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One Piece 629

prpl_pen — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:58:05 GMT

Right. So Robin's new ability is not unexpected--it was already hinted at in last chapter's colorspread (it was my first thought when seeing the image, but then I decided I was reading too much into it and it was just done as a design thing--guess I should've gone with my first instinct!)--BUT there is something that bothers me about it a little. Namely...

Shouldn't her copy, you know...

be naked.

Haha, I mean I know why Oda would cheat on her powers a little in this case for modesty, but she's never been able to replicate her clothes, just her actual body. Unless in the course of her training she managed to master that, which I can get behind, but...I'd like it to be acknowledged in that case, at least.

(Yes, I get hung up on silly details. Shh.)

prpl_pen — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:06:52 GMT

Maybe it's partly because it prominently features the crew and I know they'll all be back soon, but I have an instant love of this new opening.

*__*

That is all.

prpl_pen — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 20:31:49 GMT

Right, so…I’m gonna talk about Young Justice a little.

This was a show I initially was only peripherally aware of; I heard it was a thing that was going to exist, and while at first I was like “… :D!” when I heard it was A) like an AU re-imagining with B) NO BART ALLEN, my interest waned. Cut to several months later, after it’s begun airing, and word of mouth is good! Now I am intrigued again. However, it was finding out Greg Weisman was involved (I only found this out like…a week or two ago, haha) that sold me on definitely watching it. It all goes back to Gargoyles being my first fandom, man. There’s a lot of great things I can say about Greg, but we’ll just leave it at: I know he has respect for intelligent/sophisticated storytelling, for strong female characters, and for the DC canon in general. So yeah. When I found out he was producing, I knew I was going to start watching.

I’ve been watching since…Monday, I think? (took me longer than intended, because I kept passing out early the last couple nights, so wouldn’t even make it through an entire episode sometimes, oops) Anyway, just last night I finished catching up, watching the last two episodes that’ve aired. For one, I wanted to be ready for the new one tonight. Now, though, I have some Thoughts that have been rattling around in my brain, and since, you know, I’ve been wanting to actually USE my LJ again, throwing them all up here seems like a good idea. Plus I’m hoping to get some discussion. I haven’t really looked at the general fandom at ALL yet, (besides a quick glance at the anon fic meme), nor have I looked at spoilers for upcoming episodes. Basically, some of this may be old news/rehashed in the general fandom, but it’s new to me.

First, some general thoughts, bullet point style!

Sooo. As of right now, Kaldur is my favorite character. I pretty much love everything about him. He’s capable, kind, level-headed and intelligent, a good friend, and just…a nice person. He actually reminds me of Chad a lot, haha. So it’s probably not a huge surprise that I like him. Plus his VA is just. Um. Awesome?? I’m seriously attracted to his voice and delivery.
I also love M’gann a whole ton. She’s amazing and also adorable, haha. (I do wish they would stop throttling her catchphrase, though. It’s fine when it makes sense, but there are times when it just feels shoehorned in.) Superboy is cool too, and I’ve really enjoyed seeing him evolve as he becomes more socialized and learns how to deal with people, and what it means to be friends. Initially he was so angry, which of course made sense given the circumstances, but if he hadn’t developed from that, I would’ve been so not interested in his character. Gladly, his development has been handled in a realistic and interesting way; nuanced, even, which I LOVE. And he and M’gann are so cute together. Not necessarily as a pairing (though ngl, I totally ship it), but even just as friends. It’s clear she’s special to him, even if not in a romantic sense from his end (yet; haha, I’m pretty sure it’s heading that way). When he SMILES at her, his face is becomes more open; his brow unfurrows. Aaahhhh, I love it!
And that seems like a good way to segue into GUH, DIS ANIMATION. It’s amazing. I have some minor nits with a few of the character designs, but the actual animation has been FABULOUS, and the quality has remained solid, and IT’S SO NICELY DONE. Fluid; consistently on-model; NUANCED FACIAL EXPRESSIONS dfshkjdf In general it’s been well-blocked and also has some amazing fight choreography. Though, tangentially, I really don’t like the way they’ve chosen to do the running effect for the speedsters. It doesn’t look fast at all and is actually one of the things that bothers me most in the show. But again, that’s more of a design decision and doesn’t reflect on the continued excellence of the actual animation.
Back to the other characters, I’m liking Artemis so far; am mostly ambivalent regarding Dick and Wally. It actually kind of KILLS me that Wally is hard for me to really like, because the Flash books were always my favorite DC, and Wally is one of my favorite Speedsters (Bart is #1 forever though). He definitely has his moments, but there are aspects of his character in this that just really rub me the wrong way, and he seems to be the most static of the characters so far, WHICH IS IRONIC. I’m hoping I’ll have a reason to change my mind about him (and Robin too), once a few more episodes have aired.

