The boys had their turn, now it's time for....OtomeGame!Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

Things in its favor (I would say EeeeEEe points, but it's not quite) :
1) It makes a whole lot more sense than converting all the Three Kingdom charas into moe moe bishoujo for an eroge. I mean, loli!Dong Zhuo. *shudders*
2) Xun Yu is rather attractive, if I may say so. Yes I go for that type if it's an otome game shut up.
3) Kongming's special skill is listed as 'Weatherman'.

Eh points :
1) You are a highschool girl of no particular brilliance, but then you get DimensionTransferred and somehow ended up being a strategist-in-training under Kongming. (This might be negated if your supposed strategical skills are actually because you fangirl the novels and know in advance what's going on.) Apparently you get by with the mysterious book you found while researching ROTK, but no more details are given.
2) Kongming looks somewhat....er, I wouldn't say shota, but he certainly is young. Are you even supposed to take disciples at your age?

Neutral points :
1) I died laughing at the Character Cliche Sun Quan got rolled into. Poor boy!
2) Zhao Yun looks uncannily like Switzerland, dude.
3) It's amusing that the 'main guy' is, of all people, Liu Bei. Less surprising is that the other main guys appear to be Cao Cao and Sun Quan, although I find Cao Cao's apparent type to be.....not surprising, because these tend to be secretly haraguroi, but...dude his character design is a weird fit.
4) Appears to be fairly lighthearted and cracky. This can be both a plus and a minus.

Christmas break = bliss.

Also, anyone who says that the Mabari Warhound is a 'bloodthirsty killer only out there for the testosterone players who want Cool Monsters To Kill Things In A Manly Way' obviously never played the game, or kept a guard-type dog. THIS THING IS CUTE CHIKUSHOU. I KIND OF WANT ONE. IT LOOKS RATHER SOFT TO PINCH.

1,500 words left, outline, citations file, one night, a stack of tea and caffeine. (You know I am serious about killing myself when I bring out the caffeine.)

I CAN DO THIS.

ETA : 500 WORDS LEFT.

ETA : DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

.............so. 2010, eh.

Since scans for these kinds of things will never ever be available forever and ever (and I do know where to find scans of Japanese light novels, most of the time), it seems I just might have to order this and what the hell I might just order the other two as well. The problem is, I'm not sure how to get it here without feeling utterly mortified if somebody opened it, as the US postal service is wont to do when it's the last package you wanted them to open. Somehow I do not have a problem with doujins, but this is SOMETHING ELSE, even if chances are they won't be able to tell much of what the content is because it's a novel. Aha.

And also I'd be annoyed at AmazonJP for ages if they send me BL recs after this. I am very particular, dammit! I'm only getting this because this is my fandom (which I cannot participate in, sadly, due to having an extremely thin skin with these things still), I know exactly what it is, knew that you did it once already and am incredibly curious to see how you'd do it again! Is it another account of the same story? Does it cover for the sequel? Or an entirely new thing? I am curious!

そしてニュースサイトさんの作品説明。

どちらの主人公じゃなくそっちで選択ですか！？超嬉しいけど（あの人ファンとして）これって・・・まあそりゃそうだ。だが！だが！そんな説明方で僕を殺すつもりかい！？

I KNEW IT.

IT REALLY IS THE EYES.

I KNEW IT FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS BUT BUT BUT THIS IS MORE TERRIBLE THAN I THOUGHT.

AND AL. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

SOMEBODY GIVE THE KID AND THE COOLDERE A HUG.

(Egads, five years? Has it really been that long since 2004?)

Dear JFen,

I appreciate you employing the tea, but you obviously have never had Earl Grey if you say it's a thick, rich blend suitable for wakeup calls.

Between Silk and Cyanide is a wonderful, wonderful book. Most WWII books don't hesitate to punch you in the gut, stamp on your toes and then eviscerate your still-throbbing guts, but this...started off actually warm and fluffy and really funny, which gives you this truly unsettling effect because you know what actually was going on and you know the author knows because this is his memoir. And he doesn't really let you forget that between the office shenanigans of Baker Street, there are people dying whose corpses didn't resemble that of humans anymore. And that those office shenanigans, no matter how funny they sounded when described, were actually desperate attempts to keep those people alive. By the end, I assume, it would cut out my heart and possibly feed it to cannibals. I picked it up in the library just because you don't get to read much of SOE's codemaking (although there's plenty of Bletchley Park to go around) and I would appreciate the research input, but then ended up becoming totally engrossed that I almost forgot to revise the next two chapters of Developmental Biology.

