Avatar: The Last Airbender and FFXI

[thistlechaser]

(Icon because I'd kill for some chocolate right now. I'd love to buy a cake and eat all the frosting off it, lick every last bit off it, then eat some of those chocolate covered cream-filled donuts, maybe a dozen or so of them. Then some brownies and a whole bunch of chocolate cookies with chocolate chips in them. And a jar of that pourable fudge stuff you can microwave and pour onto ice cream...)

I've heard nothing but good things about Avatar, so when downtime got extended three hours I decided to put the time to good use and look for the eps online. Yay avatarchapters.org! They have (almost) all of them online!

I'm only up to ep #7, but wow do I love it. (I missed ep #2 and #3 because one was in Spanish and the other one was such bad quality it was unwatchable -- a third ep had its soundtrack about 30 seconds off from the image, but I put up with that one.) I love the world they set up, like how most animals are so close to ours yet just a little off. I love the "poses" the characters do when bending, so totally martial arts-ish! I love the humor in the series, especially when it's subtle and it takes you a moment of delay before you laugh. I haven't yet encountered one character I don't like, which is really really rare for me.

The voice acting (and actors) thus far have been outstanding. It was fun recognizing voices. :)

There's just one thing that could have made me fall 100% in love with the series, but I'm not surprised they didn't do it -- the ep where the earthbenders were imprisoned by the firebenders and kept on the ship, away from any earth? I was so hoping for a non-happy ending on that one -- let the prisoners have stayed, not have a change of heart and fight back. But it's a cartoon on Nickelodeon, so I wasn't really expecting anything but the ending we got. (Still, I'm really surprised something of this quality is on Nick. I can't remember the last time I watched a show on that station!)

So much <3 for the series! I can't wait to watch the rest.

---

In FFXI land, blah. A total lack of sleep and too much pain did not make today's extended downtime any cheerier.

I was the 106th person back on the server... and there were already four people digging in one side of the Desert and three on the other. *holds head* I never try to dig there other than after downtimes, and even then it's bad.

I've been thinking about Dynamis pretty much nonstop today. I feel like it's something I "should" do, but god don't I hate "should"s in a damned game. When it comes down to it, I "should" do Sky and join a HNM LS to get the top stuff, if I'm going to act on "should" why should I just do Dynamis and not the other two? But I strongly don't want to. I've let myself not do Sky and stuff because "I don't want to", so I should let myself not do Dynamis, too. I really hate whatever's inside me that makes me want to turn FFXI into a job, into work, something that has to be done "right".

And speaking of non-fun things I make myself do, an hour tonight on top of the 11 from yesterday = enough chocobucks to do the last bump of DIS for my racing chocobo. Now I need another 560 bucks (12 hours of racing) to get enough for the last END bump, then I need at least another 1K on top of that... (At least I can watch Avatar while doing this, that's something.)

Very grumpy and down and tired. I'm sure the three are related. zzzzz

Comments

Avatar

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Because I am like that, and have watched every episode...

I think I have all the eps ('cept one in the 3rd season I'm waiting to repeat) on DVD off Nick, if you want to borrow them. They have commercials in them, but they're at least all in English. :)

Also: the reason the moves during the bending are martial art'ish is because they *are* martial arts. :) Each element's bending is based on a different style of martial art, and they have martial art masters as technical advisors. I can't remember what all of them are (and I'm too lazy to go find the web page that talks about them), but water bending is tai chi.

Oh, and welcome to the fan club. :) I hope you continue to enjoy it. When you're done watching the series, I have some YouTube videos to point you to... :>

Re: Avatar

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

Earthbending uses the Hung Ga style of Southern Shaolin, like Wong Fei Hung. Firebending uses Northern Shaolin instead. Airbending uses the Eight Trigram Palm, which is a Taoist style, appropriately enough.

Re: Avatar

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting to know!

