Order of the Red Erisim

I've had an awfully weird day today, at least in terms of odd timing things... I woke up at 1:30 PM, which I haven't done in a very long time, and my schedule's been all wonky because of that. I did, however, have some time to find out that my chosen team for the current Neopets Plot has gotten a Neopedia article! I figured I'd go ahead and make a blog post about that.

If you have no interest whatsoever in Neopets or their plot strands, I encourage you to come back tomorrow for my initial reactions for Once Upon a Time. Hopefully, those will be up tomorrow. Also, if you've already read the Neopedia Article, there's not going to be any new information here, really. Oh, and this is very link-heavy for easy access to potentially unknown information.

Order of the Red Erisim

If it bites, zap it. If it doesn't, take it home and study it.

Turn out, I was right in assuming that the Order of the Red Erisim were made up completely of magic users. The Order is completely devoted to studying magic and everything that pertains to it.

From what I can gather about the members of the Order, there are 5 new members as of this plot:

1. Rasala the Bright - A red female Bori. Head of the Order of the Red Erisim. She appears on the "Mysterious Outskirts" page after you join the Order.
2. Alshemar of the Seventh Scroll - A male Ogrin.  Rasala's former teacher. Lives in the forests of Meridell.
3. Belisarius - A male Tonu prone to mumbling.
4. Ganfrey - A male Mynci, apparently a friend of Hilda's.
5. Hilda the Hedgewitch - A female Bruce. Champion of the Cauldron Throwdown seven years running. Apparently has a Naalala who likes to eat spellbooks.

Members essentially grandfathered into the Order from previous events:

1. Seradar - A male purple Gelert. Royal Sorcerer of Brightvale in the employ of King Hagan. Originally from The Darkest Faerie Game.
2. Morguss - A green female Moehog. Mother of The Court Dancer. Originally of the Battle for Meridell Plot.
3. Jerdana - A blue female Aisha. Also known as The Protector. Originally appeared in The Darkest Faerie Game. Later featured in the Altador Plot as the sorceress responsible for suspending Altador in slow time.

And... that's essentially it for the Order at this point... The War starts in 4 Days. Join us.

Housekeeping

All information used for this post came from the Order of the Red Erisim Neopedia Article and the NeoDex. I also grabbed some links from Neopets' Gallery of Evil. It's entirely probable that I plagarized stuff... with such a small amount of information, it's practically impossible not to.

Universe willing, tomorrow I'll have Once Upon a Time initial reactions for you.

Love ya, Jessie.

Dodger's Best Friend With Benefits

I've pretty much been floored for most of the day by the most insane and annoying headache. Not sure what caused it, but it hurts like no one's business. Gah!

You also might have noticed that this post is devoid of TVD initial reactions. That's because I have a little time to kill earlier in the day before TVD airs. I should have initial reactions on that for you later.

Right now, I have a giant SPOILER WARNING for you. If you have not seen this week's episodes of Arrow or Supernatural, I must kindly ask you to either skip down to the Gaiaonline section or just leave and come back later. Yes, I said Gaiaonline section. There's stuff.

Arrow - "Dodger" - Review

This episode was a lot of laughs, at least from the perspective of how much I like seeing Olly and Diggle be awkward. Them on their dates was just amazingly funny. And for once, Olly didn't have to cut his date short. McKenna did that for him. How nice of her.

I really enjoyed Felicity as part of the "Green Arrow" team. Yes, I'm giving them a name. They need one for the sake of simplicity. Anyway... Felicity was just awesome. She's the tech-girl, she's acting a bit as Olly's conscience, she's being bait, she's getting bombs attached to her neck... okay, that part had me rolling my eyes. While it was quite awesome that Olly was able to take down the Dodger, I thought Felicity going after him herself in that moment was a bit... weird. Don't get me wrong, I like that the girl can take initiative, but it made her virtually useless when she shouldn't have been. And then she soldiered through it, which was good. Oh, and another thing, why did Felicity have to ditch the glasses and the geek-chic for totally Barbie-Girl-Glam? She could have at least kept the glasses. Just sayin'.

