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	12:58 p.m. Sunday, May 12, 2002 ;.; My cut still hurts... But not that much really -- I'm just a baby about pain. And I'm still having the "of all the nasty, rotten luck" reaction. Whee~! Some friends of my evil twin came over last night. Actually, one of them is sort-of my friend, too. I mean, we knew each other in middle school and high school. Anyway, she came over with her partner, and we all had much fun. We 3 girls all bitch ranted about sexism and what-not. And I found out that my new friend also has a yaoi fetish. ^__^ Well, not literally, since she's not familiar with anime/manga/yaoi novels at all. Ah... the first person I've met in real life that understands! My evil twin teased that we were then instant friends for life. Ehehehe... I saw the rest of Fruits Basket. I definitely have to get the rest of the manga, too. Iyaaa... but episode 25 was painful... ...I'll say no more... ...I still feel sleepy... blah~ 05:20 p.m. Saturday, May 11, 2002 ;.; Today is not my lucky day. ;.; It started out well. I was actually in the mood to do the chores that needed to be done. Like the dishes... Everything was going just fine... Until my brother knocked the salad dressing bottle (the one we use for mixing our own vinagrette) off the drying rack... It's not so bad that it broke. We can replace it easily enough... But somehow it managed to fly just so that it's neck broke, then it flipped, and gashed my arm with a jagged edge. ;.; It isn't big, but it's wide, and deep enough... It bled profusely and now it keeps hurting. ;.; Why? What are the chances of it flying just like that? ;.; On the slightly positive side, I really like the opening song to Hellsing. Ehehe... I wouldn't go that far. ^_^ But you're welcome again. My rat-trap brain just happened to remember that someone had sent that info to the ML a while ago... One last recommendation for you, since it seems like one you'd like, is "Kaeru Basho" from the second OST. It's the instrumental (not off-vocal / karaoke) version of "Amethyst Remembrance" that plays toward the end of the Kyoto Arc... I get the impression that might be a scene you're particularly fond of... ...Kyaaaaa... Why can't my friend's ftp give me just a little more bandwidth? After all, an injured girl needs her shoujo anime! itai yo~! 10:07 p.m. Friday, May 10, 2002 Hmmm.... Hellsing doesn't seem like an anime I should like... but I do like it... Quite a bit so far... Yippee... Mirage of Blaze epsiode 4! The rest of Fruits Basket... Anime goodness... Oh... and I found an example of someone using a completely wrong word! "Emancipated" when they meant "emaciated." They're not even all that close. -.-; And the meaning is all wrong! I'd say "there went the fic," ... except it had plenty of other problems... You're welcome. That's a favorite song of mine off the OST -- nice and creepy. ...even if it's not a favorite scene from the anime... /Points to layout/ You may notice that my favorite scenes didn't make it into the anime... Anyway... As for lyrics to track 8... I don't remember exactly what they are, but someone on the ML said they were from an English poem, and posted them. Ah yes... here's the link that was posted. Oh... and my absolute favorite track is "Garasu no Kanbase" (OST 1, track 23). It's very pretty (it plays in the King of Swords arc). Okay... now I don't have to do any more good deeds for the month of May. I can beat up little kids to get good seats for the next Star Wars movie if I want... Not that I would... I may be evil, but I'm not a bully... Now back to your regularly scheduled biseinen... kyuu 10:17 p.m. Thursday, May 9, 2002 Aaahhhhhhh... Cooking went so well tonight (I didn't cook last night -- my evil twin and I take turns). I felt so happy and relaxed while I was cooking, and was quite pleased with the results. I fixed steak, corn muffins, and salad. The steak came out well with the red wine and hoisin sauce... and I sauteed the onions and mushrooms that went on top just right... And I had a really, nice, ripe tomato for the salad... Ah... it's so much nicer to not use a recipe... And I do so much better with beef. ... ...And I love the feeling of raw red meat in my hands... even more so if it's ground... ...ehehehe... Anyway, I've turned my twin brother into a Fruits Basket addict. ^__^ Aahhh... what shall I hook him on next? ... ... 10:08 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, 2002 ...I'm in maximum-leech mode. I'm soon going to have more new anime than I know what to do with... But hey, my evil twin and I are really enjoying Fruits Basket. As I predicted, Kyou is his favorite character. I like Shigure and Uo-chan, myself. Ah... and I'm laughing at more Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu episodes (as well as being addicted to the opening song... as well as both songs from Full Moon wo Sagashite). Hehe... the doctor in there makes me think of a benign, completely straight version of Muraki -- except he's not a natural platinum blond. Oh...and... I want more epsiodes of Mirage of Blaze! ...and I want to find the novels... and be able to read them... Hm...ending music to that show is pretty... good accompaniment to pretty men... although that one guy is too pretty! Actually, I can usually cook well enough. With or without a recipe. It's just this time, I had inadequate materials. It would have much easier if I had a small metal seive to skim the little bits of noodle off, so that none of them would get burnt... and if I had been able to drain the fried noodles better... And, if our apartment didn't retain smells for like, 24 hours after we make something... It's not good, because my evil twin likes to cook with garlic, and because I like to cook with fish sauce. ...And I had to agree with the comment on fish sauce in the "Southeast Asian" cookbook I picked up -- that if you can get past the horrific smell, fish sauce can be a wonderful thing. Ah...now I just need a day (and the materials) to try and make pho... Hm... we don't have a stock pot... Or maybe I should just not bother and ask my best friend when the next time is her mom's making pho... And I'm rambling... Must be too much anime, not thoroughly combatted with a new episode of West Wing... Oh, and another thing... It's quite true what you say about spelling and grammar in fanfiction (although you weren't quite as nitpicky in your rant as I might be... I mean, what about verb agreement, and consitent verb tense?)