Random fandom tidbits and fic writing meme of doom.

[nenena]

So yeah, I haven't had any chance to play the Ah! My Goddess game this weekend, due to my house being ripped apart and me living in a hotel. And I'm stuck in the hotel for the remainder of this week, which is lame, but whatever. I'm grateful to be getting a flushing toilet installed and to have the school board pay for it (the toilet, not my hotel fees, unfortunately), so I shouldn't complain. For the record, I HAVE finished half of the Past Zone (i.e., the Urd Zone). I want to double-check some translation bits, and then I'll be able to make another post about the game.

And this week, I finally - finally! - got Paypal to recognize my Japanese bank account. Which means that I can now accept Paypal payments. Which means that I can start selling off the gigantic piles of crap that have been accumulating in my apartment this year. Particularly, I have 20-some Suzumiya Haruhi Figumate figures to get rid off. Yep, I had to buy thirty of them before I got a complete set of the original seven. When they say that cosplay!Yuki is rare, they're not kidding. Anyway, I only want to keep one complete set, so I'm selling the rest. I also have piles of magazine furoku and stuff, too. Some of it is pretty cool. But now I'm torn whether to sell all of this crap NOW and deal with the stress of it when I have a million other things on my plate... Or to wait until May when things calm down more. The thing is, my family is coming to visit me in April, and I am more than slightly embarassed to have an apartment filled with nerdy anime collectibles, most of which - for the record - I got for free, I never wanted, and I have no intention of keeping.

Well, before the orgy of selling begins, here's a little something for free, courtesy of sakuraxsyaoran:

Tainaka Sachi: Symphony of Fate

Sachi Tainaka's debut album (not counting her previous singles) Dear... includes this kick-ass orchestral remix of the two Fate/Stay Night opening themes, "Disillusion" and "Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni". Am pimping because this music is simply awesome, even if you have no interest in Fate/Stay Night whatsoever.

Oh, and Fate/Stay Night Realta Nua? Has now officially been pushed back to an April 19th release date. That makes this the third delayed release date since the original December date got pushed back. And BTW, Amazon.co.jp is still telling me that my copy is expected to ship on January 31st. ;)

The other day I was at Heiando and saw a huge display advertising the DVD release of Yoru no Picnic. The lead actress looked veeeery familiar to me, and after a moment of thought I remembered who it was. Oh hey, it's Kou Yaten!!! Well, she's doing well for herself. I think that Tabe Mikako has officially crossed the threshold into Famous Movie Starlet, which is great for her. Yays. Now I want to see this movie just because it has Tabe Mikako in it. I may have to rent the DVD one of these days.

Finally, stolen from ruuger: The FIC WRITING MEME. Yes, this in a post in which I just complained that I'm totally not a nerdy anime dork. Nope, totally not. Not a dork, not me!



Keyboard or notebook?

Keyboard, definitely. I used to print out drafts of my fics and note/revise them by hand, but once I started getting really wordy, I decided that saving trees was the better way to go. I also carry around a small notebook and/or notepad to write down notes to myself as they pop into my head, but I don't really write out actual narration or dialogue by hand.

This year, however, I am going to have to resort to writing by hand while I'm traveling. To keep up with my 365writing resolution, of course.

Beta or no beta?

For a long time, no beta. I had a volunteer beta who jumped in halfway through "Ordinary Miracles" to help me with my Britishisms. (Who knew that "shitting bricks" could mean something completely different across the pond?) For the current project, there will be betas. There NEED to be betas. I especially need a beta who identifies with the beliefs/culture that I am shamelessly co-opting. But right now that's neither here nor there, as I am a long way from having anything finished enough to beta.

Plot?

My fics have plot. They have long convoluted wordy plots. When I started writing Sailor Moon fanfic I was able to churn out an evocative/introspective piece or two, but since then I haven't.

Smushy or smutty?

Both!

Summary?

I SUCK at writing summaries, both for my own fics and others.

Funniest fic?

Intentionally funny or unintentionally funny? Because, er....

