MILES to GO || before I sleep

Celebrate the Season fic request for Pezi

Title: Secret of the Shrieking Shack
Rating: PG (sorry, I couldn't find to make an R-rating with your requested things without being downright weird/gruesome... and I can't really write those things.)
Disclaimer: All I own are dreams.
Author's Notes: Ah, this is my first HP fic. Ever. ;_; But I've been a Dramione shipper since... er, Prisoner of Azkaban's movie came out (I ended up reading the whole series after that, and getting hooked!). BUT! I have been writing fics for over 10 years now, and I sincerely hope I do Pezi's request justice. I don't think I can necessarily kick the rating up to R without having my first DM/HG fic ever end up like a sad attempt at a Food Network flambé, but... well, you get the drift.
Spoilers? Spoilers up to Prisoner of Azkaban. This takes place during some unspecified time (either in 4th or 5th year), not exactly following canon continuity of those years.
Beta'd by:
Summary: An enchantment at the Shrieking Shack goes awry, and Draco Malfoy is turned into a helpless puppy. Hermione might be the only one who can help him change back-- if they can attempt to get along. Dogs might be a man's best friend, but not a witch's!

( Secret of the Shrieking Shack )

Thank-you for Celebrating the Season with Draco and Hermione!

Okay, so I'm done watching Arabian Nights--always a good read. Lots of transcribing to be done. At least I filled up many pages of my journal with notes! And it occurred to me while I was watching that it doesn't just fit for an AUish sort of Sailormoon story (Lunar Nights), but also an AE-period continuation/revelation story.

( Imagine this, if you will, your majesties... )

Also, the Arabian Nights made-for-TV movie only included 5 stories:
* Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves
* The Murder of Jester Bakpak
* Aladdin
* A Pharaoh's Joke
* The Three Brothers
There are supposed to be several more (1001 total, I think). Some of the ones I've found:
* The Fisherman and the Genie
* The Old Man and the Hind
* The Old Man and the Black Dogs
* The Fisherman
* The Greek King
* The Husband and the Parrot
* The Vizier Who Was Punished...
etc. Anyone else remember some more? Of all the 1001 Arabian Nights, most are hero stories, but there are beautiful princesses, clever slave girls, and wicked queens, too. Any good Fairy Tales you'd like to recommend?

CONTEST!
Since I'm trying to get people to submit header images for Dragonfayth, I figure I might as well make a contest out of it. I'm looking for a colorful Seto x Anzu header image with the site name (Dragonfayth) and slogan (The Premiere Seto Kaiba x Anzu Mazaki Fanfiction Archive) on it. It should be around 600px wide at least.
I'm aiming for the header image to be used in a site like this one: http://www.pgsm-fanfiction.net/ (default skin is silhouette).
The winner will get to choose from one of the following:
* A commissioned piece of Seto x Anzu art from me (color)
* A commissioned fanfic (oneshot) of any het pairing or gen persuasion from the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom
* 15MB+ webspace on the seventh-star.net domain
* One volume of any Yu-Gi-Oh manga, English or Japanese (from the original series. Yu-Gi-Oh! R and the Gospel of Truth are incredibly hard to find, though).

GO FOR IT! (Oh, and do tell me if you're planning on entering. The winner will be determined by... originality, creativity, and extra special consideration will be given to people that request the CSS from me and alter the CSS to suit the image.)

Oh, yay for good news-- Dad finally called and it looks like that whenever I want to come back here (home) after Christmas, Dad and I (and possibly Kathleen, though I'm surprised he's still with her) are going to go to Palomar, where they have this GIANT astronomical observatory. ^^ It's been a while since I've done anything with Dad, and it sounds fun! And if Eva wants to go back before Dad does, Dad is willing to meet me down here, since he has to come and see Baba and Grandpa anyway.

zOMG Happy Birthday kitesareevil, sleep_alone, and ohsupervinchan!

Sorry for the belated wishes, Grace + 'Niichan!

WHEW! I've uploaded *all* of my SxA stories (except the ones that I mentioned need revisions, and the ones I have not released/formatted yet) to Dragonfayth :: The Premiere Seto Kaiba x Anzu Mazaki Fanfiction Archive. Get going! Spread the word! Join the site, submit your own fics! *puppy eyes* Please? There's also a Christmas Challenge there, so if you need a kick of inspiration, check it out!

I'm also satisfied with the edits and additions I've made to WDKY22, so I'm going to post this semi-revised version up at Betasquad as we speak... please, any willing editors/pre-readers, etc. check it out (it's actually just a link, because apparently phpBB can't handle a 96K chapter. Yes, it's that long)! luvinaoshi and an_ardent_rain! (I doubt either of them will look here, but if they do... *crosses fingers*)

More Dragonfayth mods?
Well, I'd like to get a characters page up, even though I assume that everyone posting will be familiar with the main cast and characters of Yu-Gi-Oh! Nonetheless, not everyone knows who Miho is, or that Kaiba was once minty-fresh in the Toei animation. Plus I'd like to shed some light on the lesser-known characters, or characters I may not have included on the original list. Please check the list out and point out anyone I'm missing, okay? I'm still contemplating whether or not to include the Yami no... characters, though. If you want to give me good reasons, go right ahead! I'm all ears.

What else? I'm re-reading mischiefmagnet's "The Night Before" for the fourth time. ^^ It's such a fantastic fic, and I sincerely hope she updates it soon (and posts it to DRFA! /plug)

And... well, it's almost time to go "home" to San Francisco. Eva and I will probably be leaving on the 17th or 18th, so MAYBE I'll be able to catch some of JTAF. Still, I don't think there's any way that I'll run into that girl I was emailing (apparently a fan of mine who's coming down to SF from Piedmont for JTAF. Hey, staplerx and god_101, if anyone mentions "psychotic fanfiction writer" or "Mer" or some derivative thereof, could you take a message for me? ^_~), because she's only going to be there on the 17th...

On top of that, today was the last day for Creative Writing class. I can't say I learned SOOO MUCH and it was a life-changing experience, but it was a lesson in writing and finding skills I didn't know I have. My weakness is that I can't shut up (as people are so fond of pointing out when I post particularly long entries or fics), and I couldn't shorten my fiction submission, "Goodbye, Hello, Who Are You?" (a DDR fanfiction, if you want me to be honest). But I met a lot of fun people, and I hope I stay in touch with them while I'm at CSUN.

...And then there's Scott. He's graduating and moving back to San Diego. Sure, it's not Japan or some other foreign country, but it's 150 miles away or so, 2 hours by car, and 4 hours by train. And if this stupid fear of driving (and lack of ability to practice with anyone) keeps holding me back, when would I get to see him? I hate feeling dependent on anyone, especially Scott, who I feel has done so much for me. I know he might come up to make visits and so forth... not just to see me, but to see Brett and Derek and everything, but... <_< Well, it wouldn't be the same, I don't think. We don't really have a relationship. I've called him my boyfriend to people who have asked, just because it'd be too awkward to explain the details. Except for today, when, at my last hand therapy appointment, one of the therapists asked "So, is he your boyfriend or your friend?" and I said (evasively, but with a dopey grin on my face) "aaah, a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B..." (this was when Scott was not in the room, obviously). I've been crying and worrying a lot lately. There was a lot of stress yesterday when Baba and Grandpa went to the doctor's unexpectedly at 9am, right as I was waking up. They didn't come back by 9:30am, so I walked to school. My VComm class was canceled that day, so I called the house to tell Baba, or maybe ask for a ride home. No one answered. I freaked out. I called again as I started to leave campus, 15 minutes later... still nothing. I walked home, paranoid the whole half hour that something had happened, and I had no way of getting ahold of anyone to find out if they were okay. I have to be honest-- it's not all roses and sweets here. Yes, I have it good, living with my grandparents off campus, not having to worry about rent or utilities or food. It's nice having people who somewhat understand me and CARE, plus... they're amusing! I have so much of what I want, and everything that I need. But I'm also placed in an awkward position of responsibility, to look after a pair of elderly people that don't seem to really need my help (at least for anything beyond carrying water in from the trunk of the car). Nonetheless, if something were to happen to them, what would I do? I don't mean if Grandpa had a heart attack-- I know CPR, I know how to react in an emergency. I'm not sure whether or not I would be scared/nervous and gung-ho, but I could handle it. But if either one of them died, what would happen to whoever was left... and me? I don't want to think about either of them dying, even if it is one of life's great inevitabilities. But... I talked to my mom, and she's right, I do have to talk to them. What do I do in case of an emergency or a tragedy? Who do I call? If something HAS happened to them, what can I do? I can't always rely on Scott to come over. I don't need to be taken care of, exactly, but I don't want to be going off the wall with worry and being upset all by myself. Anyway, with all this that I've got on my mind (a final due on Monday; no classes; 3 finals on Wednesday, only 2 of which actually merit intense studying; money issues, etc.) I think I better take my chance now and go to sleep... I do have class in 7 hours. *sigh*

