Squeee.
I'm rather ecstatic that I finally got my kiddie Team Rocket book, heh. Barnes and Noble sent an email with 25% off an item, plus free shipping. I didn't realize they meant both things were included even with one little item, though, instead of having to pay $25 to get the free shipping. But I looked at the email again, realized it looked like it meant both even for one item, and I tried buying the Team Rocket book and adding the coupon code just to see what would happen. And it really happened. That is one amazing coupon! Must be something that could only happen at Christmastime. Normally Barnes and Noble doesn't have deals that good! Hopefully the book will be worth getting. Anything with Team Rocket getting to come to the rescue sounds promising.
My Meowth figure arrived safely on Wednesday. The bubble was all yellowed and stapled back together at the edges (as I already knew it was), but Meowth was still cozy inside. Seems to be perfectly mint! At first I thought some places had faded, but when I looked at the paper that came with him, it looks like that was just a design of the figure. And adorably, James can hold him! That's how I'm displaying them right now. I like this original Meowth figure better than the one Tomy did more recently, because the recent one is battle stance and expression and the old one is docile and cute. And I chose this particular one because he was the only one still in a package for the lowest price. Would've cost about the same to get the recent one in a store.
I finally got my shirt, too. Mom and I figured out stuff to get for Dad for Christmas, so we had him put some money from his and Mom's account into mine (without saying why, of course, though I'm sure he knows the routine by now) and I bought the stuff for him and added the shirt to the order. I kept waffling on whether to really get it, but after going over and over the options I concluded there really wasn't anything I wanted more than the shirt, despite the raised price. I hope everything will get here in time. The most important part of the order has shipped, but the other half is shipping with my shirt, for some reason, and that part of the order hasn't shipped yet.
Then I got sidetracked with this writing quiz FidgetFidgets did. I recognized some questions but not others, so I decided to take it:
1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?
LuckyLadybug is the name of a silly, cute, old song that was covered by Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. I was in a Yahoo Group for them and everybody was choosing a song of theirs to be like a signature song to describe them. For some reason, I picked that one and it's stuck ever since.
2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).
On AO3, I believe it's one of my West Side Story fics (the one where Schrank is shot, I think). Yeah. The Worth of Souls.
On FF.net, it's Frantic in Frisco (apologies to any San Franciscans who hate that name), an old Yu-Gi-Oh! mystery.
Of course, on AO3 the kind of feedback I get is rarely ever in comments.
3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?
Carl Kolchak holding a cross. I probably chose it because I was on a Kolchak the Night Stalker kick when I made my account and I wanted an icon with one of my actor darlings. And because it just looks cool seeing him try to ward off evil with a religious object. :)
4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?
Heh, anybody who comments (and is nice) is my favorite! I do have some regular commenters, but they only tend to show up when I write for something they like. Understandable, of course. I'm usually the same. I might love someone's writing so much I'd like to read everything of theirs, but I just don't have the time, so I stick with fandoms I love.
5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?
I can’t think of one specific one. I will re-read multiple oneshot stories by friends, especially if they were gifts to me.
6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?
Not very many. I don’t think there are any subscriptions and only a handful of Bookmarks. That’s the same on FF.net, basically, except I am actively Following a SYOC (Send Your Own Character) fic, because the author wanted to include a character of mine and I agreed and created one for him to use.
7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?
I used to consider it an insult to be told I wrote AU, especially if my stories simply picked up where canon left off! But I can’t deny that what I’ve been writing for over a year is indeed AU. My 87 Ninja Turtles AU breaks off after the second to last episode of season 7 and goes off in a different direction more in keeping with the spirit of the early seasons rather than the dark stuff canon gave us starting in season 8. And now I have my Pokemon AU verse too, which breaks off some time in season 2, incorporates some events of later seasons, but mostly goes off in its own direction too. And for the Pokemon AU, I have an explanation within the stories as to why. LOL. The creator time-traveled to the present day, spoke to the real people, then went 20 years in the past to create the games and anime. He then had to come up with stuff of his own to keep things going once the series took off, so most of the stuff in Johto and beyond to Sun and Moon is his own creation instead of what he learned from the real people. Heh. I’ve only revealed that in the crossover fics, but I may or may not have it in the solo Pokemon stories at some point.
8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)
Ehhhh … on AO3? I’m not sure anybody is. But what the heck, I’ll look…. Hey, wow, 28 bookmarks and 5 subscriptions. I don’t think I get emails for those things. There is also 1 user subscription. I guess that’s like Following me instead of a story?
