ink on the page

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:16:28 GMT

Okay, people are leaving me happy birthday comments on the one and a half-month old meme that is the last thing I posted, so it's probably high time to actually update again. I've been distracted, what can I say. I have a new power cord again, yes. So that's good! Also, autophanous arrived, crashed on my couch for a couple weeks, and now we've rented a bigger apartment together, in the same building (which reminds me...updated address, again--it's just a different apartment number). So as moves go, it was relatively easy, since it was just down the hall. Still, moving apartments twice in the span of like three months isn't exactly awesome, and I'll be glad not to have to do it again for (hopefully) a good long while. We JUST got the internet hooked up again here.

Ugh, and it's been such a while since I've updated, I feel like there is a lot to say, and yet nothing terribly important that warrants livejournaling. Or maybe it just feels like that because I tend to tweet about things while they happen, and then it feels like I've already talked about them, so I don't in LJ. Meh.

Right now I am trying to decide if I want to sign up for Yuletide this year, and kind of cursing that I didn't nominate fandoms, because a few of the ones I searched for aren't in there. Blast. Kekkaishi is, but so far that's the only one I'd really like to request in (though I'm still making my way through the list). And it occurs to me that the fandom I'd most like fic for is still One Piece, which wouldn't qualify for Yuletide in the first place, so...I may just opt out this year.

I am just kind of generally headachy and anxious-feeling and blah right now. My laptop wasn't starting up properly earlier and it took forever to get it to, and I still haven't figured out what's causing it. Today was really underwhelming in general, which is a little depressing. I dunno. I'm in kind of a funk, I guess.WHAT A GREAT TIME TO CHOOSE TO UPDATE.

Hm. Well. autophanous and I totally saw They Might Be Giants on Tuesday, so that was amazing and exciting. There are probably other things I could mention, but they all slip my mind just now, and TMBG is probably the most important thing anyway, so just focus on that.

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:17:38 GMT

Okay, since I'm sort of stuck offline, I thought I'd try this, because it'll give me something to keep me occupied. I'm gonna really try and finish every request for once, since I've gotten notoriously bad at that. (Quality not guaranteed, but I'll do my best!)

The Great A-Z Multifandom Drabbling Meme!

This is how it works:

1. Pick a letter.
2. Pick a one-word prompt that starts with that letter (ex. K is for Keyhole).
3. Pick a fandom and a character/pairing/platonic relationship.

Leave them in a comment and I'll write a drabble of it. No repeats in letters.

A - anchor; Luffy/Usopp
B - bored; Azula/anyone
C - carpooling; Roy/Riza
D - dance; Luffy/Usopp
E - eyes with delight; Orihime/Ishida
F - food; Boa/Luffy
G - guts; Nami/Vivi
H - healing; Usopp/Suki
I - inside your heart - Sogeking, Luffy, & Chopper
J - jar; Luffy+Usopp
K - kitty cat; Zoro/Sanji
L - liars; Robin/Usopp
M - men's romance; Luffy, Usopp, & Chopper
N - night air; Konoka/Setsuna
O - orchid; Brooklyn
P - peach; Rukia+Orihime
Q - quiet; Usopp/George/Lucci triangle
R
S - sons; Garp + Whitebeard
T - Thank you; Robin/Usopp
U - unbelievable; Iceberg & Cutty Flam
V
W - winter on the wind; Unohana
X
Y
Z - zingers; Sokka/Suki

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:22:55 GMT

I have been having just the worst streak of luck lately, seems like. Nothing huge and earth-shattering, no, but just a bunch of lame stuff--some of it very minor--and just when I think my luck is starting to turn around, I find out it was just to lull me into a false sense of security!

So, right now, I am updating this from my PS3, because...my laptop's charger/AC adapter cord just randomly stopped working. This may sound familiar. This cord is actually a replacement one I got just a few months ago when my last cord randomly died. That one...okay, it wasn't massively old, but I'd had it for a while, so though it annoyed me, I could accept it. This one was like...I believe I got it in June. Anyway, I contacted the place I got it from, and they are replacing it, but in the time it'll take for me to ship the faulty one back and wait for the replacement, I am effectively computerless again. I have the PS3, but it's very limited. In fact, I have to stop here because I'm out of space. sigh.

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:17:14 GMT

Once again, a month has slipped by without a post from me. Ugh. I kind of sort of have an excuse, as I was busy with moving and getting that stuff all lined up. Here are some bullet point highlights of the past month or so...

