One Piece Spoilers = OMG WHUT! If they're true...ODA WHAT ARE YOU UP TO WITH MY FAVORITE MARIMO? AND WILL PEOPLE FIND OUT ABOUT 485? AND REMEMBER, SELF, THAT ODA IS NOT ABOUT TO DO ANYTHING PERMANENT (like kill) TO ONE OF HIS MOST POPULAR CHARACTERS.

Commence freak out now while I wait for the chapter.

PS: de Certeau is mindnumbing and insanely fascinating AT THE SAME TIME! The dichotomy is going to kill me.

PSS: Why don't I have an icon of Zoro being all smexy by himself aside from this one?

PPSS: I don't know whether to be happy, sad, proud, or what. And does taking this meme make me even MORE conventional? XD Considering that I don't do too many, I suppose not.

So, dethorats, your LiveJournal reveals...

You are... 8% unique (blame, for example, your interest in trackstar!) and 5% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy yaoi). When it comes to friends you are popular. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are wary of trusting strangers. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is conventional.

Your overall weirdness is: 48

(The average level of weirdness is: 28.
You are weirder than 87% of other LJers.)

Find out what your weirdness level is!

So, reading my French theory book about consumers and their 'use' of culture. It's dense and obtuse but also, I must reluctantly admit, as fascinating as Foucault (that bastard) was. I came across this passage and it immediately brought to mind fanfiction and other online fannish activities so I figured I'd share it.

From Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life trans. from the French:

He (the reader) insinuates into another's text the ruses of pleasure and appropriation: he poaches on it, is transported by it, pluarlizes himself in it like the internal rumblings of one's body. Ruse, metaphor, arrangement, this production is also an "invention" of the memory. Words become the outlet or product of silent histories. The readable transforms itself into the memorable: Barthes reads Proust in Stendhal's text; the viewer reads the landscape of his childhood in the evening news. The thin film of writing becomes a movement of strata, a play of spaces. A different world (the reader's) slips into the author's place.

Interesting, eh? I think this is exactly what we all do in fandom and de Certeau's argument is that this act of "poaching" or of "renting" space in culture is how the common man deals with and usurps or tricks the imposed burdens of society into giving him freedom in a form not foreseen. Blah, the book is indeed intriguing but the language...ugh, can we say forest of verbiage with references designed to make me tear my hair out? YES! Ah well. At least we won't be doing TOO much with the book beyond the pratical application of de Certeau's concepts.

( And because I was tagged, have some memes )

Random Lameness: God my creativity is shot to hell. To make up for my lazy slacking, I'm doing one of those 5x things this week, w/ a 2k minimum per thing. Hopefully that will help. The obnoxious thing is, I know that as soon as class gets underway, I'll want to do nothing but write but then I won't have the time. Orz.

Also watched all of xxxHolic Kei (Nakai's voice is just...*shivers in the good way*) and the 1st episode and special of DMC. Yeah, basically I've been wasting time instead of being productive.


Addendum: BUSY ME in the next month or two -

8/28 – Sonata Arctica – doors at 6:30
8/29 – Tom and Pam’s
9/2 – Back to School - Class Schedule: MWF 9-9:50 Jap101 Review; TuTh 9:30-10:45 Jap101 Review; Tu 3:30-6:30 Hist600; Wed 3:30-6:30 Hist890: Whenever Hist 790 - Thesis Independent Work
9/5-9/7 – CGSSS
9/5-9/14 – York Fair
9/12-9/20 – Great Frederick Fair
9/13-9/14 – Scottish Weekend at RenFest
9/27-9/28 – Baltimore Comic Convention - Oh Noes
9/27-9/28 – Pirate Weekend at RenFest - What Shall It Be?
10/4-10/5 – Oktoberfest at RenFest
10/10-10/12 – AUSA
10/16 - Kamelot
10/18-10/19 – Chivalry Weekend at RenFest

So...textbooks arrived 3 days early. I am excited about "This Republic of Suffering" because, well, it's a topic that is near and somewhat dear to me. I live in what could be called one of the crossroads of the American Civil War and let me tell you, there isn't a whole hell of a lot I don't know about it at this point in my life. But it's always fun to learn new things and this book promises that. Along with a shitload of brutality!

