dapperzombie

Trying to keep up

2009-12-21T14:45:17Z

After a six-day slip-up, I'm trying to get back on the train with this constantly-using-LJ thing. Hopefully I'll keep up!

My brother is watching an old wrestling addition of the Weakest Link...I'm surprised that it's not the wrestlers that are making this show terrible and obnoxious, but really, the host and the background 'music' is annoying as shit.

It's also funny that some of the wrestlers have shown up in their wrestling gear, while others are dressed up like normal human beings.

Yes, nothing else to really say!

it's snowing overweight shut-ins with questionable personal hygiene quite heavily

2009-12-21T02:31:08Z

We were supposed to have a blizzard over the weekend, but we kinda didn't. We got like five inches of snow, which is cool cuz it makes everything all pretty, but I'm kinda weird when it comes to extreme weather. A blizzard would have been...nice.

Meanwhile, porn.

too lazy to think up a title

2009-12-12T17:02:12Z

I should be working on christmas cards, or writing, or something, but all I want to do is read the Darwin Awards: Next Evolution book and play Tales of Symphonia. X(

trees and number tens

2009-12-10T03:42:29Z

In an attempt to keep active with my LiveJournal, I've resolved to post more inane things about my life.

That said! I woke up today to find that it had snowed - the first big snow of the season. It was very pretty out...but what was not so pretty was the big pile of tree branches that had collapsed right outside our garage. There's this pine tree near the garage (and subsequently, my room, which is situated above the garage) that I've always been a little leery of due to its proximity...it's one of those baseless paranoias where I'm afraid it'll fall on the house only because it's so close. But one of the branches on the top of the tree had been snowed on so hard that it broke, taking out like every branch beneath it, resulting in a massive pine tree branch diarrhea blocking one and a half of the two car doors for the garage. Yeeeek.

Fortunately, one of our neighbors has a chainsaw and was able to chop up and move the branches for us. So yay. <3

And! And and, following suit with Megaman 9 from last year, Capcom is releasing Megaman 10! Huzzah!

Need new user icons. This set stinks.

My 2009

2009-12-09T02:46:01Z

Largely absent from LJ this year, I'm curious as to how this will play out. Meme stolen from versipellis , as is my wont.

January: So, time for a little Good News and a little Bad News.

The Bad News is that, for all intents and purposes, my current computer, Tei's Sexy New Computer (and by "new" I mean six years old), has pretty much died.

February: as the title says, I'm falling onto the wayside with one little niggling thing that's bothering the hell out of me.

March: I call quadruple fucking zombie bullshit.

April: I came to LJ I think after versipellis and I exchanged a particular email on the subject. I was active on DeadJournal at the time, but I wanted to keep tabs with Tallulah on a more personal basis. LJ was the way to go :D

May: Yeah, I still exist X_X I've just been wrapped up with so much of my creative projects that I kinda, er, forgot to check up here.

June: [Apparently I didn't post anything in June at all. Whoops.]

July: With family you hate, of course :D

August: Ah, tired, cranky, it's late at night and I'm struggling to find an interesting character to apply to an online tabletop game I'll be playing this sunday within a relatively straight-laced context...and versipellis made me a little more frustrated with some DN fic, though that part's not bad. :D

September: A few weeks ago, I wrote an entry detailing my top ten favorite fictional females - or at least ten of my favorite fictional females, because picking any ten over the rest is impossible.

October: This is a picture meme ganked from greliz .

November: Whoa, Jesus! I need to update this thing more often. And actually like check on it because I keep falling behind on reading my flist and versipellis is awesome and this is the only way I have of keeping up with you darling. :< I'm sorryyyyyyyy.

December: Largely absent from LJ this year, I'm curious as to how this will play out. Meme stolen from versipellis , as is my wont.

So, my LJ 2009 consists of mostly talking about Tallulah and apologizing for not being around. Sounds about right. ^_^

Ganked from Tallulah

2009-11-23T22:29:16Z

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1. Okay... what FIVE albums would you take to a desert island? >:D
You are such a jerk. XD Out of all of the albums I absolutely adore, I guess:
Circus Contraption's Great American Traveling Dime Museum
K'naan's Troubadour
RENT's movie soundtrack
A burn with all JGR songs except Patrol Knob and a handful of JSRF songs
and the Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog soundtrack.

