Y'know, I may have said this before, but Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage series are still the only books that have reduced me to tears, especially Magic's Price. Love those books. ♥

Well, I was hoping that my first post of the year - hell, my first post in forever - would be more lighthearted. Unfortunately, it's not, but it's perhaps the most important post I'll make. Last year, my beautiful cousin, barely into her thirties, was diagnosed with cancer. Last week, we were told it's terminal. The entire family is heartbroken - she's already suffered tragedy in her life, and for her to have battled through radiation, chemo and untold operations only for it to have been in vain is so cruel.

My sister Michelle has dedicated a picture to her, which can be found on her deviantART page. More importantly, though, is that she's selling prints of this picture and all proceeds will be donated to cancer research. I know it's presumptuous of me, but if you have the means to do so, please consider purchasing a print. If any of you would like to do so but don't have a DA account to contact her with, please leave a comment here. Even if you can't afford a print, please try to direct as many people as you can to either the site or to this post. Michelle and I both feel so helpless in this situation - if I can help her raise even a small amount, perhaps somewhere down the line we can help save someone the agony our family and countless others out there are currently suffering or have already suffered.

Thank you to all those who decide to help.

Yeah, I know, it's been ages since I've posted (where the crap has the summer gone, eh?), I've got a buttload of flist-ery to catch up on, I've got new anime to rave about...

But I'm afraid this post has been hijacked by something truly epic.

( HOHCRAP, GEASS SPOILERS AHOY! )

Holy crap, I've missed the boys so much! I'm on an enforced hiatus from fic because I won't risk any more finale spoilers, so I've been in serious withdrawal. THANK GOD THE SHOW'S BACK ON! \o/

( Ghostfacers babble! )

( Here there be effin' and blindin' and CAPSLOCKIN' about SPN SPOILERS JESUS )



...Now that I've vented a little...nice, fangirly anime post tomorrow, mayhaps?

Been a while since my last meme, so I ganked this from oozaru_angel:

( Anime Meme! )

I will get around to catching up with the flist soon, I swear!

Four new episodes will be shown on ITV2 from May 29.

W-What. D:

Okay, so I was expecting it because Lost is currently on a break too. Still. Sadface. But at least you were right, Windy! Jus in Bello was awesome. ^_^ ( Mini-babble! )

In other news! The new season of KKM is...nnngh, okayish. The animation is a little weird, but maybe I'm just spoiled from all the gorgeous anime out there at the moment. ;D It is definitely nice to see more focus on Wolfram, though! ...I might also have new Geass and Holic flailing up later, as soon as I've watched 'em. Seems like all I do now is fangirl over one show or another. XD

New Code Geass and xxxHolic in one day? F-Fangasm. *_* It's pretty hard to know which one to squee harder over - Geass R2 is a completely fresh storyline to me, while I'm pretty up-to-date with the Holic manga and already know how good it's gonna be. I have to say, though...I think Holic is edging into the lead. The Watanuki-Doumeki scenes are everything I was hoping for. ♥ I am going to relish every single episode of the spider arc. And hoo-rah, it's already encoded in MPEG-4 so I can sync it straight to iPod without the tedious encoding! ^__^ Geass R2 is stunning, though - it should be, too, with such a whopping great filesize. XD The animation is practically flawless. Lelouch, you're a beautiful, dorky, melodramatic pansy, and we all love you for it. Also: needs moar Suzaku plz.

Ahhh, I'm a happy fangirl.

Took a break from the ol' exercise over the weekend. Completed Fat Blasting Cardio again yesterday - I'm starting to have real fun with it now, and relishing the challenge. XD

Meh, general blather tomorrow, I guess. :D

lolstrike

But I'm not here to post about that! I'm off to ♪ New York, New York ♪ in August and I know some on the flist have been, SO. Things to do, places to see, where to eat etc.? Anything will be helpful! ^__^

Just a quickie today! (Thank God, says you all. XD) Completed Fat Blasting Cardio significantly less winded than last time, hurrah! Also managed to nail a couple of moves that gave me trouble before, so double hurrah!

That's it. Said it'd be quick, didn't I? ^_~

( Obligatory fitness stuff goes here! )

Any of you guys heard of the Angry Video Game Nerd? If you haven't, I'm pretty sure I'm doing you a favour! He reviews old video games, mostly from the NES but there are some from other platforms too, and he's pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. Even if you've never played these games, you're still almost guaranteed to wet yourself laughing. Be warned, the reviews are...colourful, to say the least, but it just makes it all the more satisfying. My personal favourites: TMNT (I played this atrocity of a game, so I was pretty much in hysterics), Spiderman, Silver Surfer, Fester's Quest and Dragon's Lair. Really, though, they're all gold. XD Also, I think he's delicious. Despite my tendency to fangirl over hot men, this is exactly the type of man I find irresistable in real life. Go figure. >.>

Similarly, if anyone's played Metal Gear Solid - hell, if you have even the most basic knowledge of MGS - the Metal Gear Awesome spoofs are an absolute must. I rewatched them again today and couldn't see through the tears at one point. Anyone with a deviantART account can see them here; everyone else should check 'em out here (check the flash animation section toward the bottom, and make sure you don't click on the 2nd part by mistake!).

