Red Bean Girl

Fri, 26 Dec 2003 00:00:51 GMT

So I didn't finish my yuletide fic. Yes, I suck. Yes, I'm trying to finish it anyway. Yes, I feel awful.

Though now I feel slightly LESS awful, because it turns out that whoever was assigned to me ALSO punked out, so I was properly punished and got no fic myself. Methinks that my santa was a no-show, and since I was also a no-show, they didn't bother finding someone else to cover me. Totally fair, of course. And yet, selfishly, I am dissappointed.

Fortunately, ladyjaida was there for me in the end. You rock, babe. ^_^

And dreadono wrote a HILARIOUS saitouXken fic that is at least partially for my benefit. She ALSO rocks. XD

ponder ponder

Fri, 19 Dec 2003 05:36:30 GMT

*toddles back from RK Dreams*

There's a debate going on over there about Japanese dialogue and whether or not it belongs in English fanfic. Personally, I feel this is a giant "NO," but as we've all had this discussion before I won't annoy you by getting into it here. ;}

But reading over people's responses on the forum raised a different question for me:

Japanese characterizations are often misrepresented as badly as the language -- for instance, how fanfic characters are performative in ways that no Japanese person, particularly not one who lived at the turn of the century, would be. Admittedly, the RK Dreams folk have me a little worried, as I've been a little indulgent with my own characterizations...

...But now I'm wondering. Just as it's near-impossible for most English-speakers to write convincing Japanese dialogue, I suspect it would be just as futile for writers born and raised in America (or any other western country) to attempt to accurately portray the quirks of Japanese culture and interpersonal relationships.

Which raises the question: Is it better to write characters that feel genuine to you (the writer), or to try and adopt a cultural outlook that isn't your own?

Of course, there are things a writer can keep in mind -- not to have the characters be too demonstrative, for example -- but after a certain point, I personally feel like I have to just go with my gut and write what makes sense to me. After all, in order to write a character convincingly, a writer has to find a personal connection with them....and as I'm an American with American sensibilities, this connection is going to be affected by that, no matter how much I may resist it.

(The other thing I was wondering, selfishly enough: Do you feel like I use too much Japanese in my own fics? I try to keep it under control, but there are some cases where I just can't find the energy to resist. *koffTOKONOMAkoff*)

grrr

Tue, 16 Dec 2003 20:26:22 GMT

The american family association is currently conducting a poll in regards to the legalization of gay and lesbian marriage.

Go forth, brave soldiers, and give 'em hell

< /activism for the day >

and more fic...

Sat, 13 Dec 2003 05:41:47 GMT

...which will assure that no one else looks at the OTHER fic posted a few hours earlier. *shrug* Such is the way of things when one has no impulse control. ;}

Both of these are RK. The first is about Kaoru, and takes place a few months after chapter two of Requiem for a Dream. The second is about Kenshin, and is set shortly after he joins the ishin shishi and becomes a hitokiri. They were written for 15minuteficlets and then tidied up a bit before being reposted here.

***

Forgetful

"This isn't going to work," he said dryly, "if you don't have a wok."

Kaoru pulled her torso out from underneath the washbasin, pushing loose hair behind her ear. "But I KNOW that we had one somewhere! My grandfather was crazy for Chinese cooking..."

"Maybe it's in the shed with the rest of his rusty old junk," Yahiko muttered, sullenly chopping cabbage.

Kaoru sighed. "I'll go look, but I don't remember seeing it there..."

She left the men in the kitchen, wiping her hands on her hakama as she stepped down from the porch and strode across the yard. She checked through her mental inventory of the shed, trying to think of likely hiding places. She hadn't seen the wok since her grandfather died, and it was likely buried under ten years of accumulated junk. Not for the first time, she bemoaned her packrat tendencies, one of many traits inherited from her mother.

The sun was starting to set, and the inside of the shed was very dark. She left the door open and stepped cautiously inside, squinting into dim corners. Musty old tatami, rolled-up futons with the stuffing all bunched at one end, straw sandals with broken straps that had never been repaired, cotton kimono that had been tucked away for the winter.

And a bundle of indigo blue comforter.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart pounded in her ears. She realized that she had not thought about the owner of that comforter in nearly a day. Not even in passing. Everything that he had left behind was wrapped up inside of it -- old photographs, outdated maps, a single tabi sock, a tie for his hair -- and put away so that she wouldn't remember. And it had worked. And she was overcome with the horror of having forgotten.