That was far too difficult :<

2. Top five Avatar characters?
Aaaah, so many to choose from! Let's see:

Katara, because she is a fantastic example of breaking gender stereotypes, and she has one of the strongest moments in the show relating to such. At the end of the first season, she, Sokka and Aang arrive in the North Pole and are given hospitality by the Northern Water Tribes. Katara is thrilled as she's spent most of the first season looking for a Waterbending master to teach both herself and Aang (up to this point, she's been training using scrolls and is a decent Waterbender), only to find out that the North Pole adheres very closely to aforementioned gender roles; the men are the hunters and warriors, and the women are the caretakers and healers, and all marriages are arranged. The Northern Water Tribe's only Waterbending Master, Pakku, was raised with this mindset and as such is swift to cling to them in his old age. After refusing to teach Katara, Pakku reluctantly trains Aang, who in turn promises to teach Katara what Pakku had shown him during the day; Pakku is quick to find out and refuses to teach Aang any further.

The following day, Aang, Katara and Sokka go to appeal to Pakku and the Northern Water Tribe's chieftan, Arnook; Arnook agrees that Pakku ought to train Aang, as he's the Avatar, he has no other Waterbending masters, and he needs to learn Waterbending, etc. etc., but is equally as stringent as Pakku (although not as much of a douche) about upholding the gender roles set by their culture. Pakku yields and says he will train Aang...on the condition that Katara apologizes for her behavior. After a moment's thought, Katara refuses, and challenges Pakku point blank to a fight: "I'll be waiting outside if you're man enough to face me."

Katara, adamant, waits outside for Pakku; the man shows up, but brushes past her, telling Katara to go back to the healing house with the other women, to which Katara responds by whipping him in the back of the head with a strand of water. Pakku finally snaps and engages Katara in the fight she wanted, and although Katara is outmatched, she holds her own for much of the fight. During the battle, with several Water Tribesman, Arnook, Aang and Sokka looking onward, and after being physically knocked to the ground, several times, Katara gets back up to her feet and exclaims, "You can't knock me down!"

That was a triumphant moment for me right there, because not only is the fight personal for Katara, but it also symbolizes the modernization of abandoning gender stereotypes. Although Katara ultimately ends up losing the fight, Pakku sees the error of his ways and consents to train Katara as well. Katara winds up mastering Waterbending in short order, and although you don't actually see it in the show, you know that she sowed the seeds of change in the Northern Water Tribe's culture.

Iroh is a strange, powerful man; he's the source of much wisdom, guiding Zuko in the young prince's search for the Avatar, trying (and often failing) to rein in his nephew's idiocy. Although he appears lazy and gluttonous at first, and he's a bit of a kleptomaniac, you soon learn that there is a lot more to Iroh than meets the eye. While few of his adventures are explored in-depth, Aang, Zuko and others learn of his connections and experiences secondhand, often bumping into people Iroh had met in the past.

Azula is a socially crippled, twisted bitch, whose cold-heartedness is remarkable; the only thing she really seems to believe in is her father's ideals to conquer/destroy the world, and will use all of her power and intimidation to help him along the way. However, she isn't invulnerable, as the betrayal of her friends, Mai and Ty Lee, leads her into ferocious paranoia and mental instability. By the end of the series, she banishes almost everybody in the Fire Nation's palace, and her manic nature becomes apparent while fighting with Zuko and Katara. Ultimately, she breaks down and is reduced to a mess at the show's end. She, like Katara and every other female character in the show, is a strong example of breaking gender stereotypes.

Toph seems to have been put into the show for the explicit purpose of defying all gender stereotypes ever. She's blunt, boyish, doesn't care about her personal appearance, has poor hygiene, picks her nose, picks her toes, and is physically stronger than Aang and the rest of his traveling party - not to mention a total anarchist. She isn't completely obtuse, and is infact quite clever when she needs to be, perhaps being the wisest of Aang's friends short of Iroh himself. Her brand of love is tough love, but still, despite her tomboyish nature, she is still subject to feeling a little girly. Occasionally. :)

Smellerbee, because I will have spent two-and-a-half years-ish from conception to the posting of the final chapter on a fanfiction about her. We actually don't learn much about her in the show, though, so most of why I like her is conjecture and fanon. C:

3. What's your favourite book, if you have one?

I don't really read all that much, and I can't help but feel like that makes me a horrible person :< I guess Stephen King's The Dark Tower septology? or the Animorphs book series, which I read as a kid and are still pretty boss.

