Meow.

I've finally figured out how to write a Tidus/Yuna (I am not calling it Yunis, damnit) fic without bringing people back from the dead. And not a short in-game one-shot WAFF, either, because I suck at those beyond all belief. Of course, I might suck at het romance. I don't know. I've never tried. But I'll just throw in lots of angst and see if I can make it work, ne? You know what inspired it? A mental image of Yuna dancing to techno. *shrugs* Go figure. Delerium techno, specifically. Particularly the Silence and Innocente remixes off the first disk of their latest CD.

The fic's called Only in Dreams, BTW. And joy, my FFX ficcing is now complete. Well, not complete, obviously, since I haven't finished all the fics I'm writing for it now and I'm sure I'll think of a gazillion later, but the basic framework is complete. I've got the pre-game series (TJS), the in-game vignettes (LoC, HT), the character-sketch songfic (TU2), and the post-game series (OiD). Joy. I am happy.

On a side note, the Sims CD finally turned up again. And BA bought the Hot Date expansion pack. *slams head into desk* I will not play Sims. I will not play Sims. I will not be sucked into the black void known as Sims. I will not return to the incredibly boring yet strangely addicting soul-sucking game of Sims. Even though I've finally found that Duo skin to seduce my old Heero sim. ...No. NO. Step AWAY from the Sims. ...hey, Zell skin... BAD KITI!

I am a Pacman Ghost. I like to hang around with friends, chatting, dancing, all that sort of thing. We don't appreciate outsiders, and do our best to discourage others approaching us. I enjoy occasionally wandering around randomly, and often find that when I do so, I get to where I wanted to be. What Video Game Character Are You?

Woah. Sapheire sounds like me today. The 'tends to be nice in a rude manner' thing. I have this thing against letting people think I'm nice, for whatever reason, but I still try to do the right thing as often as possible, so it winds up... like Sapheire. 'Tends to be nice in a rude manner.' Yeah.

In case you can't tell, I'm blogging on every subject that pops into my head because I'm on vacation, which means I'm bored. Nyan.

Random quote of the moment:

"Hello, foul creature from the darkest depths of hell."
"Hello, person who exists."

Both stated in perfectly ordinary, casual tones. Neither of us at all annoyed at/surprised by the other one.

Found this one through the VSD. Those things disturb the heck out of me, since LOTR yaoi is just as wrong as the FFX yaoi, but I keep on reading. It's like a car wreck. Or something.



I love to FROLIC with the elves
"So you like the pretty boys. And if there's any boy prettier than the rest, it's Legolas. Sure, he may also be a little girlier than the rest, but that's what you want, right? Smooth, beautiful love-making the way only a woman could do it. Or a really faggy elf."

...okay, that's wrong. Too pretty for me. I do have a bizarre thing for elves, but I'd rather have Arwen. Or Aragorn, for that matter (not an elf, but cool). I am one of those rare creatures: a girl who thinks movie!Legolas is kick-ass, but doesn't want to sleep with him. So this is wrong. *fiddles with test* On a side note, a few of my friends have turned the word frolic into a very interesting multi-purpose verb. Example: Sephiroth frolicked Cloud. So remove the 'with' from that little picture caption thing, and it's a bit better. At least it sounds dirtier. Which is always good. ~_^

Hah. Fixed it. Only needed to change one answer. Still holds true. Hah.



Tall, dark, and RUGGEDLY handsome!
Aw, you go for the tall, dark and handsome type. How trite. True, Aragorn's as much a man as any of the Fellowship, but the whole "I'm not good enough to be king" thing really gets in the way of bedroom fun. Whining can be a real turn-off, you know.

Am on vacation.

Am already bored. >.<

Ski trip has been suggested. Everyone else seems to like it. Am considering brutally murdering the person who suggested it in his sleep.

Remember the whole cold-weather phobia I have? With the snow and the ice and the wind and the pain? Yeah? Still stands.

Ski trip. Oh, joy.

I think I have insomnia.

I've been sleeping okay, when I get to sleep. It's just that there aren't enough hours in a row. It's a weekend. I woke up... 5-6-ish. Unheard of.

Father (am staying with him at the moment) says I need to exercise more. Father apparently has never walked 10 miles with a 50 pound backpack everyday for months on end. Or done 160 crunches every night. Followed by pushups until my arms shake too hard to move. I really don't think it's the exercise thing.

Am extremely tired right now, but a. it's only 11, and b. even if I went to bed right now, I'd just lie there and be bored for a very long time. Which I'm sick of.

I'm also sick of people second-guessing me. Am around family just now, and they have this habit of doing that. It's annoying the heck out of me. It's not even like it's about major things, but they make such a big deal about it and do it so consistently... >.< Even just little things. Example, I'm telling my mother about the movie I rented (Final Fantasy), gushing over the graphics. She takes one look at the cover and says, "That's not computer animated." ...yes, it is. "No, they must have filmed that. Look at that picture." ...I know it's incredible too, ma, but it really is CG... this conversation continued for more than an hour. *whaps forehead* Most of the long conversations I've had with my family this trip have been along those lines. I make one simple little comment, someone disagrees with me even though it's a simple fact, and because stubbornness runs in my family, we spend forever arguing over it. It's ridiculous. Plus, I am almost always right. That's not ego. I just don't state something unless I'm reasonably sure of my facts. Yet everyone continues to second-guess me. It is extraordinarily frustrating.

It's also not something I want to deal with on about 4 hours of sleep (and that's one of my good days, lately). I'm irritable anyway, and the less sleep I get, the easier it is to tick me off. You can imagine how much I love my family right now. Am actually looking forward to classes. Shock.