The sun continued to set, and as pools of light filtered through the windows and slid slowly across the floor, they caught a glint of something metallic in a far corner.

The wok.

Kaoru bent to pick it up, surprised at how light it was -- she hadn't lifted it since she was a little girl. And then she walked back out into the yard, locking the door of the shed behind her.

***

Snow

"Why did you ask me to come here?" Kenshin asked. His voice was high and clear in the dry air, his clouded breath a barrier between them.

The other man was much older, touches of gray at his temples. Kenshin couldn't remember his name. Maybe Kotou? He was the oldest son of a Choshu samurai. He had joined Katsura because he hated gaijin and thought this would give him a chance to kill more of them. Kenshin had watched him peel the skin off of missionaries.

"Why did you ask me to come here?" Kenshin's voice trembled, betraying him. He was fourteen years old.

The man who might have been Kotou did not immediately reply. He closed the space between them with three long strides, footsteps crunching softly as he broke through the crust of the snow. Kenshin's head barely reached his chest. His hand reached out to touch the boy's cheek.

"Your skin is so soft," he purred. "Like a woman's. And your hair...." He leaned forward, his face arched over Kenshin's head. "Katsura wants you to cut it, you know."

"Why would he care?" Kenshin fought the urge to run.

"Because," Kotou whispered. Kenshin's scalp tingled with his breath. "You bring out the worst in us."

His feet and fingertips were numb with cold. The wind and the proximity raised gooseflesh on his neck. "What do you want?"

Kotou's face was in his hair, and Kenshin could feel him smile. "Everything."

***

*twiddles thumbs*

Random? Why YES!

Sat, 13 Dec 2003 02:58:55 GMT

So I sat on this for a few weeks, to see if it was ACTUALLY funny or just funny at the moment.

I have decided that I don't care, and shall subject you all to my insanity.

mwah.

Dude... (sorta kenfic, sorta NOT. multiple readings suggested for the sake of coherance)

***

Dude....
originally posted annonymously in clarus's lj
yes, I am crazy, thanks so much for asking

***

"Wait, is that a HUMAN CANNON BALL?"

"Shut up, she's kinda hot."

"You're insane."

"No, seriously! I think it's the leotard..."

...

"You know how to ride a horse?"

"Of course I do. It was part of my education as a bugeisha."

"All right, fine....but where did you GET the horse...?"

"..."

"Well?"

"It's a secret."

"Secret my oft-broken right hand."

"At least I'm not a technophobic asstard."

"Fuck you, girlpants."

...

"Um....ok, you know, I understand the need for action and excitement...but what the hell is up with that Pirate Girl?"

"Well, she is full of fire and moxy."

"And why am I willing to die for her?"

"Because you're painfully noble."

"Oh."

...

"I really really REALLY hate fucking fireflies."

"Wheeeeeen you wiiiiiiiiish upooooon a buuuuuuug....makes no diiiiiference who you fuuuuuuuuuuck..."

"THAT DOESN'T EVEN RHYME"

"AAAANNNYOOOOOOOONE YOUR HEEEEEEEART DESIIIIIIIIIRES WILL SIIIIIIIIT ON YOUR FAAAAAAAAAACE."

"EAT WORMS AND DIE"

...

"Hey, look. There's a dog."

"And it ate a key."

"Oh no! They're chasing the dog!"

"I guess they want the key back."

"Now the dog has met you, and you are fast friends."

"And I am giving it a piggyback ride."

"And it has eaten my loincloth."

"Ew."

"Yeah."

"...."

"Wow this is really bad."

...

"Hey! Chicks!"

"Watch it. MY chick."

"Ugh, what is it with women and jewelry?"

"At least there's a gratuitous fantasy sequence."

"You're getting plaaaaaaaay."

"Shh!! You're distracting me from the mack."

"Awww, she woke up."

"Dammit."

"And now she's conning you into matrimony."

"GODDAMMIT."

"Sucks to be you."

...

"Hey, look! I GOT PLAY!"

"..."

"DIDJA SEE THAT? PLAY!!! SOMUCHPLAY"

"..."

"My girlfriend is so much hotter than your girlfriend."

