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From:

yuuago

Anyway. School. Well, I was mostly kidding when I said I don't know if they'd want to put up with me for another four years. Though I imagine the department heads must be a little frustrated with me. I was quite a thorn in their side last semester when I kind of went into a reclusive stage. But, er, I'm better now, so things should probably be okay this year, I think. As for social stuff, it's weird, man. My tiny undergrad school had so many things to be involved in, but now that I've changed schools, this one hardly has anything. All the student organizations are either sports or religious-centric, no arts organizations at all. So I'm going to take a look at the town theatre organizations and see what I can get involved with... I might have to wait a while though. Oh yeah, and when I say I might get a job, I mean a real job, haha. I'm probably going to do something with the school library or writing centre, but I want a real job too at the grocery store or something. Something labour-intensive. The pay is shit, but I find that it's difficult for me to be happy unless I'm working with my hands.

I'm trying to imagine you as intimidating in real life.
It's not working.
Hah, well, you'll have to try harder, I guess. ;p I find it easier to see how people would find me intimidating in real life than online. Plenty of people seem to find me scary online, and I'm not sure why, as I always try to be friendly, or at least civil. But in real life I guess it makes sense enough, because I'm very quiet and I don't smile and I always look like I'm glaring (I don't do it on purpose - maybe my face is stuck like that) and I can't hold a conversation at all. I'm getting a little better, in that I can speak when I need to, and approach people when I need to, but for the most part I guess I seem stand-offish and rather formal, and then people find that intimidating. In summary: I am Sweden. Or maybe Norway (someone said I'm a Norway). Sigh.

Television - well. I must admit, I do love crime dramas, even if they're all over the place nowadays. Some of my fondest memories are of watching Law&Order with my parents when I was very young. Most of the new stuff isn't as good as the original L&O, though (or maybe I'm just biased). I don't like how some of this new stuff seems to be less about solving the mystery + the drama of the trial and more about the shiny, flashy special-effects and technology.
Anyway, yeah, it's pretty crazy how much tv some people watch. I would argue, though, that spending a lot of time on the computer is marginally better than staring at a television all the time. It mostly depends on what you're doing on it. Most of the time when I'm on it, I'm either communicating with someone or doing something creative, and even if that creativity is just fanfiction or, er, pretending to be a country, well... at least I'm doing something.

Regarding Nosferatu: Ehhh, well, you might end up taking the piss out of it. Possibly. I think part of the reason I found it so scary is because I was watching it alone, in the dark, during a storm. Heh. But I do hope you find it interesting, at least.

...Er. Yeah, the Jesus as a rock star with his crossdressing vampire BFF in Montreal story was from my teenage years, but I didn't stop working on it until 3/4 of the way through undergrad. *facedesk* So it... technically went on longer than that. The reason I took so long to scrap it is because I loved the characters so much, and writing them was so much fun, that even though the story was ridiculous, I wanted to continue. After I finally admitted that it was silly, I considered trying to figure out a way to salvage the characters, start over, write a story that actually made sense. But I couldn't come up with anything. I might turn back to it one day, see if I can try again.

From:

yuuago

I guess I do have weird things going on in my head. BUT I SHAN'T BE WRITING CRACKY AU FIC. ... Well, okay, I'm going to be writing AU pretty soon, but not too cracky, I hope. Mostly just light romance with some minor shenanigans. To be honest, I'm not good with crack at all. I get ridiculous ideas, lik the Jesus and the vampire thing, but the thing is that I take them too seriously, and while the situation is very silly indeed, I write as though it's Very Serious Business. Not sure why, just can't. Can't do crack RP, either. (Someone mentioned today that I'm too serious in RP situations... hah, maybe they're right. Oh well.)

Anyway. YES. I GET DISTRACTED BY CLEANING. I do my best to clean up messes as soon as they are made, but it's more than just that; no matter what I do, there is always something else that needs to be cleaned. That's the most frustrating thing about living in my apartment. There's always something that needs to be washed or scrubbed or vacuumed or fixed up. Arrrrgh.
And I want to get a bookshelf, but it's not the most practical. I'll just get another box. I put them with the spine facing upward. I can fit maybe 22-ish books in there, if they are all paperback.

You gonna build me a time machine, eh? Better hop to it, bro. 8D I have some cash saved up, all ready to go! (It's for my trip to Finland but mayyyyybe I could be convinced to change my mind~) Wellll actually no. I wouldn't want to go back in time. That would just end badly, I'm sure. Pfft. Such things are only good in novels~

As for the video, yeah, it's pretty incredibly, isn't it? The Canterbury Talesone - I'm assuming you're refering to this one, right? It's pretty amazing how that - that is, Middle English - sounds similar to English, but so different. But it isn't as if the change from Old English to Middle English, then Middle English to Modern English just happened. The change from Old to Middle English happened around/after the Norman conquest, with the influence of the French langage. Then the change from Middle to Modern happened toward the end of the medieval period, and I can't quite remember what the cause was (something to do wtih the black death I think), but for some reason the pronunciation of vowels (among other things) shifted. So while it happens it isn't spontaneous.

Anyway. As far as America goes, you've hit the nail right on the head. The reason it seems like they have more good things about them is because they have more people, so they produce a greater volume of media - I was actually talking about precisely this, the other day. Sure, we produce a good amount of crap, but we turn out some awesome things too.
In my case... I admit, I'm more likely to give something a try if it's Canadian, mostly when it comes to literature. It's mostly because I find I can more readily identify/gain interest in something that's set in my own country. So if someone mentions to me "I read this book, such and such, by this Canadian author so-and-so" I'd be more likely to pick it up than if it was just another American author. But I've met a fair bit of disappointment when it comes to Canadian literature. A lot of the stuff I've had to read for school is crap (I can't stand Joseph Boyden's novels, for instance).

Moving on - Foreign fans. Oh gods, yes, I love that. When they go on about where they're from, I mean. Or when I manage to persuade them to take photos of their city, and they just go around snapping everything, and then in the entry talk about it... gahhh, I could read those entries and talk with them about it forever. And to them it's nothing, but to me it's so amazing. Some of them seem to find my reaction funny. Ahhh, well. And then there are others who say, "Come visit me! We can hang out and visit all these historical sites that are just down the road from me!" OMG. I WISH. Saving up for that, yes indeed.
I still feel as if I won't get to go anywhere. But I AM DETERMINED. Saving my pennies. And people say they want me to come see them. So it looks like it'll either be Sweden or Finland next year, woooo. I can't wait. (Sometimes having friends in far-flung places is convenient...)

From:

yuuago

Back to fic. I guess you're right that there isn't that much fic being written. I mean, okay. I don't know much about modern fandom, so I can't judge. But for example when I look at say the hetalia_daily updates for the main comm, there isn't really a lot of fic listed compared to the fanart. And there's rarely something relevant to my interests. It's kind of discouraging. I guess the only thing I can do is keep writing stuff that I like and hope other people will get the same idea.

The kink meme... don't even get me started on the kink meme. I posted something there the other day, and I swear, I spent half an hour just figuring out how to do it. The system seems so much more complicated now than it used to be. I mean, back when I posted there regularly, it was very simple, and no big deal. But then again... that was back in part two and three. Sigh. It seems like so long ago. Now the place is such a mess, and it seems like the mods might have jumped ship, and kasjdf. I don't even know now. And a lot of the fic that gets put out there is such crap nowadays, argh! ... Er. Sorry about that. Just had to get it out, I guess.

Heh. When you sent this, it was before the 23rd... and now it's come and gone, and no Balticfic for me. Sigh. Such a disappointment. On the other hand, there hasn't been a rise in Balticcest nor in rapefic, so at least I can be thankful for that. Agreed on the amount of rape being depressing (and for me, disturbing). As for yandere!Latvia, there is a lot that is going around - maybe not more than usual, but maybe more visible now. To be honest, I don't really see it. Even going by what we see in canon, I don't see him as being... yandere. Then again I'm not entirely sure what that is (bloody newfangled terms) though I get the general idea.

I SAW THE INVASION. AND I CONSIDERED PARTICIPATING. But I didn't feel lik playing, sooooo I didn't. Ffff. I'm a huge stick in the mud, I know. Aaaand now the vampires are gone. Mostly. However, I know one of the Edward RPers, so maybe some day if I feel particularly ridiculous I shall rope them in to having a sparkle-off with me. Just for you. ;p
I've been playing a little more in general, or trying to. I'm so flighty with when I feel about doing things, bahhhh. But it's nice to be able to do it, especially when my usual partners get involved, because I know it makes them happy. (And vice versa... a good long thread just makes me feel, omg, so good.)

Anyway. That's it for now. <3 Hope to hear from you soon.

From: (Anonymous)

ho ho looks like you caught me in the WIP thread. And then I had to leave to be with my sister for a few hours. Just want to say /brofist for comfortable sweaters. I figured Norway to be the type to like them, but then I like seeing everyone in comfy sweaters. My love of them knows no bounds. I'd wear those big comfy sweaters in the summer if I could (as in, if I wouldn't get yelled at for it).

I think just having real big threads destroys a computer more than one conversation that went and stretched the page. You remember the first World Conference thread? Now that was deadly. I never checked back to see if it stretched the thread horizontally though, as I just wanted to get off that page as soon as possible. Best thing to do is start big threads close to the bottom of the page, I think.