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! In September I gave aishuu a kidney (1000 points).  In April on a flight to Vancouver, I stole the emergency flight information card (-40 points).  Last Tuesday I punched cutieme4u in the arm (-10 points).  In February I helped shadowesque13 hide a body (-173 points).  Last month I bought porn for shigure (-10 points).  Overall, I've been nice (767 points).  For Christmas I deserve a new bike! Sincerely, the_sweet

Write your letter to Santa!  Enter your LJ username:

Apparently there's been a security update to eFiction with all the PHP files. Something similar happened with BEA's phpFanbase script, but Sasha of CodeGrrl.com hasn't yet posted a fix or an ETA for a fix. Tammy of eFiction, however, pointed me to the eFiction 2.0.1 upgrade, but replacing all the PHPs would involve me having to redo the Story Type mod that I worked EXTREMELY hard to put on... (though Lazuli did all the coding, all the find/replacing is a pain in the neck, so don't tell me it's easy!) I also wanted to see if there's a way to indicate Story Type with an icon, the way Challenge Fics and Round Robins already are. That will be a while coming, since I'm not much of a PHP coder, and Lazuli said she'd take a look at it.

That was pretty much the only hard mod that I implemented, in any case; I can easily fix the category image alignment thing again (the code I need is in blocks/categories/categories.php) and the newsblock author image. There are other mods I was thinking about using-- links to FFnet, LiveJournal, etc., but I didn't install them yet. I'm waiting for a reply from Tammy before I replace everything.

I updated everything at Dragonfayth. All the mods have been implemented again, and it looks GREAT. Please take a look and tell me what you think!

( Memes ganked from irvys_sefie )

Ugh... WDKY22. It's been sitting dead on betasquad for a while now, but hopefully now that finals are starting and such people will be willing to beta more often. Truthfully, I think the chapter is okay, but I could stand to flesh it out a bit in a particular scene. Note that it's already pretty damn long, and it's the segue to the arc that is bound to have you chewing at the bit on your mousepad.

I've been sick the past couple of days, FYI-- missed school on Thursday. So far, I'm caught up on almost all of my schoolwork (save the stuff for WRP2) and am ready for Finals... though the 130 point Japanese final has me a bit worried. It's not that I don't remember all my kana or whatever, but I always forget the sentence structures, especially when it comes to asking directions! :P

For better or for worse, my rag started again-- hopefully temporarily, as a result of me being sick, stressed, and forgetting to take 2 days worth of pills ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Whoopsie.

I wanted to go to JTAF to hang out with people (My-san from my Japanese class, and at least 2 other people from various places either here on LJ or on FFnet), but it looks like the ride I'm supposed to hitch with cutieme4u won't happen until the 18th. And assuming we leave at a "reasonable" time of the morning (i.e. NOT before dawn) and drive at the standard pace of 6 hrs, I won't make it there for a shred of JTAF. -_-; This is one of the reasons why:
a) I wish I had a job to pay for a plane ticket, even a last-minute one
b) I should learn to drive, despite my fears and other reasons Not To Even Attempt It

Grr.

Anyone who was a Sailor Moon + (practically any other fandom) fan has either written, read, or thought about reading or writing this: a sailormoon crossover. They're so popular they have their own subsection on the 'Net, whether your fancy is general, Dragonball-themed, or perhaps Gundam-ized.

Me? I happen to like the shoujo-series gone wild versions, like Ranma becoming a Senshi... or Akane! Been there, done that. It's harder to take series that have NO magic whatsoever and try and make them magical. Think series like Peach Girl or Hana Yori Dango. The drama comes from the "all-natural" scenes-- boy loves girl, girl loves another guy, guy loves another girl... and so on, and so forth.

So how would you take a romantic drama and make it magical? Add a pop star, a time-traveling bishie, and an insane author by the name of Azurite, of course! Not that I'll actually see this through to fruition, but here's my crazy idea, born of listening to Sailormoon music, thinking of random new fic ideas, and reading too much Hana Yori Dango (jdrama + 21 vols. of the manga in the past 4 days = O_O!!!).

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Seiya challenges Sailor Pluto to a one-on-one match. The other Outer Senshi find out and ask Pluto why she would agree to something so stupid, but she says that things must happen this way. Uranus and Neptune watch from the sidelines, and are shocked when Pluto is "defeated" and Seiya successfully steals a Time Key-- and goes back in time, to when Usagi and Mamoru broke up in Sailormoon R. If there was ever a time to find out about how true their love is, it's then. Little does Seiya know that Usagi's experiences (in the latter parts of R, then S and SuperS) matured her, and the Usagi he meets isn't quite the one he knows... plus, there's real-live Mamoru to deal with, and a mysterious pink-haired brat...

However, the two eventually get closer, and Seiya pushes Usagi not to depend on Mamoru (and thus, Sailor Moon won't depend on Tuxedo Mask) so much. Despite the warnings of the other Inner senshi and Luna, Usagi hangs out more and more with Seiya... and Sailor Moon meets Sailor Star Fighter. The two work together splendidly, but Makoto and Rei don't trust "her."

Seiya takes Usagi to a karaoke box (PGSM references?) one night and hears her sing-- much to his surprise, she's very good. He pushes her to try out for an audition, where he uses his own musical talents to help Usagi. The two of them get accepted, and suddenly, they're caught in a whirlwind of publicity and stardom!

After many months of hard work on the stage and in the recording room, Usagi's ready to have her first live show-- and life looks good. She thinks she's at last getting over Mamoru, and the battles with the Black Moon have lessened to the point where they're over before she even has to come and "save" anyone. She's sad that the Inners don't seem to need her anymore, but if they can't encourage her dreams the way she did for them, maybe they're better off apart. It's a different Usagi-outlook, but one well-developed and well-reasoned.

However, Usagi shows just how much she misses the girls when she auditions several girls for her dancers-- one of them Tsukushi Makino (there on a dare/a last resort?), who resembles Makoto Kino. Tsukushi passes the audition, and when payday finally comes, she decides that sticking as a dancer on the sly might pay better and help her avoid the drama with the F4... (this coincides with Vol. 19-20, when Tsukushi "breaks up" with Domyoji and then disappears. Instead of going to where her parents are, she stays with Yuuki and discovers a flyer about the auditions... Yuuki encourages her to go, and find a way to channel her spirit and energy.)

No one knows where Tsukushi's gone... that is, until the night of the show. In a futile attempt to cheer Tsukasa up/Tsukasa is forced to go by his sister/mother while entertaining a spoiled rich girl who is several years his junior, he goes to the concert-- and sees Tsukushi onstage, dancing! He tries to approach her after the concert, but security threatens to throw him out. Usagi speaks to Tsukushi, who skims over her "relationship" with Domyoji. Having experienced her fair share of heartbreak, Usagi decides to try and play matchmaker and allow Domyouji to see her.

