Sushi, Sake, and Tanuki: A New Leaf 6

After carefully washing myself, I lay still in the pool. It was made out of rock and everyday it was filled with new water. Always fresh and never salt. During the daytime it was lovely and every night it was lit up with star light. Also, it was very close to Akumie's room. Meaning that after we had made love it had been a short walk here.


Of course I hadn't gone to the pool directly afterwards. Directly afterwards we had just enjoyed the comfort of each other. I wouldn't have done that if I had wanted to anger her. Getting on the bad side of a goddess never ended well.


I would have to go back to her soon. For some reason that thought frightened me. Was it because I was afraid of being caught or actually having feelings for her? Had to be the fear of being caught since I hadn't let any feelings for Akumie go deep into my mind. And if they hadn't gone deep into my mind then there was no chance that they would've reached my heart. A heart that I had protected from those kind of feelings since Sajoki's death. Or at least that's what I told myself.


Realizing that I couldn't wait any longer, I got out. I walked to Akumie's room and entered dripping wet. When I saw her smile at me from the bed, I remembered the wetness I had felt earlier. With that thought I smiled back at her.


"You're good." Akumie said. "I'm amazed that you dared to fight a goddess that way."


"I have no fear." I told her and dried myself with a rug on the floor. She laughed. "It's one of the only dry things in this room now."


"That's all your fault."


"And I'm not sorry for that at all."


After I dried off I went back in bed and lay down with Akumie for awhile. We talked to each other but the conversation wasn't important. I was pretending through most of it. Akumie liked it so it didn't matter anyways. I don't know if I liked her believing the lies or her smile more.


Finally I got up. "I'm boring you?" Akumie asked jokingly.


"No, I just need to talk to Jirou." I replied.


"Who is he?"


"A sparring buddy of mine. Haven't talked to him in a long time."


"You going to brag about me to him?" She smiled as she said that.

"How could I not tell a friend of mine about you? About our love?" I said and headed to Jirou. Of course I wasn't going to be talking about love to him. That part wasn't true.

What's The Point of the Golden Universe? (Fringe)

One of the problems people have with Season 4 of Fringe (on FX) is that the Golden Universe (alternate versions of the Blue and Red Universes) seems to have no point. I totally agree with this.

While Season 3 had a heavy emphasis on the Red Universe: You followed it with OUR Olivia. Adding to that, there was the goal of getting OUR Olivia back and the war with the Red Universe being expanded. PLUS, the buildup to the Red Universe was spread over 2 Seasons.

But the Golden Universe seems pointless for one main reason: It MIGHT end up having no point since everything MIGHT go back to normal. Or the Fringe version of normal, at least. We have spent so much time in the Golden Universe that if everything that happens in it turns out to be useless...well, let's just say there will be an angry mob.

I do trust the writers to make this all have a point. Maybe, as one fan suggested, the Golden Universe will end up being the CORRECT (that the word to use?) and Peter will have to deal with:

1.) This now being his reality.

2.) Lincoln's budding relationship with HIS Olivia.

However, it doesn't seem enough people trust the writers since Fringe's ratings have dropped. While part of this is due to being in the Death Slot (Friday Nights, only really heard it used for FX shows) another part is that people don't want to give their time to a pointless storyline.

Whatever happens, I hope that Fringe will continue. I love me some Walter Bishop comedy!


Note: If none of this made sense, you don't watch Fringe. Or haven't caught up with the series yet.

Lack of Zombies in The Walking Dead (Season 2)

A common complaint for Season 2 of the tv series The Walking Dead (on AMC) is that there isn't enough zombies. That the show is focusing too much on the human characters. They say there is too much drama and that it's becoming a soap opera.

I can understand that since Season 2 is much slower than Season 1 (at least so far) people don't like it as much. However, I think that the show is right to focus on the survivors since the show is about them. It just happens to have zombies thrown in.

Yes, it's a zombie survival show so there needs to be zombies. And guess what? They have had zombies in Season 2. Heck, they even managed to humanize them (this done especially well in Sophia). It's just that every episode in Season 2 doesn't focus heavily on them.

What I liked about Season 1 was that there was such a heavy emphasis on the human characters. So I like that with Season 2 (so far) that there is even more of that. While the first part of Season 2 was slow: it had a huge payoff. I don't think if there wasn't so much buildup to the mid-season finale it would've have been as good.

Before I end this, I must say: I do want the action to pick up. I don't mind a slow placing as long as there is a good/big payoff. That's why I love 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Green: Waking Up Trailer

This is the trailer for the first section of my series The Green.

If that version doesn't work, try this one:

S&N: The Change Trailer

This is the trailer for the first section of my series S&N.

If that version doesn't work, try this one:

The Green: Illegal 5

I paced around Plague's living room and thought about everything that had happened. Looking at Plague I saw that his face was clear of all emotions. Well, all emotions but boredom.


Looking at me he said, "Matthias, just relax. Whatever the results will be won't be sped up by worrying."


"I just want to do something." I replied.


As Plague started to laugh there was a knocking at the door. He quickly got up to stop me from racing to the door. He gave me a small smile before going to the door. I stayed in the living room and only heard part of the conversation. After what seemed like forever, Plague came into the living room with a Police Officer.