On the bright side, I went up to that cool comic book store in Manchester. You know, one of those comics/RPGs/anime stores, where almost everything is kept in cardboard boxes and they never restock, they just have really really old things. I love this store. They have all sorts of obscure VHS anime, the kind of thing you never see anymore except in old video rental places. Like They Were 11, or Genesis Survivor Gaiearth, or Gude Crest, or Megami Paradise, or Girl from Phantasia, or Princess Minerva, or Odin, or... I'm rambling. Pointless. Anyway, lots of fun obscure anime. I love obscure anime. This is the kind of thing that got me into anime in the first place. Any of you remember walking into Suncoast, and they had maybe one shelf of anime, and that half-empty, and almost all dubbed and hentai? Yeah. I used to go in and buy videos that I'd never heard of just because they were the only subtitled video in the store. That's how I found Princess Minerva, actually. And you'd watch every tape about 30 times, 'cause you didn't have that many tapes, 'cause there weren't that many tapes that had been translated at all. And it was possible to own every video that A.D.V. had translated, and the little response form thing had questions like "Do you like sailors addicted to vegetables in your anime?" I frickin love that. Lately, though, all the new stuff that's coming out is kind of looking alike. Even the good ones. Cowboy Bebop is like Outlaw Star is like Trigun. I love them all, but there's a lot of similarities. Then there's the ones that completely bore me. Completely ordinary human boy finds himself surrounded by beautiful otherworldly women who all want him and he doesn't like the situation. Or the genre that is becoming more and more popular, angst, angst, and angst, followed by darkness and angst, then some angst, and just for fun let's throw in some angst, ending with the hero's horrible tragic death and/or the deaths of everyone he's ever cared about, leaving his life meaningless. I like angst. I do. I like the grand, thought-out plot twists. But I like a little variety, too.

Bought Megami Paradise while I was there, along with Escaflowne (the pre-FOX version, that is, in those big clunky white boxes. Despite my rant, I do like mainstream stuff too. Just not all the time). Now that's anime. Catchy music, pretty girls, gratuitous fanservice, and a fun adventure. Fun. Fun. Not angst-filled. Fun. Even if the girls whine once in a while. They do that. They still have fun. There's a girl with pink hair shouting "Rururururururu!" and throwing bubbles at people while the audience gets a nice view up her skirt, for crying out loud. How could that not be good?

Gude Crest is one of my favorite anime videos of all time. Heard of it? Probably not. It's half an hour long, the animation isn't all that good by modern standards, and it took me a couple viewings to figure out exactly what was going on. More cute girls on fun adventures. Not so much gratuitous fanservice, and not as cute either. But it's fun. It's not deep. It's just this random obscure thing.

And They Were 11. Dear gods. I need to just buy this tape already, I've rented it a gazillion times. This one's a sci-fi, not a fantasy like the other two. It's got the cute girls (girl, singular, actually; well, kinda... I say Frol's a cute girl, anyway). It's got the bishies (King. Amazon. ...okay, that's about it. Fourth, maybe. But I like Amazon). And it has--better than bishies, although I'm calling down death at the hands of rabid fangirls by saying that--guys that will never, ever get any sort of romantic interest but are fun enough that you want to go have a couple beers together. It's got detailed spaceship designs. It has explosions. It has alien races. It has guns. It has gender-bending fun. It has people going crazy and hunting each other down. And it has--I love this part--a food fight where the entire cast attacks each other with cream pies, with perky catchy music in the background that I have memorized just from listening to it over and over and over again. Amazon, as far as I can tell, emerged unscathed. Go, Amazon! I have actually written a fic for this movie based on that scene. I think it's the only fic for it in existence. It's also yaoi. That annoys me. Yaoi should be a sub-genre. It shouldn't be the only fic for a series. That's just... wrong. Not that I dislike yaoi, despite what you'd think lately. But it shouldn't be the focus, for the same reason het shouldn't be the focus. Just romance gets boring.

Cheered myself up. Yay. Remind me to think about anime instead of family whenever possible. It's better that way. Now go find an old video store and rent Mermaid's Forest.

You are Zell! Hyperactive much? Caffeine and you should stay far from each other. You might be a little shy with the opposite sex, but in big groups you're extremely outspoken. Your emotions run strong, and though you might try to hide them, you seldom succeed. Take the Final Fantasy 8 Test here!

HA! I'm ZELL! And Zell isn't evil! Therefore, I am not evil! In your FACE! *does happy little dance around the room*

...okay, I think I should stop taking all these quiz things for a while. *sweatdrop*

Are you seme or uke? Find out!


HA! This test has nothing to do with being evil, so I can't get an evil character! HA! ...wait, is that Vinny in the background? ...I'm a vampire now? ...FUCK!

Which Chess Piece Are You?

...I'M NOT EVIL, GODDAMNIT! How the heck do I keep getting evil people?! Just 'cause I'm strong and people are stupid doesn't mean I'm evil, does it?! *goes back and fiddles with her answers*

Took another test thingy. Fuck, I'm evil again. >.< I'm nice to intelligent people, really I am!

A RED Dragon Lies Beneath!

I took the Inner Dragon online quiz and found out I am a Red Dragon on the inside. Remember Smaug? Yep, Red Dragon. Oh, my friend I'm in good company. Red dragons are the most vile and crafty of all the dragons. They are also the most dangerous of all dragons. As such they are the Fire Elemental dragons. Reds have a nasty tendency towards luring you in with quiet words and soft emotions, then wrapping their scaly tails around you and biting off your puny little human head. Fun, no?



But of course, Reds aren't all about killing and treasure hoarding. I like to invent creative traps, relax in the mouths of volcanoes, fly over vast forests looking for men ...er... sheep (yeah...), and pick fights. My favorable attributes are Summer, the sword, fire, courage, passion, will power, and leadership. If dragons went to war, they'd rally behind me in a snap. Well, me or a Copper Dragon. But those Coppers are wusses anyway, and I could beat one up to take command. In fact, I probably would considering my breath weapon is good old fashioned Fire, and plenty of it. Oh it's good to be the king.

The bad news first: I saw YYH dubbed last night.

I think that speaks for itself.

Good news: I also saw Pilot Candidate, which looks promising. The dubbing's not bad, either. I think I like where they're going with this one.

Really good news: I have finally found a song for my FFX amv.

Not the Auron amv, which I picked out ages ago. The FFX one. As in, the whole game. I really want to make a good tribute to this game. It's so incredibly beautiful. I was going to use the orchestral version of Suteki da Ne, but someone used the non-orchestral version already, and did it well enough to make me cry over the ending all over again (of course, this was the day after I beat the game), so using the same song for the same series would be extraordinarily rude. Not that I'm opposed to being rude, usually, but I try to be nice to people who are intelligent, such as the ones that make beautiful music videos for the best video games of all time.

