Start livin'... the great life
Mar. 20th, 2005 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteI love Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I said it last week, and I'll say it this week-- I *lubble* it so much, and I wish there was a way for me to be part of that crew. I'd love to interview the crew behind it. Wow, that would just be the most amazing experience ever, though I doubt I could come up with anything to say. Well, maybe eventually, but... not until after five minutes of like "WOW!!!"
After my first ever post on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fanficrants, I've gotten so many responses that I've started to type out a page for Animanga Collision (just because it's my largest site with the most articles; if I think of a better place to put it, I'll move it). It'll even have screen caps!
Speaking of screen caps, Duke Devlin/Ryuuji Otogi was right when he accused Yami Yugi of cheating at Duel Monsters. His timing was just a bit off...
The circled areas indicate TWO copies of the legendary Winged Dragon of Ra. For starters, there's only one copy of the card in existence... and it's also poorly animated (just to salt the wound)-- the card should NEVER appear with English text on it. It should have Hieratic script, the same way it appeared in the Battle City episodes. Shame on them! And shame on Yami Yugi! No wonder it took a Shining Dragon to defeat Anubis in the end!
I also watched the tail-end of Legally Blonde, and let me say
(1) I love Reese Witherspoon. She's so cool, just like Drew Barrymore. She doesn't seem artificial in the slightest, even when she's playing a sorority girl who knows more about hairspray than she does about law. ^_^ I want to see LB2. Man, I need to go to Blockbuster this week! So many movies I want to see~
(2) Girls can do anything. Period.
(3) CHICK FLICKS RULE! So do action flicks. I love Schwarzenegger!
Today I went to the mall with Baba and Grandpa-- I would have rather gone with my cousin Erin (!) but she had to get back to LA after getting all her laundry done. Oh, and I got Scott's thermal shirt back, after what, a month in Erin's laundry? ^^; Heh. We headed to JCPenney, and just JCPenney. Thank goodness for Arizona Jeans and sales! I got away with *4* new pairs of pants! ^_^ I feel like I'm set for life. Now all I need is to grow a few inches. Hrm, maybe I should stretch more? Or drink more milk? I do need to buy more milk... Anyhow, with pants in hand, I'm going to start on my packing spree.
But then there's a problem. What do I pack? I've never been abroad before! O_O I've been across the country, so I know about bringing the usual: toiletries, clothes to suit the weather, yadda yadda... but I'm going to JAPAN!!! What the heck do I bring? Oh yeah, and Baba and Grandpa think I'm being a ditz for not wanting to get Traveler's Cheques. But all I hear about Japan is that they're a VERY cash-based society, and only a few places accept credit cards. And of the first place I'm going to be (the airport), THEY don't accept cheques. What does that say about the rest of the country!? So, TCs, yes or no?
I've decided to make 36 "Collectible" What Doesn't Kill You cards. One for each chapter of the story. Since actual anime or manga art from the series would be hard to pull off for WDKY, I'm going to use fanart. I have fanart for only a few select chapters so far (I suppose it's because some events are more poignant/funny/whatever than others?) so I'm going to start a list of "wanted commissions" or art that I should attempt to do myself. So far, I have:
* Chapter 2 - Guardian Kysra
* Chapter 4 - Saiyajin-Spice (MAAAYBE. Not sure if she intended the art to be for WDKY)
* Chapter 6 - Mamono
* Chapter 10 - Mamono
* Chapter 15 - Me (meeeeh, it's not that good)
And possibly some stuff I could work in for other chapters by Kysra and myself... o_O I'm still a bit lost on that one.
If anyone wants to volunteer, point out fanart they've done that I've either misplaced or stupidly forgotten, do tell.
I'm also going to do "main" fanfic cards-- that is, single cards for each fic. I've already got one in mind for WDKY's sequel "Circle of Seven," but it needs refining. I might decide to use my artwork for CO7 (the same art that's on the official banner, which I won't show until Chapter 1 of CO7 is up, which means it might be a while) on it. As for the official WDKY card... not sure on the art for that one yet. I'm leaning toward a very nice Kysra pic, though. ^_^
The way my cards work is as follows:
* APA - Azurite's Parody cards. These include any cards in my Yu-Gi-Oh! Unhinged collection-- including my screwed-up, beta version, "Seto Kaiba-Closet Hentai." The next card in the collection is... *drumroll, please*
The Millennium Hunk O' Plexiglass! This was inspired by a post onplaythedamncard, but I can't remember who said what or where... ^^; Sorry?