4. Did you ever try rollerblading just because the GGs do it? ;)

Yeah. :< It didn't go too well.

5. What's your favourite method of writing - e.g., longhand, word processor, in super-sekrit LJ entries, etc?

At first I would write stories in a Word document, and then around the time I made the Writers Blog I started posting directly into those. When LJ's formatring and I had a tiff, I started using Word again, and that is still my preferred method. :D

Writer's Block: Opposites attract (sometimes)

2009-11-23T16:59:37Z

In general, do you find yourself more attracted to people with similar or different interests, life experiences, political beliefs, and religious backgrounds? Do you think having some common interests/goals is essential for a successful relationship?

View 564 Answers

As a free-thinker, I tend to gravitate towards other free-thinkers, regardless of their stance on various subjects. I sympathize more with characters who are civil, though...obnoxious free-thinkers are, well, obnoxious.

aaaaaaaaAAAAA

2009-11-23T15:36:31Z

Whoa, Jesus! I need to update this thing more often. And actually like check on it because I keep falling behind on reading my flist and versipellis is awesome and this is the only way I have of keeping up with you darling. :< I'm sorryyyyyyyy.

Also, I get to go see the new Twilight movie today!!!! 8D 8D 8D 8D!!!

Okay, okay, maybe that was a bit too sarcastic, and I feel like it deserves some real explaining. I'm my younger brother's official Gub'ment Sanctioned Aide, and I get paid by the state to keep him engaged so he doesn't become a complete lump by playing video games and watching TV all day. Keep that brainpan of his sizzling, you know? Part of the program encourages taking him out to go see movies, which is cool because we get to see some decent movies I normally wouldn't spend a dime on (Hannah Montanna (though I've come to dislike the show/series over the past couple months, but it was cool at the time), Wolverine (Deadpooooooooooool <3), and The Watchmen (okay I'd have actually spent money on that one). (I wanted to take him to see Ponyo and 9, but he just wasn't interested. I got to see them on my own time, so that's cool, but it still would have been nice to see them again.)

My brother is a vampire whore; you could put a vampire in the crappiest movie and he would watch it and love it and buy the DVD. We have an insane amount of B-movies about vampires in this house. Like it's not funny. So it's really no surprise that he wants to see the new Twilight, and it sucks, and it's going to be two hours of my life I'll want back on my deathbed, but I'm getting paid to sit on my ass for those two hours and actually see how bad of a cliche the characters really are than just listening to word of mouth, therefore justifying my hatred of the series.

I haven't posted it on my writing LJ yet, but over at Plight of the Freedom Fighters 2, we've had to do a format change due to the artist and leader, Sio, being absolutely gobsmacked with schoolwork ("gobsmacked" is an awesome verb. Thanks, Britain and any other UK countries that use it!). So instead of being a predominantly drawn media with written support, PFF2 is now a predominantly written media with drawn support. And being one of the two writers on the team, guess who has been contributing scenes to the project? Oh yeah, baby. :D

Oh! Also, we have our first troll! I feel so accomplished. You know an internet project has made it when you have a troll <3

Side-note: am hungry, must eat. Lates.

EDiT: Oh yes! I found out that the Valve store is selling official Left 4 Dead merchandise, including Ellis' Bull Shifters shirt, and a few different Francis shirts about things Francis hates. And I have superhearts for Ellis and Francis. <3

20 pictures

2009-10-11T03:08:26Z

This is a picture meme ganked from greliz .

01: A picture with flowers

What. It's got Blossom in it. Geddit?

02: A picture in which the color blue dominates

03: A picture with smiling faces

04: A "we're a team!" picture

05: A picture with seven or more colors

06: An angsty picture

07: A picture you think of when you hear the word "sweet"

08: A "best friends" picture

09: A picture that will make us go "oh my!"