So, the last major non-memeish post I made mentioned my sister having her baby, and my grand entrance into Aunthood. Then on August 7th, two weeks after my sister had her baby, my brother and his girlfriend had their daughter, so I was an aunt again. I have pictures that I need to post of her. It's probably bad form to say so, but I think she's cuter than my sister's baby.
I started a new job, sort of. It's temporary, and I'm looking for something hopefully better and more stable, but it's not bad work. And it pays slightly better than my last job, at least, so yay for that.
And yes, I did move! To a small efficiency for now (though I'm gonna see if I can get out of my lease early and perhaps split a bigger place with autophanous). It is pretty tiny, but once I got my stuff in and arranged, it's actually better than I was expecting. I have some pictures of that to post as well, once I find my camera cord. ANYHOO, my address has naturally changed, and you can find the new one here in my contact post.
Actually I was just at my parents' house for niece #2's baptism over the weekend. Then weekend after next, my sister will be coming to my parents' with her baby, and she'll be baptised then, it looks like. I haven't seen her in person yet, so that will be fun.

That's a pretty half-assed update, but at least it's something. I miss using my LJ. Meh.

ANYWAY. Here's a random meme that looked appealing to me:

Give me the title and fandom of a story I've never written, and feedback telling me what you liked best about it. In return I will tell you any of these from my never-written story: the first sentence, the last sentence, the thing that made me want to write it, the biggest problem I had while writing it, why it almost never got posted, the scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage, or something else that I want readers to know.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:42:56 GMT

autophanous, I got your letter yesterday! Expect one back. ♥

I'm bored, so have a meme! In fact, have two!

Meme the First:
Give me a number from 1 to 5026, and I will upload the corresponding picture from my fanart folder.
I am actually pretty new to saving much fanart to my hard drive, so I can say right now that the majority of it is One Piece (though Bleach makes a pretty good showing as well), but there is a good variety of my other fannish loves, albeit in smaller numbers.

and from the_firefly & tsundere,
Meme the Second:
Comment to this entry with any fandom. If I'm knowledgeable enough in the fandom to have ships, I'll tell you one non-canon ship I like, one canon ship I like, and one ship I really don't like (either canon OR fanon). ~~Then post this in your own journal to offer up the same responses.~~ Optional!

Feel free to ask for multiples on either one, especially the picture one. Like I said, I am bored.

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:29:51 GMT

The "You Should Write..." Meme!
my thread here

It somehow ended up being a month again since I last wrote in my LJ. Whoops.

Life has been...challenging lately. I'm trying to stay positive and get through it.

Anyway, I have some memes I intend to answer, but right now, the big order of business for this LJ entry is...

I AM AN AUNT NOW!

Her name is Cora Jean. :)

My sister had her baby last Friday, a few weeks earlier than her projected due date. Anyway, this is the first grandkid for my mom and dad, so they are pretty excited, as well as my sister Amanda and I, who are now aunts. Of course, my brother is now an uncle too, but his girlfriend is actually pregnant right now and expecting to give birth within the next week, so he's probably a little more concerned with that.

Anyway, here are some pictures, in case people are curious. (If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably already seen most of them already.)

I just like this one because it shows how long her feet are. I was the same as a baby.

She was jaundiced, so she had to stay an extra few days and lie under a light,
or as her dad called it,"the baby baker. Check out those stylin' shades.

Right before going home from the hospital.

Aaaand here's my dad, mom, and sister Amanda holding her. I didn't get to go with to see the baby
(my sister and her husband live in Nebraska), so I had to live vicariously through them.

That's it for now! Though if everything goes as planned, I will have pictures of niece #2 within a week or so.

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:18:48 GMT

Why the hell not; let's do some bullet points.

I disappeared again for a while. I actually had a good reason for it, though! The power cord/AC adapter for my laptop just randomly up and died about a month ago, and I was extremely strapped for cash, so I couldn't replace it right away. My laptop had to sit there and be a paperweight in the meantime. Aaand, I kept meaning to make a post in here mentioning that, but never got around to it. Oops. I think partly because I mentioned it on Twitter when it happened, so it felt like I'd already told everyone about it. Never mind that the majority of my flist are not on Twitter, that I know of. Double oops. Anyway, I've replaced the cord, so I'm back now!
...Speaking of Twitter, if you have one and I'm not following you, feel free to add me. (If you don't mind the occasional extreme late-night manga-reading reaction tweet spam, that is. I think I'm not too obnoxious about it? I hope?) I have to say that another reason I haven't been updating my LJ nearly as much these days is because I will tweet small tidbits and feel sated, whereas before I would save a few of them up for an LJ entry.
Quite a few people on my flist were doing cliche_bingo; it looked like fun, so I decided to give it a shot too.

So, some of these are a little underwhelming to me, but then again some are ridiculous and amazing, so I think it evens out.
Finally, I am in a letter-writing mood lately, so it's that time again: LETTERS! Anyone want a letter from me? You wouldn't even have to write back (though I'll be honest, I would love you forever if you did). If you'd like to get a letter from me, comment in this post saying so, and drop your address in my contact post, if you haven't already. People outside the States are totally fine as well; I have a ton of international stamps that will take forever to use otherwise.

That's it for now.

Sun, 17 May 2009 02:15:42 GMT

This seemed like fun.