It was really funny and threw out punchlines like a machine gun. And by consequence, unsettling and terribly poignant.

Yes, it was printed in 1998, I know. I was banned from buying nonfiction books back then and only knew it existed last week. I still am reccing it, especially if you enjoyed A) cryptography during WWII and B) Hetalia, which has a similar air. (You can even wear your fujoshi glasses if that doesn't squick the hell out of you the way it did me. I blame the British Boarding School system.) And yes, while I am unqualified to comment on this, it does seem to be quirkily English.

Somewhat tempted to change the setting of the Research Object from Berlin 1960's to London 1940's just because it's awfully madcap and tragic, but then I'd feel like I'm being rude and I wouldn't have a working plot.

Come to think of it, Phoenix/Edgeworth was pretty much my first BL ship. I made jokes about a few pairings before then, but they are the first pairing that I took seriously (as much as you can take anything seriously in the PW-verse, anyway).

I mean. I like Maya and Franziska, but I really can't see Phoenix/Maya or Edgeworth/Franziska. They obviously care a lot about each other, but....not that way. I really can't see it, and Phoenix/Edgeworth was just so ridiculously shippy. ('I changed the course of my entire life just to see you again!' kind of goes beyond even Wright's usual saviour complex, and also anybody else has a snowball's chance in hell of seeing Mittan's deredere) What else is a canonwhore to do?

Aaah, the adventures I had trawling JFen with no clue what fandom slang meant. I believe I ran out of squicks in those days of first JFen fic reading, haha. (When you have no idea what スカトロ warns for, it makes for an...interesting reading.) There was a disproportionate amount of cannibalism fics, IIRC...

(This is what goes on in my head when reading up for Developmental Biology exam. In my defense, I am pretty good at that subject.)

The UK finally gets its own space agency.

About damned time, Arthur! Also, I find it really hilarious that while the rest of your economy has gone down the proverbial drainpipe, your space industry is growing. Guess you're actually good at the microsatellite thing, eh?

Also, twistedsheets10, I think you can imagine why I am grinning from ear to ear right now based on our previous conversations. <3333 (Also, it is enormously cute that it was Science who reported this and not Nature. SCIENCE. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL.)

Considering that the first hypothesis my friend came up with the first moment I said I am not interested in seeking a relationship was "Are you afraid of commitments?", and relatives suggesting that I may need to be sexually liberated to feel the joys of romance and be freed from Victorian-era fear of sex? Yes. It takes two to tango in this argument, though : just as people who wanted to pass on their genes do not understand those who don't feel the same way, the reverse is probably true.

I've ranted about this before, of course. I just feel like doing it again today.

Ganked off kawaiipinay :

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often or ever) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me.

It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph in your LJ and see what your friends come up with!

Update from somebody who STILL haven't finished her term paper :

Well, now I know why they call him 'The Ultimate Tsundere'. Although I still cannot wrap my head around the logic of the story (I mean, where did that come from? I would at least expect a punch in the face), but the deredere is magnificent. The most deredere 20 kisses ever? It probably helps that you don't realize that he really is a tsundere and not just your brain playing tricks on you until the very end. His tsuntsun, deredere and being a normal person (as anyone going through that would do) is really hard to tell apart. いや、あれはツンツンでいいのか？

And the ending. They really go on to attempt to conquer the world, married-to-your-work-when-your-work-is-your-lover styled. Whoa. Moe point, consider it hit! Would totally install sequel right about now, except the finals are looming and I am STILL stuck in Japanese mode, which is Not Good.

I was about to save this for last, too. But oh well? There's that other route? INTJ/INFP?

........................どうやら私はＭな気もあるドＳらしい。これはちょっと案外だが、べつに驚くことでは・・・ない？だっていつも気弱そうな人が情けなくて詰まらなくてあまりに付き合わなくなかった。今の見た目は「心優しいお姉さん」だけど（そうよく呼ばわれるらしい）・・・中身が「人嫌いで冷たい奴」の頃のままかな・・・

それでも、あの犬の影響は大きいと思う。お母さんには「あなたは昔から優しい子だった」と言われたけど、自分の事くらいは分かってるつもり。明らかに前より優しくなった、それに他の人の気持ちや事情を分かるように努力する事になった。誰にもアレ程大切な物があると思った瞬間、自分は変わったな・・・

それでも、正面から「あなた実はドＳでしょう」と言われたらちょっと動揺するよね。うん。

I think this very succinctly answers the age-old question of "Can you be a loli-chara and an ojisan-chara at the same time?"

In other words.