* AZU - Azurite's Cards. These are "gift" cards for other people's fics. I already made Mamono one, and it's in the Azurite's Cards sub gallery of the Fanart gallery, at my Pics Page. Go check it out! (Coming soon: another one for Mamono, one for Kysra, and a special birthday edition card --or two-- for Atlantis)
* WDKY, CO7, etc... these are going to be the codes for fic-cards. Yes, there will be more than one of them-- I've already got 11 CO7 cards planned out, and at least 37 WDKY ones, and maybe a few variants here and there. The "main" cards will be labeled as WDKY-000 and CO7-000, respectively. I plan to sort them out into their own galleries... so keep your eyes peeled for those. I might be rearranging the galleries as I go.
Here's the first WDKY card in the collection. Ironically, it's WDKY-010, for Chapter 10. The other chapters and the main card should be coming soon.
Hey, if you want to tell me what element (Light/Dark/Wind/Earth/Fire/Water/Divine) works for each chapter, let me know! Mamono has already told me Chapter 1 is pretty dark, so I might keep 001 as Dark. And 8 (with Gozaburo and Bakura) is definitely Dark. What do you think?
And now, the info you've ALL been waiting for... the truth about WDKY. I've been saying for a while that it's entirely planned out, and that is, for the most part, true. ^^; I don't lie, I just "omit" things. ^_^ I knew around Chapter 4 or so that it would end up being 36 chapters. How? Well, I was scribbling out calculations and calendars, and the way things were working, I had the story STARTING some time during the gang's 2nd year of high school (11th grade). That meant they had one more year to go, and since I predicted they'd be DONE with their first year by Chapter 18 or so, that meant another 18 chapters.
Of course, things have changed somewhat since that initial plan. The number of chapters remains the same, purely because:
a) I've only been saying 36 chapters pretty much from the get-go, and I don't like the idea of changing that number now
b) It's a nice round number
c) It would only go UP, not down.
That's why several chapters tend to get so long (Chapter 10, for example). I'm trying to put a predefined amount of time into a story, and cover important events. That's why, by the next chapter, certain references are made, certain things happen at certain times... all of THAT is planned out. Of the 36 chapters, I have titles and events planned out for 33 of them. Only 3 chapters are uncertain at this point, but I have at least two good ideas as to what to do with those chapters. Those 3 chapters are also NOT sequential, and they're NOT at the very end. (They're also not coming up any time soon, so don't worry about me getting stuck with some serious writer's block).
I'm pretty greedy with my spoilers. Some people have managed to worm (or otherwise "convince") me to give away certain bits and pieces, but I'm assured that:
a) I have their trust and confidence
b) I confused them to the point of not understanding the spoiler anyway
c) they'll forget about it because it takes me so long to actually get to the point where the spoiler is written
d) I might change my mind!
Just today I got several ideas for the sequel. (By the way Mamono, I blame you.) This has been happening more and more frequently as of late, so I'm just going to start work on Circle of Seven, even with WDKY not being done yet. I hope this means that CO7 won't turn into some epic WiP, the way WDKY is. I'll be able to post, wait for reviews and comments, possibly revise, and then post again. No pressure on my part, really! It's great. :) It means that by the time I *AM* done with WDKY, I might want or need to change things about CO7. It might also mean that Yu-Gi-Oh as a fandom will bore or sicken me, and I might need a break before posting again. It might mean that I want to focus on my close-to-a-hundred-by-now-probably fic ideas, including the epic DM/GX one currently on my Evil Storyboard (didn't notice that, did you?).
Mm... not sure if there were any other "truths" of epic magnitude I wanted to get out. I'm sure it's not really all that surprising or anything, but I just felt the need to clarify all that. So if you have any questions, ASK ME! For Pete's sake. Oh, and if you didn't figure it out, the WDKY banner at the top of this entry goes to the Official WDKY page, which people seem to have issues finding.