10: An "awwwh" picture

11: A rainy day picture

12: A "cling!" picture

13: A group picture

14: A cuddly picture

15: An action picture

16: A kissing picture

17: A picture you think of when you hear the word "ouch!"

18: A picture with someone sleeping in it

19: A picture that will make us laugh

20. COMMENTER'S CHOICE

Genuinely upsetting media

2009-09-01T04:32:39Z

A few weeks ago, I wrote an entry detailing my top ten favorite fictional females - or at least ten of my favorite fictional females, because picking any ten over the rest is impossible. I'm a feminist and phylogynist, so finding a strong female character in any media, even if it's one I have no exposure to whatsoever, is a high point in my day. (Unless I just don't like the universe the character comes from, like Naruto or Final Fantasy or whatever. Sorry, fans of both! Those are just my tastes.)

Just a few minutes ago, I wandered into a room of my house with the TV on (I never actively watch it), and an episode of Psych was on. I've never seen an episode of it, mostly because I couldn't be assed to go out of my way and watch it, but what I caught today was genuinely impressive: I assume that this is a main character, but a woman of Indian descent was due to be part of an arranged marriage to a friend of hers via their parents. The two male main characters arrive at the ceremony, and talk to the female character - they'd been trying to convince her to do what felt right by her (to not get married simply because her parents decided she should), and there was this really powerful moment where she goes, 'You guys were right; thanks for being here, because in fifteen minutes I'm going to go in there and piss off a bunch of hindus and [some other Indian subculture]s, and I might need an escape vehicle.'

A few scenes later, and the engagement ceremony is about to finish - but before the groom (unsure of proper terminology here, so I'm rolling with what I know) can put the ring on the female character's finger, she stops him - turns to the audience - and proclaims, 'I'm thankful to all of you for coming, and I'm sorry to have wasted all of your time, but there will be no engagement ceremony and there will be no wedding.' It was fantastic! The character continued on about how, she shouldn't marry because tradition declared prearrangement, how she and the groom were just friends - how they should be allowed to love other people instead of forced to love each other, which is the only sort of love the two were allowed growing up. It was a fantastic scene! This smart, attractive woman, in touch with her culture while aware of the fallacies of its archaic traditions, standing up for herself, sticking by her opinions and feelings and being respectful all the while. She didn't dredge up aforementioned fallacies, she didn't compare herself or her culture to anyone else, and seeing that sort of strength in any form of massively distributed media is just phenominal. I felt right then and there that, maybe in not watching Psyche, I may have missed a gem - that the series would actually be worth my time to pursue, if it could portray a female character so boldly.

And then there was a flash of light, and we're right back to where the engagement ceremony had cut off - and the groom puts the ring on her finger, and she has this look on her face.

'That's what I want to do.'

Rather than stopping - from living out her fantasy - the woman looks down at their hands, and the ring in hers that needs to go on his finger - and you can just tell what she's thinking, how she got cold feet, how she didn't have that same power that she'd displayed in the fake-out scene.

Now - I'll give credit where it's due. Not everybody can have that kind of strength, regardless of how much they talk. People get scared, the burden of reality and responsibility and other peoples' expectations bearing down on them. That sort of thing has a lot of weight. As empowered as those scenes made me feel before the fake-out, as much as I wanted to put this character on my list of favorite female characters even though I barely knew her, I was let down by the same reality that kept her from speaking up. The scene itself wasn't forced, it wasn't trite or contrived - from a literary aspect, it did its job in making me feel for this character, who even though she wanted with all of her heart to be her own person, she succumbed to the will of her parents, and the groom's parents.

That still doesn't mean it wasn't disappointing, though. Oh well. Maybe the next random show I happen to walk in on will have an equally powerful female character that has the balls (heh) to stand up for what she believes is right.

- - -

On a side-note, I'll be heading down to Texas for AnimeFEST this thursday! I'll be gone till Tuesday the 8th. See you all later!