So one of the things I have been turning around and around in my brain since last night when I watched the episode and would really love to discuss with people…

Who is the “inside man”? It’s clearly NOT Artemis, by virtue of the fact that the episode is structured to make her seem like the obvious choice. If this were a less sophisticated show, sure, I could buy it. But it’s not. Earlier in the VERY SAME EPISODE they used misdirection to “trick” the audience (and the assassins, haha), in the same way I imagine they used structured the episode as a whole to imply Artemis is a traitor. So far my front-runners are Roy or Superboy. This is my reasoning:

Roy - no, he’s not part of the team proper, but he’s close to them and could easily infiltrate/feed information. How did he know where the doctor was being held in the first place? Possibly he’s something of a double agent? Perhaps he’s even intending to play the baddies, but in turn is being controlled/manipulated without realizing? Grah, now I wish I had the episode to double-check my memory on some things, but I’m at work, so that’s a no-go for now.
Superboy – in his case, he could be a sleeper agent; who knows what all crazy crap he has programmed into his head? There could be some deep programming that no one is aware of until it’s triggered, at which point the Superboy (ugh, he really needs an actual NAME, though; I keep wanting to call him Kon, but who knows if he’ll even be called that) the team has come to know could disappear and then they could have to get him back and dsfjhka I’m actually kind of in love with this idea AND NOW I WANT IT TO BE TRUE, haha

But, yes, these are just some possibilities I’ve been thinking about and I would love to hear other people’s thoughts!

(Incidentally, I’m writing this at work, so while I can post it, any replies to comments will probably come later. I’ll try to reply as soon as I can, but work stuff has priority, so…)

prpl_pen — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:33:11 GMT

I have been meaning to post for...well. Since my birthday. Which was back at the beginning of November. Whoops. Better late than never? I'll get the hang of using my LJ again, honest. I refuse to give this place up.

Some things:

My sister had her baby in October (FINALLY. He was late, and twice she was scheduled to be induced and she canceled it.) So now I'm an aunt thrice, once with each of my younger siblings. Oh, and my other sister is pregnant again. Here are some pictures of the newish nephew:

Hahaha, his ears kill me. :]
My mom surprised me by making me the BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE EVER.

It was also delicious.
I started a new treatment for my psoriasis. Basically, I have to give myself shots twice a week, which I was initially VERY VERY nervous about, because, while I don't really have a problem with having shots when a doctor or nurse does it, the idea of doing it to myself was a whole different animal. BUT. I am doing okay with it, and while I still have to psyche myself up a bit before doing the poke, I'm getting better! And the best part is, IT'S WORKING. I've only been on this treatment for about three weeks, and I was told I probably wouldn't see any improvement for at least a couple months, but I ALREADY CAN. At first I thought it was just wishful thinking, but at this point there is no denying the fact that I am showing real improvement. You have no idea how exciting this is to me.
I might as well link some of my other hang-outs in case anyone wants to add me.
- my twitter - where I am probably the most active, honestly. Still, I don't think it's too terribly spammy.
- my plurk - I don't post much on here; I mostly just have it for other people who primarily use Plurk.
- my tumblr - used sporadically. I mostly spam One Piece fanart (with a slight emphasis on genderswitched stuff).
...I swear there was at least one more thing I had planned to talk about, but it's escaping me now.

Remember me?

prpl_pen — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:52:41 GMT

Meme the First
from puffs

Reply to this post, and I'll tell you at least one reason why I like you. Then put this in your own journal, and spread the love.

Meme the Second
from flashily

There's this Female Character Flowchart out there that I'm sure most of you have heard of already. If you haven't, let me sum it up for you: basically, all fictional female characters fall into stereotypes and aren't "realistic." Also, this flowchart is done in a way that basically anyone can be crammed into one of their categories, as long as you ignore the more three-dimensional aspects of her characterization and focus on the most two-dimensional details available.

Seriously, people who are much more articulate than me have ranted on this subject and explained why it's such a bad thing. That's not what this post is about. You see, this post? Is simply a chance for me to go through my DW/LJ icons and post the ones that I have that feature female characters, whether by themselves, with other women, with men, or simply as part of a group (which wouldn't be whole without them).

