Otherwise known as the random stuff entry.

Wanna be friends? Drop a comment here and introduce yourself to be added. Got a question about one of my fandoms? Ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability. Fic feedback, thoughts, challenges, rec requests? I like hearing them all. Just wanna say hi? Pleased to meet you!

Basically, anything goes. *g*

Yes, university has started again. Since I don't actually have to attend any classes this semester, I find myself with a lot of free time. Mostly I've been spending it in the kitchen cooking up a storm but I've also been thinking a lot about fandom, and DK fandom in particular. So today I want to test your fandom knowledge. *g* I've amassed a list of some acronyms I've seen used in fandom over the years. Which ones do you know? Don't cheat by reading the comments. *g* I shall post the answers up in a couple of days.

1. OP
2. WNGWJLEO
3. LOC
4. PWP
5. AU
6. TLDR
7. BOFQ
8. YMMV
9. FIAWOL
10. OTP
11. RPF
12. BNF
13. MST
14. ATG
15. WAFF
16. BFF
17. FIJAGH

( I don't usually post these kinds of memes, but this one was kinda entertaining )

Also going to see The Dark Knight at IMAX tomorrow. For free. :P

Poll #1227007 For those who take public transport.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Do you say thank you to the bus driver when he lets you off at your stop?

I am from:

The stories have been posted up at dk_fic and if you haven't had a look already, I hope you will! I wrote two stories:

Treasure In Any Language, a gen story about the friendship between the Knights for siktah_rouge. I was concerned about this since it was definitely the case that I thought of the story idea first - I'd actually been lying in bed the night before I got the prompt, brainstorming a story where Rune teaches Thatz how to read - and realized it could fit the prompt. So there is my selfish little admission, but since the recipient seemed to like it I could have saved myself the one A.M nervous breakdown.

Scarlet, Ruwalk/Alfeegi crossdressing smut for dragonbeak. I am so sorry, DB; I feel like you got shortchanged because of my stupid mistake. I misread your prompt and only realized it five days before the deadline, after I'd already written over seven thousand words of a story that had an original character in it, which you specifically said you didn't want. I had Ruwalk and Alfeegi crossdressing undercover on a mission to an OC king who kept hitting on Alfeegi much to Ruwalk's' increasing annoyance, and, well, I can't say that it would have been good, but it had a semblance of character development rather than being pure PWP, and a lot more of the talk about dresses. I still may finish the other story but since I ended up cannibalizing a lot of stuff from it I'm not quite sure how to proceed. Despite all that, I hope you do like the story - although it was a bit rushed, I tried to fit lots of things you like in there ♥ and I did have fun writing it. I was really happy when I got your prompt (thank you, cairnsy, for letting me have it *g*). Although if you were the least bit surprised it was me then I should get a cookie, since I don't think I was very subtle about probing you for information. *g*

Actually, one of the comments I got back from fegie caused me to want to meta about Ruwalk/Alfeegi, which I may do next week.

And of course, I got a story, too: Incentives by cairnsy, Ruwalk/Alfeegi, high school AU. Snarky teenage Dragon Officers. That's really all I need to say. ♥

On a less positive note, my phone still hasn't turned up. And it may just be that making me grumpy, but please, please don't use RP journals to comment here; it really annoys me. I want to talk to people, not RP accounts.

I lost my phone. I'm almost certain I left it on the bus. Is there any chance I'll be able to get it back if I call the bus service? That was... really not I needed to do right now.

Ugh, these were supposed to come out at six hours ago but the entire system crashed. Not cool.

Period Unit Code Unit Name Mark Grade Achieved CP
2008/1 AST3INB INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM 88 A 20.000
2008/1 JPN3BEA JAPANESE BEGINNERS 3A 94 A 20.000
2008/1 LIN3SYN SYNTAX 81 A 20.000

94 again. Man, I'm tired of that number. I can't believe Alec actually gave me an A for Syntax but hey, the man is certifiably crazy. Be it far from me to argue. At least I'll never have to hear him talk about chickens again.

tyra_amria, my mother has three different kinds of rainbow thread for you! My parents are coming to town next week (eee! so excited!) so you can get it then~

That today is cairnsy's birthday! I don't even have to tell you how awesome she is, do I? Along with writing kickass fic, organizing challenges like dk_fic for us all, being one of the kindest and most generous people around here and just generally rocking the fandom side of things, she's the only other person in this fandom who knows who Adam Parore is and why he's such an asshole _{the importance of this cannot be understated *g*}. Anyway, I *heart* you, Cairnsy, and have a great birthday!