Hmmm

2009-08-23T20:28:32Z

If this walk through for Jet Grind Radio's original Japanese release is true:

1: Combo joins the GGs immediately after you clear the first mission, Shibuya GG, and most of his tests have been lifted from Piranha's original challenges as well as Cube's original challenge in Jet Grind Radio.

2: Chapter 1 ends after you've unlocked Combo.

3: Mew challenges you after you beat the Poison Jam, and has completely new tests.

4: Cube challenges you after Benten Boogie and has lifted her tests from Mew's Jet Grind Radio tests.

5: Kogane has a bonus mission after Kogane Circus that acts as a Jet Graffiti mode, and the Golden Rhinos don't kidnap the Poison Jam until after you've beaten this level.

6: Yo-Yo challenges you after Graffiti High.

7: Chapter 3 starts once you have beaten the Poison Jam, Noise Tanks and Love Shockers.

8: Piranha challenges you with a Jet Crush around Shibuya-Cho (which I guess is fair trade as Combo stole two of hers).

Also, I've determined that Smilebit totally botched the potentially awesome concept of cyberpunk meshing with streetpunk when making Jet Set Radio Future.

....

2009-08-22T16:20:45Z

Why the hell does my garbage pail smell like fish? >_O Also, I need to redo these King Dedede icons.

Man...

2009-08-16T04:51:30Z

versipellis , we were so mean to Onishima. =( I feel like writing a drabble about him to make up for it.

Top ten girls of action and oldfic

2009-08-08T06:41:33Z

Ah, tired, cranky, it's late at night and I'm struggling to find an interesting character to apply to an online tabletop game I'll be playing this sunday within a relatively straight-laced context...and versipellis made me a little more frustrated with some DN fic, though that part's not bad. :D

To vent, though - or to keep my mind off the frustration, either way - I'm writing an LJ entry for the first time in at least three weeks if not longer.

So: Meme first! My top ten girls of action and why I like them, in no particular order:

San (Princess Mononoke)
I first watched Princess Mononoke years and years ago, before I even really had a proper appreciation for action girls. San is self-sufficient, isn't afraid to kill (or suck the blood of a giant monster wolf to get poison out and get schmutz all over the entire surface area of her face), and very mistrusting, breaking pretty much every gender typecast in existence - but it's hard to see anything else coming from a Miyazaki film.

Gum (Jet Grind Radio)
What's to say about Gum? She rebels against authority and expresses herself by using Tokyo as her canvas. She's also sexy, but classily so - not trampish, like her JSRF version.

Lina Inverse (Slayers)
There aren't many teenagers in the Slayers universe that know spells so devistating as to risk destroying the world as we know it. She's tough, doesn't take shit from anybody, and has a passionate heart when it comes to protecting innocents - all the while being greedy and gluttonous and liable to skip out on overwhelming responsibility (I.E., walking away from a town that she accidentally levelled while doing a job for them).

Haruko (FLCL)
Haruko's purely chaotic nature lent itself well to the manic atmosphere set by FLCL. She was an excellent foil for anyone trying to bring some sanity to that world, and, like Gum, was very classy-sexy, although she's clearly permiscuous. Also, bashing things with guitars is fucking metal.

Samus Aran (Metroid series)
She's been disproving gender roles for over two decades. Rock on, girl! Any lady who will walk around in a heavy-assed power suit with a blaster stuck on one arm and goes around shooting the shit out of aliens wins in my book. ...Okay, so not every lady, because you could also do the powersuitblastershootailens thing and be a total tool, but Samus does it with class.

Toph Bei Fong (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Picking a single girl from A:tLA to fill this category is impossible, so I went with my personal favorite. Toph is innovative, self-assured, hard-headed and crass, going in the complete opposite direction female character stereotypes are aimed in. (As for why I chose Toph instead of Smellerbee, a lot of Smellerbee's persona and attitude is fan-made; Toph has solid, canon basis.)

Cassandra Cain (Batgirl)
With a poor grasp on any sort of language, spoken or written, Cass spoke through body language and action, and was always able to stand on her own feet, without anyone else in the Bat-family to support her. Because of her upbringing as an assassin-turned-Bat, whenever she attempts social interaction, it's hilariously awkward.