The Officer was someone that I recognized from the Nuscon Police Station. This being the case, I wasn't surprised that he gave me an angry look. Feeling a little frightened, I quickly looked away and leaned against one of the walls.


"So you have the results?" Plague asked.


"Yes." The Officer said. "It seems Matthias was correct in what happened to Thomas Savan. Gralg is once again a problem."


"What kind of problem?" I asked.


"You saw what happened to Savan, so why don't you tell me? Imagine everyone going crazy like that. All the people fueled on their strongest rage. Sort of like zombies." He replied. "When Gralg was just in pill form it was easy to control. Control the pill supply and you'd control the danger. Now that there are bits of it growing out in the wild, it is much more dangerous."


"But wouldn't it be easy to stop it?"


"Savan found a random piece of it in the middle of nowhere. We don't know how long this has been going on or where to start looking."


"I am sure you have a plan." Plague said.


"Yes, but it isn't much." The Officer said and got up. "I'll leave you now. I have a lot of work to do."


After Plague escorted the Officer out, he turned to me and said, "I think we could both use a cup of coffee."


"Yeah." I replied and sat down at the table as Plague made coffee. The whole preparation was something I didn't consider important at all. Plus it involved waiting, which I wasn't in the mood for now.


"Just drink it." Plague said and put a cup of coffee in front of me. "You'll feel better."


"What do you know about Gralg?" I asked and pushed the cup away from me. Plague sighed and sat down beside me.


"When Gralg is ingested orally it makes people go into rage mode. Some people, though, it doesn't affect at all."


"What about it affecting a fetus?"


"Every woman that was tested was either on some type of birth control or a virgin." He paused. "We made sure that none of the virgins were pregnant."


"Why would you need to do that?"


"Because people have different ways of defining virginity. Anyways, Gralg was originally meant to treat people with mental disorders. A very wide range of them, too. However, the side effects made it ineffective as a form treatment and highly dangerous. Therefore it was made illegal and never heard about again."


"Then don't you want to find out what happened afterwards?" I asked. "Let's go now and maybe we'll be able to get information to help the Police."


"And get myself shot for your selfish reasons again? At least let's have a much better plan." Plague said and I nodded.


For a few hours we discussed plans and looked up information. It took around an hour to get ready to head out. This time it wasn't going to be quick, but well thought out in advance.


"That should do it." Plague said and smiled at me after we had finished loading the car.


Even though I was on the opposite side of the car, he walked over to me. He hugged me and he seemed to do it in a different way than usual. It was a hug but there was…more love in it. There was more love in it than usual and I liked that. Especially since it was coming from him. When he broke away from me he was smiling nervously. I smiled back at him and both our smiles became larger.

The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale (2011)

This was an excellent episode. Just heartbreaking. I am going to delve into spoilers or else I can't really talk about this episode.

For awhile now The Walking Dead has gotten 'slower' and focused more on the humans than the zombies. This angered people that wanted their zombie show to be focused on zombies. One person on The Walking Dead Facebook Page said that the title refers to the survivors and not the zombies.

If this is true, then it makes sense for the show to focus more on the human characters.

Throughout Season 2 (up to this point) finding Sophia has been of the most importance. Rick and gang are staying at Hershel's farm and won't leave until Sophia is found.

By this episode these things happened:

Lori (Rick's Wife) is Pregnant
When Shane finds out he tries to say he's better than Rick (since he thinks he's the father, as do a lot of the viewers). The rift between the two is shown. While Shane did have a moment last season of showing this it was more of a secret (though it's shown in this episode Dale did know about it).

Possible Daryl and Carol Relationship Implied
Okay, yeah, this is shipping. But the two have been growing closer all season as Daryl became more human. In the scene where a possible relationship is implied it is shown that Daryl still has his old feelings and that Carol cares for him (so much that she would abandon the search for Sophia to spare Daryl's life).

Shane and Dale Showdown
Dale is finally acting on his suspicions of Shane. He takes the group's guns in an attempt to hide them so that Shane can't do any harm. When Shane finds Dale things come out that show that Dale is correct in his suspicions. While Dale's warning to Andrea of Shane (since she is now in a relationship with him, secretly) may seem controlling. Dale is right to be worried.

The ENDING
This is by far the best, saddest, and most messed up part of this episode. Shane finally loses his shit and it leads to a slaughtering of all the Walkers living in the barn. While this scene is disturbing it doesn't hold up to when they find Sophia. This show takes a lot of risks and having a child becoming a zombie and then being killed takes a lot of balls.

I was pitying Shane for the last episode or two but now I'm back to hating him. His philosophies are good but he takes them in a very dark direction. While Shane can do more stuff in the face of danger, Rick is the more human of the group. And, when you're trying to keep humanity alive, being human is very important.

I liked that Sophia was found and that her death really meant something. It meant that the group could see from Hershel's point of view. Plus, with the Barn Walkers Massacre, Hershel could understand the groups point of view.

Now I can't wait for the second part of Season 2! February can't come soon enough!