I'm learning to take constructive criticism

I don't think I've ever been the type to take constructive criticism very well, even if I preach that people should-- and that it *is* just that-- constructive. So far, one more review has lead me to the belief that I need a beta. ;_; It'd be nice if Ma'atkare would volunteer or something, since I a) greatly admire her fanfiction, "Full Circle," for its fluidity and excellent in-character-ness; and b) appreciate her pointing out my own faults... sometimes the praise goes to my head, yanno?

I make sentences long with my --dashes-- and ;semi colons; so... what can I do about that? My chapters are insanely long; I really need someone to help me with that. I'm kinda scared to actually go to a community about constructive criticism (like con_crit), but I know I should. I don't want to end up labeled a Badfic, or a Goodfic Gone Wrong, or something. ;_; I'm trying so hard with WDKY...

Hey, so I got Anzu for the YGO RPG! But what name should I pick? The RPG is Japanese-name based, so teagardner is out... but what about...
* magician_faith
* faith_magic
* faith_magician
* dancedance_anzu
* blue_eyes_anzu
* blueeyes_anzu
* blueeyed_angel

Or something else???? HELP!

Okay, back to the topic at hand! ConCrit! So Ma'atkare pointed out something that I'm a huge protestor of-- OOC. My Kaiba *is* OOC, isn't he? I mean, can you really call a character OOC when you put them in a situation unlike anything in the fandom? I had to warp around certain facts and events that would have invariably changed the fandom --and thusly, my fanfiction-- but isn't that the whole point of "what if?" Not to be OOC, of course, but to present plausible reasons why a character would act the way they do in a fanfiction?

And, 9 parts into the fic, has Tea completely forgotten about her family? I don't think so-- in this upcoming part, especially, the focus is on her family, trust, and... the breakdown of the things you hold dear. I have a lot of messages and morals sprinkled throughout WDKY; this is one of them.

Ma'atkare also brought up the subject of Yugi and Co's involvement. Yeah, this is a Seto/Tea fic, so how can I plausibly bring in Yugi and the others without making it your run-of-the-mill triangle fic? In those, sorry to say, Seto, Joey, and Yugi *always* act the same. Maybe I'm dodging the inevitable (that is, bad writing) by not using them at all. *frowns* I try to consider pivotal points of the story when certain characters have to appear, and I've just had no use for the guys in those early chapters. They would *try* and be there, but fail. From Tea's standpoint, I can understand-- I've lost people very close to me, and sometimes you're not receptive to your friends, no matter what.

Support from the guys will majorly factor in in WDKY10, but... I have to get 9 out first, you know?

Someone else pointed out how I say that WDKY is not yaoi or yuri, etc, and why do I keep pointing it out? Uhm, have you LOOKED at the FFnet YGO archive lately? Why do you think so many authors have jumped on the yaoi/yuri filter bandwagon? Aside from fandoms where slash/yaoi or yuri are canon, anime fandoms with a male overdose tend to have too much yaoi than is healthy, necessary, and... otherwise "okay." It's one thing if every author that writes it does their best and makes it sound somewhat plausible (as with any other pairing or event circumstances), but yeesh, the amount of idiotic Ryou/Bakura fics, or Yami/Yugi, or HELL, Joey/Seto!! It's like, OMGWTF are these people THINKING????

^^; Maybe DSF just doesn't frequent the archives as much. :P Why would she, when she gets excellent fic chapters from Mamono before the rest of us? *pouts*

Okay, I joined con_crit. *sucks in a breath* I can do this. I need this. I am not some overinflated, selfindulgent twit.

Help?

WHOOO HOOO!

Okay, for a brief moment of celebration---

FULL METAL PANIC NOW HAS ITS OWN FFNET SECTION! BOO-YAH!!!! :DDDD

Check and see if your recently suggested FFnet category has made it into the ranks! I'm always checking out new categories, and FFnet unfortunately doesn't have an ML that tells you specifically what's been updated.

And, if you were interested in having a yaoi/yuri/slash filter on FFnet, email me NOW with your name and reasons (if you haven't already, want to add to it, etc. as FFnet is accepting suggestions again. And TELL EVERYBODY!!!

Because the commentary never stops

And Mer never shuts up, but you all knew that.

Lil Perfect Sin says: Is it just me, or most of the SetoxAnzu fics always have the same storyline: Anzu is always hired by Kaiba, Kaiba falls in love with Anzu, Anzu has a dark secret of some kind, Kaiba has a dark secret as well.

o_O I hate it, because she's right. That's just what I did with WDKY, isn't it? I mean, the tragedy thing was somewhat cliche as a general rule anyway, and many anime fandoms have that one egocentric, snappy, [rich] bastard who every girl loves to hate. He's always the perfect one to pair up with the most stubborn, friendly, girl in the series.

Look at...
Usagi x Mamoru
Miaka x Tamahome
Momo x Kiley
Kagome x Inuyasha
Akane x Ranma

o_O Coincidental? I THINK NOT!

>_> But all this looking over WDKY has got me shaking in my shoes. Maybe I should take a break from it after 9, and post some of the other YGO fic ideas collecting dust in that shriveled up organ known as my brain. I know I have a lot of the ideas for future chapters already plotted out... but there's something missing that I had at the beginning of the story that I just don't have anymore. That and, I need a beta. I really, really do.

Okay, so with WDKY, yeah, Tea does get hired by Kaiba, but that plot fades... and doesn't make a solid comeback until Part 10/11. Kaiba doesn't just "fall in love" with Tea; it's one of those angsty, annoying "processes" (get a parent to say "processes," in that parental-tone, and you'll see what I mean) that takes time. He goes from being confused over his attraction (not even knowing it *is* attraction) to annoyance (that Tea isn't attracted to him back, as far as he can tell), to more confusion (when Tea responds "negatively" to his "advances"). And later... well, you'll see. And as for dark secrets, Tea's "dark" secret is the focal point of the plot, and isn't a secret (really) at all-- it's the death of her parents. I suppose her "dark" secret is her living with Kaiba, but the only people who don't know that are her friends-- certainly not Kaiba. Maybe her affection for Kaiba? But then, even Mai and Serenity know about that. Kaiba's dark secrets... well, his past (where Gozaburo Kaiba was involved), but that's revealed in Part 8. His own affections for Tea, and... ???

Is it cliched enough?

Mero's been trying to wade the treacherous fic waters alone, thinking she's all good, but noo... I'm drowning here...

(no subject)

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
the_sweet goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Anzu Mazaki.
atlantian_magic gives you 6 purple chocolate-flavoured gummy bats.
dahak gives you 5 light blue grape-flavoured pieces of chewing gum.
kaiba_corp gives you 12 white raspberry-flavoured gummies.
kitesareevil tricks you! You get a rock.
mklutz gives you 2 dark green coconut-flavoured gummy worms.
rhapsody_dragon gives you 11 pink tropical-flavoured gummy bears.
rodprime79 tricks you! You get a piece of string.
setoanzulove tricks you! You lose 28 pieces of candy!
shatterdfreak gives you 10 light orange mint-flavoured hard candies.
smrff tricks you! You get a pen cap.
the_sweet ends up with 18 pieces of candy, a rock, a piece of string, and a pen cap.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

I need pen caps...

Got that from Mamono. And because of her, I wanna play DDR at work! But I haven't a dollar to spare, and I still owe people money for the other day when people donated to the Mero-fund (Mero needs dinner fund). ;_; Turns out my federal refund might not come through for another month or more! It's already been two weeks, I think... maybe three. ;_; I still need that money though! Darnit, why couldn't it be Thursday already?

Things end, and things begin.