Eve (Wall*E)
She's sleek, elegant, and a freaking robot with lazors pew pew. Not to mention cute, especially put in context with Wall*E himself - the poor guy just wants to hold her hand for the whole movie. :<

Tetra (Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker)
I hate Zelda as a character (whole big long rant if you're interested), but whenever Zelda takes on an alter-ego, said alter-ego is incredibly badass. Tetra is, like, eleven years old and the captain of her own pirate crew. When the game starts, she's selfish, greedy, and views the world on a small scale: whatever best benefits her and her crew is what matters the most. But as the game progresses, she starts to ease off in order to let Link accomplish his goals, even going so far as to directly aid him and attacking Ganondorf head-on, unarmed. THAT was fucking awesome for a Zelda. Unfortunately, once you find out Tetra is Zelda, she gets whisked away and locked in the basement of a castle submerged underneath the sea for the last half of the game - because princesses are frilly and useless and certainly a roguish pirate captain would not have been handy to have around while journeying, nosiree. So, Tetra is on this list, but Zelda can fuck off and die.

Blackarachnia (Beast Wars: Transformers)
At first Blackarachnia was selfish and ruthless, cunning and very willing to backstab whomever was required in order to get hers. As the series progresses, she develops a "Bad Girl" personality, especially in context with Silverbolt, who has the most cornball crush on her. Near the end of the series, she sheds her antagonist qualities while still remaining the "Bad Girl" and is crucial in helping the Maximals in the final hour of the Beast Wars.

- - -

So, about two weeks ago, I got a note on DeviantArt from a woman who had read my oooold old JSR fic; she wasn't sure I was the author, but she'd followed me from one site to the next in hopes of keeping tabs on me, and she eventually tracked me down on dA. Now if that's not a loyal fan, I don't know what is; she'd read this awful self-insert story I'd written called Crossing Over, where I and my peers at JSR's FF.net section were transported into JGR and became our OCs, and she had enjoyed it so much that tracking me down had some level of import to her.

I mean - that's fucking cool if you ask me.

Since then I've been on a huge JGR kick - I busted my Dreamcast out and have been playing the shit out of the game, reminiscing about the fandom as I used to know it and how far I've come since I first opened this game on my birthday almost nine years ago. I even have a couple new story ideas that I know I won't pursue - like, how did the Noise Tanks and Poison Jam come into possession of the shards of The Devil's Contract, and why were they hiding them from the GGs? And how did the Love Shockers get ahold of that Golden Rhino pin? It's so tempting to write a story where the three rival gangs are the protagonists and painting the GGs as the antagonists, but I just can't write JSR fic anymore. >_> Then again, I haven't been writing very much at all this summer...

Anyway, my point is, I've been going back and reading a lot of oldfic. Mostly mine, which is pretty much entirely cringe-worthy, but also some of versipellis ' stuff. It was good times...but there's one story I can't find of yours, dear, and I'm going to ask you to email it to me. :D You remember that story you wrote where Gum was blasted into the future and dated an older Yo-Yo? I really hardcore have to read that again.

So, yeah. Bedtime. I'm feeling sufficiently less cranky.

Con season~

2009-07-17T21:48:36Z

So, it's summer, which means con season is upon us me! ConnectiCon in two weeks (X___X my cosplay is nowhere near done) and AnimeFest at the beginning of September. For CTCon, my buddy Pandy is coming up from Texas, which is sweetness; AnimeFEST is the reverse, though, and I'll be headed down there. So, awesome.

My cosplay if of a Hunter from Left 4 Dead. I got a hoodie for it but it feels a little too small - that's alright, but my biggest concern is the hood not being deep enough to hide my eyes. -_- I'll get an outside opinion on it before committing to buying another one.

A Link to the Past

2009-07-11T21:22:13Z

So, because I'm struggling to write new stories, I've taken to browsing through old stories and seeing if I can repair some and make them postable. I've found a few winners, so I'll be editing those as inspiration strikes and slapping them up on dA/FFnet/SkyeHawke.

w00t.

What's the best way to celebrate patriotism?