Duplodanish has only posted once to the meme, right? Or am I just behind on my RP? ~~is it the same person who plays two other characters that I'm thinking about?~~ Their camera thread was a riot and a half.

Has the meme started to go any slower? A fair amount of people have gone back to school, but I guess we all won't be rounded up until mid-September. Personally I think it's just going to be slower during school hours, but then once everyone's more or less out of school it's gonna be crazy fast again. I'm not even going to factor in kids not going on the meme after school because they're doing homework or whatever, cause who are we kidding, most people probably go on the meme and ignore doing their homework. 's a good thing I've already been forcing myself to go to the library to study for almost two years now or the place would've ~destroyed my future~

That comes as some what of a relief, I was startin' to think that you're crazy (of course, after hearing about mafia vampires and rock star Jesus. . . jk jk jk). I don't even know what "B'lay that" meant until reading this response. Ah, I don't think I really have a set idea of how most characters talk. All I know is that when I read fic with them I just like having a fuzzy impression of how that language would sound like. That's more of the sound of their voice though, I guess. Getting their actual voice, as in speech mannerisms and stuff. . . That's hard for me to figure out.

That thing was going off of national averages? Eh, I dunno. I don't really like being restricted by national averages when it comes to height (and I don't care what anyone says, the heights Hidekaz listed are way too short. Sure, 5'8 might seem massive for the Japanese, but then even I'm taller than some of these SUPER TALL nations). Anyways, well, let Norway be magpie-ish. Nothing wrong with liking pretty things.

Ich, well, I dunno. Not going to lie, it's rare for a girl to be my favourite character in a series (though that's usually because my favourite always ends up being "the old guy"). I can probably think of a few reasons why girl characters are hated on by girls. For one, they're usually poorly written. Second might be because some girls will be intimated/threatened by them for whatever reason. Third reason, and a horrifying reason it is, is because it gets in the way of the slash. It's a bit sad, seeing a female character being treated rather well by a fandom, only to be attacked after the creators decide to pair her up with one half of a popular ship. as if your slash otp ever had a chance, really now.

. . . this kind of thing really does vary, fandom to fandom though. What's the last fandom were you active in anyways, I mean, once upon a time, before Hetalia?

Mainstream superhero stuff is a niche market, but outside of that, there really is something for everyone, hah (Y The Last Man is also incredible, just sayin. Or Fables. I think you might like Fables. Hell, you should read anything published under Vertigo, seriously). And comics do take less time to read, even though there's no way you'll just be skimming the Sandman. That reminds me that I still have like, three trades of the entire series left to buy argh.

From: (Anonymous)

I know! People are always surprised when they hear that this really beautiful piece of art was made with pencil crayon too, they just assume it's paint or digital. It's been a long time since I've tried doing something with pencil crayons. Last thing was. . . err, maybe five months ago? It was a portrait of Indiana Jones hehe. I got inspired because earlier the announcements at school got all mixed up with names and called Harrison Ford down to the office. But yeah, pencil crayons are fun, and the fact that out of all art media, I'm probably the best with them hurr

(psst SAI is actually better than Photoshop for colouring) I remember Paint Shop Pro! I think I used that in '03 or around there. Strange that you say it takes you longer, though. I think doing it digitally is usually faster (it really depends). It's sad, unless you're dealing with an absolute master, digital art will usually be looked upon more highly than traditional. I do think a lot of it has to do with digital art just looking cleaner when on a computer screen. I'm pretty sure that in real life, you would probably get more praises for showing an oil painting you did than something you printed out.

And then you have those people who are incredible at digital and traditional stuff. Man, those multi-talented people. I swear.

Dude. You could be the greatest drawer in the world and you'd still only like the way something looks 1/1000 of the time. I've heard that most artists are almost never satisfied with their work. Makes enough sense, no wonder artists are such a depressing bunch.

I feel bad for people who really like England/Canada. Not just cause it's rare, but I've heard the horror stories of how some England/Canada stories actually end up being US/UK because England just mistook Canada for America yet again.

hurr, that's just a matter of characters clicking with you or not, right? You can't help who you like. I'm kind of like that with Iceland, I think. Actually, I'm a lot like that with Iceland. More canon would be nice, yes, especially for quirks. Oi, awhile ago I was wondering about the characterizations of the characters and our first impressions about them, and it never actually occurred to me that, say, if we were given a picture, just one frame and a little description for Sweden, there's no way fandom could've figured him out to be the way he is now. But he might be an extreme example, for other characters it's just quirks I guess (Finland's horrible taste in names and his, err, hidden bloodthirsty side for example). Not sure why I'm mentioning that, as it may not do anything other than make you worry about your characterizations (which are fine, man).

. . . You write Denmark as south Albertan? Oh god, does this mean I talk like Denmark? Now I'm trying to remember if I ever read your Denmark and found there to be something eerily familiar about his voice.

I've had some tl;dr conversations on myspace and facebook, excuse me. Haha, no, I get what you mean. People do post a lot on other people's walls, send messages, or even go on facebook chat, but, ich. I dunno. Personally I don't like going through everyone's new gallery to see how drunk they were at a party. I also don't care about someone being OMG SO EXCITED FOR TOMORROW! <33 Different strokes for different folks, I guess. You and I are just not like the others.

Say, if you sent her a Computers for Dummies book, or just something along those lines, do you think she'd read it? Or will she give up on it and return to calling you?

atjkaetj were you? Damnit, I hate not knowing when people are kidding on the internet (this is probably why I joke a lot less/am less sarcastic on the internet. It's hard to tell). I don't know know what you mean by your reclusive stage, and err, I'm not even sure if I should even inquire on it. But it's good that you're better now! ♥ Can I ask how hard it is to juggle a job and university?

I find it easier to see how people would find me intimidating in real life than online...
Hah, you always seem a bit lost when someone on the meme admits to finding you intimidating. I think I might be able to come with a few reasons as to why they might. . .

From: (Anonymous)

As for if you're a Norway or a Sweden: err, neither of them are talkative, but for different reasons. If you a Norway, then you would chose to be that quiet because you don't find words necessary at a particular moment, or cause you'd rather be rather to the point instead of loquacious. If you're a Sweden then you wouldn't be as quiet as you are cause you want to be. Like, you know, with Sweden it's clear that he wants to say more than he does but he's just too awkward/embarrassed to (I don't think he wants to be loud though). Now, which one are you more like? And honestly I think both of them really like their coffee and comfortable sweaters. What if you're an EGYPT?

character comparisons aside, I wish I could wish people's awkwardness away just because I know it's such a bother. I guess I'm lucky because my social awkwardness is covered up pretty well by the fact that I'm good at talking. I do think I'm more awkward socially online than offline, for some things at least.

Oh, I do think they're actually worse now, and I don't even watch them. I've heard that CSI (which I've never actually watched an entire episode of) had to dumb down its stuff because it's script was too good, too close to what actually went on. So from there we went straight to shiny technology and finding semen on everything I have no idea how CSI compared to Law & Order though. I prefer other stuff, tv-wise.
I'd argue that too, but most people wouldn't take that argument seriously. Usually when I'm on computer I'm also learning/drawing/reading about something, not playing games. What's there to learn on tv these days, documentaries are rare and half the time Discovery Channel is just playing some show about pimping motorcycles D: and then there's the history channel. . .
I think I could live without tv easily, now that I think of it.

It's gonna take me awhile to watch it either way. I, err, really am not in the mood for anything scary right now. Haven't been in months, still won't be for a long while. But I shall keep it in mind.

Haha, aww. Maybe you can just transplant their personalities into something else one day. I've got to ask though, was Jesus one of the ones with a fully fleshed out personality?

That's probably why learning that you wrote those kinds of crazy things was so surprising. You tend to think that those kinds of story ideas are going to translate into something really cracky, which I know that you don't write. I don't think there's anything wrong with writing something silly in a more serious style (I'm sure I've read something like that but looking over my bookshelf nothing really comes to mind). Tons of people have written about real mundane things in a humorous way, dunno why it can't be the other way around.

Too serious in meme RP, maybe. It's mostly crack there, but there are other places that do the whole srs bzns RP stuff. It's not like one is better than the other.

Maybe you're just a neat freak? I don't hear most people your age complaining about cleaning so much, you sound like my mother. I don't even know how neat I am. For me there are only a few places that need to be clean 24/7. Like forgetting to vacuum the living room or make your bed is forgiveable, but places like the bathroom and kitchen need to be spotless at all times. Have you seen that one show, it's on W network or something, and it stars two British ladies going into people's dirty houses and cleaning it up? Except that these houses are absolutely filthy, I can't even tell you how disgusting some of the stuff has been on there. There's mold, dirt, everything everywhere. If you haven't seen it, look at a bit of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuEhwCbo0po&feature=related D: doesn't even cover it.

And I want to get a bookshelf, but it's not the most practical.
Wait, how?

We can go to Finland easy on a time machine! In books and movies time machines have a magical ability to not only travel in time but in space as well. We can go back five minutes and land up right in a corner in Helsinki or wherever it is that you'd like to go. You aren't afraid of some silly butterfly effect, are you? to be honest I really don't have an opinion as to whether time travel could actually be possible.

From: (Anonymous)

Yup yup, that's one of the ones I watched. Something to do with the Black Death you say? Interestingg.