So, I've been looking for another song. Not that I could possibly make the video yet, since if I ever did find the right song, I wouldn't be able to see the screen through the tears. (Obviously, I'll be including the ending. And yes, I am a girl.) But I wanted to have a song picked out for when I might be able to edit it with slightly less floodlike tendencies.

Unfortunately, all the good songs are either taken or don't fit. I found a few ones with lyrics that fit, but the music completely disgusted me. Or the other way around. At one point, I found one that fit perfectly--but violently. I want the first video I do for this series to represent the whole series, the way I see it. Which means beauty hiding incredible sadness. That is sort of the theme of all my fics; it's the thing that struck me most about the game, so it's what I want to represent in the video. But it's really, really hard to find a song that fits.

And I finally found one. *happy/depressed sigh* I know it's the one, 'cause when I pictured FFX scenes to this music, I started crying. Again. If it can make me cry, I have to use it. And it's long. It's really, really long. Over ten minutes. Which is good, because it gives me enough time to use all the scenes I wanted without the ending completely dominating the video. And it's in both Japanese and English. Which is good, because when you follow the lyrics in your video (like I do), viewers who don't understand Japanese can get confused. But FFX had such a distinctly Japanese flair, so much more so than the previous games, I want to represent that in the video to.

And I would never even consider using this song for anything else. This song is holy. But then, so is FFX. This is the only combination that seems right.

Wow.

What's the song?

N-o-t T-e-l-l-i-n-g. ~_^ You wait and see.

Queen of the Damned.

*purr*

I like this Lestat. I have named him Sex-on-Legs!Lestat. Because he is. The Lestat portrayed in this movie is not THE Lestat. That is Tom Cruise. He has what is known as a personality. The Lestat in this movie has Sex Appeal. And yes, it merits the capital letters. Holy fucking shit. The concert. And when he was on the ceiling. And the concert. Gods. Yes. Sex-on-Legs!Lestat. Hell yeah. Oh, and the funky sex scene with Akasha too, I guess, but... yeah, whatever. I mean, he still has the sex appeal and all, but it's not the Sex Appeal! he has when he's being the evil rock star brat prince.

Oh, and the whole Akasha thing is the reason I'm not furious that Tom Cruise turned down the role. I do not want to see THE Lestat playing Akasha's lapdog. It was bad enough in the books. If I saw it on screen, I would have to hurt someone.

And the music. Fit. That surprised the hell out of me. When I first saw the previews, I thought--well, I thought the whole thing looked off, actually, and it did, but it was the music that clinched it for me. I took one look at the bands they listed and moaned. Not in a fun sort of way, either. I mean, I loved the score to IWTV. I own the score to IWTV. And listen to it often. It's great inspirational music for my angsty depressing stuff. This was completely unlike the score to IWTV.

But then, the whole movie was completely unlike IWTV. That movie was holy. Er... unholy... um. You know what I mean. But this movie was--I'll say it again--sex. Sex, blood, and rock & roll. Which is good, in a completely-different-from-IWTV sort of way.

The trick to this movie is to have read the books, but accept that they will change so many details and the whole feel of the thing so much that it will be almost completely unrecognizable. Then you will be able to enjoy the movie. Actually, Xenia hasn't read the books, and she understood what was going on. But she also understood the Utena movie.

Oh. And they cut Gabrielle out. Damnit. Also cut Louis. What the hell? 'Course, whoever they got wouldn't be nearly as good as Brad Pitt, so that's forgivable.

Only unforgivable thing: Armand. Who the hell did the casting there? >_< I know Antonio Banderas was completely unlike the Armand of the books, but he pulled off the attitude, the aura--it worked. This pudgy blond git... *shudders* Please excuse me while I go claw out my eyes.

Oh, and saw Alice. At the theater, I mean. WTF? Completely had not expected her to be an Anne Rice fan, but go figure.

Anyway, yeah. This movie is sex. Good sex, at some points. Really good. My legs were shaking on my way out. Hard to walk. Kept shaking for a good deal of the drive home.

I want to go see this movie again.

Today was extremely boring. Infuriatingly so. I spent 3 and a half hours waiting for a ride. I ate lunch. I read a book. I read a book some more. I took a break to watch a basketball game (we won. Woo-hoo). I read a book yet again. It was extremely dull. Not the book; it was a good book. But the fact that I was sitting there, reading this book, because I had absolutely nothing else to do. And the fact that I could be doing something else, something productive, if I was at home. Or anywhere other than where I was, for that matter. Or even just had a sketchbook. Note to self: never, ever leave both sketchbooks at home at once. Ever. Even just for one day. Buy pocket-sized sketchbooks to carry at all times.

Classes were dull, too. Not hard. Just dull. We didn't do anything. Finally performed our cutting in drama, though. Our director didn't show up. >.< Missed a few lines, too, but they were mostly ones that could be skipped; I don't think the audience noticed. Except for that one, where the girl stopped halfway through and apologized... now that was a pain in the ass to try and cover for... >.<

But there is a bright side. Queen of the Damned. Tonight. Hell yeah. 'Course, it kinda made it worse, putting up with all this boredom when I was thinking about the movie... but anyway. We're gonna go as soon as the sun sets ('cause it's a vampire movie, get it? A vampire... oh, never mind). In costume, of course (could anyone not go in costume to the sequel to one of the best movies of all time? ...okay, they could and they will. Shut up). Now, I live in middle-of-nowhere, capital city of the Land of People With 3.5 Kids, SUVs, and NO TASTE. Which means, despite being the first day, the theater will be empty. It was empty for the Matrix, it was empty for LoTR (aside from annoying ladies who complained about the ending >.<), it will be empty for Queen of the Damned. So there won't be anyone to be freaked out by our costumes, which would have been fun, but that's okay, I'll cope. Star's doing the whole 18th century gentleman look, like the kind of stuff they wore in IWTV. Xenia will probably do something along the same lines. I still think my poet shirt looks like crap, so I'm doing a modern gothy look. Not the crap the posers are wearing, which is all I ever see anymore (where did all the real goths go? >.<). You know, those kids who can't make up their mind whether they're supposed to be a goth or a punk, and describe themselves as being "into scary death stuff." Not sarcastically. No, I won't ever get over that line, kid. Anyway. I mean goth with style. A few vampyres are wearing this kind of thing now. You get it? Yeah. That kind of outfit. Which, from the previews I've seen, is pretty much what Lestat wears in this movie, so it should work well. ^_^V I wonder if Gabrielle's in this movie, or if they cut her out. I'll be pissed if they cut her, Gabrielle rocks. (Mainly 'cause Star braids my hair and says I look like her... Hey, it's enough of a reason for me.)

