Mom and I went on a walk to the library/community center, where we discovered a small but well-equipped and cheap gym. Its hours are pretty terrible for her, but they're great for me. Plus, half a mile away, therefore, easy walking distance! Hopefully I will get signed up soon.

Then, as we were walking back, I spied a sign for an estate sale. We eventually found it. Antique dealers had picked most of it over the day before, but there was a lot of stuff left for fans.

Show of hands, who appreciates how awesome it is that I got a twenty-five-year-old Bruce Springsteen 45" single with "Jersey Girl" on the back for seven bucks.



( More (and bigger) under the cut. )

I am going to have a new userinfo header shortly.

I am temporarily burnt out on writing on account of passing 40,000 words on That Fic and finishing my Sheryl application for edensphere. But I still feel like doing fannish stuff, and I've been gathering a lot of music lately.

So give me a character or pairing and I'll make a short fanmix for them, or at least try. Some characters kind of stump me.

...characters and pairings I have already done fan soundtracks for are not necessarily out, as I may well have additional music for them. Or I might reuse some old and some new. Whatever. This is a spur-of-the-moment meme. Your results may vary.

Wrote this a while back, reminded to post it by a post linked on metafandom. Time to get this out of the way so I don't feel the desperate urge to rant about it every time I see the subject come up in the future. Instead I can just link here! Note: this refers primarily to anime fandom's practices. I can't speak for other parts of fandom, as the post I just linked is clearly talking about.

MY THOUGHTS ON FANART ICONS.

( And now for some tl;dr. )

Obligatory disclaimer about how I am a hypocrite and repost Japanese fanart all the time goes here. But I will point out that I usually only do it under friendslock.

From precto: Write a 250 word prompt about Lockon and the Fat Blonde Commander from Gundam 00 uuu~ It has to be about the two fighting over using the same urinal in the bathroom, uuu~ Post it to your LJ uuu~

It's set in the afterlife bakery, of course. If you don't know what that is, then you haven't watched this. Go ahead; I'll wait.

This is actually 333 words. Live with it.

( Oh god why. )

syaokura gave me this dare:

Write some drabble porn about Lockon and a character of your choice ~ desu!

This is not much of a dare for me. Nevertheless, I failed it: this isn't a drabble (it's over eight hundred words) and it isn't porn. But I think it is kind of sexy? Yeah. Lockon (Neil)/Tieria, S2 episode 8 WTF.

( Kind of risque, but basically worksafe. )

Next: precto, I will do yours. Although it will be decidedly less sexy.

ONE Create a graphic (200 x 200 maximum size) to represent your personal "candy". It should have your username on it, but otherwise can feature whatever you want. Make it something special since it's self-representative.

TWO Make a post with the subject "trick or treat?". Put your "candy" somewhere in it, and be sure to repost these instructions.

THREE Then, go around other people's LJs and reply to them with either "trick" or "treat." If you reply with "trick," they will give you an e-dare that you have to perform before taking their candy. If you're too wimpy for that, simply say "treat" and take their candy.

FOUR List all your collected candies in your original "trick or treat?" post to show off your collection, being sure not to direct-link!


It's from the cover of one of my doujinshi okay.

( Collected candies! )

The necklace problem has been solved. Behold:



That is my father's old tie rack. Not pictured: all my other necklaces and pendants that it doesn't have space for. Fortunately, most of them are unlikely to tangle.

I have been productive in the most vague of fashions lately, applying for a temporary job canvassing around election time, but I haven't been contacted back about it yet. Applying was good practice, I guess. I'll keep poking around Craigslist.

I've also been to the library a lot; I picked up a couple of Diana Wynne Jones books (Cart & Cwidder, Charmed Life) and some Ursula K. Le Guin as well (The Left Hand of Darkness, Four Ways to Forgiveness, The Word for World Is Forest). I finished The Left Hand of Darkness yesterday and liked it quite a lot, so after I've caught up a bit on my reread/finishing of Monster I'll probably read some more Le Guin--either that, or read Howl's Moving Castle, which I own. I'm trying to read more lately.

