Every time I go away from Dreamwidth blogging for a while, Dreamwidth goes and gets more awesome. I decided to nix my Premium account because even though I love the site and service, I was using it so rarely I couldn't justify the expense, especially when I've got my own domain and am often trying to post to my various WordPress-powered blogs on sites there.

The problem is, my sites are so new, so thin on content, that I don't have that built-in community.

This gets crossposted to LiveJournal, and why? Well, LJ has been around even longer than Dreamwidth, but LJ also had so so so many issues when Six Apart sold it (even before that, when Brad sold it to Six Apart). I really didn't like a lot of those changes, and I saw a lot of my fellow LJers move over to Dreamwidth. The communities sometimes followed, but not always.

I have a permanent account on LJ, which means it's not supposed to go anywhere, ever. Theoretically, all the interconnected services there are these days should mean that it's EASIER to cross-post and always stay up-to-date, but the real experience of LJ and DW are the Friends List/Reading Page, and these days, if I'm reading anything for a prolonged period of time, it's Facebook. Yes, there are fan communities there too, but it's very much NOT the same.

I never really divided my fandom self from my "real" self-- I'm not afraid to tell people who I am on Facebook or deviantArt or wherever, and I've never particularly cared about "IRL" friends or family finding out about my fandom activities.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged" I guess.

( Long-winded entry continues here... )

Current Mood: confused
Current Location: Davis, CA
Crossposts: http://the-sweet.livejournal.com/973205.html

So I joined

list50 on Dreamwidth (

list50 on LJ) because they're having a mini-list-festa right now, where you can list less than 50 (10, 15, 20, 30) of your favorite fics/art/vids/whatever that fit a certain theme, genre, what-have-you.

I, of course, selected Azureshipping/Seto x Anzu from Yu-Gi-Oh. You don't have to "claim" the lists like you do with other communities, since these are just lists of recs, and unlike

rec50, where apparently you have to be more detailed in your recs, this is really: just. lists. It's very convenient, and kind of adventurous! There are already loads of great lists out for tons of cool fandoms, so I highly recommend you check it out. (I rec the recs!)

I probably could have done a full list of 50, but I wanted to keep it short and stick with some of the most memorable ones that covered a variety of genres, with a minimal amount of WiPs. Of course, I didn't include a single one of my own fics. :P

I would, however, appreciate input on other fics that I may not know about for an extended version of this list. I culled my selections from my FFnet favorites page and LiveJournal memories, but I know there are more awesome fics out there that I've either stupidly forgotten to bookmark in some fashion or have never gotten the chance to read.

Here we go!

( The list + stuff )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

From a recent review for WDKY:

Look, you have had this story up for a while now and I have not seen an update. I don't know if maybe your lazy or what but if you don't update soon I'm deleting this story from bookmark. Your just taking way to long to do a simple update, its sad really. I hope you don't have writers block or something, but even if you do get over it. If your not going to continue the story please say so, just tell us that the story is discontinued.

Hope you get off your ** and write

from a soon to be lost reader

I don't know why I'm even acknowledging a review with such godawful spelling and grammar, but it's the message that counts: WDKY is not discontinued. I know I take a long time to update, but that's because--horrors! shock!--I have a real life. I've recently graduated from university, am pursuing a second degree, moved away from my home for the last five years, and am now looking for a job.

Also, yeah, I'm a bit uninspired. I think about WDKY and my other fics a lot, but I can't make myself sit down and write. The bug's just not there. I'd rather not write crap when I know that my writing can be great IF I put my mind to it.

WDKY27 is probably 75% done, but I'd rather not further extend what I've already stated is 36 chapters just because what I have done is "good enough" but is not the complete story I want for that chapter. I'm going to write the rest, and I'm going to get it beta'd, and it's going to take as long as it needs.

It sucks if I lose a reader, but honestly? I don't write to cater to their demands. I've never been that kind of a writer, and can't see myself ever becoming one.

If you, dear reader, would like to see what I have of WDKY27 so far, I'd be happy to put it up here and get some suggestions, advice, critiques, motivations, whatever. I'd love to get it done, especially since my self-imposed deadline of finishing the whole damn fic by graduation (May 18, FYI) isn't going to happen.

I'd say that getting a job is more of a priority, considering how broke I am, but I also know that having a job means having LESS time to work on WDKY, so anything I can get done would be a god-send, even if I have to work out of order, work on other fics, or even work in other fandoms to get my muse going again.

But reviews like these? Yeah, they don't help. I get guilty enough from the good reviews that actually are polite and nice and thoughtful, let alone mean ones that accuse me of being lazy or mean.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

Another meme. I'm bored.

Comment on this post saying you want to do this. I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.

Ganked from

rose_of_pollux, so she selected the seven interests; feel free to ask about other ones, but then expect me to ask about yours!

( Interesting! )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: San Francisco, CA
Current Music: Suite from the Devil Wears Prada - Shapiro, Theodore - The Devil Wears Prada

Legend has it that among us, there are those humans gifted with incredible ability. For some, it is the power to make a killer comeback after a lousy period of being slammed with hurricanes, floods, storms, and FEMA excuses. For others, it is the intangible spirit of hope and faith in one's home, that no matter how ravaged it may be, it is still the one place he or she wants to be at the end of the day. And there are those who are all this and more: able to see beauty in words, to craft emotion from mere letters, capable of penning the most incredible fanart on either side of the Mississippi!

guardian_kysra, by now you should know I'm talking about YOU!

I got my fanart donation from the Help Haiti fandom auction today, and HOT SAUCE is it awesome! Kysra has awesomesauce in her veins, among all those other wonderful things above. I'd show it to you, but it's up to her first and foremost, and even then, I'm kind of tired of her awesome stuff getting swiped without credit and plastered all over the 'Net, even though the 'Net IS about collaboration and sharing, especially where all things wonderfully Azureshipping are concerned. I'm a firm believer in "give credit where credit's due," so said fanart will be my personal Reason to Squee #465 for now.

In case you weren't somehow already aware, the fanart is of That Scene in "The Joke's On You," my first-ever multi-chapter Seto x Téa fic, and probably one of my first attempts at something akin to dirty humor. The fic itself is still on the backburner because I never could make up my mind about how to keep it funny or whether people would hate me if it got all dramatic (considering it DOES take place during the Battle City arc of "Yu-Gi-Oh!"), but I'm sure if I stare at this artwork long enough (and you know I will), I might just get inspired to write (it) again, or at least write something.

I am going to frame it, when I have the time and the money.

Speaking of money, later today (because officially it IS Wednesday) I have my live interview about video games from a research group. I managed to clean up the dining room pretty well (many boxes have been relocated to the living room/my room or hidden under the table), though there are still piles of book boxes on one side and empty boxes near the door on the other. I suppose I could break some of them down and put them in the living room or in the recycling.... Anyway, I'm kind of looking forward to this! I don't really know what they'll ask me or what my answers will be used for.

I actually got a lot done: first I went to the DeVry in Daly City, which, despite being very close to the Daly City BART, was annoyingly hard to find once I got there. I went around the building, up some stairs, past the park, around the building again...and then back the way I came, around the building the other way, where the entrance was small and only marked with a white sign. The bad news is, apparently they don't offer the Multimedia Design and Development program like the site (and TV commercials) advertise. Grr. But at least they can help me get set up with other classes, hopefully, even if they're online and I can finish this degree up sooner, maybe get some more units from CSUN transferred over. I have an appointment Friday since they were so slammed today.

Then came the fetching of the fanart at the post office (which smelled like oatmeal). That at least went quickly because about five minutes after I got in line, someone shouted for pickups and three people (including myself) skipped the line and got our stuff pretty quick. Yay!

I went to Japantown and met with

staplerx,

lilddrpinay2003,

vermilionone, and

pockyken. I'd gotten Subway near the DeVry campus so I didn't join them for actual food from Tommy's Joynt, but I did drool longingly at the delicious-looking meat and potato salad and desserts. We headed to the infamous GameStop on Powell, where oddly they were very helpful and even greeted me, but I'm still suspicious of the place and think I should try going on there on my own again, instead of with a group (which is half male) from the get-go. After that, we headed through Chinatown to meet

ohsupervinchan at the very-cool Russian Hill Bookstore (which actually sells The Settler of Catan and other cool board games! DO WANT!) and snack on some rice pudding at the nearby Loving Cup. An actual cafe devoted to RICE PUDDING.

Even when I think about how much I wanted to leave S.F. after high school, it's little things like these that reminds me of how awesome it is to be here, and how privileged I am to call it my hometown.

Vince had to head back to work, so we took the 45 again to Lombard, where we went to this bar/restaurant called La Barca for a trivia night. We sucked (the questions were clearly not geared toward anyone from my generation, at least), but it was mostly fun. I'd like to go again after I've "studied" more of my random facts. Maybe I need to play more Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy?

Final happy thought: I finished the Hi My Sweetheart fanlisting, Extravagant Sky. All I have to do is make some more codes before I'll officially announce its opening to the folks at TheFanlistings.org and the fans over at D-Addicts, but if you have a sec, check it out and tell me what you think! I designed the layout myself. :)

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

Sorry for all the post-spam, but...

(1) Firefox 3.0.5 is being an absolute bitch when it comes to Bookmarks. I don't normally bookmark things to begin with, but for some stupid reason, if I have anything in my clipboard, that URL appears in my bookmark's URL field rather than the page I'm actually trying to bookmark. I went to the MozillaZine forums, and it seems to be a cross-platform problem with the browser, not with the software and a particular extension. Still, we're slated for an update soon, so I hope it updates and fixes this error... though people are saying Mozilla hasn't even registered the existence of this bug, so I don't want to hold my breath.

So while I'm going to stick with Firefox, it's not perfect. But that's also why I love it-- because the people are willing to acknowledge the issues and fix them (soon-ish).

(2) I'm trying to find a semi-decent RSS reader for Firefox. I've been using Mail.app, but it doesn't support cookies, and frankly I'm sick of missing protected entries on my friends' page (there tend to be a lot). I've switched from Sage to Sage-Too to Simple RSS Reader to Wizz RSS. None of them are perfect. They seem to be affected by the same error that the Bookmarks are, because a lot of my feeds (like if I imported them from the Livemarks, or if I was trying to paste the URL into the manual add feed area of the reader) kept getting the wrong URL.

Also annoying but not completely awful: the little icons beside the feeds keep changing depending on what my active tab is.

What I want: something that sits in my sidebar that shows the journal/community name, subject line, and timestamp. I don't NEED extra bells and whistles like indicator dots for the "read" status, but I do NEED it to allow me to either preview it in another pane or open it IN A NEW TAB.

Sage: no longer updated
Sage-Too: see above; also has persistent XML parse errors for no explicable reason
Simple RSS reader: settings pane has no "close" option; doesn't parse subject lines of LJ posts properly, so all that I really see is the username of the journal

Wizz RSS looks cool, but it might be too heavy for my needs. So far it does have the subject lines and journal name thing down pat, as well as organization by time, but I need to have a new tab already open or my current tab will be overwritten once I click on a subject line in the reader. There's no way to preview a post without clicking on it and thus opening up the whole post in a new tab. So what's the point of the preview?

Does anyone have any suggestions? Searching through the Mozilla add-ons collection for "RSS" for 3.0.5 produced an array of results and there's no way to know if any of them are halfway decent. I could judge by reviews, but they seem to be skewed anyway

(3) Also, I do want to update BEA with the Fanart and Fanfics, especially the latter. However, I'm wondering if there should be a new format for the recommended fics with reviews, but I don't know what that format might be. Suggestions?

On the same subject, one of the FFnet C2s I'm in shared a host of Seto x Anzu fics. Excited, I checked them out; turns out they're all by the same author. When the first fic I clicked on displayed clear lack of grammar knowledge/usage (despite the author complaining about that very thing in her profile), I cringed a little, but I made the effort to keep reading. The plots are a bit cliche, but both of them are... vaguely in character.

Some of the stories are more or less PWP, in which case slight amounts of OOC are fairly excusable, except for the underlying feeling I get that SETO WAS A RAPIST. I really didn't like the idea that the author intentionally (because you don't put something in a fanfic "accidentally") had Anzu resisting him and then just falling into bed (or wherever) with him. Part of the reason why I (and countless other Azureshippers) enjoy the pairing is because Anzu doesn't hesitate to tell Kaiba off. She is very vocal and open with her feelings --about him, about her friends, and about how he treats her friends. It's part of the fun of their relationship. Even the author acknowledged this on her profile page.

But she's got Anzu telling Kaiba off for a brief moment, and then he just says something like "I won't take 'no' for an answer" or he does something that gets her to shut up/moan instead/blank out on whatever she was in the middle of saying. And not only is that OOC for Anzu (because I think even in a sexual situation, she wouldn't let ANYONE take advantage of her), but Seto too-- even if you envision him as a sexual being (and you take into account his canon asshole personality as it shows up from time to time), that doesn't mean he would force a woman to have sex.

Rape is about control and violence, NOT about sex. And yet... the author seems to think it's "sexy" to have this implication of rape, as if Anzu's resistance and eventual giving-in is something steamy.

For me, it just makes me shudder.

And it got me thinking: How does one write a good Seto x Anzu fic? Not just steamy/sexy fics, but Seto x Anzu (Azureshipper) fics in general? I'm also going to pose this question at

setoanzulove, but basically I want to compile opinions for a new feature at BEA (while I'm contemplating what to do for the Fic section as a whole).

The temptation was there to
a) leave a review... which I fear might come across as a flame because when you've got something so huge as RAPE in the fic, it's hard to focus on the good aspects. Also, I have issues with "sandwiching" reviews where you say one nice thing, a critique/something you didn't like, and then something nice again. It's not only formulaic, it misses the point of true concrit.

b) MST the fic. Like seriously, lambast it.

c) Include it as a "How NOT to write Seto x Anzu Fic"

But I don't think any of those are appropriate. So I'm just going to stew for now and try and think of some positive things to get out of this whole experience. I'm not going to write every little thing the author's done as godawful; I'm reading some of her other stuff and it's not all or completely bad, but... it's not really good, either.

I had no problem with reviewing things with 3/5 (or lower? I didn't read the old stuff carefully) on BEA before, but for some reason I think doing it for every one of this person's fics would be a bit of an overkill. I do think people WANT to grow and learn, and aside from one end-of-the-fic comment where the trite "If they were a little OOC, it's fanfiction, so I can do what I want!" excuse was, I do think this author is one of them.

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

*singsong voice* Oh

an_ardent_rain....! Your fic is here!

Miss Scrooge
A Yu-Gi-Oh! HOLIDAY Fanfiction
By Azurite

"Prompt: "the joy of giving", Seto x Anzu

Summary: Domino High has modern-day Scrooge in it, but it's not Seto Kaiba.

Oneshot, complete.

...Even if you take out the blather I always put at the beginning and the end of the fic, it's still 10,232 words! WTF!? I think writing short stuff is impossible for me. Budget your time for reading accordingly, I say!

Anyway, it's hosted on FFnet (and will be up on the other places like MMorg, Dragonfayth, and FicWad soon), so please leave a review there if you read the story!

Thanks for this fun challenge, ILB-- I hope you like the story!

Crossover Interlude by Utada from Exodus (Rating: 0)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

WHOO-HOO! Even though I'm totally screwing up my sleep schedule by being up this late, it's hard to go to bed at a reasonable hour when you're high from getting stuff done! (Well, and a can of Coke, maybe.) Last night and tonight (or more aptly, yesterday morning and this morning), I:

* Finished the new site design of Blue Eyes and Apricots. It's version 5, and I've nicknamed it "Weathered Rainbow."

* Updated the behind-the-scenes coding on all 3 of my fanlistings (BEA, Ace of Hearts, and The Firefly Room) as well as my Enthusiast 3 control panel and my collective (Azurelist).

* Changed around the content of BEA, with the focus on a brand-new HUGE media library, which includes links to great AMVs, lists of fanmixes/fansoundtracks and links to buy the individual tracks, and much, much more! I'm planning on doing a separate page for linked fanart a'la

obabscribbler's Fanart Recs; that way there's no more concern over theft (at least, someone would knowingly have to go to someone's DeviantART, save the full-size image, and then neglect to save the artist's username or a notation saying "DA" or something, and then use it without permission). However, I won't host art on BEA anymore, with the exception of manipulations for icons, banners, etc. (I might consider it if I could set up a password system, though.)