But of course, fate intervenes when the girl that Domyoji is with is attacked by the Black Moon and turned into a droid. Usagi and Seiya run off to transform, but Tsukushi, still angry with Domyouji and the fact that he was with another girl (who is now pretty busty and angry-looking, in droid-form), pushes him out-- inadvertantly blasting the droid while she's at it. Something Usagi's "accidentally" done has awakened a dormant star seed in Tsukushi, and now she's a senshi!

At last, the Inners and Usagi are reunited (Seiya wonders if he should come clean to the others about being Star Fighter and why he's *really* there... does Usagi even know the whole truth?) when Luna senses the new senshi awakening. They all arrive on the scene to see "Sailor Eitoku" blast the snot out of the droid, Fighter keep her distracted, and Sailor Moon heal the girl, who falls unconscious.

Domyouji, who had his energy sapped, is slapped into wakefulness by Tsukushi "Sailor Eitoku" Makino, but he takes one look at her and immediately passes out again. Everyone retires to the temple/Usagi's new apartment/Seiya's place and discusses the new situation... and that's when Pluto appears.

^_^ Hee, evil, aren't I? Maybe I just want an excuse to have literal outside forces mush all my OTPs (and OT3s!) together!

Okay... I'm kind of stuck. Remember those Asian-American Studies courses I mentioned-- AAS 210 (History of Asian Americans) and AAS 430 (Asian-American Pop Culture)? Well, I just came back from the Study Abroad informational session, and Hirota-sensei herself (aka department chair of the Japanese language program, one of my future professors, and a former department chair for the Study Abroad in Japan program) said that Asian-AMERICAN doesn't count for Study Abroad.

I remember there being two other courses-- HIST 400-something, but it was really late at night, and Hirota-sensei's class, which sounded cool, but maybe it was at a bad time, too. Well anyway, I might have to tweak my schedule to find out just what would work for Study Abroad, and HOPEFULLY get something to count for SOME GE/Minor/80-65 while I'm at it. Ah, alas! That AAS 430 class sounded cool!

It also turns out Hirota-sensei is willing to proofread my essays for Waseda and Tokiwa, so I think I'll touch those up and send them her way. Anyone else who's got a spare 20 minutes, I'd totally appreciate it if you could look them over! They're posted here in my LJ (tag: essays) and also in the writer_girls comm.

Last night I helped Scott out on ANOTHER photo shoot, because his teacher wanted him to be more specific about his focus and lighting. It took us about an hour before he found "the right lighting" and by the time we actually finished, it was after 12:30am! Even In-N-Out was closed, but since we were both hungry (is this starting to sound familiar yet?) we ended up going to Denny's. ^^ Scott then stayed over (!) because he was too tired to go home. :) Ah, good times... er, sort of. I'll have to elaborate on that later, though.

Oh, and I checked the poll results from that Only 16 poll I posted-- you people answered strangely! An uneven amount of people said they didn't read it vs. what they thought of it... o_O What's up with that? And I suppose I can't be disappointed by anyone's answers, because I intentionally set it up with extremes for choices. I didn't want to make it too confusing. In any case, I'm sorta-kinda inspired to work on it again, so we'll see. Betas are awfully hard to come by these days, but as long as the SMRFF exists, so does ANDI!!!! :O BWEAHAHAH! *cough*

Well, since I didn't get to bed until super-late last night (er, this morning), I had to BS my way through my Japanese test (I think I did well, except I forgot the word for change -as in money- which is "otsuri"). I finished up a short essay on reality TV for VComm, and now I'm going to start Story #6 for JOUR 210, which is due today. ^^; Before I go to VComm class in an hour, I also have to finish reading Ch. 14 on Television and Video... it's pretty cool so far! Did you know that reality TV has been around as long as TV has? And that there are *14* different types of reality shows? Wow.

Anyway, time to try and make sense of all these numbers... how do you calculate a percentage increase, again?

Chapter 22 of What Doesn't Kill You is up at betasquad for pre-reading and editing!
It's nice and long, ladies and gents, so I hope you enjoy it! Please help me edit if you have the time! :)

I went to Graumann's Chinese Theatre with Scott for the first time last night, and I saw Jarhead. It wasn't as great as I would have expected, but I liked it. And I'm obsessed with that song they use in the trailer, but I can't figure out who it's by! And it doesn't look like the soundtrack will come out until December. o_O

I liked the movie just because I sort of connected with so much of it. I feel stupid saying it, but ROTC really did mean a lot to me, even if I did end up quitting in the beginning of my junior year. But it was an adventure, and a memorable one at that. Even despite the yelling, the demerits, the stress, and the getting-rained-on during the Veteran's Day parade, I think it was worth it. I can still left flank, right flank, double to the rear, MARCH! with the best of them! ^_~ And it was fun seeing Camp Pendleton on the silver screen. Heh. Remember when we went there, cutieme4u?

It was quite cool how Scott and I went on this "date" like adventure in Hollywood, and Scott was a total fluffball all night. ^_^ I like it, and I hope it doesn't mean he'll be an asshole this week (or at any time in the future). He also treated me to popcorn, a drink (which we shared), and a milkshake at In-N-Out once we got back to Northridge. Not being the type to throw a good night down the drain, I ended up staying over at his house. *wink wink* So all in all, a pleasant weekend that ended today on a good note.

I slept in as soon as I got home (around 11:30am), worked on some fanfic (WDKY22 is currently 62K, which bodes well for all of you that like your chapters looooong) and tinkered around with some homework... my magazine cover for VComm (underwent a new revision, needs some tweaking still, along with sample "articles"), my facilitator packet for Creative Writing (just have to read some critiques and grade them), and then 2 new analyses for CW. Tomorrow is just Japanese and Mythology; I remember the dialogues best when I read them in the morning, and I already posted a lengthy submission on Poseidon and Apollo for Mythology. :)

Did I mention that I passed my permit exam for Driver's Ed, and I scheduled my 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training for the weeks to come? I feel like a bit of a baby, being 20 and not having a license yet, but at least I'm on the way there! Whoo! I hope I do well and don't clam up and get scared when I actually have to take the test... and I wonder whose car I'll use? Both Dad and Scott have said they'll help me out between practice sessions with Driver's Ed Direct, though.

I'm also working on 3 pieces of fanart:
* Happy 2nd Anniversary, WDKY! (also the thank-you art for winterwing3000, my 1000th reviewer, and the base for her SxA custom icon from me)
* The White Rose Gang/The Royal Azureshippers (me [The Fog Princess], rhapsody_dragon [The Prophet of Mist], guardian_kysra [The Hentai Goddess], atlantian_magic [The Steam Queen], geniusgirl [The Vapour Marquis], and winterwing3000 [Needs A Name!])
* Special fanart for WDKY (My lips are sealed!)

( Come to my Halloween Party, f00s! )


DEFIANT BEAUTY - You are unique, original, and an
individual. You are also courageous and
ambitious. You are not afraid to take risks if
it means you will gain something. You thrive on
success and praise. You are a non-comformist
and prefer to do things your own way. You also
like to work by yourself rather than with a
group. Your ultimate goal is to reach true
success in whatever your chosen field is.


What type of beauty do you possess? (20 questions + 7 results + pretty pics)
brought to you by Quizilla


You are The Cat. Wise, swift, intelligent,
stealthy. You are very precise and make few
mistakes. You are a born hunter and very smart
and clever. You are athletic in some of the
sort and love riddles. Oh ho ho! YOu are also
romantic.