課長可愛いよ、畜生！大人の魅力はどこへ行ってしまったんですか、貴方って本当は女高校生ですか！？こ、これって・・・一生始めてロリ萌えということ！？　（まあ、大人の魅力は多分あの人担当だけど、好きだがルートにしてはちょっとそこまで落ちていないつもりで・・・でも萌えるとこもありそう。どうしよう、私。腐っていいのか？

Yes, what I am doing should be very very obvious now if you are in the know. In my defense! It was on a dare! And then it actually got ridiculously entertaining for something that looks so silly in a one-sentence summary!

..........I tend to like tsundere shinshi's, don't I.

Granted, the current one is EXTREMELY DUBIOUS on the shinshi part, but aside from that....particular quirk, all the supercapability associated with that trait is there? Actually, it might be more accurate to say that I like supercapable tsunderes who happen to watch their manners somewhat and look really good with teacups/vests/suits/ribbon ties....but then I also like supercapable tennens....hmmm....

Interesting considering I CANNOT STAND female tsunderes in general, with a few exceptions (I liked Haruhi, Akiha from Tsukihime and F/SN's Rin). Maybe it's because they're loud? And male tsunderes tend to....tsuntsun in relatively interesting ways, instead of yelling that the protagonist is a pervert?

I feel like I must say something about that VN I was playing in the holidays, as contrary to all my expectations, it is ridiculously fun. It's really rare that a VN actually gives you a valid reason to go to places where your Targets of Choice are (I always feel out of sorts with that kind of thing, even if it solves the 'dead end' and flag entanglements of regular branching VNs : I am supposed to be exorcising demons/fund raising/investigating murders/finding a way to time travel back home here, not stalking boys/girls!) and actually responds to your decisions in a relatively dynamic way. In fact, the way it responds kind of reminds me of a more simplistic Dragon Age! It's unlike normal VNs where you need to do certain things to get somewhere interesting; you always end up somewhere interesting depending on what your decisions are (and the immediate results of said decision can be quite entertaining), it's just that said 'somewhere' may not be where your character wanted to go.

Random comments :
1. INTJ/INTJ BANZAI. I expected this to be a total dredge judging from what I've seen floating around, but it is not. Stick two opposing NTs in a room together and you may expect entertaining conversation. Stick two TJs in a room and you may expect hilarious power issues. Stick two INTJs...yes. The constant sniping, putdowns, my-analysis-pwns-yours-hahaha and general trying to undermine each other is the highpoint, although I suspect most of their fans disagree. Haha. I find that other part much less fun. Still, I do hope they go on to conquer the world together in their good end or something, it's not entirely out of their league.
2. INFP should get the 'most repressed person in the world' award. Seriously. But then that is kind of the point. XD If INFP isn't repressed to hilarious levels, we wouldn't have the game. That said, ESFP/INFP is really cute and so romantic that I was sort of wondering if they're actually in the same story as the rest of them. XD (Actually I am not so sure if INFP is actually INTP, but it's hard to tell from the dialogue.)
3. ISFJ : HOW CUTE ARE YOU EXPECTING TO GET. You. Are not. Supposed. To be this adorable!
4. The other ESFP and the ENFP : Not my type. Which means they will likely be 'over with' first after I'm done with 'system testing'. Still, I've heard that ESFP's story is pretty good.

I shall not say what it is. If you know it, you know it, and you should not say it aloud here because I AM EMBARRASSED KAY DON'T RUB IT IN. If you can't guess, you might be better off not knowing. XD

Re Dragon Age : I am playing a knowledge-starved mage of questionable moral compass (he's actually a very nice boy, his compass is just kind of....not aligned completely right, which makes DA the first game ever where I can actually roleplay the guy) who's wasting his skill points on poisons and herbalism on purpose. I'm roleplaying, you understand. I just got out of the Ostagar section because I'm taking it slow on an hour a day basis, but so far I can tell that Leliana totally will not be his type (he loves his Circle and wish all the Chantry can go die in a fire, preferably a well-placed Fireball, although he doesn't mind Alistair for some reason) and he kind of wanted to yell MARRY ME the moment Morrigan said "I know thirty different kinds of poisons". The problem is *I* do not like Morrigan that much, although she's a lot more likable than I expected her to be. ARGH. SHOULD ROMANCE PROCEED OR NOT? I wonder if I should wait for bisexual elf #2, but then I also doubt that Mage PC swings that way...

I think my response to whether Kircheis is holding the torch for Annerose or Reinhart is this : 両手に花を！ HE CAN HAVE BOTH. AT THE SAME TIME. I AM SURE NEITHER OF THEM WOULD MIND. (If he lives. He has the 'kill me' flag planted on his head.)