And I have been cranking out the FFX fics lately. I think I've written something FFX-related every day this week. And I consider my mailing list a success. Still smalll, but counting myself, we've got three writers, the two who aren't me are good, and we all draw, too. So yay. Kiti is happy.

Kiti wants to see Queen of the Damned.

Okay. FFX fic writers? Take a look at this. Seriously. Best link ever.

>.< Ever been in a really, really pissy mood for no apparent reason whatsoever, and then when someone stupid comes along and gives you a reason, you just snap? Yeah, that was me today. And for whatever reason, I had Illuminati running through my head at the time. And I haven't listened to that song in forever. So I wound up glaring at this guy and imagining setting Malice Mizer (the incredibly psycho version of them, like in the pv) loose on him and doing all sorts of fun things. With fun happy objects of leather and sharp painfulness. ^_^ Have you ever imagined insane J-pop/rock idols just going psycho on people? It helps. It really does. You should try it. But this guy changed the rules around after I'd just finished doing something, and it screwed everything up, and... >.< Grr. So now I'm completely messed up. Hence the happy fun death imaginings.

On the happy-in-a-non-psychotic-way side of things, people are actually joining my ML! Not many, mind you, and none of them are saying anything except for me, but considering that I only started it four days ago, I don't think that's too bad. And... (this one cheered me up when I got home today) Lee joined! Vireyda! Hoo! *does happy dance* Lee's fics are goooooooooood. Happy joyfullness. ^_^

And I once again have to ask... those of you who are still reading this... why? This is a blog. Listen to me rant. Thank you for listening to me rant. But all the interesting links are over on the side. You people never cease to confuse me. But then, I've randomly read other people's blogs, too. But that's just cause I have no life. ~_^

I've been getting annoyed at my FFX fics. They're good--for fics. But not up to my usual standards.

Reason? Not enough angst. I rock at angst. Everything else... eh.

So, whoever could I write an angsty FFX fic about? Hmm... let me think...

Hint: the answer's Auron.

So, I'm writing an Auron fic. Correction: I am writing a really freakin' long Auron fic. I've been working on it for two days. That in itself is weird; usually, I have to write a chapter all in one sitting, 'cause the next day I might not be in the mood to write, or at least not to write that particular fic, or at least not well. But it's still going good, and I'm happy. Well, I'm depressed, actually. It's depressing. But it's also really freakin' long, and now I have a headache from staring at the computer screen and typing and listening to the same song over and over again for *checks clock* four hours. Today. Currently at well over 4000 words. And it's not nearly done yet, 'cause it's a songfic--shut up, shut up now, I write really good songfics, I seriously do, look at this one. See?--and I've got a full page of lyrics left to fic around.

The song, in case you were wondering, is Unforgiven II by Metallica. I've got a Sephiroth one to the first Unforgiven, which you would know by now if you'd clicked on that link above, and I'd been planning to write a sequel from Cloud's PoV for this song. I still might. But I was listening to the song on winamp, and the Auron skin showed up (I've got the skin on random), and... I dunno, it just clicked. I want to make a music video to it, too. Slightly different from the fic, 'cause most of the really long scenes in the fic weren't in the game, but I can do things on a video I can't do in a fic, too... yeah. I'd been planning on making a general FFX amv to Suteki da Ne, but that's been done, and done well (I cried over it. Shut up! It had scenes from the ending and it was the day after I beat the game, okay? It was emotional! Geez...). I've still got a few ideas for a general FFX amv, and I defininitely want to make one. But not to Metallica. This song really does fit Auron, though... and Jecht, since part of the amv would be from his PoV. (AMVs have PoV? Yes, they do! I hate it when people say they don't, those are the people who tend to make a gazillion really bad DBZ vids... >.<). This song is really inspiring... oh, and I'm definitely going to use scenes from the game in general, rather than just the FMV scenes. Normally I wouldn't, but the graphics in this game are finally good enough. It's usual graphics are as good as FF7's FMVs. Better, some of the time.

...and, now I'm rambling. Well, big surprise there. I should get back to my fic. Or get off the computer until my headache goes away.

...Fic.

Why the God of Broccoli?
Random quote of the moment:

"What, might I ask, are you all doing to him?"
"Hm? Oh, sacrificing him to the God of Brocolli."
"......... ...Oh, yes, because, you know, we sacrifice people to the God of Broccoli so often! What the hell?!"

Kiti's latest Cause:

FFX fandom.

Is it just me, or is this fandom rather... well... pathetic? >.< It's a great game, yet all the fics I've found for it have sucked. Unbearably. And most of the RPGs for it online are inactive. And flaming! And parodies! People can't stand Aurikku fics, or they love Aurikku fics and hate the yaoi fics, and... argh! Can't we all just get along? ;_;

But, most of the fics I've read have been on ff.net. Almost 100% of the time, I find much more high-quality fics on MLs than on ff.net. So I looked for an FFX fic list. Did I find one? Take a wild guess. Go on. Here's a hint: NO.

So I made one. Yep, Kiti is now a proud listowner. Scary, isn't it. I am the high and mighty owner and moderator of the oh-so-creatively-named FFX Fic.

And now, as is traditional with a new listowner, I will begin the ritual Shameless Self-Promotion.

The first rule of FFX Fic is, you do not talk about FFX Fic. The second rule is... wait, wrong fandom. The rule is, anything and everything goes, as long as it's somehow related to FFX. And you can even discuss things that have nothing to do with FFX, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. The only thing that's not allowed is flames.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Come on, I promise it will be a lot of fun! And joining is easy! Just enter your e-mail in this little box thing, and you're in!

Subscribe to ffxfic
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Good news is Keenspace has finally set up my page. http://cage.keenspace.com/

Bad news? They still haven't sent me the "Okay, you're in, this is how to update your page" e-mail. >.< I'll give them a few more days before I start breaking things.