Now, on FF.net, on the other hand, I have … 846 people who list me as a Favorite Author and 391 who have me on Author Alerts. **blushes.** I am … rather established there. Of course, a lot of those stats are probably for now-defunct accounts and such, but still, it’s kind of nice that at least at some point, every one of those people wanted to see what I was writing next.
9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)
I don’t think so…. If I want to write something, I probably will. Now whether I’ll post it is another story, but if I like the way it came out, I probably will.
10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.
Descriptions. I used to be way better at descriptions than I am now. I slipped into an Ernest Hemingway way of writing that’s more dialogue-heavy, and while that usually works fine, sometimes I miss my descriptions. Occasionally I can still do them, depending on the scene, but in general it’s not like it once was.
11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?
I write … very few pairings of any kind! Man, even this quiz is romance-obsessed, automatically assuming I write romance. I’d rather write friendships. Now with them, I often write established friendships but also a lot of friendships that have somehow developed over the course of the stories, since they’re often connected.
The few times I do dip into romance, I think it’s usually well-loved pairings but not always.
12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?
135, it says.
582 on FF.net. And then there’s stuff I’ve only posted to Livejournal….
13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?
Everything! Blurbs, too.
14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?
I try to write them down or I’ll forget them.
15. Have you ever co-authored a story?
Yes, but I don’t think any collaboration attempt ever got finished.
16. How did you discover AO3?
Can’t remember. I think a friend found it and told me? Maybe? I liked the tagging system and felt like, Well, what the heck, I’ll try it out, especially since they have some categories FF.net doesn’t. I’ve submitted some stuff to other fic sites, like Fic Wad and Media Miner, but it looked cooler than those. I found it aggravating when I realized people didn’t like to comment much there. Of course, these days it’s often the same thing at FF.net too.
17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?
Heh, nope. Maybe I am in the Ninja Turtles category by now. Who knows.
This version of the quiz sure likes AO3. I’ve seen a lot of these questions before, just not the AO3 ones (and a few others).
18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?
No. Although I think I used to jokingly call them my Lovelies. Now that’s a name I gave to my Tumblr account that has pictures of my favorite actors.
19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?
Mom and Dad, I suppose. I started writing fanfics at age 3 or 4. Of course, I didn’t know that’s what it was called then, but it seemed perfectly natural to want to tell new stories about characters I loved. It still does.
20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?
Write about what you love. Don’t try to force something that’s not coming. People will be able to tell if what you’re writing about is something you truly love. But also try to write about what you know. Put the characters into situations that you'll be able to actually write, instead of stumbling your way through it because you don't know what you're doing.
21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?
Half and half. I try to have a basic outline, but I don’t plot out every detail.
22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?
Oh, the stories I could tell. (And some I have told.) Honestly, what I did depended on what the comment was. Anonymous jerks get deleted. Signed in jerks usually get ignored … unless I’m in a particularly bad mood.
Of course, if there’s genuine criticism that’s valuable, that’s something else again. One of my most valuable comments told me I wrote like a script. I resolved to change that from then on, and I did.
23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)
Scenes requiring a lot of descriptions, like fight scenes. Unless I’m really into it and happily detail it out, which is rare for fight scenes. I’d rather write character interaction.
24. What story(s) are you working on now?
Several Pokemon:
- Human Meowth vignettes (which may become a regular oneshot or multi-chapter after all)
- Downfall of Team Rocket as an organization
- Control Freak redo
- Movie 2 missing scene
- Christmas fic for Crystal
- Ash is angry at a Pokemon (follow-up to A Hero Lies in You)
- Wax fic
- Team Rocket watches and comments on the anime (silly crack and might not get posted)
One Turtles:
- Christmas fic
Annnd a bunch of other assorted fics that I stopped work on long ago but may still finish someday (I hope).
25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?
Sometimes. It all depends on the plunnies! Many times a new idea comes and then it’s torture not being able to start it until I’ve finished what I’m already doing.
26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?
No, but I hope to write something every day.
27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?
Heck yes.
28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?
Just one? Gosh, I don’t know. I love Lead Me Through the Fire and Close Your Eyes, Clear Your Heart for YGO. I love A Hero Lies in You and my Dead and Alive Redux for Pokemon. My Turtles series….
29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?
Family Ties and Family Secrets, both YGO. Urgh, I’d take them both down if people didn’t like them so much….
30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?
I’d like to say I’ll have finished my novel, but who knows. I find it so much more fulfilling to write about other people’s characters than my own. That ain’t gonna pay money, but I guess I’m also worried about using fiction writing for work. Maybe it won’t be as fun then. Having a publisher or an editor breathing down my neck for updates would get very stressful.
