Pages from the Scarlet Notebook

6:11PM - November's List

I've seen others using something like this, so I decided to give it a try.

To Do in November:

1) The Chains We Choose... to part six (ff7)
2) Sublunary 11-13 (Crescent Moon) OR "Confidant", "Timelost Traces" and "Meridian Stone"
ETA: Timelost Traces:

1,600 / 2,500 (64.0%)

ETA Nov. 19: Confidant:

1,536 / 2,000 (76.8%)

ETA: NOV 19 "Meridian Stone"

4,327 / 5,000 (86.5%)

3) "Festival Lights" [original]

639 / 1,500 (41.0%)

ETA: Slogging, slogging, slogging... It's less like pulling teeth and more like chasing mercury.

4) "Black Glass" (30,000 words) [original]

12,799 / 30,000 (42.7%)

ETA: Eep! I may need to expand my goal!
5) "Gleipnir"

3,341 / 5,000 (66.8%)

ETA Nov. 11: Looks like a nice big number, but thanks to plot twist, I know I'm junking about a third of it. *Le growl*

---

On deck:

"That Which Destoryeth Kings" (Mirage of Blaze)
ff100 claim
Taking Her Measure (Mirage of Blaze)
War Dead (Mirage of Blaze)
Constant in His Chaos (FF7 Salvation AU)
Promise Keeper (FF7 Salvation AU)
site work

2:48AM - Please pardon the RL mess...

Writing isn't exactly on hold... but what's been coming out is... reflective of the thngs happening here, which I will not go into. This is my writing journal, after all. Let's just say: expect a lot of catharsis fic in the near future.

What does this mean for Sublunary?

It is NOT abandoned. I'm keeping my hand in, mostly with side-stories. For the curious, the order right now is:

Unsung Verse

Sublunary Ch 1

Mizumari, which takes place between chapter four, Illuminare and chapter five, Surface Tension.

Progress on other Sublunary things:
"Timelost Traces"

1,532 / 2,000 (76.6%)

Takes place before "Unsung Verse".

"Confidant" ANother dropped thread from the manga:

1,423 / 2,500 (56.9%)

Chapter 12, Sublunary (no you haven't missed one, I've just found this one easier to write, 11 is so blocked I could scream)

1,000 / 2,100 (47.6%)

Everything, not just my writing, is in bits and pieces right now. If it takes two days of all-nighters, I'll get this stuff out. (I just hope it won't be lackluster junk like ch.5 turned out to be.)

5:03PM - Sublunary progress

This chapter is killing me. I kid you not, this is the twelfth time I've re-written it.

3 / 4 (75.0%)

Tere's a Sublunary side-story, Mizumari, up at FF.net.

11:23AM - Sublunary progress

Sidestory:

462 / 1,500 (30.8%)

Sublunary Ch.11

812 / 2,666 (30.5%)

(I already know a good portion of that's goingto be trimmed...entirely too sappy.)

Sublunary Ch.12

500 / 2,239 (22.3%)

(Going to yank about half of this, too. The plot took a strange turn during a rewrite of an earlier section, which makes the later half impossible.)

But hey, it's not even *half* as bad as the first solution I made to Mahiru's identity crisis (caught just in time, thankfully) that would've made Nozomou's arrival pointless and basically left him floating around doing nothing, and me stuck wondering how to get him back where he belonged!

ch. 13 is giving me headaches. The return of Dawn's Venus, quite possibly the most unimaginative antagonists to clutter up manga pages. Yeesh.

11:19AM - Sublunary news

The next two chapters are progressing (why can't I write this thing in order?). The latest (meaning the one that resolves the last one posted) had to be scrapped and redone entirely, since I forgot an important sub-plot. Uh, whoops.

Side story #1 Progress

1,347 / 2,000 (67.3%)

RL illnesses flaring up again, trying here, guys. I really am. I appreciate your patience.

10:54AM - Commentary

It looks like not all bug-reports for the Inne are getting to me, so if leave a comment here if you have trouble accessing something.

Or you can e-mail directly:

JacyntheDMorae*@*aol*com (Remove stars to by pass spam filters)

Anime section stuff goes to:

la_coeur_noir @ hot mail . com (close up spaces, to reach the black-heart behind the spam filters)

(I first mis-spelled that as 'filleters'. Gotta love those Freudian slips...)

11:56PM - Goofing off...

(acutally, I'm trying to put my looseleaf drafts in order, so I am working. Sort of.)

But for fun...

