the bathroom window

tumblr is my religion

2013-01-10T00:07:59Z

I've moved most of my fandom activity over to Tumblr. Not there's much of it, however.

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tvtropes strikes again

2012-03-05T18:36:09Z

Added a few tropes to Lt Iresso's blurb on the Characters: Star Wars The Old Republic page over at TVTropes. There weren't any! Not even Battle Couple, which is basically a trope for every romance option. This guy needs more fandom love! Awkward romance banter aside, I find him incredibly sweet and refreshingly earnest. A nice counterpart to Tharan, who continues to be a creepazoid.

It took me forever to find it, but I knew there was a trope for people who've been shipped out to some shitty locale for punishment. Not just Put on a Bus, but Reassigned to Antarctica. Perfect.

I love tropes. They appeal to the reader/writer in me as well as my insane need to put things into lists. Trying to find some more to apply to the Consular and Agent storylines and characters, since I'm the farthest in those two classes. It's difficult to read through the pages, since I'm still attempting to avoid spoilers... But TVTropes is so damn addictive.

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January postcards...

2012-01-18T20:05:36Z

...Have been mailed!

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December postcards

2011-12-12T01:08:42Z

Have been mailed! Last postcards of this year. I got a new book of postcards from the MCNY; hope you guys like them!

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November postcards

2011-11-15T18:07:12Z

Have been mailed! I'm sorry for the delay - Had to go to a wedding across the country, and this wreaked havoc on my schedule.

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Dragon Age Big Bang

2011-10-19T17:09:46Z

Rivers Til I Reach You
f!Hawke, on the run from Kirkwall, follows her lover Anders to Denerim, where he has partially begged, partially tricked Queen Cousland into protecting them. Out of the bargain, the Queen-Commander gets their help as she travels across Ferelden, chasing reports of Orlesian involvement in her own country's collapsing Chantry. Also: babies.

I've been severely neglecting my DA Big Bang fic. I got some substantial writing done on the train yesterday and just now did a word count: one-third of the way through. Not bad, but I'd hoped to have it done before NaNo started. ...Yeah, that's probably not going to happen. Slight consolation that the rest of the DA:BB community is procrastinating just as much as me.

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October postcards

2011-10-03T21:53:52Z

Have been mailed! I need to re-stock, I'm beginning to finally run low. Really like this months', especially the little Digimon drabble.

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it's not friday and i don't care

2011-10-01T14:06:02Z

fannish5: Name five characters whose religious beliefs are important to them.

Dragon Age only!

1) Leliana - Her beliefs in the Maker diverge from those expounded by the Chantry, but her faith is strong enough to support her through the criticism she receives, as well as to encourage her to leave the safety of the cloistered life to join the Warden on his/her march toward death.
2) Sebastian - The man defines himself by his position in the Chantry. All of his decisions are filtered through his interpretation of the Maker. He lives and kills by it.
3) Anders - Oooh, Anders. Fandom's full of discussion about Anders' faith and his view of Andraste. He compares himself and his mission - not unjustly, I think - to the Divine's bride and her exalted genocide.
4) Merrill - The Dalish's religion is as shattered as their culture. Merrill keeps the old ways as alive as she's able, a bittersweet task that causes her to lose as much, if not more, than what she was trying to save.
5) The Qunari - I read somewhere that the Qun is sort of like militaristic Confucianism, which is fascinating. Sten, in the first game, bored me to tears, but the Arishok and his unyielding dependence on the Qun was creepily awesome. It's not that his beliefs are important, they are the absolute definitions of the entire world.

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September postcards

2011-09-01T15:00:21Z

Have been mailed! I really need to get my lazy ass to a post office to buy more international stamps. But I have all these Forever stamps and the post office is the seventh circle of hell. Ayup.

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august postcards

2011-08-02T14:23:29Z

Postcards were mailed out this weekend!

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my dorkiness knows no bounds

2011-07-07T02:06:25Z

Got the two Dragon Age books. Read them. Bout one of the limited edition DA prints from Bioware. Just now bought jakface" amazing calendar. I love love love her art and this calendar looks hilariously sexily awesome.