Most popular fic?

"The Awakenings of Tsukino Chibi-Usa." Every now and then I still lurk at the moonromance.net boards and yeah, it's still getting recced. And that makes my ego inflate in a warm, fluffy way. And that was the one fic that I got the most and best feedback for. That was the fic where His Lordship Chaos personally emailed me and told me that I was awesome, which, for me, was like the equivalent of getting an email from Stephen King himself telling me that he liked my writing. As in, I could have died happily in that moment. That fic was also chosen to be included in The Best Sailor Moon Fanfiction on the Net, which was also a personal milestone for me. But then the website stopped updating and they never got around to posting my fic. Argh. I still argh over that, as selfish as it may seem. Sailor Moon was my first *active* fandom and for the longest time I kept TBSMFotN in my head as a goal to strive for... Then I finally reached that goal, but then... Argh again.

Most fun to write?

The current project, hands down. Also some sections of the never-finished "Kinmokusei Story" sequel were quite fun to write. Mostly a long and extended sequence where Fighter just pwned everybody with excessive pwnage. Also a sequence where Hideaki managed to do something incredibly heroic and yet be completely dorktastic in the execution. That was great fun to write.

I think what I've figured out is that certain characters are very fun to write. I.E., I love Seiya/Yaten/Taiki and they're always fun to write, especially together - they have such a great dynamic with each other. The reason that I wrote a Good Omens fic is because I thought it would be fun to write Crowley and Aziraphale, again, because they're great characters, it's not hard for me to get into the "voice" of the characters, and they have a great dynamic with each other. And it turns out, it WAS fun.

Best and worst?

Best: Okay, I'm most proud of "Ordinary Miracles."

Worst: I'm not going to name it. It was an Escaflowne fic. It was about a Mary Sue that Dilandau fell in love with. I know. Shoot me now. It's still out there if you know where to find it, and not particularly well-hidden either. But don't ask me to point you to it.

Most underrated?

"Ordinary Miracles." Insert grumbling about nobody-having-the-patience-to-read-more-than-a-drabble here. I think only three people on the interwebs read it in its entirety.

Strengths?

Characterization, and being able to pre-plan long and complicated stories.

Weaknesses?

TL;DRness. Wanting to write in too many scenes showcasing too many characters in an already overlong epic fic. (*cough*) Not being able to seriously edit or cut down my own writing. Really bad at executing information-dumping. Difficulty ending scenes, making transitions, and showing the passage of time.

Dirty little secrets?

I'm going to burn in hell for the current project.


And now I leave you with this:

How To Be a Writer in Ten Easy Steps. IT TOTALLY WORKS YOU GUYS.

Comments

[atelierjoh.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks for the links!

I had no idea you wrote fics. Reminds me of the days I wrote Sailormoon fanfiction. (and for a series full of canon Mary Sues, the fandom sure is anal about fan-made Mary Sues...)

Here's hoping that you can get back into your house sooner than later!

[(Anonymous)]

entirely out of context - what does kotetsu mean?

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Hey yous! I answered your email, I hope I didn't just reveal myself to be too big of a dork. ;)

Ordinary Miracles

[liraniel.livejournal.com]

I was googling around to see if you had written any Good Omens fic lately and I found this post (I know it's an old post, but I'd feel weird trawling through your journal, even reading one post makes me feel bad as it is) and you've said you think only three people have read Ordinary Miracles and if this number is true then I know four of them.

Lots of 'ands'. I know, I'm not a writer. I'm a reader. And I read Ordinary Miracles. And if you have done more fic like that (ie: Good Omens fandom) then I will read that too, because you're pretty awesome.

Sorry I haven't put a lot of thought into this before sending it.

Re: Ordinary Miracles

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Thank you for such a lovely comment! ^__^

I haven't done any Good Omens fic other than Ordinary Miracles, but I'm very flattered to hear that you would like to read more. Er, sorry to disappoint. ^^;;

Anyway, thank you again for this wonderful comment!