My Easter....
Happy Easter! My internet's down, so that's not cool...I'm kinda bored. Ariel is probably still sleeping, despite it being almost two in the afternoon, Ben's in Wulai getting baptized under a waterfall, Nick doesn't want to go anywhere today, because he's short on funds and doesn't get his allowance until next week....this week, now, I guess.
I think I'm just gonna leave this word document open until my internet comes back on. And I'll just babble until it does. So... Yeah. This will probably be a long post. ^______^
I think I'm gonna go make coffee....I haven't had coffee yet today..... Mainly because I woke up fifteen minutes ago....*shifty eyes* That's probably one of the things I miss most about home, actually. Morning coffee. I'm usually in too big a rush to have it here. I mean, I can stop in 7 eleven on the way to school, but that's cold coffee, usually. The warm canned stuff is kinda on the icky side of coffee. There is a Starbucks near the MRT station, but...that takes too long. I'd have to leave by six-thirty, and one of the "silver linings" of being back at Heatings was that I was so much closer to...everything...that I wouldn't have to leave the apartment utnil seven.
But anyway! Off to make that coffee now!
Mmm. It's cappuccino, and instant, and I'm not even sure if it's caffeinated or not, but it tastes like coffee, and that's all that matters. Actually, it's probably important to note that my caffeine resistance is shot all to heck. I haven't had enough real coffee this year. *sniffle* 'S all instant or weak. The Taiwanese don't know what "strong" coffee is. *le sigh* Can't wait to see the coffee maker again, family. ^..~
My muses have been lazy lately. I've written maybe two pages since my birthday, and that's it. I did get some work done on stuff like alphabet (omniglot calls it con-script), and language (known as conlang), but other than that...? Yeah. Nothing.
I had a wonderful mental image a while ago, of all my characters as shrinky-dink keychains... lol. Isn't that dorky?
...I hate bugs. Mosquitos (sp?) in particular. I have twelve bites on my left arm -- below the elbow -- alone! I'm going to have to start sleeping with bugspray on, again....this horrible, dirty apartment.... *grumbles*
...I've decided that a "Fullmetal Marathon" is in order for Easter... I mean... One of the major themes of the show is resurrection...
Sometimes my geekiness amazes even me...and I live with myself twenty-four seven! Well, sorta. *shifty eyes*
Something about Fullmetal Alchemist seems to make me want to write more...I think it's because FMA is the thing that first inspired the character "Korin". At least, in her current form. I've tried writing her before, in a way, in various settings and worlds and situations, but the first place she seemed to fit was in the world of FMA. Anya, Tatsuki, you're so convinced she's a Mary Sue, but she's not. I can trace "Korin" back to when I was eleven. She started as a character named "Hoshi" in a Digimon fic. She wasn't even a self-insert then. "My" character in that fic was Kazumi, and later I guess K.C. was as well, to a certain extent. K.C. wore my favourite outfit and her digimon partner was the one I envisioned for myself, in any case...lol. Part of Korin's "storyline" was given to K.C., so she ties into that character a little bit too, I suppose. But Kazumi was my "wishful thinking" sort of character. Hoshi had Korin's hair and general personality, though. Maybe her eyes, as well...can't remember. It was years ago, after all, and I try not to dwell overly much on that particular fanfic of mine... *shudders*
....and now I really wish I had all my files and notes from years 2001-2005, because then I could actually trace her character back to its roots... There was...absolutely NOTHING of her in "Portal of the Moon," my first writing endeavour. A little bit of her (like her softer side) made it into Kyna, I think. There was maybe a dash of her personality in Candace, but I'm not sure...I'd have to reread that, and I don't think I have it with me... Acutally, maybe I do... *ponders* I may have some of my early fanfiction and original writing on a disk somewhere around here.... Hm. I think the first fic I started messing around with the Korin/Tristan dynamic was a Digimon fic titled...oh, crud. What did I call that...? North Star? Anyway, it was the first Digimon fic I actually was able to finish. I forget what her name was in that, though... Lemme think... Rylan? Maybe? I know I started writing that shortly before I started highschool, and that it was number thirteen of thirty plot-lines for Digimon...
...talk about confessing dirty little secrets... YES. I wrote fanfiction for Digimon until I was sixteen. I haven't written in that fandom in a while, because I don't have any of my fics with me on disk. I want them, though. I think Digimon is one of those fandoms I can only write original characters for. I tried writing one about the characters in the fifth season, only... I just couldn't do it. I have so many original digimon that it seems like a cop-out to use theirs... lol.