I know a few people that kind of already have a prejudice against Canadian stuff, assuming that they're going to be "lame" or something before they even give it a try. It makes me sad :( They aren't people I like talking to much anyways so I guess there's that.
I don't really like it when Canadian Lit is considered it's own section. Ah, I don't know how to explain it. I probably haven't got a good reason for it, but I was at a used book store and there was a section for Fiction, and then there was a section for stuff by Canadians. It just threw me off, can't I look at all the books in one place ;____; I don't think the origin of the book is enough to give it it's own section (though I guess some places are known for producing certain kinds of books). What's wrong with Boyden? I haven't read any of his stuff but from the looks of it he's pretty well liked.

I don't get how it could be nothing. "Yeah, this place was built in the 1600s and a king got murdered there it's nothing." aektjoaet does not compute. At least you'll have more fun with friends than most tour guides, hah. I might as well just say that I like it when people take pictures of where they're from, regardless of where it actually is. Even if it's someone posting pictures from their small town in the middle of Wyoming, it's always neat to see. That reminds me. . . did you ever post those pictures from your trip awhile back?

Oh, and one other thing about foreign fans: I think Engrish is adorable. Especially when they apologize for it. I guess messing up the English language is only cute when the person doesn't intend to do it, as opposed to typin lyk dis u no?

See, I want to say that there isn't much fic being written (in comparison to the art, at least) but at the same time it's got more fic being written than a lot of other fandoms. It's disappointing that despite the main comm having THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of members, and the fact that I think my interests are fairly well rounded, most days I won't find anything that interests me at all. hetalia_daily isn't much help when it comes to art, either. Even if it's just for the fact that they don't have the art previews and stuff. I'd rather look at and comment a well done picture of a character I don't care for much than a not-so-good picture of one of my favourites (this doesn't apply with fic, though).

How did you used to have to post on it? I've never posted to the kink meme, I wouldn't know. I don't even really go on there unless the aphkink_aid posts an update and she hasn't for awhile. Just yesterday I decided to go and read all the latest Sweden/Finland fics on there, and in a dramatic break from tradition I actually found myself liking what I saw. I'm pretty sure the same person wrote a lot of them, though. I hope she deanons one day ;3;

SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FIC AND ALL I SHOULD PROBABLY TELL YOU NOW THAT YOUR BALTIC WAY FIC WAS SUPER DUPER AND BEAUTIFUL and it made me want to tear up at the end and goddamnit man i don't do that kind of stuff. I tell you this now because I'm way too paranoid to post under my own name on one of your fics now orz

(I don't get those terms either, really. arrgh those terms kind of just destroy characters for me. I used to really like England until I got sick of how much focus his ~TSUNTSUN~ side got. And Russia would probably be written better if it wasn't always for LOLYANDERE. These terms irritate me almost as much as the seme/uke terms, sometimes)

It would make my life. Oh god the vampires should gang up against the Estonias and it should go down as a Bulgaria invasion style event. . . okay, that might be too much but if you ever just have a sparkle face off against Edward I will literally fist pump into the air.

hurr best that I be replyin' now cause I'll be busy soon. school started on thursday and I've got a district exam on Tuesday and then after that I'm going to be volunteering at Worldskills Calgary :o Getting downtown at 7:30 in the morning, FUN TIMES
Good luck for whenever you go back to your studies~

From:

yuuago

Well if you're going to start secretly whitetexting, then in that case I'm going to ctrl+A everything you send me. EVERYTHING. EVER. It's true.

I DID CATCH YOU. And that's actually surprising, because normally I'm not good at catching similarity in style. But now that I've seen your stuff a bit I can recognize it. This makes me happy~ Anyway. FUCK YES COMFY SWEATERS. They are wonderful and warm which is helpful when you don't have heat. ... Er.

(You get yelled at for wearing sweaters in summer too? So do I. Or at least, I did, when I lived with my parents. But it's like... dude, I'm in the basement, and you have the AC going full-blast. OF COURSE I AM COLD.)

Your point about really big threads being harder on the computer than long ones makes perfect sense now that I think about it. Since I don't get involved in a lot of that kind, I hadn't really considered it before. Geeeze, that World Conference thread was HUGE.

Duplo's posted at the meme a few times, actually; but when we've threaded together, it has always been in sub-threads, not ones that he started. We've threaded twice at the meme, according to my log, but I think they've posted a few other times since their first thread as well. aklsdjf Normally I'm not one who says "they should post more", because of course I support people playing according to whenever they feel like it, but mannnn... I wish he'd post more. ~~And this person does play two other characters - rather quirky ones, really~~

I find that the meme has started to get a teeny tiny bit slower, but not much. I figure by the time September is over things will be slower, but... Gah, I don't know. You know, with so much RP nowadays, and a higher population of users, I don't see it slowing all that much. It's kind of frustrating. Just a little bit. It would be nice not to miss fifty million things just because I went and had a life for an hour or two. Ah, well. I'm generally pretty good at forcing myself to do work when there is no other option, so I think I'm good.

Anyway. I AM CRAZY. I certainly am. But there is a sort of logic to my madness. I think. In any case, you've now been educated regarding a small (and probably useless to you) piece of Newfie slang. Now, you say you like being able to have the voice when you read it... In my case, I need to have the voice when I write it. Since I rely so much on dialogue (both internal and external) I need to know exactly how they would speak. Though it doesn't always make things easier to write (gods know, I certainly know how Sweden and Norway speak, but they're a pain in the ass to write). But without the voice I can't do it.

It's rare for girls to be my favourite character in a series - at least a visual series; often it's different in literature. I guess the reasons you suspect for girl characters being disliked make sense, though I'd say the "feeling threatened" and "getting in the way" bits are pretty ridiculous, even if it makes sense that people would feel that way (people do not always follow earth-logic). I find it very strange that people spazz out if their OTP, be it slash or otherwise, doesn't become canon. I mean, who cares? Realistically, it probably never had a chance - especially slash, I mean really, talk about unrealistic expectations - and why does it matter so much, anyway? I mean, there's nothing to keep a person from writing fic or doing art about other pairings, regardless of whether it's canon or not. Then again, I've never understood this whole thing about holding hard-and-fast to canon, because departures can be done in fic, but they have to be done well, and logically.

From:

yuuago

Female characters being written badly though... yes, that's something I definitely understand, and I can definitely see that. I've certainly seen a lot of stuff with female characters who were just... very difficult to like. It's especially easy to notice when there are very few women in a series (like Fushigi Yuugi, for example). Now that I think of it, there was some of this problem in my last fandom as well. Since you asked, that was Weiss Kreuz, 2001-2003 or so (man, has it been that long? I had to go check my ancient fanfiction.net account to find out. Thought it was more recent). Anyway, that was the last fandom I was actually active in, aside from My Little Pony but that was focused on collection/restoration rather than the, er, show and fic and stuff... where am I going with this. OH RIGHT. Weiss Kreuz. It had some female characters that were pretty awesome, but most of them didn't have a lot of screen time compared to the main male charaters, and they tended to get ignored a lot in fic. Though
I was only involved in the fanfiction writing side, so maybe things were different in other ways. Hard to tell.

Fables, you say? I've heard of it. At one point I considered picking it up, but my ex was a fan, and... eh... well, you probably know how it is. But I'm sure after a while all that bitterness will have worn off and I'll be able to read it.
I used to be really big into comics, but man, they're expensive, and it isn't like you ever run into them at the used book store. So I've kind of slowed down what I've been reading. I still need to get through Maus, and I haven't read all my volumes of Moomins, but that's all I have at the moment. I really want to read more, though. In my 4th year of undergrad I took a course on comics as literature, and ahhhhh so much good stuff to read (though we didn't touch any Gaiman). Though the analysis bit wasn't as fun, hah.

As far as art goes, pencil crayons are really the only thing that I've had consistent access to, and they're the only thing that I've become really, really good at. I use them for pretty much everything (when I do draw). And normally people end up thinking it's photoshop if they see it online, or pastel if they see it in real life - because the colours are so smooth and the texture does not look the way they would normally expect it to look. I sometimes feel kind of... smug, I guess, when they get all wide-eyed and like, "What? Pencil crayon? No way!". Hah.

Paint Shop Pro is kind of archaic I guess, but it gets the job done. I bought my copy - this was way back and I'm pretty sure torrents didn't exist - and I haven't really bothered to move on, I just keep using PSP7. I think part of the reason that digital colouring takes me longer than physical colouring is partly because I'm just better at real media, and more used to it, so I can blend colours more quickly, get them to look exactly the way I want them to. Also, when doing digital, I have to use my non-dominant hand, which slows things up a bit. Well, whatever the reason, coloured pencils take me a couple days, whereas digital takes a week or more, and that's if I constantly sit there and do it.

It really, really bothers me that digital is looked at more highly than traditional, at least in the online world. I know that digital art looks better on a computer, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with traditional - and yet, I've gotten so many comments saying "Oh, this is okay, but you'd do so much better with photoshop". I DON'T WANT TO USE PHOTOSHOP. And I know they think they mean it as a compliment, but it really, really comes off as if they're putting down my medium, and arghhhh. Nooooo. (Now I just feel like whining).