Why? Because the thing is, these women are all awesome, in their own unique ways.

I'm gonna try and use my LJ again for reals, you guys.

prpl_pen — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:10:36 GMT

Yeah, been forever again, I know. Still working on that. For now, another meme, stolen/modified from puffs:

The first five people to comment in this post may request a character/pairing of their choosing, and I will produce a fanwork (drabble/sketch/icon/etc) featuring the character/pairing. ~~In return they have to post this in their journal, regardless of ability.~~ <--this part is optional.

1. indefiance - Rukia/Byakuya
2. faemous - girl!Luffy/boy!Nami
3. hallowd - Chad
4. danbi - Yoshimori/Hiura
5. the_firefly Gray/Lluvia

So, yeah. This is me, trying to be productive again. I don't think I've written anything at all since January, haven't drawn in...forever. We shall see what this results in.

prpl_pen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:33:00 GMT

Yeah, I need to do an actual entry again. In the mean time, it's been a while, so have this.

the { first ✚ impression } meme
Goals for tonight:

type up the fic I started and finish it
sleep at a decent hour, I guess

...apparently I am not particularly ambitious right now.

prpl_pen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:21:12 GMT

Have a random meme. I need to post in here more often again.

This is a good multishipper meme, though.

Give me a character and I will tell you:
+ Favorite pairing for them.
+ Runner-up pairing.
+ Honorable mention(s).
+ Crack pairing(s).
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't.

prpl_pen — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:30:40 GMT

What's up?

I never post any more, partly because I feel like when I do it should be ~worthy~ or something, since it's been so long. Which is dumb.

However. This prompted a post out of me, because it filled me with impossible glee. I mean. What could possibly make One Piece even more amazing that it already is?

How about...

OFFICIAL GENDERSWITCH ART, HOT DAMN!!!

People who were on AIM last night before I went to bed already witnessed my spazzing, but THIS IS JUST SO GREAT, YOU GUYS.

I expect lots of art on Pixiv based on this too. DON'T DISAPPOINT ME, JAPAN.

ETA: Now the picture isn't showing up. IS THIS TOO EPIC FOR LJ?? *re-ups somewhere else*

prpl_pen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:16:28 GMT

Okay, people are leaving me happy birthday comments on the one and a half-month old meme that is the last thing I posted, so it's probably high time to actually update again. I've been distracted, what can I say. I have a new power cord again, yes. So that's good! Also, autophanous arrived, crashed on my couch for a couple weeks, and now we've rented a bigger apartment together, in the same building (which reminds me...updated address, again--it's just a different apartment number). So as moves go, it was relatively easy, since it was just down the hall. Still, moving apartments twice in the span of like three months isn't exactly awesome, and I'll be glad not to have to do it again for (hopefully) a good long while. We JUST got the internet hooked up again here.

Ugh, and it's been such a while since I've updated, I feel like there is a lot to say, and yet nothing terribly important that warrants livejournaling. Or maybe it just feels like that because I tend to tweet about things while they happen, and then it feels like I've already talked about them, so I don't in LJ. Meh.

Right now I am trying to decide if I want to sign up for Yuletide this year, and kind of cursing that I didn't nominate fandoms, because a few of the ones I searched for aren't in there. Blast. Kekkaishi is, but so far that's the only one I'd really like to request in (though I'm still making my way through the list). And it occurs to me that the fandom I'd most like fic for is still One Piece, which wouldn't qualify for Yuletide in the first place, so...I may just opt out this year.

I am just kind of generally headachy and anxious-feeling and blah right now. My laptop wasn't starting up properly earlier and it took forever to get it to, and I still haven't figured out what's causing it. Today was really underwhelming in general, which is a little depressing. I dunno. I'm in kind of a funk, I guess.WHAT A GREAT TIME TO CHOOSE TO UPDATE.

Hm. Well. autophanous and I totally saw They Might Be Giants on Tuesday, so that was amazing and exciting. There are probably other things I could mention, but they all slip my mind just now, and TMBG is probably the most important thing anyway, so just focus on that.

prpl_pen — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:22:55 GMT

I have been having just the worst streak of luck lately, seems like. Nothing huge and earth-shattering, no, but just a bunch of lame stuff--some of it very minor--and just when I think my luck is starting to turn around, I find out it was just to lull me into a false sense of security!