The Summoner's Room, and Kujan. That's a link. It's here 'cause I keep forgetting to bookmark it while I'm at home, and then I can never find it again, goddamnit, and hey, maybe someone else will want to see it too, so why not. Give the wrong answer and you get to go see Kujan's main page, where there's lots of pretty pictures of Jecht, and Auron, and Braska, and chibi-Tidus. ^_^ Oh, and some shounen-ai-ish-ness, but I found it all completely ignorable, so yay.

One more thing. I like the NA version of FFX, goddamnit. I like the VAs, I like the changes to the script, I like the way the words almost never match the lip movement, and I like it better than I like the Japanese version. Mainly because that's the one I played, I think. I got into it. A lot. Just watching it isn't the same. And Yuna sounds weak. I usually like the nice, gentle Japanese girls. Look at Belldandy. But Yuna just sounds weak. And Yuna is strong. She is incredibly, amazingly strong, but feminine at the same time, and I love her for it. The Japanese Yuna is just sweet and feminine and... grr. She's nice and all, but she's not my Yuna.

I really don't dislike the Japanese version, but there are a few scenes that I prefer in the NA version. Particularly the ending. Japanese Yuna says 'Thank you.' My Yuna says 'I love you.' *chokes back tears and glomps Yuna* That's what makes the ending even more... poignant? I don't like that word, but I can't find a better one. Yuna loved Ran. Tidus. Whatever you want to call him, she loved him. Not just as a companion, not just as a Guardian. She really loved him. She finally got up the courage to say this out loud, in front of everyone, and he leaves. This is an extremely sad, 'oh my god how could they do that?' moment. To just have her say thank you... she's sad, yes, and saying thank you is like saying goodbye, in a way, and you know she loves him, but saying it out loud makes it more real, more permanent. I like the NA version better. And I like Auron's monotone, and I like Rikku's ultra-blond voice, and I like all of it, damnit. And I wish all you people who happened to play the Japanese version first would just stop dissing it, because this game rules beyond all reason. *glomps her NA FFX*

...another thing that annoys me about FF.net? Stupid reviewers. I'm not talking about flamers, they're fine. Just the ones that completely miss part of your story. And sometimes that's the writer's fault, but if 50 reviewers get it and 1 doesn't... It just irritates me having stupid reviews. Especially on Paradise Lost. The other ones I don't mind so much. But I really like PL, and I hate having stupid reviews on it.

There's a few reviewers that just misunderstand things--like the current one that set me off, 'i was reading this fanfic, and it occured to me that Sephiroth is the drill instructor of SOLDIER and your all talking about Sephiroth, but your saying that it is AFTER meteor hit... wouldn't Cloud kill Sephiroth if it was AFTER meteor hit, and wouldn't Sephiroth be dead?' or the one complaining--rightly--that Zack was from Gongaga, and liked Aeris, not Tifa. *sigh* For the first one, PL takes place both before and after the game, and all the scenes that take place after the game are marked like this:

(insert pre-game-scene here)

*****
Present
****

(insert post-game-scene here)

...no one else seemed confused... I didn't even have that marking when I sent it out to my mailing list the first time, I just expected people to figure out, and they still did. And I have Zack's family move to Gongaga in one of the chapters that are already up, since I wanted him to already know Cloud, and I've been trying to work Aeris into the fic, but the blasted girl just isn't cooperating. *sigh*

...but those comments just vaguely irritate me. They mostly make me want to clear things up for the reader. With the one complaining about the Zack thing, I e-mailed her to explain, but this one's completely anonymous, so there's really not much I can do. Which frustrates me. Hence the blog-rant.

But the stupid reviews that really irritate me are worse. 'omc id read this but its too long' ...honey, that's okay, you don't have to read a fic that's too long, PL did have over 20 chapters at that point, but why are you reviewing to tell me you didn't read it? Just... think about that for a second... And this one: 'Er, I haven't got the time to read it yet, but I will soon, OK?' ...um, okay? Same issue. Why not just wait to review until after you read it? Just a thought. This one was for Unforgiven, which is the other one of my fics on ff.net that I'm actually proud of. Why don't people just leave reviews like that on my Outlaw Star stuff? I don't even particularly like those ones... *sigh* Strange people.

Have been looking for FFX fics on ff.net. Am being reminded why I usually read only slash.

First off, Aurikku is proving ridiculously popular. Go figure. This is okay. Incomprehensible, but okay. The Aurikku parodies, on the other hand, are not. Good gods. They're not even well done. And, as I find myself saying more and more often--if you don't like something, don't read it. It's very simple. A fic is labeled 'Aurikku', I don't like Aurikku, therefore I don't read it. Not that dificult, is it?

Then, the humor fics. Next to the Aurikku fics, these seem to make up most of the category. And they're really, really bad. I'm not kidding here, people. Pure random insanity, not of the entertaining kind, but of the 'why the hell am I reading this crap?' kind.

Plus, I've found Tidus/Yuna fics--which I'm considering reading, as soon as I find one that takes place during the game as opposed to after it, I like the way it ended, damnit--that have been labeled 'Yunis'. Dear frelling gods. Yunis? I will never understand the bizarre habit het fans have of combining names, but at least Aurikku sounds okay. Yunis is worse than Quifer. And where the hell did that 'i' come from? I think I'll just stick with my slashy 'x' and '/' thank you very much. These combo names freak me out.

The best fics I've read so far have been short. Plotless. Basically taking a scene that happened during the game and writing it, from the point of view of one of the characters. A vignette. Most of them have been Yuna at the ending, and have been pretty good, although it gets old. I actually wrote one too, from Tidus's point of view. Took me all of fifteen minutes to write, and check out some of the reviews I've got so far. "There wasnt even a plot, and it tops most of the other FFX fics here" ...? I find that statement extremely sad. A compliment, and thanks, but sad.

I think I'm looking for a ALHR for FFX. Which I'm not too likely to get, unless Twig starts writing for FFX.

...

...oh, Twig-sama...?