1. Choose an episode of anime or television series you have on your computer. Make sure you're certain you want that one, you cannot change or mind once you skip this step. DO NOT TELL YOUR FLIST WHAT YOU CHOSE.
2. Make note of how long the episode is here -> 27:48
3. Ask your f-list to choose a time between 00:00 and whatever the length of your episode is. Be specific, (ie: 19:11, 21:09, 02:42)
4. Make them an icon using THAT FRAME ONLY no matter what it is. And remember, you can only use that ONE episode you chose previous, even if the person posting isn't familiar with it.

Sat, 09 May 2009 02:56:14 GMT

So! Here is some stuff I wrote in the past six months or so (it is mostly One Piece):

Roughing It (Bleach; PG-13) A YoruSoi drabble for longleggedgit.
Experimenting (One Piece; PG-13/R) A Sanji/female!Zoro one-shot for maxine_chan/serasarahhhh. Yes, it is genderswitch.
Wardrobe Malfunction (One Piece; PG-13) A Luffy/Nami bodyswitch one-shot for xredribbon.
Tradition (One Piece; PG-13/R) A Robin/Nami one-shot written for vilani in a Secret Santa.
Straying From the Path (The Company of Wolves; PG) No one will know this fandom! Anyway, this is what I wrote for Yuletide last year, for seren_ccd. It's based off the short story and film of the same name; kind of a take on Little Red Riding Hood. I'm actually really proud of how this one came out.
Lipstick (One Piece; PG) A Luffy+/Usopp drabble.

Figured I might as well link these, since I hadn't here (though a few of them I did link in one_piece when I first posted them.) I was decently productive for a while there. Hm. Aiming to be productive again. To that end, prompts are appreciated. ♥

I had a question, but now I can't remember what--oh wait, never mind. I just remembered. Does anyone know if there is a One Piece daily digest comm on LJ, similar to bleach_news or atla_press?

...It's painfully obvious that One Piece has taken over my brain, isn't it? It's nice, though. I haven't felt this excited about a fandom since I first started getting really into Bleach.

I kind of feel like writing right now actually, so...I'm gonna go with that urge.

Wed, 06 May 2009 06:03:25 GMT

I linked this in Twitter already, so some of you will have already seen it, but basically...I'd love for all and sundry to spam me with prompts over at my writing journal. I know when I take requests I rarely end up finishing them all, even though I try...but this is a little different. I'm hoping to find inspiration, but I'm making no guarantees on writing everything. Because of this, I'd actually prefer you leave a lot of prompts, because it'll give me more to work with. Think of it as doing me a small favor. Anything goes!

-->Prompts, please.<--

Sun, 03 May 2009 00:52:08 GMT

First things first: I have a Dreamwidth account. Predictably enough (since I like having the same username everywhere), I'm prpl_pen @ DW; add me if you've got one! No, I'm not migrating or leaving LJ, I don't even know if I'll even use it at all, but I was kind of planning to at least archive and crosspost fic there? We shall see, I guess.

Then, speaking of fic, I have a bunch of ones I've been meaning to link. A lot of it is gift!fic (and art) from Secret Santas, so...yes, it's been a long time since I meant to link.

No Comfort for the Lost [Bleach; Rangiku/Orihime, R] parsnip_chan totally surprised me with this. (I think she wrote it as a part of her NaNoWriMo, if I remember correctly?) She'd taken requests a long time ago and I'd forgotten ever leaving a prompt, so seeing a fic for it was a really nice surprise. :D And, of course, ♥yuri♥

The Fundmentals of Teamwork [Kekkaishi; Yoshimori+Gen+Tokine genfic, PG] smartycat wrote this for me for himitsu_santa, and it's so cute. I love Kekkaishi, but it's hard to find a lot fic for it, and Yoshimori, Tokine, and Gen are like...my platonic OT3, so getting this was just awesome. :D

untitled Bleach art [Bleach; Kon+ Karin & Yuzu, G] We did a Secret Santa exchange in mallowmateys, a roleplay I'm in, and spartydragon drew me an adorable picture of Kon (in Ichigo's body) with Karin and Yuzu. Kon's relationship with Ichigo's family is one that I wish we'd see explored more often.

Fairy Chess [Suikoden V; Lucretia/Lelei] So this was my first year participating in Yuletide, and it was awesome. This is the fic I received; Lucretia/Lelei are my favorite yuri pairing in any of the Suikoden games, so I was ecstatic. (Link goes to the Yuletide archive.)

Really Awkward Adulterous Lesbian Sex Is Still Better Than No Sex At All [Twelfth Night; Olivia/Viola, PG] Finally, this story was not written for me, but I just had to recommend it. I feel like Twelfth Night is the slashiest of all Shakespeare's plays, and this is just such a wonderfully-written and fitting scenario. Definitely check it out. (Link goes to the Yuletide archive.)

Meh. I should redo & better organize my LJ tags one of these soon days.