The first time I wrote Korin's character going between worlds without a say in the matter was for a RuroKen fic... Freshman year. Hm. So I was fourteen. Also, she was twenty-one in that, rather than the more usual fifteen/sixteen I write her. That fic, too, stalled. Most of them do, when I try to write long ones... Seriously, "Golden Child" was the longest. Second longest was "North Star" (or whatever its real title was). Golden Child, for the FMA fandom, was 95 hand-written pages, and North Star was 20 pages, typed. The main idea for what Korin is, which actually has only a little bit to do with the plot in the novel, was spawned -- accidentally! -- in the fanfic. Isn't that sad, though? That the only character I've ever been able to write well (one of the only characters, I should say), was born of fanfiction? When I finished writing Golden Child, in June of '05, I knew I wasn't done writing about her. I knew there was a whole bunch more about her that I didn't know. So I started trying to write a sequel. *snort* I stopped trying after 33 pages. It just....wasn't really going anywhere. DotM was really getting going at about that same point, so I started writing one-shots and Character-shots about her. The first time she and Tristan interacted was in a shot called "Can You Feel the Shadows...?"
...he died. That was his debut, and his death.
...........and I proceeded to write that same scene again, from two more angles. And then a fourth time, at a much later date, which is the version that made it into the novel.
At some point after meeting Tristan ("meeting"...heh...) I started trying to write Korin into an original setting, only to find that I couldn't. I went back to the DotM-themed one-shots. Cian showed up, and I started trying the novel again. I got about five pages written, before giving up. A one-shot, written at ridiculous hours, revealed to me that Cian had a younger (much younger) brother, and had been taking care of his brother on his own since a very young age. And somewhere around this same time, I noticed that "Loathing" -- the villain for the attempted sequel to Golden Eyes -- and "Marcus" -- the villain from the RuroKen fic -- were much the same. So I blended them, and made them prettier, and my new "Marcus" was born. He's now a major villain in Casting Shadows (working title). ^______^ Korin, herself, changed somewhere between the fanfic and the novel, but I'm not sure exactly where or when. I do know the exact date the "new" Korin was born, though. My sixteenth birthday. I got a new notebook and pen, and...I'm fairly certain I was watching something on television...anyway, April 3rd, 2006, Korin Starr appeared on paper. And she had a mission, and a purpose, and a backstory, and....just too much information for me to keep in my head.
And I knew, suddenly, why the last attempt at writing her into an original novel had failed. The world was wrong. And so I took a world I'd been writing for someone else, but whose story had stalled, and shoved her into it, half-subconsciously on my part, and found it fit. So that's the world I'm writing now...only I think, perhaps, the world is beginning to write itself.
The moral of this ramble is...?
FANFICTION IS GOOD.
...or, at least, it has the potential to spawn characters and plots that otherwise may never have been stumbled across.
............though it does make me worry, a little, about the quality of my plot and characters... Erm... You didn't hear that last bit.
*le sigh* I'm hungry. All that thinking has made me hungry. Lol. No, actually, I'm only a little hungry, which is strange, considering it's almost four, and I haven't eaten at all today... I should talk to someone. My host family has provided dinner for me ONCE in the week I've been back here. ONCE. And breakfast, only twice. They're obligated -- signed papers, and everything, to feed me breakfast and dinner, and to provide money for lunch. They haven't been. I'm going to talk to PP Hipo on Tuesday. *rather ticked off*
Anyway! I'm off to 7 eleven! Then back to my Fullmetal Marathon! *purrs and pets the manga*
...Ah, lunch/dinner. Ramen, bread, and a Snickers bar...to go with my coffee. ><" Well, that's not too too unhealthy, is it? There are...dehydrated vegetables and meat in the Ramen, after all, and carbs in the bread, right? So....it could be worse??
.....*le sigh* The scale at my second host family's said I hadn't gained any weight at all, but I know I've gained at least some. Also, I don't know HOW the Taiwanese aren't all grossly over-weight. They are some of the laziest people I've ever met. In general. It never occurs to them to walk the fifteen minutes between the MRT station and the apartment, they have to take the bus. And lots more of that same sort of thing. And they eat greasey foods, or oily foods, or fatty foods.... They must have fantastic metabolisms. They take all the good stuff out of veggies, too, by COOKING them to death. Someone mentioned to me, once, that he'd been shocked by the salad he had in Detroit. He was horrified that it wasn't cooked.
...cooked....salad...? What on earth? But that's just one of the differences, you know? They think it's unhealthy to eat uncooked veggies, but they have no problem eating undercooked meat. Ben's family served half-raw chicken one time...! Ugh!
I can't wait for real food again. It's so sad, too. Everyone's all like "I miss my home country's food the most," and I hate to be a stereo-type, but.....
I WANT LASAGNA AND MAGIC AUTUMN SOUP AND HAMBURGERS AND HOT DOGS AND BBQ CHICKEN AND OUR BRAND OF RAMEN AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER MCDONALD'S AGAIN!!!!!
...among other things...
OMG...as of this Friday I have ten weeks left.... OMG...!!! It's down to WEEKS!!!!!!! *can't breathe* I'm...I'm......I'm.......... !!!
...I need to go back to FMA. That'll distract me...