What Inner Animal Soul Do You Possess?(Guys and Gals, MANY RESULTS)
brought to you by Quizilla

Meow!

I think I may have solved a way out of my dilemma from earlier. But maybe not. I'm still waiting to hear back from Mamono, who may have some sneaky ideas. :) And staring at my icon of Kaiba stripping off his tie has given me a semi-kick of inspiration for TJOY (that fic is so hard to write!!), but I won't say why. :3

On a fics and reviewers note, I'd like to thank anyone and everyone that suggested songs to me-- I downloaded a few of them from iTunes, and some people are right about the sheer beauty of the songs... and sometimes, they match with fics, too! Maybe ones I've written, maybe ones I'm currently writing. It's rather neat! Thanks~!

I've posted Chapter 20 of WDKY to FFnet. It's going up on MMorg soon, and I'm also in the midst of updating Darkness Rising with its new layout. However, I need to re-organize the site a bit and make sure all the pages are linked properly. Once all that gets done, I'll make an announcement over at azurite_updates... but I still have some work to do, especially with getting all my fics organized.

Expect another oneshot fic from me within the next two days. The deadline for ygo_lyricwheel is almost here! I got a hard song, though... ~_~

What's done over at Darkness Rising
* New index page with affiliates
* Characters page completed (Anzu, Mokuba, Honda, Jounouchi subpages completed)
* Anime page completed
* Manga page completed
* Fanfiction page MOSTLY completed (added new fics, including 30kisses)
* Links page MOSTLY completed (needs organization, link check)
* Card Equivalency List completed
* JAP<->ENG card info page completed

What's left
* [Duel] Monsters page
* Egypt Page
* Secret page (Millennium Items)
* Other stuff...?

Uhh... aside from more stuff and layouts for BEA/DRFA (eventually), WDKY21+, and a few random oneshots, I think that's it for the up-and-coming...

Oh yeah, check out my new LJ layout, courtesy of Lin Kuruzu and ceruleansan! :D It's so pretty, and oh-so-Seto x Anzu!

Ladies, wouldn't it be nice if we could just splash some cold water on ourselves for that one week a month and become a guy? Sure, it would cause problems and weird our friends out, but it would mean the end of nausea, indigestion, that bloated feeling, cramps, and all that icky mess...

Wednesday evening sucked because my period was TEH EBIL. It's weird, because being on BC is supposed to make it easier to handle; that sort of implies that if I wasn't on the pill, it would have been worse. X_X I took a short nap in the library, wrote a quick story in WRP2 class, and went home by 8:30. Thank goddess for soup, saltines, and short classes.

Today's been a bit better; even though I was late to Japanese class, everything went well, and surprisingly Scott was waiting for me outside of class. We went to the Collaboratory together, where I wrote a quick critique for my Creative Writing class, and then we walked to the Exchange to get me some breakfast. Scott again apologized for the other night when he was so rude, but he didn't go into detail as to what was on his mind. Truthfully, I figured I didn't want to know, so I didn't ask. But I did tell him, if the next time he finds himself with free time and a load on his mind and he DOESN'T want to talk to me about it (because he didn't seem to want to; not that night or today), then he certainly has no obligation to hang out with me when he doesn't want to be social. It's no crime.

Creative Writing class got cancelled, so I went up to the Photo Lab to find Scott again and hang out for a while; I got the mini-tour of the new, filled space there, and then I headed over to the Brown Center to meet Baba and Grandpa after their swim lesson. I hung out at home for a bit and checked my email; WDKY19 is getting mixed reactions, and no one's responded to the finished WDKY20 up at the betasquad forums just yet.

As for WDKY19, I'd like to establish my view on the whole steam scene: I wrote it because I felt like it was time, because it fits with the people I have established as characters (or advancements of Takahashi's characters), and it fits with the series as a whole (encompassing CO7 and ED, as well). As some readers pointed out, regardless of how long Seto and Téa have actually been going out, they have lived together and been through so much in a longer span of time (sexual tension!) and they've known each other for even longer. IMHO, real life relationships work that same way. Sometimes sexual attraction is apparent from the get-go, sometimes it's onesided, and sometimes, even when it is shared, it takes a while to develop. Factors contribute, and that's what I've tried to make clear in WDKY. It's not like they just suddenly decided to jump each other's bones; this is something I've been hinting at for a while now! I'm not trying to preach anything either, but I stand by my rating. I'd like to believe the people reading WDKY are mature, but sometimes the reviews I get seem to say otherwise. I really wish that the younger set reading WDKY would understand that I am not trying to condone anything that goes against one's personal beliefs, religion, etc. THIS IS A STORY!

Backtracking a bit, WDKY needs editing. It really does. Ch. 1 and 12 were the biggies, just because I glanced over them again today; most of it is tense and formatting, nothing big story-wise. Something in Ch. 12 references something in Ch. 20, so I need to edit the beta version I posted at betasquad to appropriately reflect that. People noticed that I like to leave loose ends hanging for an unspecified amount of time, to bring them back later with a surprising bang... well, the loose ends are about to start getting tied up! The story's almost done, ladies and gents! 20 chapters done out of 36 leaves only 16 left...!

In other news, I'm going to Knott's Scary Farm (read: Berry Farm done Halloween style) with Eva and one of her roommates tomorrow. I think we'll miss the special park's opening, but it's open till 1am, so we should still be able to get some good scares in. We can't dress up though, so whatever I choose to wear will have to be both comfy and eye-catching at the same time. (I told Scott I could wear my red plastique brassier and my leather pants and go as a skank; he told me to please, please promise him to be careful and not let weirdoes around me... I thought it was cute.) As for Halloween night, still no plans... I might stop by the photo lab and try to "scare" Scott, but other than that, MEH. What, am I supposed to go trick-or-treating? All the parties are 21 and up only, and I'm not in a sorority or co-ed fraternity... and the Halloween Haunts and such on the Night Of are either going to be crowded, expensive, or both. Either that or they're too far for me to reach on foot. :P If worse comes to worse, I can dress up and "have fun" at home by watching whatever scary things might be on TV (I can try to go to Blockbuster and rent Army of Darkness for laughs) and give the candy we have out to trick-or-treaters (not that we get many in this neighborhood...).

Ugh, my tummy still hurts, so I think I'll take a nap now...

A little bit more of a lighthearted post. I haven't gotten too much done today, and I still feel rather weird/sad, but at least I have enough to do tomorrow to keep me occupied:
* Midterm paper for Mythology
* Memorization for Japanese
* Dates for Tokiwa Application
* Check Waseda Application
* Clean room
* Work on scrapbooking?

Anyway, I just finished watching the last episode of Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. I'm still in a bit of shock that it was another short series (only 13 episodes), but as is the par with FMP, the way they ended it was the way it "should" be, and not necessarily the way the sappy fangirl in me wanted it. Nonetheless, there is more than enough material (both in the novelizations of "Owaru Day by Day" and "Continuing On My Own", plus the FMP: Sigma manga adaptation of ODBD. And there's the short stories and "A Dancing Very Merry Christmas", too!) to work with a sequel, and the anime did seem to drop some hints.

Both the novels (I read everything that's been released so far, except for a few chapters of ODBD) and the anime supply people with so much goodness, it's a wonder there aren't more FMP fics out there. ^_^ Being a diehard Kaname x Sousuke fan, you just know I'll be contributing to the mess. (mklutz, expect Chapter 2 of "Counting" soon!) I hardly doubt that means I'll be dropping out of the YGO fandom, just that for once (in a long time) I will actually be dividing my time!

Now I just need some good FMP icons! :O

Well, I never thought *I* would be doling out sex advice to anyone. But there's a first time for everything I guess, and in retrospect, it made me laugh.