I've been watching the One Piece anime pretty hardcore the past few weeks. I think I will actually catch up soon if I keep at it. I just finished some really "ugh" filler after the big Water 7/Enies Lobby arc, and I think it's going into Thriller Bark now? Yay, Brook! I know he has the same seiyuu as did Jaken, and he was constantly hilarious, so I'm interested in seeing what he does with Brook.

That's about it. ...For NOW.

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:36:51 GMT

I am long, long overdue for an actual journal entry. I keep putting it off, though. Partly, I think, I've just been in hiding. Things have not been the greatest lately, and I haven't been in the best mood or frame of mind, and...okay, I know I can write about whatever I darn well please in my own journal, but I like to think of it as my happy place, as my fandom place, and keep the personal whining/ranting/whatever to a minimum. It's not even as much for other people's benefit as for my own right now. So...maybe at some point in the future I'll feel comfortable writing up a long entry about my ~trials and tribulations~, but now is not that time. Right now I mostly just realized that I MISS LJ, and I miss the people here, and I miss commenting and all that. I miss you all.

For a good long while there I was still faithfully reading my flist, even though I rarely commented, but I admit in the past few weeks I have gotten mostly lax even about reading people's entries half the time. And, yeah, I miss it. I don't want to just hide away and forget people and be forgotten because of it. I miss a lot of people and it is no one's fault but my own that I haven't been reaching out like I used to. And the longer I went without posting, the bigger a deal writing a new entry seemed to me. It's not like I even write much about my personal life in here to begin with, and I don't think I really expected to have to write a really detailed personal entry, but it was more what it represented to me, you know?

...Haha, this entry makes no sense and is probably somewhat melodramatic anyway. Whoops. It's a start, though. I feel like the seal has been broken. It should get easier again from here, I hope. Baby steps.

Aaand I was planning on segueing into some fandom/writing stuff from here so this entry would have a little more measurable content, but you know? I think I'm fine just leaving it as is.

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:45:04 GMT

Just a meme again, for now.

Comment with a fandom that you know I'm in, and I'll reply with:
. Favorite character:
. Least favorite character:
. Character with the best hair:
. Character with the best eyes:
. Character I'd most want to kiss:
. Character I'd most likely screw:
. Character I'd make lunch for:
. Character I'd go singing in the rain with:
. Character I'd go shopping with:
. Character I'd go dancing with:
. Character I'd take over the world with:
. Character I'd most want to cosplay as:
. Favorite het pairing:
. Favorite yaoi pairing:
. Favorite yuri pairing:

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:28:58 GMT

I'll do a more substantial entry later, honest.

The first five people to comment to this post get to request a sketch of a character of their choosing from me. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their artistic/writing ability. (If you absolutely can't draw, you can offer drabbles or icons or something instead.)

THE FIRST SLOT IS RESERVED FOR DENISE, THOUGH. Without having to repost the meme, of course. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ♥

1. Sanji + Tamaki, for diktat
2. Lyon, for dawnrune
3. Nami, for feenekks
4. Setsuna, for mendaa
5. Chris Lightfellow, for fursona

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:41:15 GMT

I don't even know. Apparently it's been almost a month since I last wrote in here so...oops? Things have been busy, but in a slippery way where I didn't really feel busy, or rushed, but was just preoccupied enough with various tasks that I'd look back at the end of the day and go, "Whoa, where did the time go?" This has resulted in me being extremely neglectful of my LJ, my flist and commenting (as well as RP), not to mention various other things.

Holiday cards, for one. They are still going out, but a lot later than planned. In years past, they would have long since arrived for everyone by now, excepting maybe a few overseas people. This year, not so much. They'll probably not be in the mail till Friday, so most domestic people should get them before New Years, at least. I hope. There are a few of you also getting packages (you probably know who you are), and those won't be going out till sometime in January, but I'll send your cards with the rest so you'll at least get those sooner. I'm sure it's not even a big deal to most people, but I wanted to give a status update, because I feel bad for being so very not-on-the-ball.

And while we're on the subject of cards...ariyanaforever, dawnrune, feenekks, fightfair, lintsister, and the_firefly: I got your cards/packages! ♥

I've really found that my biggest problem when writing fic that does not have a specific deadline is actually finishing it. I don't know. Like these (and yes, some of these too)? So many of them have been started, some are even aaalmost done, but I still can't manage to finish them in a reasonably length of time. And, granted, sometimes I get a request that I am just not feeling or have no idea what to write for, and I always feel a little guilty about that, but I suppose if it's not there, it's not there. I'm not even talking about that, though. These are prompts I find inspiring, that spark ideas and stories I want to write, but I just run out of gas or something? It's frustrating, and I'm trying to figure out how to solve this problem I have of being good at starting, but not so much at ending. It's definitely gotten noticeably worse over the years, too. I guess I'm also saying that for most of those prompts, barring unforeseen circumstances, they will be written eventually, because they interest me. Apparently I need a deadline to make me get down to business, though, and self-imposed ones tend not to work, I suppose because there are no real consequences for not finishing "on time?" I rarely have this problem with things like fic exchanges/contest comms. Hm.