A bit more of Olly's backstory was revealed here, too. We got that guy who I totally wasn't buying essentially being left to die by Olly. I think it was a good choice on his part, but I was taken out of those moments by the beat-up-guy himself. Don't know what it was about him, but he just wasn't right. Good on Olly for leaving him behind. That might come back to bite him in the butt, but... I don't think so.

Last on my list of things to talk about: Roy Harper. I like him. I really, really do. True, I had a little brain-fart during the episode on who he was, but now that I know for sure, I'm happy. For those who don't know (or didn't read my initial reactions), Roy Harper is Green Arrow's sidekick and hero in his own right in the DC comics. He went by Speedy while being Green Arrow's sidekick, then switched to Arsenal, then apparently Red Arrow. Yeah... I don't know much more than that. Go read the Wiki. Anyway, I like that Roy's connected to Olly through Thea. I smell a romance between the pair blossoming at some point.

Let me know what you thought about this episode in the comments, pretty please. I feel all cut-off and stuff.

Supernatural - "Man's Best Friend With Benefits" - Review

Familiars in the Supernatural universe remind me a lot of Digimon. Ya know, without the digital-ness and evolution involved. I quite like how they're explained, though my question based solely on this episode is: why haven't we seen them before? None of the witches we've seen before had familiars, including the really old feuding couple. I think that's a little hinky, but meh.

My hopes for the boys not talking about who's doing the tasks were dashed against some very sharp rocks this episode. I get that Dean's worried about Sam. I get that Dean would rather being doing the tasks. I get that Sam has issues with Dean not being okay with the situation. I get it. It doesn't need to be hammered into my head over two episodes. And yes, I know, both Sam and Dean have a track record for hashing and rehashing and rehashing stuff to death. I know. It's annoying.

This episode was some nice solid filler. I liked it. I laughed. I was not emotionally invested in any of the goings on. Let me know what you thought in the comments. And yes, I'm begging for comments. Just comment already.

Gaiaonline - 221 B Mini-Event

It's 2-21-13. Kind of looks like 221B if you squint. Gaia is full of nerds. Some of those nerds like Sherlock Holmes. So we get a puzzle to solve for... something.

Personally, I'm not into puzzles. However, this one is throwing everyone for a loop. It's been up since this morning and no one has solved it yet. It's so frustrating, people are going off on ridiculous tangents based on tenuous links. This annoys me. Be that as it may, I highly encourage you to go check it out and join in the fun.

Thanks devs, you suck.

Neopets - Tyrannian Plot

The time has come to choose your side! You have a week to decide which of the six factions you'll be joining. As a member of the Order of the Red Erisim, I must encourage you to join us. Magic should control magic. We know what we're doing.

Housekeeping

Initial Reactions for TVD coming tonight, hopefully.

Some of the section headers contain links.

I'd really love to interact with you guys, so leave me comments. We can argue about stuff, or agree about stuff, or just gush about nerdy goodness.

Love ya, Jessie.

Dodger - Initial Reactions

Standard SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen tonight's Arrow, please leave the blog and return later. My initial reactions contain SPOILERS. For those new to the blog, they're what I do in place of live tweeting. Unexpected SPOILERS are worse than ones you've been warned about.

Following the initial reactions, I'll have a little update about the current Neopets plot, so feel free to skip down to that or skip it all together. I won't be offended.