Multi-talented people are just like, wow. Fortunately a lot of the ones that I know about/follow/etc are so good that I can't even bother being envious of their skill; I just sit back and enjoy the pretty. Like Ursula Vernon, oh my god, so good. *flails* The things she can do with paint, good lord. Or a few hours with a tablet. alksdfj.

From:

yuuago

...Anyway. You do make a good point about how artists are hardly ever satisfied with what they do. And I know this. Hell, I know some people who are excellent, but they feel everything they do is crap... But generally, I realize when I do something that's pretty good. The problem is that drawing anything at all, even something simple, takes me forever (days/weeks), and in the end it still doesn't look anything like what I was trying to do, and it doesn't look all that good, either. There was a point several years back where it wasn't so bad, and I think it's because I wasn't as concerned about things looking like what they were supposed to be. I dunno. Maybe someday I'll start trying to draw again, even if it's just so I'll have something to colour. I still have all these Prismas sitting around, after all.

Moving on to fic now. It's funny that you mention England/Canada and that whole thing where those stories actually end up being US/UK in disguise - considering there was a thread today about precisely that thing. A buddy of mine really likes UK/Can, and apparently like, half the stuff out there that claims to be UK/Can actually isn't. It's a damn shame, and I really should get around to writing more with them, just to try and even it out a little. Fff.

I guess you're right when you say that some characters click or not. Denmark for me - and also Iceland for me. I''m still not sure what to think about the guy. No matter how much fic I read about him, he doesn't stick. I follow a certain Icy RPer, too, and even though I love the way they play, I can't find myself seeing Iceland as being the way they play him - but I also can hardly see him at all. (I don't know if that sentence made sense). There's so little that I can see in my head, but what I can see isn't really the same as the other stuff I run across, and in the end I'm left thinking, "Okay, what the hell do I do with this guy?". But I guess when I start writing him more, I'll figure it out.

(And don't worry, you didn't make me worry, ff. I actually don't really fret all that much, except sometimes when it comes to the people who are very difficult to write. And even then it's more like, "ARGH. I can see you, and I can hear you, why can't I write you?!")

Ffff. Maybe you do sound like Denmark! Or maybe not. <3 Mostly I based it off how my family from the Drumheller area speaks. Kind of a lazy drawl. MAYBE THERE IS SOMETHING FAMILIAR. MAYBE NOT. 8D

So anyway, on the computer front - no, I'm definitely stuck playing tech support. Even if I sent her a book on the subject, she wouldn't read it, and if she did read it, she wouldn't understand it. *facedesk* Lovely. Alas, I must endure calls of "THE INTERNET IS BROKEN".

Moving on. Yeahhh, I was kidding. But considering it wasn't totally obvious, you get a pass there. ;p Er, by explanation about the whole recluse thing... it's kind of a long story, but basically there was a period from maybe late Feburary until July when I went into this huge depressive episode and gradually withdrew from everything completely. After a while I stopped going to classes completely (though I still showed up to teach my class - I can fuck up my own life, but I wouldn't let my students down) and I didn't finish my essays, and I missed my exams. There were various contributing factors, including the fact that my furnace was broken for at least two months during this time, and there were relationship things I was upset about, etc. Eventually I also stopped answering my parents' phone calls and I stopped checking my school e-mail, and I only went outside to go to the grocery store and occasionally the cafe. Most of my time was spent in bed.

So basically, it was this huge downward spiral, but luckily I've managed to pull myself out of it. I've settled everything with the department, and I'm allowed to come back for another year, and I won't suffer academic penalty. (The only reason I'm going into this is because, well, all the entries about it are public anyway, and I don't really mind talking about it, because somehow talking about it helps). Now that I'm no longer pretending to be Emily Dickinson (so to speak), I can get on with things.

From:

yuuago

I haven't had a "real" job during university, so I'm not really sure how difficult it will be. Last year I had two jobs, but they were at the school. One was at the writing centre, and I taught there in a three-hour block every Friday. That didn't take up a lot of time, and sometimes it was very slow so I was able to read my textbooks or write stories. My other job was a bit more difficult; I was a TA for a professor who taught first-year English. So I had to go to the lectures for those first-year courses (so I would know what he was teaching). Then I had to teach 20 of the students for an hour every Friday. These sessions were mostly discussion, and it was difficult because it was at 8:30 AM and a lot of the time the students didn't want to talk because they were sleepy, or they didn't want to talk because they hated the book. Sigh. I also had to mark and grade their essays (except for the final exams, which the professor marked). The actual time in the classroom wasn't much, but preparing for teaching (and reading all the novels they were studying) as well as marking the stuff took quite a while.

...Anyway. Moving on. If you could enlighten me as to why people on the meme might find me intimidating, I'd really appreciate it. This goes double if it's anything that I might be able to change. I want to be approachable, both online and offline. I don't want people to think I'm scary. So if it's something about my behaviour that can be adjusted, then I'm fully willing to work on that. As for me being a Norway or a Sweden offline, I still say I'm closer to Sweden - but with an enormous dose of derp. I want to speak, but I have to think it over 2093483 times before I can say it - not because I'm concerned about getting it right, like Sweden is, but because it takes me ages to think of a response beyond "hurr durr derp". So like, I'm civil and stuff, but I don't talk much because I can't... think of anything to say, at all. This is a real pain in the ass in class situations, let me tell you. By the time I manage to think of something to contribute to the discussion, someone else has already said it.

Now, as for television, yeah... you basically hit it right on the head. I mean, with the old stuff, it's more about solving the mystery through logic + evidence, then the courtroom drama that followed. Now it's all just SHINY SHINY SHINY. And it has become more about the personal lives of the detectives/CSI people/whatever than about the crime. Ah, well. I don't really find myself interested in anything on television except crime stuff, news, and the occasional documentary, so... as you can probably guess, I hardly ever watch televisionm, though I own one. (Mum keeps saying I should upgrade my cable package. Pfft, can't be bothered...)

Now, back to writing stuff - yeah, I guess I might be able to transplant the personalities into something else. Right now I'm kind of burnt out on original fiction I guess (which is why I'm writing fanfiction), but when I get back in the groove I might try. When I was trying to salvage things before I gave up, I figured that maybe what I could do is start over, strip it of all the mystical stuff, and make it some sort of story about a kid who aspires to be a star and the music teacher who's trying to help him make it big.

Julian (the Jesus kid) was one of the ones with a fully fleshed-out personality. This is partly because I had been fiddling with him for longer than most of the others. Same thing goes for Francois, the vampire. Man, do I ever miss writing him. He was so much fun. The kind of person I would really want to know, you kow? (And now I realize that I'm starting to talk about them as if they're real people, but... In a way, they really are like old friends)

From:

yuuago

I guess you're right about ridiculous things being capable of being written seriously. It's just one of the things that turned me off from my original ideas, though. Everything was so... grand, and so ridiculous, but I wrote it so seriously. My ex once asked me (about the Jesus story) "Isn't this supposed to be satire?" Well... no. Actually, no. And after a time I came to find it all so frustrating, like things didn't match up. And I can't really think of a "real" (Published) thing that is like that - ridiculous, but handled seriously. Discworld serious maybe, but that's very obviously satirical. Sigh. I don't know. I guess that's why I really wish I could latch on to that ghost story idea and write it; it's like, the only thing I've ever come up with that isn't totally huge and ridiculous. It actually makes a lick of sense.

Anyway. Moving on to real life. I am, indeed, a neat freak. If things are out of place, it really stresses me out. This is partly because I like things to be in their place, but also (I guess) because I was raised in a way that kind of drilled into my head... well, if you don't keep things completely neat and tidy, you're a bad person, basically. I know it's not true, but I guess my subconscious or whatever is stuck on that, because I'm always cleaning. Sigh. Anyway, yeah, I have seen that show - my mum watches it all the time. Crazy shit, that. ... And every time she watches it, she flips out afterward and starts cleaning everything. Ffffff.

Oh, and the thing about bookshelves not being practical - well, what I mean is, having a bookshelf is practical. Good storage. But getting it there is... difficult. I don't have any transportation, and there isn't a place within walking distance where I could get the materials to slap something together. Hell, the bus doesn't even go to wal-mart, so getting something that folds down would be difficult. So while I like the idea, it's not as easy as it might seem.

Travelling through time and spaaaace~ Why didn't I think of that? Fff. This kind of reminds me of conversations I've had with a friend of mine, a classics major. Occasionally we have these wailing and gnashing of teeth moments in which we lament the loss of so many manuscripts and scrolls and pieces of literature etc over the years. Then we make up grand plans to build a time machine and go way back to save all the stuff from the library at Alexandria and so on. Ahhh, I wish!

I've run into similar people who have a prejudice against Canadian stuff, especially the literature. I think part of the reason for this is a tendency toward thinking that Canadian literature is all about, you know, people freezing to death on the prairies and so on. I try to stress the difference between that and the kind of thing I study by saying "No, not Canadian literature. Literature by Canadians." And then they tend to go "Ohhhh okay". Sigh. I wish that wasn't necessary.

I only get annoyed with Canadian lit being considered its own section if it's the only division. Like, general lit section, then Canadian off to the side. I don't like that. It should all be together. But the used book store I really like, the reall big one, it has all literature divided into author-location. Canadian, American, English, Scandinavian, Eastern European, African etc. It's helpful for when I'm trying to find something specific, especially with old stuff where I can remember origin but can't quite remember the author (or there is no author, in case of anonymous work) such as with some medieval stuff.