31. What is the easiest thing about writing?
Telling stories about characters I already love.
32. What is the hardest thing about writing?
When the descriptions don’t work or a scene drags or a fic just doesn’t seem about to let me know what it needs.
33. Why do you write?
It’s my passion. I can’t not write. It would be easier not to breathe.
My Meowth figure arrived safely on Wednesday. The bubble was all yellowed and stapled back together at the edges (as I already knew it was), but Meowth was still cozy inside. Seems to be perfectly mint! At first I thought some places had faded, but when I looked at the paper that came with him, it looks like that was just a design of the figure. And adorably, James can hold him! That's how I'm displaying them right now. I like this original Meowth figure better than the one Tomy did more recently, because the recent one is battle stance and expression and the old one is docile and cute. And I chose this particular one because he was the only one still in a package for the lowest price. Would've cost about the same to get the recent one in a store.
I finally got my shirt, too. Mom and I figured out stuff to get for Dad for Christmas, so we had him put some money from his and Mom's account into mine (without saying why, of course, though I'm sure he knows the routine by now) and I bought the stuff for him and added the shirt to the order. I kept waffling on whether to really get it, but after going over and over the options I concluded there really wasn't anything I wanted more than the shirt, despite the raised price. I hope everything will get here in time. The most important part of the order has shipped, but the other half is shipping with my shirt, for some reason, and that part of the order hasn't shipped yet.
Then I got sidetracked with this writing quiz FidgetFidgets did. I recognized some questions but not others, so I decided to take it:
1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?
LuckyLadybug is the name of a silly, cute, old song that was covered by Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. I was in a Yahoo Group for them and everybody was choosing a song of theirs to be like a signature song to describe them. For some reason, I picked that one and it's stuck ever since.
2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).
On AO3, I believe it's one of my West Side Story fics (the one where Schrank is shot, I think). Yeah. The Worth of Souls.
On FF.net, it's Frantic in Frisco (apologies to any San Franciscans who hate that name), an old Yu-Gi-Oh! mystery.
Of course, on AO3 the kind of feedback I get is rarely ever in comments.
3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?
Carl Kolchak holding a cross. I probably chose it because I was on a Kolchak the Night Stalker kick when I made my account and I wanted an icon with one of my actor darlings. And because it just looks cool seeing him try to ward off evil with a religious object. :)
4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?
Heh, anybody who comments (and is nice) is my favorite! I do have some regular commenters, but they only tend to show up when I write for something they like. Understandable, of course. I'm usually the same. I might love someone's writing so much I'd like to read everything of theirs, but I just don't have the time, so I stick with fandoms I love.
5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?
I can’t think of one specific one. I will re-read multiple oneshot stories by friends, especially if they were gifts to me.
6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?
Not very many. I don’t think there are any subscriptions and only a handful of Bookmarks. That’s the same on FF.net, basically, except I am actively Following a SYOC (Send Your Own Character) fic, because the author wanted to include a character of mine and I agreed and created one for him to use.
7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?
I used to consider it an insult to be told I wrote AU, especially if my stories simply picked up where canon left off! But I can’t deny that what I’ve been writing for over a year is indeed AU. My 87 Ninja Turtles AU breaks off after the second to last episode of season 7 and goes off in a different direction more in keeping with the spirit of the early seasons rather than the dark stuff canon gave us starting in season 8. And now I have my Pokemon AU verse too, which breaks off some time in season 2, incorporates some events of later seasons, but mostly goes off in its own direction too. And for the Pokemon AU, I have an explanation within the stories as to why. LOL. The creator time-traveled to the present day, spoke to the real people, then went 20 years in the past to create the games and anime. He then had to come up with stuff of his own to keep things going once the series took off, so most of the stuff in Johto and beyond to Sun and Moon is his own creation instead of what he learned from the real people. Heh. I’ve only revealed that in the crossover fics, but I may or may not have it in the solo Pokemon stories at some point.
8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)
Ehhhh … on AO3? I’m not sure anybody is. But what the heck, I’ll look…. Hey, wow, 28 bookmarks and 5 subscriptions. I don’t think I get emails for those things. There is also 1 user subscription. I guess that’s like Following me instead of a story?
Now, on FF.net, on the other hand, I have … 846 people who list me as a Favorite Author and 391 who have me on Author Alerts. **blushes.** I am … rather established there. Of course, a lot of those stats are probably for now-defunct accounts and such, but still, it’s kind of nice that at least at some point, every one of those people wanted to see what I was writing next.
9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)
I don’t think so…. If I want to write something, I probably will. Now whether I’ll post it is another story, but if I like the way it came out, I probably will.