... But those aren't what bother me the most. Except for certain misspellings... Like "prey" instead of "pray." When they mean the verb "to pray" and they use the noun "prey" (I know you know -- I'm being emphatic for other people)... it annoys the hell out of me. It kills the phrase. And that gets me to my similar problem of word choice. I agree that all fanwriters should have a dictionary handy -- but not just for spelling. Writers, please make sure that the word you use means what you think it means! I can't think of an example off the top of my head, but it really grates on my Virgo nerves when someone uses a word and it doesn't mean anything close to what they think it does -- especially when it's in a crucial passage. And you should also consider the context! Just because a word has the appropriate meaning, doesn't mean it has the appropriate connotation. Using words like "boner" or "tonsil-hockey" in serious and/or romantic stories is all wrong. It's a verbal bucket of ice water... Like when a guy told a friend of mine, "You know, if we have sex tonight, I can go for a really long time, because I spanked it before I came over here." Do think about it. I like to think I have a decent vocabulary (I don't deliberately throw big words into my speech, but my oldest sister complains sometimes), but even I check my dictionary when uncertainty strikes. I am kind of anal-retentive about making certain that a word means what I want, in exactly the way I want. I even do this on emails...and blog posts... even if I don't always thoroughly proof-read them... Anyway... if I can do it for such mundane forms of writing, then I think other people can manage to do it for stories they expect other people to read. Say Leareth, shall we get digs in on proper story telling, next time. I mean, even PWP needs to have some structure, even if, by definition, it can't have plot development. ...and even those stories should have the characters acting appropriately... or else it's random smut and not truly fanfiction... I'll stop now... before I get into appropriate and consistent usage of style... good usage of POV... Oh... what the hell... Style-wise, it's like Leareth said about descriptions -- don't get carried away. Use descriptions appropriately... and figures of speech. And if you set a tone/mood for your piece with a style, then you should maintain that style... unless you're highlighting a specific passage (for a good reason) or changing the course of a story (which... actually, I've only used in gag fics... when I was trying to fool people). As for POV... Consider carefully before you write what POV you want, and what's appropriate. If you use the omniscient POV, then use it consistently. And if you use limited third person (my personal favorite), then don't randomly jump to another character's thoughts. If you want to change which character's POV it is, then do so in a separate section. ...And as for the oft-abused first person POV... Well, I use it sparingly. Why? Because, if you are writing in first person, then you have to know exactly what a character is thinking and feeling at every moment, even if you don't write all the subconscious bits. And every event has to be portrayed as seen through their eyes (you can only see and hear what they see and hear). For all intents and purposes, you have to be that character for the span of that fic, or it just does not work. It would be like a monologue delivered by an indifferent actor. It may be interesting and in all other ways correct -- but no one will belive that it's said character talking. ... Oh dear... no time now to go into plot development and characterization... Just look what you did, Leareth! Be careful around my Virgo sensibilities. Hm... and I'm in a good mood. That was actually an unemotional rant... ...I guess it's because at the moment, I want to watch more anime, but I really can't... And shouldn't... ~ 11:07 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, 2002 ...I - am - never - deep-frying - rice - stick - noodles - again! - !! At first it's kinda fun that they puff up the instant they touch the oil... That lasts until their puffing flings drips of boiling oil onto your hand ... and you realize that 8oz is a shitload of noodles to fry and skim out, all while dodging the oil... For everything required of this recipe, it took 3 hours to make... And it tasted awful!!!! ;.; ...and there was so much cleaning up I had to do after I finished eating all I could stomach. ;.; Ah... but I feel better now! I even felt better before I cleaned up! Why? ...Let's just say it's amazing what a shot of 151 rum can do for your disposition and outlook! Besides giving me a bit of alcohol, it also killed the aftertaste of the food in my mouth! And, I love the way 151 goes down all firey. Who needs a chaser? They're for wimps. Wanna feel a high? Try a shot or two of 151! =P ...In other news... I'm in merry leeching land, with a friend's