I still have a ton of fic-writing to do, but I inch forward on it, bit by bit. Not sure if I'll get my Oktoberfest done for damned, but at least I have the idea. Here's hoping I can make enough of it.

I really want to get back to video games, too. I've been trying to play Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, but I think I'm burnt out on Persona for the time being. I love the characters and setting in all of the games I've played so far, but the gameplay in Innocent Sin drove me crazy, and it's not really any better in Eternal Punishment. So I might put it on the backburner for a while and dive into something else. I was hoping that something else would be Okami, but the Wii version is kind of a pain in the ass with controls; I'm stuck trying to slice through things with the paintbrush at an early point. It's just not happening.

So that leads me back to the PS2 and the computer. I'm looking for something with fun, different gameplay right now, mostly, since Innocent Sin drove me kind of crazy. ( Poll underneath the cut. )

I just defeated a very high-level gestalt jewelry elemental.¹ I would prefer not to fight it again; it was a difficult battle.

What's a good way to store easily-tangled necklaces? I tried making a jewelry tree to hold them out of household materials, but it'll only hold a few. Maybe I should buy a decent one. But, moneys.

¹ I untangled a giant knot of necklaces.

And now, finally, the answers to the last lyrics meme. This time I've uploaded all the songs and shared them, because I can. I make no guarantees for quality, since these were just what came up on shuffle.

( This gets spammy. )

Concert was awesome. Bruce Springsteen has the energy of ten mortal men half his age. No one gives a show like he does.

Now, before I chicken out, a fic prompt. Pick one of the lyrical prompts and give me a character/pairing and, optionally, a more concrete prompt (e.g. "first kiss" or "after the season finale"). I will attempt to write something short for you.

1) I'll shake this world off my shoulders
2) the line where dreams are found and lost
3) everybody needs a place to rest
4) with that wild open country in our eyes
5) "We cannot undo these things we've done."
6) in the darkness there'll be hidden worlds that shine
7) sometimes I feel so weak I just wanna explode
8) our love will make it real someday
9) everybody has a reason to begin again
10) I want to guard your dreams and visions

Primary fandoms (most likely to get written): Gundam 00, Mai-HiME, Gurren Lagann
Secondary fandoms (probably get written but who knows): Fruits Basket, Persona 3, Macross Frontier, Odin Sphere, maybe Avatar, maybe Final Fantasy
Tertiary fandoms (least likely to get written but don't rule it out): Everything else.

After I've slept I'll do the prompts and upload some music instead of just grabbing lyrics for fic prompts. A novel idea, I know.

Name a fandom I will tell you:

♦ OTP
♦ Runner-up
♦ Honorable mention(s)
♦ Crack pairing(s)
♦ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't

I still have other memes sitting unfinished, but those are more complicated. This one is simple.

I am far too exhausted to do anything productive right now, but maybe if I can gather a little more energy before bed I'll work on finishing some fic.

This guide may seem directed mostly at fandom in some places, because that's how it started. But I'd like to think it could be useful for everybody.

One of the things that becomes clear if you spend enough time around the internet is that there are people who are versed in anti-oppression discourse and people who are not. To the latter category of people, the former can seem like capricious, pretentious, self-righteous, arbitrary judges, eager to exercise their powers to declare you Unfit As A Human Being. To the former, the latter category of people can seem ignorant, rude, and selfish.

(I've found that the best way to find out what category of person you're talking to is to drop the word "privilege" and see how they react. But that's a subject for later.)

Here's the thing: everyone in Category A was once in Category B. Yes, even if they are a queer woman of color--they were probably once kind of douchey to disabled people, before they grew up and realized how society at large fucks up everybody's heads in some way or another. So, this guide is for the Category B people who don't want to be douchebags, but who don't really get what the big deal is about "privilege" and "kyriarchy" and are tired of being accused of being bigots.

You aren't Unfit As Human Beings. You just need to adjust your goggles a bit.

( The Situation )

( The Advice )

So, finished Fruits Basket. All in all, it was excruciatingly adorable and I teared up in several places (although my heart is somewhat stony, so I never actually cried).