"..."

"If she was a monster, she'd be BabeZilla."

"..."

"If she was a minister of finance, she'd be Okubo Babe-imichi."

"Yeah, well at least my girlfriend is CANON."

"Yeah, well at least I'm not a long-haired midget pussy boy."

"........dude, that's cold."

...

"Wow. Done."

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"Let's watch that blue one again."

"The one with the righteous asskicking?"

"Totally."

"Rock."

...

(sano and ken, watching filler episodes)

!meme!

Fri, 12 Dec 2003 04:11:48 GMT

(gacked from clarus)

I don't feel like I know you all nearly as well as I should, so: tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: "Ah, there's so and so...she likes spinach."

I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. Yes, even you people who I know really well. Then post this in your own journal.

le sigh

Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:54:42 GMT

Finished the Saigou biography. Desperaely need to refresh my memory in regards to the Kyoto arc of RK, but after that I have no good excuse for not working on chapter three.

I've been reading other people's responses to Last Samurai (*waves to clarus, resmiranda, catystorm*) and I'm increasingly woeful about my own opinions. As I've said to more than one person in the last few days, I really really REALLY wanted to love this movie. As it was, I had a hard time even enjoying it. I feel like I need to keep watching it over and over again, alone so that the snarky comments of friends won't distract me...that I need a "pure" movie-viewing experience to be totally sure of my own reaction. It's silly...this is just a movie, after all. And I maintain that objectively, it's not a very good one. But it still bothers me that I managed to so totally ruin it for myself.

Also: I ended up skipping Japanese yesterday. I was just too tired, and I knew that I hadn't studied enough and would look like a fool. I have GOT to get this whole "night school" thing under control. There's no reason for me not to study, aside from laziness, and that's really not a good reason.

And I need to start working on my yuletide fic.

And finish plotting out my original comic...research on Tokugawa-era Choushu can wait until I have a solid arc banged out.

wah -_-;;

snerk

Tue, 09 Dec 2003 16:06:24 GMT

A Ninja Pays Half my Rent -- not the best thing ever, but hey. Ninjas!

Whiteboy Samurai, Historical Accuracy and Movie Boyfriends

Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:37:54 GMT

Spoileriffic thoughts on The Last Samurai....which I have now seen twice in 24 hours. Craaazy.

Things that annoyed me but weren't really that important:

Am I remembering incorrectly, or was "Meiji" the emperor's POSTHUMOUS title?

General Hasegawa's head falling to the ground after his suicide in the forest. When done properly, the cut should leave enough skin to keep the head from rolling away. A Samurai of Kastumoto's caliber would be a better second than that. I know they did it this way because it would look better on film, but I am still irritated.

Everyone was constantly throwing their swords. Their KATANA, which aren't balanced for throwing. A swordsman would only do this as a desperate last resort. When Algren threw his sword at Colonel Bagley during the final battle, and then LEFT IT sticking out of the man's chest, I wanted to spork my own eyes out.

Don't longbows have a greater range than turn of the century firearms? Or maybe I'm just on crack...

It would have been nice to have been told what domain/province Katsumoto was from, and his position within it. Was he a Daimyo who'd been stripped of his power and had retired to the mountains? A high-ranking Samurai who presided over a small but warrior-packed little town? I don't feel like this is asking too much. -_-

Um....didn't people take baths in...bathtubs? Bath houses? Some kind of constructed bathtub-like object? Even in rural areas? Though I suppose those could have been hotsprings....

Tom Cruise, though short for a white guy, is still kinda tall for a Japanese man. And much more stocky. I find it a little hard to believe that Dead Husband's armor fit him that well.

The constant parallels drawn between Algren's experiences with the Native Americans and with the Samurai. They actually don't resemble each other at all, aside from that they're both fucked in the long run.

The soundtrack.

The kiss.

~~The fact that Katsumoto did not have onscreen sex with Algren.~~

~~The fact that Katsumoto did not have onscreen sex with Kenshin, even though he wasn't actually IN this movie.~~

Things that annoyed me and were a BIG FUCKING DEAL:

It is never explained WHY Kastumoto is leading his rebellion in the first place. There is vague talk about Honor and Dignity and Tradition. These are not good enough reasons. I understand that politics are complicated, but SOME effort to do the Seinan War justice (as that's supposedly what this is based on) would have been helpful.