I feel like I make too many beta requests...

I thought that since I didn't manage to post a story last month (*cries* There goes my New Year resolution...) I would try to post two this month. The dk_fic story is one, but the other ficlet I have finished is, well, boring. In fact, I feel like all my writing is going through an exceedingly boring patch recently, and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. Is anyone up for looking over some Alfeegi/Ruwalk nearporn?

So I don't feel too bad about all my requests, I can also beta stuff! It's been a while since I have, but I'd be up for starting again.

*

ddae and I are rewatching Gundam Wing. It's amazing how different I feel approaching it as an adult. For one, I'm a lot more sympathetic to Relena, and I abhor Treize. I've been trying to track down some of my old favourite stories, but going over the series again has given me two new cravings:

1. Relena piloting a Gundam. Preferably Wing, but any will do. I need this. Moar girls in Gundams in general, please.
2. An AMV set to You're The Voice by John Farnham. I refuse to believe this doesn't exist already.

I finished my dk_fic story, take two. Would anyone who's not involved with the exchange be willing to beta (it, uh, really needs a beta ^^;)? I obviously can't give anything about the story away here, but if you can hack the stuff I've written before, this shouldn't be a problem.

I know it's short notice as I need to submit the story on the 1st of July, but if anyone could do it I'd love you so very much. ♥

And by now it's vuirneen's birthday! \o/ Hope you have a great day, vuirneen!

Most of my flist is not Australian. So I've been meaning to put up an Australian music post for ages and here one is, with three bands that are not only Australian but local on top of that, from my adopted hometown Melbourne! \o/ Please have a look, and let me know if you like something so I know if this sort of thing is worth doing again in the future.

Aural Window

Alternative. These guys were the opening act for BLOOD when they toured here recently. It was the first time I'd ever heard of them but I really liked their stuff and bought their EP straight after their set. They were absolutely ace live: a lot of energy and banter with the crowd and *cough* it doesn't hurt that their bassist, Kouta, is super-hot as well. It's not visual-kei at all, if you don't like that sort of the stuff, and it's all in English. I would especially recommend The Secret.

No Trust in the Morrow:
Cloud 9
The Secret
Drug of Choice
Dreams of a Dying Man
Dark Lullaby

Love Outside Andromeda:

Indie rock. I don't remember how I got turned onto the band, but I always think of them as an example when people complain that women have no place in rock because Sianna has an amazing voice that can be downright vicious. As this is a full album rather than an EP, I'd recommend tracks 7, 8, and 9 if you're looking for somewhere to start.

Love Outside Andromeda:
Tongue Like A Tether
Made of Broken Glass
Gonna Try To Be A Girl
Boxcutter, Baby
Something White & Sigmund
Your Baby, My Blood
Hecate Pose
Chameleon
Improper Methods
Juno
If You Really Want So Little From Me
Achilles (All 3)

The Lucksmiths
Indie pop. If you like Belle & Sebastian, you should check these guys out. I like them because not only are they a Melbourne band, many of their songs are actually about Melbourne. ^^ And ajsjdasjdasldlja' they're touring right now, the Melbourne gig is next Friday, will anyone come with me!? 22/6: I have tickets, bwahaha!

A Little Distraction:
Transpontine
Successlessness
Little Distraction
Moving
After the After Party
Honey Honey Honey

Support Aussie musicians and buy their CDs! If you can't find them overseas I will be more than happy to help out. ^^

Okay, so I had the same layout for a long time and lately I've been tired of it. But none of LJ's other themes are really appealing to me. Can I beg, bribe, blackmail or otherwise beseech someone into making me a DK-themed layout? I can even provide source images if needed! And in return, I'll... write you a ficlet? Send you some chocolate? Give you paid time? Something! Try me!