2009-07-01T22:19:26Z

With family you hate, of course :D

My mom's side of the family is coming over for the 4th of July. I have all sorts of issues with those people, but it's all old news by this point; I do my best to be a presence during family gatherings despite my overwhelming urge to curl up in a ball and hide somewhere but I at least like my dad's side, so that makes it more bearable. To have to forcibly overcome my shyness for people I hate? Not so easy.

I really hope some kind of epic excuse comes along where I won't have to be around for the day. My mom and brother have bronchitis - maybe I'll catch that just in the nick of time, because illness >>> interacting with mom's family.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'mma go nuke a cookie so it's all warm and gooey and yummy. Om nom nom.

New icons, story deadlines, so on and so forth

2009-05-31T01:46:09Z

I made a new set of LJ icons of King Dedede from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I need to make more, but the seven I have for now are good enough. I was getting tired of the old set.

So! The first chapter of the final draft of Where Words Fail will go live in less than twenty-one days. I'm so absolutely excited! It'll be crossposted all over the goddamn place: my writing journal, (teis_stories) , the LJ Smellershot community (shootingbees), my DeviantArt account, my SkyHawke account and my Fanfiction.net account. Sio has drawn up the first four chapter covers, which will likewise be posted with the chapters. Once June 20 rolls around, I'll also be taking down all of the rough draft chapters for permanent-like, because I'm ashamed of most of them (particularly the first 15 or so chapters). The editing process has been a drag, but I'm almost through with the Hell Chapters (the aforementioned early ones, the ones that require the most invasive work), and having gone through some of the later chapters to break up the tedium, I know once I get past the Hell Chapters the rest will be smooth sailing.

I've also been working a considerable amount on Plight of the Freedom Fighters with the rest of the team, which is nice and time-consuming, too. So, creativity is happening. :D

Between bouts of fandoming, I've been working on overhauling my original stuff. I've just realized that I have far too many OCs; just thinking about working with that many is intimidating, so I've decided to pare down what I don't want and consolidating traits from similar characters into one sort of amalgamated type deal. Long-term mainstays Tobias and Raph have met the Creative Axe today, having (much more interesting) counterparts on other fronts, but I have yet to go through and pick out who I really don't need. (I do know I'll be killing off a few of them, though....>X3 )

And on that note...I have no connections whatsoever in the professional writing world. That makes me really nervous, which makes me shy, which makes it harder for me to make those connections :X I don't even know where to start looking! Sio's told me that my writing could take me places, and her being such an incredible artist slated to become a freelanced leads me to believe she's right...and it always has been my dream to become a novelist...but, aghgweh0iwegbb43. D: I feel in so far over my head D:

faceplant

2009-05-09T19:19:10Z

Buh

2009-05-07T14:38:13Z

Yeah, I still exist X_X I've just been wrapped up with so much of my creative projects that I kinda, er, forgot to check up here.

Right now I'm doing mostly work on Where Words Fail's revision interspersed with contributions to Plight of the Freedom Fighters 2; I've already scripted out two scenes, one of which is finalized and the other is pending a second opinion from my colleagues, and then a potential third one that depends on some ideas Sio and I have brainstormed passing through aforementioned colleagues. It's fun, but time consuming. I also gotta re-watch Avatar Book 3 since I haven't seen it after its initial airing, and I need it for reference involving Pipsqueak, The Duke, and timeline issues for WWF.

I'll do my best to catch up here, but it's a lot of FList I've missed. Sorry people X_X I'm not gonna comment on everything, it's just too time-consuming - but I am gonna read it XD

Crowning Achievement

2009-04-09T04:00:37Z

How did you come to start your LJ?
I came to LJ I think after versipellis and I exchanged a particular email on the subject. I was active on DeadJournal at the time, but I wanted to keep tabs with Tallulah on a more personal basis. LJ was the way to go :D

How did you find your first friends?
For ages I was just on LJ to watch Tallulah and sashwizzled , whom I knew from the JSR section of FF.net...

Are those first friends still on your FL?
Yeah XD

How long have you been on LJ?
Shit, I don't even remember. XD

Do you have more friends or communities on your FL?
Friends, though I am part of a couple communities. Capslock_ATLA and Shootingbees are the most prominent, especially the latter.