Re: Avatar

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I think I have all the eps ('cept one in the 3rd season I'm waiting to repeat) on DVD off Nick, if you want to borrow them. They have commercials in them, but they're at least all in English. :)

Oh thanks! I'm going to grab the whole series off BT instead though. :) I'm just too impatient now and want to watch them before the big download. (The ones on that site are pretty good about commercials, you can hardly even notice where they'd normally be. Good editing!)

Oh, and welcome to the fan club. :) I hope you continue to enjoy it. When you're done watching the series, I have some YouTube videos to point you to... :>

I'd love love love to ask you for them now, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers. :) I'm itching to check out fan stuff, I know there must be a ton of it, but right now most everything would be a spoiler. (I even spoiled myself on what must be one big story element while just trying to look up the spelling of a name. :/ )

Re: Avatar

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

One of the fun things about the series are the nods to the fans that the creators slip into the episodes. Some are just easter eggs, some are affectionate jabs.

There's one episode near the end of the 3rd book that's loaded with them, and believe it or not, it's actually a good recap episode. I'd go so far as to say it's the best recap episode, for any show, ever. :)

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

I have a confession: I watched the entire series of Avatar in roughly a four-day span last month. It resulted in some wonky dreams, but I regret nothing. :-D

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I can totally understand that! :D

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

Avatar is fun. It's not an Angst-fest (which I'm not complaining about!) like much of the genre it inhabits, but rest assured that they do take their lumps from time to time. I think it stays good throughout, so enjoy!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

While I am a fan of angst, I can certainly enjoy a less angsty show as well. :)

I think it stays good throughout, so enjoy!

Thanks, I will!

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

Brooke and Zoe have been big fans of Avatar since it started airing on Nickelodeon, and this summer, in honor of the new episodes that have come on, they've been feverishly watching every older episode they can find online. It does seem like a really good show- good storyline, well-flowing dialogue, and so on. I love that flying bison thingie.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

The 'cute animal companions' are some of the few in recent animated stories who are actually cute without being over the top. I love Appa and Momo. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

While I wouldn't call Appa cute, I love him as well as Momo. I enjoy that the 'cute animal companions' actually have parts in the storyline, even when they're not overly important ones -- like Momo in the air battle with that bird-reptile thing that the pirate had.

And between that pirate ep and the one I watched over lunchtime today (The Great Divide, about crossing the "Grand Canyon" and the two tribes who hated each other), I've found something more to love about the series -- the characters are so gray! Good guys doing bad things! The sister stole the water scroll from the pirates (it doesn't matter that they stole it first, stealing is stealing!), and Ang lied, totally outright lied, to get the two tribes back together. That's so majorly cool! :D

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

they've been feverishly watching every older episode they can find online. It does seem like a really good show- good storyline, well-flowing dialogue, and so on. I love that flying bison thingie.

Then they'll like the URL in my post! Seems like, other than the three mentioned in my OP, they're all there! Even the newest ones. :D

Everytime I think I've commented on everything I like about the show, I realize I forgot something else. Everything you mentioned, plus the music! The music is so amazing, movie-quality, which really surprises me.

And yes, I love the flying bison, too! Such a wacky idea. :D

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

The music is very good, and in the final episode, they actually use live orchestra, instead of the samples they normally use throughout the rest of the series. It's outstanding.

[xvolph.livejournal.com]

Avatar's a lovely series but I've seen far too little of it, myself. Thanks for the site. Now I know where to go for more episodes.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yay! You're welcome!

[iniadelphinae.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Avatar site. I love the show, but I don't seem to catch it that often.

Now, about end-game: You do not have to do everything. I do Nyzul and Limbus and that's it. I did Sky with my linkshell because I genuinely like my linkshell (and okay, I wanted some shinies) but I hate it with a fiery passion. That sentiment, btw, is shared by every other officer in my ls, which is why we're not doing it right now. The stress isn't worth it.

Dynamis, once you stop standing around waiting to get in, is actually fairly fun for me. Of course, I have always gone on my mage jobs, and this keeps you on your toes. BRD or COR would probably be similar to mage stuff. I can imagine it's not quite the same for a standard melee DD. I'd go back to Dynamis in a heartbeat if I could find a Dynamis ls for East Coasters that have to get up really, really early and need more than 4-5 hours of sleep.