* Added a blacklist to keep track of the thieves. Did you know someone actually stole banners from BEA and didn't even bother to mention the fanlisting? I mean, HELLO? We're here to bring people together,not be more divisive through theft! -_- I'm not sure what I find more offensive, that or the people that use images that were GIFTS TO ME (like my WDKY icons or ficart).

Because the page takes so long to load, I'll probably be splitting it up in the near future, after I've finished adding all the links for the various musical mixes and whatnot.

If you have anything you'd like to see on BEA, let me know!

So check out the new layout and tell me what you think!

Left to do:
* Find some more AMVs that don't use stolen artwork (recs welcome!)
* Use Angela Sabas' style switcher (hopefully) for the new Firefly Room (Secret Society Girl fanlisting) layout, which needs to be tested and made live
* Add more content to TFR!
* Ask the people at TFL if I can become the fanlisting for the SSG series now, rather than the first book (before I couldn't, because only two books were out at the time, and TFL considers a series three books or more)
* Open some more fanlistings??? (Potentially crazy and NEW idea, bad when I've got so much else on my plate. But lots of possibilities.)
* Add icons to BEA (with the permission of the artists from here on LJ, that is... any volunteers? It's totally up to you!)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: San Francisco, CA
Current Music: The Who　★　Behind Blue Eyes (Who's Next (Remastered))

So, I haven't updated in what seems like ages (that HSM post doesn't count, because I'd written that more than a week ago and just saved it, hoping for a time when I COULD post it) because The Powers That Be were conspiring against me or something, and Murphy's law was in full effect-- all that jazz. So I decided to start doing something about it.

( Keyboard Mayhem! )

( Michael Moore is hard to find )

( A little lost memory card and some movies )

( Noconnectlink )

( An HTC Dream G1 deferred )

( MELTING, MELTING! and other problems )

( Fics that like to f*ck with your brain )

And that, as they say, is that. For now, anyway.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

Posting WDKY over at AnimeXX (a German-based fanart and fanfic site, which I'm likely going to migrate to "completely" once I sort the DeviantART mess out) and just a teeny bit of stimulus has gotten me thinking about the series again.

For the uninformed, the massive epic fic is currently at 25 chapters of 36 (37 if you count 7A and 7B as separate chapters). And that's just the first story in the series, "What Doesn't Kill You." There are two planned sequels, "Circle of Seven" and "Eternal Dimension," respectively.

And awful, awful girl that my muse is (I'm being sarcastic here; when she shows up, I love her to pieces. Keyword being when), I got an idea for a spin-off of the third story in the series. Yeah, the one that, while I've got loads of ideas for, has no organization and is not in the least bit written into prose in any size, shape, or form.

On the one hand, I don't WANT to start writing "other fics," even if they're in the same universe as WDKY, because it would distract me from completing this story that I've already got planned out and started. On the other hand, it seems to be my bad habit of trying to write everything in order at once, instead of taking an idea and running with it when I have it-- not just writing out the idea in the planner, but attempting prose while the ideas are churning in my head.

So I wonder, do I start on this spin-off to the third sequel, even though it'll never see the light of the Internet for a very, very long while?

I got two words: OY and VEY.

(Ooh spoiler: the spin-off of the third sequel would be called "Dimensions," but I'm wondering if I ought to call it "Dimensions: (Something Else Goes Here)," because the third sequel actually opens up a LOT of room for other spin-offs, both long and short. Some of them might be interesting to explore, but this first one I'm stewing over really (and almost "unfortunately") has the potential to be multi-chapter. Maybe not 36 chapters, but certainly... oh, 5, at least?

*sigh* If only I lived on DS9 and had more hours in my day.

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: San Francisco, CA

Once again, someone has stolen work by my friends from my website to post up in a badly put-together YouTube "AMV" using a tired song that's been done before. (Also known as "yet another Cascada "Everytime We Touch" Seto x Anzu video. Actually, to be more accurate, this one also includes Seto x Kisara and Seto x Shizuka.)

bewareofdogz (I think),

lin_ko, Sempaiko,

uni_chan, I recognized all your work without a shred of credit (e.g. "Art by So-and-So) or a link back to any of our websites, e.g. BEA or DeviantART. Countless other fanartists were ripped off too, I'm sure, but I don't recognize the works of any potentially-notable Seto x Kisara or Seto x Shizuka artists.

I've already reported this to YouTube, but since I'm not the actual "copyright" holder of the artwork, you guys might need to do this as well. You'll need a YouTube account to submit the complaint form electronically, but I think there's still an email link buried in the Help files somewhere. If you need help locating it, let me know.

I took down BEA's fanart page ages ago, but someone determined enough could probably find the art elsewhere. I know

uni_chan has every right to display her amazing works on her DeviantART account. You'd think things like watermarks and, in the case of her image that got stolen (a gift to ME, which is why I got especially angry), text indicating who the image is for, who it's by, and what it's for (if anything), would stop people from using it without credit in a video slideshow. Maybe the idiot
"artist" thinks that because there's text on some of the graphics (namely the icon

uni_chan made for me, along with the WDKY Seto x Anzu art), it gives credit. Problem? The video has a strict resolution, meaning even if someone full-screens the video, the quality won't improve, so the art's text will remain illegible.

I've had con-artists (which is a much better term, I think; the term "artist" by itself for these people implies a measure of creativity which is clearly not present-- after all, there's no originality in a video that's been done before and only uses other peoples' works) say that they got the images ages ago and didn't remember where they got it from. Okay, fair enough, it happens to all of us-- but WHY USE THE IMAGE!? This is Common Sense 101, people: if you don't know where something came from, don't use it! This applies to all kinds of things. For example, you see a tissue lying on a table. Your nose is a bit runny, but who knows where that tissue's been? Do you pick it up and use it, even if it's crumpled into a ball?

NO!

And in the case of fanart, whether or not the original artist put a watermark or signature on it, you recognize it as fanart. Few fanartists can or even make the attempt to pass off their work as so close to the original that you'd need to double-take. And if you recognize something as fanart, and you like it enough to think, "Gee, I'd like to include this in a video tribute" or something, why not make the effort of Googling the pairing name plus the term "fanart" or similar to try and find the original artist to a) ask their permission; b) give them credit with a link back, and maybe even c) get permission to use more, newer, or shinier artwork? It's not that hard.

Anyway, I suggest any Azureshippers, artists, or simply honest people head on over to this video. Rate it 1 star, like I did. I didn't comment on it, but the temptation is certainly there. I might try to keep it private, to PMs, because "nasty" comments exploding on the video message board doesn't help anybody (besides, YouTube's thread folding is horribly disorganized). Obviously, if you the artist, or you, a friend of mine/any of the above-named artists wants to comment, feel free.

Above all else, all I seek is credit-- not a link to my YouTube account or even to BEA, but names to EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTIST and links to THEIR websites, if applicable. It's simply not fair otherwise, and the video should be taken down.

ETA: My PM to the poster; I think it's nice and not mean at all. Of course, I didn't mention that I already reported it to YouTube, but s/he doesn't need to know that.

Hello,
I'm writing to ask you about your video set to Cascada's "Everytime We Touch" featuring Seto Kaiba and a number of other girls from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
I noticed that you used a great deal of fanart, some of which appears to have come from my website, the Seto Kaiba x Anzu Mazaki fanlisting, and some of which is by some good friends of mine. At least two pieces of art were gifted to me explicitly, and feature my name or the acronym for the title of my work. No credit is given either in the video or in the info, linking back to my website, giving the names of the original artists of the work, or linking back to the profiles of the artists. It is unfair to use the artwork without their permission/knowledge and without any credit.
I would be happy to provide you with the artists' information for those Seto x Anzu artworks that I recognize so that they can be properly acknowledged.

Thank you for your time,
-Azurite

I didn't make any threats, I didn't make any ultimatums. I don't think I was rude or mean or nasty. If I could have written it better or should not have bothered writing it at all, tell me

ETA2: *sigh* This is getting to be a rehash of what happened two years ago. For reference, users whose videos contained lifted artwork:
* ShizukaKaiba (whose video is posted above; she never responded to my PM, but the video seems to have been taken down)
* TeaKaiba (who has also been rude about it, but attempted to give credit after further discussion)
* AncientMemories (who has been extremely rude about this in the past and "attempted" to give proper credit but instead made it seem like *I* demanded credit for the works that weren't mine, but were hosted on my site(s) and made by my friends)
* AnzuTealover (who has been polite about this in the past)
* crazysycochick (who has also been rude about it, but attempted to give credit after further discussion)

So far all I'm doing is sending them PMs if I notice there is either no credit or the credit is incorrect (e.g. giving it to me instead of to the artists, and not providing links). I guess it's foolish to assume they'll do any extra legwork, especially for older videos that have already been posted, so I've been providing the exact timing of the images, the artists of the images in question, and the artist name plus a website link if I have one (which I do for almost everyone involved). Hopefully that plus some politeness --instead of nasty comments left on the video or immediate reporting to YouTube-- will help this situation.

In the meantime, I encourage any and all DA artists to watermark their art (you can do it easily in your Edit Deviation options). BEA's fanart section will never come back, and I'll probably be removing the Fic Art section of my old Yu-Gi-Oh website too. This sucks that I have to do this, but there are some people out there that seem to be too immature, rude, or selfish to think that real artists deserve credit for their hard work and creativity.

crossposted to

setoanzulove

Current Mood: angry
Current Location: Northridge, CA
Current Music: Blackmore's Night - Cartouche

I haven't done review replies in a while, and you might think that because I have the ability to use FFnet's new Review Reply option, I would take advantage of it. However, the thing with the FFnet Review Reply is that they are private, not posted anywhere on the site. With these, not only can you see which reviews I took special notice of, but which ones asked pertinent enough questions for me to answer. As always, keep your eyes peeled for interesting information or secret spoilers!

Note: I do not post all reviews that I receive here; only the ones that I feel I should reply to. For all reviews, I do NOT edit them for content/spelling/etc. in any way.

For lengthier reviews, I will insert my commentary where appropriate. The actual review will resume in italicized text.

If more reviews come in for this (or any older) chapter(s), then I will respond to them at the BOTTOM of this page, and indicate a “last updated” section here at the TOP. If there is no LAST UPDATED area, that means this post has not changed since the original post date.

( Reviews! )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Home - Anaheim, CA
Current Music: bLiNd　★　Final Fantasy 10 White Skies (Club Mix) OC ReMix (http://www.ocremix.org)

Current Mood: pleased
Current Location: Home - Anaheim, CA
Current Music: Kelly Clarkson　★　Just Missed the Train (Thankful)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Home - Anaheim, CA
Current Music: Hans Zimmer　★　I've Got My Eye On You (Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Soundtrack from

More on Scribbleshipping (Anzu x Zell, coined in honor of

obabscribbler who came up with the prompt and the pairing that started this madness):

I'm not sure whether to slant this as a Yu-Gi-Oh fic or an FF8 one. Truth be told, with my recent involvement in both fandoms, it could go either way. In fact, I could do it "-side" style, where one chapter focuses on one side (e.g. the Yu-Gi-Oh! side, with Anzu), and then another chapter either focuses on the same events from the other side (the FF8 side, with Zell) or simply from the other side, but at a different point in the continuity.

As of right now, I see it starting as Zell's POV, because it leaves a bit of mystery as to what led Anzu to getting to that world, what she's thinking/feeling, etc. But once she and Zell meet again and he gets to know her better, why not start delving into her POV? On the one hand, it's what feels right to me, and I want to do it the way my gut instinct tells me. On the other hand, I'm more comfortable not just writing from Anzu's POV, but from the YGO fandom side, from the girl's point of view in ANY fandom (I can't draw guys, so why the heck should I be able to properly characterize them in writing, let alone write AS them, or using their voice?). I wonder if I'm up to the challenge of characterizing a GUY as my protagonist for at least a good chunk of this, especially one I've only recently gotten familiar with?

I've also started pondering oneshot parodies (a bit like "out-takes," if you will), because

obabscribbler mentioned that a good fic has a blend of all the best genres-- in other words, dramas that are loaded with conflict and action and maybe a twist of romance and/or angst ALSO should have some funny. I don't think I do funny so well, but the scenes I've been envisioning that COULD be funny border on the OOC or the downright "How the hell did this happen!?" (As in, "Dude, where's my context!?")Thus, out-takes. Maybe.

I came up with an idea for the over-arching plot that can make good use of humor (for a while, anyway), angst (because hell, Kaiba's there, and with him, why not?), and action/adventure (because let's face it, that's at the core of FF8), and also calls back to ANOTHER fandom (sorta-kinda) that I'd never mention but would make me giddy if people ended up guessing (and getting it). But of course, no clues could possibly be given until I actually started writing the true fic-- the prompt ficlet not withstanding, because that had no semblance of an over-arching plot in it. This plot has the potential to be even more demonically evil than the one I've been plotting for WDKY. But that also means it could end up flopping like a Fastitocalon-F on a beach after a battle with a GF. :P (Part of me is also sick of keeping all the juicy plot twists to myself, too. Since it seems to be impossible for me to withhold posting a fic until it's DONE --that is, NOT doing a WIP--, maybe I should just give up on the whole idea of keeping evil author secrets for this one, huh? I could always give out plot details in single sentences, thereby still being evil but also being nice. Like a tortured villain, I am.)

What makes all this suck is how I have a final tomorrow evening, a revision due tomorrow and TWO ESSAYS LEFT TO WRITE before Thursday and I feel like I should be writing fic instead. Argh.

Current Mood: amused

obabscribbler, this is all your fault. That little ficlet you requested of Anzu and Zell (a Final Fantasy VIII and Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover) started out... somewhat simply enough. Zell reminded me of Jounouchi, so I wanted to channel that early scene from Vol. 1 of the manga, except Anzu's reasons for telling Zell (via ketchup on a hot dog, rather than a burger) to "TELL AND YOU DIE!!" would be vastly different than Jounouchi's.

And then an idea started to grow. ( I don't know, do you think he's her type? )

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Shinkichi Mitsumune　★　Hidden Feelings ~ Ambient MIX PF Solo ~ (遊☆戯☆王-デュエルモンスターズ

Excerpts from two reviews I received for WDKY recently (the same person, different chapter reviews):

Kaiba does seem a bit OOC (I can't see him falling for Tea so quickly...)
for chapter 4

Bakura?! OOC to the max... o0 I know you gave a reason, so it's not a problem t the story, but MAN. I was NOT expecting that... =D
for chapter 7

I suppose I could always do Review Replies (either reply to the author directly, since these were reviews from FFnet) or simply edit the Review Reply LJ entries I have for these chapters, but rather than just do that, I want to reply and ask a question of any readers of WDKY on this here FL:

I don't see Kaiba as being (that) OOC in any portion of WDKY. I admit, I'm not as good at characterizing him as the bastard he well can be, but part of "fleshing out a character" means giving them new dimensions and justifying that growth or change. It's not as if I've made Kaiba a wibbly little moppet who'll do anything for Téa. Conversely, I've tried to make this as "realistic" (in the horribly soap operatic, angst-filled way) as possible, and more often than not, Kaiba's a jerk. That's how I saw him in canon, but he wasn't some irredeemable jerk, which is why I fell for the pairing (Azureshipping) in the first place.

My justification here is the fact that this story was started when Battle City was still running on TV. And I mean the ORIGINAL tournament, not even the Duel Tower episodes-- that's why Noah showing up and being a ghost was out of left field, and I had to write a whole bunch of stuff to explain why they HADN'T run into Noah midway through the BC tournament, when pretty much everything else about the story used anime elements. That said, Kaiba's known Téa for more than a year prior to ANY of the events of WDKY. I'd say a year of not giving a shit about someone, eventually (and quite reluctantly) getting to know them, and then several months of awkward "Well, she's around and I sympathize with her plight but I'd never tell her to her face and her face is actually quite attractive now that I look at it..." before Kaiba even CONSIDERS he might be feeling something romantic (actually, he recognizes the sexual attraction first). Consider also his character in canon: it's bordering on asexual. Because the show is targeted toward younger boys and it's action-oriented, there's not much (if any) emphasis on romance or development in that respect at all. Kaiba could be a total playboy on the side or a complete prude, a virgin duelist!