So, right now, I am updating this from my PS3, because...my laptop's charger/AC adapter cord just randomly stopped working. This may sound familiar. This cord is actually a replacement one I got just a few months ago when my last cord randomly died. That one...okay, it wasn't massively old, but I'd had it for a while, so though it annoyed me, I could accept it. This one was like...I believe I got it in June. Anyway, I contacted the place I got it from, and they are replacing it, but in the time it'll take for me to ship the faulty one back and wait for the replacement, I am effectively computerless again. I have the PS3, but it's very limited. In fact, I have to stop here because I'm out of space. sigh.

prpl_pen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:17:14 GMT

Once again, a month has slipped by without a post from me. Ugh. I kind of sort of have an excuse, as I was busy with moving and getting that stuff all lined up. Here are some bullet point highlights of the past month or so...

So, the last major non-memeish post I made mentioned my sister having her baby, and my grand entrance into Aunthood. Then on August 7th, two weeks after my sister had her baby, my brother and his girlfriend had their daughter, so I was an aunt again. I have pictures that I need to post of her. It's probably bad form to say so, but I think she's cuter than my sister's baby.
I started a new job, sort of. It's temporary, and I'm looking for something hopefully better and more stable, but it's not bad work. And it pays slightly better than my last job, at least, so yay for that.
And yes, I did move! To a small efficiency for now (though I'm gonna see if I can get out of my lease early and perhaps split a bigger place with autophanous). It is pretty tiny, but once I got my stuff in and arranged, it's actually better than I was expecting. I have some pictures of that to post as well, once I find my camera cord. ANYHOO, my address has naturally changed, and you can find the new one here in my contact post.
Actually I was just at my parents' house for niece #2's baptism over the weekend. Then weekend after next, my sister will be coming to my parents' with her baby, and she'll be baptised then, it looks like. I haven't seen her in person yet, so that will be fun.

That's a pretty half-assed update, but at least it's something. I miss using my LJ. Meh.

ANYWAY. Here's a random meme that looked appealing to me:

Give me the title and fandom of a story I've never written, and feedback telling me what you liked best about it. In return I will tell you any of these from my never-written story: the first sentence, the last sentence, the thing that made me want to write it, the biggest problem I had while writing it, why it almost never got posted, the scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage, or something else that I want readers to know.

prpl_pen — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:42:56 GMT

autophanous, I got your letter yesterday! Expect one back. ♥

I'm bored, so have a meme! In fact, have two!

Meme the First:
Give me a number from 1 to 5026, and I will upload the corresponding picture from my fanart folder.
I am actually pretty new to saving much fanart to my hard drive, so I can say right now that the majority of it is One Piece (though Bleach makes a pretty good showing as well), but there is a good variety of my other fannish loves, albeit in smaller numbers.

and from the_firefly & tsundere,
Meme the Second:
Comment to this entry with any fandom. If I'm knowledgeable enough in the fandom to have ships, I'll tell you one non-canon ship I like, one canon ship I like, and one ship I really don't like (either canon OR fanon). ~~Then post this in your own journal to offer up the same responses.~~ Optional!

Feel free to ask for multiples on either one, especially the picture one. Like I said, I am bored.

prpl_pen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:29:51 GMT

The "You Should Write..." Meme!
my thread here

It somehow ended up being a month again since I last wrote in my LJ. Whoops.

Life has been...challenging lately. I'm trying to stay positive and get through it.

Anyway, I have some memes I intend to answer, but right now, the big order of business for this LJ entry is...

I AM AN AUNT NOW!

Her name is Cora Jean. :)

My sister had her baby last Friday, a few weeks earlier than her projected due date. Anyway, this is the first grandkid for my mom and dad, so they are pretty excited, as well as my sister Amanda and I, who are now aunts. Of course, my brother is now an uncle too, but his girlfriend is actually pregnant right now and expecting to give birth within the next week, so he's probably a little more concerned with that.

Anyway, here are some pictures, in case people are curious. (If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably already seen most of them already.)

I just like this one because it shows how long her feet are. I was the same as a baby.

She was jaundiced, so she had to stay an extra few days and lie under a light,
or as her dad called it,"the baby baker. Check out those stylin' shades.

Right before going home from the hospital.

Aaaand here's my dad, mom, and sister Amanda holding her. I didn't get to go with to see the baby
(my sister and her husband live in Nebraska), so I had to live vicariously through them.

That's it for now! Though if everything goes as planned, I will have pictures of niece #2 within a week or so.

prpl_pen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:18:48 GMT

Why the hell not; let's do some bullet points.