Happy birthday to alternate_chaos! Hope it's a great day~

My adventure with American confectionery continues. Myer is currently having a "3 Weeks In New York" sale, so I picked up some chocolate bars while we were in the city today for the kimono exhibition. If you're in Melbourne, you should go to the exhibition, by the way! It's at the Immigration Museum (500 Flinders St.) and it's free for students. Some thoughts:

Butterfinger: Like eating crystallised sugar. Not a fan.
Peanut Butter M&Ms: So disappointing! I was really looking forward to these, but they didn't taste like peanut butter at all. :(
Take5: Now this I would eat again. The mix is a little strange at first, but I really liked it; pretzels and chocolate is a genius combination. Mmm. So crunchy and salty. ♥

thierrys also sent me recently (thank you again, thierrys!) a Whatchamacallit which was quite nice and Twizzlers, which tasted like red plastic. One observation I have so far is that in comparison to Australian lollies, American packaging is much less attractive to me, and vaguely cheap-looking. I should get a bag of Australian Milky Ways to photograph for comparison. And, wow, corn syrup everywhere.

On the other hand, you guys have Peanut Butter Cups. That's a pretty big pro.

I beat Justice For All as well, but despite the fact that Apollo Justice just came out, Trials and Tribulations still hasn't been released in Australia. So that's the end of my gaming for the moment, which is a good thing with exams coming up. _{and, uh, I bought more doujinshi, despite the fact that the first lot hasn't come yet. *hides face* I can't help it! I'm so excited about the fact I can actually choose to collect doujin about the pairing I like, rather than being happy just to find any for the series at all.}

PS: If you haven't already, you should go vote in the LJ Advisory Board Elections. For anyone except jameth. Please.

Title: Being/Time
Fandom: Dragon Knights
Pairing: Tetheus/Kai-stern
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1,058
Summary: Tetheus meditates on the nature of things.
Disclaimer: Dragon Knights belongs to Ohkami Mineko. I claim no ownership and make no profit.
Notes/Warnings: Initially written in 2005, I noticed this when I was trawling through old entries the other day. I locked most of my old fic after my drama-queen departure from LJ later that year, and I was curious to revisit it. This story wasn't as bad as I remembered it being and after the disbelief at Reverein at the sheer idea of this pairing I thought they needed a little love. Not substantially changed, however, from that previous posting if you read it then.
Notes, part two: Please no one ever go back and read my old entries; it's quite embarrassing. ^^

( Being/Time )

I have my assignment for dk_fic! It is awesome and it should be fun to write, which is what you want out of a fic exchange.

To my writer, if they happen to stumble across this post: I hope you don't think my request is too odd, and thank you for taking it on; I ♥ you. Really, I'm pretty easy to please, so please don't stress over it too much. ^^ One thing, though: I didn't make this a requirement in my request because I didn't want to put too much pressure on you, and it's still not a requirement, but I must admit, I am hoping for sex. Even fade-to-black is okay if that's all the plotbunnies will do. As is evident from my journal, I really like smut, and I will be a super doubleplus happy fangirl if you can add that in. That is all. ♥ _{and eee! the suspense of not knowing who you are! how exciting~}

Started playing Justice For All and am expecting my first package of P/E doujinshi. Still obsessed.

...that signups for dk_fic end on the 14th! You've still got a little time to sign up if you haven't done it already~ I'm already stupidly excited about getting my assignment - make it something tasty, guys! The idea of so much fic in one place after how slow the fandom has been lately is really exciting - sometimes I feel a bit lonely writing away here by myself. ^^

I'm loving the meta train as well. *g*

Oh! I bought my ticket for BLOOD as well. Don't forget, June 9th at the Hifi! And the Japan Festival is on Sunday; ddae, tyra_amria, you guys wanna go?

Inspired by my previous post.

Tell me about your DK headcanon. Things you believe about the characters, their backstories, the world, that aren't necessarily stated outright in canon, but are part of them for you. Things that show up again and again in your fanwork. The way things go in your head.