:P But there's not much point in just complaining about things, is there? Better to actually do something about it, and I am. That Jecht fic is working itself out in my mind. I want it to be as accurate as possible, so I'm looking around for a script--I'm wishing that I'd remembered to save before every mention of Jecht. >.< Damnit. Well, I have a saved game right before the airship shows up, I could go around and save new games just before getting every Jecht sphere... still want a script for the rest of the references, though. Am still not entirely clear on how he got to Spira in the first place, and since that is where the story starts... >.<

Am taking a day off to recover from yesterday's extreme physical pain. Got a cold, as expected. Damn.

Stumbled across my old transparency marker. You know, for writing on those sheets for overhead projecters? Well, I haven't actually used an overhead projecter in... I don't know, two years? More? But it still worked. So I drew a funky goth guy with it. I like the goth guy. That's the first time I've drawn with anything other than pencil in... wow. Ages. I kinda like it, but I can not shade. At all. I think the style might work for a goth-type strip, though, using just blacks and whites and maybe reds and purples... hey, maybe I can finally put some of those color art supplies I got for x-mas to use. Yay.

Am considering starting drawing a sitcom about a dead guy. o.O It's all set up in my head. Oddness.

Boredom tastes like Chocolate is one funky happy mindtrip. Well, not so much the happy. For the characters, that is. For the freakishly twisted reader, yes. ~_^ Plus, the name. Love the name. View the title of this blog. Note the similarity. Love the name.
Actually, half the time, when I'm reading, I get a 'wait... what just happened?' kinda reaction. But I think that's adding to that happy mind-twistiness I was talking about. So yay. Gotta love the dead boys.

Note to self: Use the expression 'sod off' as often as possible.

In case you can't tell, I'm leaving the 'edit your blog' window up while I websurf and deal with stupid people. Random Kiti-thoughts, oh joy.

Good frickin' gods. Just when you think the human race can't get any more disgusting, the little things pop right back up to remind you. Damnit.

Hey, any guitarists reading this? Or anyone in a band, for that matter? Or do you just like (or hate, hate's better) Limp Bizkit? Great. Read this article right now. That's an order. Geez, first that thing with Creed, and now this? How does Durst manage to keep any fans?

I am not a cold weather kitty. I have never been a cold weather kitty. Why do I persist in living in places that have cold weather?!
Today is reminding me of this oh-so-painful fact.
Now, when I say 'cold weather', I don't mean, 'gee, it's around 40 out, I think I'll put on a sweater.' Nonononono. I mean it's not snowing today 'cause it's too cold for snow. It is physically painful just to step outside. No exaggeration. Normally, I just walk outside when it's cold and go 'coldcoldcoldcoldcoldmustgetinside.' Today I stepped outside and all brain function immediately shut down in self defense. Now, I don't like the cold in general, but I've stood outside in the snow and thought, 'gee, this is pretty' before, without noticing anything wrong with the temperature. But the temperature was, at that point, somewhere above zero, I believe. Today I literally could not see where I was going because my eyes were watering too hard from the sheer physical pain. It hurt. A lot. And when I finally got back indoors, it took a very, very long time for anything resembling thought to return. Rather like the feeling in my limbs. >.< Am feeling much empathy toward anyone who's ever died of exposure.
Dear gods, the pain. And now I think I'm sick. Again. Damnit, this is a bad year for my immune system. Remind me to move to Florida at the earliest convenience.

Decided on a plushie.

Kuthra. 'Cause I always want to huggle him. And have already figured out how to make his outfit. So yay. Will send Alice-san a photo if it turns out looking not-crappy. It shouldn't look crappy. I hope it doesn't look crappy.

Xenia's decided to learn to make a plushie too! So if we totally screw things up, we can help each other. Yay. Her plushie is still undecided. Hah! See? It doesn't take me that long to pick anime guys, does it? *nod nod*

Hatsukoi's Seymour plushie is currently going for around $300 on eBay. And there's still six days left. o.O Am considering learning to make plushies. ~_^ *LOL*

Actually, I seriously am. Apologies for sounding like a girl, I seem to be doing that a lot lately. I think my silent-mature-Auron-side's been temporarily sent to the Farplane. Rikku's taking over. ~_^ I love plushies. They're so kyute! *huggles Chibi* Sephiroth plushies rock. Especially Chibi! ^_^V Buuuut, I keep on looking at characters I want a plushie of *coughcoughYunaRanJechtcoughcough*, but that were never made into plushies. Like Itsuki and Sensui, and Raizen-sama, and and and lotsa peoples. *nod nod* Heh. But ordering a custom plushie seems... hmm, odd. So I want to learn to make plushies. Found a sort-of-non-pattern for the head online, got tons of iron-on transfer paper that'll do for the eyes, and I think I can figure the rest out by peering at the plushies I've got. Heh, that's pretty much the way I do my cosplays... 'Hmm, that looks like that, so I guess I'll cut here and see if something happens...' ...come to think of it, that's the way I fix computers, too. *sweatdrop* Hey, as long as it works...

So, just need to figure out one thing. Who'll be my first victim? ~_~;; I don't want to do anyone from FFX, or Raizen-sama, 'cause my first one will probably be screwy. I can picture a Raizen-sama plushie perfectly, though. Wanna make him wanna make him! ^_^;; I am now mentally two years old? Oh well. Hmm... who to make, who to make... Gundam boys was suggested, but my fave's Heero, and I just know my Heero would look utterly pathetic. Debated doing plushies of my CAGE characters, since I actually drew them as plushies when I was trying to teach myself to draw chibis (still suck at chibis, but plushie pics look good)--but that's kinda pathetic. I mean, even more pathetic than making dolls based off animation characters. *LOL* It's okay, I'm secure in my level of patheticness. Hmmm, who to maaaaaake...

On a side note, I went on a spending spree on eBay last night. Haven't bought anything for myself since before X-mas. What did I get? FFX stuff! (stupid question, ne? ~_^) Ran's necklace, ring (he has a ring? o.o) and bracelet... and a keychain, which I didn't really care about, but it came with, so whatever... and Yuna's necklace, and a FFX calendar ('cause I still don't have a calendar for this year. At all. *sweatdrop*), and--I love love love this one--FFX on DVD! And not just those funky CGI movie clip collections, either. Although those are cool. No, this is FFX on DVD, as if it was one big movie. One big eight hour movie, to be exact. I'm planning on spending a Sunday just sitting around watching it. No, I don't have a life, why do you ask? ^_^ It's okay, I enjoy my obsession. It's really pretty, too, the cover has the picture... you know, that picture, the one of Yuna and Ran in the water.