I took my Japanese Lesson 4 test today; not bad, but the fact that I cut off circulation to my fingers (accidentally, mind you) had be feeling a bit weird about writing. I still haven't turned in my Reading and Writing for Lesson 4; I wonder if she'll still accept it? >_> Probably not, considering we get our grades tomorrow... Ugh.

NO ONE (not a single person) has gone to betasquad and said A THING about WDKY19. With WDKY, I'm very apprehensive about posting without a beta; even moreso for this chapter. Volunteers? Anyone, anyone? Bueller? (Old jokes die hard.)

Scott got back from San Francisco; he supposedly had a good interview and a decent grammar test, so I'm hoping he did well and will get the job. At least, I think that's what I'm thinking. I'm not really sure... see, we don't have an established "relationship" of sorts. It's not exactly platonic, but... Well, let me put it this way: I don't always think of him, I don't always define myself or the things I want to do/places I want to go with him, and I don't always feel some obsessive compulsive need to call him, hear from him, or see him every day. But occasionally, I do wonder.

And while it's nice to know that he really respects and admires me (and "loves" me in that weird way of his), I don't know if that's what I want, or if I can even GET what I want. Imagining scenarios in my head again will only lead to heartbreak, so I'm trying not to. But no matter what happens, he'll be leaving somewhere, at some time, and then what? Argh!

My Horoscope for today: A long-term period of great big dreams has fallen upon us all. In your case, the matter involves relationships, and in particular, on deciding whether a certain platonic or business attachment should stay that way.

Yeah, like that makes me feel any better.

( Ooh, pretty meme with decent questions! )

On the bright side, I did win both eBay auctions for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment and FFX-2: International + Last Mission. Part of me wishes I could see the original Japanese FMV, where Yuna actually turned INTO Lenne, and she sang 1000 Words solo, but! alas, that's Japanese version only. I wonder if some site has it online... I spent much of yesterday hunting around various FAQs sites looking for all the extra data I need to make this New Game + worth it... and that includes getting all the garment grids I can possibly get (I sided with the Youth League again... geez, the attitude of the Yevonites mekes me sick!). So I'm trying to get The End by oversouling all the monsters I can. I have a checklist, and so far, I've encountered all but 3 of the monsters that CAN be oversouled (non-oversoulable monsters don't appear on Shinra's Bestiary list, right?), and I have maybe 20 or so that NEED to be oversouled.

Too bad it's not by Enemy Type... because I have to face Concherer again (evil ugly tongue thing) in Via Infinito. Which means not only do I have to face whatever type Concherer is until I face him/her/it, but when I do face Concherer, s/he/it has to oversoul... which may or may not make it harder to beat. Concherer is a pain in the ass, if you recall my previous entries on the subject.

Anyway, I'm still at 94% complete in Chapter 2... I think that remaining 6% comes from the Den of Woe, correct me if I'm wrong... >_> I also have to get moving on the Publicity and Matchmaking Campaigns. I always forget about those. Publicity: score = 40, Level = 1 - Matchmaking: score = 16, Level = 1.

( Because I'm a nice girl, I'll put this freakishly obvious HPB/Harry Potter 6 spoiler behind a cut )

Yu-Gi-Oh fans, go check out playthedamncard, because someone posted a mini-drama of the Prince of Tennis' Inui (same VA as Kaiba) interviewing TeniPuri's Ryuzaki (a girl with a crush on PoT main character Echizen).. anyway, "Inui" says that when he takes off his glasses (which he doesn't even do in front of his parents) he becomes... Kaiba-shachou! Complete with maniacal laugh. It's great.

On Madonna and angry rabbis: Some rabbis are upset because Madonna's next album features a song called "Issac," which is (supposedly) about a 16th century rabbi. It's against Jewish law to profit off the name of a holy rabbi. Madonna, like many other celebrities, is a practicioner of Kabbalah, a sort of sub-set of Judiasm that's branched off into a whole new sect of its own. It's become a bit glorfied, if you ask me, but I'm sure there are still devoted, true believers out there.

Personally, I think the rabbis are on the wrong. They think that Madonna should be expelled from the community and that she will suffer divine retribution. I think if Madonna felt the need to write the song in the first place, she could say her inspiration came from God, and therefore he wouldn't punish her for telling Issac's story/singing about him. Also, all artists in general have their own beliefs, and they express it in different ways. Did anyone rag on Da Vinci for painting Jesus? (Maybe...) But still, why should someone be expelled from a religious community for expressing their beliefs through their art? How many other people do you know would even want to inform the masses about Issac, anyway? I haven't heard the song though, so who knows?

On Yu-Gi-Oh, paganism, and satanism: It's an anime!!! (I'm tempted to throw "chrissake" and "Geez" out there repeatedly, knowing full well what they mean) I wish people didn't get so worked up over named like "Sorcerer of the Doomed" or the shape of the Seal of Orichalchos (which changed from the original Japanese, mind you!). Kids that get into dueling (and older fans, including myself), regardless of their religion, are not TEH EBIL!

Check it out:
A forum post on XeroCreative (makers of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual Desktop)
Yu-Gi-Ho!?

The latter page infuriates me, not just as an ardent fan of the show and anime in general, but a pagan. I hate people who identify paganism as the worship of false idols or false gods. That definition comes from YOUR dictionary, not mine, BUSTER! And who's to say your gods are any truer or better than mine!? I have friends that are very religious or very unreligious, and while I love a good debate, if they say something that doesn't sit well with me and it DOES NOT require my commentary, I will withhold it. Religion does not have to interfere with friendship, having fun, or watching anime. -_-;

Anyway, I've been neglecting Driver's Ed, so I'm going to work on that for the next 50 minutes or so, until I have to go to Mythology. Quiz 2 tomorrow, which means I have lots of reading and note-taking to catch up on. No gym for me today; I think I'll try and see Marta in the Studies Abroad department, and then walk home. X_X It's going to be got though, so that means I'll need to take off my sweater... And...

I'm not wearing a bra. Ooh, I'm a rebel!

Title: Counting
Genres: Drama/(W)angst/Romance/Action??
Pairing(s): Sousuke Sagara x Kaname Chidori
Rating: PG? PG13?
Notes: Dedicated to mklutz. I owe you double, so if you like this, I'll continue it. Otherwise... it's not really a drabble, it's more of a ficlet... if I can manage to not babble. In any case, it's an idea that's been burning my brain cells out of my ears, so it needs to get written, especially before I watch more of TSR.

Spoilers for Episode 5 of Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid or the Owaru: Day by Day novels. >_> Sorry, it cannot be helped.

( Counting )

I already told you about betasquad and the forums over at seventh-star.net.
Now I've posted Chapter 19 of WDKY at said forums. Which you need to get a password for. Which you can only get by joining the community. So if you haven't get your butt over there and help me edit this monster of a steamed-rice chapter! :O!!!

Spread the word!!!!!!! *squeals and runs away*

Chatsworth is burning to the ground.

Okay, it's only a brush fire, and anyone with any sense of propriety probably won't miss the areas getting burned (only 2-3 houses so far, from what I've heard), but there's smoke covering up what was once a completely blue sky; the sun was dark and then bright red and then glaring orange in less than 10 minutes, and they evacuated campus because of the poor smoke conditions.

I'm glad I got off work early; I'm just so sick of this summer, of August and September especially, of people who bother me whose names start with K (but ironically, this is NOT the same K as before; this is Ks, who I always got along with before... but she felt the need to be bossy and tell me what to do when she had no place nor reason to and on top of that I'm SICK and on my fucking period, so I don't feel like taking shit from anyone, least of all HER)... just of Jamba and its sucky atmosphere.

I know I'm not guaranteed the Red Robin job, but I'd like to be more optimistic than that. So pray for me, okay?

In the meantime, I still hate being sick, on my period, and in an area where the littlest bit of ash floating from 5 miles away gets me watery-eyed and hacking like a lung cancer victim.

