Once Upon a Time review

I began watching OUaT with hopes that were simultaneously high, and low. High, because fairy tales. Low, because potentially crappy retellings of fairy tales.

For the first season was amazing. Had the somewhat sappy feeling, as would be expected of a fairy tale based show, but was still really good. The second season was pretty good as well. The villains were decent (More than decent in some ways. Like a certain pirate. Who is highly attractive.) and Emma went through some good character growth.

I wasn't fond of the way they portrayed some of the characters, like Mulan and Aurora. Mulan was portrayed almost like she was head-over-heels for Philip and jealously protective, which would not be the case, and Aurora was a whiny little girl who could do nothing on her own. They weren't in that many episodes, though, so I could live with it.

The third season was decent. The main villain in the first half of it was amazing, although the reveal on who he was wasn't all that spectacular. But maybe because I'd had some spoilers floating around on the social media I was on at the time. The villain in the second half was good as well, although maybe not the crowning glory of OUaT. Her history was great, and the person playing her was good. I don't remember them doing a lot of dancing around in circles, which was what ended up happening in the beginning of season four.

The first villain of season four, Ingrid/the Snow Queen, was way too obsessed with family and that part of the season felt like it stretched on forever. And then once she's wrapped up and tucked away (finally.) Cruella, Ursula, and Maleficent show up.

Maleficent looks like she might be cool. (I'm holding out hope, because dragons. Even though OUaT has somewhat [okay very] crappy graphics for their dragons.) Cruella was a joke, and Ursula was just off. Maybe because of the Disney movies, but still.

OUaT makeup and costuming feels like it's going downhill along with the plots. I mean, look at Cruella's eyebrows:

Do they seem outrageously thick to anyone else, or is that just me??

And the Charmings. I'm starting to detest them. In the "Next week on Once Upon a Time" thing, Snow was shown being thrown against a rock, forehead first. My reaction? "I hope she dies this time."
No joke.
I actually said that.
Out loud.
Around my sister and Mom.
And meant it.
Because they act sooo darn perfect, but actually? They've screwed up so many times, that it's impressive that they're still trying to act all hoity-toity and noble and pure. And they're aaaaallways going "WE HAVE TO HIDE THIS FROM EMMA"

No 
You nutcases
That is the worst thing you could do!!! 

*Starts quietly flailing and snarling before calming down*

Needless to say, the only reason I'm still watching the show at this point is for Hook and Regina. Both of which have had impressive character growth, and are quite admirable to me at this point.

Okay. I'll stop fuming and give you guys my ranking for stuff:
Characters are probably around 6 out of 10. Not the worst, mainly because some of them are okay. But not the best either.
Plot is 7 out of 10. Would have potentially been an 8 out of 10 if the Snow Queen hadn't lasted so doggon long.
Graphics is a 5 out of 10. It's blatantly obvious what's set in the Enchanted Forest, and what's set in our world.
Family friendly is at 8 out of 10. Hook shows up and decides to slide a few comments in that a younger audience won't understand but adults will.
So over all ranking for this show is around 6 out of 10. I highly recommend the first season, and the second isn't that bad either. The farther beyond that you go, the less of a fan I become.

So. What do you guys think about Once Upon a Time?

Thank you for looking, and I shall see you Monday if Kathryn (or my own ranting) doesn't scare you off!!
--Rebecca

Character Love: Chaol from the Throne of Glass

My apologies for the late-ish post! Had a slight headache yesterday and because of it, didn't feel like using the brainpower to type up a post. However, I'm doing much much better today, so here's a post!!

Chaol is a character from both the novel and series, Throne of Glass. He's the Captain of the Guard and keeps an eye on the main character, who is an assassin brought in for a stupid challenge the king set forth to find a so-called Champion, A.K.A. someone to do the dirty work for him.

Chaol is an awkward little turtleduck masquerading successfully as a cool, collected Captain. He's borderline quiet, but not because he doesn't want to speak. In my mind, when he talks, he keeps his voice just loud enough that only the people around him hear.

During the first book, he doesn't realize that he has a crush on the said assassin, which is kind of a problem because he is the Captain of the Guard, and she is the most notorious assassin in the kingdom and had to be gotten out of a labor camp to attend the stupid competition. He's slightly more aware of it in the second book, and it's adorable because he's simultaneously protective of her and walking around going "She can take care of herself. Why am I bothering being worried??"

Despite being an awkward turtleduck, Chaol is still quite competent at his job. The poor baby goes through something in the first book that haunts him, but with the help of the assassin, he's working through it. (And wow that's an odd sentence. o.O ) He's noble, sweet, clever, brave, serious... Instead of fangirling wildly over him, like I typically do with characters, it's more of a quiet "My precious baby," kind of like this:


There is an attempt of a love triangle between Chaol, the assassin, and the Crown Prince, but both boys kind of sit back and go "Wait no this isn't okay" and try to not let it come between them, since they're best friends. Doesn't always happen (Hello vague tension between the Prince and Chaol in book two) but that they recognize it and try to prevent it shows good maturity from those two.

So basically, Chaol is just an all around sweetie pie who needs to be protected from all harm, because the (story) world would be dark without the precious sunshine turtleduck that is the Captain of the Guard.

