azurite: (all muses are busy...)
So I never actually said what swag I got at Anime Expo! For me, at least, swag a big part of the con-going experience. Panels can be fun (or totally lousy, depending on scheduling, "technical difficulties" and other stupid things), and screenings can be a blast (or put you to sleep because there's no variety and the lines stink), but I mainly go to cons these days for the following things:
* Friends
* AMVs
* Swag
* Cosplay
in that order. All told, I "got" all of those things at Anime Expo, so you could say I had a good time.

Swagalicious! )

So I'm overall satisfied with what I got, even though the Expo itself wasn't as good this year as last year. That's really a much longer story, but suffice it to say, they were just very disorganized. That makes people irritable and rude, and that makes other people miserable.

To get...eventually )

So if you happen to be selling any of these or know where I can get them cheap, drop me a line!
azurite: (sailormoon - double trouble minako & usa)
[livejournal.com profile] obabscribbler rec'd a fic that was done by [livejournal.com profile] edmondia for this meme. The meme interests me, and I need to get the brain juices flowing, so let's do this.

Crossover Meme

Choose 10 fandoms. Post the list and have your friends pick combinations. Write a drabble ficlet crossover featuring these fandoms.


1. Sailor Moon
2. Yu-Gi-Oh
3. Final Fantasy X/X-2
4. Final Fantasy VIII
5. Skip Beat
6. Kitchen Princess
7. Full Moon o Sagashite
8. Star Ocean 3 (Till The End of Time)
9. Star Ocean 2 (The Second Story)/EX
10. Full Metal Panic

So you, dear commenter, can pick two of the above fandoms, and I shall write a ficlet for them. I can't guarantee that it'll be a legitimate 100 word drabble, hence the word "ficlet" instead.
azurite: (textually active)
Ganked from [livejournal.com profile] obabscribbler

How about a brief introduction for yourself?

I go by Azurite (heck, even one of my uncles has been calling me that), but anyone from my early Sailor Moon fandom says knows me as Andi (short for "Andromida"), and I'm not too shy anymore about telling people my real name: Meredith.

Fabulous! And what got you into fanfiction to begin with?

Sailor Moon was my first fandom, and as most people know, there was a huge wait between the the first part of Sailor Moon R and the second, let alone the three remaining seasons (the fifth and final of which still has not been formally licensed and subtitled). So I started to go on the Internet to look for spoilers or something, and I ended up reading this story about a "Sailor Milky Way." I thought it was genuinely a synopsis of episodes to come. I later found out that the image was just a flip-flopped one of Hotaru Tomoe (Saturn) from one of the artbooks that I'd never seen in the States, and Sailor Milky Way was just a fan's invention... hence, my first encounter with fanfiction.

The idea of writing ideas as I saw them, and then sharing them with other fans to see what they thought sounded pretty appealing. I wrote my own horrid first fic, which was my take on just who Haruka and Michiru were (this was back when all I knew of them was what I'd seen on stickers that I collected), joined the SMRFF, learned from some masters, and eventually wrote my own Sailor Moon fics.

From there, it's history.

I see, so what kind of fanfiction do you like to write?

When I first started out, I genuinely thought fanfiction was meant to fill in the holes that canon created. Of course, if you have a canon where things DO finish, and DO go a particular (agreeable?) way, then you can have fun writing about alternative universes or timelines/realities, and all number of "what if" scenarios. Originally, I wrote WAFF --warm and fuzzy feeling fanfiction. I couldn't see myself ever writing something angsty or full of dramatic tension. Nowadays, that (and the blend known as TAFF, or Twisted and Fuzzy Feeling) is more my style, and I aim for drama and realism (in terms of characterization or development) in all that I write, regardless of fandom.

I can't really do oneshots or drabbles and the like-- I babble A LOT, and when I get an idea, it tends to be the multi-chapter type. Even right now, with a 36-chapter fic in the works, I have plans for 2 sequels of equal or near-equal length, plus a myriad of other multi-chapter fic ideas, ideas for other fandoms, revisions...

Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the most difficult aspects of writing you struggle with?

I find it in-between. It's always hard to develop a simple idea into workable prose, something that isn't just "this happened and that happened, the end." I use fanfiction as a way to improve my own writing, because even though I'm using someone else's characters (and often scenarios, because hey, there's no such thing as an "original story" anymore, right?), it allows me to discover new ways of thinking and writing in general.

I'd like to think fanfiction has helped me come a long way from taking just plain stupid ideas into really fully-developed stories about a character's growth or experiences, about his or her feelings about some event or other person.

Also, a lot of what I've learned comes from snippets from craft writing books or kits, things like "nothing you say should be useless, everything you say should have a reason for being said."