10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.
Descriptions. I used to be way better at descriptions than I am now. I slipped into an Ernest Hemingway way of writing that’s more dialogue-heavy, and while that usually works fine, sometimes I miss my descriptions. Occasionally I can still do them, depending on the scene, but in general it’s not like it once was.
11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?
I write … very few pairings of any kind! Man, even this quiz is romance-obsessed, automatically assuming I write romance. I’d rather write friendships. Now with them, I often write established friendships but also a lot of friendships that have somehow developed over the course of the stories, since they’re often connected.
The few times I do dip into romance, I think it’s usually well-loved pairings but not always.
12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?
135, it says.
582 on FF.net. And then there’s stuff I’ve only posted to Livejournal….
13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?
Everything! Blurbs, too.
14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?
I try to write them down or I’ll forget them.
15. Have you ever co-authored a story?
Yes, but I don’t think any collaboration attempt ever got finished.
16. How did you discover AO3?
Can’t remember. I think a friend found it and told me? Maybe? I liked the tagging system and felt like, Well, what the heck, I’ll try it out, especially since they have some categories FF.net doesn’t. I’ve submitted some stuff to other fic sites, like Fic Wad and Media Miner, but it looked cooler than those. I found it aggravating when I realized people didn’t like to comment much there. Of course, these days it’s often the same thing at FF.net too.
17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?
Heh, nope. Maybe I am in the Ninja Turtles category by now. Who knows.
This version of the quiz sure likes AO3. I’ve seen a lot of these questions before, just not the AO3 ones (and a few others).
18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?
No. Although I think I used to jokingly call them my Lovelies. Now that’s a name I gave to my Tumblr account that has pictures of my favorite actors.
19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?
Mom and Dad, I suppose. I started writing fanfics at age 3 or 4. Of course, I didn’t know that’s what it was called then, but it seemed perfectly natural to want to tell new stories about characters I loved. It still does.
20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?
Write about what you love. Don’t try to force something that’s not coming. People will be able to tell if what you’re writing about is something you truly love. But also try to write about what you know. Put the characters into situations that you'll be able to actually write, instead of stumbling your way through it because you don't know what you're doing.
21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?
Half and half. I try to have a basic outline, but I don’t plot out every detail.
22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?
Oh, the stories I could tell. (And some I have told.) Honestly, what I did depended on what the comment was. Anonymous jerks get deleted. Signed in jerks usually get ignored … unless I’m in a particularly bad mood.
Of course, if there’s genuine criticism that’s valuable, that’s something else again. One of my most valuable comments told me I wrote like a script. I resolved to change that from then on, and I did.
23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)
Scenes requiring a lot of descriptions, like fight scenes. Unless I’m really into it and happily detail it out, which is rare for fight scenes. I’d rather write character interaction.
24. What story(s) are you working on now?
Several Pokemon:
- Human Meowth vignettes (which may become a regular oneshot or multi-chapter after all)
- Downfall of Team Rocket as an organization
- Control Freak redo
- Movie 2 missing scene
- Christmas fic for Crystal
- Ash is angry at a Pokemon (follow-up to A Hero Lies in You)
- Wax fic
- Team Rocket watches and comments on the anime (silly crack and might not get posted)
One Turtles:
- Christmas fic
Annnd a bunch of other assorted fics that I stopped work on long ago but may still finish someday (I hope).
25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?
Sometimes. It all depends on the plunnies! Many times a new idea comes and then it’s torture not being able to start it until I’ve finished what I’m already doing.
26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?
No, but I hope to write something every day.
27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?
Heck yes.
28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?
Just one? Gosh, I don’t know. I love Lead Me Through the Fire and Close Your Eyes, Clear Your Heart for YGO. I love A Hero Lies in You and my Dead and Alive Redux for Pokemon. My Turtles series….
29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?
Family Ties and Family Secrets, both YGO. Urgh, I’d take them both down if people didn’t like them so much….
30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?
I’d like to say I’ll have finished my novel, but who knows. I find it so much more fulfilling to write about other people’s characters than my own. That ain’t gonna pay money, but I guess I’m also worried about using fiction writing for work. Maybe it won’t be as fun then. Having a publisher or an editor breathing down my neck for updates would get very stressful.
31. What is the easiest thing about writing?
Telling stories about characters I already love.
32. What is the hardest thing about writing?
When the descriptions don’t work or a scene drags or a fic just doesn’t seem about to let me know what it needs.
33. Why do you write?
It’s my passion. I can’t not write. It would be easier not to breathe.