Yes, I'm still calling Tidus 'Ran'. No, I'm not gonna stop anytime soon. Deal.

...still haven't thought of a plushie to make. Dangit. Must go brainstorm by staring at anime. Who do I like enough to want a plushie of, but don't worship enough that I would hate myself for screwing them up...?

Still on an FFX kick. Duh.
So, went and looked for some PBEM to join, 'cause I can never get enough of those kind of things. Guess what? They're all dead! It looks like a bunch of different people started FFX games, and no one joined any of them. So, went into hyper-Rikku-style-lurker-poking-Kiti mode. Which means I do my recruiting thing too. Which means...

YOU! HEY, YOU! YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU! GO JOIN ZANARKAND AND SPIRA! RIGHT NOW, YOU HEAR? GO ON! I PROMISE IT'LL BE A LOT OF FUN!

*deep breath* Hoo! Yeah. Anyway, yeah! Go join those games! They looked like the most promising FFX-only, non-yaoi rpgs. Even though neither of them are really started yet. But that's okay, it's not the first time I've revived a dead list!

...I think I have a split personality. Rikku-style-hyper-Kiti and Auron-style-leave-me-alone-while-I-get-the-job done-Katt. Heh. Well, I'm okay with that. ~_^

BEAT FFX LAST NIGHT!
^_^V
;_;
...talk about mixed emotions... pretty much expected that, but it's still wow!, you know?
JechtjechtjechtjechtauronjechtyunayunaYUNAyunaran(tidus)...*sniff*Jecht!YunaAuronJecht!

...okay, yeah. I'm coherent right now...

Also? Longest endgame sequence ever. Particularly since I count the fights-you-can't-possibly-lose as part of the endgame sequence. Like the Sephiroth fight in FF7. These were like that, just a little longer. The "The End" screen came up at 12:20 am, exactly, and the series of can't-lose fights started a little after eleven. That makes it nearly an hour and a half. O.O I've said it before, I'll say it again: Squaresoft IS love.

Oh! One more thing. I'm finally allowing myself to visit FFX pages, and heard that depending on how you play the game, you can get different girls throwing you the blitz ball in Blitz Ace, or talking to you on that snowmobile ride, or jumping off the airship first. Really? I got Lu for all three. I always figured that was automatic, since I really didn't notice myself playing favorites with her at all. Actually, I thought her jumping off the airship first was really OOC for her... maybe I talked to her first a lot and didn't notice? Hmm. Also heard that it was whichever girl was farthest along the sphere grid for some of that, but no, when I beat the game Lu was the only one who hadn't finished her section of the sphere grid. Or is her sphere grid just larger than the others? o.O I'm thinking too much about this. Oh well. Lu rocks, anyway. Of course, I did do her little side quest with her summoner pretty early, when you're first crossing the Calm Lands. Maybe that did it? *shrugs*

Got an idea for a fic about Jecht and Auron and Braska. NOT YAOI. Can't stand FFX yaoi at all. But it's really weird for me to write gen fics. My original stuff's gen, obviously, so I usually just do yaoi fics... Well, nice change, I guess? If I ever have time to write it. I'm going to have to go back and check all those Jecht Spheres a lot, though, maybe record them onto the computer. Such a hardship. ~_^

As usual, I spent about half an hour just staring at the 'The End' screen. And occasionally crying. Or laughing. The game was just that good. I'm so sentimental when it comes to FF. *heart* Squaresoft is LOVE!

What is it with women in fanfiction?

Now, with a few notable exceptions--I'm going to once again point to ALHR on this one, you are a goddess, Twig--the women in fanfics get one of two roles: Mary Sue or Crazy Bitch from Hell. The latter being mostly in slash, the other being mostly not, although there's exceptions to both. I've seen others rant on the MS issue more than enough, so I'm going to skip over most of that. Don't like it? Don't read it. It's that easy. I actually don't mind self-insertion, as long as it's done well--and, dear gods, not in anything rated NC-17! Even romantic involvements between MS and main characters squicks me out, although I've got to admit, I am guilty of writing one of those, way back when in middle school. I was twelve years old, for crying out loud, give me a break. Anyone older than that who's still writing that kind of thing needs to get whacked upside the head. If you're going to do a SI, keep yourself a minor character, don't give yourself godlike powers, keep your flaws, and dear gods, do not have every member of the opposite sex fall at your feet. Or if you have to--hey, wish fulfilment, I get that--don't post it on the internet thinking it's gods' gift to fiction.

But that's not what bothers me. I don't read hetsmut, so I generally don't run into too many MSes. It's the Crazy Bitch from Hell phenomenon that really pisses me off.

I write, for the most part, FF slash. FF7 and FF8 slash, actually; yaoi in 9 and X squicks me out. Personal opinion, though, that. Moving on. It irritates me beyond all reason to see people join a FF7 list and introduce themselves with a long squeal along the lines of "I looooove Cloud, he's so cyuuuuuuuuute, and Sephiroth's so seeeeeexxxxxxxxyyyyyy, and Cloud totally belongs with Sephiroth, and..." Okay, agreeing up to this point, although I prefer Sephiroth and could take Cloud or leave him, and please drop the vowel thing; but hey, personal opinion again. Here's where it gets irritating: "And I'm anti-Tifa, anti-Aeris. Hate those bitches! They should just leave poor Cloud alone!"

What the hell?

Okay, have you even played the game? Aeris is the sweetest thing in existence. Along the lines of Raine and Belldandy. She sells flowers, for crying out loud. She is cute and sweet and leave her the hell alone. And Tifa? Come on, people. She has her own job, and she is a kick-butt fighter. This does not make her a Crazy Bitch from Hell, this makes her a STRONG FEMALE ROLE MODEL. As for leaving Cloud alone, I hardly see them flying into a jealous rage at each other, do you? They seemed like pretty close friends to me, close enough that I could quite easily turn them into a yuri couple. When they finally get a date with Cloud, neither of them do anything, instead saying that the other one should've been there instead of them.