Scott was nice enough to give me a call after I TMd him with the evacuation warning... but alas, he's a Scorpio, and a stubborn boy if I've ever dealt with one, so he's going back to the photo lab. He has a good point when he says there's not much difference between his apartment and school in terms of air conditions and safety, but at least at school he can get stuff done. Having come from San Diego and experienced the Simi Valley brush fire 2 years ago, this is pretty routine for Scott, I guess. Nonetheless, I've felt so incredibly lonely and moody lately (especially today with Ks yelling at me the way she did) that I just wanted to spend time with someone for a while. Baba and Grandpa are leaving for Seattle/Rosh Hashannah way early Saturday morning; I have the Clubs Conference all day that day, and then finally, some off time on Sunday (Eva, still coming over? Please say yes!). Then I have almost five days entirely to myself, assuming Scott doesn't stay over for a few (which I hope he does ^_~).

Oh yeah, and I called Dave during lunch today-- the guy picked up his phone, was prompt, answered all my questions... and he's sending my PS2 back to me today (which would have been EARLIER today, as post offices are closed by now) or tomorrow. Turns out the lens was scratching against DVD-Rs. It plays normal PS2 games (including imports) just fine, and CDs and CD-Rs (like my music, PSX games, and "backups" of older games I either broke or borrowed). I don't have nor intend to get any DVD-R burns, so I don't think this'll be a problem. I'm glad I got the whole issue cleared up, anyhow.

*stabbity stab stab* Ouch, a harsh review! But it's not a flame... I don't think... ( I dunno, tell me what you think. Nicely-sandwiched concrit with a side of honesty? )

...*starts crying all over again* Damn it, I don't want to be a waterspout today! WHY VAUGHN, WHY!?!??! (Alias fans, I need some good discussion. Hit me up. Let's theorize.)

( Trick or treat! Hey, what's this block of wood for?! )

Okay, so it turns out that:
a) I have to finish up all my online courses at DriversEdDirect.com before I can take any behind-the-wheel courses
b) I can't get a license without first getting a permit, which I have to take a written exam for... which is likely going to be based on everything I learn when I finish the online courses.
So I have to finish all my online lessons before I can do ANYTHING. X_X more studying. Ugh.

But damn it all, I AM GOING TO HAVE MY LICENSE BY DECEMBER 31st!!!!


*ahem*

Now, before I head off to Mythology class today, I would like to say:
(1) I mourn for Alicia Blade. I really do. Maybe it was my age, my mind-set, or some internal Fangirl Gene that made me adore her, but... this newest fic of hers leaves me in an absolute stupor. IT SUCKS. It could be worse, granted, but I find it very hard to compare it to her older works (not that I've read any lately, so I'm really comparing it to what I remember, on the assumption that they're still good and I wasn't imagining things) and not cringe. I wish I could be the honest reviewer who doesn't use a Swedish Ego Enlarger on her, but something in me doesn't want to be the brat of the SM fandom, all over again. ^^;

(2) I am in need of some damn good hentais. Het, please, because I'm going to take my first baby steps into writing more "adult" fanfic. Violence, language, and angst I've got down- and kitesareevil, do you remember when I thought I couldn't write angst to save my life? *grins* Well, I think I'm pretty good at it now... *cough* Anyway, so I figure, I'll practice what I preach and do some research. I know there are steamy/lemony fics out there that I enjoyed, but now I want to re-read them and find out WHY I enjoyed them, so I can try that style for myself.

I'd especially love any lemons (or as we used to call them way the hell back when "sekkushuru romans" a term which made me think of very long white candles) from the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom. Jounouchi x Mai, Yuugi x Anzu, whatever. Seto x Anzu would best, since that IS the pairing I'm writing for... *smirks* Atlantis, Kysra? Be aware, I'm going to assault your Memories and be doing intensive research on this subject.

World, watch out-- here I come! Bwahaha.

Why is it every time that I listen to the Spice Girls' "Move Over(Generation X)" I get this complete AMV in my head of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX with splice-scenes of Yu-Gi-Oh interspersed in there? I mean, I can even see certain scenes:

Hold it down, feel the noise, let 'em know it's a fight, pick it up it's alive
Juudai meeting Yuugi and receiving the Hane Kuriboh card, and hearing it "talk" to him for the first time

Next phase, next stage, next grade, next wave
From different duel phases, different duel stages, different dorms, and then the gang getting washed off their rock by a wave, as in the OP theme

Every color, every creed, teach, never preach, listen up and take heed
All the different students and the various dorms (Ra Yellow, Osiris Red, Obelisk Blue) and the teachers

Take the heat, feel the flow, 'cause you're ready to burn and we're ready to go
Juudai's Elemental Heroes-- a fire-based one, and a water-based one. If not that, then someone else's monsters of similar attributes.

You gotta know the rules if you wanna play the game, respect and dedication never riding on the fame
Oh, isn't this one obvious? Rules of Duel Monsters, the revealing of Spells and Trap cards; the use of the Duel Disks. "Respect" in the form of Duelists like Yami no Yuugi and Juudai, and "Dedication" with ones like Manjyome Thunder and Jounouchi. Fame, on the other hand, might be Kaiba. ^^;

^^;; Oooh, I should do it (and at the end, have Pharaoh the Cat paw-print the screen).

Anyway, I called Dell-- and they didn't send the CDs (of course). Turns out the technicians I spoke to aren't allowed to authorize the sending of CDs; only Spare Parts can do that, but according to the lady I spoke to, it's not covered under my warranty, which means I MIGHT have to pay for it. X_X Ugh... And I also apparently did NOT do a clean install with Microsoft, when I deleted those 3 partitions from my original Dell set-up and installed Windows XP Pro on what I thought was a completely blank hard-drive/system. So I have to call them back tomorrow between 7am and 7pm Central, talk to Spare Parts, and get my bloody CDs. -_-; I have a 90-day warranty; if this doesn't pan out by the time I get the CDs (and I will give them no more than a week to get those CDs to me) then I will return the damn laptop, demand my money back, and either buy a better one someplace else, or save the money for something smarter and wiser. I guess...

Did I mention Mom paid for my driverseddirect.com courses? I'm on Lesson 2 of 7 right now, and I can schedule the first of my two-hour behind-the-wheel driving sessions at any time, but I don't know whether I should do that AFTER I've completed all the courses, halfway through, or at certain intervals. Has anyone who's taken a Driver's Ed course with behind-the-wheel done something like this? ^^;; Any advice would be appreciated, because I'm starting to get the heebie-jeebies about this, even if I am excited and determined.

I have no homework for most of my classes; Mythology is an online assignment that I'm sort of working on now; I finished my work for Journalism; there's some simple typing up for Visual Communications; I have a bit of story-writing for Creative Writing (we're getting into drama/plays now), and a skit to make up this weekend for Japanese class on Monday. Also, I might try and finish "I'm Listening" (one of my original fiction pieces) for the Northridge Review, a CSUN literary publication. :> Can I do it before Oct. 1? I have tons of reading/writing to do already...

Speaking of writing, WDKY in particular, here are some ( interesting factoids )

Oh yeah Mamono I had some ideas for upcoming YOT icontests (aside from the ones we already talked about). Try deciphering these words to see what I mean; otherwise, IM/email me.
* Rehash
* Grimm's Brothers
* iPod
* Gobble Gobble?
*< /insert gobbledygook here >
* iconfiend100
* 7sinvirtueicons

Oh, and could you do me a HUUUUGE favor and tag your past entries with:
* Challenges (for the challenge entries)
* Voting (for the voting)
* Results (for the results, whether or not they include banners)
* Banners (for the banners, even if they're posted with the results)
* Extension (for extended challenges)
And anything else that might be applicable?