On the other hand, de Certeau's book has...

A WHOLE CHAPTER DEDICATED TO THAT FUCKER FOUCAULT!

I KNEW IT! Le sigh...At least I know what the man's about this time so I won't feel so stupidly clueless. ORZ. What's with the French theoretical influence, people? Seriously.

I almost want to make a Shatner icon with 'Foucault' as the text in place of 'Khan' just for the lulz.

Edit: Because I was egged on:


Default grad school icon, Y/Y?

Okay first of all:

One Piece 511

asdfalkj;lkj;fdasjlk;

Oda, you....I'm glad we know the last panel but the drama is still going to kill me! And I can't tell from the trans but it looks as if Brooke confessed to Zoro that he knew about the events of 485. And the ZoSopp and LuZo moments....XD fangirl overload.

Although am I the only one who saw Sentomarou and went...wait...that's a dude, right?


Second of all:

survived three different things at the DMV in less than an hour and a half. Color me impressed

Third:

Venture Brothers and Metalocalypse to watch tonight. Both will be made of epic awesome win

Fourth:

I've been bored and lazy all week but now that I have pirate boxers, perhaps I'll be motivated to get shit done? We'll see.

Fifth:

Ugh, I have to read my two books before class even starts. And one's by some french guy. Failure pile, sadness bowl. It'll probably be Foucault all over again.

Sixth:

I'm done now.


Edit: Snakes 'n' Barrels 2 - the only thing missing was the fake beard. Holy fucking SHIT! Drama! Cherry Pie! BJs! Ikea! What will happen next? Are the predictions from Dethdad coming true?

So, Otakon 2008 was AWESOME! I had a wonderful time and, like always, the best parts were seeing people I don't get to very often and buying lots of One Piece crap. sherriaisling and sherrymarie tolerated myself and Brian (along with Pam and that dude whose name I already forgot because I am a terrible person) and so I can't complain. XD What do the zosopp mods do when they get together? Plot things for the community and then spend most of the rest of the time watching Metalocalypse. Orz.

I also had a marvelous, if brief, time interacting with chibi_trillian, ladykarasu (who was kidnapped and forcibly held at my home for several days after the con), s1ncer1ty, and her very tall man. And I bumped into the marvelous vampire_otaku and the talented and amazing luco_millian and got to see a variety of talented One Piece cosplayers as well. Also randomly bumped into Dylan and Zach 1 again and had the joy of bitching about my brother and his lame-itude. XD They want to cosplay again and, seeing as how most of my Alabasta and Skypiea stuff IS sized for them...maybe it'll be a re-do year in part for 2009. Then again it'll have been 5 years since the last time we did a big Alabasta group so perhaps a revival IS in order. So yeah, got to see nearly everyone that I wanted that I expected to be there excepting The Dude! and treyvadi thanks to mutual cell phone disfunction.

As for the One Piece swag...HOLY BUDDHA! After a 2-year drought, this year was like a goddamn smorgasboard. All 3 of the chibi POPs are mine, as is a very nifty shop sign, a Chopper chupa chup, a split half of the Thriller Bark gashapon series, 3 more gashapon from the other current series, 2 ZiRush doujinshi, several hentai doujinshi, a Soge King key chain, a Chopper hat because goddamnit I've always wanted one, 2 shitajiki from the Chopperman short, and I think there might be a few more little things but I can't remember what. Saw some other items that I either already had or opted to pass on. And the Soge King P.O.P. I was after sold out too quickly for me so I just came home and ordered it off the internet instead. So yes, my lust for One Piece crap was finally sated. It felt quite nice to be satisfied in a dealers' room once again. Two years of One Piece wasteland at every other con I went to finally ending. I don't know whether to thank Funimation or the 10th anniversary or both but I am damn grateful. I also scored some GORGEOUS fanart by Luco and several other artist alley folk, along with a delightful set of Metalocalypse pins and a cracked out drawing of Dethklok as soul reapers from Bleach. Very delightful and I am looking forward to finding places for all of it somehow.