What "Honoo no Mirage" Relationship Are You In? by BitchCat
What's your clan name?
Are you loyal to your clan?	I'd die otherwise!When the notion hits me.Loyalty is for the dogs.Define "loyal".
What is your special power?	I exorcize spirits.I sense spirits and their powers.I transfer spirits to different vessels.I can destroy the Six Worlds.I know everything about everything.I have a really sparkly katana.I can destroy you with a thought.I can hypnotize anyone.I have a bell that finds ukes.
How well do you know your Sengoku history?: 88%
When did you last reincarnate?	August 16, 1368
Your Relationship:	You are Naoe in love with Kagetora, you screwed up bastard.
Quiz created with MemeGen!

The reason I chose 'Komatsu' will be screamingly obvious to those both in 12K MoB fandom. ;)

5:11PM - *snarl*

RL is not encouraging me to write. Everything seems like it's dying on the page. In addition, one of those little flux-flurries that runs through fandom seems to be hitting all my fandoms, or RL has worn me down so much that my tolerance for this sort of thing is almost nil.

Every now and then, there's a sweep of gleeful character bashing, attacks on people writing certain genres (but never directly, oh, no, that would take a spine) complete with back-pedaling and wishy-washy defensiveness, strike-backs from those who got hit, and lo and behold, another flame war. Oh, and the entire "more-fannish-than-thou" or "hey, I all but *channel* the original creator" or "I try to keep true to the original creator's vision, and so those types of stories [usually a pairing the author doesn't like, or a genre the author doesn't like*] are polluting that vision, and I would never write such trash."

Gimme a break, already. Like anyone but the original author knows the "vision" of the created work. And ya know what? Sometimes, the original author is just writing formula. It happens. Go get a cup of chamomille tea and just, as the Live song says, 'calm the f#^k down'.

Me? I'm going to get something to eat, watch something innocuous, then try and finish up some stuff. I've been keeping the Sublunary folks waiting. (It's Nozomu's fault. *grin* His dialogue just keeps coming out wrong and I have to re-write.) Also working on the site overhaul, trying to make things a little more uniform and easier to navigate.

*Okay, I'll admit, my "Winds of Sorrow" rant was very close to the line. But I didn't put the whole blasted things in my author's notes, requiring my readers to scroll through it in order to get to the story. It also touched on RL concerns I had about the matter. But I'll admit, I've walked the line, so I know where they're coming from. I just don't want to keep going in that direction.

12:06PM - ff100, 12K 20+, etc.

Painting prep is still taking most of my time, but during rest breaks, if I find my notebook nearby I scribble out a few things.

While I'm at the hotel, waiting for the paint-fumes to clear out of the apartment, I should have time to type things in--if I'm not getting some well-deserved SLEEP. (Moving an entire apartment's worth of furniture on my own...)

FanFic 100 stories on deck:

For Prompts Blue, Red, Christmas, Fall.

I've also started stuff for the Twelve Kingdom 20+ prompts... actually, I think I'll end up doing them twice.
The first set looks to be a mix of En and Kei related stories.

The second set... Hou-centric, with OCs. Yes, run and hide, now. I really want to do the Hou set... got an idea for the OCs I haven't seen anywhere in the fandom, sparked by the entire way Taika come about: "When a Ranka is blown away, it lands in a woman's womb..." I wondered how that happened... this will be my attempt at answering that. (Because, come on, we [anime-canon only] folks don't really think an egg-shaped fruit comes whizzing through the air and body-slams some poor woman on the street. The alternative is... definetely not PG-13, and even for my taste, waaaaaaaaaaaay too kinky.)

I've also been prodded by my B5 muses, and my original fic muses. (and the Crescent Moon muses... sleep... need sleep...) It's going to be busy...

12:01PM - Progress--almost all Sublunary related.

The next chapter hit a snag, got re-written... and is again, too long. So while I hunt for a good break spot, and revise as I go, the dratted bunnied bit again:

Confidant (side story)

300 / 2,000 (15.0%)

Kiriginu

500 / 3,000 (16.7%)

10:18PM - Delays...

Painting and renovations being done at my place, which means just about everything has to be packed up and moved. Not a lot of time left for writing, I'm afraid. (And then I'll have to unpack and move everything back. So I'll probably be ready to sleep for a week afterwards.)

Luckily, painting and repairs should be done on the same day, Feb. 2.

It's not the moving furniture or taking down pictures... it's where to PUT stuff and all the little things lying around that never seem like anything until you realize it's got to be moved.

12:24AM - 31_days, too late to post.

Feh. And I even started early.