Write a few sentences or so of your favorite pairing or character.

I'm an Azureshipper for the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom, which is my primary OTP (I do enjoy a classic Revolution or Peachshipping piece every once in a while, and Azureshipping also tends to read better when there's a side pairing. I've seen Stumbleshipping done pretty well too, among others.), but in other fandoms I may waver-- I like Usagi x Mamoru *AND* Usagi x Seiya in Sailor Moon, but also Haruka x Michiru. Even if I don't write it, I may read it (provided it's well written). For other fandoms, I usually like one pairing exclusively: Kaname x Sousuke from Full Metal Panic, Ranma x Akane from Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha x Kagome from Inuyasha, etc.

Out of all those, it's usually the female who I feel most attracted to, and I would detest seeing any of them characterized badly. You'll notice that, even in my romance fics, I tend to focus on the female half-- I suppose that's on account of me taking to heart the phrase "write what you know." So even if I have no experience with Millennium Items, massive mecha, gender-bending water-activated curses, demons, etc., I still KNOW what it's like to be young, female, and wanting love, so I tend to write about that.

Are there any fanfiction clichés or trends you’re sick of or just can’t stand?

I'm going with [livejournal.com profile] obabscribbler on this one: Bashing. I hate, loathe and abhor character bashing.

Are you guilty of any fanfiction clichés you hate? Or any other ones?

Well, of course when I started out, I was guilty of making the characters OOC, or exaggerating one or two of their qualities into their whole WORLD. I am guilty of the "trite" plot-- the plot device that is overused to death, but I like to think I can put a new twist on it, just as a challenge. WDKY supposedly fit that bill, because the idea of killing off Anzu's parents was a common one for any fics starring her (at the time I started writing it), and it's a lame plot device to get two people together. But, all things considered, it's still worked out pretty well despite that.

What was the first fandom you wrote for, and do you still like/participate in it?

Sailor Moon, as mentioned above, and yes-- but very rarely.

Name your OTPs or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them that you love to write.

As mentioned before, Anzu x Seto (Azureshipping) is my OTP for Yu-Gi-Oh, but I've been known to enjoy a few others with Anzu involved. I adore dramatic love triangle (or polygons), too. To keep talking about them, rather than going on about those other pairings I like and already talked about, I like Anzu and Seto because they have SO much potential. They never struck me as characters who hated each others' guts and were wholly incompatible, nor were they characters that had never or could never meet and have any sort of relationship. They HAD interacted, they HAD opinions about one another. Neither of them were the "star" of the show though, so fanfiction about or involving them meant digging deeper into what little glimpses of characterization the canon offered, and developing it into something interesting and unusual. I love to write either of them in such a way that people feel that my Seto could very well be the canon Seto, if someone else had just taken the reins of Yu-Gi-Oh and written it for a different audience.


What would you call your writing “style”?

Long. Except for this answer. :P

Do you read other people’s fanfic? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?

Oh, whenever I can. I prefer to read by recommendation, but when I discover or get into a new fandom and I don't know anyone there, I do the usual "hunt and peck" search for it. And that usually involves me Googling a fandom's fic archive or FFnet and scouring C2s or the filter system-- but even then, there's a lot of Back-clicking involved. I find myself reading Romance and/or Drama the most, because I love to read the styles and genres that I myself write. It's great to see other people taking the same basic idea (Romance or Drama, etc.) and then veering off with it in an unexpected way.

Name one thing you’d LOVE to write, but have been too afraid or shy to do.

Smut. :P The temptation's there, the IDEA is even there (anyone here remember "Kaiba the Virgin Sacrifice"?), but I just can't get the lady balls to do it. I keep saying I won't start anything new (especially anything long and potentially multi-chapter) until I finish WDKY, anyway.

Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have the dreaded bloated ego?

I don't think I have a bloated ego, because almost every review, even if it's short and not littered with praise, flatters me that it even exists. It's so cool that someone took time out of their day to say something about what *I* wrote. I love thinking I've made someone think or feel a certain way due to my writing (style, ideas, etc).

Sometimes, though, I do feel I take things a bit personally, especially when I interpret critique one way and the writer may have meant it differently. But I guess that's bound to happen with all kinds of reviews: being online means you're not psychic,you have no way of knowing what sort of "intent," if any, was behind the review. I can't stand anyone who attacks a writer personally based on their writing though-- that is flaming, and I find it senseless and stupid.

When you write, is there anything that helps? Music? Quiet room?

Music, almost always. A lot of my fics have unofficial soundtracks as a result of that, and some of them even read as being "songfics" because I found them so inspirational. I don't like to fall into the trap of writing fics that essentially rehash the same story from a song, or use a song's title, but it has happened.