Thanks for dropping by and look forwards to a review on Thursday!!
--Rebecca

Crazy "What Ifs" are what books are made of

Hello all! It's Saturday, which means that I, Kathryn, get to think up a blog post really quickly and spew crazy nonsense that hopefully resembles something comprehensible! (Note to self: Always shore up blog topic ideas!).

Speaking of crazy nonsense, crazy questions are part of the writing process. As shown to everyone from my last post, I can get kind of, well, crazy with crazy questions. My most recent ones have been if people from different locations chew differently, if a fruit pollinated by a poisonous does that make the fruit poisonous (hello lack of biology it's nice to meet you), and also if perhaps I could make a book about werewolves that go out every thunderstom.

Back on topic, the novel that I'm slowly editing was spurred by a single crazy question: What if a town was taken over using robotic plastic flamingos? From that random, wacko wondering of an idea a story formed, one that I'm plugging away at even when I am able to write on it approximately every three days.

So embrace your weird writer self! I read somewhere (Read: Some pin on Pinterest) that all books begin with a question, a What If. What if vampires were justice enforcers? What if the rabbits are a conspiracy from space? Take your 'what if's' and write them down! If now is not the time for the story, let that crazy pondering mull around, and when you begin to write it the idea will have matured some.

Have any of your books come from crazy What If questions? Or are you sitting on a What If nest egg idea, just waiting for the idea to ripen?

Be weird, my lovelies, and you'll see me again next Saturday!
~Kathryn

Strange Angels book review

My previous post was about a character from this series. And I was at a bit of a loss what to type up as a review, since I've got a bucketload of anime reviews already laid out, but didn't want to stifle you guys with them. So here's a book review.

Strange Angels is the first book of a series by the same name. It's good. Really good. Here's the excpert from the back of the book:

The Real World is a frightening place. Just ask sixteen-year-old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken down her fair share of bad guys. She's armed, dangerous, and ready to kill first and ask questions later. So it's gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust...

Dru Anderson has been "strange" for as long as she can remember, traveling from town to town with her father to hunt things that go bump in the night. It's a weird life, but a good one- until it all explodes in an icy, broken-down Dakota town, when a hungry zombie busts through her kitchen door. Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru's going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. The monsters have decided to hunt back- and this time, Dru's on their menu. Chances of survival? Slim to none.

If she can't last until sunup, it's game over...

That's all fine and dandy and dramatic, as is to be expected from the back of a book, but the first half is laughably wrong. It portrays her as some Buffy the Vampire Slayer or something.

That is not the case.

Dru reacts like you or I would to having creepy-nasty-monsters coming after her. Which is basically this:

Only substitute the flailing with shooting wildly.

Which means she screams. A lot. Don't get me wrong- she manages to kill the things. It's just that she's screeching like a banshee the whole time. So it's exceptionally realistic, which is good. Dru is very relateable, as is the dorkling of a skinny goth kid that I mentioned on Monday.

Graves is the same side of the coin, but a little different. Like this, for example:


He wasn't raised around this stuff like Dru, but when something happens to him and he's drawn into it, it's like he says ".... Okay. Whatever," shrugs and accepts it as real. He's freaked out as heck through the whole book, just like Dru, but he's accepting of the fact that such a thing as werewulen and other nasties exist.

In all, the character ranking is 9 stars out of 10.

The plot is good as well. There's hardly ever a dull moment. It's like the Maximum Ride books, but with an actual solid plot rather than just running from the bad guys. So an 8 out of 10 there. Eight, because the author, Lili St. Crow, tries to throw in a love triangle. Thankfully, Dru shoots it down. After a long period of being extremely oblivious about either boy's feelings..... Idiotic girl. *Sighs wearily*

Family friendliness is probably around 6 out of 10. There is a scattering of cuss words, mainly the f-bomb and sh**, but they're used in relatively okay times. Meaning that, if I were in that circumstance, I'd probably be swearing like a sailor there too.

Over all, I'm going to give the book 8 stars out of 10.

Any thoughts? Questions? Suggestions on books to read?

Thanks for dropping by and I shall see you Monday, if Kathryn doesn't scare you off!!
--Rebecca

Character Love: Graves from Strange Angels

Greetings Earthlings!!

So my first post for the Character Love Mondays is Graves, from the series Strange Angels. Specifically first-book Graves.

He. Is. Precious.

The little dorkling of a skinny goth kid is so lost and yet so willing to take Dru at her word. He's sweet, funny, kind-hearted, cute, smart, and just..... Baby.

Later on in the series, he becomes a bit of a power-house, which is really cool. But I think I like version 1 of Graves the best. There's something endearing about his stupid awkwardity and the not-quite-jokes that he does.

So that you know what this character that I'm raving about looks like, here's a description I found on the Strange Angels wiki:

Graves is described as being a half-asian with a baby-face and a big bird-like nose. In fact, Dru mentions several times how bird-like Graves looks and acts. His messy dark wavy hair often covers his eyes completely. His eyes are described as brown and green, changing, ranging from vibrant green to brown - which could mean his eyes are just a fickle shade of hazel. Dru often mentions how he has good skin, despite the fact he doesn't care for it much. It is also implied that he is very tall and lanky and skinny. It is presumed that he is the same age as Dru.