Have fun, all! And let me know if you enjoy them! XD

Yep, it's that kick-my-ass-back-into-updating time of year! I'll be making entries to keep track of daily exercise on top of the usual rambly, fangirly posts, and this is the first! (I could be really anal and post backdated entries, but I'm far less mentally motivated than I am physically. >.>) It'll probably bore everyone except one or two on the ol' flist who I know are fitness-inspired. ^_^;

Workouts of choice are the Billy Blanks series, which are awesome. Basically, they're Tae Bo workouts in all but name, and dear sweet Jesus are they effective! \o/ I stopped doing them over the winter, but the muscle tone is already coming back after only a week. Hopefully I'll be back up to the 5lb weights for the Upper Body workout within a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I tackled the big 45 minute cardio workout for the first time today. HOMAN, it's gooood. My muscles started protesting only an hour after finishing, which is rare for me and goes to show just how hard Billy pushes you, but it's the ache of accomplishment as far as I'm concerned! Cardio is my weakest area, so I'm going to focus on that and the Upper Body workout for the next week or so.

More general post tomorrow, I swear! I'm going to find something random to post at least once a day, so be warned! XD

Tagged by wind_chijmes! (funny how it's always memes that get me posting again. >.>)

The rules are easy, just post 10 things that recently made you happy! Then tag 10 people and force them to post this meme on their LJs. Because it is good. Everyone needs a little happiness once in a while.

1. Buying a new laptop! Haven't had a laptop since the old one died...what, four years ago? I most likely won't get to lay my hands on it until Christmas; then again, there's nothing like having a new toy to play with on Christmas Day! :D

2. Rekindling my love of jigsaw puzzles! I haven't made one all year, but the mood suddenly took hold of me a couple of weeks ago. Man, I'd forgotten how much fun they are. ^__^

3. I got to decorate the shop for Halloween today. :D :D It's little things like this that make me realise just how good my job can be compared to my old one. I mean, it has its downsides like every job has, but the good generally outweighs the bad.

4. Rewatching The X-Files. I loved the show so much for years; it's nice to come back to it and realise it's just as good as I remembered. Mulder, y u so awsum? ♥

5. Helping the sis with her art. It's nice to know someone values your input the way she values mine. ^___^

6. ...Reading Harry Potter. Yes, after I swore up and down that I was completely uninterested in the books. ^_^; In my defence, I wasn't the one who bought the books!

7. Sitting in the second row for the awesome Darren Hayes concert. The man is an incredible singer, and the stage design was amazing. It also gave me a few ideas for the tattoo I plan on getting next year. \o/

8. Realising that I won't have to list "Get Fit" as a New Year's Resolution, hooray! I'm quite probably fitter now than I have been in a long time, and it feels so, so good!

9. Christmas shopping! :D :D :D (So I love Christmas. Sue me.)

10. GUYS GUYS DUMBLEDORE'S GAY. C'mon, who wasn't howling when they found out? XD

As for the tagging: basically, if you see this on your flist, give it a try, eh?

Here's the second batch of doujinshi. See the first post for the important stuff on who can bid and how to do it. This post will also stay open until Tuesday 17th July 08:30 GMT. On a side note, my lack of icons for this pairing is atrocious. >.>



( Doujinshi list! Items 8-13 of 13 )














Well, that's it! Hopefully you'll see something that tickles your fancy! Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment! :D

This post will stay open until Tuesday 17th July 08:30 GMT. Also! All of these doujinshi are adult-rated, so you'll need to be 18 or older, and you'll need a Paypal account. Aaaand I live in the UK, so postage to the US or elsewhere will be a little more expensive. ^_^; I will combine postage though.

Okay! Here's how to play: if you're interested in buying any doujinshi, leave a comment with the name. From personal experience with similar posts, I've decided to go with first come doesn't necessarily mean first served! If you'd be willing to pay more for a particular title, just mention that in your comment (or email me privately, if you prefer). Otherwise, the first person to comment gets it!

Bonus! I also have a duplicate copy of Over Drive, which is basically a novel with 2 pages of manga. Free to the first person who comments for it! :D :D :D

Those of you who are here purely for the pretty, you can comment too. ^__^



( Doujinshi list! Items 1-7 of 13 )

D:

No, wait.

D:

There's a downside to doujinshi collecting, and that's when you don't win.

D: D:

BOO. On the plus side, at least now I know that some of them are a sound investment.

...:D?