はい、腐女子に慣れ始めです。どうか探さないでください。

I don't understand.

Why does voice acting make a Japanese game easier to understand? I've read this opinion many, many times in my random VN sprees (which occurs twice a year or so), and it never failed to puzzle me. I always figure that having kanjis is a godsend because you know what a difficult compound means even if you have no freaking clue what it sounds like, or without confusion to similiar-sounding words. Isn't that enough? I suppose if you want to pick up on pronunciations...and I did picked up some pronunciations, but it's much slower that way....or maybe it's because of the 'acting' hints at the context? But if you don't know enough Japanese to get a sufficient part of the context anyway, would the emotions in the voices (or lack thereof) be of any help whatsoever?

Is it just because I did it by reading-listening-writing-speaking (the last part is HAHAHANOTQUITETHERE, I stutter a lot), and most people who take Japanese classes would do it differently? I do wonder. I...just see it a lot. Or is it because most people read the way they speak, as in read along the way their brains manage speech, and I don't? <----I took a VERY LONG TIME before warming up to half of Discworld because I didn't get the pronunciation puns half the time, and without the puns you kind of go 'eh' a lot in the earlier books.

..........Being 'proficient at katakana' really is nothing to be proud of, believe me.

On the other hand : THIS TRANSLATION IS NOT COMING ALONG WELL. Prose...or even semi-prose, in this case...is so much more difficult than dialogue. It's manageable in VNs, I suppose, but on paper it's a very different deal because of how many sentences you can see at once. I now sympathize with all those novel translations that I refused to read in English, because dammit this thing is hard. There's really no way you can get it to sound the same, unlike with dialogue, and all you can do is cross your fingers, do your best rewriting and roll with it. (And now I wonder what Natsume Souseki sounds like in the original. I will never forget 「月が綺麗ですね」, that famous translation neta.)

I talked to a friend about Mouryou no Hako last night and that suddenly made me want to read Kyougoku Natsuhiko's originals. The browsing pages up yonder at Amazon was awfully addictive, his writing has a way of rolling off your head, and I've always heard that Ubume no Natsu is better than Mouryou no Hako. And maybe I'll even get far enough to see Reijirou being completely insane (although, being insane in an age where everybody in the main cast is a WWII veteran, he is basically THE voice of reason). The Edo period series sound pretty interesting, too, although the language seems to go into MAYDAY MAYDAY VOCABULARY FAILURE mode fairly easily. (The Hyakkiyakou series, despite being set in postwar Japan with its archaic vocabulary, is surprisingly easy to read, at least I assume it would remain so until Kyougokudou goes into one of his onmyouji kanjidump spiels.)

....No, getting into Japanese mode in gahjsdgjaskTERMPAPER season is not a good thing, why do you ask? At least it's less tiring than England mode? I have no doubt I will get into that at some point, I always do around New Years', but since I spent so long pining after London this year I'm hoping it will be somewhat delayed and leave me some brainspace to deal with my other business.

...........I have forgotten just how amazingly slashy Naruhodou and Mittan were in the first Gyakusai. And how amazing Mittan's transformation from cheap shounen villain to cute tsundere rival to TV drama heroine is (because that role? If he was a woman, he would so be a heroine). I still haven't gotten back to where I want to get yet, but at least the parts I remember well are gone now...sad to say that I don't remember much of Case 4 except it being amazing, hah. It being my favourite, I decided back then that I wouldn't replay it until I decide to make the final dash to Case 5.

Yes, I spent the first day of break playing through an ages-old game just to get to the additional chapter they added to the DS version. Unlike the rest of the English-speaking world, see, I played the entire trilogy on the GBA and haven't had the inspiration to slog through everything just for that until recently. And my, was it magnificent. It reminds me of how much I miss Naru's awesome tsukkomi in GS4.

........actually, now that I have obtained the Fujoshi Filter, I am finding some scenes even slashier than before. Or maybe it's because I know the backstory now and I didn't on the first run (no, I didn't repeat the latter half of Case 3 on Second Run because the case bored me and my Japanese was still extremely slow at the time. Now I figure the entire purpose was to starting turning Mittan from cheap shounen villain to whatever he became and it totally worked in that context). There was this one Objection Exchange, for example, where my brain sort of went 'Now now, Mr. Lawyers, would you not talk this way in front of children? It's not good for their education!'

I STILL miss Japanese, though. Gyakusai isn't hard enough. More kanji. Somebody give me more kanji. And some actual prose that's decently written AND written vertically would be extremely swell. (Maybe I should go finish reading LoGH?)