Speaking of which, I remain confused as to why they bothered to create a fictional character, when a romanticized version of Saigou would have done just as well. While I have a fair amount of tolerance for punching up historical figures to make them more interesting/dramatic/consistent, I have very little patience for laziness when it comes to research. Most of my research has ostensibly been done for a sake of a FANFIC, and even I know enough to have done a better job than this. This film had three writers and a massive budget. They could have paid someone to translate Japanese historical texts. They could have hired a professor of Japanese history as a consultant. They could have gone to the fucking library and spent a week reading up on the period. *tsks* No time, man....no time.

Tom Cruise should not have been shouldering so much of this film. If the White Man needs to be there, fine -- I can understand that, as feudal Japanese culture actually IS hard for western audiences to relate to, and the whole stranger in a strange land device can be a useful way to give the viewer an "in." But there was no need to have him be so painfully mary sue-like in concept and execution. Not ONLY did he unintentionally betray his Native American brethren, get captured by and then befriend his enemy, learn the way of the warrior AND the language in a matter of months and put the moves on the Tragic Widow....he ALSO rode into battle alongside his new comrades, was instrumental in and the only survivor of said battle, marched uninvited into the emperor's chambers, presented him with his dead buddy's sword and thus convinced him to have a radical change of heart regarding foreign policy. *sighs heavily* And really, all of this would have been tolerable had anyone BUT Tom Cruise been playing the part of Algren. -_-

Moments that were supposed to be about Katsumoto kept being hijacked by Algren. When the townspeople made way for the delegation from Katsumoto's village; when Katsumoto died, leaving Algren in a circle of deeply bowing infantry; when Katsumoto's sword was presented to the emperor -- all of these moments were about Katsumoto, a living legend of a man who was deeply admired and respected by his fellow countrymen and represented everything that was worth remembering about the old ways. But they were directed in such a way that they always SEEMED to be about Algren. Once again...much annoyance. It cheapened the film, and left me feeling like I had been cheated, or at least lied to.

And really, there just wasn't enough Katsumoto. How could there be, without him being the main character? Watanabe's performance was incredible, and I plan to go out and rent every movie he has ever been in. Whatever with Cruise, whatever with his lame-ass soldierboy character....Katsumoto was the obvious heart of this film, and it would have fallen apart entirely without him.

The "Samurai rock, westernization is Bad" message was oversimplified and heavy handed. As a friend of mine helpfully pointed out, while we see Aldren fire a gun during the NA massacre, we don't see who he hits; while we know that Katsumoto is a Samurai, the details of what this entails and the unbalanced class system that supported him were glossed over or ignored entirely. By refusing to allow any of the main characters to do anything wrong -- to make bad choices or act for selfish or misinformed reasons -- the writers killed whatever depth this movie might otherwise have had.

Things that were REALLY COOL, and prompted me to see this fucking thing more than once in the first place:

Katsumoto. I love him. He was my dirtyoldman movie boyfriend. Whenever he was onscreen, I could feel my face lighting up. I am so jazzed to finish reading my Saigou biography and get cracking on chapter three because I CANNOT WAIT to write about the man who inspired this fantastic character. I know that most of why he was fantastic had less to do with the film and more to do with Ken Watanabe being the shit, but I feel this is a minor detail.

Katsumoto's son, Nobutada. He is my movie boyfriend proper. He's a great actor, he's drop dead gorgeous, his hair is tragically cut off by policemen and he dies a noble death on a bridge. Aside from the being dead part, he is my man of destiny. I am SO using him as a model for a character in my original-comic-side-project-thing. (ALSO, please note that the other film that the actor, Shin Koyamada, is listed as appearing in is called A Ninja Pays Half my Rent.)

The man who taught swordfighting...Ujio, I think? He's the guy I cheat on my movie boyfriend with. For a character with so little screentime, he grabbed my attention and held onto it for dear life. His death upset me more than anyone else's, save the father and son duo listed above.

So. Many. Swords.

And archers. I really like archers.

And men with long hair.

In kimono.

Bob!!!

Katsumoto as poet

Katsumoto as actor

The costumes. Especially the armor. All I have to say is: drool.

The mountain village. I want to live there. I want to live there SOBAD.