*does so*
There's something theraputic about Fullmetal Alchemist... And I'm not sure why. I have the five manga I brought with me, and the three novelizations... I'm actually surprised. They aren't as bad as I thought they were when I just glanced through them back in the States. I still think I could do better, though...lol.
Ano.... Oh! April, I have a request. Anya-san says that DotM's pretty much dead? This may be immature, but I can't accept that. Lol. I still have a year a ERHS left -- I can recruit n00bs! DotM's the closest ER has to an anime club, and it doesn't seem right to let it die, just because most of its members have lost interest and moved on. Can you please email me the passwords to the website, if you are no longer interested in being webmistress? I'm still as obsessed as ever, and I think it's something I can keep going. There are lots of victims potential members among this year's, and next year's freshmen. For that matter, I've recruited several international members this year...! *grins* A Brazillian, Mayra, and a German, Svetlana. ^____^ Not to mention three more Americans. Ariel, Nick, and Ben. Mayra and Svetlana don't have alchemist titles yet, but Nick is the Occult Alchemist, I think, and Ben is...well, the "Endworld Alchemist" but he wants Endworld translated into Japanese, and I forget Ariel's...unless she was the Occult Alchemist...? I don't remember. I can't find my list... (-_\\) It's probably buried in my junk somewhere...at least, I hope it is... O__O But, yeah. If no one there wishes to continue DotM, just know that I do. I have lots of stuff piling up on my hard drive, and I want to make use of it! ^______^ It would be such a waste, you know? To have spent so much time writing that stupid handbook, only to let it die after just two years... So, whether anyone there is still interested or not, I am bound and determined to keep it running. If you can't remember the passwords, I guess I'll make a new website. ^^ It'll be as shiny as new automail! I mean, Vic Mignogna visited the site, did you know? ...we had THE voice actor for the TITLE ROLE visit our website. Doesn't that mean anything...? Well...think about it, 'cause I'm certainly not finished with DotM. If needs be, I'll re-start it on my own. *le sigh* Please don't make me do that? It's more work than I care for. Lol.
Eh. I'm ITCHY! Stupid bugs!! *hates mosquitos*
*le sigh* Easter without chocolate....how depressing... I'll have to make up for it next year, I guess. Still... Easter without chocolate is not NEARLY so depressing as Christmas without eggnog. *shudders* That was just.....horrible... Lol. You know, I may just go downstairs and buy some chocolate...but it's so expensive... I can get an entire meal for the same price as two Snickers bars. Ramen and a drink only comes out to 45 NTD. Two Snickers is 50 NTD. *angsts* But I want M&Ms! And other kinds of chocolate! But... I don't wanna spend the money. Call me a tight-wad, but....what with mostly paying for my own dinners, money's going to be tight-ish. Ah, well. My allowance next week, I guess.... *severly tempted by the call of chocolate*
Eee...! I just <3 Fullmetal!! *pets* Hiromu Arakawa is my hero! ^_________^
You know the episode with Barry the Chopper? Episode eight, "The Philosopher's Stone"? When Ed's terrified that he's about to die, you completely share that fear... That's how well done the show is. The manga isn't moving, so things like Nina's death hit a little less hard, but still... ^^ Elle. Are you still in on cosplaying as Movie versions of Ed and Al? I can definitely find most of Ed's costume here, but I may have trouble the long coat he wears...I haven't seen anything like that for sale. The pants, shirt, and vest will be fairly easy, though expensive. Also, we'll need a second wig. Al's hair is about two or three shades darker than Ed's, so make sure yours reflects that. ^^ Oh, and I'll have to take the braid out, won't I.... Hm. Anyway, don't forget to bring my automail when you go to the airport to pick me up!! *grins*
Eh. I'm giving in to the temptation of candy, I guess....M&Ms, here I come...! *gleeful*
Teehee...snickers and two kinds of M&Ms, plus coffee. Yummy. ^______^ Put that together with a Fullmetal Marathon, and I am happy. Also, I'm reading Loveless. Joyful! I have all of Loveless. *gleeful*
...I kinda wanna cosplay as Psiren... I've never seen photos of a Psiren cosplayer before. She's one of those minor characters that was really cool at the time, but no one seems to remember. I saw pictures once of a fantastic Number 66 cosplay... Craft foam is amazing...! *fangirly sigh over the wonders of craft foam* But, anyway. Not nearly enough people cosplay the minor characters. I'm guilty of this, myself...! And I mean to rectify this oversight. I will make it my duty to cosplay as the anime underdogs! Psiren, Lyla/Dante (why don't more people go as her??)...pretty much any Miyazaki character, which I really don't get, and almost every character from an older show.