...As for what's wrong with Boyden, I just can't stand his work. I had to read Through Black Spruce for a class last year and I just found it So. Incredibly. DULL. Oh my god. Normally I don't dislike books, but eh... no. His work is just so blech. (Whoa, real articulate thar, Yuu)

Yeah, I don't get how it could be nothing either. I mean, all this history in one place... it's incredible. Then again, any history at all, I find fascinating. Even just living in Nova Scotia for a while was amazing, because everything's so old there compared to back home in Fort Mac. Fort Mac, that place has no history. It's like it just sprung up out of the valley one day. So to think of things that have been around for ages... wow.

From:

yuuago

Oh, and no, I never got around to posting the photos. I'm still editing them, actually. Derp. I'm so horrible about that. Really need to get that done... That as well as a graffiti photodump of the stuff I took pictures of a few weeks ago. Sigh, I'm so lazy.

Fic again - yeah, it's strange. I mean, there's a lot, but there's not a lot that interests me. Sooo I guess, to me, it seems like nothing, when really there is something, just not what I'm looking for (doesn't help that my interests are so narrow, but I guess that's my own fault). Argh, if only I liked US/UK. :| This would all be easier.

As for the kink meme, I don't check it much either nowadays. Though I really should be updating the Baltic index soon... anyway. Posting used to be very simple. There would be the part (which moved slowly in those days). Someone would request such-and-such. I'd see it, write it, then post directly in reply to the request, no problem. Then there would be a masterlist on the first page of the part, and you'd reply to that with the pairing + scenario in subject and link to the fill in the reply. Very simple. Now it's like, askdfh. You have to find the request, and keep track of where it is (because it moves so quickly). Then post it in the fill-post with link to the request. Then post a link to that in the fill-report post. It all seems very convoluted to me. Also, with the previous system, if one had a paid account then they could comment-track the replies to their request, and that way easily tell when/if it is filled without constantly checking. Or they could just check the fill-report thread on the first page of the part, and since it was subjects, just a glance would work. But with the new system it requires checking a separate post, and of course comment tracking for your request does no good any more, and I just don't like it. (Bah, ranting again).

Saaaay, the most recent Swe/Fin ones are good, eh? Thanks for the mention, I'll have to check them out. I love that stuff when it's well written. Problem is that a lot of it.... isn't. And man, I love it when people deanon. 'cause then I'm like, "OMG, that was you?!" I've made some excellent friends that way. Well, mostly Tikula, but anyway...

OH SO YOU GOT AROUND TO READING IT. AND YOU LIKED IT. THIS MAKES ME VERY HAPPY why am I capslocking fffff it is too late in the evening for me to be replying, I'm sorry. What I really mean is, I'm so happy that you liked it. I honestly was not expecting it to have such a good reception; man... all those comments, such a pleasant surprise.

And -- Paranoid to comment to me? Why? ... Er, well, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to... But anyway, you can always comment anonymously on anything that you want, if you feel that way. Anonymous commenting is enabled on all of my entries, always. It's actually always been that way; never really felt the need to require people to be logged in (and I'm pretty sure for a while I had some friends who didn't have LJ, which might also be why I kept it on. But that's neither here nor there.)

Anyway. All those terms like yandere and tsundere and so on, argh, I don't understand them at all. I guess part of it is because I've been out of fandom for so long, maybe. Argh, stuff like this makes me feel so old and out of the loop! But also I guess some of them are just untranslatable and you either get it or you don't. But I really don't like it that characters are reduced to those terms, when there is so much more to them than that. I love England, but the focus on the tsundere nonsense drives me up the wall and now I can hardly ever read England fic any more. Argh, it's enough to make me want to throw up my hands and just write some England/Canada to get all this anger out of my system. Something like what I did with "The Sun Rising" or, argh, I DON'T KNOW. *facedesk* Trying to be an example again. I don't even know if any of that ever actually works out, but I still try, because I know that people have considered pairings they wouldn't consider before, because of my stuff, so why not ways to portray characters -- Oh, I don't know, it's late and I'm babbling. I'm sorry. On to something different.

From:

yuuago

A Bulgaria-style invasion would be interesting, but myself and my buddy are totally not capable of something that epic. And to be honest -- at this point in the meme, I don't think it would go over very well, if you understand what I mean.
But possibly we will have a thread someday. I'll have to practise my sparkletext. The person I'd be going up against is a sparkletexter/spammer of epic proprotions, so I'd totally get creamed either way, but even so, one must put in an effort!

Ack, school. Good luck with that, darlin'! My first class is on Thursday and I'm a little bit freaked out, but I think it will be okay. I hope. At least this year I'll be doing something relevant to my interests (editing medieval texts, yessssss)

I look forward to hearing from you whenever you have a spare moment. <3

PS: Holy shit. I. Uh. I think I broke my own brain with how long this thing is. Just, WAT. (Good gods, I hope you never get bored with my babbling...)

From: (Anonymous)

That's probably just cause you've seen my Norway before, I bet. You think you'd be able to catch me if I had posted a picture of Canada or Poland? And as far as comfy sweaters are concerned, I'm inside most of the time anyways so I like to think that I can get away with wearing them in the summer, but alas, it's just not meant to be. Making sure I wear summer appropriate clothing is one of the few things my mother is ridiculously uptight about. She usually makes me go out and get a few groceries from Safeway every day anyways, so I guess that's more reason for me not to be wearing a sweater. I dunno, I might be weird, but not being covered up for the most part makes me feel more uncomfortable than heat does :| I dress nicer when I get the chance to put on layers and cardigans and scarves anyways

I hardly read any of that beast. It got to the point where my computer just didn't want to (Expand) it anymore. Then again I don't usually read a lot of the big RP threads anymore, and by that I'm refering mostly to godmod/truth or dare/ooc/whatever else. Their novelty has worn off big time, especially since, err, I'm sure you know how most of the dares and such on there are like now. A lot of the bigger RP threads also end up being about stuff I don't really care enough to stalk, but then again, I don't think any harm is done in me reading those threads.

Aw man, really? I really haven't seen them around, other than in that camera thread. I will have to put on my duplodanish detecting goggles on then. Keep in mind saying "should post more" and "wish they'd post more" are different things :) (even if they may sometimes be used interchangeably pff). ~~well I'm not going to be sharing my hypothesis on the subject because I hate being wrong, and there's a damn good chance I could be wrong.~~

Part 50's been really fast, but then again, it's part 50. I won't say it's slower until it takes us three days to max something. I wonder what's making the bigger difference in regards to the speed of the meme, whether it's people having time to post, or if it's that more people have come by. I think

aphanon_meme should put up a flag counter on one of the new parts, I'd really like to see how many people actually go on the meme.

Oh, but I do recall going out for most of the day once, and coming back to only three new pages. It was pretty damn cool, not gonna lie.

~~You know there's a problem when you try to justify and excuse madness~~
I guess I can see what you mean? It's nice that you're finding distinct voices for each character. Tis a pity, when all characters sound the same.

I dunno. That whole spewing hate towards female characters because they're intimidated by usually comes from insecure girls, who still haven't realized that it's their own issues that are making them dislike the character, and not the actual personality traits of the character. Maybe I'm overly generalizing on this next statement, but from what I've seen, well, I've never seen that kind of thing coming from a girl whose happy enough with herself, or at least recognizes her insecurity as the source of her discomfort towards a character. Not saying every insecure girl will do this, I'm just trying to figure out why it might happen. I should probably spend less time making sense of crazy things fangirls do ichh

I do not get the fuss over a pairing being canon. I mean, it is nice to see subtext in a series, but I think that if a canon actually becomes canon, then most of the fun is gone. You'll have to write your fic around what happened in canon, and unless you go the AU root the amount of story possibilities = cut in half (if not more). You've got more freedom when the ship isn't canon. The only plus side would be that you could act unbearably smug about it, I guess? Ah, I dunno. I've never really been able to ship anything canon. Hell, I've never really been one to ship anything popular, this fandom is probably the first fandom I've been in in which my favourite pairing actually has a good amount of fanworks (even if I have issues with some of it)

From: (Anonymous)

And it's always irritating to hear someone rag on about how people shouldn't ship so and so because it's not "canon." Hello, what's fandom for again? Even if you write a fic about an established couple, what you're writing isn't canon. Let people have fun playing in the sandbox, goddamnit. Writing about a noncanon ship isn't a sin or anything.

Weiss Kreuz. . . is that the one that's. Actually, no. I'll just wiki it. /wikis and yup, it's what I thought it was. Saaay, it wouldn't be possible to just stumble upon your old fanfiction account, would it? Or do you keep it hidden from everyone, ashamed of it's contents? Ah, I'm just asking cause I think it's neat, seeing how someone's progressed. Whether that's with art or writing (I love love love it when people post comparisons, or "through the years").

My Little Pony fic? I'm not even surprised that it exists, I've seen worse. I've seen R-rated Brave Little Toaster fic, I think. Be honest, you read any of it?

hurr, actually, I don't. Here's hoping that bitterness wears off soon, the first few trades are really worth it. Here's where my comic nerd cred drops a bit, cause I've never gotten around to reading Maus either. I'm pretty sure it's available at the library though, I should probably get it out sometime after I'm done reading these five books I've bought that I haven't touched.