HNMs... Personally, this is my absolute least favorite endgame activity, and I've left a shell that decided it wanted to start doing HNMs (they didn't when I joined) and make it mandatory to go if you were on the game. However, you might surprise yourself there, given your history of NM camping. If you have the patience for NM camping, HNM camping is that x20.

As to the shinies... I'm not going to lie and say I don't really, really like my Zenith Mitts and my Duelist's Chapeau. But you know, the old saying is true, especially on support and mage jobs: Skill > Gear. BRD relic and a Kirin's Osode don't mean a damn thing if you're a crap puller. I know an Elvaan RDM whose gear is average at best, doesn't have a single piece of Sky or Dynamis gear yet, but she will beat me hands-down on RDM main healing at any time. (Doesn't help that I have little practice at main healing on RDM since I hate it so much, but still, she's good).

I not-so-secretly lust after a Cleric's Briault or an Azoth, but in the end, it's not worth the stress.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Avatar site. I love the show, but I don't seem to catch it that often.

Welcome! I've watched up to ep 11 and have pre-loaded up to ep 14. All are there/good quality other than the three mentioned in my post. Looks like they have the latest released ones, too!

I'd go back to Dynamis in a heartbeat if I could find a Dynamis ls for East Coasters that have to get up really, really early and need more than 4-5 hours of sleep.

*laughs* Wouldn't that make it EU time? Maybe an EU shell would work for you?

HNMs... Personally, this is my absolute least favorite endgame activity,

I think my biggest issue with HNM foo is the fighting (player fighting) that goes on. If all interested LSs would /random when something pops and not do stupid crap like crowd to lag and stuff like that, I'd be more interested. I really, really dislike people fighting with each other, and I don't want to be involved with that on a game. Sometimes you can't help it RL, but on a game you should be able to.

As to the shinies... I'm not going to lie and say I don't really, really like my Zenith Mitts and my Duelist's Chapeau. But you know, the old saying is true, especially on support and mage jobs: Skill > Gear.

Yeah, that makes sense. Add into the fact that I don't do stuff in game and really, I have no idea why I'm stressing myself out over this. You don't need AF2 or AF+1 to craft, chocobo race, chat, farm, H&C, and the few other minor things I do in-game...

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

As a Sky LS leader, and a black belt owner, I would like to note that Sky and HNM are giant traps designed to devour the soul of anyone who participates in those events.

With that in mind, there are other alternative gears you can use for your jobs. Sure, your DRK won't have that hecatomb that sets them off from lesser DRKs, but you'll do alright with what you have.

If you really want to consider an endgame event, look into Einherjar. 30 minutes, once or twice a week. My Einherjar shell goes once a week.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think I'd mind Einherjar so much -- seems like it'd be exciting. Salvage(? that short one with all the naked people) seems like another thing that'd be better for me (though... Sea and all). I liked... what was it called. Nyz-whatever Isle Assaults, too; a little costly XP-wise, but nice and short and not boring at all.

<3 !

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

Salvage isn't Sea. =p Salvage is ToAU stuff.

Think you're mixing it up with Limbus. =p Salvage has the naked people.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh! Duh. Too many new events, I fail to keep them all straight!

I approve of Salvage then. Yay crowds of naked people!

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda tempted to do a Salvage group, a small one. I dunno yet though. =x I wouldn't take more than like a party and a half.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Well, if you do and you want someone with zero experience, you can always poke me!

[wanderingscribe.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for the link. Due to Nick's incredibly awful TV schedule, I missed most of the last two seasons.

As for your chocolate, have some! Just make sure it's something you want to eat and not something that's just there and that you balance it out by eating something lower in calories and fat for the rest of the day. (Personally, I would recommend some dark chocolate; delicious and good for you. Much better than some waxy Hershey bar.)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, dark chocolate! :)

And you're welcome!