Now then, the other highlight of the convention for me was Yamaguchi Kippei. I made it to the Friday panel and then ended up squeaking in for an autograph on Saturday (although at the expense of seeing that day's panel). The man is ADORABLE. I just wanted to squish him. I think the best part for me was how genuinely EXCITED he seems to be about being Usopp and how much he likes One Piece. Plus, as an older person, it's kinda freaky to think about the fact that he's RANMA for crap's sake. It's mindblowing. Anyway, had him sign my Usobadaban shitajiki and did regret not bringing that cosplay along after all. I think he would have gotten a kick out of it. So yeah, here's someone's YouTube video from Saturday when he sang the Soge King theme song while I was stuck in an epic line.



( And finally! Cosplay pictures! )

We got to keep Sherri for a week and hit up: Downtown Frederick, Ikea, Philadelphia (to hang out with Sherry and see the Real Pirates exhibit at the Franklin Institute), the beach (Delaware Nat'l. Seashore for swimming and Rehoboth for the boardwalk), and my couch before we finally relinquished her on Saturday. It was a whirlwind of a vacation but it was a hell of a lot of fun. And that's why I didn't touch a computer either. Not any time in between traveling and pirates and One Piece and Metalocalypse.

All in all, I'd have to call the past ten or so days quite the success and it was a nice treat to have with school looming in just 2 weeks. XD Last minute fic cramming, here I come.

Well, after being off the internets minus one or two very quick email type things since over a week ago, all I have to say is that you people have been very busy. Holy fuck is there a lot to catch up on and I will probably fail at that.

Otakon and vacation post were going to come tonight but I ended up spending my first night back at work after five glorious days off attending to idiots and, no lie, a very drunk, loud, NAKED fat lady and had to call the police for the first time in my 3+ years as a night auditor. So yeah...energy to post about fun things (and the time to do so) is lacking at the moment. Maybe tonight since Sunday is nice and dead normally.

In other news:

Happy Birthday scribe_protra!!!

I would love to take your fic request! I ALWAYS get to birthday fics although admittedly it takes me forever. But I DO write them and I'd be happy to write one for you.

Also, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to anyone else I might have missed between 8/6 and 8/16. I hope you had a lovely day.

And in closing, if there's something important for me to know, point me in the right direction! Otherwise, I will be catching up to comments/emails over the next night or two and hopefully reading and commenting as appropriate elsewhere.

As for sherriaisling, ladykarasu, and sherrymarie, rooming with you all in our various capacities was splendid as always and I want to say THANK YOU again for making my vacation spectacular and full of fun and One Piece and pirate love and of good booze, if not of very much sleep.

Cosplay has eaten my soul and most of my time. Orz.

Random ficlet is completely random.

Title: Monument
Rating: G
Pairing: None (ZoSopp in the faintest possible way)
Word Count: 1330

( Spoilers Through Chapter 489 )

I haven't really been online at all since I've been welded to my glue gun and sewing machine so if there's something important I should see/read/know, poke me and I'll get to it. I am checking my email periodically but that's about it.

So, ten days of antibiotics. (Or rather, 5 days of Z-Pak and another 5 days of it allegedly being in my blood and working). Guess what came back on day 9?

Mother fucking swollen lymph nodes but now under the OTHER arm and even more sore. What the fuck!?! I had some blood work done and that came back normal. I don't have mono or strep...just tiredness (that is probably from my extreme lack of sleep thanks to...I dunno...I just haven't been able to sleep lately), a stubborn cough, and these goddamn LUMPS of lymph nodes that hurt like bitches. This is beginning to really piss me off. I suppose I'll have to call the doctor tomorrow and see what she says. I mean...this lymph node issue isn't normal...at least it isn't really normal for me. Sigh.