I disappeared again for a while. I actually had a good reason for it, though! The power cord/AC adapter for my laptop just randomly up and died about a month ago, and I was extremely strapped for cash, so I couldn't replace it right away. My laptop had to sit there and be a paperweight in the meantime. Aaand, I kept meaning to make a post in here mentioning that, but never got around to it. Oops. I think partly because I mentioned it on Twitter when it happened, so it felt like I'd already told everyone about it. Never mind that the majority of my flist are not on Twitter, that I know of. Double oops. Anyway, I've replaced the cord, so I'm back now!
...Speaking of Twitter, if you have one and I'm not following you, feel free to add me. (If you don't mind the occasional extreme late-night manga-reading reaction tweet spam, that is. I think I'm not too obnoxious about it? I hope?) I have to say that another reason I haven't been updating my LJ nearly as much these days is because I will tweet small tidbits and feel sated, whereas before I would save a few of them up for an LJ entry.
Quite a few people on my flist were doing cliche_bingo; it looked like fun, so I decided to give it a shot too.

So, some of these are a little underwhelming to me, but then again some are ridiculous and amazing, so I think it evens out.
Finally, I am in a letter-writing mood lately, so it's that time again: LETTERS! Anyone want a letter from me? You wouldn't even have to write back (though I'll be honest, I would love you forever if you did). If you'd like to get a letter from me, comment in this post saying so, and drop your address in my contact post, if you haven't already. People outside the States are totally fine as well; I have a ton of international stamps that will take forever to use otherwise.

That's it for now.

prpl_pen — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:15:42 GMT

This seemed like fun.

1. Choose an episode of anime or television series you have on your computer. Make sure you're certain you want that one, you cannot change or mind once you skip this step. DO NOT TELL YOUR FLIST WHAT YOU CHOSE.
2. Make note of how long the episode is here -> 27:48
3. Ask your f-list to choose a time between 00:00 and whatever the length of your episode is. Be specific, (ie: 19:11, 21:09, 02:42)
4. Make them an icon using THAT FRAME ONLY no matter what it is. And remember, you can only use that ONE episode you chose previous, even if the person posting isn't familiar with it.

prpl_pen — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:56:14 GMT

So! Here is some stuff I wrote in the past six months or so (it is mostly One Piece):

Roughing It (Bleach; PG-13) A YoruSoi drabble for longleggedgit.
Experimenting (One Piece; PG-13/R) A Sanji/female!Zoro one-shot for maxine_chan/serasarahhhh. Yes, it is genderswitch.
Wardrobe Malfunction (One Piece; PG-13) A Luffy/Nami bodyswitch one-shot for xredribbon.
Tradition (One Piece; PG-13/R) A Robin/Nami one-shot written for vilani in a Secret Santa.
Straying From the Path (The Company of Wolves; PG) No one will know this fandom! Anyway, this is what I wrote for Yuletide last year, for seren_ccd. It's based off the short story and film of the same name; kind of a take on Little Red Riding Hood. I'm actually really proud of how this one came out.
Lipstick (One Piece; PG) A Luffy+/Usopp drabble.

Figured I might as well link these, since I hadn't here (though a few of them I did link in one_piece when I first posted them.) I was decently productive for a while there. Hm. Aiming to be productive again. To that end, prompts are appreciated. ♥

I had a question, but now I can't remember what--oh wait, never mind. I just remembered. Does anyone know if there is a One Piece daily digest comm on LJ, similar to bleach_news or atla_press?

...It's painfully obvious that One Piece has taken over my brain, isn't it? It's nice, though. I haven't felt this excited about a fandom since I first started getting really into Bleach.

I kind of feel like writing right now actually, so...I'm gonna go with that urge.

prpl_pen — Wed, 06 May 2009 06:03:25 GMT

I linked this in Twitter already, so some of you will have already seen it, but basically...I'd love for all and sundry to spam me with prompts over at my writing journal. I know when I take requests I rarely end up finishing them all, even though I try...but this is a little different. I'm hoping to find inspiration, but I'm making no guarantees on writing everything. Because of this, I'd actually prefer you leave a lot of prompts, because it'll give me more to work with. Think of it as doing me a small favor. Anything goes!

-->Prompts, please.<--

prpl_pen — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:52:08 GMT

First things first: I have a Dreamwidth account. Predictably enough (since I like having the same username everywhere), I'm prpl_pen @ DW; add me if you've got one! No, I'm not migrating or leaving LJ, I don't even know if I'll even use it at all, but I was kind of planning to at least archive and crosspost fic there? We shall see, I guess.