OMG! OMGOMGOMG!! Some year we totally have to go as the cast from The Last Unicorn!!! It wouldn't be hard! Not really!! We'd need a Molly, an Amalthea, a Schmendrick, a Prince Lir, a King Haggard, and a Mommy Fortuna. That's pretty much it...! And the costumes wouldn't be too hard... Ooo! Can we do it for Halloween?? PLEASE??? I can totally find a cheap(ish) Amalthea wig here, and either Ame or I could pull it off well enough...we both have the skin-tone for it...! Please...? Lol. Kaa-san, you'd help with costumes, right? RIGHT??? You like The Last Unicorn...! Say you will?? PLEASE...?? Lol.
Grah! I can't find my contacts...! I thought I had the case right here on the desk, but it seems to have vanished...! *keeps searching* Ah! Never mind, I remembered where I put them!
Heehee. I just gave myself bangs... *has fun with scissors* Don't worry, they look pretty much how I wanted them too. ^..^ And I have batteries in my camera now, so I'll be posting pictures soon. Yay! Kaa-san, you still need a picture for my school picture this year, right? I'll try and get a good one some time soon, okay? ^^
I should sleep now...It's one thirty AM... Hopefully I'll find working internet tomorrow...
...but before I do, OMG, the DETAIL IN FULLMETAL!!! In episode ten, if you look closely at the chopsticks Ed's using, you can totally see they're disposable! They're the kind you have to break apart!
...what's more, you can see Ed's not that great at breaking them apart, too; they're broken crooked. ^^ I'm better at it than he is!! ...er...that's incrediably pathetic of me, isn't it...? To have noticed in the first place...? What's more, this a consistant character trait, seen several times in the episode...I'll be watching later episode for it! Teehee. Edo may be better at alchemy (...) but I'm better at breaking chopsticks!!
...ano...it's three twenty-two in the morning...I'm feeling random. Should sleep, but I'm just not tired... Not really. It's sad. I wish my internet was working... Ah... two and a half hours is enough, I think... ^^ Going to sleep now. I hope. Wish me luck!!
......I give up. Sleeping on Sunday nights/Monday mornings is a pointless endeavour. So I give up. Stupid insomnia... *annoyed*
I need new headphones...mine are dying... Grah. Annoyance. ><"
Also, I'm annoyed with my school. At the end of February, I asked for transcripts. I have yet to receive them. I NEED them. I know I'm taking some form of algebra and chemistry, as well as a history class and English-as-a-foreign-language, and I did take graphic design...and I'm taking a miltiary class...what kind of credit do you think I can get for a military class...? Math and science credits, check. Social studies...maybe check? What am I going to need next year?? What are Michigan's requirements for graduation, again...? Two and a half math, three science, four English....how many social studies and speech credits are needed to graduate?
...So, now it's six in the morning and I'm on my way to school. I'm going to school to escape the monotony of Heating's apartment. ---______--- The irony is not lost on me. *le sigh*
Hm. I have to leave at 6:45 if I'm to walk to the MRT station. I've decided to never ride the 306 bus again. It's just more trouble than the fifteen dollars is worth. (-_\\) Really, travelling anywhere seems like more trouble than it's worth, but I have nothing better to do with my time, and the school usually has at least a weak internet signal...I figure the least I can do it try theirs. Lol. ^^ I'm so pathetic. But seriously. There is nothing to do all day if I don't go to school and Chinese lessons. My mind will rot inside my head if I stay in this apartment any longer. >_<" So, grah.
...the school does NOT have working internet. *anger* At least, none that's accessible from the classroom. Ah, well. Only an hour and ten minutes more, then I'm free....for a while. I do have to go to Chinese lessons.... *le sigh*
Ah! So! I was listening to Terra Naomi's "Flesh for Bones" and I decided I want to make an AMV to it.....sort of. I want to make it a combination of live action and screencaptures. This IS possible! I'm sure of it!! Of course, this means cosplaying.....
...oh, hush, I know I'm a complete and total dork. I enjoy it. It's a hobby.
But anyway! The song! Well, the title says it all, doesn't it? I've thought about it...rather in detail, I'm sorry to admit...and we can film it right in the ER area without too much of a problem. ^^ I pretty much live in Rismebool as it is. Lol. There'd only be a need for six characters (Ed, Al, Roy, Hughes, Izumi, Wrath). Al...I'm still not sure about how to do that, but I think my little brothers could pull them off as their younger selves for the one scene... The idea is sort of to take screenshots and...make them real. Kinda. But not with every screenshot, you know? Eh. It's hard to explain my mindset. Al's definitely going to be the hardest though... Ah, also...? The hard part here, is I'd like to keep as "true" to the characters as possible. That's not going to be completely possible, I know. Good luck finding a guy willing to dress like Wrath, right? Lol. We'd have to make one military uniform (for Roy; Hughes will be wearing civilian clothing) -- but fear not! I have a (kinda)pattern!! Also, I want to keep physical builds as close to the originals as possible... That's going to be REALLY hard, I think.... Am I alone in this?? Or is anyone else interested in helping me? If it's good enough (and finished) we could enter it in JAFAX's AMV contest for 2008. ^____^ The videos have to be submitted by some time in early April, so we've obviously missed our chance this year.... Anyone wanna??