What inspires you?

Who the hell knows? My ideas hit me like bolts of lightning, and if I don't write them down immediately, I lose them. WDKY was just a random idea that came about one day when I was working at the box office of a movie theatre. I had to try and write every bit of the idea down on small scraps of paper that I didn't have nearly enough of, or enough room for in my too-tight regulation pants. About the only thing that job was good for was the inspiration I got during the dead hours.

Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer?

I'd like to think I've come a hell of a long way since I first wrote fanfiction WAAAY back in the day (I think my first fic was titled "The Cosmic Rebirth Series"), and I've certainly been able to write new and different styles, and MORE of it (I have chapters that are almost novel-length). But I'm always looking to improve, and for that reason, I can't really see myself leaving fandom completely. It's always great to meet new people and brainstorm, too. Honestly, my life's been changed by fandom, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Tag six friends because they’ll hate you for it.
[livejournal.com profile] guardian_kysra
[livejournal.com profile] atlantian_magic
[livejournal.com profile] bewareofdogz
[livejournal.com profile] svelterose
[livejournal.com profile] a_white_rain
[livejournal.com profile] dqbunny
azurite: (kitty catch)
This is a sequel to Counting. This is in answer to the 15-people meme, where [livejournal.com profile] atlantian_magic requested a Sousuke x Kaname piece with a KISS. But, since this is a sequel to counting, a story universe which I've semi-planned out in my head, this won't be a drabble. It'll be more of a free-flow ficlet-- a second chapter to "Counting," if you will, and I say it's finished when I say it's finished. :P

Title: Moment
Genres: Drama/Romance/Action
Pairing(s): Sousuke Sagara x Kaname Chidori
Rating: PG13-R for this one
Spoilers: For episode of 5+ of "Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid" and books in the "Owaru: Day by Day" series. If you've read "Counting," that's about all you'll need to know.
Notes: [livejournal.com profile] mklutz, not sure if you liked/enjoyed "Counting" enough to get a sequel, but since I owed you "double," here's part two. I hope you like. :)

I do not own the universe nor the characters represented herein. This is a work for fun, not for profit.

A moment like this... )
azurite: (unforgotten uranepu)
And everybody say WHEE! Blue Eyes and Apricots, the web's first, official, and ONLY (English) Azureshipping fanlisting now has -count 'em- 400 members! Congratulations to Rea-kun from Malta, who will probably not read this, but who is the kick-buttingest 400th member. I think I should do something special, but what, I do not know. (No, I will not change the layout. Dammit, that layout was hard enough to put together! :P If anything, I can change the colors and the picture but THAT IS IT!)

Spread the word, yo. We've been getting more members than EVER lately, and it makes me so happy! :D :D :D I have some new fanart to put up soon too (from... you guessed it, Rea-kun!) among other things, so at least there's always some new content to check out. I need some more recs and nominations for the Fanfics and Websites sections too, though, so drop me a line, ne?

This is my last week of school before finals. I have four finals, as far as I know:
* Japanese (duh)
* Women writers of Asia (identification... should be easy.)
* Geography (X_X)
* English (X_X;;;)

I finished my term paper for WWA, and I was quite pleased with it-- maybe because the intended length was 8-10 pages, and I ended up with 14. I had to shrink the font and change the font family to get it to fit. :P This is good news though, because I ended up cutting big chunks out, compared to my outline. This means when I actually get around to expanding it and editing it for my scholarship project (which is to write on contemporary writers of Japan, mainly female writers, and in contrast with male writers), I'll have lots of material to work with.

Today I just finished a paper for Geography on symbolic landscapes, and being the urbanite I am, I chose to write about a fourth landscape (this is in addition to D.W. Meinig's list if three from 1979: the New England village, the Middle-American Main street, and Californian Suburbia): the urban landscape. It was limited to 2 pages and a sketch map page, so I hope I did well on it. Prof. Davidson peered over to my paper while I was attempting to draw a lumpy model of San Francisco. :P

I have an idea for my editorial (that is, my second one, because damned if I can come up with another full-length feature piece in less than a day. Bad Mer, bad!) - California is behind the times. Hell, the whole United States is, but California is the worst off, especially here in So. Cal. Now, I haven't heard anyone vocally railing about it on *MY* FL, but that could be due to other reasons... but gas is at an all-time high here in CA. $3.37 is the cheapest you'll find here in Northridge; in San Diego, you were lucky if you saw below $3.54. I saw a $3.61 there, and Baba said she saw a $3.70-something. I realize gas prices as a whole are going up around the country, but CA's always had the higher prices, because we have so many damn people dependent on gas. We can get gas from the South and from Alaska, but somehow, that still doesn't help us. Then you look at countries like Japan, where their public transportation system is RELIABLE and EFFICIENT. I don't know a lot about their environmental policies (they still allow smoking in public restaurants, so...) or fuel usage, but Hummers wouldn't be popular there, and I saw more minivans than I did SUVs while I was there. It's sort of like telling someone they have to cut off their arm to save their life- people just don't want to do it, even if a part of them recognizes it's for the greater good. Are we stupid or just sick?

