"I tolerate this century but I don't enjoy it."

The new Doctor

morgeil — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 02:22:19 GMT

*delurks once again*

We've just seen the premiere of Season 8, but I can already tell that the Twelfth Doctor is going to a problem for me.

And by that, I mean a "I'm going to be really emotionally involved with this character, aren't I? Oh damn, I think I will" problem. I can feel it. He just clicked for me immediately, which I don't remember happening with any of the previous new series Doctors.

Introspective, self-aware but very dissociated with an edge. I like it. I like it a lot.

pokes head around corner

morgeil — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 02:36:29 GMT

*delurks*

You know, if you told me a year ago that Five/Tegan/Turlough would end up being my flagship pairing of the Davison Doctor Who era, I probably would have laughed in your face.

Oh, how things change...

*re-lurks*

Hiii...

morgeil — Mon, 12 May 2014 02:15:27 GMT

*pokes her LiveJoural* Is it still alive? Is anyone still here?

Not dead, I swear.

morgeil — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:16:15 GMT

If you haven't noticed, by now I've pretty much transferred over to Tumblr. I'll still check in here on occasion, but I went ahead and let my paid LJ subscription expire as I'm really not on here enough to justify it anymore.

If you want to follow me over there, my Tumblr is here. Lots of classic Doctor Who mixed with some Star Trek/Stargate/Mainframe Entertainment/gaming/misc. All the usual stuff I've been into lately.

For now, have a Enlightenment special edition trailer vid rec. (Rather nicely made, I'm impressed...) Because yes, I'm still obsessed with Peter Davison era Doctor Who at the moment. And still obsessed with this serial.

Enlightenment

morgeil — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:38:54 GMT

So I'm up to "Enlightenment" in my Peter Davison era rewatch.

Have I mentioned how much I adore "Enlightenment"? Because I adore it a lot. And you all need to watch it.

Right now.

Yes, you.

Go, dammit.

Fifth Doctor era rewatch

morgeil — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 11:53:03 GMT

So I decided to rest Stargate for a bit and somehow managed to get pulled back into the Great Void known as classic Doctor Who.

I got the Black Guardian Trilogy DVD boxset as one of my presents for my 31st birthday last month. For those that aren't aware, "Enlightenment" is one of my top favorite Doctor Who serials ever... if not my absolute favorite. So, so good.

This has apparently triggered a desire to do a complete chronological rewatch of the Peter Davison era, which is now currently in progress. Most of my errant musings as I do this are being posted to my Tumblr.

Beware massive Tegan and Nyssa fangirling, occasional Tegan/Nyssa and Five/Tegan shipping and a generous amount of childhood nostalgia. This is the era of Doctor Who I grew up on, after all.

Shadow Raiders 15th Anniverary Livestream, Monday September 16th

morgeil — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 23:53:40 GMT

A friend of mine is hosting a livestream of some SR episodes to honor the show's 15th anniversary. Please pop in if you can!

Details below:
https://new.livestream.com/accounts/5386805/events/2396677

morgeil — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 01:47:37 GMT

So Tekla has now joined Washu in the "Female Characers Morgeil Can't Ship With Guys to Save Her Life" club.

Hey, I tried. But the more time passes, the more I realize that I see Tekla/Cryos as more of a really strong, platonic brotp. And I'm still thoroughly confused as to where exactly people are seeing all this supposed Tekla/Graveheart UST.

So... yeah. Tekla gets all ladies from now on.

LONG SR discussion post: Jade and Mantel's season two arc

morgeil — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 02:06:33 GMT

I love how I can go a whole boring weekend with zero desire to write up anything... but the moment the weekday starts and I actually have shit to do, my brain's all "Oh hey, you're busy, perfect. Time to write nine paragraphs worth of Shadow Raiders meta, go!"

*headdesk*

Been meaning to do this write up for ages and only now has my brain decided to cooperate with me. Naturally. WARNING: END OF SERIES SPOILERS.

So I had always assumed that Jade’s “bargain” with Mantel (first referenced way back in “Ragnarok Part 2”) was the Alliance’s use of the Battle Moons in exchange for Jade using her good standing with the Alliance to leak inside information to Mantel.

Very few details of the agreement were given on screen, but this explanation seems to fit best with what we do see. And it explains everything about how disturbed Jade was when Tekla offered her the data crystal in “Girls’ Night Out”. It was clearly an expression that said “Well fuck. Things just got a lot more complicated…”

It put Jade in a difficult position: 1) Take the data crystal, keep it out of sight and hope for the best. Or 2) Refuse it. And then possibly be forced to explain why if Tekla forces the issue. A confrontation Jade was clearly not ready for given her skittishness around Graveheart just a few episodes earlier.