Kai-stern's queerness is one of those for me. Here's another one of mine:

Alfeegi can play the piano, or at least some kind of musical instrument. One of his hobbies is officially listed as 'music appreciation' so I've always assumed he can play something and play it well; he's far too much of a perfectionist to be mediocre. Plus the image of kid!Alfeegi having piano lessons is far too cute. He would never let anyone catch him doing it, though ^^ and anyone who found out would have to do it by accident or by sneaking into the practice room... _{I wrote my NaNo last year on piano-playing Alfeegi, if anyone is interesting in beta-ing 25,000 words of pretty awful Ruwalk/Alfeegi? ^^;}

It's also anotherreminder's birthday today! Happy birthday! ^o^

_{Okay, well, this post is not actually my thoughts on yaoi, but it easily could be. I'm looking at somebody's LJ and just wondering in what universe is Kai-stern 'most likely het?' And yeah, yeah, I know, nothing's been canonically said, differing interpretations, but really. Do not make me go 'This Boy Is Obviously Queer And Let Me Dialogue To You At Length About Why This Is So' on you. I may be -possibly- slightly overinvested in this issue. *g* I kind of want to write up something about possibilities of love and sexuality in the DK world now, but that's really the problem with trying to meta in this fandom: we just don't have a lot of those worldbuilding details to work with, and my headcanon is not really that interesting. Or conclusive. *g*}

My thoughts on icons

I have this on my userinfo, but figured it would be worth reiterating it here. I don't mind if people on my flist use my scans to make icons, coloured pages, layouts etc., and you guys don't have to ask; I trust you. It makes me happy if you credit my scan, and show me what you made afterwards, though!

I would really prefer it if people who are not on my flist (if any such happen to be reading) asked first; it really startles me to see someone with icons made of my scans, who is not on my flist and has never commented on any of my posts here or at alfeegi. I like to know! And for purely selfish reasons, I like to see that people are interested; it's a rule of the internet that most people who download don't comment. I know my scans aren't the prettiest ever, but I spend my time and money on making them so I don't think it's too selfish to at least want my name to stay vaguely attached to them, especially since this fandom has a bad history of taking my stuff without my permission which makes me paranoid.

There are lots of reasons you should look at this even if you can't read Japanese (no translation, sorry; my translation of the first part was ack-so-bad I didn't even bother to put it up and ajfkdj;fsd I need to be working on an essay right now, but I can do small parts if there's a particular section you want):

chibi-Rath

semi-shirtless Kai-stern

because it's probably the last gaiden!

but mostly because Kai-stern is so gorgeous in this one it hurts. And the Kai-stern+Rath interaction is so cute.

Download!

_{Posted publically for once, but if I see this reposted I shall be severely annoyed.}

There will be a collection of the DK gaiden! ^o^ It's tentatively scheduled to be published in July.

I guess this should put the chances of the gaiden being translated into English up as well.

Just imagining what she might put on the cover makes me happy. *g*

Signed up for dk_fic, after all that angst of deciding what to request! ^o^ I'm excited to see people signing up; you have until the 14th of May to do so. If you haven't yet, it's that chance to get that DK fic you've always wanted, and to make someone else in the fandom very, very happy...

Ikaihen bunko finally came in today. They are very pretty but this makes me grumpy because the third volume is going to come out soon and aksk;dsj shipping so expensive. But I need to get some PW doujin anyway so will suck it up and make another order.

I don't know if this already exists out there, but I thought to make a list of all the arc names in Japanese since there was initially some confusion over what Ikaihen was, along with the TokyoPop equivalents if I know them and a more literal translation if necessary.

Volumes 3-4: Ryuutohen [竜都篇] / Home Sweet Home (Dragon Capital Arc)
Volume 5: Hihouhen [秘宝篇] / Treasure Hunt (Treasure Arc)
Volume 6: Kaigyohen [怪魚篇] / ??? (Mysterious Fish Arc)
Volumes 7-9: Kazaryuuhen [風竜篇] / Wind Dragon
Volume 10: Taidouhen [胎動篇] / The Quickening
Fukkatsuhen Joshou [復活篇·序章] / Revival Introduction
Volumes 11-12: Fukkatsuhen [復活篇] / Revival
Volumes 13-26: Ikaihen [異界篇] / A World Away (Spirit World Arc)

There was fic the other day, too (Lykouleon/Raseleane, R, spoilers).