On the other hand, I've made fairly decent cosplay progress thanks to doing nothing but after I get up and pretty much all last night at work. *fingers crossed* I hope to actually have it all finished before Otakon!

Orz, and I wrote a lame drabble that is late and too long anyway.

OPY100 Topic: Nude Beach
Pairing: Vauge S/B/M
Rating: G (fail! unless nudity ups the rating but I doubt it)
Word Count: 384

( Read more... )

Bah...I hope it's just general malaise and cosplay stress that's wearing on me. I've just felt so unproductive lately that I haven't wanted to do anything or even touch the interwebs. Maybe if I get some sleep and finish some of the remaining big things this weekend...

Ugh, for some reason intensive cosplay work saps my creative energy for absolutely everything else. With Otakon ten days away, I'm in the crazy home stretch andall I do is work on it all evening. Hell, I spent 15 hours on that Nami dress over the weekend. I just hate how I get to work and have NO ideas at all for writing. Just...none. Drained would be the word for it.

Nevertheless, I made myself write something this morning. It's...rough and lame and repetitive and I don't think I was as clear as I wanted to be. Still, it says what I think Zoro meant (in a vaguely shippy but not really way) by his words and actions in 483-485. But goddamn is it lame. I'm going to have to try this again later and make it less full of suck. I mean, the awesomeness of the chapters alone demands it.

Title: For The Captain
Pairing: ZoLu if you want to see it that way
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1910

( Intentions )

Some memes that are making the rounds...

The Smut Writer's Meme: Name a pairing that I know, in either current fandoms or prior, and ask me a question. I'll tell you anything you want to know about their sex lives from my own personal fanon.



Throw me a fandom and I shall respond with my...
1. One True Pairing Ship:
2. Canon Ship:
3. "If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship:
4. "You are one sick bastard" Ship:
5. "I dabble a little" Ship:
6. "It's like a car crash" Ship:
7. "Tickles my fancy but not sold just yet" Ship:
8. "Makes no canon sense but why the Hell not" Ship:
9. "Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" Ship:


XD I should post my fandoms but I am curious to see if people can come up with more besides One Piece and Metalocalypse.

And finally, to complete the rounds...

Lets101 - Free Online Dating

Durr, wasted so much time yesterday. The damn head of the history grad department had made an appt. with me weeks ago to meet at noon and I, of course, thought there was no way I could cancel something like that even though I felt/still feel like utter crap. But then guess who never showed up? This is yet another reason why I hate this school so much...

So I finally caught up. I’m back to being current on One Piece having spent the past three nights reading from Franky’s joining in Water 7 up through the most recent chapter. What a whirlwind ride that was! And it has once again, although it’s never wavered, cemented my belief that Oda is the greatest Shonen writer at work today. The man is brilliant and I can’t wait to see where he takes us all next.

( Some summarized musings now: )

Okay and this is mainly for myself so I have somewhere to keep these - chapter by chapter note musings

( Read more... )

And so, yeah, I'm caught up and now I have to endure the weekly tense waits for new chapters with everybody else. Oh man, I'm so into it right now. Oda, you are the man!

Holy fuck - SIIIIICK. God damn it, at the worst possible time too. The worst is my ever-increasing (I'm at 4 now) collection of swollen lymph nodes in my left armpit. They hurt like I can't even express - it's ridiculous how much these bitches hurt and how big they've gotten. Otherwise it's the inability to sleep since I can't breathe snot in place of air. Ugh - coughing and dripping and tired and RIDICULOUS lymph nodes - I am completely useless and spent all of yesterday in bed. What have I been doing at work? Hanging in there and that's about it. I don't have the energy for anything else and I need to keep up my energy for the mountains of cosplay I still have to finish for Otakon. Orz. This was the last thing I needed.

...so I wrote two pathetic contributions.

Title: Seashore
Pairing: Kasumi/Maggie
Rating: G
Word Count: 762

( Read more... )


Prompt: Bound
Rating: R
Pairing: Hina/Tashigi
Notes: Another in my random 500 word count naughty-ish One Piece drabble series. Prompt courtesy of scribe_protra.