So she went with option 1. Which worked out well… for a while. Jade managed to keep the data crystal safe and out of Mantel’s way up until “Divided We Stand”. Apparently wearing it around her neck and rarely removing it.

If Jade’s loyalties to the Alliance were strong enough to keep the Alliance defense codes to herself for what likely was several weeks (“Divided We Stand” was only three episodes after “Girls’ Night Out”, but it’s clear that some time passes between episodes)… then what happened to suddenly change her mind and hand over that information to Mantel?

We don’t actually see the handover in “Divided We Stand”, but we know it happened (Jade suddenly isn’t wearing the data crystal when she enters the Aurora bridge). And we know from the Jade/Mantel conversation prior that Mantel was stretching the boundaries of the bargain much further from what Jade had initially agreed on.

My guess is that, during that unseen meeting, Mantel threatened something to force Jade’s hand. Possibly pulling Rock from the Alliance? Given the tense situation and the refugee state of the Fire people on the Battle Moons, such a thing would have had massive negative repercussions for the Alliance. I can easily see Jade deciding to give the codes up in a desperate bid to keep Mantel’s interest. Unfortunately, she and several other Alliance members wouldn’t be around to ensure that Mantel didn’t abuse his newly gained tool. But there was no way she could have predicted that.

And thus, everything went straight to hell.

The only thing that doesn’t quite match up is the explanation Graveheart gives Tekla and company when the cat is finally out of the bag in "Ascension": “It was the only way she could convince Mantel to use the Battle Moons in our fight against Remora”. Er, well, that’s partially correct, I guess… sort of.

It is highly unlikely that Jade lied to him when she confessed (off screen again, stupid rushed finale) and Graveheart would have known immediately if she had tried anyway. So most likely explanation? Graveheart is over simplifying on purpose, feeding everyone a party line to spare his girlfriend more pain. After all the shit Mantel pulled before his death, I definitely wouldn’t put this past him.

Thoughts? Anyone?

Casting the Tenchi Muyo OAV dub with Ocean Goup voice actors

morgeil — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 22:28:41 GMT

This randomness is brought to you by "Silly Things Morgeil Thinks About While Waiting in Two Hour DragonCon Panel Lines". You're welcome.

Tenchi - Matt Hill. Because maybe if he's voicing Tenchi, I might actually give a damn about whether he lives or dies, who knows.

Ryoko - Janyse Jaud. She's Ocean Group's go-to for femme fatales, kinda a no-brainer. Maybe a younger, more naive version of her Jewelia voice. And, you know, less psychotic. Way less psychotic.

Sasami - Andrea Libman. Because her child voices are the most adorable on the planet. Actually, I'd probably like this performance more than Sherry Lynn's...

Washu - This pains me, because I love both Yuko Kobayashi and K.T Vogt to death. That said, I'd love to see Venus Tezro take a crack at it. But not just copy her Blackarachnia voice, that needs to remain unique. But something along similar lines combining deadly serious, batshit crazy and high intelligence.

Ayeka - Ellen Kennedy. She has a lovely regal voice she uses sometimes, would suit Ayeka beautifully.

Mihoshi - This stumped me for a while, Mihoshi is actually really difficult to get right and Ellen Gerstell is the only English voice actress of hers that I liked. I'll go with Louise Vallance, because she's crazy talented and I trust her to give an excellent performance. Maybe modify her Whazzat voice to better suit Mihoshi's age and characterization.

Kagato - As much as I prefer him when he's playing against type, Paul Dobson. Because damn, the man really does voice a great villain, typecasting or not.

Azaka and Kamidake - Gary Chalk and Scott McNeil. Just toss the script out and let them adlib everything. No, really. Purists might hate it, but it would be the best thing you'd ever do.

Oh right, I have a LiveJoural

morgeil — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 02:53:40 GMT

You know, one of these days I'll be able to watch parts of the InuYasha dub and not hear a creepy-ass and highly unsettling Evil Graveheart whenever Naraku talks. Someday. (And I don't usually have problems differentiating between Paul Dobson's roles, so I'm not sure why I'm having such an issue here...)

In other news, Stargate SG-1 is just not the same without Jack. Still entertaining, but... Jack. *sadface*

Also, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has eaten my brain.

That is all.