~~The fact that "conversations" is obviously a codeword for "monkey sex."~~

SQUEEKENSHIN moments:

Omura, strangely, as he reminded me of a host of bit characters.

The policemen. I half expected Ken to come wandering around the corner. I just wish they'd had swords.

The ninja with the chain. Yes, I'm random and fixate on small things.

The gattling gun. My heart bled for Aoshi, it honestly did. ~~Even though he done Shinta wrong, the two-timing whip-cracking bastard...~~

*looks back over post*

Wow. That's scarily long. O_O

ETA: Just to clarify, I know that this movie was loosely based on Saigou and the Satsuma Rebellion/Seinan War/War of the Southwest. Past geeky posts on the topic are here and here (note that the second one is ooooolllld.) Some of my bitching about how not enough information is given has less to do with MY being confused and more to do with how a film is supposed to be crafted.

second attempt:

Fri, 05 Dec 2003 18:11:27 GMT

View Poll: holiday card time!!!

TRYING THIS AGAIN as I apparently forgot to ask for addresses -_-;;

ETA: I forgot to make addresses private. I am too too too tired to make another poll. If you are really concerned about privacy, email me address, k? *lazy* ^_-

And my address, if anyone cares:

61 4th Avenue, Box 172
New York, NY 10003

hee

Wed, 03 Dec 2003 04:27:19 GMT

a very happy birthday to ladyjaida, though I am far far far too lame to have finished her present. ^_^;;

*smooch*

and now...off to bed....

far from perfect, but...

Tue, 02 Dec 2003 21:29:41 GMT

アリソンの　やすみ

やすみに　りょうしんの　うちに　いきました。　すいようびに　ボスタンに　でんしゃで　いきました，そして　うちに　ははと　くるまで　いきました。　もくようびは　Ｔｈａｎｋｓｇｉｖｉｎｇでした、　あさ　りょうしんと　ばんごおはんを　しました。　よんじに　ばんごおはんを　たべました。　どようびにちようびに　サンドイッチの　ツルキを　たべました、　テレビを　みました、　さいごう　たかもりの　ほんを　よみました、　にほんごの　べんきょうを　しました。　にちようびに　でんしゃで　ヌヨオクに　かえりました。

hollywood betrays me again

Mon, 01 Dec 2003 07:01:15 GMT

So it seems that the "Last Samurai" in the WB film coming out this Friday is NOT, in fact, Saigou Takamori, but instead is a fictional character based on him.

...

Having read the first two thirds of my Saigou biography, in addition to the research I've already done, I'm frankly mystified as to why the screenwriter/director of this movie would find it necessary to distance himself from the source material. After all, what really happened is certainly interesting enough on its own -- there's no need to fictionalize it like this...

....however, unless I am mistaken, at no point was Saigou a Daimyo. And as the screenwriter/director just referred to him as one....?

Yeah, maybe he's just an idiot.

*sighs*

There goes my enthusiasm about moviegoing on friday night. -_-

If you need me, I'll be curled up in bed with the aforementioned Saigou biography, squeeing over possible plot points for my fic and quietly cursing the name of Tom Cruise.

ETA: Drea! Did not forget about your bday, sweets!! But I am drawing a total blank as to what I should draw/write/etc for you. Requests? :D

watches Inuyasha

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 06:13:14 GMT

I have realized that one of the main reasons I want my favorite shows to be on Adult Swim has nothing to do with increasing awareness of their coolness, or being able to laugh at bad dubs, or the amusement of having to explain missed episodes to confused friends.

It's that I want to read the bumpers that would accompany them.

I am such a dweeb.

*debates writing to AS and explaining why they need to air Full Metal Panic/Rurouni Kenshin/Fullmetal Alchemist/Gunslinger Girls/Get Backers/Peacemaker/etc*

god I love holidays

Wed, 26 Nov 2003 19:18:43 GMT

So, about to head back to Beantown for thanksgiving festivities with the family. And I am taking three bags crammed full of paraphanalia for this weekend's to-do list, including:

--laptop (fic writing, rk manga re-reading, listening to the 11 hour "audiobook" mp3 I made out of incarnate)
--Saigou biography (muah)
--Sketchbook (for comic and fanart drawing)
--Shogun DVD box set
--FLCL manga borrowed from coworker!Mike
--The Two Towers (GEH, so much to read before RotK comes out >.< )
--.....jesus, a lot of stuff....

also: volume two of the Viz RK manga has shipped! w00t

visual insanity

Tue, 25 Nov 2003 06:50:57 GMT

this is what happens when I go out drinking with bhanesidhe and hlaron.

