great, and there's mine, which is right." 

Let's all vote for universal controls

Video games drive me crazy. Why does every game use different buttons for the same controls? In one game, a key makes you jump. In another game, that same key makes you attack. So you try to fight off an opponent, and instead find yourself uselessly hopping in the air, because you were just playing a different game. 

I've always wanted to write an AI story

I have a confession. I actually really like some AI stories. Short Circuit, Wall-E, and Big Hero Six are all about machines that have gained consciousness. Well, I'm not totally sure about Baymax, since his programming can be controlled against his will. But I do love him. 

I believe that in one of the trailers for Wall-E, they said that he existed for so long that he kinda became alive. But the modern robots, like Eve, seem alive too. And I love what they did in Short Circuit. A war robot was hit by lightning, and gained life and compassion. 

These floods of AI development are so dangerous and scary. There's no responsibility to this powerful technology. Technology that is already having massive effects on many parts of the world. 

But for many years, I've been wanting to write a story kinda like Short Circuit, where a computer program gains life. Though the way the world has changed since I first got the idea, it's going to have a very different feel to it. 

Just Add Kids

Terminator and Alien were movies that didn't interest me very much. They were all about being chased by terrifying monsters while people died horribly. 

Then they each made a sequel with kids. And I liked the sequels much better. 

I don't think that adding kids makes something better. But the way they included the perspectives and talents of the kids gave the movies more depth. (I've only seen them once time each, so I haven't done any analysis on these theories!)