And OMG, thank goodness!!! Chinese lessons has working internet, so I'm going to post this string of babble!!
I think I'm just gonna leave this word document open until my internet comes back on. And I'll just babble until it does. So... Yeah. This will probably be a long post. ^______^
I think I'm gonna go make coffee....I haven't had coffee yet today..... Mainly because I woke up fifteen minutes ago....*shifty eyes* That's probably one of the things I miss most about home, actually. Morning coffee. I'm usually in too big a rush to have it here. I mean, I can stop in 7 eleven on the way to school, but that's cold coffee, usually. The warm canned stuff is kinda on the icky side of coffee. There is a Starbucks near the MRT station, but...that takes too long. I'd have to leave by six-thirty, and one of the "silver linings" of being back at Heatings was that I was so much closer to...everything...that I wouldn't have to leave the apartment utnil seven.
But anyway! Off to make that coffee now!
Mmm. It's cappuccino, and instant, and I'm not even sure if it's caffeinated or not, but it tastes like coffee, and that's all that matters. Actually, it's probably important to note that my caffeine resistance is shot all to heck. I haven't had enough real coffee this year. *sniffle* 'S all instant or weak. The Taiwanese don't know what "strong" coffee is. *le sigh* Can't wait to see the coffee maker again, family. ^..~
My muses have been lazy lately. I've written maybe two pages since my birthday, and that's it. I did get some work done on stuff like alphabet (omniglot calls it con-script), and language (known as conlang), but other than that...? Yeah. Nothing.
I had a wonderful mental image a while ago, of all my characters as shrinky-dink keychains... lol. Isn't that dorky?
...I hate bugs. Mosquitos (sp?) in particular. I have twelve bites on my left arm -- below the elbow -- alone! I'm going to have to start sleeping with bugspray on, again....this horrible, dirty apartment.... *grumbles*
...I've decided that a "Fullmetal Marathon" is in order for Easter... I mean... One of the major themes of the show is resurrection...
Sometimes my geekiness amazes even me...and I live with myself twenty-four seven! Well, sorta. *shifty eyes*
Something about Fullmetal Alchemist seems to make me want to write more...I think it's because FMA is the thing that first inspired the character "Korin". At least, in her current form. I've tried writing her before, in a way, in various settings and worlds and situations, but the first place she seemed to fit was in the world of FMA. Anya, Tatsuki, you're so convinced she's a Mary Sue, but she's not. I can trace "Korin" back to when I was eleven. She started as a character named "Hoshi" in a Digimon fic. She wasn't even a self-insert then. "My" character in that fic was Kazumi, and later I guess K.C. was as well, to a certain extent. K.C. wore my favourite outfit and her digimon partner was the one I envisioned for myself, in any case...lol. Part of Korin's "storyline" was given to K.C., so she ties into that character a little bit too, I suppose. But Kazumi was my "wishful thinking" sort of character. Hoshi had Korin's hair and general personality, though. Maybe her eyes, as well...can't remember. It was years ago, after all, and I try not to dwell overly much on that particular fanfic of mine... *shudders*
....and now I really wish I had all my files and notes from years 2001-2005, because then I could actually trace her character back to its roots... There was...absolutely NOTHING of her in "Portal of the Moon," my first writing endeavour. A little bit of her (like her softer side) made it into Kyna, I think. There was maybe a dash of her personality in Candace, but I'm not sure...I'd have to reread that, and I don't think I have it with me... Acutally, maybe I do... *ponders* I may have some of my early fanfiction and original writing on a disk somewhere around here.... Hm. I think the first fic I started messing around with the Korin/Tristan dynamic was a Digimon fic titled...oh, crud. What did I call that...? North Star? Anyway, it was the first Digimon fic I actually was able to finish. I forget what her name was in that, though... Lemme think... Rylan? Maybe? I know I started writing that shortly before I started highschool, and that it was number thirteen of thirty plot-lines for Digimon...
...talk about confessing dirty little secrets... YES. I wrote fanfiction for Digimon until I was sixteen. I haven't written in that fandom in a while, because I don't have any of my fics with me on disk. I want them, though. I think Digimon is one of those fandoms I can only write original characters for. I tried writing one about the characters in the fifth season, only... I just couldn't do it. I have so many original digimon that it seems like a cop-out to use theirs... lol.