^______________^ I got an email from Scott today. Yes, an email... from Scott in Thailand. Now I have to admit, I had my pre-judgments (or whatever you call them) about that place, especially after the tsunami, but Scott has told me that they're just as Internet wired as we are, even on their small islands, and that it's not a place infested with roaches and so on. It's tropically hot and humid there, he said, but there's all sorts of interesting people to meet and places to go. He wants to take me there some day. ^_^ I'd like that. (I'd like a tan, too!)
He says he can't wait to meet me in Tokyo, and before, he was saying he wasn't even sure if we would. But I want to maintain the optimistic, creative high I've been on lately. As Baba would say, I have my "mojo" back! Now if only I could start working on webpages and layouts... *cringe*
Hey, so how's this:
Darkness Rising
* Magician's Valkyria
* Magician of Faith (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
a_white_rain)
* Soul Release
* Something else...?
Blue Eyes and Apricots
* Dance/Love/Sing/Live (rhapsody_dragon)
* One of Kysra's many delicious fanarts...
* Duel Monsters-style, with "soul cards" of Anzu and Kaiba?
And random other layouts:
* SMRFF - Old School Meets New School
* The Rose Chronicles - DAMN DIV LAYERS FROM HELL!
* Black and White on Color (Anzu the Dancer)
* Fic pages (Prophecy Girl, Family, etc.)
VOOOOOTE! Tell me which ones I should do. I need a kick in the pants. Or the capris! ^_^ I got capris today, too~
Anyhow, I should get to bed. Don't know why, it's Spring Break, but I guess I should. I'll eventually need to clean up in here. =P
After my first ever post on
fanficrants, I've gotten so many responses that I've started to type out a page for Animanga Collision (just because it's my largest site with the most articles; if I think of a better place to put it, I'll move it). It'll even have screen caps!Speaking of screen caps, Duke Devlin/Ryuuji Otogi was right when he accused Yami Yugi of cheating at Duel Monsters. His timing was just a bit off...
The circled areas indicate TWO copies of the legendary Winged Dragon of Ra. For starters, there's only one copy of the card in existence... and it's also poorly animated (just to salt the wound)-- the card should NEVER appear with English text on it. It should have Hieratic script, the same way it appeared in the Battle City episodes. Shame on them! And shame on Yami Yugi! No wonder it took a Shining Dragon to defeat Anubis in the end!I also watched the tail-end of Legally Blonde, and let me say
(1) I love Reese Witherspoon. She's so cool, just like Drew Barrymore. She doesn't seem artificial in the slightest, even when she's playing a sorority girl who knows more about hairspray than she does about law. ^_^ I want to see LB2. Man, I need to go to Blockbuster this week! So many movies I want to see~
(2) Girls can do anything. Period.
(3) CHICK FLICKS RULE! So do action flicks. I love Schwarzenegger!
Today I went to the mall with Baba and Grandpa-- I would have rather gone with my cousin Erin (!) but she had to get back to LA after getting all her laundry done. Oh, and I got Scott's thermal shirt back, after what, a month in Erin's laundry? ^^; Heh. We headed to JCPenney, and just JCPenney. Thank goodness for Arizona Jeans and sales! I got away with *4* new pairs of pants! ^_^ I feel like I'm set for life. Now all I need is to grow a few inches. Hrm, maybe I should stretch more? Or drink more milk? I do need to buy more milk... Anyhow, with pants in hand, I'm going to start on my packing spree.
But then there's a problem. What do I pack? I've never been abroad before! O_O I've been across the country, so I know about bringing the usual: toiletries, clothes to suit the weather, yadda yadda... but I'm going to JAPAN!!! What the heck do I bring? Oh yeah, and Baba and Grandpa think I'm being a ditz for not wanting to get Traveler's Cheques. But all I hear about Japan is that they're a VERY cash-based society, and only a few places accept credit cards. And of the first place I'm going to be (the airport), THEY don't accept cheques. What does that say about the rest of the country!? So, TCs, yes or no?