I've been doing cool things, too, I swear!

...Played a good 15 hours in my f!Brosca DA game this weekend. She's incredibly awkward, telling jokes that know one gets, not getting the jokes everyone else tells. Cousland was a sweet-talker, Brosca has no persuasion skills. I was joking with The Boy about it - I had to pry Leliana off Cousland during my first play-through; now that I'm wooing her, she doesn't give my poor lonely character the time of day. Half-way through the game and Brosca only just got her first kiss, one that she had to initiate herself after stumbling through one of the most awkward conversations ever. Apparently DA characters only like you when you're hard to get.

Edit: New DA2 DLC announcement tomorrow! Sorry work, sorry school, I have important matters to attend.

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July postcards

2011-07-02T01:17:22Z

The postcards for July are done!

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...and another da post

2011-06-13T20:46:55Z

Pete finished the Landsmeet yesterday. Rained on Saturday so we lazed in front of the TV and he played 12 hours of DA:O. From 4 in the afternoon until 4 at night, and he only stopped because I woke up, realized he wasn't in bed, and then came out to laugh at him. The addiction spreads! I accidentally spoiled the whole Secret Companion aspect with an off-hand remark about Pete's love of [the voice actor] Simon Templeton. But! I haven't ruined Morrigan's offer yet; we'll see how he copes with that curveball.

I haven't been into a fandom like this since... Damn, I don't know. 3:10 to Yuma, I guess. Maybe Coraline. But this obsession blows both of them out of the water. I am enthralled with this series. Hounded by it. I even joined dragonage_bang. The world's just so damn expansive, the characters so realistic and likeable, the plot so immersive. Arrggghhhh so good. The DA fandom seems awesome so far: really friendly and porn-tacular.

But instead of DA I played KotOR this weekend, partially to give the XBox 360 a break. I came really close to beating the game the year it was released. In fact, I played about 15 hours on Pete's XBox when we were in school, and then when I went home I bought the PC version and started it again. In fact I think I wrote about it on my LJ. Got to the last planet before my interest fizzled. Bah, I was pathetic. I'm about 15 hours in again, on Tantooine. Playing the same characters: female scout named Sade o'Lir who's romancing Carth. Oh Bioware, Y U so awesome.

I started it almost serendipitously right before E3. So now there's The Old Republic to get excited about. Quitting WoW was almost a relief - the thing was practically a second job - and I haven't even tried another MMO since. ...But TOR is tempting. Very, very tempting.

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fannish 5

2011-06-11T02:38:07Z

fannish5: 5 characters you feel are most likely to read or write fanfiction. (That don't already do so in canon)

1. Anders - Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Dragon Age 2
Isabela and Varric write/illustrate "friend fiction," which the other characters occasionally have to hear about. I think of the group, Anders would find it the most hilarious. He's creative and imaginative, as a kid in the Circle amused himself by drawing pictures of the adventures of Ser Pounce A Lot, and he's already a writer.

2. ~~Angeal~~ Genesis - Final Fantasy VII
That man was obsessed with Loveless. Not much of a stretch to picture him writing fanfic of it.

3. Chie Satonaka - Persona 4
Chie's a huge martial arts fan with an impressive collection of movies. I can imaging her writing her own scripts or stories, maybe inserting a kick ass Mary Sue to boot.

4. Maya Fey - Ace Attorney
She wouldn't be much of a Steel Samurai fan if she didn't write fanfiction of it.

5. Fakir - Princess Tutu
...He's sorta writing fanfic at the end, isn't he?

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June postcards!

2011-06-07T02:50:36Z

Completely forgot to make a post - the postcards for the Japan and NZ auctions were mailed last week!

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May postcards

2011-05-01T21:24:42Z

Mailed the Japan and NZ auctions' postcards for May!