The first time I wrote Korin's character going between worlds without a say in the matter was for a RuroKen fic... Freshman year. Hm. So I was fourteen. Also, she was twenty-one in that, rather than the more usual fifteen/sixteen I write her. That fic, too, stalled. Most of them do, when I try to write long ones... Seriously, "Golden Child" was the longest. Second longest was "North Star" (or whatever its real title was). Golden Child, for the FMA fandom, was 95 hand-written pages, and North Star was 20 pages, typed. The main idea for what Korin is, which actually has only a little bit to do with the plot in the novel, was spawned -- accidentally! -- in the fanfic. Isn't that sad, though? That the only character I've ever been able to write well (one of the only characters, I should say), was born of fanfiction? When I finished writing Golden Child, in June of '05, I knew I wasn't done writing about her. I knew there was a whole bunch more about her that I didn't know. So I started trying to write a sequel. *snort* I stopped trying after 33 pages. It just....wasn't really going anywhere. DotM was really getting going at about that same point, so I started writing one-shots and Character-shots about her. The first time she and Tristan interacted was in a shot called "Can You Feel the Shadows...?"
...he died. That was his debut, and his death.
...........and I proceeded to write that same scene again, from two more angles. And then a fourth time, at a much later date, which is the version that made it into the novel.
At some point after meeting Tristan ("meeting"...heh...) I started trying to write Korin into an original setting, only to find that I couldn't. I went back to the DotM-themed one-shots. Cian showed up, and I started trying the novel again. I got about five pages written, before giving up. A one-shot, written at ridiculous hours, revealed to me that Cian had a younger (much younger) brother, and had been taking care of his brother on his own since a very young age. And somewhere around this same time, I noticed that "Loathing" -- the villain for the attempted sequel to Golden Eyes -- and "Marcus" -- the villain from the RuroKen fic -- were much the same. So I blended them, and made them prettier, and my new "Marcus" was born. He's now a major villain in Casting Shadows (working title). ^______^ Korin, herself, changed somewhere between the fanfic and the novel, but I'm not sure exactly where or when. I do know the exact date the "new" Korin was born, though. My sixteenth birthday. I got a new notebook and pen, and...I'm fairly certain I was watching something on television...anyway, April 3rd, 2006, Korin Starr appeared on paper. And she had a mission, and a purpose, and a backstory, and....just too much information for me to keep in my head.
And I knew, suddenly, why the last attempt at writing her into an original novel had failed. The world was wrong. And so I took a world I'd been writing for someone else, but whose story had stalled, and shoved her into it, half-subconsciously on my part, and found it fit. So that's the world I'm writing now...only I think, perhaps, the world is beginning to write itself.
The moral of this ramble is...?
FANFICTION IS GOOD.
...or, at least, it has the potential to spawn characters and plots that otherwise may never have been stumbled across.
............though it does make me worry, a little, about the quality of my plot and characters... Erm... You didn't hear that last bit.
*le sigh* I'm hungry. All that thinking has made me hungry. Lol. No, actually, I'm only a little hungry, which is strange, considering it's almost four, and I haven't eaten at all today... I should talk to someone. My host family has provided dinner for me ONCE in the week I've been back here. ONCE. And breakfast, only twice. They're obligated -- signed papers, and everything, to feed me breakfast and dinner, and to provide money for lunch. They haven't been. I'm going to talk to PP Hipo on Tuesday. *rather ticked off*
Anyway! I'm off to 7 eleven! Then back to my Fullmetal Marathon! *purrs and pets the manga*
...Ah, lunch/dinner. Ramen, bread, and a Snickers bar...to go with my coffee. ><" Well, that's not too too unhealthy, is it? There are...dehydrated vegetables and meat in the Ramen, after all, and carbs in the bread, right? So....it could be worse??
.....*le sigh* The scale at my second host family's said I hadn't gained any weight at all, but I know I've gained at least some. Also, I don't know HOW the Taiwanese aren't all grossly over-weight. They are some of the laziest people I've ever met. In general. It never occurs to them to walk the fifteen minutes between the MRT station and the apartment, they have to take the bus. And lots more of that same sort of thing. And they eat greasey foods, or oily foods, or fatty foods.... They must have fantastic metabolisms. They take all the good stuff out of veggies, too, by COOKING them to death. Someone mentioned to me, once, that he'd been shocked by the salad he had in Detroit. He was horrified that it wasn't cooked.
...cooked....salad...? What on earth? But that's just one of the differences, you know? They think it's unhealthy to eat uncooked veggies, but they have no problem eating undercooked meat. Ben's family served half-raw chicken one time...! Ugh!
I can't wait for real food again. It's so sad, too. Everyone's all like "I miss my home country's food the most," and I hate to be a stereo-type, but.....
I WANT LASAGNA AND MAGIC AUTUMN SOUP AND HAMBURGERS AND HOT DOGS AND BBQ CHICKEN AND OUR BRAND OF RAMEN AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER MCDONALD'S AGAIN!!!!!
...among other things...
OMG...as of this Friday I have ten weeks left.... OMG...!!! It's down to WEEKS!!!!!!! *can't breathe* I'm...I'm......I'm.......... !!!
...I need to go back to FMA. That'll distract me...
*does so*
There's something theraputic about Fullmetal Alchemist... And I'm not sure why. I have the five manga I brought with me, and the three novelizations... I'm actually surprised. They aren't as bad as I thought they were when I just glanced through them back in the States. I still think I could do better, though...lol.