 There is also a picture of him on the second book in the series, but it isn't quite right. Actually- none of the pictures of the characters are quite right. But anyways. Moving on from that...

Graves is just a little cutie pie. It's worth reading the books, if only just for him. (Although the plots are fabulous as well.)

Thanks for dropping by and look forwards to a review of something on Thursday!
--Rebecca

But what if robots did take over the world?

So Avengers: Age of Ultron is coming out May 1st- I believe that it's inescapable knowledge considering all the promoting Marvel's been doing. And you know what? I'm really pumped to see it! I want to see more of precious Bruce, get to know Hawkeye, and find out more about Natasha's background. Also- Nick??? Why are you there I thought you were pretending to be dead??

Well, there's this thing that Ultron says in the above trailer... "When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be me." And it got me thinking: What if robots did actually take over the world?

So say that Ultron defeated the Avengers and then destroyed every human on earth. Would he get bored and create robots to do his bidding? And then would he get bored with no stimulation and give those robots a bit of artificial intelligence? And who's to say that, given a little artificial intelligence, a robot might feel the desire- or urge, more likely- for more intelligence? A bit of free will can easily lead to the desire for more free will. I can imagine that a cleverly programed robot could reprogram for more intelligence. And then what if the robots rebelled against Ultron? Or what if he was smart when engineering their AI, and programed them for free will plus happiness to let him rule them? But then there comes the possibility of a glitchy one, who sees that Ultron is a tyrant, and eventually because of that one the robots become more humany, leaving Ultron to rule over human like robots. Or what if that glitchy robot was the one who rewrote the programming in order to give the robots more intelligence. That could be interesting.

Rebecca disagrees with me that the robots would rebel but I think it could happen- see programed not to rebel argument. Of course this is all just speculative, I don't really think that robots are going to take over, but it's fun to think about and like chasing plot bunnies!

So what do you think? Could Ultron's robots learn to rebel, or probably not?

Until next time!
~Kathryn

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood review (Along with the posting scedule for RFF.)

Hello all!! Rebecca here to start us off on our posting schedule for the blog! Kathryn and I have decided that Thursdays will be reviews done (mainly) by yours truly, Saturdays of whatever-the-heck Kathryn wants to do (Brace for a wild ride- it could be anything from the function of a rubber duck to a really weird thought process. There’s no telling.), and Monday will be Character Day, once again done mainly by me.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’m going to start off my reviews with that of an anime I dearly love. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

This show is gold.

The characters are amazing, the plotline is spectacular and well thought out, all of our questions are answered, and the plot twists are fabulous. It’s ended, meaning no new episodes.

Unfortunately.

However, the ending was (Brace for the pun:) a show stopper.

(Yes I had to. Sorry not sorry.)

The reason I know the ending is superb is because I have no soul when shows, books, and movies are involved. I don’t cry during them. Even if I’m sad, which hardly ever happens. But at the end of FMA:B, I was openly weeping. Kathryn can confirm this.

So for the ranking, I’m probably going to put it at 9 stars out of 10, overall.

For character ranking, 10 out of 10.

Plotline, 10 out of 10.

Art is 10 out of 10 as well. (Can you tell I love this anime??)

For family friendliness, I’m probably going to give it 8.5 out of 10 stars. Ed is fond of calling the Father dude “the Bearded Bastard,” and the show doesn’t quite skim over deaths, although they aren’t always graphic, nor is a dead body always shown. Those two tally up the missing whole points, and the half point is taken away by a character at the beginning of the show. I normally wouldn’t think much about it, but her dress is exceptionally lowcut at the top. Not a big deal, but could be potentially awkward, depending on how your family is.

So to sum up how I feel about it, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the ultimate bae. If shows can be baes.

Thanks for dropping by and I shall see you on Monday, if Kathryn doesn't scare you off!!

Hello and the Difficulties of Naming

Hello one and all, this is a duo post by Rebecca and Kathryn!

We're brand-spankin' new to the blogging hemisphere, so bear with us while we attempt to work out the kinks and oddities in our blog. It won't take too long, we catch on fast! We debated creating a blog a while back, but never did. Some of the delay was Kathryn, who felt that the time had not yet come.

Ahh, Road to El Dorado, you could have been so fabulously good.

Another problem we ran into was what to name the blog.

How about Fanning the Flames of Insanity? The Rabbits are a Conspiracy? (Because they totally are. *Eyes their rabbits suspiciously* ) After a (long) while of debating, Random Fandom Fanatics was chosen as tribute.

And so here we are, Random Fandom Fanatics with too much time and too little time. Expect reviews of TV shows, books, animes, and movies, along with the occasional blogpost about writing related stuff. Probably mostly ranting/crying over our own characters. As well as those of other people. Because why not? (Plus random hodgepodges that Kathryn desires to share with the world!)

We'll be working on our actual intro page, venturing into that dangerous world of *gasp* blog designing. *muffled horrified screaming*

Until later!
Kathryn & Rebecca