...I have the feeling I'm forgetting something, but I can't think of what now. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow before I work (for a measly 2 hours), and then, at last! The weekend! More studying to be had on the Driver's Ed front, but that's okay. :) Soon, I'll have the whole house to myself...

Well, so Scott's okay (duh?). Turned out he just had some really bad indigestion that carried over from last night. On top of that, something I should have seen coming... he's dropping Japanese. Truth is, the classroom environment never suited him, but I didn't want to see him quit and give up (he knows and I know that he NEEDS to understand Japanese before he moves out there, no matter what the people at NOVA/GEOS/whatever say). I felt a bit selfish, as he was my only friend in the class, and my excuse for not reaching out to other people. If we ever HAD to do pairs work that I couldn't do alone (which is what I have been doing lately), I would work with him. Why? Because I'm comfortable with him, and I feel like I can help him. He knows me, he knows my attitude and my style, and he's accepted me for who I am. I like that.

But now I'm thrust into this not-so-comfortable position where I should and "have" to make friends, not just because it's what's better for me in the long-run (than waiting until Scott's actually gone, wherever he may end up), but also because Scott and I both know he can't be there for me 24-7 (or whatever else I might want) anyway, even if we did share a class together. So far, two weeks into the school year, we do spend time together and hang out, without the pretense of Japanese. But I want to feel useful, I want to feel like I've helped him out some before I throw everything that's meant anything to me this past year completely out the window.

So anyway, tomorrow I'll (hopefully) be doing my skit alone. It's something simple; a 6-line self-introduction including my name, what I like, what I'm bad at, and what I'm good at, plus your standard "It's nice to meet you!" greeting. Hopefully the sensei will be okay with me doing it alone, given my knowledge of the language and the fact that Scott is dropping the class, and I didn't want him to show up to be in a skit with me, to get a grade that wouldn't matter to him, or worse, to embarrass himself for no reason. If I miss out on 5 points, so what?

Scott came over tonight to tell me this (when I originally thought we were going to study), and that he's also enrolling in a course which I would like and maybe can help him with-- Modern Japanese Culture (I'll need to take it next semester to be applicable for Study Abroad in Japan in Fa/06). One of the textbooks is all about anime, and the class schedule has them watching anime and various Japanese movies practically every week. Nonetheless, learning the language isn't a prerequisite; I suppose Scott's right; he could learn at his own pace with a tutor, or like I did, from reading and watching things and picking up on the nuances of speech and writing. No grade to worry about. :P

I'm pretty bummed that I won't get to see Scott every morning, or that I won't have the excuse of studying with him to spend more time with him. I don't know if the rest of the semester is going to continue at this pace for me, or for him. Scott said something about not having his homework done for Japanese anyway (he always works late nights Sundays; can't do anything about it because of his other classes and his on-campus job working as photo lab tech), so he just stayed in the new Photo Lab with his phone off.

I was so worried (see previous entry), thinking stupid things like what if he'd gotten in an accident, what if he was hurt, what if... and I had no way of knowing for sure or even asking anyone as the hours went by, because I don't have Brett (his friend), Marlene (his roommate) or his mom's phone number(s). If I did and I'd called them before Scott reached me around 1:30pm, I might have blown the whole thing out of proportion and worried many more people than necessary. He did stop by Jamba Juice and reassure me, so when I finally got off work (and admittedly, K wasn't as bad today, but she's still a condescending snot) I called him to let him know I was heading home.

But Grandpa and I had to do some shopping first, and Scott was already there when I got there. Joyce and Neal, who came last night, still weren't back from their deposition regarding their trial against their insurance company (their house was one of the many burned down in the San Diego fires 2 years back). I later found out it was because they were picking up Erin from the airport; she's back from South America and is going to move before she starts school at UCLA next week or so.

Aaand... we come full circle. Now I'm the only one up, my homework's mostly done (minus some reactions for Creative Writing, which I'll do tomorrow in the gap between my classes), and I'm tired and a bit hungry... but I won't eat, because I shouldn't eat after 10pm or whatever. :P I've gotten a few more good reviews for WDKY, and assorted other reviews for other fics... o_O People are strange, I'll say that much. Someone said my story (particularly, "I Know That You Know") was horny. Gwuh? I always thought my most innuendo-laced fic was TJOY!

*yawn* G'night. (I hope I get my Home XP CD tomorrow so I can get my damn laptop working! Oh yeah, when is Studio 8 coming? :O)

baine, you are so MEAN! :P Seventh-Star is perfectly original! It took me forever just to choose that one! :P Besides, I already had a Mare Serenitatis layout themed "...And Straight On Till Morning." Besides, you'd be surprised all the names that are taken, no matter how "original" you try to be. :P

*ahem* Anyway, to everyone else, I've decided to start up a Plagiarist Blacklist on Seventh-Star.net... think of the PPP, but with a list of known plagiarizers, what fandoms they attack, and so on. Anyone wanting to help out or otherwise contribute, let me know-- it's an open forum at this point.

Hey, I know tidus likes to randomly drop off the face of the planet, but on any chance he or someone else LJ-program-savvy knows what I'm talking about, please answer a weird LiveJournal question I have: How do you post a link in your Now Playing/Current Music/Currently Listening To: area, to download the music you're listening to? Is there a way to automate this process? (I mention tidus because he does this on his journal. Go see what I mean and see if you can figure out how he does it.)

( iTunes speaks! a meme. )

Remember Sempaiko? Remember "Cast Away With Seto Kaiba"? I like the story, to a degree, but as with ALL fics I read, most especially those of my OTP (Seto x Anzu), I am of course going to review with concrit. Since when do people have to get so damn worked up over something that's basic to all writing? Well anyway, I used Sempaiko's art for one of my iconfiend100 icons-- a tribute of sorts to the story, because I *DO* like it. I know it can be better, though. Anyway, I checked the story today, and when I got a Review Error saying I'd already reviewed, I decided to check the page for my review.

Instead, I found these: ( MEEEEEEN! )

I survived.

What a day at work. Am I ever glad to be home, and have tomorrow off. I mean, it wasn't horrible-- I didn't have to deal with any pathetically immature and perpetually stupid boys... the only guy on duty was this new guy, E, who I barely know. So I was working with an all-girl crew, people I like and am pretty okay with. It was nice-- time flew. I got a horrible cramp from working on dairy most of the time, but it's okay now. The scariest (yes, SCARIEST) part of my day was when (toward the last 5 minutes of my shift) I was making a carrot juice for a customer.

Now, the carrot juice machine is a very big, heavy, metal contraption with lots of parts. The main parts are this basket with very fine mesh that spins VERY fast as the carrots are pushed into it. It spins to let all the juice out of the carrot grinds. The juice goes out one tube, while the carrot mush goes out another, large tube. The mesh basket sits in a big, three-piece bowl fixed on the sides with latches, and in the center inside with a giant bolt. Well, so I've gotten about 6 oz. or so of carrot juice, but I need 32, so I keep mushing the carrots in there... carrot machine is busy being loud and annoying when all of a sudden it makes a violently loud noise the clear pipe (the carrot mush pipe) comes FLYING out of its socket, the latch that connects the basin (with the mesh grinder) unlocks itself and spins right into my hand, and the whole machine goes nutso-- and carrots are EVERYWHERE. I am so startled and scared (I thought I cut off a finger or something) that I fumbled to turn it off for a few seconds. I walked into the back room in a daze, at which point L, a tall, new girl who is kind of friendly, burst out laughing at me.

I couldn't help it, I started laughing too. It's nice that it comes naturally, instead of me feeling all hurt that someone was laughing at me. A few other girls laughed when they saw me too, and when I got to the bathroom, I saw why-- I was covered in carrot guts, from head to toe. Long story short, I went to the back and cleaned off, and went home-- though everyone still got a good laugh out of the thing, especially since the carrot machine decided to behave after that.