Shadow Raiders Introduction Post

morgeil — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:25:04 GMT

So hey, you know what show is approaching it's 15th anniversary in a few months? Shadow Raiders! You know what this means? Yup. A shameless fandom introduction post for everyone's convenience!

This is a mirror of the SR intro post I made on Tumblr.

What is it?

Shadow Raiders is a CGI space opera cartoon that aired in 1998-1999. It was loosely based on the War Planets toyline.

The storyline revolves around a solar system of elemental-based worlds (Ice, Rock, Fire and Bone) that have been in a constant state of war for generations, pillaging each other for their natural resources.

This status quo is disrupted when the Cluster is warned by an alien refugee that the Beast Planet - a Unicron-like planet-sized sphere that consumes worlds - has targeted their system. The Cluster is now faced with the difficult task of overcoming decades of racial prejudice and warfare to unite against the outside threat.

Looks kinda like ReBoot…

If the visual style is reminding you of ReBoot, it shouldn’t be surprising. Like ReBoot, Shadow Raiders was produced by Mainframe Entertainment. Both shows had the same character designer and music composer, as well as sharing several writers and voice actors.

Why do you recommend it?

It’s a solidly written cartoon that deals with some surprisingly dark themes such as racism and genocide. It’s one of few Saturday morning shows that accurately depicts overcoming racial prejudice as an ongoing struggle that takes a lot of dedication and open-mindedness to overcome... and not a Special Episode hot topic that is wrapped up at the end and then promptly forgotten about.

Also, awesome ladies! The cast has several excellent and kickass female characters, each with highly varied personalities and skill sets that make major contributions to the plot.

It’s not without its flaws, of course. Season 1 has a some issues with pacing. There is a lot of foreign/regional accent use with the cast and exactly how good/embarrassing those accents are tends to depend on the actor/actress. There’s also the fact that the show was never fully completed and was cancelled after its second season, leaving a lot of questions concerning the series mythology unanswered.

Where can I watch it?

Well, there are DVDs, but they’ve been out of print for ages. Good luck with that. Fortunately though, the whole series is available on YouTube:

Season 1

Season 2

Warning: Do not read the episode descriptions. They spoil everything!

morgeil — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:24:16 GMT

Things to do:

1. Make a shirt that says nothing but "MAGNETS!"

2. Wear it to the next DragonCon and see who gets it.

More Stargate

morgeil — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:21:07 GMT

Stargate SG-1 update: Just started season five.

And Jack O'Neill, you have just received the rare honor of being one of the few male leads that Morgeil actually rather likes and is emotionally attached to. Instead of wanting to slap them silly most times or just being plain indifferent towards them (sorry, Tenchi).

You have now joined an exclusive club that includes the Doctor, Benjamin Sisko, Graveheart and Robert Goren. So good job, you.

Jumped the Stargate bandwagon. Okay, jumped it a bit late, but...

morgeil — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:58:16 GMT

So I may have accidentally on purpose started watching Stargate SG-1.

Er... whoops?

BTW, Jack is my boy. Because I am predicable and always gravitate to the nearest smartass of any gender. And Sam is brilliant and adorable. And Teal'c is badass and adorable. And Daniel still has to grow on me because I rather miss James Spader's portrayal, but I am willing to give Michael Shanks a chance.

And occassionally, I write stuff

morgeil — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 04:48:32 GMT

This being International Woman's Day, probably best time as any to post the Jade/Tekla bonding drabble I wrote for a prompt on Tumblr a few days ago. And I still have another SR prompt I was given to write, so expect another soonish.

Title: Silent Force
Fandom: Shadow Raiders
Characters: Tekla, Jade
Pairings: None
Word Count: 218
Summary: A prompt from magsofthemuses on Tumblr: "Jade shows Tekla how to behave in a bar". In which there is female bonding, Tekla being her own special brand of badass and me taking broad strokes in regards to physics.

Fanfiction.net
Archive of Our Own

I admit, it was great to have an excuse to write for Tekla. Should do that more often, I rather enjoyed it.

WHAAAAAAAT

morgeil — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:18:32 GMT

WAIT WAIT HOLD THE PHONE. Mark Oliver is actually British? I thought he was just faking the Ice accent like most everyone else was!

I mean, yes, the accent is very weak. Clearly lost a lot of it living in Canada, but, but... I mean, for years I've been sitting here thinking "Wow, great fake British accent for Cyros there, dude, good job". LIKE A DUMBASS.