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Fannish 5

2011-04-29T22:33:32Z

fannish5: 5 favorite/least favorite royal characters

1. Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda series) - Ever since Ocarina, she's been one of my favorite female characters. The princess-to-be-rescued trope usually annoys me, for obvious reasons, but the recent games have put a spin on the tired cliche, and Zelda becomes greater than just a locked-up, passive girl. She has strength and wisdom, and when she kicks ass she really kicks ass.

2. Prince Zuko (Avatar) - C'mon. The angst! The redemption! The awkwardness!

3. Princess Azula (Avatar) - The way her character was developed - I'm still amazed at how much awesome Azula is. For a children's show, hell for any show, it's a rare thing to find a powerful, ambitious, intelligent female character like Azula. Also she's a fascinating foil to her brother, and his rebirth and redemption makes her fall and failure all the more poignant.

4. Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda series) - He was so, so cool in Ocarina. The dark king who appears in the swirling sand of the wasteland, integrating himself into the royal court and then killing for the throne as a storm rages outside the castle walls. <3

5. Yuffie (Final Fantasy VII) - ...She's kinda a princess, right?

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Postcards!

2011-04-07T12:25:44Z

Mailed them out last Friday and took a picture, but since then my memory-card reader has died and all attempts to resuscitate it over the past week have failed. Sorry, guys! Have ordered a new one, which will hopefully arrive soon.

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postcards!

2011-03-18T02:36:02Z

Mailed the first postcard from the NZ auction! Those are me and The Boy's hands - It was a duel effort. It was a cool looking postcard: a black-and-white shot of the Brooklyn Bridge that I bought from a store down the block from us.

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japan

2011-03-16T16:20:20Z

I've been rigorously following the crisis in Japan since last week. There are two fandom auctions going on, help_japan at LJ and help-japan at DW. I'm offering another year of postcards.

Edit:

...And I just bought a bunch of new postcards the other day when I was at Union Square! The Strand had some really nice ones, better quality than the ones at tourists' stalls.

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auction for New Zealand

2011-03-03T17:17:59Z

I'm offering a year of New York postcards over at help_nz. As of the 1st, they've already raised $1500, which is awesome. I love when fandom gets together for good.

I hope someone bids. I've always wanted to participate in the fandom auctions, but I've never had anything to offer. Hey, want some half-assed fic for fandoms that have been dead for years? Get in line! Definitely can't draw and have never tried making vids. ...I can edit wiki pages? So yeah, hoping someone wants some postcards. Who doesn't like getting mail?

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Fannish 5

2011-01-08T00:36:33Z

fannish5: Five resolutions a favorite character (or characters) would make for the new year.

Motomiya Daisuke
1) LESS SCHOOL MORE SOCCER!
2) Get Ken to grow out his hair long enough to put it in a ponytail so he can be a pirate for Halloween
3) Learn to play a wailing guitar solo and then interrupt one of Yamato's concerts with it and totally rock.
4) Go back to New York to see Willis and be all like, hey Willis check out this wailing guitar solo WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHWAHWAHWAH and get Ken to come along and show him all the cool shit in Manhattan like all that bar that Willis was talking about.
5) Spend all time in math class drawing because I am an artist.

Ichijouji Ken
1) Increase studying by at least 20 minutes a night, Monday through Saturday.
2) Maintain current physique for kendo.
3) Complete practice university applications and have them reviewed at cram school.
4) Find something that I want to do as a career. I want, not what my parents believe what Osamu wanted.
5) Increase time spent with Daisuke to all of Sunday. Every Sunday.

Yuffie Kisaragi
1) I don't need resolutions - I'm kick ass enough already
2) Seriously, any more kick ass and the world might not be able to handle it. Yeah, you know it.
3) And then there's be some crazy monster that pops out of the Life Stream because it needs to stop my awesome power and I have to destroy it and I do, but with a single tear of regret because it's not its fault that I'm so amazing.
4) Steal more stuff I guess. That's a given since I'm the ninja-est ninja ever to ninja in this universe.
5) Including all of Vincent's clothes. Hehe.