I wouldn't call that him falling for her quick. The other thing is, this isn't Kaiba's story. It's Téa's, and I establish that from the get-go. We might get into Kaiba's head every now and again, but what it boils down to is, this is the story of Téa's growth more than anyone else's, the things she sees and does and feels-- even if there are other people there, seeing and doing and experiencing and feeling. If I did a version of WDKY, maybe I'd have much more dramatic thought-angst on Kaiba's part about how he's struggling to deal with the very real possibility of having a first "crush" or first "serious relationship," but again, that's not the point of WDKY.

Moving on, Bakura... Bakura's a hard one. See, by the end of Yu-Gi-Oh, we learn that the guy we all called Yami no Bakura (or Dark Bakura, or Bakura with the host of Ryou, or Bathead) was not actually the spirit of the Thief King Bakura the way Yami no Yuugi was the spirit of Pharaoh Atem. He was simply a "shard" of Zork Necrophades, darkness personified, essentially. Though it seemed like he was out for revenge, it never really crystallized, and most of the time, Bakura came across as a guy just out for his own benefit, his own amusement. You did get the feeling that he knew a lot more than he was letting on, though, and based on THAT impression from when I first started writing WDKY, that's how I've developed Bakura. It's been years now since the story started, and Yu-Gi-Oh the series (both the anime and the manga) have ended in both their Japanese and translated English/dub forms.

It's a bit like saying someone's Harry Potter is OOC when he doesn't yell in CAPSLOCK OF RAGE because a fanfic was written about him reacting to someone's death prior to Book Five. I mean, considering when I wrote it (and the fact that I developed a humongous plan from the very start), do you really expect my Bakura to be exactly like the guy in the show? He can't be, not anymore-- and I'm slowly but surely revealing the reasons why he does what he does. I guess him helping someone WOULD be OOC, but then again, remember: everything he does in WDKY has a dark side, for his own benefit. Hell, he even SAYS as much when he saves Téa, and the concept of Téa and Kaiba OWING him for that is a recurring theme!

So, my questions:
(1) Assuming you can have a something of a "character bell curve" where there are certain definable traits for any given character, at what point do you deviate TOO FAR from those points and become "OOC" no matter what "justification" is given? For example, if I turn Kaiba into a sobbing, crying mess, that's pretty far off his "characterization chart." I could, theoretically, justify it (thereby bringing his "characterization line" up to this far, deviant point on the map), but I'd have to do a damn good job at it-- make it believable. What would be UNBELIEVABLE for Kaiba or Bakura, no matter what?

(2) Considering the final arc of Yu-Gi-Oh revealed Yami no Bakura as not really his own personality (i.e., not the Thief King out for revenge because of what the Pharaoh Atem's father/former advisor did to his hometown, friends, and family in the Kul Elna massacre), what makes "Bakura" in-character or wildly OOC? How do you recognize a character who has the potential to change from one season/arc to the next? What are Bakura's underlying, never-change traits?

Current Mood: curious

Ah, I love reviews. Even the "ow, you could have phrased that a bit differently" criticizing (and not always "constructive") reviews. It's nice to know people still know/care about WDKY, and it's always the review flow that keeps me writing. Thankfully, there's not much about WDKY26 that's a mystery to me; as per the usual, it's just a matter of translating my planner file into prose.

I shoulda-coulda-woulda been working on it practically this entire afternoon, after I got back from covering another honor society's induction ceremony for the Sundial, but I ended up playing Star Ocean 3 for hours. Literally, HOURS. I took the clock out of the rec room, so I had no idea what time it was until I briefly noticed Baba and Grandpa had gone to bed and it was eerily quiet-- and then the sprinklers outside started. I looked at my watch on the table and I had an "ohshit!" moment. It was 12:37 when I looked at my watch. O_O yeah, color me in shock.

Truth is, I don't like SO3 all that much, at least compared to SO2. Sure, plenty of things make "more sense," like having the Craftsmen's Guild instead of Skill Guilds, and Workshops rather than you being able to create anything anywhere. But so far I have yet to produce a single good thing-- the only things I've patented are rare items I've found, like the cider and the anti-poison amulet. And I've already shelled out tons of Fol to improve upon Paterny's Workshop, add Lines, and try and make things from scratch! Urgh, what a pain. I know about individual Talents; in my game (not sure if it randomizes), Nel's a good cook, Fayt's a great engineer and writer, and Cliff's a decent smithy and engineer. But despite not having patented anything in her name, Nel's still the top-ranked Inventor. Go figure.

Anyway, that system bugs me... so does the map system, mainly because it makes my eyes hurt and it's practically impossible to get 100% of a map even in two walkthroughs of an area (the first time you walk through and then the return trip, because it seems every journey is Point A to Point B and then back again). It's interesting to be able to either choose your enemies or dodge them... but then IN battle, the Killer Move system got replaced by this weird Short-Range/Long-Range thing along with Strong vs. Weak attacks. Apparently X is Weak attacks and O is Strong Attacks. And I DETEST the Fury concept, along with the idea of MP-Death. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every RPG's battle system should involve copious amounts of button-mashing, but supposedly easy battles in SO3 take me at least 5 minutes EACH because of all the running around, recharging of the Fury gauge and using of Blackberries and Blueberries. Players don't recharge very much (if at all) at the end of a battle for either HP or MP, and to make it even WORSE, Save Points don't recharge you! Only staying at an Inn or finding a Recovery point will, and you know how uncommon that is!?

Still, hours. And I guess despite the fact that it's frustrating and slow, part of me does want to see Fayt meet Sophia again. :}

Lastly but not leastly, I'm not going to keep it a secret until it's live, because I want to generate BUZZ:
I've just been approved for the TAFL-listed (sounds a bit redundant) fanlisting for Sailor V/Aino Minako x Kaitou Ace! Nothing quite beats the original angsty Sailor pairing. I'm going to be getting some manga fanart and putting together this FL shortly... and when I do, please spread the word and join! (I was honestly surprised this FL didn't exist before.)

Current Mood: accomplished

What Doesn't Kill You: Chapter 25 (Summer Heat) is now posted/live/up/done. HUZZAH! HIP HIP HURRAH! HOORAY! And squee!

FYI, it's up at:
Dragonfayth
Fanfiction.Net
and
MediaMiner.org.

I'm not going to post it up here on LJ because it will inevitably get cut off due to the character limit (probably, anyway), and it's just easier for me to link to it. I will, however, be doing my requisite "spamming" of all the Seto x Anzu and Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic communities making the thrilling announcement.

Thanks to all the betas and other people across LJ and the wide, wide Intarwebz for helping me with this monster... ONLY 10 MORE CHAPTERS TO GO! (Ha! Ha! Ha!)

I should probably start writing now. It'll be my NaNoWriMo project for November.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Sarah Brightman　★　Ave Maria (Classics [Bonus Track Japan])

lin_ko and

guardian_kysra, I'm thinking of creating some new holiday skins for Dragonfayth, and I'm wondering if I could use your fanart for some of the imagery (e.g. the header banner). Let me know if you're okay with this, or if you want to know more, etc.

Anyone else interested in contributing fanart or manips for Dragonfayth, I have a BUNCH of holidays that need translation into graphical form. Of course, there's no written rule that they have to have Seto x Anzu or even Yu-Gi-Oh characters in them, but I'd especially love it if they could. So what follows is a list of the holidays I'm thinking of doing... ( Any holiday is an excuse for presents! )

Speaking of Samhain/All Hallow's Eve, I'm going as a witch (again). And yes, I'm well-aware of the irony. I wanted to go as Snow White, but I just didn't have time to get to a costume shop in time. 'Sides, I'm about broke, anyway, so I might as well make use of what I have. So I'll be wearing an all-black skirt and top combo with my purple-spiderweb witch hat and some garish makeup (that is, purple lip gloss and super-heavy eyeliner). Chances are I'll have to take my hat off in class, but other than that... <|:D

I wish I could go to a Halloween party, though... :P

Though I spent today at home (gotta love my stomach-- it likes to stage mutinies), there is ONE good thing about it all-- I'm like... 99.9% done with WDKY25. No, seriously. I'm just unhappy with some "tell instead of show" in the end scene, but I think I can fix that. I'm breaking out the writing kits and other tools I have, perhaps in time for NaNoWriMo. Actually, I've never successfully participated in NaNoWriMo, and I'm not sure if this month will be any different, what with all the various projects I have on my plate. But if I can finish more of WDKY in November, that'll be enough to keep me satisfied.

I wonder if tomorrow will signal finally seeing my vanishing-act boyfriend (rdrr) again. This top-sekrit video game project of his means I haven't seen him online, heard from him via phone, let alone seen him in person. It's been something like 7 weeks... o_o Baba thinks I ought to forget about him.

Speaking of the B&G, Grandpa tripped on his walk with Mokie (that would be the mini poodle we have, in case you didn't know) and got his face all scraped up-- he's okay now, but earlier he looked a bit like the mummy with his face bandaged up in so many places. He'll have more bruises than ever (and he's already got a lot because he takes blood thinners), but at least he's okay and in decent spirits. But when I came out of the house earlier when Baba called me (he'd been lying in the street and a driver walked him back to the house. If Mokie hadn't sat in the street right next to Grandpa, the driver might not have noticed Grandpa. So for once, I actually appreciate the fuzzbutt), I was pretty freaked out-- he was pretty bloody (but laughing about it!). I guess I'm just glad it wasn't worse. Though my dad knows about it and he didn't go off on a tirade about getting them into a home or getting a personal nurse, it does have me worried about all the What Ifs: what if I hadn't been there, what if Baba wasn't outside to see him, etc.? I'm here to take care of them, but there's only so much I can do, and I rely on them, too! /.\

Ugh, it's a constant to-do list with me! Every time I think of one thing I have to do, another five spring up. Just typing them here might get me more stressed out, and though I spent most of today in bed (because moving HURT), I do have to get to sleep... I figure putting on all that makeup will take a while, so I might as well get enough sleep to wake up early and get all gussied up. :P

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Koda Kumi　★　1000 Words (DJ 19 Remix) (Come With Me)

you are darkviolet
#9400D3

Your dominant hues are blue and magenta. You're the one who goes to all the parties but doesn't quite fit in at every one... you know what you want, but are afraid of what the world might think of it. You're a little different and that's okay with them, and if you're smart it's okay with you too.

Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right.

Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

* For your prize, I will send you a handmade gift.

* Whatever it is, I promise I will get it to you in 365 days of your posted comment or less.

* The only thing you need to do to receive your gift is PARTICIPATE.

* Be one of the first three journalers to reply to this, and post this very same thing in your journal, and YOU are the lucky giftee

Click here to create your own painting.

Speaking of art, I recently finished and emailed my entry for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (that's one of the honor societies I'm an officer of, btw) for their 2007 holiday card. I started out with one idea and completely threw it out, because it looked a bit unrealistic (let's just say Photoshopping tree branches that look realistic is harder than it sounds) and then decided that a non-secular holiday card would most likely involve the NSCS colors (scarlet & gold) and blue & white, traditional winter colors (since silver doesn't really "show" on a screen without lots of special effects). So I made this thing with two cute snow people. It's... really cutesy, not sophisticated like I was originally going for, but I really slaved over it. I hope it gets received well, even if it doesn't win.

Also, I changed my layout... back to Flexible Squares, but this time I'm using a custom Halloween one. I'll probably change it after Halloween, since I'm getting into the holiday (read: winter holiday) mood already. I'm glad LJ's got so many styles, now!

Your Score: Longcat

58% Affectionate, 34% Excitable, 40% Hungry

Protector of truth.

Slayer of darkness.

Loooooong.

Longcat may seem like just a regular lengthy cat, but he is, in fact, looong. For proof, observe the longpic.

It is prophesized that Longcat and his archnemesis Tacgnol will battle for supremacy on Caturday. The outcome will change the face of the world, and indeed the very fabric of lolcatdom, forever.

Be grateful that the test has chosen you, and only you, to have this title.

To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Yayz, OkCupid and Facebook are finally linked up! A way to combine my obsessions! Hurrah for streamlining!

And finally, I'm still frustrated with

30kisses #11: gardenia "Girls' Club." I swear that I started writing SOME of it SOMEWHERE, because I remember things that weren't detailed in the planner file/chat with Mamono. But searches of my whole computer for key words like "girls club," and "gardenia" have revealed NOTHING. I distinctly remember WHY I chose gardenia, and I'm positive that I wrote that in, so theoretically, a Spotlight search would be able to find the file in question... but who knows? I might have:

a) written it on another computer (but if that was the case, it would either be on my Kysra flash drive, my external HD, or in my email; I transferred EVERYTHING that was transferable from Grandpa's Dell, and everything on the old Mac got transfered to this one; I do have one flash drive that is mysteriously not being read by the Mac, so I'll check it on the PC downstairs just for S&G...)

b) written it by hand (highly unlikely, considering the detail I'm remembering, and I hardly ever write things like this down by hand unless I don't have access to a computer... and if that IS the case, which of my many notebooks would I even start to look in? I really ought to start labeling them by year.)

c) posted it... somewhere... (but I already found

the_sweet entries that were marked as private, and if I marked it or a teaser of it as Friend's Only, someone would have been kind enough to have pointed it out to me right...? Hey, if this is the case and you remember me doing this, PLEASE HELP! Anyway, I doubt I would have just posted a teaser to

30kisses, and I've never marked anything as Private for that comm, anyway. The only other possibility is

azurite, but there's nothing there besides icons. It's also not up at Dragonfayth or FFnet (and if it was, I should have a hard copy of the file I uploaded, but I don't!)

d) I'm losing my mind. Comes with being creative, I guess.

( Bits of what I remember; if anyone has seen this in my prose posted/emailed/stored somewhere, please let me know! )

HEEEEEEEEELP
I need breakfast.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: 光宗信吉　★　神官セト (遊☆戯☆王デュエルモンスターズ・Sound　Duel4)

I came back from the OS X 10.5 - Leopard release "party" a short while ago, and I have to say, if Mom hadn't convinced me NOT to buy 10.5, I'd probably be using it right now. It's not like I really have the money for it, and I know I can get it cheaper online, but after I played with it at the Apple store, I REALLY liked it. Anyone that knows Macs or has watched tech news lately probably knows about some of the more bragged-about features, but after the "list of 300" was released today and I really got to see them in action, I've made up my own list of favorites:

* Quick Look - a freaking GODSEND. Because I design webpages a lot, sometimes I have templates or half-done pages lying around my hard drive. I'd like to be able to look at those files WITHOUT having to open up a new tab in Firefox, or open up Dreamweaver. Quick Look lets me do this easily *AND* even better, I can use the iTunes-style Cover Flow in Finder to let me browse through a whole folder of HTML files quickly and easily.

* Google Maps built into Address Book - This will be immensely handy for me. I like to keep all my contacts in my Address Book for easy Syncing to my Facebook and to my phone. Now, when I have to go somewhere, a map with directions is only two clicks away.

* Dictionary with built-in Japanese <-> English support. WOW. HOLY WOW. The only thing this is lacking is support for romaji, but that's okay, because Japanese input on the Mac only takes two clicks, anyway. You type in a word either in English to translate it fully into Japanese, or you type it in Japanese to read the English meaning. I didn't test out any pronunciation or additional features, but the Dictionary's gotten a great makeover, including more dictionaries, reference materials, and WIKIPEDIA! All in one click!

* Spaces - I'm one of those people that has about 15 things going on at once; iTunes and iMovie, Firefox and Thunderbird, Dreamweaver and Photoshop... with Spaces, I can designate a Desktop for each application (or group of applications), so when I want to work on one thing, I just access that particular desktop, and there's no more clutter. This is built into the OS, but I imagine you can't overload the computer with too much, anyway. Nonetheless, I don't think I've ever had memory issues with the Mac in terms of running multiple programs (unless I was running Windows!).

I've already written an article about it which I hope'll get into the Sundial; I'm also writing one on "Dumbledore is gay!?" though I'm not 100% sure of the angle to take on it.

I managed to find (with the help of the LJ Support Staff) my Private entries, including what I started of "Sight Unseen," my

30kisses fic for #13: excessive chain. Not sure exactly what inspired me, but it's a pretty interesting idea-- just a bit long. It might be 2-3 parts when finished. I thought I'd written something for Girls' Club (#11: gardenia), too, but all I seem to have is the planner file I made with Mamono. Anyway, re: Sight Unseen, would people like to see the short blurb I have so far, or would they rather wait until I'm done?