Comics as literature you say? That sounds like a hell of a class, actually! Would you be a pal and mind telling me a bit of what you looked over? If you don't mind, I mean.

Haha I can't blame you for feeling smug. I love misleading people for this kind of stuff, among other things. It's one of the nice little pleasures in life, methinks.

I just remember that when I was nine or so, I'd go about browsing neopets and forums and you'd get people arguing over PSP vs PS all the time. Oh god, I could go over pretty much every graphic design trend (for personal use, like icons or personal blog layouts) since 2001. This is slighlty frightening D:
anyways.

Torrents have existed for a long time, I thought? Wiki tells me BitTorrent's been up since 2001. Maybe they just weren't as possible, I guess. How much did that sucker cost you, anyways? I recall it being a cheaper than Photoshop, but then again, everything's cheaper than Photoshop (with the exception of like, 3d studio max, which was $1000 or something if I recall correctly).

Ahh, I dunno. The actual act of blending is easy on computer, but it seems harder because I don't know what I'm doing as much? I mean, it's just. . . you move your mouse and WHA LAA, BLENDED IN ONE STEP. You don't have to go over it again and again to get it how you want. So, uh, I guess the problem with me lies in it never blending it how I want it to blend, partially because I don't know what I'm doing, and also because I'm not really sure how I want it to look like in the first place. With pencil crayons I'm usually more sure of what I want. Er, you do mention the whole non-dominant hand bit, and now that you mention it, I can see where you're coming from. You wouldn't have the problem if you had a tablet, but it'd be a terrible waste of money to get a tablet unless you were, you know, devoted (if that's the right word).

What the hell, what that person(s?) said was just rude :| Have you really got that many people telling you that? I haven't even seen it being said all that often, I'm, uh, I'm pretty stunned. People are clueless, sometimes. THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT TRUE ART.

Hahaha well, now that you mention it I guess that there does come a point where someone can be so talented that you can't help but just observe the pretty. And I just looked up this Ursula Vernon woman, who sounded familiar despite me not knowing her work, and jesus christ is she the person who drew that pear. I mean, http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=423
man, why do I want a print of that. I want a print of everything from her weird fruit gallery, it's so delightfully bizarre ♥

From: (Anonymous)

Well, actually, if I understood what you said correctly, then I'll just say that if you want something you draw to look the way you want it to, it's best to not just only a few things and spend lots of time on them. Getting things to look how you want comes more with having an understanding of how what you're drawing works, and less to do with spending time on it. You improve a lot faster by just doing tons of quick sketches (it's even better if you do it in pen, cause you can't erase and where the lines should go becomes a lot more ingrained in your head). After having done dozens and dozens of drawings of something, you'll know how to draw it better and it'll take a lot less time to draw to boot. ~~I wish I had learnt this years ago~~ Hurr, I'm not even sure if you're interested in this advice though! I talked about this with another anon awhile back, and she said she'd post something in a few months for me (I hope she does). I don't know how this method compares with improving your writing, though.

I think you should, too. I don't even ship it, but you know, I'm here to tell you to write stuff. You'd be doing the world a favour, posting more stuff anyways. ho ho

ooh, well in that case. I guess I should expand on what I said before. I suppose I think of Norway the way you think of Denmark, and we both see Iceland the same way. I sometimes love Norway and sometimes I don't, but his character doesn't exactly elude me. Iceland though, I have no idea what to think of him either! I swear for two weeks, I loved him and I just "got" him and I have no idea what happened with that. I see a lot of people's portrayals of him, and while I can like them, it's not exactly how I think he'd be? I don't even know if I should be saying that because aelkjfaoe I don't have a clear idea either. I just know I don't like him being an exact duplicate of Norway, which I see sometimes.

Iceland's still a fine lookin character, though. Snappy dresser. He and I should totally go shopping one day. Poland can join. France too, simply cause it's France, ooh la la fashion capital of the world.

Okay, and pardon this irrelevant interlude of sorts, but I remember once we talked on the meme and I joked and said that you could make Australia/Estonia work. I just saw someone request that very pairing on the meme, pfff. I'm sorry I just thought of yuu

Well, I probably have a drawl of somesorts. I'm far too lazy to say words as they should be, sometimes. Why say Toronto when I can just say Tronno (I heard that's common in Canada, though). I wouldn't be surprised if it's been a long time since I pronounced the "g" in "-ing" and I do probably say "yer" more than your and. . . I really need to check how you wrote him. If it turns out I'm Denmark I am going to be pleased as punch in the most bizarre way.

Maybe she's just misses you and is desperate to hear the sound of your voice~ hence all the tech support calls.

!!!
Um, even if you're better and all now, and this might be redundant and even if I'm making too big a deal over it. . . /hugs ♥ I'm not big on the whole human contact thing in real life but I'm rather sure I'd give you a real hug for that. I'm glad you're better. I don't really know what to say because you say it's done and over with but still. kajetoaejt it's odd that you mention it because i've always been afraid of it happening to me and even my parents have talked it over with me orz orz orz okay moving on

Still, I'd take it that it involved the same amount of time that a "real" job would? If you're lucky you might score a job that doesn't make you do much at all and you can still have time to read textbooks or write stories, like a secretary. Unless you want to be kept busy, I guess. I'd hate to teach kids at 8:30 in the morning, oi. I know I'd probably be falling alseep if I had no interest in what we were doing. Did you have to go through that whole scenario of asking what everyone's thoughts were, only to have no one raise their hand?

From: (Anonymous)

D'aww, buddy, you aren't doing anything wrong at all :') You don't even need to change anything it's just. . . One of the reasons might be being, you, um, you tend to come off as pretty smart. and occasionally tl;dr-y. Now this is all part of your charm so if you decide to cut back on the tl;dr replies I might have to beat you senseless, but people might be afraid of saying something wrong around you or sounding dumb, especially if they've come to respect your opinions on certain matters. Ahh I dunno, I know it was like that for me, I really wanted to have a discussion with you about stuff and sometimes you'd reply to something I wrote and you'd say you agree or whatever but then I'd get too scared to actually reply back and get a conversation going cause I thought I'd get something totally wrong. still kind of am afraid sometimes, err. only a bit though!
It could also be cause you're a nice guy too, that bit may go over some people's heads. You certainly don't have to worry about being intimidating because you're acting like a dick or something.

Just wondering, does it take less time for you to think of something to say online? By online I don't mean so much replying to comments, but more of on instant messengers or something. Or is it the same amount of time, it's just seems worse offline because, well, you sort of need a reply faster online. Do you even have troubles finding something to say to people you know pretty well? ~~I ask way too many questions~~

Ahh, I don't even see the point in cable anymore. Most of the shows I watch I watch online anyways. I don't see why I should go pay for a bunch of channels I will never watch, and even on those channels I do watch from time to time, I'll only be interested in one program. Usually I only watch actual tv during breakfast, and that's because where we eat faces the tv in the living room. Even then, it's only the news. Though a few shows are starting up again and I'll probably be watching them on tv for a bit so I can fangasm over them with my buddy as we watch hehe

. . . does this mean if you get in the grove of writing original fiction again, you'll stop writing fanfic? :( I mean, do what you want buddy but :( we shall miss you. I don't see a problem with keeping any of the mystical elements in, though. It's nice to see mythical things with a twist done well, it really is.

I'm pretty interested in what "Julian's" personality would really be like. I always imagine a Jesus character go around acting like Buddy Christ or something, though. I really can't blame you for becoming attached to your characters like that, that kind of thing tends to happen. My friend and I actually created a character years ago, and we've written stories about him, and sometimes I bummed out that he's not even real.

Arrrgh, you know, first time I read this reply I swear I was able to think of an example of "silly idea done seriously" but now it's slipped my mind. If I remember I'll remember to tell you. Err, there's another book, not the one I originally thought of, and it's sort of like that. The Gone-Away World. It's not that silly and it is written to be funny at parts, but there are some crazy things that happen at the end of the book which are written about in all seriousness (something about mimes and ninjas fighting this big corporation, I don't remember exactly). Again, as far as I'm concerned, there's no harm in writing ridiculous stories. Do you think yourself incapable of writing in a more lighthearted/humour style?

My parents always told me that the biggest way to offend them and sort of piss on everything they've done for me is to keep my room messy. I think I'm messy, when I'm at home and I'm feeling too lazy to clean, but then when I go over to a friend's house that is, well, not as neat as mine, and i end up making a bit of a mess I'll always clean up what I did and even just the area around it so it's neater than what it was originally. Blah, I dunno. I guess we'll have to see when I move out. Which I'm not really planning on doing so soon (thank you, conveniently placed university).

From: (Anonymous)

Hell, the bus doesn't even go to wal-mart,
egads, what? You, err, you guys don't have a Staples or Grand N Toy or anything there either? Or maybe just a mall? Well, I dunno, you've probably looked over all the possibilities available to you so I suppose I can't say.

I wouldn't be surprised if you had nightmares of scrolls and ancient texts burning in fires, honestly.
Ooh, this is kind of off topic, but I haven't heard of anyone mention Alexandria in ages. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to buy the newest version of Civilization and build all the seven wonders for myself (I played those games all the time, when I was younger. Oh man).