Title:Things Left Unsaid
Series: Twelve Kingdoms
Day/Theme: Your cover's blown.
Notes: Things 12K belong to Fumiyo Ono, I just play in the sandbox. Originally, I meant this to be a gap-filler, the apparently intense discussion Shouryuu and Gyousou had while Keiki and Rokuta had their little talk with Taiki. Time got short, the story got shorter, and I missed the deadline anyway.

I'll probably expand this at some point, into the story I really planned. Not really sure I have Shouryuu's character down. It's kind of scary that I can understand cold, distant figure like Keiki better than Shouryuu. *sigh* Oh, well. I'll consider this a kind of draft.

( Read more... )

3:33AM - I suppose this counts as progress...

Have stacked DVDs I need for certain screen caps by the comp.

Have a PILE of looseleaf (why, oh, why can't I write drafts on the computer like the rest of the tech literate?) set and sorted, also by comp.

Have begun organizing website material.

Finished... uh, well, it was something writing-related. I know that much.

Oh. Wait. Food. I should have some of that, shouldn't I?

12:26AM - 31 Days: Red Letter Day (12 Kingdoms)

Title: Character Wise
Day/Theme: January 13,”Red Letter Day”
Series: Twelve Kingdoms
Characters: Keiki, Youko
Rating: G
Word Count:
Notes: Inspired by the story, “By Any Other Name” by canis_m. Once the idea sparked, it wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it down.

( Read more... )

3:26AM - Progress notes:

S11CM:

2 / 1 (200.0%)

31 Days post: expected by late evening.

Website work: plodding along.

11:45PM - 31-Days: Imaginary Ordinary (Utena)

Title:The Stars Up Above
Day/Theme:: Dec. 8th, “Imaginary Ordinary”
Series: Revolutionary Girl Utena (movie)
Character/Pairing Anthy/Utena
Rating G
Word Count: 331
[ETA: Utena, in all its forms, is the propery of Chihou Saito and Be-Papas, and various other corporate/legal entities. This is a simple fanwork, made for love, not profit, and no challenge to copyright is intended.)

( Stars )

11:02PM - [Dec. 7] [Appleseed-2004 movie] Hangman's Dance

Title: Hangman's Dance
Day/Theme: Dec. 7, "You're the swingingest thing."
Series: Appleseed (2004 movie canon only)
Character/Pairing: Briareos
Word Count: 1,129
Warnings: none
Rating: PG

Appleseed belongs to Shirow-sensei, the movie belongs to Geneon. Just writing a little pre-movie what-if, no profit, no claim.

( Hangman's Dance )

3:41AM - Fait accompli

Finished:

S10CM
Review of Otogi Zoshi, through disc 4.
Appleseed: the Movie drabble (200 words).

7:54PM - Anime Review: Otogi Zoshi, Heian Arc

Otoshi Zogi--the Heian Arc (Dub version)

Production I.G. produces some of the most distinctive-looking anime on the market. It’s quite possible to tell at just a glance whether an anime is an I.G. product. The characters have a more realistic appearance--no sparkly eyes, pretty-pretty boys, or cross-mark temper tantrums, zero fanservice.

A Little Background

Otogizoshi (sometimes romanized as otougizoshi), in real life, is a literary genre. (Or sub-genre, I’ve read conflicting statements.) They are medieval tales (if I may use a term that doesn’t quite fit), most noteworthy for being written entirely in kana, without using Chinese characters. This makes the stories both easy and difficult to read, given the number of homonyms, etc., in the Japanese language.

In other words, a reader has to work at deciphering what is truly meant in the text. Words that read alike, but with vastly different meanings, the surface appearance and the hidden meaning. Viewers of the Otogi Zoshi should keep this in mind as they watch.

( Now, on to the review of episodes 1-13 )

3:28AM - Anime Review: Otogi Zoshi: Tokyo

OTOGI ZOSHI: TOKYO (disc 4, episodes 14-18, dub version)

It’s a bit hard to believe these episodes are part of the same series. We are now in modern Tokyo, which is suffering from a severe (possibly unnatural, cue ominous music) heat wave. Episode fourteen reflects much of what happened in the first episode of the Heian arc, twisted to fit modern times, including a ‘chase’ scene involving motorcycles and a motor-scooter even dorkier than the one Noir’s Mireille used in Paris.

The characters have all reincarnated--with appearances similar to their Heian counterparts (oh, all right, one exception: Tokyo-Tsuna has both eyes now), and with the same names. This is a pet peeve of mine regarding reincarnation-themed stories. I’ve never seen a story using identical-in-appearance characters work. It’s a lazy gimmick that casts a pall over the episodes that never entirely lifts.

( All opinion from here on out... )