If you haven't answered my quick and easy poll on FFX and FFX-2, please do so now! And if you can, tell your friends and ask them to participate, too.

I really want to play a game now, so I think I'm going to turn off iTunes and try my hand at Bejeweled or Diner Dash. It's been a while since I've had "fun." If only I could get Yu-Gi-Oh! Online on the Mac... ;_; I wanna duel!

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Marika Matsumoto　★　Without you (FINAL FANTASY X-2 Vocal Collection RIKKU)

So something possessed me to check out what fics of my

30kisses claim I had yet to do. Maybe this is me getting halfway distracted from finishing up WDKY25 like I should (gah, how pathetic to not be DONE with this damn fic by now!), but at least staying in-fandom and with the pairing.

Anyway, so I'm hunting down my list of completed fics, planned-out fics, and fics that have yet to be thought of. Some fics that I supposedly have planners for are not where they should be on my hard drive, and searches don't reveal much. I managed to dig through some of the anonymous gift-fic communities and find some-- I've added them to my Memories-- but there WAS still one that's supposedly completed for

30kisses that I cannot find. (ETA: Right as I was typing this I was struck with the inspiration to actually check the 30kisses archives. And there it was! I AM TEH SMARTZ!)

For the ones I couldn't find planner files or notes for, I just started writing a new planner file. What's weird is, past LJ entries indicate I started on the infamous "Kaiba the Virgin Sacrifice" fic, but if I did start it (or a planner file of it) anywhere, I can't find it. And afaik, there's no way to find JUST private LJ entries (I discovered a few fics and drafts lying around based on dates that way, but that was because I had a date IN MIND). If anyone knows how, please tell me, because that's the only other likely scenario I can think of, if it's not in Memories, tagged, etc.

But anyway, if you know of any of my other fics mysteriously hidden somewhere, please let me know; I'm always trying to figure out what I don't have an HTML copy of. I want to get everything up on FFnet and Dragonfayth, or Epiphany when I finally get off my busy bum and get it live. I think I have a lot more fanfiction hidden here on LJ, at any rate. I already found my 2005 submissions for

yuugiouxmasfics (and I *SO* would do that again this year!), but you never know where there might be more!

And, for posterity:
PLANNED 30kisses THEMES
1 (look over here: Disunity), 5 (ano sa...: Shadow), 7, (superstar: Hypnotized), 11 (gardenia: Girls' Club), 13 (excessive chain: Sight Unseen), 15 (perfect blue: Perfect Blue), 18 (a~n: Voice), 19 (red: Kaiba the Virgin Sacrifice), 25 (fence: Just Missed The Train), 30 (kiss: Someone Else's Wife)

MAYBE THEMES
6 (the space between dreams and reality: The Stairway to Heaven), 22 (cradle: BEWJ), 27 (overflow: Tremors)

COMPLETED THEMES
2 (Letters), 4 (Lover Alone), 10 (Something Completely Different), 12 (I'm In A Good Mood), 14 (Cowboy), 16 (A Touch of Victory), 20 (I Walk Alone), 23 (Kaiba Baby), 24 (Good Night and then Goodbye), 26 (The Darkness Within), 29 (Neko no Guukan)

EVERYTHING ELSE IS NOT YET THOUGHT OF. And I'm always making sure that what's on 30kisses (Memories) matches up with what's here (Memories). I think it does...

Current Mood: confused

So my new computer probably won't ship until the 30th at the earliest, and if they DO ship it that day, that's the day they charge my card. Coincidentally (har har!) it's the day my bill for my credit card is due, and I can't buy anything more until said payment is... paid. So basically I'm broke-ish until the laptop is paid for and I can get my rebate, which sucks.

I also restarted work on the "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story" novelization project. I'm glad I managed to catch up to where I was (a little more than midway through Mercury's portion of Chapter 2 - In Search of the Stones) in less than two days, but running Dreamweaver at the same time as SNES9x is a pain, and it's hard to type and pause with my memory so low. So while I do plan on restarting/finishing that soon(ish), I'll wait until I get the new laptop, since that should make juggling the two programs easier.

Tomorrow I have my first day of JOUR 397B, aka the Daily Sundial, even though I've already been to the orientation and have been turning articles in. We're not meeting in the Sundial room afaik, so I'm not really sure what to expect.

After class, I'm supposed to go to a follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon back in Van Nuys, but a lot's happened in the past two weeks-- namely, Grandpa's gotten a LOT more forgetful and more spaced out. Of course I'm worried about him-- I don't really know what caused it or brought it on, and the family's got a lot of theories, ranging from overdosing on some medication to having a stroke and us just not knowing about it (is that really possible?). Either way, it's a bit sad to see him seem so listless and uninvolved in anything the way he used to be-- always reading his papers, checking his stocks, and watching his financial and political news programs. Now he just sort of sits there and channel surfs, and sometimes he doesn't even pay attention (Baba said he watched "Hannah Montana" for an hour today, which SCARES me).

SoI might not go to the oral surgeon tomorrow if Baba's taking Grandpa to the doctor's, but I think I feel fine-- I haven't had any residual soreness, tightness of the jaw, bleeding, or noticeable signs of infection. I still don't want to get slammed with a cancellation fee if I don't go, and even if I do go, again, there's the whole payment thing... urgh, can't wait until my next paycheck. I think with all the hours I've been pulling lately it'll be a bit better than my last one, but I hate how I only get paid once a month.

I am worried about Grandpa, of course... I mean, part of the reason why I'm here is to try and take care of them, though as I've mentioned in the past, I never want to baby them. Neither of them are "rest home" type of people, so Grandpa being "incapacitated" like he is seems hard enough on all of us. I don't like facing the very real possibility that his time is coming... but I should, just because this isn't like with Michelle (an accident, out of nowhere, unpredictable. Grandpa's old; he's led a great and full life and been a wonderful inspiration, help, and part of my life. He's been my ONLY Grandpa, because my mom's father died before I really got to know him (I was only a baby, I think). It sucks feeling like I'll have the responsibility of doing so much more for Baba if Grandpa does pass-- moreso than I did or even COULD have done for Mom back when Michelle died. But I do have to be there for her --for Grandpa as well, for as long as he is here-- because I guess part of me is still adamantly hanging onto what little "youth" I feel like I have left. I lost a big chunk of it when Michelle died, because I was 10 and suddenly had to act like an adult back then. Now I'm 22, and I have to act it and beyond, because it's not just Mom this time, it's Baba and all the kids (my aunts and uncles).

I want to think positive though, if just to provide a contrast to Baba's pessimism. I am scared though --and I hate to think it, but selfish. What'll happen to me if Grandpa DOES pass before I graduate? Can I help out with all the bill payments? Will I need to? Grandpa's not working anymore; I don't know where they get money from, or where it all goes to.

Dad is still coming up next weekend for Labor Day, and Shawn (who was supposed to come over today, but I think I gave him my post-surgery cold) and I will be going to Jill's on the 1st for a BBQ/Pool Party. I'm hoping Shawn makes a good impression on both sides of the family, either way. :P I mean, not like it's THAT serious or anything, but it's always nice to get that out of the way first. This isn't some "Meet the Fockers" redux or anything, you know?

Speaking of Dad, he's adamant that when Shawn gets better, he and I go to a bike shop to take the bike that's been sitting in the garage rafters to get totally overhauled. I've thought about it a lot, since bicycling is great exercise, and both my parents can shockingly AGREE on its benefits. I don't have the first clue how to ride though, so the first step would really be getting this bike shaped for ME. And maybe painted purple! :D Dad even says he'll pay for it, which rocks.

Hopefully things will stay... "good-ish" for the next few weeks at the least; Baba and Grandpa are supposed to go to Seattle for Rosh Hashanah, and Shawn should be staying over that week. It'll also be a Mokie-free week (huzzah!) because Baba wants to leave the poodle over at Debbie's, the groomer's we've been taking the fuzzball to. That'll be nice-- not to have to deal with Mokie's yapping and such. That's one reason why I like cats more-- even if they meow, they don't meow so loudly that it attracts attention from outside, or scares postmen.

What else? I woke up today remembering some of the 42 prompts I'd partially done, and how a) I never finished them and b) they were mysteriously not in my Memories. So I found and added them, and maybe when I finish WDKY25 (I surprised myself by seeing how long I've been complaining about that chapter since I finished with WDKY24 last year) I'll work on a few more of those "blurbs." I don't know if/when/where I'll post them, though.

For my next two Sundial articles, I have to contact the Westfield Topanga mall (did it by email, since I didn't find another contact person/PR number to call) and some astronomy teachers at CSUN... unfortunately, the Physics and Astronomy Dept. page at CSUN doesn't organize the professors by their subject, so I might just need to call the department office and find names of professors (preferably full-time; the prof. I had and emailed -who hasn't gotten back to me yet- is part-time) who are in astronomy and might have some insight on the upcoming meteor shower. BTW, every time I type that, I want to say "VENUS METEOR SHOWER!!!!!" I think it sounds a lot cooler than "Crescent Beam shower!" I mean, why would crescent beams shower? Or shower down, as it were? (I remember getting a Sailor Moon Collectible Card from Toys 'R' Us ages ago, and it had a "new" attack for Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter on there. Back in the day, before the rest of the series got dubbed/subbed, those kind of things got me downright GIDDY. It was like NEWS in the Sailor Moon universe!)

*sigh* I've been taking a lot of naps today, and I feel like I've hardly been productive, even if I did get work done on the BSSM:AS project.

On the plus side, I've been adding more fics to Dragonfayth, and Blue Eyes and Apricots is only 19 members away from having 500 members! So tell all your friends to join! :D More Azureshippers! WHOO! (We shall conquer the world!)

( Cut because there's always another... meme! )

I just finished sorting through all my Sailor Moon cards. I don't know what possessed me, really, but I think it was mentioning those odd attacks. The wrong one on a dub card was "Venus Electrobolts Slam!" Doesn't that sound more like one of Jupiter's attacks? But it got her "Thunderclap, Zap!" one right. Go figure. Doesn't someone also have a dub attack ending in "Slam!" though?

I also wanted to find the anime-only special cards of the "wedding" from Sailor Stars (they're not images from any real episode, though). Turns out I had most of them in my sticker album, so I'll have to scan them eventually. The collection is quite interesting, and I have a plethora of counterfeit cards based off ONE of the Mercury cards, using manga artwork instead of anime. It's funny how there are so many cards with just the very top of Mercury's head, someone else pictured, and "Sailor Mercury" at the bottom (sometimes not even fully visible). I wonder if the stuff I've got -some of which is in REALLY good condition, in sets, too!- can be sold or something. Not like I do anything with it. And once I scan it... well, I'm happy.

Current Mood: worried
Current Music: Liz Phair　★　Why Can't I (How to Deal)

Whoo-hoo! Yesterday was just all-around great (except for one "thing" at work that was minor but made me grumble, but whatever, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter at all!). I was pretty excited in all my classes; my first teacher is petite AND energetic like me, and though Investigative Journalism seems a bit dry, it'll be sure to be challenging, as well. I'm looking forward to this semester! I'm also thrilled I got published in the Sundial on the VERY first day back- okay, not page one, per se, but my story WAS mentioned on the front page, though the actual story was on Page 6. And it turns out the editors AREN'T so anal with deadlines, because the EIC told me I could have come in the other day 5 minutes late, no worries-- but I'd run across campus from work, coughing and asthmatic. :P

I worked until 7pm, since those are the new hours M-Th this semester, and it was just non-stop busy! Yet I wasn't exhausted when I got home... Shawn came over after a bit, and we went to see "The Bourne Ultimatum" at the Winnetka theatre. We got dinner at Subway and had no problems getting it in, and the theatre was almost empty, so we had our choice of seats. The movie was really good, too! I liked it so much I reviewed it right away when I got home (using Flickster on Facebook; check it out!) and put the soundtrack (which also kicks ass) on my iTunes alerts. When I get paid again, I might get it, but for now all my money's going toward textbooks, my new computer/iPod, and my impulsive .Mac purchase.

And it's Friday, huzzah-- Grandpa's not going to be working at the pharmacy anymore, which is both unfortunate and good. Unfortunate because I think he'll be irritated with not being able to do things, but good because he can take care of HOME business like bills, cleaning up his massive stock-tracking collection (newspapers, magazine, etc.) He's been pretty forgetful lately, which is the primary reason behind his not working anymore- if he's not careful with his own (or Baba's) medicine, he can't be expected to be careful with other people's. It's sad, but safer and better that way, for everyone all around. I've tried to be as helpful as possible within reason-- I never want to baby them, because they've always been such independent individuals, but I can see the sense in making a list of all their medications so if one of them is sick or something, we can still know what to do. Of course, Grandpa was stubborn when I tried to do that, so Fred and Susy took over, but I don't know how much progress they made. I should probably email Fred and find out.

( Music Meme! )

ETA: I neglected to mention (out of forgetfulness, not shame, REALLY!) that today is the one year anniversary since I last updated WDKY. I would like to say I have finished WDKY25 and will be posting it sometime before midnight tonight... but we'll have to see. Right now I'm taking the Word DOC version of Stubborn-Aesthetic's edits and making it into HTML (should have just asked for the HTML version, I'm too nice...), but there's still writing to be done.

Aside from all my usual distractions -family, personal stress, school, work- what I really need is a committed, single beta who is willing not just to concrit the usuals (spelling, grammar, punctuation, flow, diction, etc.) but also the story points, the characterization, and so on. I tend to write from an outline, so there are often parts of said outline left in my un-beta'd WDKY chapters, and I'd LOVE beta-reader input on how to go about answering those questions with prose, or addressing whether or not they're even pertinent to the story.

Frankly, I'm sick of not having a single person or small team of people to always go to. I realize people have lives of their own, so it's hard to always get the same people. That's why I'm looking for a committed few who think they can dedicate a few hours out of their lives every few months to helping me out with all that is WDKY, because trying to do it on my own can and has produced disastrous results. I want more than just one type of casual beta'ing, or JUST the straight "editorial fixes." I want someone to bounce ideas off of, ask questions of me, know the latest chapters and developments, have guesses of their own... everything. Know such a person(s)? Let me know. I'm going to finish this story... well, I would say "if it kills me," but isn't that ironic? The story is "What DOESN'T kill you." RDRR.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Work - CSUN 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330
Current Music: Simple and Clean [PlanitB Remix] - Utada Hikaru

I blame

ceruleansan for this one. Her and

an_ardent_rain for providing me with Azureshipping to make me jealous of, and

guardian_kysra for writing "Clean" and "Unclean," which will forever be stuck in my head. THUMBS UP, LADIES!

( This isn't Grimms Fairy Tale, folks... )

Tonight wasn't too bad at all. I finally met up with Erin and Joyce (actually, they picked me up after getting lost here in S.F. Haha! I don't know SF driving-wise at all. I think of everything in terms of bus routes) and we headed to IKEA in Emeryville and then got a bit lost trying to get to Dad's place in Alameda. Erin and I played with Roy a bit (Roy still loves me :D :D) and then we went to dinner at this small Thai place with a "cute" young waitress (Joyce kept saying she was "cute," even though I thought the girl wasn't that young; she was probably between 16 and 19, which I think is beyond "cute" age in the usual sense of the word). The food was good, though I had leftover Gai Yang, so I brought it home.

We went back to S.F. and I got to see Erin's new apartment (in which I broke the toilet somehow, because it was running/not flushing and my opening the lid and dropping some tube thing didn't help), which is small, but very nice. And when she gets all the stuff she put together from IKEA set up, it'll look very nice. I helped her schlep all the furniture up the 2 flights of stairs, since she doesn't have an elevator in her place yet (but it's still nice, even though it's tiny as all hell and she's paying $400 more than my mom is- and my Mom has 2 bedrooms and a sunroom!).

Anywhoozles, tomorrow I head to the DLP in Moraga-- alas, the people I was going to carpool with either switched DLPs or are going on Saturday, so I'll be going all by my lonesome (hah) on the BART and bus. No biggie, been there, done that. The hard part's always packing light, especially since this is supposed to be a big important business-type event, so I have to ONLY bring what I need. And I still "need" to figure out some way of using Gary's printer (an HP Photosmart C6100) wirelessly. I figured how to do it Computer-to-Computer (ad hoc), but then it messes up any computers that DO use it wirelessly via Mom's router. Anyone have any idea how to do this? The instruction manual seemed pretty useless on this front.

