On (fannish) Things

[xparrot]

Obligatory Advent Children reaction:

SQUEE OMG PRETTY SQUEEEE OMG THE SHEER KICKASSEDNESS OF IT ALL SQUEE SQUEEEEEEE OH HOW I LOVE RENO (AND COMPANY) SQUEEEEE SQUEEE!

You're unlikely to get more outa me. Except did the toss-the-Cloud sequence remind anyone else of OP, Arabasta arc, with the clocktower?

And, fic. Finally finished the Static Shock Summertime; started posting a new YGO, Safeguard, because no one is writing me the squishy fluffy gen that I desperately want to read in that fandom. So I'm writing it for myself. And then there was a challenge on a comm and hallucinations were too good to pass up, so now I'm writing Legally Insane, too, only I doubt that one will be terribly popular there, as it's not angst except in the most contrived and shallow way, nor is it incest (I'm terrible about following rules) - it's an incest comm, most of the fic are dark and creepy, disturbing angst, often extremely well-done. But I have no urge to write creepy & disturbing for YGO, because that's what most of the good writers are doing for it already. The series has a definite potential for dark, and since that side's only briefly touched on in canon (the chars are all too busy playing cards to dig into how messed up they might be), it's not surprising that fen enjoy exploring it. But I doubt I could do it any better than others already are, and since my darkfic itches are getting scratched, I'm not particularly inspired to try. And dammit, sometimes I just want an unabashed happy ending that leave me with a silly grin.

...Okay, most of the time that's what I want, even if I enjoy and appreciate other sorts of fic. I'm a hurt/comfort addict. There probably should be a 12 step program for that. As it is, I'm writing all - fluffy angst? Or angsty fluff? Pseudo-angst, the sort that puts the chars through much stress and worry and physical/emotional torture but it all gets entirely and cheerfully resolved by the story's end. With hugs. Because there can never be too many hugs.

Yo, gnine, naye? We absolutely have to get that h/c comm off the ground!

Comments

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

AHAHAH YES! And I watched it with shayera, and we were both laughing at the pass-the-Cloud scene, because it was so very familiar. But it's a good scene! It made me squee! And laugh at the WTF-ness of the other characters getting so high up so fast, but... yes! SQUEE~!

And we do. When are we starting? ^^

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Heh, I didn't WTF any of the action. I mean, really now - in the game, Sephiroth makes the sun go nova!! More than once!! After that nothing is impossible. (though I squirmed at the bike chase when they went onto the highway - bad flashbacks, that was the hardest damn minigame!)

We need a good name for the comm! any ideas?

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

Oh, I laughed so much at the action. With love! I laughed with love. ^_^ (Like when Cloud was SHOT IN THE HEAD from a VERY CLOSE DISTANCE, and his glasses deflected the bullet. ♥)

Hah. I always thought the bike chase was pretty easy! So I laughed at that too. And at the "uh, didn't we *stop* here last time?" when they went over the edge. But now they're even *cooler* than they were in the game.

No. None. Well, nothing we could use...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I usually giggle at outrageous action, but I actually didn't laugh at most of AC because I was squeeing so hard. well, my giggles and my squeeing are both at such pitches that it's difficult for the human ear to distinguish between them anyway, so... ^^ (I mean, actually SEEING Sephi's 6-foot katana in action? And skinny Tifa kicking So. Much. Ass. And Rufus goes off a building and keeps firing all the way down. And Cloud's final strike on Sephiroth...aww man. I wanna watch it again! *_*)

(AC had h/c, too! with Cloud finding Tifa, and the Turks worrying about Rufus, and everyone worrying about Cloud...)

[mei-yanohi.livejournal.com]

H/C COMM WUT

Also, *weeps for lack of Tiger Hunt*

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

SEE NEECHAN! You are making people WEEP! *sniffle* ...stupid YGO. :P

And, yes, h/c comm... seems more than just the three of us would be interested? ♥

[gnine.livejournal.com]

yes, neechan, you're making people weep...like me, if I don't get more of err...any one of about 30 fics these days? ;)

mmm...h/c comm...

[mei-yanohi.livejournal.com]

Heck yes I am interested, dost thou KID thyself???

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

There is not enough h/c in the world (though you did your part! *squees at you for that lyricwheel fic*) and we're hoping to foster the creation of more...as soon as we get off our butts and actually start the comm we will let everyone know, and you have an advance invitation ^^

[mei-yanohi.livejournal.com]

I couldn't believe you commented on something I wrote. I think that made my whole life worth living.

ps

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

you successfully guilted me into poking at Tiger Hunt tonight. RAWR!

Re: ps

[mei-yanohi.livejournal.com]

AUGH NUH UH OH MY GOD I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF *weeps big fangirl tears*

[jadeprince.livejournal.com]

You should check out little_shivers. It's not exclusively a h/c comm, but that's a big part of it. It's not nearly active enough. *sob* Anyway... enough with the self-pimping.

