FFS I AM NOW TWENTY ONE, GUYS

Also a belated happy birthday to kovaa. You were always the one who knew best that the first sky is inside us, that it is open at both ends. I hope wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you are fastening one heart to every falling thing. ♥

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I know I never end up writing all of these anyway, but I'm at a dead end with everything I'm supposed to be working on, re: writing. So: throw me a drabble prompt. Anything. Everything. I can't promise you I'll get to it but hey, who knows?

( completed drabbles. )

Power's out in my dorm. CHALLENGE: WRITE SHOCKING LA FOULE FIC BEFORE THE POWER COMES BACK ON. yessss.

ain't nobody's fault but my own
kyouya/eclair (grudgefuck). la_foule-'verse. the one where someone gets pregnant and it's not kyouya. 2000+ words. PG for sexual content (OBVS.)

( i regret nothing. )

KYOANI, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON. THE PHRASE "ENDLESS EIGHT" IS JUST A METAPHOR. ( give us a break already!! )

Sigh.

Here, have a picture of Kyon being the SOS-Dan!Papa.



YEAH!! all better now. ♥

The Rules:

1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter. (If you want a letter, just say so.)
2. List (and upload/link) 5 (or more if you want) songs that begin with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

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petronia: Let's go with something a bit difficult - V.

Which sounds like it would be difficult, if I didn't already know that one of them would have to be "Vinternoll2", by Kent. XD ( +10 others. )

edit: links now fixed.

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HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, EVERYONE. You know what V stands for? THAT'S RIGHT. VINDICATION. TAKE THAT, ENGLAND.

Er.

OKAY. I've been rereading the Antique Bakery series, and suddenly I realized something.

The timeline doesn't work out. ( cue Cathy having too much time on her hands. )

Skip to 5 minutes into the video for "Cube". Kalmia is good and all, but wtf ever, it doesn't match up to the bassline on "Cube", which just plods on like nothing in the world could ever stop it, or the way the opening verses lull you into a sense of calm before just ripping loose with a chorus, or the way his voice just breaks through after the pause before the chorus, or the crazy way the instrumentals just wail on heedless of the actual melody. Oh Gackt, sometimes I think you're just going to STAY A JOKE FOREVER AND EVER (h/t to Sabina), but then I remember how much I still love you, even when I don't want to.

Which is all to say, hey, has anyone ever written a Vampire Lestat crossover with Gackt? I'll take anything right now. Even stories where they're in jail with SUPER JUNIOR and they escape with Hyde to go to the beaches. In South America. Or something.

-- I AM STILL IN MY PAJAMAS WATCHING ESPN GAMECAST LIVE COMMENTARY ON THE US VS BRAZIL GAME

FUCK YOU ESPN I DON'T EVEN WATCH SOCCER

BUT:

"Amazing pass from Elano to Ales, but his touch was poor. Perhaps he'd be less cumbersome were he not dressed for a cold day on Pluto."

"Melo, with very little on, shoots from distance, wide of the left-hand post."

WHAT THE HELL HOW IS THIS SO ENTERTAINING. SOMEONE SAVE ME, QUICK.

SHIT SHIT BRAZIL JUST SCORED!

ALSO THE NEW EPISODE OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA IS OUT, I HAVE TIRAMISU IN MY FRIDGE, MY STOMACHACHE IS GONE, SOMEONE WROTE A CHILDREN'S BOOK WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FOR RBR, AND--

TODAY IS THE BEST DAY EVER.

SERIOUSLY. EVER.

Is my Japanese-to-English part of the brain addled, or is this (1) not exactly the appropriate translation of "kono yaro", (2) not something that Kyon would say, and (3) kind of...uncomfortably and unnecessarily hostile?

Or is this a "lol sensitive" thing, because I tend to try not to hang around people who throw "fag" around as an alternative to "bastard" or "asshole"? If you saw a typical Japanese male high schooler and he called someone "kono yaro", would you translate it in your head as "you fag"?

H/T to zauberer_sirin for the head's up.

THE ANONYMOUS WRITING FEEDBACK MEME

I actually don't have a thread there-- it's just that I've been reading through some of the earlier threads and man, I wish I were a prolific writer again. I also wish I knew someone on that meme too, hahaha. So far it's 24 pages and I don't think I've read a fic by a single one of these authors! But since it seems like it started in JE and then branched off, that makes sense. ~Anyway~. Go. Comment if you know any of them! Leave a link if you've decided to subject yourself, ho ho ho.

1. Guess who just saw the Star Trek movie! ( no prizes for getting it right. )

From melannen's post on the new Star Trek movie:

Chekov's ethnicity was relevant not because he had a silly accent, but because they put someone we were fighting an ideological war against on the bridge of Earth's flagship. You missed your chance to put in Pakistani or Iranian bridge crew, to sit with everyone else and face the universe. (Possibly a female one! Imagine a character who wares a modest version of TOS female uniform! Would that not have been the rockingest thing ever?)