I hope I can get up early enough tomorrow to still get my nails (and maybe my brows) done, and if I'm feeling bold, I can swing by the Metreon to grab that Writer's Toolbox from Chronicle Books that I want. Maybe the more craft books/kits I have, the more inspiration I can get/dish?

akavertigo and I are supposed to be challenging each other to get writing, but 1) her challenges were HARD HARD HARD (and I don't see how to fit them into WDKY at all, let alone WDKY25), and 2) I can't think of anything to challenge her back with atm.

Of course, I don't even know if I'll have Internet access this weekend, but regardless, I want to have my laptop so I can at least "write" things down. I would hate it if inspiration DID strike and I had nothing to write/type on but little scraps of paper like I did back in the day.

That said... I should probably get to sleep. :P I kept napping throughout today, which explains why I'm always so tired in the daytime, but relatively perky at night. If I just force myself to go to bed at a semi-reasonable hour, maybe I won't feel so compelled to sleep in the daytime-- which, this weekend would be Very Bad (meriting caps, you see).

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Enya　★　How Can I Keep From Singing? (Shepherd Moons)

The best things in life are free
da da da dah
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Give me money!
That's what I want
That's what I want (That's what I want)
That's what I waaaaaaaant
That's what I want (That's what I want)

So today I went with Mom to the Semester at Sea Open Ship event aboard the MV (formerly Universe) Explorer docked at Pier 35, and WOW! That ship is AMAZING. Mom's been on cruises before on luxury liners (I haven't) and even she was saying the ship was impressive. Okay, so the dorm rooms are about the size of my closet and the beds aren't even a twin, but the rest of the ship is just AMAZING. The classrooms have glass tables and soft, round, rotating chairs. The whole ship is wireless for internet and satellite phone, and there are snack bars, entertainment centers, a small pool, fitness centers, a full SPA! It's really incredible. And to get to travel/see the world and learn at the same time, sometimes from incredibly renowned people? Chance of a lifetime.

The catch? It's about $21,000. I have about $5000 in scholarship and loan money at the moment (not counting my Presidential Scholarship... for reasons which should be obvious), which has always been enough to cover for CSUN. I think as a senior, I can take out more money from the loans, but that's really a last resort. I'd rather get more scholarships and grants. The Institute for Shipboard Education has scholarships up to $7000, and work-study, but the latter programs are only available to students with an Expected Family Contribution (on their FAFSA) of $0. And while I've never actually received any money from either my mom or my dad for college, that's NOT what it says on my FAFSA, which is calculated according to taxes and such. Things that I have no control over, basically, since I can't be an independent student until I'm 25, even if I don't live with either of my parents, and, as far as I know, neither of them claim me (and though my grandparents *CAN*, they don't).

I thought I could apply and be notified of my status on the spot, but they want EVERYTHING ready-- not just the transcripts and clearance form, but the application (which had to be done on paper, because the computers were being fixed) and the attached essay. But because I went to the event, I can at least get the application fee waived, which is nice. So I can write that essay and mail everything out soon.

...So Dad (whom I saw today after the event) lent me his giant Peterson's Guide to Grants, Scholarships and Prizes. It's several hundred pages, with millions of listings, so let's hope I can get at least a few of them if I get accepted into SAS so I can actually *GO.* That and maybe I'll stage a fundraiser. ^^;

That said, the suckiness of today was that I lost my 7-day bus pass. Where, I don't know. Maybe on the ship, maybe on the 47 on the way to the Pier... I don't know. I went back to the ship to look for it, but I couldn't find it in any of the places I remember going or sitting, and no one in any of those areas had found it. I even left my number with an alum, but no call back. :( I know I'm only here for 2 more days, but still! What a waste of $24. I didn't take nearly as many bus trips as the value of the card was worth, and I'm really disappointed in myself. And my pants, with their stupid shallow pockets.

But the F-train that I took to the Embarcadero Bart had a really amusing driver, plus the cash box was broken, so I didn't have to pay anyway. I got enough money for the BART, and I met Dad at the Crucible. We went out for supper at this cute hole-in-the-wall Mexican Wrap place in Alameda, where I had 2 delicious enchiladas, and a kindergartener that learned the Mexican Hat Dance performed for us. He got a flan for his trouble-- so cute! And before I left, I had two of the very friendly servers speaking Japanese! :D Haha~

I then went with Dad to his new house (this is the 3rd place he's lived in since moving to Alameda; the last one was the one that burnt down/got flooded), which is a very nice place with a nice backyard of sorts, pretty stained glass windows, and big polished wooden columns. Very "Dad." And Roy (the cat) likes me! He meowed at me a lot, and liked to let me pet him. :) But he's a very big and somewhat irritable cat-- his tail was always swooshing!

We all watched "Chronicles of Riddick" (which I didn't really get; I guess it would have helped to have watched "Pitch Black" first, eh? But Dad said it was pretty scary), and had some Kettle Korn and Mexican Coca-Cola from the wrap place we'd gone to. Mexican Coke is the best! :D None of that high fructose corn crap-- it's REAL SUGAR! (Real teeth rot! YAY!) and then Dad took me to the Fruitvale Bart.

So here I am back at home, mildly amused because I saw a restaurant named "Namu" (as in, Malik's alias during the beginning of Battle City) on my way back home on the 31. I guess it was a good day-- I hope I can do a bit of shopping tomorrow and maybe hang out with people some more.

Recent Acquisitions:
* "Chew on This" by Eric Schlosser, the author of "Fast Food Nation." It's more on fast food, but it's not as difficult a read as FFN. Very good! Makes me want to teach it! There are a lot of good ideas for using it in various subjects in classes.

* Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters for PS2. (It was $9, I couldn't resist)

* Enya: Shepherd Moons. Nice music to fall asleep to. I got it at Goodwill for only $3.49, and it was in perfect condition!

* "Diary of a Mad Bride" and "Mermaid Saga 1," also obtained at Goodwill-- both in brand-new condition, for only $1.49 each. The manga even had the original Borders barcode sticker still on the back! :D

* Do Not Disturb lavender-and-rice-filled warming relaxation wrap. It takes 1 minute and 20 seconds to heat in the microwave to a good temperature that totally relaxes my shoulders, soothes headaches, and helps me sleep or relax. It was only $25 at the Discovery Channel store, which is unfortunately going out of business (except online).

I've also been editing WDKY as of late-- Chs. 9-12 all have been fixed, but not uploaded anywhere as of yet. I figure I'll do everything in order to get a sense of the story up until now (Ch. 25) and then just re-upload everything everywhere, all at once. It'll also be nice to work on the various portions of the WDKY website, so I can remember all the things that inspire me for particular parts of the saga.

That said... I think I'll look at Ch. 13 and then go to bed.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Home - San Francisco, CA 94118-3506

Sometimes just for the hell of it, I combine two topics on my mind into one warped subject line.

I had my first final today; it was for my Editing class. It wasn't too bad, actually; liberal use of my AP Stylebook really helped, as did a proofreading after I printed the first draft. I think I did pretty well, all things considered; I even got an A on the two papers Witten turned back to me, which means I might be doing better in the class than I thought.

As for the toilet, last week sometime I noticed the rec room bathroom toilet had flooded AGAIN (Let's put it this way; I was busy playing FFX-2 and had to take a break. I take ONE step within the vicinity of the bathroom, and my socked foot goes SQUISH in a very yucky way. I realize the extent of the damage, and holler for Grandpa). This time the damage was so bad (by the time we noticed it) that Baba just got fed up and said she wanted the carpet torn out. Because it happened on a Friday (I believe), we had to wait over the weekend for everything to clear up. And that meant the carpet stayed wet (despite us having the fan on and the windows open whenever we were home), and started getting mold and mildew. No good for someone with allergies, like me. So Baba kicked me out of the rec room fairly quickly whenever I was in there watching TV or playing video games.

There are guys from "American Craftsman Restoration" (their mascot is a guy that looks a bit like Captain America, RIP!) tearing out the carpet downstairs-- or half of it, anyway. Turns out there's concrete underneath. And the walls of the rec room are wood panels, and they go to the floor, so the ones near the bathroom were wet, too. So those might be getting torn out as well. Baba wants to replace the flooring with hardwood, like the kitchen, which won't be so bad; it'll be easier to move furniture in there, and sweeping will be easier than vacuuming around all that furniture. But the room's already the coldest in the house, and a hardwood floor won't make it any warmer. Not that anyone ever likes sleeping in that room (anymore) anyway.

I do hope AAA pays for the damage, because it's crazy how much we keep paying for this kind of thing to get fixed, and it just happens again, no helping it.

Anywho, I've got a bit of a to-do list for the rest of the day:
* Take the bookcase pieces and put them in their box again, before it starts raining and the box outside gets damaged beyond usability
* Work on a "character development" planner for WDKY, so I don't lose track of characterization and what is "OOC" in that universe or not (this is surprisingly important for WDKY25, as I'm coming to learn)
* Study for my graphics and Media Law exams tomorrow, which involve reading, reading, and more reading
* Assemble my books that I want to sell back to the bookstore
* Clean up my room a bit (!?)
* Try writing/planning a bit more of my scholarship book
* Read what I bought yesterday of Death Note (up to Vol. 12; is that the last one, or is there a 13? I can't remember...), and Ceres: Celestial Legend (missing volume 1 and 13, but oh well... special order!)
* Work on WikiFic

I was also thinking of a rant/poll of sorts to post here later, about what frustrates me about shoujo "heroines" and their romances. I tend to like the romances where there's a very explicit (as in "clear" not as in "sex sex and more sex") reason why two characters love each other and get together. In re-reading some of Ceres: Celestial Legend, I got a bit frustrated with Aya's obsession with Touya; I remember volume 1, when they first met, and all the subsequent volumes... I really don't think it's very justified why she falls for him when she's got Yuuhi, who loves her and cares for her very much, and doesn't bother with all the "I don't know" and mysterious amnesia/implanted memories stuff. I do get WHAT Touya is and what he represents, but... I don't like fickle or weak heroines. I still like the series, though.

And that, in turn, got me thinking about other series that I really like-- Sailor Moon was the first, and like so many other Moonies, I was a big Usagi x Mamoru fan. But why? It was well-established in canon, and it's not like there was ever a really good rival for Mamoru (let's be honest, Umino never stood a chance, Motoki had a girlfriend, Demando was evil, Haruka was gay, and Seiya was an alien AND appeared when Mamoru was gone and couldn't really "fend" for himself). I'm sure there's more to say and couples this can and cannot apply to, so I'll save that for later.

Current Mood: accomplished

Okay, so most people on here know I own and maintain Dragonfayth, the only (as far as I know) archive for Seto x Anzu (Azureshipping) fic on the web. I honestly wish more people would host there stuff on there (namely some certain someones here on LJ! you know who you are, right?), but that's not the rant for today.

While it's great to have submissions at all, I notice a lot of them are leaving a lot to be desired. And I thought the Submission Rules I had were enough, but apparently not. People are making BASIC mistakes and submitting... well, trash. I'm not FFnet; I don't intend to post things that are riddled with spelling and grammar errors, bad formatting, etc. Even OOC comes into play, though I suppose to a degree, that's subjective.

But mine IS a private archive. I don't HAVE to accept every damn thing that comes my way. I am willing to post someone's fanfiction in an archive EXCLUSIVE for that sort of fic (as opposed to FFnet, where one good fic is buried under tons of horseshit), if people are just willing to respect the rules.

So where do I draw the line? I don't want to feel guilty about rejecting stuff, but I don't want to have to rip someone's story apart fixing every last error, inconsistency, or frankly, lousy scrap of writing there is. I can only beta-edit for simple spelling and grammar fixes when I have time. Which is not often, if you get my drift.

So I was thinking of developing some "Standards of Quality" for Dragonfayth that are much more explicit than just the general submission rules. These would go beyond just saying "no spelling, grammar, and formatting errors," because even with a spellchecker and a beta-reader, I still catch misuses of words. I can correct those, no big deal. I don't get mad about those.

But when people:
a) don't bother to accent Téa's name (and YES, this pisses me off ROYALLY. It's NOT hard to do, NOT hard to look up and learn if you don't know how, and I DO NOT accept excuses)/mix and match/mangle names (also pisses me off royally. DO NOT DO IT!)
b) Have "conversations" with their "Yami" or with Seto and Anzu at some point before/during/after the fic
c) Have non-summaries that don't tell me anything about what the story is about
d) Have fics that aren't really "stories" at all, but more like blurbs (and I don't mean oneshots/shortfics; I've seen plenty of those that are prolific enough in 100 words or less. I mean stuff like "So and so hated so and so. So and so got into a fight! They kissed! The end." YES, I have seen those on Dragonfayth!)
e) Have grossly OOC characters (and I mean Seto waxing eloquent and poetic, usually)
f) Can't remember to format dialogue like so: "I thought you said we'd have macaroni," Téa cried. and instead use periods before the quote, or no punctuation at all, or capitalize the attribution (if it's not a name) after the dialogue
g) Use fangirl Japanese that has a PERFECTLY ENGLISH EQUIVALENT WORD (such as "Hello?" and "Mother" as the most recent examples I came across)

It just drives me BATTY!

I can't just whip up rules and apply them to fics sitting in the queue (as they have been for months). That's not fair. But honestly... I don't think these fics are good enough, and going into acute detail in the rejection letter seems ridiculous.

Maybe I need a co-mod for the Submissions Queue so I can easily say "This isn't good enough. This is meant to be a QUALITY archive, and this fic just doesn't hold up." That's why I built Dragonfayth in the first place-- to be something DIFFERENT from the C2s on FFnet, and to have better fics than just ONE author's favorites list, or ONE attempt at searching for "Seto x Anzu" in FFnet's search engine.

There is some DAMN good Azureshipping fic out there-- by

atlantian_magic,

praiseofshadows,

wickeddawn,

guardian_kysra,

rhapsody_dragon,

svelterose,

geniusgirl,

akavertigo and countless others. I just wish more of that "DAMN GOOD STUFF" would make its way off LJ/FFnet and onto Dragonfayth, where it can bask in all-Azureshippy-glory! Because all this frankly badfic makes Mer sad. ;_;

I dunno, any suggestions guys?
* Is having "Standards of Quality" going too far?
* If not, what would be good expectations to have of fics PRIOR to them being submitted to the queue?
* Does anyone wanna help co-mod the queue anyway, just so I don't end up angsting over all these decisions on my own?

Current Location: Home - Northridge, CA, 91324

My right eye hurts (good god I hope I don't have another eye infection. The last thing I need is to miss school/work from being legitimately sick), but AT LAST! I am done... not with WDKY25, sadly, but with my Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon VHS/DVD Inventory. It's as done as it's going to get-- I couldn't find images for 10 volumes of VHS tapes (mostly the Edited versions) in the Sailor Moon SuperS series, and I have yet to add images for the boxed sets for S and SuperS, or the "Dream Set" for the movies. And I wanted to edit the info so that the "volumes" also mentioned which episodes were on which volume, because there's almost always a difference from VHS to DVD.

Maybe I'll get around to posting the new page up on Epiphany/Mare Serenitatis whenever I get around to working on that again. :P

I didn't get to go shoe shopping with Adrianna today. ;_; She never called. I wanted to call her early this afternoon, but to my dismay, I discovered I didn't have her phone number! I swore I did before, so something must have happened and I deleted it. :( Alas, no double-points at DSW for me.

I did go out to dinner at Mimi's Cafe with Baba, Grandpa, Elliot, and Erin. The service wasn't all that great, but the food (Jumbo Spinach Tortellini with artichoke hearts) was pretty tasty. Elliot and I had fun trying to remember the 14 Leadership Traits. Apparently there's an acronym for it I never learned in ROTC: JJ DID TIE BUCKLE. See if you can figure out the Leadership Traits from that (no Googling, now!).