Ways to feel like a horrible, ignorant American. X_x

ETA: Okay, the only thing he clarified was "went to school in England", which explains a lot of the English influences in his speech. Still, more than I knew! Interview had a pretty interesting discussion on accents and dialects in cartoons... until they started joking about Cajun ponies, then it was embarrassing and painful. But the rest was good.

And now I have casted Mark Oliver as human!Cryos in my head. Can we just have an on-screen Shadow Raiders human AU with everyone being played by their voice actors, please? No? Oh, okay.

Lots of SMT and a tiny bit of SR nattering

morgeil — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 03:15:23 GMT

Because that's all I post about here anymore, apparently.

So after clearing all Devil Survivors, I decided to try and 100% Strange Journey. Beat it on the Neutral path ages ago and shelved it, but now I dusted my save off and am attempting a complete/fully analyzed Demon Compendium. Possibly complete Records, but we'll see.

I've been working through each sector systematically, fusing/analyzing all the field demons in the area (leaving out Enemy Search demons for now, since a lot of those require converter Sub Apps. Also not messing with registering Primes or Mitamas until later either, because they're expensive dammit) and then moving on to the next one.
--

I'm clearing through fields demons in Fornax at the moment and just fused/registered Tlaltecuhtli. Who, yes, is from Aztec mythology. But the art the series uses really gives the impression that she'd be right at home on Planet Fire.

...I'm just sayin'.

*returns to lurkerdom*

SMT babble

morgeil — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:49:05 GMT

So as of today I finished 100% completion on all three Devil Survivor games. Thus making it the first Shin Megami Tensei series that I've completed in its entirety.

Now it's just a matter of waiting for the Devil Survivor 2 anime adaption to air in April. Which looks fantastic and I'm ridiculously exited for it. XD

Sooo.... go back and do 100% completion in Strange Journey or attempt a Thanatos Run of the Snow Queen Quest in the original Persona. Or just play something else entirely? Hmmm.

morgeil — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:43:27 GMT

Know what I hate? Being sick, that's what I hate.

Ugh. ENERGY COME BACK TO ME.

morgeil — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:57:18 GMT

You know, as frustrating as it is to to feel like I'm talking to a wall most of the time I post any SR stuff anywhere, I think the freakishly small size of the fandom is a big player in why I've remained active with Shadow Raiders for so long.

I rather enjoy having the freedom to crack ship and headcanon and muse without the internet seemingly breathing down my neck and shouting "Ack, what is wrong with you, you can't write/think that, WTF did you even watch the same show I did?!?"

Pretty much everyone I've interacted with has either been open to discussions or shared my same train of thought. Though this might have to do with the fact that, when two SR fans find each other, they're too busy gaping in awe to really give a damn about anything else. "Holy shit, I'm not alone!. Eh, you ship what? WHO FUCKING CARES YOU EXIST."

It's become a refuge of sorts. When other fandoms stress me out, I duck back into SR to be alone with my musings without pressure.

/thoughts. Back to your regularly scheduled LJ ghost town shenanigans. (I really should stop being lazy and import this blog over to Dreamwidth sometime soon...)

My Shadow Raiders rewatch blog on Tumblr back from the dead

morgeil — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 05:23:02 GMT

So, eight months later, I've finally blogged the second episode, "On the Rocks".

So at this rate I might have a shot at finishing the series during my lifetime. :P

Song associations

morgeil — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:39:27 GMT

Don't you hate when as song you've just heard for the first time parallels a character/pairing/plot so well that you'll now associate it with that for pretty much the rest of your life?

Just listened to Linkin Park's "Burn it Down" a week or so ago. Really tried to listen to the song objectively, but all I heard was "Jade and Mantel's Season Two Conflict The Musical".

Awesome Google, I approve.

morgeil — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:58:24 GMT

Okay, so the Little Nemo tribute on the Google page today? Totally made my week. XD

TMNT 2k3 bingfest

morgeil — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 01:44:20 GMT

Since TMNT 2k12 has come out, I've been in a "watch all the TMNT things!" mode. And decided it was time I finally polished off the entirety of 2k3 series in one big swoop.

Currently mid-season 3. Kickass April is kickass! And I've always really liked this version of Raphael. Partly because the dynamic between him and his brothers has a few similarities to my own relationship with my two sisters. (Except I'm the eldest - and the bad temper I had as a teenager that mellowed out later on wasn't quite that bad. But sarcastic, reclusive sibling with a fierce loyalty streak? Check!)

It's rather scary how well the three of us fit into Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo's basic archetypes. Especially when it comes to basic temperaments...

BTW, this my new favorite TMNT vid on YouTube. ~~And now I want this song on my mp3 player...~~