Speaking of which: I signed up for three separate holiday fic exchanges/secret santas this year, Yuletide being the first. I've actually been meaning to do Yuletide for yeeears, but I always managed to miss the sign-ups, so it was a huge thrill to finally be a part of it this year. The fandom I was assigned to write for was a little surprising, but in a good way, and I actually liked what I wrote, so I hope my requester enjoys it. The archive opens up soon, and ihfdaosfd I have to admit I am really excited to see what fic I'll get. I had an initial bit of disappointment when looking on the website after the upload deadline--my request was among the ones that had been defaulted on. In a way I feel a little spoilt or ungrateful or what-have-you that my first reaction on seeing that was, "what if I don't get a story? D:" but especially since this is my first year participating in Yuletide, I can't pretend I wasn't really excited and really looking forward to seeing what was written for me, so the prospect of not getting anything was rather disappointing. However, I also didn't realize their system for pinch-hits was such a well-oiled machine; looks like there was no need to worry for me or any of the other 160-or-so whose writers had defaulted. The countdown ticker on the site shows about three hours, give or take, till the archive goes live. Eee, exciting!

But for now (or after I finish this entry, at least) it's best for me to get back to finishing fic for the other two exchanges (himitsu_santa and a mallowmateys exchange). Incidentally, anyone interested in some last minute beta-ing? Can't name the fandoms here for secrecy, of course, but I'm more concerned with grammar/typo issues and a check for flow, so even if you may not know the fandoms-in-question, any help would be appreciated.

To finish this entry off, some random pimps/recs:

Jumping out of cakes should only be done by professionals. [Gintama; Sacchan/Kondo, R] Somewhere along the line, this became my Gintama crackpairing of choice. Sacchan is one of my favorite Gintama characters in general (dunno; she just cracks me up), and I like Kondo a lot, but not with Otae, and...they are both stalkers, so it just kind of clicked for me? Unfortunately, I could find zero fic for it. I even started writing my own, just so there would be some, but it's not really the same, you know? Then danbi surprised me with this for my birthday and just...endless hearts. *cough* Literally, apparently, or at least as endless as the character limit allows. >.>
The Best Cure for Homesickness [One Piece; Usopp + Chopper, G] I'm still pretty new to One Piece, but I just love love love so many of the dynamics between the characters. I love that it's not just the Straw Hats as a group (though that one is there, obviously & importantly), but that among the crew they all have their more individual, one-on-one dynamics and just...guh. So well-defined and so much love. And one of my favorite duos is Usopp and Chopper (doesn't hurt that individually they are two of the four tied for my favorite OP character), so I squealed to see that abarero had written about them for me. It's a cute, sweet story; a perfect little winter holiday treat.
The Roots of Heaven [multi-chapter Bleach, ARish; Ichigo+Renji+Rukia (with eventual IchiRukiRen), PG-13 to R] This story, you guys. This story. I've been doing some beta work on it for hallowd, and let me tell you, it was a struggle to keep mum about it before she started posting because it's just so good. Now there is no reason for me not to shout from the rooftops: READ THIS! It's set post-winter war. Rukia was believed to be KIA, but Ichigo and Renji find evidence to the contrary and mount a retrieval mission. Don't expect anything like a rehash of the Soul Society arc, though. This is an original, genre-bending, tightly-plotted and wonderfully-written fic; part buddy film/travelogue, part horror, part mystery, with smatterings of other good stuff, and all awesome. The main focus is of course on Rukia, Ichigo, and Renji, so don't expect to see a lot of other Bleach characters, but that shouldn't be a deterrent, in my opinion. I think the main thing someone might balk at is the length: it's already weighing in at eighteen healthy-sized chapters and still ongoing, and to be quite honest, I have no idea how long it will end up being before it's done. I'm pretty sure once the story gets its claws in you, though, you'll be just as hooked as I am. The link above goes to her directory of sorts for the fic; all chapters can be reached from there.

Enjoy~

So...

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:34:12 GMT

The people who follow me on Twitter will already know this, but I had a...minor accident, I guess? while driving home from my parents' house. Basically, I'd been driving for about half-hour when I noticed the road was icy. So I slowed down a bit. Drove a little further and that's when abruptly all the cars in front of me started braking and sliding. At the time I had no idea why they were all braking to suddenly, but on reflection, probably someone started to slide off the road and that caused everyone to panic? Can't be sure. But anyway, I had no choice but to brake too, and I started to slide. Slid right off the road, into the ditch at an angle, and through a fence. Hitting the fence post made my car spin around, before coming to a stop facing the opposite direction.