Arrow - "Dodger" - Initial Reactions

• Someone's gonna steal a ridiculously large gem.
• That one guy's being mind-controlled or threatened somehow.
• The dude who play Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica.
• Freaking out Felicity...
• Good girl, Felicity. Olly needs someone who'll actually stand up to him once in a while.
• Says the guy who essentially agreed to train him on the thought that he might actually survive.
• And there's the answer to the question I was going to ask...
• Lol, Olly and Diggle.
• That is a very sparkly bowtie, Mr. Bad Guy.
• Why are there so many gigantic gems out there?
• Nice.
• Lol, no messing with Diggle's not-relationship.
• Her way's gonna be much more fun for us techies... not that I'm actually a techie, but, ya know.
• Looks like Thea needs to hit the gym for some more stamina with the running.
• Olly is so awkward with the crap flirting.
• He's so awkward, it's hilarious.
• Oh look, another random dude on the island.
• Why is she calling Detective Lance? Was that Detective Lance?
• Why does the name Roy Harper sound familiar to me? Wiki on commercial...
• Don't bring up your date's dead husband on your date.
• Yay for awkward conversations.
• Not buying this guy's story despite the being beat up and stuff...
• Fast guy...
• Nice diversion.
• Oh duh. Roy Harper is Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow. I knew that.
• No one wants to talk about bad dates.
• That's what I love about rich good guys. Just buy the super expensive lures.
• Roy looks more like he'd be Superboy than Speedy... but meh.
• Oh good, Mrs. Queen's getting out of being a bad guy.
• Or I could be wrong... mmmnn... can't tell.
• Goodness, Felicity cleans up really well. But that's kind of a given.
• And of course Felicity's going after him alone.
• Yeah, that was predictable.
• Of course the guy with the bike had to be a "ruffian."
• So why does Dodger have a thing for those particular period pieces? Ya know, things I think about during car chases.
• Ouch.
• Lol, we had to have that line somewhere in there, didn't we?
• This is the part where Olly stabs that guy.
• Or not. Leaving him is much the same thing.
• Yay for Diggle.
• I officially like Roy.
• Stereotypical talking about stuff without talking about stuff. Fun, but slightly annoying.
• I thought he got kicked off that case.
• Olly's face amuses me.
• Oh, but now Mrs. Queen's getting involved with the Triad. Goody.

Tyrannian Plot Update

Turns out, I was right. We get to pick sides in the war for the obelisk. Yay. However, we've also got a sixth party in the running. No mystical crazy war's complete without a team of undead, right?

As I mentioned before, I'm going to be joining the Order of the Red Erisim. From here on in, I'll essentially be updating from that end of things.

Housekeeping

So, universe willing, I'll have a couple reviews and TVD initial reactions for you tomorrow. Hopefully, things won't be like last week with the ridiculous tiredness and shtuff.

Love ya, Jessie.

Trial and Error Down the Rabbit Hole

Again, I'm tired. This is just a normal thing for me, which is annoying. But I've got those reviews done finally. A SPOILER WARNING goes without saying almost... if you haven't seen last week's episodes of Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries, please go away and come back later. Sorry for the delay. Oh, also minor SPOILER for this week's TVD, though it is in the trailer so... I don't technically count that as a SPOILER, but some people do. Also, minor SPOILERS for Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Ya know, if you care.

Supernatural - "Trial and Error" - Review

I pretty much called the big parts of the episode before it really got going. Namely: The stable girl was the one who made the deal and Sam would be killing the Hell Hound. Both were super obvious.

Kevin. Kevin sort of reminds me of Buffy Summers in that they're both rather desperate to go back to living a normal life. That said, I'm not happy with Dean pushing Kevin to finish with the tablet a.s.a.p. The fact that Kevin's listening to Dean instead of Sam makes the entire situation worse. He's going to end up killing himself, I can feel it.

I also have a problem with Dean just up and deciding Sam's future is more important than his. It bugs me, but I'm not exactly sure why. Now that Sam and Dean know where each other stands, we hopefully won't have to touch on it again. Hopefully. Rehashing their views over and over is getting old.

Overall, this episode had a predictable plot with beasties we already know everything about. While it was kind of fun seeing the Hell Hounds, I wasn't impressed by them at all. Other than that, I don't really have much to say about the episode.

The Vampire Diaries - "Down the Rabbit Hole." - Review

I must apologize in advance if I mix stuff from this episode up with stuff from last episode. They bleed together in my head... sort of.

So, Elena's finally decided she's going to have to be okay with being a vampire. I had thought we'd been over that. Gah! Whatever, I'm done with Elena... and apparently next week, she's going crazy. Joy.

Klaus and Caroline have another talk about how they're so similar... except not. Klaus doesn't get it. He has no compassion and that's why Caroline will never get with him. He can go ahead and lover her all he wants, she's not having any of it. Klaus also doesn't understand the concept of mental hurt. He says he'll never hurt Caroline, but that's exactly what he's doing/has done.