Ano.... Oh! April, I have a request. Anya-san says that DotM's pretty much dead? This may be immature, but I can't accept that. Lol. I still have a year a ERHS left -- I can recruit n00bs! DotM's the closest ER has to an anime club, and it doesn't seem right to let it die, just because most of its members have lost interest and moved on. Can you please email me the passwords to the website, if you are no longer interested in being webmistress? I'm still as obsessed as ever, and I think it's something I can keep going. There are lots of victims potential members among this year's, and next year's freshmen. For that matter, I've recruited several international members this year...! *grins* A Brazillian, Mayra, and a German, Svetlana. ^____^ Not to mention three more Americans. Ariel, Nick, and Ben. Mayra and Svetlana don't have alchemist titles yet, but Nick is the Occult Alchemist, I think, and Ben is...well, the "Endworld Alchemist" but he wants Endworld translated into Japanese, and I forget Ariel's...unless she was the Occult Alchemist...? I don't remember. I can't find my list... (-_\\) It's probably buried in my junk somewhere...at least, I hope it is... O__O But, yeah. If no one there wishes to continue DotM, just know that I do. I have lots of stuff piling up on my hard drive, and I want to make use of it! ^______^ It would be such a waste, you know? To have spent so much time writing that stupid handbook, only to let it die after just two years... So, whether anyone there is still interested or not, I am bound and determined to keep it running. If you can't remember the passwords, I guess I'll make a new website. ^^ It'll be as shiny as new automail! I mean, Vic Mignogna visited the site, did you know? ...we had THE voice actor for the TITLE ROLE visit our website. Doesn't that mean anything...? Well...think about it, 'cause I'm certainly not finished with DotM. If needs be, I'll re-start it on my own. *le sigh* Please don't make me do that? It's more work than I care for. Lol.
Eh. I'm ITCHY! Stupid bugs!! *hates mosquitos*
*le sigh* Easter without chocolate....how depressing... I'll have to make up for it next year, I guess. Still... Easter without chocolate is not NEARLY so depressing as Christmas without eggnog. *shudders* That was just.....horrible... Lol. You know, I may just go downstairs and buy some chocolate...but it's so expensive... I can get an entire meal for the same price as two Snickers bars. Ramen and a drink only comes out to 45 NTD. Two Snickers is 50 NTD. *angsts* But I want M&Ms! And other kinds of chocolate! But... I don't wanna spend the money. Call me a tight-wad, but....what with mostly paying for my own dinners, money's going to be tight-ish. Ah, well. My allowance next week, I guess.... *severly tempted by the call of chocolate*
Eee...! I just <3 Fullmetal!! *pets* Hiromu Arakawa is my hero! ^_________^
You know the episode with Barry the Chopper? Episode eight, "The Philosopher's Stone"? When Ed's terrified that he's about to die, you completely share that fear... That's how well done the show is. The manga isn't moving, so things like Nina's death hit a little less hard, but still... ^^ Elle. Are you still in on cosplaying as Movie versions of Ed and Al? I can definitely find most of Ed's costume here, but I may have trouble the long coat he wears...I haven't seen anything like that for sale. The pants, shirt, and vest will be fairly easy, though expensive. Also, we'll need a second wig. Al's hair is about two or three shades darker than Ed's, so make sure yours reflects that. ^^ Oh, and I'll have to take the braid out, won't I.... Hm. Anyway, don't forget to bring my automail when you go to the airport to pick me up!! *grins*
Eh. I'm giving in to the temptation of candy, I guess....M&Ms, here I come...! *gleeful*
Teehee...snickers and two kinds of M&Ms, plus coffee. Yummy. ^______^ Put that together with a Fullmetal Marathon, and I am happy. Also, I'm reading Loveless. Joyful! I have all of Loveless. *gleeful*
...I kinda wanna cosplay as Psiren... I've never seen photos of a Psiren cosplayer before. She's one of those minor characters that was really cool at the time, but no one seems to remember. I saw pictures once of a fantastic Number 66 cosplay... Craft foam is amazing...! *fangirly sigh over the wonders of craft foam* But, anyway. Not nearly enough people cosplay the minor characters. I'm guilty of this, myself...! And I mean to rectify this oversight. I will make it my duty to cosplay as the anime underdogs! Psiren, Lyla/Dante (why don't more people go as her??)...pretty much any Miyazaki character, which I really don't get, and almost every character from an older show.
OMG! OMGOMGOMG!! Some year we totally have to go as the cast from The Last Unicorn!!! It wouldn't be hard! Not really!! We'd need a Molly, an Amalthea, a Schmendrick, a Prince Lir, a King Haggard, and a Mommy Fortuna. That's pretty much it...! And the costumes wouldn't be too hard... Ooo! Can we do it for Halloween?? PLEASE??? I can totally find a cheap(ish) Amalthea wig here, and either Ame or I could pull it off well enough...we both have the skin-tone for it...! Please...? Lol. Kaa-san, you'd help with costumes, right? RIGHT??? You like The Last Unicorn...! Say you will?? PLEASE...?? Lol.