Truthfully, I don't even know where half the authors I read come from (unless it's really obvious). They sell medieval stuff at your used book store? I hear you going on about this used book store of yours and man, it sounds like a party. The one I've been to doesn't have a great selection but it's pretty alright, I can't hate a place that lets me buy Crime & Punishment for $4 (my copy of The Brothers Karamazov was like. . . $30+ which, is, well. Yeah :| why oh why do I do these things )

Blech as in he only focuses on the boring bits or nothing interesting happens or he rambles on about mundane things like doorknobs? Oi, the fact that you had to read it for a class probably only made it worse, eh? (though if I had picked up a book that I didn't even like I'd probably make myself finish it. I can't bring myself to just quit a book, even if it makes me want to punch cute things).

How old is Fort Mac, even? My only impression of it has ever been "people who work in the oil industry live here," more or less (sorry!). Calgary's damn young too, and I don't even know when people started to move here (I'm not sure how we got one million people in here when not even one hundred years ago it could've still been called "the middle of nowhere"). I should probably go and learn about my own city a bit, ff.
Oh, and I should also add that all those old things just look real damn nice, too. I mean, maybe not so much buildings have been standing since 100 BC, but all those buildings say, err, after the Renaissance (I could be wrong with my time periods) are just so ridiculously ornate and pretty. Sure, modern architecture can be nice and all, but I still don't think it's quite as breath taking as seeing a ceiling painted with the angels and saints (or whatever). Ah, just me.

Well, you posted them now~ so many deer aetjoiatje SO ADORABLE. You got some real gorgeous photos too, it kind of makes me want to post my own dump for whenever I end up going to the mountains next (though that would probably be when there's snow everywhere).

I guess my problem is that even if I'm pretty well rounded, most of my ships are pretty rare. Actually, I don't even think they're that rare, it's just that only US/UK, Prussia/Austria, and Spain/Romano are posted. Yet when you ask people from the meme their favourite ships or their favourite rare ships, a lot of people will bring up the same ship that isn't being posted. Come on guys, stop avoiding the main comm and post there so I can have something to enjoy ;___;

Oooh, I remember them posting all that to the front. I never really paid attention to what it was all about cause I got everything from the kink aid. You guys have got it tough. I kind of feel compelled to post something there now, what with all the requests and stuff. Shame that people just keep bitching about it, the kink meme should be a happy place. A happy place not filled with requests that are five paragraphs long (I can forgive someone elaborating if they think their request will be misunderstand but having a story already that you just want someone to put into words is weak).

From: (Anonymous)

I enjoyed them, at least. And by recent I mean after the last post the kink aid made. I don't think my expectations are all that high for fic sometimes because I care much more about the ideas/characterization more than the actual story writing, but I still think they were genuinely good fills. I swear the writer is the same for a lot of them, judging by the way she writes "Sweden-Speak" and she keeps mentioning certain attributes or using certain descriptions that I don't hear often elsewhere. ahhh I don't usually try and friend people whose work I admire. I dunno, not because I think their intimidating (not usually) but I'm too worried I'll come off as. .. I'm not sure. Just something not good.

HOHOHO YES I DID YES I DID.
I think all those comments were a sign that there are quite a lot of Baltic fans around, but they just don't make themselves known because all that there is is, of course, Russiarape.

Well, I could explain. It's just me being silly and awkward. For all I know I could comment, under my user name on here and you could go a-lurkin on my lj and find out it's me. You finding out my user would probably cause me to run under a bridge in embarrassment and shame and would also result in me saying sorry a lot and a bunch of really stupid stuff aeiotjaeoitj orz doesn't even cover it. Ah, I dunno, I'm probably worried that you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore or I've done something somewhere that gave you a bad impression of me (which is probably absurd, I know, but my paranoia knows no bounds).

I've been in fandom, but these things are really only common in Japanese based fandoms (not so much in other ones, I don't think you're going to hear anyone calling a Doctor Who character tsundere). England used to be one of my favourites but the fandom keeps on focusing on his tsundere side and his Britannia Angel side and his Pirate side and his drunken waiter side (all of which I tihnk are fine as long as they aren't the focus, they're fun sides to the character because they're typically OOC) and I'm just all, "where is my stuffy, stiff upper-lipped British gentlemen?!" It's probably wrong to wish that I wish he was portrayed as more stereotypically British by the fandom, isn't it? I just can't see someone's version of England as "England" unless I can see him in a typical British comedy (and truth be told, I could easily see the canonstrips!England like that so I guess it's not too bad of a judgment)?
dude, there is no harm in you babbling here. I thought we established this.
:D

I was just getting my imagination get to the best of me, really. Maybe I'll draw the epic showdown between Edward and Estonia one day, after I'm done drawing 5000 other things.

Your lj tells me that today was your first day of class. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

I'M REALLY SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG. arghhh I was barely home last week (I couldn't stay up to type a reply either, I had to get off at like, nine thirty because of how early I had to wake up) and, err, I could only type bits of this reply up at a time. Okay, excuse excuses I know but I'm sorry nevertheless.

I will never get bored of your babbling, just so you know ♥

From: (Anonymous)

I JUST REALIZED I GOT THE SUBJECT WRONG (WHAT IS THIS "SORRY, BUT" DOING THERE)

FORGIVE ME ;____;

From:

yuuago

Well, I frequently do check for white text, because a lot of people use it. But if you use whitetext, I'll probably mistake you for whitetext binary anon, especially because nowadays she doesn't always use binary *flail* But I guess that's all part of talking to anonymouses. Anonymi. Whatever.

You're probably right - Iiii probably wouldn't have caught you under any other condition. Or maybe I would have. I'll have you know, I'm going to be stalking wip threads from now on, trying to find you. :| It's a game, in a way. Hah. <3 Anyway, you know, that thing you mention about how not being covered up makes you more uncomfortable - yes, yes, I'm much like that as well. It drives my parents nuts. Unless I'm out running, I refuse to wear shorts, and I generally prefer to wear long sleeves as well. "AREN'T YOU TOO WARM?!" Well, sometimes, but I'd be warm regardless, and anyway, lightweight cotton even with long sleeves is much better than the short-sleeved polyester nonsense that my parents are always buying me. And I feel very uncomfortable when I'm exposed. I just need to cover up. Maybe it's weird, but I don't care much, so people should just stfu about it, far as I'm concerned.

When it comes to RP, to be honest I don't read much of it at all, and especially not the big ones like - as you mentioned - truth or dare etc. For the most part they're just dull now, and the dares are certainly er, not the sort of thing I'm interested in. Sometimes I'll participate with Truth if I'm really bored, but that's about it. A lot of the RP that goes on now just... doesn't interest me, at all. So I'm just kind of floating around, thinking, "... Righto, then. Whatever".

Hah, Duplo popped up again recently, not sure if you saw that. Anyway, I tend to miss him too - wouldn't have known about his recent appearance at all if Icy hadn't messaged me all, "Dude, he showed up, GO GO GO". Nngh, if only he showed up more. That's really the only times I play nowadays, is when he's around. I just -- I don't know. Guess I'm in some sort of slump.

Holy shit, it was part 50 when you were writing this... man, am I ever slow. And lazy. Then again, school has been stressing me out, so there we are. But anyway, I guess you're right, it's still hard to tell when it will slow down. It's quite active during the evenings, but for much of the day it is not - the "dead hour" is getting extended, because of the periods when the North Americans are at school. Mind, a lot of the time I'm home during that hour, but at least the Euroanons are around then, and that suits me fine. And it's nice to be able to go to school and come back and not have a zillion new pages to read. Maybe just one or two. And a lot of the content is actually just spam anyway, so catching up doesn't take a lot of effort.

~~There's nothing wrong with a little madness. Shush, you.~~

Anyway, yeah. I'd suggest trying to spend less time trying to make sense of the crazy things fangirls do, because really, you ain't gonna come to any logical conclusion, darlin'. People are just plain weird. However, when you put it that way, it does seem logical that people would have such feelings toward fictional women (or real women for that matter) due to their own insecurities. Otherwise, well - what logical reason would there be for someone to express such hate toward someone or something that doesn't actually matter?

Of course, this goes for things related to fiction and fandom in general, too. I don't know how many times I've run into, say, Harry Potter shipping-related nonsense on fandomsecrets and found myself thinking that these people must be crazy in some way because of all the absolute hate that they toss at each other. Sometimes it gets absolutely venomous, and I can't see why someone would put the effort into all that hate (I do feel that actively hating something does take effort) unless they themselves had unresolved issues/insecurities of some sort.

Edited Date: 2009-09-25 09:50 am (UTC)

From:

yuuago

"You've got more freedom when the ship isn't canon"
You know, for a while, I was unable to figure out why I prefer non-canon pairings. You just hit the nail right on the head. It might also be why I like minor characters. There is just so much freedom there in terms of what has happened to them previously and what can happen to them in the future, and as far as pairings go, the options are wide open - if you're skilled, you can make almost anything work, and in almost any circumstance that you want. I guess I just don't like being tied down or wedged in by someone else's rules. This might be because I'm so used to writing original fiction; I'm used to being the one who decides what's what. (Hmm, maybe this is why I find characters like the Nordics so appealing - not a lot to go on there).

.. Anyway. I do agree with you, that it's so friggin' annoying when people say non-canon stuff shouldn't be shipped. As far as I'm concerned, not-canon stuff is part of the point of fan-anything, but particularly fanfic. It's taking something and then expanding on it. Canon isn't a jigsaw puzzle; it's more like building blocks.