I would join any other h/c comm you made, though, no questions asked.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

hee, yes...I know exactly what your comm is talking about. I probably should join!
What we have in mind would be a little different, since the emphasis would be on the h/c - especially classic h/c, relationship-centered friendship stories with de facto happy endings. obviously we're all slash fangirls, so slash/yaoi wouldn't be forbidden, but we'd be leaning more to the gen side...well, we have to work out the details, but it'll be a home for series reviews, fic recs, what have you. (the original plan was making a webpage devoted to reviewing and rec'ing h/c fandoms, but gnine pointed out that a comm would be the easier way to get contributions, which is the point, because we are always looking out for new sources of h/c!)

[jadeprince.livejournal.com]

I would DEFINITELY join. I actually prefer my h/c without too much yaoi (ala Seven Deaths), because I'm wary of the whole BEHOLD-THE-HEALING-POWER-OF-MY-COCK phenomenon. H/C and nakamaship go much better together in my honest opinion. ^^ That's not to say the h/c I write isn't relatively -slashy-, I just prefer to avoid the sex part.

If you start it, I will introduce myself to the comm with the Zoro/Sanji-ish H/C I'm working on for mei_yanohi right now. ^_^ And I know how much you like fucked-up!Sanji. *grins* Or at least, I -hope- you still do. ^^

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

*_* of course you have an advance invitation to the comm, but wait - WHERE is this story now?!??!?! because Sanji...umm...yeah. It's not my fault he's a natural-born whipping boy! (and YES I still love OP...I just fall in love easily. ^^;;; OP blows YGO outa the water, series and fandom, and I still adore it and want to read and write for it...but YGO has...um...Kaiba...)

*nods* yes, exactly - slashy h/c is a-okay, but if I'm reading h/c, I prefer the story to be about the h/c and not the romantic/sexual side of the pairing. Especially as gnine often complains about yaoi manga - you can't hurt them *too* badly if you want them to be having sex anytime soon. Gen means you can take the gloves off ^^

[jadeprince.livejournal.com]

Gen means you can take the gloves off *gasps*! I never thought of it that way! That's -brilliant-! *rubs hands together* I guess it's okay then to have Sanji poisoned -and- punctured -and- near-drowned. ^_______^ *huge stupid grin*

Don't you fret, I am determined to finish this fic this time. (started and ignored it about 3 months ago).

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

!!!!!!!!! when will this story be done??! *froths* (as long as he's going to be okay in the end, you can do whatever you like to him. in fact, please *do*!)

[jadeprince.livejournal.com]

SOON. With any luck. I've written the injury and the directly post injury. Need to get a bit more in there (plus somemore nakamaness between mah two boys) and I might be happy to call it done. ^^

And of course he'll be okay in the end! ^^ The only ambiguous h/c I ever wrote was a drabble in which Sanji's legs were crushed by a mast. It was only a drabble so it didn't really end either way... but it didn't sound like it'd be a very happy ending. So I don't do that often. ^^;;;

[mei-yanohi.livejournal.com]

WHAT ALL THREE *creams herself mightily*

......

*wipes off X Parrot's journal*

[nest.livejournal.com]

This is kinda weird...because Advent Children is the only thing my people at school have been rambling about the last two days. And this post of yours appears just after an obligatory "ADVENT CHILDREN IS SO GOOD!! *SQUEE*" post from a girl I know (on my friend's list).

Do you care? Probably not. But it amused me muchly. XD Because, like, I don't keep track of that stuff at all, yet here are two completely unrelated people going on about it. Anyway. I'll stop taking up space now. *laughs*

Congrats on finishing your Static Shock fic, btw! I should go finish it up...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Heh, my entire f-list has been buzzing about it for the last couple days, it really does seem to be obligatory. (at least if you played the original game and have been waiting like a couple YEARS for this thing!!)

and hope you enjoy the SS fic's finale! ^^

[nenya85.livejournal.com]

I love the expression pseudo-angst! You've hit on what I think makes YGO irresitible for writing fanfic -- there's the occasional incredibly riveting angsty image (like Gozaburo holding up a terrified looking young Seto's head with a riding crop while he studies) but so much is implied and nothing is ever said directly. Which makes the temptation of filling in the dots just irresistible. I find mangas/anime/books which have wonderfully detailed relationships and back stories a joy to read, but less satisfying to write about.

Agree about darkness potential -- it constantly amazes me that Yugi -- the shy, loner, bully magnet with the never mentioned father and all but absent mother (not to mention the ex-pharaoh spirit living hin his jewelry) -- is the most normal character. (lol)

*admits to also being a h/c junkie* and agrees that there can never be too many hugs.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Naturally you've an open invitation to the comm, when we get it up - all h/c junkies welcomed, most especially those who can feed our insatiable appetites write! ^_^

I got into fanfic in western fandoms, 'smarm', mostly - platonic friendshipping - and there most stories labelled "angst" would put the chars through the wringer, but everything would come out right in the end (you'd get lambasted for posting a deathfic without proper warning!). So I called myself an angst author. But then in anime fandoms (or maybe it's just more recent fandoms?) "angst" is applied to darkfic, referring to unrelenting emotional pain. And while I can appreciate a story that grips me enough to truly disturb me - really, more than anything I love angst-with-a-happy-ending. Thus, pseudo-angst. (& hence me fangirling your stories like mad ^^)