Then, speaking of fic, I have a bunch of ones I've been meaning to link. A lot of it is gift!fic (and art) from Secret Santas, so...yes, it's been a long time since I meant to link.

No Comfort for the Lost [Bleach; Rangiku/Orihime, R] parsnip_chan totally surprised me with this. (I think she wrote it as a part of her NaNoWriMo, if I remember correctly?) She'd taken requests a long time ago and I'd forgotten ever leaving a prompt, so seeing a fic for it was a really nice surprise. :D And, of course, ♥yuri♥

The Fundmentals of Teamwork [Kekkaishi; Yoshimori+Gen+Tokine genfic, PG] smartycat wrote this for me for himitsu_santa, and it's so cute. I love Kekkaishi, but it's hard to find a lot fic for it, and Yoshimori, Tokine, and Gen are like...my platonic OT3, so getting this was just awesome. :D

untitled Bleach art [Bleach; Kon+ Karin & Yuzu, G] We did a Secret Santa exchange in mallowmateys, a roleplay I'm in, and spartydragon drew me an adorable picture of Kon (in Ichigo's body) with Karin and Yuzu. Kon's relationship with Ichigo's family is one that I wish we'd see explored more often.

Fairy Chess [Suikoden V; Lucretia/Lelei] So this was my first year participating in Yuletide, and it was awesome. This is the fic I received; Lucretia/Lelei are my favorite yuri pairing in any of the Suikoden games, so I was ecstatic. (Link goes to the Yuletide archive.)

Really Awkward Adulterous Lesbian Sex Is Still Better Than No Sex At All [Twelfth Night; Olivia/Viola, PG] Finally, this story was not written for me, but I just had to recommend it. I feel like Twelfth Night is the slashiest of all Shakespeare's plays, and this is just such a wonderfully-written and fitting scenario. Definitely check it out. (Link goes to the Yuletide archive.)

Meh. I should redo & better organize my LJ tags one of these soon days.

I've been watching the One Piece anime pretty hardcore the past few weeks. I think I will actually catch up soon if I keep at it. I just finished some really "ugh" filler after the big Water 7/Enies Lobby arc, and I think it's going into Thriller Bark now? Yay, Brook! I know he has the same seiyuu as did Jaken, and he was constantly hilarious, so I'm interested in seeing what he does with Brook.

That's about it. ...For NOW.

prpl_pen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:36:51 GMT

I am long, long overdue for an actual journal entry. I keep putting it off, though. Partly, I think, I've just been in hiding. Things have not been the greatest lately, and I haven't been in the best mood or frame of mind, and...okay, I know I can write about whatever I darn well please in my own journal, but I like to think of it as my happy place, as my fandom place, and keep the personal whining/ranting/whatever to a minimum. It's not even as much for other people's benefit as for my own right now. So...maybe at some point in the future I'll feel comfortable writing up a long entry about my ~trials and tribulations~, but now is not that time. Right now I mostly just realized that I MISS LJ, and I miss the people here, and I miss commenting and all that. I miss you all.

For a good long while there I was still faithfully reading my flist, even though I rarely commented, but I admit in the past few weeks I have gotten mostly lax even about reading people's entries half the time. And, yeah, I miss it. I don't want to just hide away and forget people and be forgotten because of it. I miss a lot of people and it is no one's fault but my own that I haven't been reaching out like I used to. And the longer I went without posting, the bigger a deal writing a new entry seemed to me. It's not like I even write much about my personal life in here to begin with, and I don't think I really expected to have to write a really detailed personal entry, but it was more what it represented to me, you know?

...Haha, this entry makes no sense and is probably somewhat melodramatic anyway. Whoops. It's a start, though. I feel like the seal has been broken. It should get easier again from here, I hope. Baby steps.

Aaand I was planning on segueing into some fandom/writing stuff from here so this entry would have a little more measurable content, but you know? I think I'm fine just leaving it as is.

prpl_pen — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:45:04 GMT

Just a meme again, for now.

Comment with a fandom that you know I'm in, and I'll reply with:
. Favorite character:
. Least favorite character:
. Character with the best hair:
. Character with the best eyes:
. Character I'd most want to kiss:
. Character I'd most likely screw:
. Character I'd make lunch for:
. Character I'd go singing in the rain with:
. Character I'd go shopping with:
. Character I'd go dancing with:
. Character I'd take over the world with:
. Character I'd most want to cosplay as:
. Favorite het pairing:
. Favorite yaoi pairing:
. Favorite yuri pairing:

prpl_pen — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:28:58 GMT

I'll do a more substantial entry later, honest.