I'm perfectly fine. While it was happening, it was so fast I really had no time to do anything but think "I'm wearing my seatbelt; I'll be okay even if the car flips"-- because for a horrible moment, I was sure it was going to, the ditch was so steep. And then I went through the fence and it was pretty much over. There were at least three or four other cars along the road in the ditch on my side, and someone else must have called 911 first because just after I got out of my car to see the damage, I could hear the sirens. Anyway, from there, gave them my info and waited for a tow truck to come get me out; didn't take too long. My car is actually not in that bad of shape, either, considering. The major damage seems to be a big dent near the front wheel where I hit the fence post. It looks like it can be banged out without too much trouble, but I'm not an expert. In the meantime, I can't open my driver's side door all the way. The other major thing I noticed was my radio antenna was completely torn off. That sucked, because for the rest of my drive back until I got closer to the Twin Cities, I could only get one station to come in most of the time.

That's pretty much that. I've never been in any kind of accident before (closest was having a tire blowout on the interstate, I guess), so as far as accidents go, it wasn't bad. Could've been a lot worse, definitely.

On a completely different subject... does anyone else have a PS3? Particularly LittleBigPlanet? My roommates and I love it and I just realized that we might be able to play online with some flisters. Comment and let me know if you're interested? :D

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:08:28 GMT

THANKSGIVINGMEME

Have a good Thanksgiving tomorrow, those of you who celebrate it! Please enjoy this video.

I'll be going to my family's for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I probably won't be around online much for the next couple days. Now I have to try to fall asleep at a semi-decent hour tonight so I can wake up early enough to drive there in time for dinner. Shh. It COULD happen.

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:18:33 GMT

Have a random meme I stole from xredribbon:

List the first ~~ten~~ eleven series that come to mind. Your friends will comment with the character from each series that they think you are most like. (Remember this is who I'm most like, not favorites!)

1 - Bleach
2 - Kekkaishi
3 - One Piece
4 - Avatar: The Last Airbender
5 - Claymore
6 - Fairy Tail
7 - Gintama
8 - Mahou Sensei Negima
9 - Ouran High School Host Club
10 - Harry Potter
11 - Baccano!

-

The meme was partly me being curious, partly me needing an excuse to post so I could say

Sign up for a holiday card.

I'll probably be starting on them soon, so please comment if you want one!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:13:27 GMT

I never do these, but I think literally the last five or six entries in a row on my flist have contained this, so... I'm curious, I guess.

→ A N O N _ M E M E

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:19:23 GMT

I did a small trim on my friends list. Absolutely nothing personal; it was just getting a bit unwieldy for me. I hope no one is upset. My journal remains 98% public, so anyone is free to continue to read & comment.

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Sign up for a holiday card.

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:37:47 GMT

Flist-in-general, feel free to ignore this, since it's really only meant for one anonymous person.

Dear Yuletide Writer,

First of all, thank you! This is my first year doing Yuletide, but it's been the reading stories written by people like you in years past that got me interested in participating in the first place. I did try to cover all the basic points in my original requests, but I hope this helps you further. And just because I mention something does not mean I expect it; I'm fairly easy-going on most things and would rather that you write a story that you are comfortable with and can be proud of, rather than just trying to cram in as many of my random tidbits as possible. I'm just mentioning as much stuff as I can think of to give you a clearer idea of the things I like/dislike, and hopefully help spark some ideas! ♥

General likes/dislikes:

I am very, very fond of yuri & slash (of the w/w variety). Though I'm fine with & a fan of many het pairing, and am occasionally interested in certain yaoi/(m/m)slash pairings, girl/girl is normally my favorite. This doesn't necessarily mean smut (though that is welcome, of course)--I go just as starry-eyed over sweet hand-holding & nervous first kisses as I do for hot'n'heavy makeouts & sex--oftentimes more so, depending on the execution. So if you happened to get one of the fandoms I requested yuri/slash in, but are worried about your abilities to write girl!sex, take heart!
...that being said, if you DO decide to go the smut route, things I am very fond of seeing are: breast- & nippleplay and cunnilingus, as well as extended foreplay. Light bondage and roleplay are okay, talking/communication during sex is also nice. Please avoid: vulgar/dirty talk, food in sex, extensive use of toys. (All of this applies to both het and yuri/slash.)
I love plot. If you manage to write me something with a storyline above and beyond the requested character/pairing interaction, I will very probably swoon.
I tend to like a wide range of tones, depending on the source material. For most of the requests I made here, though, I prefer it be relatively light, with no soul-crushing angst--Heavenly Creatures is the exception to that.
I usually don't like AU, but I love AR. (And I know that different fandoms use different terms, so for the sake of clarity: AU=canon-based characters in a non-canon setting, e.g. a "high school' AU. AR=canon-setting with a divergence, often a "what if" scenario; e.g. 'what if Whatshisname never died?') It might seem like a small distinction, but it's an important one to me.
I also love backstory, humor, slice-of-life, dialogue, inner monologue, and description. In character interaction, I am fond of playfulness/teasing, shyness/hesitation, body language showing what the characters can't quite say, and cute nervousness/blushing (all when actually suited to the characters in question, of course; don't feel the need to force something at the cost of being IC).