To do:
* See various departments about transferable credit from Tokiwa. Get them to sign the forms now so that when I come back, they can't double-cross me. I should do that tomorrow, since I need the course catalog.

* Finish up my online resume at meredithsweet.com :D (Go check it out. Tell me if I'm missing anything, if anything needs editing, etc. The front page only has a short intro right now, but so far, I like it.)

* FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICS. I'm already 2000+ words into [livejournal.com profile] atlantian_magic's Sousuke x Kaname piece, which [livejournal.com profile] mklutz, you will be pleased (I hope) to note that it's a continuation/sequel to the fic I did for you, "Counting." :) I never intended it to be so long, but... hey, it's just one of those universes. I've also got a good idea for the Ed x Winry piece [livejournal.com profile] geniusgirl wanted, so I'll get started on that as soon as I'm done with SxK. Oh yeah, and WDKY24. I want it OUT! OUT, I SAY!

* She is the one named Sailor Moon! I was messing with my Thunderbird settings yesterday (remember folks: compact your Inbox often!) and decided to haunt alt.fan.sailor-moon for a bit, and found a HI-larious post on the possibility of yet another live action SM movie. With Jennifer Garner as the main villain. Hahaha, yeah right. But still, funny. And then someone posted a YouTube link to the elusive Episode 67, wherein Chibiusa BEFRIENDS A DINOSAUR. That was a cute episode, even if the animation style degenerated by about 2 seasons. But yeah, Sailormoon. So totally into it again. :D

* AX? Who here is going to AnimeExpo 2006? I mean the one in Anaheim. Because (I think I mentioned this before) someone requested I go, and there *IS* a brand-new Sheraton there. Mom thinks she can get me the StarHot or whatever it's called rate, which is TEH UBER CHEAP! So why not? I'd just pay for the pre-reg and the shuttle there (if Mom wanted to erase the rest of her debt by paying for THAT hotel room too. She paid for all of Fanime, which surprised the crap out of me) and whatever I saw and wanted that I didn't get at Fanime. And hell, I'll even cosplay Anzu. :D I just want to do a lot of things before I go to Japan.

>_> I hope I got a decent grade on my English paper/Kate Chopin's 'The Storm,' even if it was late.
azurite: (all your god cards are belong to kaiba)
It's funny how even when you plan something else, what other people say and think can change your actions. WDKY is planned out in its entirely, but not written completely. Nonetheless, I have an idea of what direction all the plots are going to take, what the characters are going to say, think, and feel, etc... but readers seem to be getting different impressions, and I just want to make sure I don't lead them astray.

The whole Téa fainting thing in Ch. 20 (I don't consider it a spoiler for reasons that follow) was NOT meant to be a significant plot point, or the sign of something bad/dangerous/worrisome on the way. I could twist it to make it like that, but it wouldn't fit with what I've previously set-up points. It could be several things, too, so if it can't fit with one thing, it could be another. People have speculated all sorts of things, and it's got me thinking if I should twist it just a bit, so it doesn't seem STUPID (for Téa fainting for No Big Reason).

On another note, [livejournal.com profile] mklutz, do you remember an episode of Full Metal Panic (original series or Fumoffu) where Tessa and Kaname had to fight off some baddies, and one of them grabbed a suitcase or something and NAILED the suckers? Or maybe I'm just remembering the manga? Help!

I have to clean my room. I hate myself for still sitting in front of the computer, even though I'll have to come back to it later for Listening Comprehension.
*snore* Waaah. WDKY21 is another one of those chapters that I think I can get written fast, but I'm dissatisfied just because it's not as action-packed and fun as the others. Sure, part of one plot gets resolved, but 21 is actually about setting up for the rest of the plots. X_X
azurite: (Equilibrium)
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. ([livejournal.com profile] 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
azurite: (of course i'm calm (storm))
Title: Counting
Genres: Drama/(W)angst/Romance/Action??
Pairing(s): Sousuke Sagara x Kaname Chidori
Rating: PG? PG13?
Notes: Dedicated to [livejournal.com profile] 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 )

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