The first five people to comment to this post get to request a sketch of a character of their choosing from me. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their artistic/writing ability. (If you absolutely can't draw, you can offer drabbles or icons or something instead.)

THE FIRST SLOT IS RESERVED FOR DENISE, THOUGH. Without having to repost the meme, of course. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ♥

1. Sanji + Tamaki, for diktat
2. Lyon, for dawnrune
3. Nami, for feenekks
4. Setsuna, for mendaa
5. Chris Lightfellow, for fursona

prpl_pen — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:41:15 GMT

I don't even know. Apparently it's been almost a month since I last wrote in here so...oops? Things have been busy, but in a slippery way where I didn't really feel busy, or rushed, but was just preoccupied enough with various tasks that I'd look back at the end of the day and go, "Whoa, where did the time go?" This has resulted in me being extremely neglectful of my LJ, my flist and commenting (as well as RP), not to mention various other things.

Holiday cards, for one. They are still going out, but a lot later than planned. In years past, they would have long since arrived for everyone by now, excepting maybe a few overseas people. This year, not so much. They'll probably not be in the mail till Friday, so most domestic people should get them before New Years, at least. I hope. There are a few of you also getting packages (you probably know who you are), and those won't be going out till sometime in January, but I'll send your cards with the rest so you'll at least get those sooner. I'm sure it's not even a big deal to most people, but I wanted to give a status update, because I feel bad for being so very not-on-the-ball.

And while we're on the subject of cards...ariyanaforever, dawnrune, feenekks, fightfair, lintsister, and the_firefly: I got your cards/packages! ♥

I've really found that my biggest problem when writing fic that does not have a specific deadline is actually finishing it. I don't know. Like these (and yes, some of these too)? So many of them have been started, some are even aaalmost done, but I still can't manage to finish them in a reasonably length of time. And, granted, sometimes I get a request that I am just not feeling or have no idea what to write for, and I always feel a little guilty about that, but I suppose if it's not there, it's not there. I'm not even talking about that, though. These are prompts I find inspiring, that spark ideas and stories I want to write, but I just run out of gas or something? It's frustrating, and I'm trying to figure out how to solve this problem I have of being good at starting, but not so much at ending. It's definitely gotten noticeably worse over the years, too. I guess I'm also saying that for most of those prompts, barring unforeseen circumstances, they will be written eventually, because they interest me. Apparently I need a deadline to make me get down to business, though, and self-imposed ones tend not to work, I suppose because there are no real consequences for not finishing "on time?" I rarely have this problem with things like fic exchanges/contest comms. Hm.

Speaking of which: I signed up for three separate holiday fic exchanges/secret santas this year, Yuletide being the first. I've actually been meaning to do Yuletide for yeeears, but I always managed to miss the sign-ups, so it was a huge thrill to finally be a part of it this year. The fandom I was assigned to write for was a little surprising, but in a good way, and I actually liked what I wrote, so I hope my requester enjoys it. The archive opens up soon, and ihfdaosfd I have to admit I am really excited to see what fic I'll get. I had an initial bit of disappointment when looking on the website after the upload deadline--my request was among the ones that had been defaulted on. In a way I feel a little spoilt or ungrateful or what-have-you that my first reaction on seeing that was, "what if I don't get a story? D:" but especially since this is my first year participating in Yuletide, I can't pretend I wasn't really excited and really looking forward to seeing what was written for me, so the prospect of not getting anything was rather disappointing. However, I also didn't realize their system for pinch-hits was such a well-oiled machine; looks like there was no need to worry for me or any of the other 160-or-so whose writers had defaulted. The countdown ticker on the site shows about three hours, give or take, till the archive goes live. Eee, exciting!

But for now (or after I finish this entry, at least) it's best for me to get back to finishing fic for the other two exchanges (himitsu_santa and a mallowmateys exchange). Incidentally, anyone interested in some last minute beta-ing? Can't name the fandoms here for secrecy, of course, but I'm more concerned with grammar/typo issues and a check for flow, so even if you may not know the fandoms-in-question, any help would be appreciated.