Let's do the usual round-up of the good, the bad, and the in-between.

( Spoilers for the whole series under the cut. )

It's that time again. Guess the song from the lyrics. No cheating.

I barely even knew I had some of these. I know I could only identify about nine of them from the given lyrics alone. Outdo me, friendslist.

( musics. )

Required for Sunrise endings: explosions, tears, sparkles.

Not required: logic.

Actually, I thought it was pretty good.

( Spoilers and such. )

I was going to write a review of Inglourious Basterds, but then I realized that it can be summed up pretty easily.

The acting was great. The cinematography was great. If you like Tarantino films, you'll love it. If you hate Tarantino films, you'll hate it. If you can tolerate Tarantino films for the sake of awesome ladies, you'll at least like it.

In lieu of more detail, have a picture of Cordelia hiding under a chair I am attempting to construct.

I have acquired the first season of True Blood. After I finish Mai-HiME, that will be my next watching project.

I am up through episode 18 of Mai-HiME. Current status: my favorites are Midori (by far) and Takumi (surprise! Well, not such a surprise considering the stuff he admits in episode 17, but it was a surprise to me, at least). I am shipping Akira/Takumi like burning, loving Haruka/Yukino, highly intrigued by Midori/Nao (for no good reason, since it's not like they particularly interact much, but I really want to RP Midori against a Nao), and looking forward to seeing the crazy that goes down with Shizuru/Natsuki.

After True Blood, I will probably go back to anime lesbians with Ga-Rei Zero, since it's short.

After that, I may return to live-action TV for Nurse Jackie, because while just from what I've heard some things about it will irritate me (the usual half-assed handling of pills and addiction, in particular), I really like the idea of a show about a nurse instead of a doctor getting to be a compelling antihero for once.

However, I have four other options for either before or after that: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, Full Metal Panic (at least the first season), Terra e... (so that I can watch a genuinely good anime for once instead of a cheesy but compelling one), and Mai-Otome. So we'll see.

I have other stuff to post, including figurine/gunpla pictures and yet another rant about sexism on the internets. But for now...

Bullet point thoughts on Mai-HiME, up through episode 13, with episode 14 waiting for me downstairs. Yeah, I know: shit's about to get real.

( Snipped for spoilers. )

Note: I still have three slots left open on my last fic prompt! Claim one here. So far I've written Gundam 00 (of course), Gurren Lagann (Simon/Nia, naturally), and Final Fantasy VIII. I finally remembered to add Persona 3 and 4 to the list of canons I can probably write for, too. Hopefully by the time I finish Baccano! and Mai-HiME and do the next prompt, I'll have finished Persona 2 and be able to write for that too.

I will get my medicine tomorrow. Also, I have been finding it fairly easy to write short fic lately. So, for the first time in a long time, let's try a fic prompt.

Fandoms I can write for at the drop of a hat: Gundam 00 (obviously), Gurren Lagann, possibly Macross Frontier.

Fandoms I can give a shot: Roleplay-based stuff, Persona 3 (maybe 4?), Fruits Basket, Avatar, Deep Space 9, Babylon 5, The Wire, Gundam SEED (probably not Mwu, alas, since I still get static from having him and Lockon both in my head), Final Fantasy in general, Hellblazer, possibly Berserk. I'll do another prompt sometime after I've watched/read up on more Baccano! and finished Mai-HiME.

Ten slots are open! Pick a lyric (all taken from my shiny new musical obsessions):

1) these rules are made to break us all
2) if my heart was a compass, you'd be north
3) the purple sky, making jokes about my condition
4) you were a child who was made of glass
5) oh, I tend to disappear here and there
6) and then love pulled out the heavy artillery
7) and there is discord in the garden tonight
8) if you cut me I suppose I would bleed the colors of the evening stars
9) transfiguration's gonna come for me at last
10) and remember what we had here when there was something left to save

Give me a character, group, or pairing, plus a more concrete prompt (e.g. "dinner for three") and after I've slept, I'll see what I can do with it.