Also, I spent a while listening to

akavertigo's awesome awesome ideas for "Reconstruction." I tell you, it shall be a KILLER story! I can't wait to actually read all of it. When all of it gets written. :D

AND I got up to the Watchtowers in Bevelle in my new FFX-2 game... damn watchtowers NEVER rotate the way the guide says they should! I must have done this at least a hundred times, but I can never get the platforms to go the way I need them to! And the dumb guidebook "names" the towers, instead of using the Glyphs to identify them, which would be LOADS easier. Can anyone help? I already have 3 Ribbons, but... I WANT ANOTHER ONE! :P

For the record: LJ Phoenix gives me a RealBasic NilObjectException error that prevents me from opening the program 5/6 of the time. I'm pretty much back to using the Web Update form of LJ because the error annoys me so much. *sigh* To find a client that does what I want *AND* works on a Mac... why can't someone just make Semagic for the Mac!? >_> Or maybe I should download it for the Windows VM and try and force myself to use it more often (lately I only use it for "The Ultimate Guide to Sphere Break"), so I don't become such a bitch about Windows (which I have been, lately. But seriously, Apple's commercials trump Microsoft's new "WOW" Vista CMs ANY DAY OF THE WEEK).

So I think I'll go to bed now and pray my eye doesn't become some sort of snot ball in the night.

P.S. Today Daylight Savings Time starts. Did you set your clocks forward? (Except you Arizona-people. ~~Weirdoes.~~)

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Home - Northridge, CA, 91324
Current Music: ★ All-Classical WGBH ★

geniusgirl was the one responsible for this meme in the first place, but due to the particular (and quite odd!) fics requested by people all around the board, her request (the first one made) was the last one I got to. I have to admit, it's tough duplicating the mood or style of some of these stories!

Geniusgirl wanted something that took one week after "Eat Your Words, Beautiful," probably my most clichéd fic ever. So here it is. (I was tempted to title this "This Is All Your Fault," but I already have another oneshot by that name. HAH!)

( Put your faith in me and I'll show you )

Current Mood: devious
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Sarah Brightman - By Now

I apologize for going out of order (

geniusgirl, I swear yours is next!) but I write these as inspiration comes. Writing something after your request (1 week after "Eat Your Words, Beautiful") is pretty difficult, so I'm saving it for last.

In any case,

winterwing3000 requested a fic that took place 2 weeks after the end of "Strains", my most 'subtle' Azureshipping piece to date. In fact, one could argue that there's really no Azureshipping in it at all. It just happens to STAR the two of them. You can be the judge after this. Replicating the style of "Strains" is no easy task, let me tell you...

In any case, I tried to do this one from Anzu's perspective (because "Strains" was from Seto's).

( Here's the music, get up and dance, yeah )

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Sarah Brightman - Beautiful

guardian_kysra requested a fic that either ended the day after MASH or 1 month, 2 days, and 5 hours before Family. Because MASH and Pop were intended to be companion pieces, and I've never had the inclination to flesh them out more, AND because her Family request had a much more specific timestamp, that's the one I'm working with. For those of you unfamiliar with "Family," one of my WIPs regarding Seto and Téa (and Téa essentially becoming a mother while still in high school), check out the fic here.

Because Kysra's got stellar timing, this fic takes place on New Year's Eve, prior to the start of Family, Chapter 1. For the record, I have no intention of working this into the fic itself; this is all-original, all-new. I don't think it'll have any huge bearing on the story, so think of it as sort of a Director's Cut version of the story's beginning.

( Up above the snow is falling... )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Sarah Brightman - Lascia Ch'io Pianga

rhapsody_dragon requested a ficlet taking place 20 minutes after the end of "The Joke's On You," which I've only released the first chapter of. I have planned out almost all the subsequent chapters (I haven't actually focused on them or published them due to an uncanny latter-chapter resemblance between it and Prophecy Girl, another one of my Battle City fics)

So for your viewing perusal, a snippet from the unreleased Chapter 2 of The Joke's On You... 20 minutes after the end of Chapter 1.

( After the game of love baby )

Up next:

geniusgirl's request and

guardian_kysra's request.

Current Mood: devious
Current Location: Home

I believe I've mentioned on a few occasions my disappointment with big-name anybodys or anythings. Many of my friends recall how I detested anything related to Harry Potter, until one day

katiat325 invited me to a free screening of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The whole time, she and

schmollieollie were chatting about the things different from the book, the scenes left out, the characterizations-- and they wouldn't repeat a word of it to me, the outsider who hadn't even read the books.

So I read the books-- actually borrowed from my mother. By the time I was leaving to go to CSUN, I was engrossed in the world, and Stephanie got me Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as a going-away present. Now that the final book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) is upon us (July 21, 2007), I'm looking back on a lot of books that have been hype or tripe. Some books deserve their hype; others (especially those from a famous author or in a long-standing series) don't really deserve the hype they get just because of the name attached.

For example, Harry Potter --both the books and the fandom as a whole-- has disappointed me over the years, because what I originally found fascinating or enchanting is now predictable or pathetic. But JKR is not a poor writer by any stretch of the imagination, and AS a writer myself, I hardly think that a writer SHOULD pander to her audience, even if said audience "pays the bills."

So then I wonder about another famous author: Danielle Steel. Before I left for Japan last year, I picked up her (then) newest book, Coming Out. It sounded different from the steamy romances I'd read from her in high school (I can't remember the exact title, but it was about a Japanese woman in an internment camp in America during World War 2). But then again, in high school, I had a lot lower standards. -_- I remember trying my hardest to read "Coming Out" but it just read like a flat, predictable piece of drivel. It's funny, because when I mentioned something similar to this (though I believe on another comm. or in another post somewhere), someone said that many of her stories have the same PLOT over and over, with the characters merely renamed. That wasn't the case with "Coming Out" at all, and in fact, had some very interesting characters and what I thought was a very interesting plot-- but it's like taking a bunch of baking ingredients and making something terrible tasting with them. There was SO much potential, but...

I ended up returning "Coming Out" and using the money I got in return to buy 3 Yu-Gi-Oh manga. Sure, I don't like what Viz does with the manga (namely their horrid design skills, and how they can't even position a rounded rectangle block of text into a bubble properly), but I still buy from them because I support them bringing Yu-Gi-Oh's original manga to English audiences in the first place. All the scanlation groups that have tried up to this point are sub-par, really. Companies like Viz have the time and money to create something truly incredible, but as with my previous analogy, I think they're taking something with potential and not doing the best they can with it. But rather than creating something "horrible tasting" with the "ingredient" that is the original Yu-Gi-Oh manga, I think they've just made something that's a bit bitter and a touch bit moldy in places. I would one day like to work for Viz, instead of writing them letters over and over ("Are you guys going to do a second edition of XYZ manga where page 10 ISN'T a duplicate of page 5?"), so I'm trying to keep that goal in mind.

Anyway, because of my disappointment with Steel, I have next to no interest in reading her NEWEST new novel, Sisters. It, too, sounds vaguely interesting, based on the description. And people always love to hype Danielle Steel for being such a "prolific" writer, for churning out as many novels as she has, for being best-selling. But what the hell does best-selling mean if not "robbed a bunch of people's wallets?" I mean, it says nothing for the actual quality of the book, only the fact that it sold. You might as well say that the In-Crowd back in high school were model students, representatives of the school or teenagers as a whole.

Yeah, right, and I'm Angelina Jolie. [/sarcasm]

I can't stand two forms of book summaries:
* the non-existent kind (i.e. you go to the back of a book, or the inside flap of a hardcover, and there is no summary-- only a photo of the author, or a short bio, or WORSE, a description of some OTHER book they wrote!)
* the obvious kind ("will so-and-so find true love amidst her family crumbling before her eyes!?")

Steel's fall into the second category, though I have seen a few of her books fall into the first, as well. And I'm sorry, but every time I see the cover art of "Toxic Bachelors" I want to cringe. WHO THE HELL DESIGNED THAT COVER!? My grandmother (Baba) has HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of romance novels. I have seen every possible cover design out there, from the stereotypical (hot, Fabio-like man with his shirt half-torn open, groping or reaching for the woman with her bared shoulders and/or thighs and her hair flowing out behind her) to the tasteful (embossed, shiny text over a simple background, like a lace print, silk, jewels, etc). But the cover of that book just makes me want to cringe. I'm not even a well-versed student in the art of design (that's what my JOUR 331 - Graphics class is supposed to be about), but even I can see-- that's a stupid cover. And like the summary, the cover is what sells. If I see an interesting title or a cool-looking cover, I might just pick up that book! If the summary sounds interesting, I might just flip it open to check out the first page. If I like what I read, I MAY BUY IT!

I wish more people kept this in mind with their writing, even if it's not sold writing like Steel's drivel. I mean, is she like Anne Rice without vampires-- no one questions her authority anymore, she has no editor, no one stands against her? Or do you really have to hunt for the one gem amongst all her crap? I'm sure she has good stuff written somewhere. I hope, anyway.

Anyway, ( speaking of design... )

I had a series of weird dreams last night, but as soon as I woke up, I couldn't really remember many specifics, only a few impressions. I remembered dreaming that I'd found my PS2 memory card (*wail*), but I also remember dreaming about some BAD things, because I was feeling very freaked out and vaguely "sick in the head" when I woke up. But I think I've managed to recover okay, I just have to watch out and not get stressed. Even though Tuesday is my longest day, I don't have work on Tuesdays, and so far I've been able to handle the workload and even the teachers.

My Media Law teacher doesn't mind me taking notes on the laptop (which is great, because I can type faster than I can write!), and so far I've been able to keep up with my usual pace and style in Japanese class (by the way, Todd and I'm presuming Daniel and/or John returned from Japan today, and Todd stopped into my Japanese class to promote the Tokiwa program... that was kind of funny). Plus I got out of Media Law at 4:00 or so today, and my next class doesn't start until 6pm, so I have about an hour to chill and do whatever I like. :)

Notes:
* Need to get Death Notes vols. 6-10
* Need to watch Hana Yori Dango 2 episode 5 *AS SOON AS IT IS SUBBED* because dayum was Episode 4 good! And the teaser-trailer! :O!!!! Ah, HYD, how I MISSED you!

And to close, a rather random question: at what point did the Stormtroopers stop being clones of Jango Fett? I wonder, because a new Star Wars novel (Allegiance, taking place between episodes IV and V) features a Stormtrooper with his own unique name... though that doesn't necessarily mean he's NOT a clone, I wonder if the Empire would have kept up production of the clone troopers after the Clone Wars. Further, did they bother identifying the clones by name, as a part of their "conditioning," or were they just given numbers (TK-421, why aren't you at your post)? I wonder...

Current Mood: okay
Current Location: CSUN - 18111 Nordhoff St. Matador Bookstore Complex, Northridge, CA, 91330
Current Music: Someone stole something from the bookstore again...

Rules: Each player of this game starts off with 10 weird things/habits/little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 10 weird habits/things/little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you need to choose some people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks.

( Maybe you didn't want to know... )

TAG!

mklutz,

dqbunny,

a_white_rain,

cutieme4u,

schmollieollie,

geniusgirl,

obabscribbler,

praiseofshadows

You Should Maybe Go to Grad School

Grad school may be the right choice for you, but you need to investigate further.
So put those studying skill to use, and pick a program that's perfect for you.
And make sure you're going for the right reasons - not just to avoid getting a job.

Should You Go To Grad School?

Ugh, I have a headache and SHOULD go back to sleep (even though it's already 8:30am), but I'm not really "tired," per se. And I still haven't found the combo page to my Master lock... I don't really want to buy a new one, even if they are cheap. What the heck did I write the combo on? And where's the original slip that came with the lock? I swore I had it somewhere near my desk...

Oh well, at least I emptied the boxes mom sent me (more art supplies and books... yay, room is a TOTAL mess), and I fixed up all the Chapter Notes for WDKY on Dragonfayth (all you people posting delish Seto x Anzu here on LJ, come on, share the wealth! Put it up on Dragonfayth so it can be easily found and favorited! That includes all the smut!) I'll re-read the whole fic soon and maybe make some progress with 25 before school starts on Monday. And today-- must go do some shopping, even if it's just shoes and a few books.

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: Home - Northridge, CA, USA

First, I updated WDKY on Dragonfayth to the latest chapter. I guess because some chapters were longer than others and contained those 'ye old alphanumeric character codes' I had to c&p the HTML from Dreamweaver into the story text box (with the TinyMCE checkbox turned off). I know at least some of the slow, "unresponsive" script errors were because of the world "curl" in my stories, but I wonder if the script mangling the alphanumeric codes is something fixable...

I'm also considering including my logs and things up at Dragonfayth too, making it a fully-fledged series with notes and such. If not Dragonfayth, then definitely at Epiphany. But I think the Review Replies will stay here on LJ, just to make things easier (that's subject to change...) Speaking of RRs, I still have to post them for Chapters 23-24 of WDKY, so look for those soon-ish.

I say "ish" because I DID pack two of my bags today, leaving only one left, but I still have to cram a lot of clothes (the rest until Tuesday) and some other random things in there. I'm honestly hoping that crappy United will let me get away with my carry-on (backpack), my personal item (purse) and a shopping bag with just my blanket and Toro-kun (the stuffed cat). And yes, crappy United. Would you believe that for my ONE extra bag, it's $167 USD!? Because of that wholly unexpected amount (which is about 75% of my paycheck), I had to ask Mom for money *AGAIN*. I felt rotten doing it, but she was quick and okay with it. And as it turns out, I owe her less than I thought-- I found a copy of my super-expensive T-Mobile bill (luckily I printed it out; apparently T-Mobile only keeps your last 2 bill statements online) and calculated out what she paid and what I'd paid, and what I owe her for that is less than I thought. So that plus another $400... it's still a lot of money, but I have to do it.

What's left to pack:
-toiletries (stuff I use in the bathroom, though I might decide to leave the Dove Body Soap behind, much as I love the stuff... plus lotion, anti-bacterial, meds, brush)
-clothes
-some papers
-cat mug, cat plate, yellow bowl, striped glass (?), deco plate, forks, chopsticks, knife, spoon
-leftover oatmeal, cream of wheat, cocoa (make cookies with everything else)

? - Wish I could take my plastic cat trash can, but I don't know if it would fit... 'sides, it's smaller than my Purple one back in the states, so maybe I should just give it to my roommates? I'm doing that with many hangers and such. Should I even bother trying to take my lighter? I bought it for my incense, but my incense is almost gone... and short of the common kitchen downstairs, no one has a gas range here, which is the only thing I can think of using it for (since no one else is an incense queen like I am. Holly said it smelled like hippies in my room!). But I don't want everything in my bag catching on fire, either!

Scott was telling me that parents still want to feel needed and help out whenever they can, but I feel selfish for asking so much of my mom. This trip -for me, at least- was supposed to prove how I could survive being independent and on my own, even for just a little while (and still with perks-- a well-paying job and no rent, basically). It's not that I'm not going to pay my mom back in full, but I guess I shouldn't feel so guilty over it (and I do, to an extreme degree. I don't even wanna talk about it anymore).

But in the end, I can't go to the sleepover/party thing tomorrow, anyway. And I guess I don't really care, because that'll save me more money for mailing things back home, doing my hair (possibly) on Saturday at the Access Moon salon in Akatsuka, going food shopping, etc. And on Friday I'm supposed to go bowling with my tutors, so I want to save up a bit for that, too. I want to finish packing bit by bit though, as each day goes by, so I don't feel stressed the day before I leave. I still feel like I have so much stuff to pack, even though earlier today I was relieved that I'd have the money for my 3rd suitcase-- the biggest one, too. Now it feels like I'm back to not being able to decide what to keep and what to ditch, or how to pack, because it seems almost full and I still have so much to pack IMHO. But my backpack and purse still aren't so filled up yet, so maybe that'll help ease it up somewhat.

I'm still confused about where I put some of my CDs/DVDs though, if I put them anywhere... I thought I had NANA anime eps. 20-25 (that would be 2 CDs), but I couldn't find them amongst the box I intended to send (too expensive, so I crammed them into my 2nd suitcase), and they weren't in my CD case. I wonder if I deleted all those files to save HD space? I'd hate it if I did, but unless they're in the box that I've already taped up, I have no idea if I even burned them to CD. In any case, they're not on my HD anymore... though I do have the latest episode (33) and Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei), eps 16-18. Yay for TV-Nihon getting down to the grind on that!