Grah! I can't find my contacts...! I thought I had the case right here on the desk, but it seems to have vanished...! *keeps searching* Ah! Never mind, I remembered where I put them!
Heehee. I just gave myself bangs... *has fun with scissors* Don't worry, they look pretty much how I wanted them too. ^..^ And I have batteries in my camera now, so I'll be posting pictures soon. Yay! Kaa-san, you still need a picture for my school picture this year, right? I'll try and get a good one some time soon, okay? ^^
I should sleep now...It's one thirty AM... Hopefully I'll find working internet tomorrow...
...but before I do, OMG, the DETAIL IN FULLMETAL!!! In episode ten, if you look closely at the chopsticks Ed's using, you can totally see they're disposable! They're the kind you have to break apart!
...what's more, you can see Ed's not that great at breaking them apart, too; they're broken crooked. ^^ I'm better at it than he is!! ...er...that's incrediably pathetic of me, isn't it...? To have noticed in the first place...? What's more, this a consistant character trait, seen several times in the episode...I'll be watching later episode for it! Teehee. Edo may be better at alchemy (...) but I'm better at breaking chopsticks!!
...ano...it's three twenty-two in the morning...I'm feeling random. Should sleep, but I'm just not tired... Not really. It's sad. I wish my internet was working... Ah... two and a half hours is enough, I think... ^^ Going to sleep now. I hope. Wish me luck!!
......I give up. Sleeping on Sunday nights/Monday mornings is a pointless endeavour. So I give up. Stupid insomnia... *annoyed*
I need new headphones...mine are dying... Grah. Annoyance. ><"
Also, I'm annoyed with my school. At the end of February, I asked for transcripts. I have yet to receive them. I NEED them. I know I'm taking some form of algebra and chemistry, as well as a history class and English-as-a-foreign-language, and I did take graphic design...and I'm taking a miltiary class...what kind of credit do you think I can get for a military class...? Math and science credits, check. Social studies...maybe check? What am I going to need next year?? What are Michigan's requirements for graduation, again...? Two and a half math, three science, four English....how many social studies and speech credits are needed to graduate?
...So, now it's six in the morning and I'm on my way to school. I'm going to school to escape the monotony of Heating's apartment. ---______--- The irony is not lost on me. *le sigh*
Hm. I have to leave at 6:45 if I'm to walk to the MRT station. I've decided to never ride the 306 bus again. It's just more trouble than the fifteen dollars is worth. (-_\\) Really, travelling anywhere seems like more trouble than it's worth, but I have nothing better to do with my time, and the school usually has at least a weak internet signal...I figure the least I can do it try theirs. Lol. ^^ I'm so pathetic. But seriously. There is nothing to do all day if I don't go to school and Chinese lessons. My mind will rot inside my head if I stay in this apartment any longer. >_<" So, grah.
...the school does NOT have working internet. *anger* At least, none that's accessible from the classroom. Ah, well. Only an hour and ten minutes more, then I'm free....for a while. I do have to go to Chinese lessons.... *le sigh*
Ah! So! I was listening to Terra Naomi's "Flesh for Bones" and I decided I want to make an AMV to it.....sort of. I want to make it a combination of live action and screencaptures. This IS possible! I'm sure of it!! Of course, this means cosplaying.....
...oh, hush, I know I'm a complete and total dork. I enjoy it. It's a hobby.
But anyway! The song! Well, the title says it all, doesn't it? I've thought about it...rather in detail, I'm sorry to admit...and we can film it right in the ER area without too much of a problem. ^^ I pretty much live in Rismebool as it is. Lol. There'd only be a need for six characters (Ed, Al, Roy, Hughes, Izumi, Wrath). Al...I'm still not sure about how to do that, but I think my little brothers could pull them off as their younger selves for the one scene... The idea is sort of to take screenshots and...make them real. Kinda. But not with every screenshot, you know? Eh. It's hard to explain my mindset. Al's definitely going to be the hardest though... Ah, also...? The hard part here, is I'd like to keep as "true" to the characters as possible. That's not going to be completely possible, I know. Good luck finding a guy willing to dress like Wrath, right? Lol. We'd have to make one military uniform (for Roy; Hughes will be wearing civilian clothing) -- but fear not! I have a (kinda)pattern!! Also, I want to keep physical builds as close to the originals as possible... That's going to be REALLY hard, I think.... Am I alone in this?? Or is anyone else interested in helping me? If it's good enough (and finished) we could enter it in JAFAX's AMV contest for 2008. ^____^ The videos have to be submitted by some time in early April, so we've obviously missed our chance this year.... Anyone wanna??
And OMG, thank goodness!!! Chinese lessons has working internet, so I'm going to post this string of babble!!