I've decided to make 36 "Collectible" What Doesn't Kill You cards. One for each chapter of the story. Since actual anime or manga art from the series would be hard to pull off for WDKY, I'm going to use fanart. I have fanart for only a few select chapters so far (I suppose it's because some events are more poignant/funny/whatever than others?) so I'm going to start a list of "wanted commissions" or art that I should attempt to do myself. So far, I have:
* Chapter 2 - Guardian Kysra
* Chapter 4 - Saiyajin-Spice (MAAAYBE. Not sure if she intended the art to be for WDKY)
* Chapter 6 - Mamono
* Chapter 10 - Mamono
* Chapter 15 - Me (meeeeh, it's not that good)
And possibly some stuff I could work in for other chapters by Kysra and myself... o_O I'm still a bit lost on that one.
If anyone wants to volunteer, point out fanart they've done that I've either misplaced or stupidly forgotten, do tell.
I'm also going to do "main" fanfic cards-- that is, single cards for each fic. I've already got one in mind for WDKY's sequel "Circle of Seven," but it needs refining. I might decide to use my artwork for CO7 (the same art that's on the official banner, which I won't show until Chapter 1 of CO7 is up, which means it might be a while) on it. As for the official WDKY card... not sure on the art for that one yet. I'm leaning toward a very nice Kysra pic, though. ^_^
The way my cards work is as follows:
* APA - Azurite's Parody cards. These include any cards in my Yu-Gi-Oh! Unhinged collection-- including my screwed-up, beta version, "Seto Kaiba-Closet Hentai." The next card in the collection is... *drumroll, please*
The Millennium Hunk O' Plexiglass! This was inspired by a post on
playthedamncard, but I can't remember who said what or where... ^^; Sorry?* AZU - Azurite's Cards. These are "gift" cards for other people's fics. I already made Mamono one, and it's in the Azurite's Cards sub gallery of the Fanart gallery, at my Pics Page. Go check it out! (Coming soon: another one for Mamono, one for Kysra, and a special birthday edition card --or two-- for Atlantis)
* WDKY, CO7, etc... these are going to be the codes for fic-cards. Yes, there will be more than one of them-- I've already got 11 CO7 cards planned out, and at least 37 WDKY ones, and maybe a few variants here and there. The "main" cards will be labeled as WDKY-000 and CO7-000, respectively. I plan to sort them out into their own galleries... so keep your eyes peeled for those. I might be rearranging the galleries as I go.
Here's the first WDKY card in the collection. Ironically, it's WDKY-010, for Chapter 10. The other chapters and the main card should be coming soon.
Hey, if you want to tell me what element (Light/Dark/Wind/Earth/Fire/Water/Divine) works for each chapter, let me know! Mamono has already told me Chapter 1 is pretty dark, so I might keep 001 as Dark. And 8 (with Gozaburo and Bakura) is definitely Dark. What do you think?
And now, the info you've ALL been waiting for... the truth about WDKY. I've been saying for a while that it's entirely planned out, and that is, for the most part, true. ^^; I don't lie, I just "omit" things. ^_^ I knew around Chapter 4 or so that it would end up being 36 chapters. How? Well, I was scribbling out calculations and calendars, and the way things were working, I had the story STARTING some time during the gang's 2nd year of high school (11th grade). That meant they had one more year to go, and since I predicted they'd be DONE with their first year by Chapter 18 or so, that meant another 18 chapters.
Of course, things have changed somewhat since that initial plan. The number of chapters remains the same, purely because:
a) I've only been saying 36 chapters pretty much from the get-go, and I don't like the idea of changing that number now
b) It's a nice round number
c) It would only go UP, not down.
That's why several chapters tend to get so long (Chapter 10, for example). I'm trying to put a predefined amount of time into a story, and cover important events. That's why, by the next chapter, certain references are made, certain things happen at certain times... all of THAT is planned out. Of the 36 chapters, I have titles and events planned out for 33 of them. Only 3 chapters are uncertain at this point, but I have at least two good ideas as to what to do with those chapters. Those 3 chapters are also NOT sequential, and they're NOT at the very end. (They're also not coming up any time soon, so don't worry about me getting stuck with some serious writer's block).