First came the custom lables for newly burnt Kenshin manga CDs.

Then came drunken fanart for clarus.....

From Impotence, of course.

I am sorry for the suckitude, but...well, I'm a cheap date. And brush pens do not mix well with alcohol. XD

ALSO: OMFG fullmetal alchemist issogood. Edward and Al rock my fangirly little world.

ALSOALSO: Am already scheming re: Otakon. Bad sign?

Mon, 24 Nov 2003 06:32:30 GMT

I fear that this is terrible, but I will post it anyway. Oh, the unwise actions that I take.

written for 15minuteficlets and revised slightly afterwards. R, definately, but not particularly explicit.

Surrender -- SaitouXKen

There was nothing gentle about him. I had thought that intimacy might show the cracks in his stony countenance, might allow me a glimpse of a soft underside. But he was as ruthless in this context as any, as determined to dominate, as unwilling to compromise, as hard and as unforgiving with his love as with his sword.

I pushed up from the floor, trying to turn over, trying to speak. But his weight against my back was unrelenting, and his fingers were in my mouth.

"I thought this was what you wanted," he whispered, a wolf's growl. I could feel him moving inside of me.

I bit down until I tasted his blood, and he chuckled low in his throat. My toes dug into the mats, searching for leverage, but it wasn't enough. I was strong, but so was he. And his long limbs proved an advantage, his wide fingers easily closing around my wrists, pinning them to the floor above my head, my right palm flat against the tatami.

An unexpected thrust, and I was straining against him, trembling with the effort, my hair limp with sweat and my face damp with frustrated tears.

"Just give up," he said, close to my ear. "This isn't a fight you can win."

And I was fifteen again, dueling in the shadows of Kyoto streets, my vision clouded with blue and white.

*koff*

art (!!)

Mon, 24 Nov 2003 04:15:15 GMT

for a_hollow_year ^_^

Kaoru looks strange....she's actually really hard to draw...

ETA: I like it much better, now. I posted it on go-gaia.com, people were horribly mean about it....deleted comments that mentioned Kaoru looked like a gorilla, but I DID go back and rework the faces. They look more like themselves, now, I think ^_^

I <3 Barnes and Noble

Fri, 21 Nov 2003 16:12:21 GMT

First off: My home internet connection is currently busted. Therefore, you will all be bombarded with HIGHLY BELATED lj comments as soon as I get it working again, as there's only so much fucking around that I can get away with at the office. Alas!

Second:

OMG. I have in my hands a brand-new, special-ordered hardcover book entitled "The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigou Takamori." There is no end to my squee. SO MUCH SQUEE.

Of course, this means that instead of getting any actual work done I'm just going to lock myself in my room and read. Then write more RfaD....then drown in my own excitement.

ALSO: Yesterday I bought (and subsequently watched) "Taboo" (can't remember the Japanese title) which tells the story of a Very Pretty Boy who joins the Shinsengumi and ultimately becomes corrupted by the endless adorations of his fellow warriors. (in other words, they all try to sleep with him and he turns into an arrogant little prick.) Strangely, this makes me want to write Bakumastu!kenfic, in which a very young Himura Battousai becomes the focus of much unwanted attention among the Choushu ishin shishi.

HEH

Tue, 18 Nov 2003 05:17:14 GMT

why, yes, actually it IS time for fangirling!

What could be better than Enishi tormenting Kenshin?

Enishi tormenting Kenshin with a BRICK.

HEHEHeHeHE

a post in Two Parts

Tue, 18 Nov 2003 04:47:02 GMT

I. Fullmetal Alchemist and why it is currently kicking my ass.

I don't think I can properly express how much I ADORE Fullmetal Alchemist right now. On one hand, any hopes boss!Tom and I might have had about Cartoon Network picking it up have been completely scrapped as of this latest episode, but this is a small price to pay for some of the most FANTASTIC television in my life right now. I'm not sure what it is, really....the animation is fine but not incredible, the story is interesting but nothing ground-breaking, the world is ever-more-intriguing but so far hasn't floored me....and yet, I am so hopelessly addicted to this show, it borders on ridiculous.