ftp. More Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu... some Full Moon wo Sagashite... some Fruits Basket (which my evil twin wants to watch, since he got a look at the manga and my best friend explained the basic plot)... and lots more. Pah... I need to change... these clothes smell like deep-fried, evil noodles. sigh 08:50 p.m. Monday, May 6, 2002 I love this Garnet Crow song. It's called "Holding You, and Swinging." And Garnet Crow is a Jpop group I particularly like. Why? Because they have real instruments backing them up. And because they don't sound like every other Jpop group out there. Okay... now that I've talked about something I'm loving... rant time! First... random fandom pet peeve: Combining names. It really bugs me. Basically, it's when pairing fans combine the beginning of one character's name w/ the end of the others... I just think it sounds incredible lame. I remember I first came across it in FF8 fanfiction... And the Seifer x Quistis pairing was called "Queifer." Okay... that would sound stupid enough, even if it didn't make me think of "queef." ...which isn't at all appealing! ... And it doesn't sound any better with YamiMatsu character names... It may be irrational... but that really does bug me... ... ...and now for a specific, YamiMatsu rant! Why, oh why do YnM fic writers keep portraying Tsuzuki as an idiot?! Yes, he gets called "baka" a lot, but that doesn't mean anything. I call my evil twin baka constantly, and he's as intelligent as I am (and that's at least decent -- I mean, I have a degree ... and I don't like to go into details on my academic record...). Anyway -- Tsuzuki is not an idiot, a moron, or completely clueless. He knows how to tie his shoes, how to change a lightbulb, and the basics of color coordination. He's not a Gourry (who I prefer to call adorably clueless). He may not be highly learned, but I think he can perform basic math, and he doesn't have to think for five minutes after a simple question. And he's not completely naive either! So, in short, could people stop portraying my Tsuzuki as mentally deficient! Please! You don't do any credit to yourself as a writer (or a reader / viewer) if you write a charicature like that! It's beyond OOC -- it's character death. Okay... and I'm done ranting... I'll listen to this B'z song I really like now... And Leareth, I completely understand what you mean about your family. And I'm eager for EpII as well. ... I shushed people in the theater when the trailer came on before Spider Man. ... I don't know if I'm looking forward to the Alias season finale... ... duct tape is like the Force... it has a light side, a dark side, and it binds the universe together 12:03 p.m. Sunday, May 5, 2002 Ah... I've been lax again... Well, there's not much to say. I've been loving my new manga, especially Crystal Dragon. And I've been loving these new books I got. The Last Rune series by Mark Anthony. Very engaging characters. ...Hehehe... and I thought my yaoi-sense was just getting carried away, and leading me astray... But no, I was right about that character. ^__^ ...Too bad at the moment I'm going: "No, no, no! It was a misunderstanding! He didn't mean it that way! NO!" ... Like I said, they're engaging characters. Ho-hum... saw the first 2 episodes of Full Moon wo Sagashite and it's cute! I want the manga.. only I don't know if any tankouban have been released yet... Hm...and it seems some people don't like the voices, but I do. I like that Mitsuki doesn't have a high-pitched, super-girly, stereotypical shoujo heroine voice. Hehe... and the shinigami in this series are cute. And they turn into cute little animals! ...and I have Mitsuki's doctor for a nice biseinen. ^__^ ... It's just that... now I get strange images of Tsuzuki and Hisoka introducing themselves to people as the shinigami duo "negi ramen!" Ehehehe... Oh, and I saw the Spider Man movie on Friday! I loved it! The casting was perfect (for the script at least -- the only thing I know about the comic is that it's a Marvel comic). And Danny Elfman did the music, yay! And, having Sam Raimi directing makes you look for certain cameos... I had read that Lucy Lawless had a cameo, so I was the only one who spotted her in the movie ^_^. And I saw Bruce Campbell (yay!)... And of course, Ted Raimi was there... playing another "kick-me"-type character. So... I'm hoping they do make a sequel... and that Danny Elfman does the music for that one, too. ...writing... what's that? squeak
Profile: Name: Nezumi or Rat-chan Birthday: August 30th Degree: BA in Anthropology Hobbies: Reading, writing, listening to music, hiking, anime, manga, video games, DDR... Addictions: Strawberry Haichuu, tea, milk, Pocky, strawberry Crush, Star Wars People I want my evil twin to kidnap for me: Ewan MacGregor, Brendan Fraser, Alexei Yagudin, Hugh Jackman, and any guy with naturally violet eyes... -Some Favorites- Manga: A.I. Revolution, Akazukin ChaCha, Cantarella, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, KareKano, Time Stranger Kyoko, Trigun/Maximum, Yami no Matsuei Anime: Akazukin ChaCha, Cowboy Bebop, Fushigi Yuugi, Kodomo no Omocha, Mahoujin Guru Guru, Marmalade Boy, Noir, Slayers, Trigun Authors: Patricia A. McKillip, Guy Gavriel Kay, Brian Jaques, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Reginald Hill TV shows: 24, Alias, Babylon 5, Farscape, West Wing Music: A bit of just about everything...		Links: Other blogs: Leareth Tasia Sites: Strange Candy Sluggy Freelance Behold the Void Clover Petals Tatsumi x Tsuzuki Mailing List
Credits: Layout by: Me - Nezumi (you know, the silly rat woman) -- Space provided by Pitas. Pictures are from the Yami no Matsuei manga by Matsushita Yoko (Tatsumi + Tsuzuki!! Volume 5!!)