Put like that, I totally agree. ;_; That would have been rocking.

Also from the comments on naraht's post on Star Trek:

I had much the same thoughts, so I am now completely living in the world where Kirk only has temporary command of Enterprise, while it's in spacedock for repairs and modifications to the captain's cabin and station, and while Pike is learning to use assistive tech.* And trying to decide if I actually do have enough background to write that story.

This is exactly how I'm taking it, because there's no way that Kirk's commanding that ship and representing the Federation all over the galaxy by himself at his age and maturity level. I'm twenty-three and never watched TOS so I did take Pike's wheelchair to be a temporary thing before Starfleet's best doctors worked their medical Starfleet magic and figured out assistive aids for whatever isn't repairable.

A++ CANON BYPASS. ♥

---

2. I just spent all afternoon reading the lamest Wikipedia edit wars and let me tell you, these make Mr. "I wrote 80,000 words demanding J. K. Rowling pander to my tastes" sound sane. Edit wars over what to call Mozart's ass? People arguing grammatical correctness on a Red Hot Chili Peppers page? Members of micronations yelling at each other on the micronation page? BRING 'EM ON. Perhaps the most hilarious for me is the controversy over calling the Sea of Japan "Sea of Japan". There is even a page about the ambiguity that has FOUR ARCHIVES and this exchange:

Aotearoa: If anyone knows what is the position of Russia on this issue? Russia also lies on this sea, so the change of name without its consent is rather impossible.

TokyoJapan: Living right next to the Russian-speaking sphere of culture, I can say that they are not concerned by this somewhat unproductive issue at all. For example, Geophysics Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences calls it solely "японское море" <http://www.wdcb.rssi.ru/sep/lithosphere/Japan_Sea/japsea.ru.html>. They also seem to use the term японскaя котловинa(Japan Trench).

GUYS WHERE IS MY HETALIA STRIP ON THIS.

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3. Expect super long post tomorrow with manga reviews. TRUFAX I LOVE THE SUMMER

1. I got a haircut! It is a short straight bob. I was not entirely sure about getting it cut but right before I left Mr. Law Professor told me how he always whines at his fiancée to not cut her hair because he thinks girls should have long hair.

So I made up my mind, partially out of spite, and I don't regret it a bit. ( a photo! )

Also I had lunch with Bing on Saturday. We went to Bub's and then to the library where she checked out four volumes of Blue Monday and I rented Labyrinth and Look Back in Anger. And then I threw Otomen v.1 and 2 at her, and I made her watch Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill. At the last moment we started talking about Hetalia, so I didn't get to force her to watch 16 episodes of Germany and Italy being gay together. A SHAME.

2. Bing and I are going to see Star Trek tomorrow. Therefore, I must share with all of you: Vulcan Pick-Up Lines, from the kinkmeme. My favorite so far is "Would it be permissible for me inquire whether you originally resided in a state in the "Southern" region of twenty-first-century America, Cadet Uhura? The matter is of some interest to me, as I believe I would rank you alone at the top of an arbitrarily defined ten-point scale."

3. On this completely unrelated note, it is now time for MY LONG AND POINTLESS THOUGHTS ABOUT GANKUTSUOU.

( yeah, yeah, so late to the game, boo-hoo cry more tl;dr. some spoilers. )

SO IN CONCLUSION: You should watch the series, because despite the slow start to the series, it's super good, and super melodramatic, and Franz and Albert's story is ridic sad and romantic, and even if you loved the source material to pieces like I did, there's still plenty of surprises and guys, guys, I just want someone to cry with me about Franz, okay.

---

And then after finishing 24 episodes of that... I watched all 24 episodes of Junjou Romantica I/II.

(  MY THOUGHTS ON YAOI, LET ME TELL YOU THEM. They are... pretty tl;dr too. spoilers here too. )

SO IN CONCLUSION: idk Junjou Romantica was not my favorite bl series to begin with, but it beats, say, having to watch 24 episodes of Okane Ga Nai and vomiting.

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Help me decide which complete series I should watch next while I fail my LSATs! My choices are:

(1) Gundam Seed
(2) Last Exile
(3) Dennou Coil
(4) Rahxephon
(5) Overdrive
(6) Kimagure Orange Road
(7) Simoun
(8) none of the above, your time is better wasted watching ___________ (please fill in the blank)
(9) Shut up and leave me alone! (;_;)

This is old news, but Ai no Kusabi is scheduled for a 13 episode remake in the fall of 2009.

'Scuse me, I'll just be over here, not looking at Riki's nonexistent shirt.

(Keep in mind that the same company who did the original OVA (AIC) is the one who is running the remake. Which probably explains why it looks so similar, even down to the trailer, which seems to rehash some scenes that are close to identical to the nineties version, all the way down to the disturbing articulation of EVERY SINGLE ONE OF RIKI'S TORSO MUSCLES.)