Yes, that's a big draw - "Potential", we used to call it, with the capital P, to refer to those series that offered opportunities for all sorts of things but might not actually exploit them - and if not, then does a good fan have a choice but to do so? And YGO tends to cram so much story into so few frames - I've lost count of the number of times I've read just those 3 pages of flashback at the end of Death-T, they're pretty impressively revealing! YGO - and a lot of shounen manga, really - especially interest me because so much of what can be interpreted about chars, one has the impression really *is* there in the mangaka's twisted mind, he just gives us the readers enough credit to extrapolate it for ourselves. (though, I must disagree, I don't think Seto looks terrified of Gozaburo in that shot, so much as psychotically determined...which is even scarier ^^)

Well, Honda's pretty normal. Aside from the hair. ^^ The thing about the darkness in YGO is that despite how fundamentally screwed up many of the chars are, there's still this sense that their problems can be overcome - with friendship, with the joy and lessons of games. Good triumphs over evil; even Kaiba is working things through. So while I can understand the basis and the appeal of darkfic that pushes the chars over the edge, past the point of no return...I find it a little dissatisfying after a while. Or maybe that's just 'cause I'm a sap...

[nenya85.livejournal.com]

Pschotically determined describes it much, much better! ^ ____ ^

The trouble with pushing characters over the edge is that then there's no where to go (lol) whereas, with Kaiba in particular, it's his struggles -- with himself, his past, his values, his future... that I find fascinating.

[neo-turklight.livejournal.com]

Heheh, yeah, I just kinda followed you here from the ff account... so, uh... hi?

S'nice to meet you? Heh.

Err, and yeah, I was just gonna agree on the Advent Children bit. >] Haven't seen it yet, but I'm definitely about to, since waiting for it to be officially released is, uh, gonna take too long. And YES, the Turks kick all the holy ass there ever was.

-grins- Don't mind if I friend you?

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hi~! feel free to friend, & welcome to the nonsense that is my lj! ^^

I loved the Turks when I originally played the game, and after AC - man, I'm crushing so hard on Reno now. He's such a sexy dork ^_^

[gnine.livejournal.com]

SQUEEEEEEEE...what can I say, AC just KEEPS making me do that...on every repeated watching, of which there has been faaaar to many...

I'm a hurt/comfort addict. There probably should be a 12 step program for that.

Hmmm...12 steps, huh:

1. Find 2(or more) characters with nice friendship potential
2. Kidnap one/or more of them
3. shoot one or more of them
4. stab one or more of them
5. drown one or more of them
6. hypothermia one or more of them
7. have one or more of them panicking over the above state(s) of friend(s)
8. have kickass freak out/badass/cute/sweet rescue of said injured friends
9. HOLDING! Much MUCH holding
10. Obligatory hospital scene
11. Cute/sweet/helping talks (possibly w/ hot coco ^_- w00t to fannon)
12. HUGS!! LOTS AND LOTS OF HUGS!!

....hmm, how bout a 13 step program and add even more holding/cuddling/hugs? ;)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

...

Sister mine, I love you, you know.

[demeter918.livejournal.com]

Except did the toss-the-Cloud sequence remind anyone else of OP, Arabasta arc, with the clocktower?

Me! The work-together-to-throw-someone-higher-even-if-it's-physically-impossible-manuever. XD

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I think by that point, the laws of physics were the least of their concerns ^^

[immicolia.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhhhh! Advent Children! I want to see it so baaaaaaadly. Where did you get this!? Where! I must know! Because: dammit! Rufus! And the Turks! But mostly Rufus. ......hm. White trenchcoat wearing, arrogant, pseudo-evil but not near as evil as his paunchy cigar smoking father, company usurping, boy-billionare. Go figure.

Also, I am totally loving the fic you've been writing of late (I always wind up reading it five minutes before I have to go to work so I never have time to drop comments). I think I may be developing a soft spot for squishy gen too... even though I can never write it because I always find myself adding subtext to everything even when I aim for gen. And I am an angst whore. Although my angst is nowhere near as dark and disturbing as some of the angst out there (unless I decide to write PostApoc!AU fic again... which is really tempting because I love PostApoc)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Can you do a 700 MB bittorrent? TokyoTosho is an anime fen's best friend. do a search for "advent", bunch of copies come up. I think people have been yousendit'ing and such, but not sure where?

White trenchcoat wearing...company usurping, boy-billionare. Go figure.

Heh, I noticed this myself. (you forgot "Hot like a Hot Thing". --of course damn near everyone in AC was. When even Rude looks pretty good...)
Shinra vs KaibaCorp! (vs LexCorp, vs Xanatos Enterprises. dang, now I want an icon.)

whee, glad you like the fic ^^ haven't been sure if anyone's reading it (god but I'm a pathetic feedback whore)
And really, much as I like the warm&fuzzies, I'm seriously loving your stuff. ...then again, compared to, say, praiseofshadows when she gets her dark on, you're practically writing fluff ^^;

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed the story! I also wrote some Static Shock/Smallville crossover stories, but other than those I'm not sure I'll be writing more SS. But I do love Virgil/Richie, so we'll see!