( Doll meme! )

After the incident (and after the horrors of last night), I TMd Scott; he called me when I was napping at home. We chatted for about 20 minutes- he's back from San Diego, where he says all his friends and family are doing okay, and his mom's back on her feet (she broke her foot earlier this summer). They're all coming up to LA this coming weekend, but Scott doesn't see the sense in taking the whole week off if they're not even going out of town (out of town for him being out of LA county). He seems to be pretty driven about making money lately, even though he knows just as well as I do that we're at dead-end jobs for "beginners," and not exactly at home with our desires or people of like intelligence...

I'm still looking forward to school starting... and I wanna know if this sorta-friendship with Scott will go anywhere. FWB, whatever.

Anyway, I've been pelted left and right with ideas for CO7, so I might as well get started writing that. Then everyone won't have to wait so long (I'll still send out finished chapters to be beta'd, of course) for them to come out, once WDKY is finished. I've already got the first part of Chapter 1 finished... HEH!

( Works in Progress... )

Yeeeeep, that's all the juicy goodness (literally) I can handle for a day.

The second of three challenges offered by suppis_tenshi on anichallenge. I'm only answering two of them, the other one in a previous entry (see "Eat Your Words Beautiful"). There's also two more challenges posted today. Check them out!

( A Lying Word )

http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=143951&password=&sort=1&cat=last7&page=31
- Paolo made it to cosplay.com. An example of the overwhelming sign trend. BTW, Vince, you still have my posters! Can I get them back from you when I get back to SF!?

Oh yeah, so I got the wording on Jimbo's sign wrong. It's "people holding signs fail at life." Same difference.

Hey, PsyJoe-- that same guy who clapped along with the songs in ReDeath? Yeah, I sat right next to him (okay, one seat away) in the DDR Project 3. I even told him "Dude, do you have to do that?" but he didn't stop. ARGH. That's why you bring props like giant Pocky or something. Poke 'em until they shut up.

Kysra-- you've got me thinking naughty hentai thoughts. For one of my S/A fics, "Wish," in which Anzu gets some magical powers and decides to play with them, I was thinking of having her remarking (re: Seto) "Not even Moses could part that guy's legs." *snark* I know, I know, the rest of you are probably: :O or O_O or -.-...

http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=135968&password=ed0eb1f35755cad2ce7216dd8204755c&sort=1&cat=500&page=1
Nope, it's not from Fanime, but still, seeing decent cos-- er, CROSSplayers is cool. Now where's a hott 18-year-old guy to cosplay Seto when you need him?

the_sweet's Word Usage

1. the (592) 26. this (65) 51. had (39) 76. no (27) 2. i (552) 27. not (64) 52. they (39) 77. his (27) 3. and (476) 28. if (63) 53. one (38) 78. your (26) 4. to (375) 29. up (61) 54. still (38) 79. i've (26) 5. a (304) 30. get (58) 55. go (38) 80. much (26) 6. of (223) 31. when (57) 56. then (36) 81. has (26) 7. in (197) 32. are (54) 57. some (36) 82. 1 (25) 8. that (186) 33. just (54) 58. people (36) 83. things (25) 9. my (179) 34. what (53) 59. there (35) 84. i'll (25) 10. it (174) 35. as (53) 60. back (34) 85. make (24) 11. for (156) 36. like (53) 61. them (33) 86. think (24) 12. but (145) 37. got (52) 62. good (33) 87. way (24) 13. is (142) 38. an (48) 63. even (33) 88. time (24) 14. you (127) 39. do (48) 64. we (31) 89. take (23) 15. so (126) 40. can (47) 65. would (31) 90. need (23) 16. was (114) 41. don't (47) 66. should (30) 91. 2 (23) 17. have (112) 42. out (47) 67. off (30) 92. their (22) 18. me (111) 43. it's (46) 68. why (29) 93. that's (22) 19. on (109) 44. he (45) 69. by (29) 94. more (22) 20. or (95) 45. from (44) 70. which (29) 95. thing (22) 21. with (80) 46. know (44) 71. how (28) 96. into (22) 22. at (77) 47. something (42) 72. will (28) 97. o_o (22) 23. i'm (76) 48. going (39) 73. really (27) 98. been (22) 24. be (70) 49. about (39) 74. now (27) 99. said (22) 25. all (66) 50. she (39) 75. her (27) 100. down (21)

Username: Word Count by Hutta.

I guess I'm not selfish, I'm just fond of "articles?"

Seto Kaiba: Business in the front, and party in the back!

Did you read that without laughing? Go read the post where it originated.

Naughty fic idea thingy -- for "You and Me," when Téa finds "himself" in the dance club room... I was leaning towards Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" or No Doubt's "Keep On Dancing" or "Hey, Baby."

Gah, can you people that post long-ass entries (i.e. meme gen results, surveys) LJ-CUT! Gawd.

HOLY CRAP I AM ON COSPLAY.COM!!!
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=143673&password=ed0eb1f35755cad2ce7216dd8204755c&sort=1&cat=last7&page=45

*bounce bounce thrill bounce bounce* I'm FAMOUS!!!! :DDDDD TWICE!!!! TWICE!!!

S	Sophisticated
W	Worldly
E	Emotional
E	Extreme
T	Tough

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

What happens when you try to be Japanese? by hideto
Your Name
Your Age
Your Japanese Name	Usagi (Rabbit)
Your New Style	Anime Cosplay. All the time.
Your Favourite Singer	Hyde
You end up becoming..	A prostitute
Cash flow?	$677,096,997
You die..	From an STD.
Created with the ORIGINAL MemeGen!

Oh yay.

What happens when you try to be Japanese? by hideto
Your Name
Your Age
Your Japanese Name	Hotaru (Firefly)
Your New Style	Gothic Lolita
Your Favourite Singer	X-Japan
You end up becoming..	An international film star
Cash flow?	$342,037,718
You die..	In a firey car accident.
Created with the ORIGINAL MemeGen!

Film Star! R0X0RZ!

*dies of laughter* (Trust me, if you ever imagined Seto as John Travolta doing the disco thing... ai...)

GAAAAAAAAAH I have to go to bed Bad Mer bad.

Sometimes constructive criticism isn't. You know, when people go overboard, and aren't just "constructive" to the point where they're helping you out, they're berating you for the littlest thing. Now, I consider myself a writer-- I'm not a fantastic one, and I know I don't have any kind of established fanbase (#$%&, look at my notes-- the last one is from December 01!) . But I'd like to think that I can make people think, or feel a certain way when they read what I write. Of course, they choose what they feel and what they think-- I just give them a starting point.

For writers, there's only two words that can open up an entirely new world to them-- "what if...?" The problem is, when someone writes about an established fanbase (such as an anime or manga) then someone who interprets a character differently will not like the way you've portrayed said character.

And now on to the title of this entry-- I recently posted a relatively old, incomplete story on fanfiction.net, just to get some reader's reaction. I should give you a basic outline-- I like this anime known as Ranma 1/2. It would take forever for me to get into all the details, but generally speaking, it's a slapstick comedy with several love polygons thrown in between. Typical Japanese anime with a twist every here and there.

So this person named Jhoannes or something said that I was a selfish bitch! That I portrayed Akane (the lead female character) as a coward, and that she was far too forgiving for someone who betrayed her (read: Ryoga). I honestly believe that if you don't like someone's writing, then shut the hell up, and walk away.
Now I guess I'm being harsh, but still-- what's the old adage? If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. I think this rings true for someone's work-- constructive criticism is one thing; outright name-calling as Jhoannes or whatever his name is is totally another. I'm ranting here only because I will not sink to his level-- his review was anonymous anyway, and sadly, was the first review for the fic, and the first review that has upset me so much that I deleted it.

*sigh* Forget it...