Help me out, guys.

How many of you are switching over to Dreamwidth? If so, are you doing it exclusively, semi-exclusively, or just cross-posting?

♥,
-C.

"Over and above their rivalries and their ententes, for nearly a thousand years France and England have exercised upon each other a reciprocal attraction, almost a fascination. The evolution of their history, institutions and literature has been, for leading intellectuals of the two countries, a constant object of contemplation, of study, and if-- if one may say so-- of delight."

Excellent, Seven Ages of Paris. I see you and I shall be fast friends.

Digging through my bookshelf at home has been interesting, to say the least. I admit to having no fucking clue why I bought The Boys of the Archangel Raphael: A Youth Confraternity in Florence, 1411-1785 by Konrad Eisenbichler (NO SERIOUSLY, WTF??). What cracks me up about this the most is reading this review of it by someone from the University of Glasgow:

"The long anticipated appearance of this work is greatly welcomed by those of us who have known Konrad Eisenbichler's work and earlier publications, especially on the contribution of the Archangel Raphael fraternity (and other youth confraternities) to Florentine theater. "

Er, of course. Long anticipated. Now if only I could remember what, exactly, I bought it for....

Lengthy, pointless, and amateurish research into things like late 19th century Chinese importation of English and WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THERE WAS A CHINESE SOVIET REPUBLIC and lololol 1950s English/American diplomacy has made me crack open the still unread books about history that I bought ages ago. While Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Culture by John Bryan Starr bored me to absolute tears (to the point where I never moved on from the first chapter, "Geographical Inequalities"), We Wrecked the Place by Jonathan Stevenson on the Troubles is fan-fucking-tastic (especially because it was written at a time when everyone believed the Troubles to be over during the ceasefire). I've yet to re-start The IRA by Tim Pat Coogan and reviews of Japan: A Reinterpretation by Patrick Smith lead me to believe I should only read the first two chapters.

I also realize that I apparently have the J. M. Cohen translation of Don Quixote but never bothered even cracking the spine, acquired Stephen Longstreet's We All Went to Paris: Americans in Paris 1776-1971 sometime somewhere, am trying to remember when exactly I stole The Call of the Wild and White Fang from my middle school library (which is especially odd because I loathe Jack London), and did I bother even opening How to Mutate and Take Over the World before I bought it? No? Then maybe that's why I bought a cheap rip-off of House of Leaves that reads like the discarded ramblings of Neal Stephenson after he's been clocked over the head with textfiles.com.

Your 'self' is no longer confined to your physical body. Rather, it's the interface between your mind, your PSY in cybernetic theory, and the outside world, the PHI. It's a morphing intersection, the points at which you process information from the outside world. For instance, thru telepresence your 'self' can be moved outside of your body and into a robotic apparatus, your sense located and extended thru wires and cameras. Cyberspace becomes a new sensorium, an array of inputs and outputs to and from your mind.

...

Date: Oct 7. 1998
From: stjude@root.bodhi.tree
To: rusirius@well.com
Subject: Ken, you fuckwit

o christ, ken, you've advanced from pomo to psycho. trudy will not buy this excrement shit. She's not an idiot. She's gonna tell you you're off your nut.

...this ain't post modernist. This is desperation!

Somehow I thought that a book co-written by "the first identified female hacker and the inventor of the term 'cypherpunk'" would be... less Fandom-Wank-wrote-a-book-with-Fark.com, more Cryptonomicon.

Gacked from going through arboretum's older entries. ♥ I was trying to clean out my writing folder. Oh my god, so much random stuff.

Post a single sentence from each WIP you have (or as many as you want to pick). No context, no explanations. No more than one sentence.

( a total of 21. )

Gizmodo linked to "Stand By Me", but Playing for Change: Song Around the World's rendition of "One Love" makes me cry the most. Apparently the CD is being sold at participating Starbucks, so if you feel like doing a little for the Playing for Change organization, here's an easy way to do it. The music is beautiful, and their message/purpose is even more so. I think my favorite musician from the video has to be the awesome drums Surrendra Shrestha in Kathmandu, Nepal, plays.

I bought the CD today, and the rest of the songs are just as enjoyable. I do wish they did some more non-American/English language songs, though I understand why Bob Marley is irresistible for a project like this. The one non-English language song is 'Chanda Mama' (which, according to the CD pamphlet, is a folk tune from Chennai, India) and I actually think it's my favorite off the CD. It starts off strangely like French bistro music and then journeys off into this wonderful mash of instruments and voices and guitars and choirs that is incredibly bright and sunny and welcoming.



Part of the profits of Playing for Change will go to the Playing for Change Foundation, which helps build and connect with music programs around the world. No, it's not entirely nonprofit or philanthropic. But it's a start. And the CD is pretty awesome, no lie.