( Read more... )

Prompt: Deja Vu
Rating: PG
Word Count: 882

( Sorry for any inaccuracies. I wrote this based on spoilers I've read, not actual first-hand reading. )

OMG, so tired. Ugh, so tired. Trying to make basic wing framework today and put holes in the ridiculous amount of metal bits I have for my viking armor. This weekend will be spent sewing and maybe seeing Batman. Blah, less than fun but it needs to be done. I think I'm going to say screw you to that last Water 7 fic I wanted to write. I sit down and stare at a blank screen and nothing happens. I want to catch up. I want to do it soon. I think I will.

Prompt: Biting
Pairing: Toki/Dethklok

( Read more... )


Otakon is getting close. Beginning to enter cosplay stress zone. I'm optomistic but I need to keep working at it. If I can get the things I need to finish completed this weekend, I think I'll be okay.

There is paper mache and clay and wing construction in my future and that's exciting! Oh, and painting fabric, which is less exciting but more fun than all the endless sewing. I'm psyched for everything I'm doing this year and I really hope it all turns out.

I also hope that all the damn One Piece stuff I keep seeing for sale on Animaxis is available at Otakon. Damn it, I WANT ONE PIECE CRAP. Ooh, and some doujinshi esp. based on Oda's crazy ministrips would be nice. That high school one has elicited the crackiest Japanese ZoLu fanart and I'd love to have a doujin or two based on the concept.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY astrokender!!!

I hope you have a lovely time today!

If you have a fic request, PLEASE make it! Pairing you want, a random idea, porn (I like writing birthday porn), whatever! I would love to write it and, while it takes me a little while, I always get to birthday fic.

And I just want an excuse to write for you.

Title: Showdown at High Noon: Twelve Shots to the Sniper King
Rating: PG
Word Count: 19,348
A/N: Usopp-centric gen story with a quasi-Western feel. Inspired by The Badlees' song "Ain't No Man"

( Part 2 )

Go Back To Part 1


I Am SOOOOOO behind on commenting and catching up on a bunch of fics that I've seen posted and have wanted to read. Hopefully I'll have a chance after this weekend. Tonight, though, I'm off to see Hellboy II and then it's work on cosplay all weekend for me. Sigh, and fighting off the sudden attack of sinus problems and swollen lymph nodes that seems to have hit me.

Random: OMG, Bakugan Battle Brawlers is incredibly stupid.

Ugh, just spent the last two weeks writing one story. I learned something about myself in the process. I am entirely incapable of writing more than 2500-3000 words per night per story. Anything over than number is absolute crap and has to be rewritten. It's like I lose all my patience with the story/writing when I hit that word range and simply CAN'T make myself write anymore. At least I can redirect my attention but it sure doesn't make fulfilling deadlines easy. And it explains why so many of my random fics fall into this word range. Hmm...

Also, now I remember why I write smut and/or psychological stories rather than things with actual plot. Dear god, real plot is LONG. Orz. And I am completely incapable of judging my ability to write action scenes either, so I suspect I just wasted my time writing oodles of words that are really quite boring. Ah well. Anyway, this was for the zosopp community's Lyric Wheel challenge and I'm reposting it here for my records.

Title: Showdown at High Noon: Twelve Shots to the Sniper King
Rating: PG
Word Count: 19,348
A/N: Usopp-centric story with a quasi-Western style inspired by The Badlees' song "Ain't No Man"

( Part 1 )

On to Part 2

Last night we made Thai Chicken Satay and it was De-Fucking-Licious if I do say so myself, which I do. Chalk up another cooking win for me! Perhaps my average is finally starting to go up past the 60% mark. Unf, that was some delicious food, excepting the rice disaster (because we can't figure out how to program our microwave) that was handily solved by throwing $2.39 at the local Chinese restaurant. And I finished all but the arm holes for the outer jacket for the mechanical angel goth/loli thing for Otakon, so that's another win! Now then, if I could just get some sleep, finish this &!^#% fic, and catch up on reading/comments...