Moving on. o Weiss Kreuz. Pfft. That series is SO TERRIBLE, but I love it any way, even now. There were some parts that were really awesome, in a ridiculous sort of way. As for my fanfiction, well, since it's still up and all, I guess I'll just link it. Here. Ohgods. SO BAD. And some of it is just... oh god. But in my defense, I was pretty young, and it was a really long time ago. The earliest stuff - some of the Digimon fic - some of that was written almost ten years ago. Shit, now I feel old. Looking back on it, I find that sometimes it actually wasn't too bad, or sometimes the idea was okay but just executed very badly (badly written). One thing that does please me, though, is that I was pretty damn prolific. Looks like nothing has changed in that regard.

You definitely shouldn't be surprised that MLP fic exists, though I can't say how active the fandom actually is with regards to fic (fanart, on the other hand... there's a lot of it). The vast majority is low-rated, from what I've seen. Anyway, I'm friends with some fellow collectors who write fic, and I've read a little bit. It was all right. Most of it is based on the 80s cartoon, so if you aren't familiar with it or can't remember exactly what went on, stuff is a little bit hard to follow. As far as MLPFandom goes, I'm definitely more into the collecting and restoring part than the other stuff - as are, it seems, the majority of people involved.

Anyway. Fables, well - I'll get around to it eventually, as with a squillion other things. Now that you mention you haven't read Maus, I don't feel as bad about not having read Maus yet. I mean, I know it's one of the major important works in western comics, but man... I just don't have the time! But it is on my bookshelf for when I do have the time. Argh, I have so many things that I haven't gotten around to. Most of the library that I have in my apartment is unread stuff! I just don't have time during the school year.

The comics as literature class was AWESOME. The professor was a bit of a wingnut, but the class itself was great. We covered... hmm, let's see. Here are the titles: Satrapi's "Persepolis", Jansson's "Moomins", Oakley's "Thieves and Kings", Bechdel's "Fun Home", Barry's "One Hundred Demons", Tezuka's "Buddha", and probably some other things that I can't remember. For the ones that were a series (Buddha, Thieves&Kings etc) we usually only covered one volume. Mostly we just studied them the same way that we would any other literature, though we also took a close look at the artwork and the role it played - for example panel arrangement, or the use of dialogue or no dialogue, etc. The professor actually didn't know a whole lot about comics; she specialized in children's literature, especially picture books.

From:

yuuago

...Oh gods. Arguments of PSP vs PS. I remember all that nonsense. The arguments could get quite ridiculous (I remember them at Deviantart and such) and it's just... whatever. People insisting that PSP couldn't be any good, that PS was far better, what kind of idiot would use PSP, pfft. And people would try to use photomanipulations and such to prove their point that PS was superior, and I find myself thinking... how does that even work? Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Photoshop by its very design more suited to manipulating photographs? And I just -- honestly. The only tools I use on the rare occasions that I do digital colouring are layers and the paintbrush at various opacity. Why bother pirating some huge program when I can use something smaller and simpler? But ahhh, sometimes the internet is just one big pissing contest. Whatever.

I'm pretty sure that when I started getting interested in digital stuff, I was running a computer that couldn't handre torrents. And/or I didn't know that they existed (entirely possible). I was 14/15 or so, and not very computer literate. Anyway, IIRC, at the time that we bought PSP it was around $80 CAD, whereas Photoshop was... gods, I don't even know. Some ridiculous price. My mum looked at the PS price and was like "HELL NO" but I didn't care much because I knew that PSP was okay too, haa.

Hmm, I dunno. In my case, I switch colours so often when I'm blending that it's just a pain in the ass - moving back and forth between layers and colours in the program, whereas in real life I can just grab another pencil. And issues with precision as well - though I guess that would be easier with a tablet. As with the dominant hand thing, yes. Sigh, at one point, I did want a tablet, but... even when I did draw a lot, I never felt like using the computer often enough to justify it, and now I hardly do it at all, so there we are. Though I must admit having one to piss around with would be pretty ace.

And yes, I have gotten people saying that sort of thing regarding photoshop and my colouring, etc. Pisses me off so much. Most of these comments came from back when I still posted stuff at Deviantart and Elfwood, IIRC. Argh, people don't know anything, but thinking about it still pisses me off. (And don't even get me started on the dude that said my art looked "amateurish" because I like to use bright colours...)

Anyway. YES. URSULA VERNON. Eee~ Yeah, she's the one who drew the pear (I remember the pear from before it was a meme. Go me!). Her weird fruit is awesome and when I have the money (someday) I want to get prints of all of it. Right now I only have one print, this one - one of the limited edition sizes, huge, signed and everything. I'm hugely fascinated with plague doctors so when I saw that she painted that one, I just had to have it. I've been following her work for years, and man, it keeps getting better.

With drawing... mostly it's the finished things that take forever. The ones I want to colour, I mean. With those ones I set out intending to start something and finish it. But no matter what I do it never turns out right. Way back I either didn't notice when things looked wrong, or I didn't care, but now I notice and it bothers me. I do scribble and stuff when I have time, but it seems nothing changes much, and in the end I still hate everything. Aaa, at this point, I'm just ready to stop with it, because it does nothing but make me discouraged.

With writing, it's hard to say. People do say "just write, write about anything" but I find that difficult because it's extremely hard for me to write some throw-away paragraph with no point to it. I need some sort of end to work to. But when I do have an idea, I write it, and I keep it even if it turns out to be crap. The thing is that even if something is crap, sometimes you can salvage it by editing the hell out of it. Mediocre prose can be minimalized into prose-poetry and sometimes the effect is great. Or with poetry, one can take the lines, rework them, change it into something that's okay. It's a lot easier with shorter stuff - if I had to try to salvage a long story or a novel I think I would rather stab my eyes out with a fork - but it's all right.

From:

yuuago

... I also find that writing when you feel like it, and not writing when you don't feel like it, helps. Forcing oneself to write just turns out awful stuff.

Anyway, okay, I think I get you now. And mnh, Iceland as a duplicate of Norway? You've seen that in fic? Mann. I wonder where people got that idea. Looking at the source material, I can't see it at all. Ah, well, no matter. Speaking of source material - now that we have more of it (OMG YAY) I think I might be able to get a better handle on everyone's character, though I do need to re-read it a few more times. Eeeee, so excited about this~

(Sidenote, pfft. I CAN MAKE ANYTHING WORK or, well, almost anything. It pleases me that you thought of me. <3 )

Moving on. *squeeze* Saa, well. I really appreciate the thought, anyway. Things are better now, but I really need to keep my eye on myself and make sure I don't slip into any more bad habits. I can't afford to have that happen again. ...If you ever need someone to talk to about this issue, like if you're having a similar problem or something, we would talk about it maybe. Just putting that out there.

About jobs - well, the amount of work was maybe the same, but the thing with the school jobs is that aside from maybe 4 hours, all of the hours per week were not set. So with set hours, it might interfere with my studying, depending on various factors. I tend to prefer stuff that is very labour-intensive with little time to sit around and do work, so I dunno. Next semester I might be able to do something of that kind, but we'll see.

Teaching was both wonderful and awful. I didn't really mind the 8:30 AM part, even though it meant I had to get up early. Mostly the thing that bothered me was that whenever I tried to get them to discuss things - because part of the point of this thing was that they would engage in discussion, you see - I was met with a class full of slack-jawed black-stares. Like cows. And of course, all the whining about how they hated everything we had to read. And many of them couldn't write a sentence to save their lives. But some of them were okay. I remember one time, toward the end of the year, a student approached me about his work. He'd gotten off to a rocky start, but had improved steadily over the year, both in terms of English (it wasn't his first language) and actually writing the papers. The final paper he handed in to me, I graded as an A, and he was just so happy and said he'd really enjoyed being in my class and that he wanted to go on and take more literature courses in the future and I just. ;~; Ahhhh I was so happy.

So. I'm not doing anything wrong? That's good to know. I still wish people wouldn't be all intimidated by me, but at least I know that it isn't because I'm a douche or something. I mean, occasionally I was a douche (usually just in chat though) but now I've learned to step away from the meme on days when I've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed so to speak, so... there we are. Sigh. Tl;dr is right, but oh man, if only they knew I ain't as smart as I seem. Oh, well. (You? Still afraid? Oh come on, darlin', don't be scared!)

When it comes to instant messengers, I do have similar problems, though it's not quite as bad because the expectation is not for something as instantaneous as real life. It does take me a while to think of something to say though. Occasionally people interpret this as me ignoring them, when really I just have no idea what to say. (Not to mention that I have a habit of wandering off during extended pauses to go do other things, like laundry, or occasionally I'll go flop on my bed while waiting for a response, and end up falling asleep while waiting for a reply, so then people again think I'm ignoring them...) Even with people I know pretty well, I have trouble thinking of something to say. In some ways though, this is partly because I have very little to talk about. Pretty much every day is exactly the same, so if I'm talking to the same person every day, I run out of things to talk about very quickly. It's frustrating, because people get pissed at me about it, act like I don't want to talk to them (had this problem with an ex, ugh) when really I literally don't have anything to talk about. Sigh. So there we are.

:｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆

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