On to the specific requests!

Kekkaishi
Genfic featuring Yoshimori, Tokine, & Gen. Something like the three of them hanging out outside of Karasumori (Tokine & Yoshimori trying to get Gen to loosen up & have fun w/them?) would be A+. Preferably taking place after they really start to get along and gel as a team (but obviously before Gen's death). Hints of Yoshi-->Tokine are welcome, but no overt pairings, please. A hopeful tone with a dash of light comedy is preferred, though some bittersweetness/foreshadowing of Gen's fate is fine. Including Madarao and Hakubi in the story for maximum snark is a bonus.

The only thing I can think of further to say for this is I really want to see Yoshi, Tokine, and Gen be featured equally; i.e. not have the major focus be more on Gen & Yoshi or Yoshi & Tokine, with the third person just making a token appearance at some point. I love the three of them together, and that's really what I'd like to see (platonic OT3 all the way!). I'd also prefer no fic taking place after Gen's death; no ghost!Gen or Gen-comes-back-from-the-dead. However, if you'd like to make the story an AR, so that Gen never died in the first place, I am okay with that!

Gintama
Kondo/Sacchan--they both have the same hobby; namely, stalking. I'd like pairing fic with the two of them; it can be hinted-at subtext with a more general bent, an actual burgeoning romance, or a sexy one-time fling to pass the time while on a stalking excursion in the same place--it's all good. I'd just like to see these two together. Of course, since this is Gintama, a ridiculous/comedic tone is important, though some light angst is fine if it fits the story--just no complete downer, please.

Not too much to add here; I'm pretty open to whatever! Gintama is ridiculous, so you have a lot of leeway for cracky, silly fun. :)

Heavenly Creatures
Something to do with Juliet & Pauline, their fantasy worlds (Borovnia/The Fourth World), and the mixing up of fantasy and reality in their perceptions. I'm pretty open to just about anything with this one; feel free to go as light-hearted or dark on the tone as you like, but a dash of mania/madness would be appreciated. Pairings not necessary, but Pauline-as-Charles/Juliet-as-Deborah, Diello/Pauline-as-Gina, and/or just plain old Pauline/Juliet would be VERY welcomed.

One of the things I love so much about this movie is the way fantasy and reality are juxtaposed; I'm really hoping to get a story with that same kind of feeling to it. Feel free to get experimental with the writing in this one, and I'm fine with it going very dark if need be. While I'd love to see any/all of the pairings mentioned above, I also recognize that they are not exactly healthy relationships by any means, so I don't necessarily want all sweetness and light--heavy angst is fine, mindgames are fine, anything you feel fits into the feel of the canon, basically: from girly, light-hearted interaction between them to dangerous obsession.

Suikoden V
Yuri pairing, please: Lucretia/Lelei. Maybe expanding on how Lucretia began to teach Lelei in strategy and how it developed into something more, or perhaps filling in the blanks on how they spent that night before the big battle. Smut is welcomed, but not necessary. (I also tend to think of Cathari and Lucretia as ex-lovers, so extra credit if you can use that tidbit somehow. Heck, I'm even open to a threesome if you so desire, though I'd still prefer the main focus be on Lucretia/Lelei.) Some angst/bittersweetness is fine, but please keep some degree of hopefulness and give me a happy ending. No non-con or hurt/comfort, and PLEASE do not pair any of these three ladies up (romantically/sexually) with a man.

Though Cathari was selected as one of the characters, it isn't compulsory she be included. As I mentioned in the request, I have a little head-canon backstory that would be nice to see worked in, but don't feel it needs to be shoe-horned in if it's not working for you. Cathari herself can just have a small cameo or only a mention, or be left out completely, if you'd like--I really want the major focus to be on Lucretia and Lelei as a romantic pairing. An outside plot involving the Prince and his army would be nice, but it can also be set pre- or post-game.

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That's all I can think of to mention right now, so I hope you find it helpful! Of course, you are welcome to poke through my writing journal to see what kinds of things I like to write & read, as well as to look back in my journal for inspiration (nearly everything is unlocked).

Thanks again!

Jessie/prpl_pen

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:15:36 GMT

Thanks so much to the people who wished me a happy birthday! ♥

And oh man. Oh man. adesso drew Beatrix/Steiner for me njkhadhfs [go here and tell her how awesome she is :3 ]

I also got a polar bear! :D

Moving right along...some bullet points; writing-related, mostly.