Firstly! cairnsy is running a DK fic exchange at dk_fic and if you don't all go over and sign up to write all sorts of yummy stuff I shall be severely disappointed (I think you can sign up to do art as well?). Sign up post with more info is here. I'm having such an awful time deciding what to request. Secondly! I got a package from thierrys today; thank you so much, thierrys! For the record: American Milky Ways are indeed Australian Mars Bars. dragonbeak's package is sitting on my floor just waiting to be taped up, so hopefully I'll get that off tomorrow. And thirdly, to prove I have not abandoned you for PW fandom, I have fic!

Title: Our End of Days
Fandom: Dragon Knights
Pairing: Lykouleon/Raseleane
Rating: R
Wordcount: 805
Summary: She'd never given up on him.
Disclaimer: Dragon Knights belongs to Ohkami Mineko. I claim no ownership and make no profit.
Notes/Warnings: Spoilers for #26. You know what that means. I ended up deciding this was too depressing for a birthday story, although bearmoon can still claim it if she wants to. ^^

( coming up sweetly )

Goddamnit, Edgeworth. Why are you so hot?

_{oh hai, I bought a DS today JUST so I have my own for PW-playing purposes instead of stealing ddae's. Plus I'm seriously considering writing Phoenix/Edgeworth smut for the kink meme. It's been six days since my initial PW-exposure. I've got it baaaad.}

omg PW kink meme. all hundred something pages of it. in two days. i regret nothing.

I had such an awesome day today that I want to try the comment porn thing again, although I promise not to write 2000 words this time. If you want me to write some smut for you, leave me a comment with a pairing and a kink/scenario.

For the record: got an A on my Syntax assignment and even dragged an 'excellent' out of Mr. Barefoot. Obviously that's not his real name, but he spends so much time prancing around the room with no shoes on rhapsodizing about how much he loves his wife and how not to get beheaded in Indian tribal territory that it's kind of fitting. Don't you just love linguists? Also achieved opening new bank account, subject approvals for Ritsumeikan, made delicious lentil and vegie soup, and saw wicked_ways (who is still as gorgeous as ever and to whom I must write a nice long letter very soon) on Monday. ♥

Gipped! Despite the fact that it was slated for the May issue, there is no DK, or anything Ohkami Mineko-related in fact, in Wings. There should be next month, if it can be trusted.

Now that the awful crying! throwing up! stage of stress is over and my Ritsumeikan University forms are (mostly) in, I can calm down a bit and actually get some uni work done. More so than ever, I'm so humbled by and thankful for the graciousness of the people around me: my parents, who wielded constant panicking phonecalls at all hours of the day and drove to Echuca at ten at night to pick me up just because I wanted to come home; friends who have driven me all across town and sat in waiting rooms for hours as I went for x-rays and other tests; lecturers who dropped everything to write letters of recommendation for me, and everyone else who's just listened to me complain. I love you guys. ♥

Speaking of things I love, misura wrote me some kickass 'first meeting' fic for Alfeegi and Lykouleon, which you should check out: Knight's Loan.

Oh, and I bought an iPod! Yeah, years behind the times, but it's still exciting.

Happy birthday, madameenilef! You are a crazy, crazy thing and I love you.

Guess who's going to Kyoto on a scholarship next semester?

*twirl*

I posted Crescendo reaction fic the other day, if anyone's interested?

Title: Grass in the Wind
Fandom: Dragon Knights
Characters: Kai-stern, Lykouleon
Rating: M
Wordcount: 4,236
Summary: Some things are inescapable.
Disclaimer: Dragon Knights belongs to Ohkami Mineko. I claim no ownership and make no profit.
Notes/Warnings: This is a mess of everything that's been on my mind since Crescendo. I'm worried that in the end it's not really anything at all but hey. Obviously, spoilers for the aforementioned gaiden. Um. Creepy stalker Lykouleon?

( Grass in the Wind )

Posted the new DK gaiden at alfeegi.

Link

I love that my friends and I's idea of a wild Thursday night is brownies and milk and playing Boggle. *g* We're so wholesome.

Happy birthday to vrakanox; hope it's a good one!