I found Damon and the new Hunter together entertaining. Though it did bring up this thing I have about people listening to other people. If you just assume everyone's lying, you'll get them nice and pissed at you. If someone tells you something, take it as the truth. The Hunter believes Damon is lying despite Damon insisting he's telling the truth. This bugs me. A lot. And it's a thing that's done in a lot of fiction, I've noticed.

I thought the whole Bonnie and Jeremy stuff was... meh. It was there, it got them to Silas. Joy. I'm slightly disappointed that Katherine showed up. I was so looking forward to Elena having to fight some manifestation of herself... or something. Kind of like Buffy seeing The First manifesting as herself in Season 7 of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Which reminds me, Silas' power really reminds me of The First.

But yeah... that was a fun episode. I'm glad one of the core group has died... again. I hope Jeremy stays dead this time. I got tired of him sometime in second season.

Neopets - Tyrannian Plot

As of today we've got five factions vying for the Obelisk thing:

1. Thieves Guild
2. The Sway
3. Order of Red Erisim
4. Brute Squad
5. Seekers

The Seekers kind of remind me of Watchers and Men of Letters from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Supernatural... just sayin'.

I'm still really hoping we get to choose our faction and do something with teams. Personally, I'm with the Order of Red Erisim. I like magic. In regards to magic in fiction, I've always been of the opinion that people who understand the magic should be allowed to work without interference from people who have no idea what they're doing. So... that's why I'm with the Order.

Housekeeping

Tomorrow is Arrow! Yay! The header for the Neopets section is a pair of links to pertinent places. And uhm... yeah... that's pretty much it for this post. Have a great day/evening/night.

Love ya, Jessie.

Once Upon a Time - "Manhattan"

Okay so... I've had a rough couple of days, at least in terms of sleep. I was babysitting while Once Upon a Time was on last night so I watched it this evening instead. However, I'm not exactly going to do a review or initial reactions for the episode. Instead, I'm going to do a bit of a hybrid thing. Except bullet-points, observations, and random bits of ranting.

If you have not seen this week's episode of Once Upon a Time, please leave the blog now and come back later. This hybrid-thing will contain SPOILERS.

Once Upon a Time - "Manhattan"

• Rumple's so excited to go to war. It's kind of sad, really.
• No one like surprises, Emma.
• Oh look, Cora's all modern and stuff.
• That "I can't run" scene was decidedly less epic than I'd thought it was going to be. The chase scene directly after, equally so.
• Gold bought Henry a hotdog? That's cute.
• I'm sure people are angry that all that was in the box was Baelfire's name. Kind of reminds me of when The Doctor met River Song. At the same time, I could have sworn the box glowed when August opened it.
• Future Sight is complicated. I thought the puzzle metaphor was nice, but it lacks some stuff. Choice, being one of them. Possible alternate universes spawning from those choices being another. The future would have to be a whole lot of puzzles all crammed into one box in order for the puzzle metaphor to work properly. At the same time, I guess the number of pieces would drop as you got closer to one goal... but then a bunch more would spring up... Timey Whimey Stuff Makes My Head Hurt.
• I did not see Rumple breaking his own leg coming. As soon as I saw that mallet, I cringed.
• I really don't like Milla. Most people would be happy their significant other came home and didn't die, even if they did a "cowardly" thing to get home.
• Seriously, Cora has to be using some kind of mind-control on Regina. I do not buy nor like Regina's sudden turn around. It just doesn't make sense to me. I see her as stronger than that. Also, one lie makes Emma the same as Regina? WTF Henry? Gah! I hate him, really I do.
• Oh joy, Henry has a big destiny and Rumple apparently wants to kill him. I'm not exactly happy about either of those things for various reasons.

Tyrannian Plot

I mentioned a little while ago that I'm following the current plot running on Neopets. As of right now, we've got four teams who want the obelisk thing. Not sure what's going to happen with the teams, but hopefully we'll be able to pick our team for the remainder of the plot. It'd be an interesting twist on the usual Neopets plots.

As a slight side note, the heading for this section is a link that'll take you to the "Mysterious Outskirts," the hub for the Tyrannian Plot.

Housekeeping

I am going to try my hardest to get Supernatural and TVD reviews up tomorrow. This is a goal I have set for myself and so it should get done. If it doesn't... eh, I dunno. I'm tired.

Love ya, Jessie.