I should go to bed soon... we don't have class, really (well, I do for 3rd and 5th), but we do have a feedback session during 2nd period, from 10:30 to 11:30, and I have to wake up early enough to call the SF Office of JTB travel to get them to add my United Mileage Plus number to my account... and maybe then I can officially switch my seat on the plane. Kekekeke.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Tokiwa University International Exchange Hall, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan
Current Music: 宇多田ヒカル ★ Wait & See ~Risk~ (Baton Girl Mix) (Wait & See -Risk- (Single))

My god, part of me really, really hates WDKY right now.
Not because I don't like any part of what I've already written/posted, or the concept behind it, or how much I've planned it out (okay, maybe that a LITTLE bit), but really, it's a freaking MONSTER of a fic. Every five chapters or so, I just have one of these chapters that is SO DAMN IMPOSSIBLE to write. I can have it planned out to the nth degree, but it just doesn't want to go from script/planned-out form to PROSE. It doesn't want to sound NATURAL. It just seems like typographical SLOP.

Like Chapter 25. It's both a filler chapter (it's not part of a particular arc) and an important plot chapter (because it closes some loose ends, reminds you of important things, and sets the stage for the upcoming arc). A while ago, I was so super-confident-- I was writing, I was writing-- I was on a ROLL! It was getting done! But then I got to the mucky steam part, and my engine died on me.

Writing steam/sex/any derivative thereof seems to be like eating fish for me: I know I can do it, I know there's nothing wrong with it, but something in my brain just runs screaming in the other direction when I even make the attempt. I gag. I choke. I quit.

That's not so much the issue anymore. But WDKY as a whole is one of those fics where I try to blend the canon (magical card games) with the realistic (romance troubles, friendship woes, school issues, money problems). I try to make the characters three dimensional, as characters you can relate to, sympathize with, or at the very least UNDERSTAND (the why of their actions). So obviously the steam scene has consequences on the characters and the story at large, and I've been getting a few ideas this weekend and trying to write them into the chapter... but they're not coming out as prose.

I've got paragraph after paragraph of "planner text" which is basically like "So and so did this, so and so said this" but it's all very flat, boring. All "tell" and no "show." And I still feel like I'm missing or forgetting something, or maybe trivializing something that should be important, and placing too much emphasis on something that's not. I don't want to be repetitive (saying things I've already said in that chapter, or in past chapters).

It seems like the chapter that would never end, but it's only 88KB so far! That's shorter than a lot of the bigger, heavier chapters that have been so much harder to write! So I don't really know what's wrong with me, other than me choking up before this big important arc that I've SO been looking forward to writing (and as it turns out, writing things out of order is very bad for me, and screws the story up, which is why I'm not just "skipping ahead" to write Chs. 26-28). I think it's like Airplane Syndrome-- you have a big long flight tomorrow morning, and you know you should rest so you can get to the airport on time, but you JUST CAN'T SLEEP. Except in this case, I've got this great arc I want to work on, and make sure it's sufficiently built-up and understandable (coming in when and how it does), but I'm STUCK on this thing that's "just" filler.

ARGH!!!!! Maybe I should go back and re-read past chapters of WDKY, instead of thinking solely about future chapters and sequels. I don't know. HELP!

ETA: I'm sorting through all my tags and getting rid of the duplicate tags. For example, why have "fanfics" when "fanfiction" is just fine, and I tagged [almost] all the entries with both, anyway? Well, apparently ONE entry had "fanfics" and not "fanfiction" but for the life of me, I couldn't find it. And I'm having the same issue with TWO entris tagged with "azureshipping" and not "seto x anzu". I want to get rid of the "azureshipping" tag, since "seto x anzu" works just as well, and fits the pattern I've used for other fandoms. I've already tried viewing all the entries with the tag, but I just don't see the two entries in question. Can anyone help me figure out how to find those lost two entries? Is there a way to search an entry by the tags it DOES and DOES NOT use (i.e. search by exclusion)?

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Location: Tokiwa University International Exchange Hall, Mito, Ibaraki
Current Music: Wands ★ Soldier (Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie)

Does anyone here remember about two semesters ago (maybe three?) when I had a horrid eye infection on THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES, all because my contact solution was expired? I stopped wearing my contacts because of that. Now, one of my bigger lifetime goals is to one day get Lasik (or whatever its medically-safe equivalent is by the time I can afford it). But I feel so sorry for my roommate, because it looks like she's got the same thing. I didn't really know what to do, so I went and got the dorm mother (if you wanna call her that). Two of Midori's friends (other girls with rooms here in the dorms) heard me asking the D.M. to come upstairs to help (I can't read the phone book, and with Midori's eye out of whack, neither could she), and they came upstairs to help, too. It made me realize that the so-called dorm life does have its bonuses, even for a cynic like me: you can make really good friends, and they will be there when you genuinely need it. I think both girls in question were going to go out for dinner, but instead they stuck around to help Midori out, and that made me feel really glad. I hope that if I were ever to live in dorms or on my own, I could have neighbors or friends that I could really trust and depend on like that.

That said, I made a post in

setoanzulove that got ignored; I wonder if it's 'cause it got caught in the post-holiday rush of posts on people's FLs and they missed it? Anyway, ( it's for all the Azureshipping readers/writers on my FL )

Aaand, I just watched the first 2+ hour episode of Hana Yori Dango 2: Returns and I'm off to The Saturn Necklace Community to make a report! :D :D :D

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: Tokiwa University International Exchange Hall, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan

Yay, I'm back "home" in Mito, and while I've yet to get fully unpacked and everything (especially considering I should actually START packing a little to go to my REAL home in the States), I'm in a decent enough mood. For starters, though, a question: how the heck do you change foreign coins? When I left Hong Kong, I had some Hong Kong dollars leftover-- not much, just about $12 (a little under $2 USD, maybe), but the exchanger at Narita airport wouldn't take them. And I just visited Holly to give her an omiyage, and she told me that they don't take coins as a rule, because it would cost too much to ship them (presumably back to their country of origin, where they can re-enter circulation). So what the heck do I do with these coins!? I need the money...

Next up:
* Scanning Nana, Ch. 65 for the Nana Takoyakis group
--does anyone know how to get of "scanner burns" on the side of pages, short of re-scanning something over and over? I've tried using the Dodge tool, Levels, and all sorts of other things, but certain parts still look weird...

* Translating some of "The Legend of Mythica," the soundtrack CD to the Tokyo DisneySea water event that I *LOVED* to bits
--The initial prologue (as told by Mickey and the Diamond Goddess) in Part 3 introduces the "Spirits" of various things that, when harmonized, summon the five Crystal Goddesses (Violet, Green, Blue, Red, and Gold). The first one sounded like the "Spirit of Comic Songs." o_O; What? (I'm not sure which Disney character that was during the actual event; I know that Pluto and Goofy switched places -on the CD, Pluto is Violet and Goofy is Green, but during the event, it was the other way around. Then there's the "Spirit of Friendship," the "Spirit of Sincerity/Honesty/Faith", the "Spirit of Adventure," and finally, the "Spirit of Love" (I know that one is Minnie, without a doubt). Mickey is technically the "Spirit of Imagination." The other characters (besides the ones already mentioned) are Donald Duck, and Chip & Dale. Which do you think is which? I'm trying to remember...

I think tomorrow when I'm back and somewhat settled in (and with an organized list of what to do), I'll do a recap of everything that happened the past 10 days or so. It's certainly been an adventure.

By the way, is there any sort of patron god or goddess of transportation? My Muse really needs a name, and as has been happening for the past 6 years or so, I got inspired while traveling-- this time on the Joban-sen while heading back home. Alas, the idea is for "Eternal Dimension" in the later chapters-- a fic which I have not even begun to write, because it's the third and final installment in the "What Doesn't Kill You" series, and I'd like to get PART 1 finished before I even think about Part 3. My Muse loves to torture me so. ;_;

I also posted a bit about the logic of Seto x Anzu on Pearl of a Dark Age's FFnet forum on fanon pairings; check it out and add to the list!

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: Tokiwa University International Exchange Hall, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan

Well, fuck. I went to Dragonfayth to finally post the Winter challenge I mentioned here in my LJ a while back, and I noticed there were over 1000 challenge PAGES. Not individual challenges, but CHALLENGE PAGES. Of course all but 2 were spam, and I'm stuck deleting them in batches of 30 in phpMyAdmin. This will take a while. I've since patched eFic 2.0 to not allow anonymous challenges. I will eventually add my winter challenge, and I hope anyone else who has made prompts, fanmixes, or anything else will consider joining DRFA (if they haven't already) and including their challenges.

I'm also contemplating doing a complete overhaul of the databases on my domain, because
a) no one uses the Betasquad forums, to my knowledge, and it's not worth the extra space to have it there.
b) they're disorganized as it is, with the old Epiphany eFic tables located in the same database as Dragonfayth's, WikiFic, and phpBB. But I don't know if/how I can move those sites that I still intend to keep active (i.e. WikiFic, Dragonfayth, eventually Epiphany) to their own databases. Can anyone help?

Oh, and one more thing...

SCOTT IS COMING HOME!
I probably shouldn't be so thrilled that it didn't work out for him in Turkmenistan, and truthfully, it *WAS* unexpected (for him to say he was going back to the U.S), but for some reason, I'm happy that I'll get to see him MUCH sooner than either of us thought.

Current Mood: angry
Current Music: Delerium (DJ Skribble) - Silence (DJ Tiesto Remix) (Essential Spring Break 2001)

So apparently Seto x Anzu is getting a bit of a boost from various writers here on LJ posting fics, ficlets, or what-have-you, including responses to

kirschreich's 42 prompts. I already did 5 of these previously, none of which had any bearing on one another, but following

geniusgirl's responses to them (which may or may not be part of her "Memoriam"), I think I'll do a few that ARE connected to one another, but ARE NOT connected to any greater work, planned greater work, someone else's work, or previous challenge responses. With that said, ( Where We Went Wrong )

That was really my first foray at trying to write in the present tense, which is definitely NOT my strong suit. Please tell me if you spot any places where the tense shifts inappropriately.

That said, I might continue this "story" of sorts in future installments to the 42 themes, but I might not. I just wrote what came to me in this moment. I know this post contains fewer themes than my last one, but my responses are longer, so I hope that makes up for it... I told

atlantian_magic that blurbs are hard! And I ended up switching form Anzu's POV in the first theme to Seto's for the rest... :P

Anyway, tell me what you think. :P It's sad that I've been able to write these as quickly as I have, when I have my own locked theme at

30kisses that's unfinished, among other projects... :P

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: International Exchange Hall, Tokiwa University, Mito, Japan
Current Music: Pink Floyd - Hey You (Is There Anybody Out There?)

Oh, I hate you

kirschreich! I saw the 42 prompts linked in

weekly_ygo for the Editor's Choice, and I decided to click to re-read. And then my muse popped her head out and said "Why not give blurb writing a try?" EVEN THOUGH this contradicts
a) my need to write SOMETHING Sailor Moon, namely my was-supposed-to-be-for-TAFF-Day fic
b) my absolute desire to get WDKY25 finished and away from me
c) my big, major, huge need to get to work on my book/project for my scholarship, aka a comparison of female writers, manga-ka, male writers and manga-ka... either between each other (writers vs. manga-ka, men vs. women) or throughout time... or maybe that TOO, if I can get the research for it.

But I'm just testing the waters, really. To see if I can write "teasers." And I don't mean "oneshots that are begging to be continued," like so many of my other unfinished (and need to be revised) fics. So here we go.

I picked from the list at random-- whatever inspired me. So if I ever end up finishing the whole damn list, I might just post them up at communities (well,

setoanzulove for one...)

( 42. )

I simply don't have it in me for any more.... right now.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Classical WGBH 89.7 - HD2 - msng

Sandy, you wanted to know just how you were in an influence on me, especially for the WDKY series? Well if I tell you, you also have to accept the blame for my insane shopping trip today, because they both relate to the same thing-- or rather, person!

You introduced me to Sarah Brightman's "Harem" CD back when "Dying Autumn Leaves" (I believe) was a brand new idea, and we bounced back ideas about our respective fics in chat and email. You mention Sarah Brightman's "Harem" CD as being inspirational for you, and told me to check it out on WinAmp. I did, and I was hooked ever since. I got the Harem World Tour - Live in Las Vegas CD from my mom that Christmas, and bought myself the Harem studio CD for myself as a present.

And today at Shinseido, the local media store at Mito Eki, I scored Diva: The Singles Collection (I feel better that I bought it), Sarah Brightman CLASSICS, the Harem "desert fantasy" DVD, and the A Question of Honour/A Whiter Shade of Pale remix CDs. I wanted to buy the Diva Video Collection as well, but it was sold out! Sarah's #1 in Japan right now, and only a few days after Diva came out, it's already Gold on the Japan pop charts!

EVEN BETTER, she's coming to Japan next weekend, and will be at Tokyo Ginza's Yamano record store. I really want to go, but I hope

baine can come with me. It'll depend on trains and other transportation, since she's not exactly anywhere near Tokyo.

As for how Sarah Brightman relates to WDKY and its sequels, well, it was inspirational to me, too. Very much so, in fact, so I can't thank

guardian_kysra enough for introducing me to her. Now I'm a Sarah Brightman junkie. :) I want to find more of her CDs, especially the Asian-only release ones, which contain special tracks not found anywhere else! I was very tempted to buy the Japanese Harem Ultimate Edition CD I found today, but I resisted, since it only had 2 bonus tracks-- the rest I had from my own Harem CD (except "You Take My Breath Away," which was the US bonus track).

Speaking of WDKY, I wrote more of it-- er, this morning? Yesterday morning? I'm losing track of time because it's a 4-day weekend and I'm planning on sleeping in, even if there is a school festival. Let's just hope the festival doesn't wake ME up! I'm almost done, and once I am, I'll shoot it to Kysra and Atlantis, whom I expect will chew it apart and spit it back out like the gristle from KFC's would-be chicken. I'm looking forward to it. *bows to the masters*

I even heard from Scott today-- via email, of all things. His contacting me was the perfect finish to a very good day spent out eating and shopping with a friend. If I can polish off WDKY25, get some other random things done, and finish all my work, I will be happy that I have accomplished something this weekend-- even if working sort of defeats the purpose of a weekend. I spend all week looking forward to it, but at least we have another long weekend NEXT weekend, when I hope to meet up with Baine. :)

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: A Whiter Shade Of Pale (ATB Remix) - Sarah Brightman

Okay, so BBTV was a bust-- you need a TV or another device that accepts video input for it to work... stupid me thought that you used your BBTV connection to view TV on your computer, kind of like how my roommate does. So I have this massive BBTV box which I cannot do anything with. Thankfully, my roommates said they'd call Yahoo tomorrow and find out what they could do.

Second is, someone on SMRFF suggested I try and get the SM episodes I'm missing via this website... which uses Sendspace, rather than their own domain/bandwidth, so of course, there aren't enough slots for me to download one episode, let alone 60 or more. I noticed they had an IRC server, so I made to get myself an IRC client for the Mac, but even the most simplistic one (made to look like iChat) doesn't seem to want to connect to irc.rizon.net (the server with a bazillion and a half channels) via ethernet OR wireless. So I don't know what to do. Maybe LimeWire, or Torrents, if I can find them. I'm pretty sure Sailormoon is no longer licensed in the U.S., but I don't know if that means VKLL's old subs will suddenly reappear or what. (If anyone knows where I can snag some, let me know!)

Also, if you think Japan is "land of the anime," you're not too far from the truth-- every grocery store, clothing store, etc. has anime in it-- well, sort of. Pretty Cure, Toei's latest magical girl series, is everywhere in some form or another, and the boys' equivalent ranges from Dragonball Z (most of the time) to the occasional One Piece. I have yet to see Yu-Gi-Oh *ANYWHERE* in great abundance. What I find baffling about Pretty Cure is that the new season is a spinoff-- called Pretty Cure Splash Star, and though the girls look and almost act exactly the same as their predecessors, they are a) from another universe, b) have different titles, powers, and mascots, and c) have no discernable relation to the original Pretty Cure seen in the first two seasons of the show. COLOR ME CONFUSED. Why not make the "new" Pretty Cure look different, rather than long-haired versions of the old Pretty Cure? And what HAPPENED to the old Pretty Cure, anyway?
I don't know anything about the series and have never watched it-- that's just what I've learned from looking at products. :P

In other news, WDKY25 is coming along-- I've got 2-3 scenes done already, with something like 3-4 left to go, if that. I think I'm having way too much fun with Bakura in this fic. If anyone is up for beta'ing (assuming I get it done this week), please let me know.