As with most things, the culprit is probably my DEEP LOVE for Edward and Alphonse, not to mention my daily-growing affection for the cast as a whole (OMG ROYxHUGHES 4EVA). That's what sold me on Kenshin, and I suspect the same thing is going to happen, here.

I mean.... *shakes head* Normally? It takes me at LEAST a handful of episodes to be more than passingly interested in a show. I have all 49 currently released episodes of Get Backers on my harddrive, but I haven't gotten around to watching past episode five. Over a year passed between when I watched the first handful of Kenshin episodes and when I finally knuckled down and watched the rest of the show (in about three weeks, because I'm crazy). And while I'm really enjoying Gunslinger Girl and Peacemaker Kurogane, my enthusiasm for new episodes is NOTHING compared to the insane giddiness of starting up another installment of FMA. Seven episodes in, now, and I'm an addict. The only think keeping me from cooking up Man Fanfic Plots is that I don't know enough about the universe, yet.

But again...it might just be that Edward is an ickle snoo.

Oh, and that guy? With the tattoos? Bad news, man. Bad. News.

Though I am already hoping upon fevered hope that he works his way from casual villainy to major anti-heroism. There's a reason why Saitou is one of my fave characters, after all. >;}

II. The love/hate relationship of FF.netXRed

There is a considerable dark side to my recently-purchased ff.net special membership thing, and the "Enhanced Statistics" that accompany it.

Me: This is GREAT! Now I can see how many people are reading my fic!
FF.net: You had twenty times as many hits as reviews this afternoon.
Me: Well...that's to be expected, isn't it? Right? People just don't review. Hell, I'm always forgetting to...
FF.net: And only a third of the people who looked at your first chapter bothered to go on to the second.
Me: ...
FF.net: Obviously they hate you.
Me: But...well...I mean...
FF.net: Also, if you obsessively reload this page, I'll add another hit for every dozen or so attempts,teasing you with just enough gratification to keep you at it.
Me: *mibbles*
FF.net: Geh, you are such an attention whore.
Me: *WAILS*
FF.net: *mocks*
Me: *contiues to obsessively reload stats page*

*blinks* Wait, wasn't there something else I was going to do....?

Oh yes, STUDY.

*scuttles off*

triumph!!!

Sun, 16 Nov 2003 22:54:24 GMT

Chapter Two of Requiem for a Dream is up on ff.net!! YES!!!!

*does a dance*

clarus rocks immensely for being my first reviewer. *grins* (and btw, there will be a pairing....but I am keeping my lips zipped as to the details. It's canon-faithful, so it has to end up Kaoru/Kenshin eventually.....right...? >;)

oh, and I'm writing this from the Apple Store in Soho. How much of a dork am I, eh? ^_-

GEH!!!

Sun, 16 Nov 2003 16:54:58 GMT

GODDAMN YOU FANFICTION.NET. WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME?!

*obcessively reloads author page*

*weeps*

I've been searcing for a man // All across Japan // Just to find // To find my samurai

Fri, 14 Nov 2003 08:08:29 GMT

Last beta is in....chapter will be up sometime tomorrow, barring natural distaster and/or extreme laziness. ;}

AND, lo and behold, there is art!

I think he's like....maybe 16 here?

Or possibly this could be SatsumaRebellion!Kenshin and he's just....wearing borrowed armor....and..um....looking really really young...?

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 15:39:27 GMT

Woke up this morning to find that one of the lenses had fallen out of my glasses. Spent ten minutes looking for it....which was ok, because I had gotten up 45 minutes earlier than usual...

...why?

So I could watch PM Kurogane at the office before work technically started.

I am suchageek.

Also: Waiting on last beta for chapter two, but I think it'll be up really soon.

Alsoalso: I want my yuletide assignment. The suspense! It killses me!

Alsoalsoalso: I'm so doomed when Otakon rolls around this year. Last time I didn't really know much about the new shows or the various fandoms or...well, anything really. So I had little trouble staying at our table in the art room. This year? I will be wearing my Edward Elric costume and running around like an insane person. And chasing after Shinsengumi cosplayers. And going insane with joy if any of the fandom people I know are there. And...and....yeah.