And Rinoa. Dear gods, Rinoa. *glomps Rinoa* Leave her alone! Gods, I have seen so many Rinoa-bashing fics; she's insanely jealous, she's a spoiled brat, she's holding the rest of them back, she doesn't care about Squall at all and runs off with the next guy to come along--once again, have you people played the game? Rinoa is a rich girl who leaves home and comfort behind to go start a revolution! Idealistic, sure, but she has been sheltered her whole life. She could have turned out a hell of a lot worse. And I happen to like idealistic girls, they're inspiring. As for holding the team back, when I played the game, she was the strongest fighter I had next to Squall, just barely beating Zell. And her romance with Squall is sweet. I don't know how you can play this game, as Squall, and still end up hating Rinoa. There romance was pretty much the focus of the game, along with Ultimecia's time kompression. I don't know, maybe I just get too much into FF games, but that's just incomprehensible to me. And I slash Squall and Zell. It is possible to like that relationship without despising Rinoa, you know.

I think it's reading ElfQuest that did it. Gave me this weird, guys-can-like-each-other-even-when-the-women-around-them-aren't-complete-bitches perspective, I mean. ElfQuest has the most open ideas on relationships that I've ever seen. And I read it when I was in middle school. Middle school, to me, is the stage where you form most of your notions on life. You're going through puberty, you're moving away from your parents' protection, you're beginning to get just a little taste of what the real world's like. Next to that stage around age 2 where you're learning to talk, this is the most important time that forms your philosophy. Unless you have some great world-shaking epiphany at age 50, of course.

The philosophy is very simple. There is no marriage. If two people love each other, they love each other. If three people love each other, they love each other. If there's a couple that's been together for years, and now someone else is in love with one of them, or both of them? That's fine too. If one is a few centuries older than the other? Great. Love is love, period. The ages, genders, or number of people involved doesn't matter.

And if two people stop loving each other, for whatever reason? Well, then they stop loving each other. They move on.

They do not declare their former lover a Crazy Bitch and spend the rest of their life ranting about it.

And if anyone ever calls Belldandy or Raine a Crazy Bitch, I will hurt them.

What I said about the sore throat not being a very bad one? Lie.
I've now gotten to the breathing death stage. You know, like morning breath times a hundred, except it doesn't smell, it just feels like... well, death. It feels like I'm breathing death. And why do I get all poetic when I'm sick?
Does anyone else breathe death? It might just be a me thing. Talking--well, writing; can't talk--to Xenia the other day; according to her, when she gets a sore throat, her lungs feel frozen. Not can't-move frozen, just cold frozen. So, I dunno, maybe everyone has different versions of death breath? Like, I breathe this poison cloud of smoke death, and she breathes icedrake death.
Okay. Woah. I'm thinking way too much about this.
I really do go freaky artisty when I'm sick-but-not-sick-enough-to-stop-thinking, though. Yesterday I did this quick sketch of a creepy lady sitting on some kind of... I dunno, something, it's freaky and organic and it's got thorns, and she's tying up the lower half of her face with a black ribbon. It's really bizarre. Much more goth-y than my usual style. And very dark. Literally, dark. I killed my pencil.

Have you ever noticed how much people love to talk at you, but don't particularly care whether or not you talk back?
I have a sore throat. Not a very bad one. But bad enough. I also have a drama class. I do not want to have no voice when we finally perform our cuttings. So, I'm not talking. It's amazing how few people have noticed. I nod, shake my head, roll my eyes, do my usual deadpan stare, and occasionally applaud, and this is somehow allowing me to get by in any conversation that comes up. I've actually managed to insult people just by nodding at the right moment. Go me.
Oh, and the latest picture of CAGE? Finally finished the outfit, now just need to fix the wings. His arm somehow wound up bleeding, though. Eep. Why is it bleeding? No idea. Hey, I just draw what comes into my head, people. I don't question it, I just draw it.
Oh, and Gravitation! Today was a Gravitation day. Finally watched the first OAV. Eh. It wasn't bad, but it didn't leave me running up and down the stairs and randomly wailing "Yuuuuukiiiiiii!" Of course, I don't have a voice, so I couldn't randomly wail anything anyway, but... still. Then watched episode 12. *sniff sniff* *wails* Yuuuuuukiiiiiiiii!!! *runs up and down the stairs* Shuuuuuuiiiiichiiiiii! Ryuuuuuuuuiiiiichiiiiii! Seeeeeeguuuuuuuchiiiiiii! Yuuuuuuuukiiiiiii!!! *comes back* Okay. Yeah. Wow. Want watch episode 13 now, but I think my head would explode or something.

I feel dead. Hate it when that happens.
Don't have a reason to feel dead, either. Except maybe the computer sucking my soul. But I finally updated PL. I suddenly realized, while working on it, that I'd only updated it once during the entire semester. Yeesh.
CAGE is on schedule, though. Ahead of, actually, since KeenSpace still hasn't set up my page. Server problems, though, I know, so I'm not gonna yell at them for it. Well, not yet anyway. I'll just get happily ahead of schedule while I'm waiting. The current page is coming out great, except I can't decide on the design for angel-type's outfit. I don't want to use the one I had him in before, that's boring. And all the ones I'm coming up with are too girly and/or would be more appropriate on Slutty Evil.
...I should give these guys real names, I really should.
Xenia's finished a yyh amv, and O.O Wow. Looks seriously good. My amvs aren't coming so good. Well, lie. The IWTV one with Claudia is going great. I think I'm finally getting used to this new movie editor. But the FY Tamahome's family one isn't doing so good. It looks okay, it's just going reaaaaaalllly sloooooooooowly. Damn. That is the last time I take requests. Actually, I wanted to do an amv along these lines anyway. But it was requested, and so my muses all died. Damnit.
Elfwood Extranet still down. >.< Depressed.
So, working on the IWTV mv, and checking webcomics. The webcomics are boring me today. But that's just 'cause I'm dead today, and just about everything's boring me. Actually, lie. Two webcomics aren't boring me. Fate Martyr Sapheire and Space Opera. Which is weird, 'cause they're about as different as it gets, but *shrugs* Whatever. The links are over on the side. Go read them. Now.