Blue Eyes and Apricots is back to functionality, I've noticed; before, for some strange reason, notification emails never made it to me about new members joining, and even when I checked the panel, it didn't list new members. I added several members manually, and since then, 3 members have joined and I've been notified. So we're nearly 450 members strong! The Fanart section is still gone though, because there doesn't seem to be a method I can think of for hosting the fanart short of doing a password-protected ML/email account or folder on the domain-- and even then, I know people will skim "the rules" and inevitably end up using the images in ways they shouldn't.

Today Holly and I went out toward Akatsuka; I ended up buying a new pair of hi-top Converse (even though what I *REALLY* need are new boots and ballet flats) that are so dorkalicious (dip-dyed rainbow colors!) that I'm a dweeb just for thinking about buying them (and worse for actually doing it). I also bought a new purple long-sleeved shirt (when can I resist?), the elusive Ginger for my Pumpkin Pie this week, and a few random things at the glory that is Daiso (the 100 yen store). But I'd say the best part of the day is how we went to this Italian restaurant called GROOVY.

I saw it, and Bruce Campbell's voice just came into my head. Over and over. It kept me grinning the whole time, even though I didn't understand the concept of "Set A plate" fully. I ended up getting chicken and tomato spaghetti, corn potage, and a salad with a rather funny-tasting dressing. I ate as much as I could, and felt no guilt about leaving leftovers. It was good, but the portions here are huge for me. Maybe moreso considering they don't do takeout!

Well, I better get to sleep so I can finish up my homework in the morning, have a decent breakfast, and spend Monday running around like a chicken with its head cut off (as I always do). Hopefully I'll get inspired enough to finish WDKY25 in one sitting!

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Music: Stranger In Paradise - Sarah Brightman

Ow. Okay, so I had my first lesson in bike riding today. What, you didn't know Mer the Inept is not only Terrified of Driving (I'm sure there's a phobia name for that) but that she has also never successfully ridden a bike (since age 10 or so, and I hate to tell you, but you CAN forget if the incident is traumatic enough). But to get around here in Japan, it's either dish out a bunch of money for bus tickets, set aside a good few hours to walk, or... bike. Everyone else bikes, so why not me? I paid 500 yen for a bike registration, and today Kevin, Daisuke, and Todd teamed up to give me lessons.

And I think I improved a bit, even if I can't "ride" quite yet. Balance first! But because the bike is a small one rescued from the trash, it's not exactly in top quality. The handlebars are way too hard (I keep death-gripping them and giving myself bruises) and the seat... well, just read the subject line. MY ASS HURTS. But I'm glad I'm not a guy. :P Well, for just that one thing.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
6
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

I want to meet these 5 other women. :D

This seems to be the season for Seto/Anzu fics! Yay! If I ~~beat~~ bribe my muse to get into high gear, I might even have the next chapter of WDKY in time for Kaiba's birthday. That'd be a dream come true, really-- because I keep thinking about is Ch26 and beyond. 25 is like a big hulking road block. But it's always good to get inspired by others- namely

geniusgirl and the ever-eloquent

atlantian_magic (expect a letter + omiyage from me soon! I haven't had time to get to the post office...).

Finally, FRUSTRATION! This whole Pages-is-like-Office-but-without-some-functionality pisses me off. I just want to print some freakin' labels! Pages doesn't do that, but Address Book does-- except they don't have the right label size (I'm trying to specify my own size, but it only asks for margins and gutters, rather than the damn label size! WTF!?). The FileMakerPro 8 trial is listed on my label's packaging, but I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to even get started. There's not a thing in the program labeled "Labels," and the Help file might as well be Greek. (One more reason to end up spending the $150 on Office for Mac. Yes, Scott tried to give it to me, but it didn't work. It might have been because I didn't know what I was doing -installing by just dragging and dropping!?-, but it also could have been that he didn't copy the CD properly.)

I want to add Turkmenistan to the list of countries in the Change Address Format submenu in Address Book, but there seems to be no documentation on that, either. So I've asked at the Apple forums to see if maybe there's some sort of plist fix I can do in OmniOutliner or somesuch. It's either that or... again, invest in MS Office. This is how they maintain the monopoly, I imagine -they stuff their suite so full of features that you don't realize how much you need it until it's gone, not in the "comparable" suite for Mac, or the program that can supposedly do it can't do it EXACTLY the right way you need-- when MS Office *CAN*.

I wanted to upload images from iPhoto to my Scrapbook, like I've been saying I'll do, but short of browsing EACH and every damn folder to find the right image, there's no way to export them directly. I got two programs that can supposedly do it -one standalone and one plugin- and so far, neither of them have worked. One couldn't even find iPhoto's albums, and the other is apparently not compatible with the latest iPhoto, version 6. There ARE no other options, because the Perl script has modules unavailable on OSX, and the other option is that rotten Windows XP Explorer add-in. I used jix.jar back on XP, and while rudimentary, it worked.

I also liked IrfanView, because I could batch rename and resize things. There is a Batch Change option in iPhoto, but only for Title, Date, and Keywords. And when I go into Constrain in the Edit function, it only lets me customize by inches-- and I can't find a way to change it to say, pixels, or even millimeters. What if I have a photo I want to upload to the web? Can't I resize it according to a maximum KB size?

Gah, this is annoying.

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Location: Tokiwa University Intl. Hall, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan
Current Music: Hikaru Utada feat. Foxy Brown - Blow My Whistle

I can laugh at the funny on GaijinSmash (thanks Jimbo for the link), but it hurts. As does eating, talking, and anything involving the slightest bit of jaw movement. And I probably shouldn't be here in the International Center right now; I should be heading to the Suzuki Hospital to get checked out and see if I'm going deaf or need my teeth removed. But Maeda-san took my laptop away again, claiming yesterday's technology dude misunderstood the system I have set up. The concept of Networked adapters confuses me too, but once I get NTT, ALL WILL BE WELL (or it damn well better be).

In the meantime, can someone be a saint and email me TTFs of Digital Strip, Wild Words, Anime Ace, and all them other comic-book style fonts? I know I could download them now, but I can't save them to the desktop here and email them to myself to smehow get on my laptop whenever it DOES get hooked up, but if someone emails them to me, I can save them to my Flash drive and transfer them that way. I do still need Matrix Book and Suburban (Bold and Light), but those are paid fonts on my computer back in LA, and I don't think Grandpa will have the slightest clue how to get them off and email them to me, even if I instruct him step by step. -_- If there were another way to get them, I would take advantage of it, but...

Also, does anyone know why ZSNES (my favorite emulator) does not want to work on my prettyful Intel-based Mac? SNES9x does, but I can't open up ROMs from the dialog menu, because the Network drive doesn't show up in the list of places to search, so to open games I have to drag them onto the 9x icon. What a pain in the ass.

And tomorrow I have to be up by 6am so I can go to Tokyo. Yay pictures.

Oh, and THERE IS A TOTAL AZURESHIPPING MOMENT IN YU-GI-OH R VOLUME 3 WHICH I BOUGHT NEW HERE IN JAPAN YAY YAY YAY I AM NOT TEH SHITTING YOU!!!!! Whee. It's short, but oh-so-very WUNDERBAR!

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: Tokiwa University, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan

Well, so we didn't have KFC like I was hoping for the ITR Helpdesk's end-of-summer/goodbye (to me for now) party, but the pizza isn't bad. It's veggie from Costco, and at least we have some cans of Coke. :) I wasn't really in the mood for pizza, so I'm just nibbling on it slowly.

I "won" a prize from a raffle we had-- I got a 2006 calendar of kittens... I guess I'll use it up, and then use the earlier months for posters or something. Maybe I can scrapbook with them, since they're a bit small.

PLUS... ^_^ One of my wonderfully nice co-workers hooked me up with Windows XP Pro with the staff/faculty discount (only $12), but he gave it to me AS A GIFT. WHOO! Big with the yay. The only thing that can make today better is if I get my financial aid check. (Please Goddess, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!)

Yesterday I got my Joytech 8" LCD Playstation 2 screen-- it mounted onto my slimline PS2 with ease (you only need a penny to screw the mounts into place). All you have to do is plug in the AC Adapter or included car adapter (alas! I probably won't be able to use it on a plane, unless there's a PS2 battery adapter or sockets on the plane), add your usual PS2 accessories (memory card, controller, game disk) and off you go! I played Katamari Damacy 2 (We <3 Katamari) for a few hours like that-- still a couple of "levels" I can't beat, but I'm having a blast trying.

I managed to get 2 boxes into my closet, and several of my books arranged on the top shelf, but they keep leaning on either side; I don't have bookends strong enough to support the weight of all my books. So pretty much, I've got to stack the shelf from end to end and find a way to make the left end not fall and cause a disaster. The rest of my room is still a mess, so I hope I can get that dealt with tonight. :D

For anyone curious or traveling soon, here's the complete list of things permitted and prohibited by the TSA on aircraft flying to/from the United States these days, regardless of origin/destination. The alert level from flights to/from the U.K. is still Severe/Red, but other flights are at High/Orange, and the general country alert remains at Elevated/Yellow.

Since I'm online, I wanna deal with as many mod-hand overs as I can; I'll be changing over the I Give Up!/I'm Finished page to the new

30kisses_mod account, emailing Svelte and DQBunny re: the Hall of Fame access, and any other similar things I can think of.

*yawn* So much to do... At least I finished WDKY24; it's up for beta-editing over at

betasquad. Please give it a look see, or email me if you're interested. Super-major-gigante thanks to

winterwing3000 for all the help with it; thanks to her brainstorm sessions with me, I was able to breeze through the missing scenes, and I got some great ideas for WDKY25, as well. :)

Current Mood: good
Current Location: Work

1) Reply to this if you want me to tell you how cool you are!

2) Watch my journal for a few days for a post just about you and why you rock my socks.

3) Post these instructions in your journal and give your friends a much needed dose of love and adoration!

Don't all overwhelm me at once, now.

Did you know I have a few fics that are still LJ-only? One I posted... I think last Christmas (or maybe the Christmas before that?) for

yuugiouxmasfic never made it to FFnet. *impish smile* But it is under "Azurite's Fanfiction" in my memories. And I still REALLY want to finish my claim for

30kisses, because I have so many "large" fragments of them (i.e. for "Girls' Club" and "Kaiba the Virgin Sacrifice", but gosh darn it, WDKY is priority! ;_; Won't anyone help me beta? Do I have to start calling in favors?)

Also found two new, rather interesting fics for Azureshippers by way of FFnet C2: silentshadow1's "Second Side," and Shinja-chan's "I am Kaiba Anzu." Like many other fics I've found via FFnet in some size, shape, or form, I'll be adding them to the BEA database eventually. I think I'm going to change the colors of the layout for Autumn, though. :}

Current Mood: nauseated
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Yuki Kajiura - Key of the Twilight

Please cross-post this or email it wherever you think it will get attention/where it applies

Attention

ceruleansan,

guardian_kysra and other Seto x Anzu fan artists! Attention

franthenut!

YOUR WORK HAS BEEN STOLEN!

Mine, too.

And of course, the thief had the gall to email me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=397ijIOxBWM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU4g1ArlMMM

The following videos all contain stolen art (the first three are by AnzuTeaLover):
Beautiful soul
Ultimate You
Seto & Anzu - Misty's Song
Anzu & Seto Can't Help It (by Shizuka Kaiba)
EveryTime We Touch - Tea&Kaiba (by AncientMemories, suspected to be the same as AnzuTeaLover)

These videos are comprised of a majority of fanart which was stolen and not credited to the appropriate artist(s). I'm not sure whether the person who put them on YouTube (it is the same for both videos, though in one, she claims she "found it, not made it" but ~~it's unclear whether she's referring to the video or all the art/images in it~~.

ETA: She did make them. And she admits to having taken the images too (she says she knew where they were from), but
a) she didn't know how to get ahold of me until now (bullshit)
b) she's not the only one who took those pictures (as if that makes it okay)

SORRY DOES NOT MAKE IT BETTER! She has to delete the video!

A person named "Becky" (email: kittylovemusic@hotmail.com) emailed me the links, claiming she made them.

I already commented on one saying that I didn't appreciate artwork from my site (since much of the fanart can be seen on Blue Eyes and Apricots, as I'm ashamed to admit it would be used for such nefarious purposes) and personal spaces being stolen. Almost all the still images from the animated series are watermarked with Kokoro no Naka's logo, and no credit is given to Fran, either.

I asked the author to take the video down, and I hope you will do the same.

ETA: The author deleted my comments on the video posts, so I put them back up and commented on her profile. ~~She has not responded to my second email where I politely asked her to stop apologizing (more like whining, though I didn't say that) and just take the videos down.~~

She has finally responded to my email and said she's taken the videos down. I checked, and so far the three I originally saw are gone. I'm not sure about the ones by other users. She also sent me this comment: ok. i deleted them. just please don't contact them, i'm only 15 and i don't want to get in huge triuble with anybody.

Maybe you should have thought of that BEFORE YOU STOLE ART THAT WASN'T YOURS!

A user called TeaKaiba (who may have also used stolen artwork) said this to me in a profile comment:
I´m sorry for taking one of your pictures, but it´s a bit difficult to remember each single site from where I´ve ever taken some fanarts or similar. And I think, who creates things like this should be aware that other people could use it without his knowledge. Anyway, whats wrong with this? If you belong to a minority like us Azureshippers, you shoud be thankful for each new member. At least, I am.

I sent a comment back on her profile: Let me make something clear: You did not just take "one" of my pictures, you took SEVERAL of them, from MY site. There was a note at the top of the page saying YOU MAY NOT TAKE THESE IMAGES AND USE THEM UNLESS YOU ASK PERMISSION. And you did not. Therefore, you STOLE them. The artists gave *me* permission to display the images, with the idea that if anyone liked them or wanted to use them, THEY WOULD HAVE THE COURTESY OF ASKING! Finally, regardless of whether Azureshipping is a minority (and truthfully, it's not. There are hundreds of members at the Fanlisting, and plenty of authors/artists who support them), YOU STILL STOLE. Maybe if you'd asked permission in advance, I would have been fine with it. But you didn't, and so I am mad, and I WANT THE VIDEO REMOVED.

If she doesn't comply, I will write to YouTube about this.

Current Mood: angry
Current Location: Home

Profile

azurite

Seventh-Star.Net

Syndicate

Style Credit

Style: Plain for Tabula Rasa

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

January 2016

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Page Summary

Quasi-back for now maybe
List50! No wait, 15! Azureshipping Fic Recs
Not cool
Doing it again
The few, the proud, the awesome
Existence Rant (of a different flavor)
[YGO] [PG] [Seto x Anzu] [holiday] Miss Scrooge
Dou me vouz?
They call me the Detangler
The Muse That Talked in the Wrong Direction
Not again....
What Doesn't Kill You, Chapter 25 Review Replies
What Doesn't Kill You, Chapter 24 Review Replies
What Doesn't Kill You, Chapter 23 Review Replies
Because it's not enough that I'm thinking about it far too often to be healthy
The bunny is bouncing
I have a query (it isn't bunnies)
Giddy like a teenager
WAHOO!
Call out fanart request
Many memes
Big kitty!
Azurite: The Lost Fanfics
Long time coming
Nutter like Nutter Butter!
This is something like Kysra's "Clean," but weirder
Give me money (that's all I want)
The Final Toilet
It's my site, so why the heck am I so hesitant?
I shouldn't be awake
[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] Give Me A Reason (Response for Geniusgirl)
[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] Just Because (Response for WinterWing3000)
[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] This Wish (Response for Guardian Kysra)
[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] I'm Not As Think As You Drunk (Response for Mamono)
The not-so-tempered Steel
Starless Night
Stuffin' muffins
It's a MONSTER!!!!
Wouldn't wish that on anyone
Tadaima!
Winter cleaning
[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] [42] Where We Went Wrong (42 prompts, Part 2)
[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] [42] Prompts from kirschreich, Part 1/?
It's all your fault, guardian_kysra!
Screwed!
Yamete, oshiri ga itai!
It may well be my ear
Squee!
Ugh, why is uploading stuff so SLLOOOOOW?
Attention Azureshippers!

Page generated Jul. 1st, 2025 10:54 pm

lovely // dark // deep

Entries tagged with seto x anzu