I'm pretty greedy with my spoilers. Some people have managed to worm (or otherwise "convince") me to give away certain bits and pieces, but I'm assured that:
a) I have their trust and confidence
b) I confused them to the point of not understanding the spoiler anyway
c) they'll forget about it because it takes me so long to actually get to the point where the spoiler is written
d) I might change my mind!
Just today I got several ideas for the sequel. (By the way Mamono, I blame you.) This has been happening more and more frequently as of late, so I'm just going to start work on Circle of Seven, even with WDKY not being done yet. I hope this means that CO7 won't turn into some epic WiP, the way WDKY is. I'll be able to post, wait for reviews and comments, possibly revise, and then post again. No pressure on my part, really! It's great. :) It means that by the time I *AM* done with WDKY, I might want or need to change things about CO7. It might also mean that Yu-Gi-Oh as a fandom will bore or sicken me, and I might need a break before posting again. It might mean that I want to focus on my close-to-a-hundred-by-now-probably fic ideas, including the epic DM/GX one currently on my Evil Storyboard (didn't notice that, did you?).
Mm... not sure if there were any other "truths" of epic magnitude I wanted to get out. I'm sure it's not really all that surprising or anything, but I just felt the need to clarify all that. So if you have any questions, ASK ME! For Pete's sake. Oh, and if you didn't figure it out, the WDKY banner at the top of this entry goes to the Official WDKY page, which people seem to have issues finding.
^______________^ I got an email from Scott today. Yes, an email... from Scott in Thailand. Now I have to admit, I had my pre-judgments (or whatever you call them) about that place, especially after the tsunami, but Scott has told me that they're just as Internet wired as we are, even on their small islands, and that it's not a place infested with roaches and so on. It's tropically hot and humid there, he said, but there's all sorts of interesting people to meet and places to go. He wants to take me there some day. ^_^ I'd like that. (I'd like a tan, too!)
He says he can't wait to meet me in Tokyo, and before, he was saying he wasn't even sure if we would. But I want to maintain the optimistic, creative high I've been on lately. As Baba would say, I have my "mojo" back! Now if only I could start working on webpages and layouts... *cringe*
Hey, so how's this:
Darkness Rising
* Magician's Valkyria
* Magician of Faith (
a_white_rain)* Soul Release
* Something else...?
Blue Eyes and Apricots
* Dance/Love/Sing/Live (
rhapsody_dragon)* One of Kysra's many delicious fanarts...
* Duel Monsters-style, with "soul cards" of Anzu and Kaiba?
And random other layouts:
* SMRFF - Old School Meets New School
* The Rose Chronicles - DAMN DIV LAYERS FROM HELL!
* Black and White on Color (Anzu the Dancer)
* Fic pages (Prophecy Girl, Family, etc.)
VOOOOOTE! Tell me which ones I should do. I need a kick in the pants. Or the capris! ^_^ I got capris today, too~
Anyhow, I should get to bed. Don't know why, it's Spring Break, but I guess I should. I'll eventually need to clean up in here. =P
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-21 09:35 am (UTC)When u use a cheque at a place they should give u change back in whatever currency they use. So yeah I would bring em. Lose a credit card or cash and just anyone can use them. With Traveler Cheques it's harder for someone to use them if u lose them, since they need to be doubled signed and require an ID. Plus if you dont want to use them at stores u can use them at foreign exchange places or like probably even the hotel and they will give u cash for the cheque. Take it from the guy who's been to England twice and Germany.
Will Work for Graphite . . .
Date: 2005-03-21 05:00 pm (UTC)By the way, I you should have heard the sound I made when I saw the Millennium Hunk o' Plexiglass card *snicker*
Re: Will Work for Graphite . . .
Date: 2005-03-21 09:35 pm (UTC)What sound did you make, I wonder? (I edited the entry so that the WDKY banner is actually animated, btw. What do you think?)
Re: Will Work for Graphite . . .
Date: 2005-03-22 12:03 am (UTC)BBBIIIIGGG GRIN. It's loverly, I particularly like the part that echoes Seto's "I've got all that I need" quote. Beautiful! And so *fitting* for the story.
As for my mad strange sound making abilities. It was a cross between a snort/laugh/and squeek.