My Syntax lecturer mentioned on Wednesday that the colloquial use of "youse" for the second person plural is mostly a feature of Australasian English. So, wherever you're from: do you say "youse?" Why or why not? Do you cringe a little but say it anyway? If you don't, what might you say instead?

(I'm completely obsessed with Facebook now. ^^;)

Just journal maintenance. I've sorted my links list so you can actually find my Tags page, uploaded some of the pretty icons laenavesse made, and reorganized my Scrapbook to group stuff together better (see what I updated).

There's more to be said, but I'm not in the mood. It's been a bad, bad week. Good night.

There is no porn in the story that is being written. There is supposed to be, and yet there is none. This makes me grumpy! So we need some happy around here. As tagged by butterflyishida, 10 things that make me happy.

1. Ruwalk/Alfeegi art by dragonbeak.
2. Being back at college and having a nice new bigger room.
3. Vegan marshmallows, even if I can't get them here.
4. Pancake dinners with dancingteardrop.
5. Hanging out with awesome host people and having a ball at O-Week.
6. My new vegetarian cookbook.
7. My Little Pony contact.
8. Meeting up with ddae tomorrow for a Scrapped Princess marathon. Mmm, Shannon-nii...
9. Super Junior-T's Rokkugo!! (yes, still).
10. Having internet again!

Tagging... whoever wants to take it!

Does anyone feel up to looking over some Ruwalk/Alfeegi smut? It's about 4,000 words with a bit of non-con. It's seriously been sitting on my computer for something like nine months now, and I just can't work out why I don't like it.

Spotted an interesting meme on friendsfriends tonight: things you don't blog about. For me at this point that would be "anything non-fandom, or personal." I do make posts about uni and RL, but nothing that's very deep. I don't like to talk about things that are important to me - I'm very impressed that so many on my flist can write so honestly about what they're feeling, or even just how their day went. I wish I wrote more about certain topics that are important to me, and on the flip side, that I commented more when other people talked about them...

I feel kind of bad that I don't have fic for Valentine's Day, but I don't like anything I'm writing at the moment. *kicks wip folder*

The linguistics geek in me is tempted to analyse Alfeegi's speech patterns. The way he is rude and polite at the same time cracks me up. ♥

Stephen Fleming officially announced his retirement following the England series today. Maybe that's why I feel a bit down - with Gilly and Kaspa going as well and all this stuff with the ICL/IPL, plus still the fallout from Sydney, my cricket-loving heart is a little disturbed.

This is my new drug. I can't stop watching it. I only wished I had discovered Super Junior T earlier because it is exactly the kind of dorky, crazy thing I like.

I mentioned Värttinä elsewhere recently. They're a Finnish folk group I really like - the vocalists are all women with amazing voices, and their band is really good too. So here are a few songs by them I like:

Äijö (live video)
Emoton (if I ever finish the Rath/Cesia fanmix, this song would be on it)
Merten Kosijat

I was tagged with some questions by wicked_ways, the answers to which are under the cut.

( Answers )

Fic is not going well, mostly because I'm conflicted over what exactly kind of story I'm telling. The only thing I'm sure about is "dark and smutty" and so far it is neither smutty nor all that dark. Once the scenario is clear in my mind it should be easier; I just don't know which it is that I want at the moment. ;_;

Title: Burn
Fandom: Dragon Knights
Pairing: Fedelta/Saabel
Rating: NC-17
Wordcount: 1,800
Summary: Saabel likes playing with fire.
Disclaimer: Dragon Knights belongs to Ohkami Mineko. I claim no ownership and make no profit.
Notes/Warnings: I solicited comment porn prompts, sheesh, last August, and thierrys asked for Saabel smut. I am sorry that is so late and not even that porny! Since I failed so badly at the character limit I decided just to post it as a regular story. There is nothing nice about this fic, and that includes the writing. *g* It contains dubious consent and filthy mouths all round, so consider yourselves warned. I've come to the conclusion that I can't write comment porn. *g* I have never once managed to stick to the character limit. A couple of you do the ten-minute fic thing, maybe I should try that instead...

( Burn )

Gilly.

I tell you what, Haydos better not be thinking about retiring any time this year or there might be tears.

Made a longer post on JF. Back to writing porn now.

ETA: TAIT.