Still behind on my NaNoWriMo, though I am pretty confident I can catch up easily now, because I think I've finally figured out what is happening, and things are going easier now. I still don't have have a clue what the major plot is going to be, but I think things will Reveal Themselves as I keep writing. Not really sure what my word count is, though, as today's and Monday's writing are both in notebooks right now, waiting to be typed up.
Signed up at himitsu_santa. I hesitated for half a minute, thinking maybe I shouldn't attempt it because I may very well be burnt out on writing by December, but...I was already sad about missing participating last year. Plus, I am really excited for my prompts and I'm totally looking forward to seeing what my Santa ends up writing.
...also signed up for Yuletide. Debated about this one for a liiiiittle bit longer, because in addition to the above-mentioned concern, now I had to add the fact that I was already signed up for one December fic exchange, plus Yuletide is a little...intimidating, I think. I've seen so many amazing fics come out of it. That's inspiring too, though. And considering that I've been meaning to do Yuletide for years and have just always managed to miss the sign-ups... I didn't want to let the chance slip by, I guess. Also am super-excited about the things I requested, though there is one prompt I am contemplating changing, just because I thought of something else that fills me with even more glee. I'm a little upset that somehow Genshiken was deemed ineligible, though; I can't quite wrap my brain around how that works, since the fandom is pretty much non-existent. I was going to request Tanaka/Ohno otaku cosplay love too. Alas. DESPITE THIS, STILL VERY EXCITED~~!! I hope I don't burst before I get my assignment.
Also still chipping away at these. I am working on them in between NaNo-ing, and yes, I am counting the words I write on them in November towards my word count. This seems like a good compromise to me, since I want to do both my origfic NaNo story, but also am compelled to keep working on those prompts. I'm in the midst of two One Piece fics now, and am amused that the first OP fics I'm writing involve gender-/bodyswitch. I feel lame that I wasn't able to just whip these out like I'd hoped, but they started wanting to get longer and I wanted to put more effort into them, so... I'm going to try really really hard to finish them all, though, and not just abandon half of them unwritten, as has unfortunately become a habit with me recently. Oh, and feel free to toss in a prompt, if you want to and haven't already.
NOT related to writing, but my watch strap cracked and is about ready to completely break. Contemplating whether to do a quick duct tape repair job, or just buy a new watch. Hm.

I think that's about it.

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:33:37 GMT

Just because. Indulge me, please?

i ship it.

NANOWRIMO

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:44:47 GMT

This is the first time ever for NaNoWriMo that I didn't start right at midnight. Maybe that's why I am sooo incredibly nervous right now. I dunno.

I had been intending, since last year's NaNoWriMo (wherein I failed horribly and barely broke 10k) that I would try writing a fanfic this year for NaNoWriMo, a first for me. Yet, as November crept closer and closer, I realized that I wanted to do original fiction again. The prospect of origfic just excites me more where NaNo is concerned, I guess. So, I switched gears and decided to just go with origfic again. However, I had NO clue what I was going to write. I still don't. I have literally NO idea what my story will be about, beyond that it will likely be fantasy/specfic (because that is my Genre of Choice and 99.9% of everything I write falls into that category). This could turn out well, though. I mean, the first year I did NaNoWriMo, I purposely did absolutely no planning beforehand, just sat down and wrote at midnight, and it ended up working really well. I won that year, and I ended up liking my story--it would've needed work, editing mosly, but the characters and how the plot fit together was pretty cool. This year I did intend to do a little planning--overplanning things tends to handicap me, I think, but a really bare-bones idea would have been a good jumping off point. I just...never actually did. So here I am. More than halfway through the first day, and no plot, no plans, no words written yet.

Actually...I DID write a good chunk while I was at work this morning...on a fanfiction drabble request (yes, I fail and did not finish those right away before NaNo like I intended). I think what I might do this year is work on fanfic drabbles when I need a little break from the actual NaNo novel, to hopefully give my brain a chance to rest and refocus. Even though it's technically cheating, I MAY count whatever words I write in those towards the NaNoWriMo wordcount goal. Haven't bothered with counting how much I wrote this morning, though, because I want the first words I count to be for NaNo proper--besides, I haven't bothered typing it up yet and that's time I can be using for...starting my novel.

Oh, and might as well mention one last time, I guess...since it actually IS November now: my NaNoWriMo website profile is here; my NaNoWriMo LJ is here.

But yes. My stomach is absolutely churning right now, which is just dumb, but I can't stop it. I think part of it is just excitement, with a good chunk of nervousness that I have no plot & got a later start than I normally do. Still, sitting here worrying about it even more won't help. The only cure is probably to start writing, I guess.

So.

Rest of the day: free.

Notebook: brand new and empty and just waiting for NaNo to fill it.

Laptop: charged & ready.

Candy cane tea: plentiful.

Okay. Let's do this.

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:09:41 GMT

This looked like fun, so I stole it from nickelodeon:

Out of your Comfort Zone Drabble Meme
Now is your chance to request something short from me! Pick a fandom you know I know, pick a character/pairing, pick a prompt and pick a rating; try to make it something I wouldn't usually write! I will write a short drabble for you!

Going to sleep soon, ~~but I'll write them tomorrow. I'll try to write and post everything on the fly,~~ so quality is not guaranteed.

EDIT: These are actually still being written. I just fail at being timely.