To finish this entry off, some random pimps/recs:

Jumping out of cakes should only be done by professionals. [Gintama; Sacchan/Kondo, R] Somewhere along the line, this became my Gintama crackpairing of choice. Sacchan is one of my favorite Gintama characters in general (dunno; she just cracks me up), and I like Kondo a lot, but not with Otae, and...they are both stalkers, so it just kind of clicked for me? Unfortunately, I could find zero fic for it. I even started writing my own, just so there would be some, but it's not really the same, you know? Then danbi surprised me with this for my birthday and just...endless hearts. *cough* Literally, apparently, or at least as endless as the character limit allows. >.>
The Best Cure for Homesickness [One Piece; Usopp + Chopper, G] I'm still pretty new to One Piece, but I just love love love so many of the dynamics between the characters. I love that it's not just the Straw Hats as a group (though that one is there, obviously & importantly), but that among the crew they all have their more individual, one-on-one dynamics and just...guh. So well-defined and so much love. And one of my favorite duos is Usopp and Chopper (doesn't hurt that individually they are two of the four tied for my favorite OP character), so I squealed to see that abarero had written about them for me. It's a cute, sweet story; a perfect little winter holiday treat.
The Roots of Heaven [multi-chapter Bleach, ARish; Ichigo+Renji+Rukia (with eventual IchiRukiRen), PG-13 to R] This story, you guys. This story. I've been doing some beta work on it for hallowd, and let me tell you, it was a struggle to keep mum about it before she started posting because it's just so good. Now there is no reason for me not to shout from the rooftops: READ THIS! It's set post-winter war. Rukia was believed to be KIA, but Ichigo and Renji find evidence to the contrary and mount a retrieval mission. Don't expect anything like a rehash of the Soul Society arc, though. This is an original, genre-bending, tightly-plotted and wonderfully-written fic; part buddy film/travelogue, part horror, part mystery, with smatterings of other good stuff, and all awesome. The main focus is of course on Rukia, Ichigo, and Renji, so don't expect to see a lot of other Bleach characters, but that shouldn't be a deterrent, in my opinion. I think the main thing someone might balk at is the length: it's already weighing in at eighteen healthy-sized chapters and still ongoing, and to be quite honest, I have no idea how long it will end up being before it's done. I'm pretty sure once the story gets its claws in you, though, you'll be just as hooked as I am. The link above goes to her directory of sorts for the fic; all chapters can be reached from there.

Enjoy~

So...

prpl_pen — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:34:12 GMT

The people who follow me on Twitter will already know this, but I had a...minor accident, I guess? while driving home from my parents' house. Basically, I'd been driving for about half-hour when I noticed the road was icy. So I slowed down a bit. Drove a little further and that's when abruptly all the cars in front of me started braking and sliding. At the time I had no idea why they were all braking to suddenly, but on reflection, probably someone started to slide off the road and that caused everyone to panic? Can't be sure. But anyway, I had no choice but to brake too, and I started to slide. Slid right off the road, into the ditch at an angle, and through a fence. Hitting the fence post made my car spin around, before coming to a stop facing the opposite direction.

I'm perfectly fine. While it was happening, it was so fast I really had no time to do anything but think "I'm wearing my seatbelt; I'll be okay even if the car flips"-- because for a horrible moment, I was sure it was going to, the ditch was so steep. And then I went through the fence and it was pretty much over. There were at least three or four other cars along the road in the ditch on my side, and someone else must have called 911 first because just after I got out of my car to see the damage, I could hear the sirens. Anyway, from there, gave them my info and waited for a tow truck to come get me out; didn't take too long. My car is actually not in that bad of shape, either, considering. The major damage seems to be a big dent near the front wheel where I hit the fence post. It looks like it can be banged out without too much trouble, but I'm not an expert. In the meantime, I can't open my driver's side door all the way. The other major thing I noticed was my radio antenna was completely torn off. That sucked, because for the rest of my drive back until I got closer to the Twin Cities, I could only get one station to come in most of the time.

That's pretty much that. I've never been in any kind of accident before (closest was having a tire blowout on the interstate, I guess), so as far as accidents go, it wasn't bad. Could've been a lot worse, definitely.

On a completely different subject... does anyone else have a PS3? Particularly LittleBigPlanet? My roommates and I love it and I just realized that we might be able to play online with some flisters. Comment and let me know if you're interested? :D

prpl_pen — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:08:28 GMT

THANKSGIVINGMEME

Have a good Thanksgiving tomorrow, those of you who celebrate it! Please enjoy this video.

I'll be going to my family's for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I probably won't be around online much for the next couple days. Now I have to try to fall asleep at a semi-decent hour tonight so I can wake up early enough to drive there in time for dinner. Shh. It COULD happen.