Ben Wade
1) Steal
2) Kill
3) Seduce
4) Quote the Bible
5) Repeat ad nauseum

Coraline Jones
1) Figure out how to pick the lock on that old photo album in Wybie's attic
2) ~~Kiss Wybie~~ Finish our movie Attack of the Killer Banana Slugs
3) Build a bike better than Wybie's
4) Learn how to cook so Dad'll stop destroying the kitchen
5) Learn how to cook a really good pizza and eat it with Wybie while watching Attack of the Killer Banana Slugs win all the Oscars

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Yay OTW!

2010-12-17T19:24:17Z

Ooh! Just noticed that AO3 has implemented "kudos": if you are too busy/lazy/shy to write a review, a kudos works like a thumbs up or Facebook like to let the author know you dug the story. Cool!

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homeworks

2010-10-27T19:06:31Z

One of my classes was put online since my professor was out of town; right now I'm listening to a lecture on controlled vocabulary, specifically controlled vocab vs uncontrolled vocab. They both have considerable advantages and disadvantages and generally a system/index has to choose one or the other. With controlled vocab you get more organization, consistency, fewer repeats and junk terms, but they're hard to update and maintain and come at a high cost. Uncontrolled vocab is easier to update, is done in the language of the authors, and can cover a wider scope, but at the same time it can lead to too many terms that are inconsistency and unspecified.

There has to be a way for a system/index to use both methods of organization. I think AO3 has a good method: users input their own tags (which are uncontrolled vocabulary) which are then wrangled behind the scenes into a hierarchy (making them semi-controlled). However I help wrangle tags and I can see how this system is flawed - users don't input the terms in correctly, characters have multiple names/identities or the same name is used for multiple, unrelated characters...

What would be a better way to incorporate user tags with system standards?

Yay what I'm learning has real-world implications!

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meme!

2010-06-11T20:05:28Z

fannish5: Name five characters who probably shouldn't try to be monogamous.

1) Cloud Strife (FFVII) - Who doesn't Cloud hook up with? I've read him convincingly paired with Zack, Aeris, Tifa, Sephiroth, Reno, Yuffie, Rufus, Vincent, Kadaj, and Jenova. And that's just a list from off the top of my head. Maybe it's because Cloud's personality can be interpreted so differently? Even in canon he goes through such extreme shifts in character. I can't settle on OTPs with him either, since he's so closely tied to so many characters. Pair him with Zak and Aeris and Sephiroth need to fit in there somewhere. Pair him with Tifa and again Aeris can't be excluded.

2) Harry Potter - Like Cloud, Harry can be interpreted in such vastly different ways. He can have great chemistry with practically anyone in the books: Ron, Ginny, Remus, Sirius, Snape, Luna, Draco, the twins, Neville... And even crack!pairings like Narcissa, Lucius, Bellatrix, and Voldemort work for me.

3) Auron (FFX) - Auron's a little different, at least in my mind. Unlike Cloud and Harry, who're the town bicycles, Auron doesn't really have sexual compatibility with a lot of characters. Hm, not sure if I can explain myself. I guess with Harry and Cloud, I'm willing to read and write stories where love is more loosely defined, or doesn't come into the picture at all. I always figured Auron as someone who falls in love slowly, but then with eternal devotion - In short, I can't picture him not being in love. Pairing him with Rikku doesn't make his love for Braska and Jecht fade.

4) Yagami Hikari (Digimon) - Hikari's another who I could never settle on a OTP with. I think she's equally in love with Takeru as she is with Miyako.

5) ...Um. Jecht? Uh. Is it painfully obvious that my fandoms are few and far between? So instead I will muse of sex vs. love. When I get emotional invested in a character, I want him/her to fall in love. In fact, in Love, with a capital L. It's the romantic in me and the romance novel fan in me: A happy ending needs a resolution that includes love. Anyway, so when I daydream about my favorite characters, I create little love stories for them. As much as I like Cloud and Harry, they've never been among my favorite characters, so I don't need to plan out a happy (monogamous) love life for them.

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