Do you do a lot of friends cuts?
I don't have a lot of friends on the list anyway...I never really cut any of them, but when I did on previous journals it was always because we never spoke that much anymore, never regarded each other - it wasn't worth keeping up with them at that point.

What do you like in an LJ friend?
I dunno, really...most of my LJ friends are friends in other mediums that are easier to communicate with. But I enjoy comments, and responses to comments I leave, so I feel validated in having put the effort in.

What do you dislike?
DRAAAAMAAAAA. Fortunately my dapperzombie account has been free of such things. But disks_smilie and my Deadjournals? Jesus, fucking forget them.

What would make you un-friend someone immediately?
They'd have to do something incredibly off-putting. I'm at a time of my life where I like to think I'm fairly open-minded, and what trouble I still have, I'm working on getting sorted out. I've only recently put the bulk of my religious antagonism away, though I (unfortunately) still have some negative vibes from certain people. Like my gramma, who attributes absolutely everything good in life to God, to the point of not recognizing the people who do those good things to and around her. That's a frustrating thing to live with on a daily basis, and I'd be lying if I didn't say a lot of my religious intolerance came from there, and...

Oh my, I tangented, didn't I? XD Long story short, I have cool friends who are religious and gramma can suck an egg.

Anyway, yeah. I can't really describe what, exactly, needs to happen to warrant immediate defriending because I won't know till I see it.

Have you been caught up in a lot of LJ drama?
I used to be a whore for that stuff. That's part of the reason why I moved to this journal and isolated myself; this way drama isn't an issue, and I'm only around people I actually enjoy talking to.

Do real-life friends and family members know you have a journal on LJ?
Nope, and I'd rather keep it that way. I'm a compartmentalist; I like to keep my interwebs life seperate from my off-the-interwebs life. I like the cloak of anonymity I get here and what the hell smells like skunk? X(

Do you also have Facebook and if so, what do you prefer – LJ or FB?
I won't even go near Facebook. That breaks the "Compartmentalist" thing from above; I have so many family members on facebook that registering an account there would make me feel uncomfortable.

What about Twitter?
What's a twitter?

Do you blog on any other sites?
Shit, I don't even really blog here. I just bitch about stuff and post the occasional scrap of good news. XD

How often do you check in on LJ?
I used to be really good at keeping up on this, but lately I've only remembered to come back about once a week. It's not due to lack of interest in the lives of my friends so much as I have other commitments, like editing Where Words Fail so I can have a decent buffer before I start posting its finished form on June 20.

What do you rarely or never post about?
...a lot of things XD Seriously, most of what I post about is centric around myself. Which sounds bad, yes, but since I only ever update twice a month at most...

Why don't you post about that?
Pass.

Have you ever thought about deleting your journal?
Not this one, no. My past LiveJournal/DeadJournals, most definitely. That's where the Dramas lurk, and I just want to put that stuff behind me.

...actually, I did delete my DeadJournals. Hmm.

Have you ever changed your username?
Only when I got an entirely new account. I like "dapperzombie" and don't care to pay to change it.

Why did you choose your current username?
Cuz dapper zombies are a logical impossibility. Also, the thought of Pious Augustus wearing a top hat and monacle is a fucking hoot.

If you're looking for new friends, how do you find them?
Outside of LJ. XD If we both have accounts here, then boosh.

Are you taking new people on to your Friends List just now?
I haven't had any "new" friends on here in ages...but I did realize recently that I'd never told Lula about this account, and I added him a couple weeks ago. We talk pretty frequently, so I suppose that counts.

Finally, tell us the reasons why you keep an online journal.
Again, to bitch about stuff nobody cares about, and to post stuff that makes me feel good.

So, that's a meme thing. Now here's my good news (copypasta'd from dA 'cuz I'm lazy):

May as well make this official, since it ain't any secret...

Ladies and gentlemen, I have finally done something that makes me feel truly accomplished. :D

I mean - yeah, I finished Where Words Fail, but that was just the rough draft, and I get the feeling I'll be more elated when the first chapter of the final draft goes live. (June 20th! Keep your eyes peeled, Avatar and Freedom Fighter fans!) But right now, I'm on absolutely Cloud-Fucking-Nine because I have made myself matter in a way that is relevant to me.

If you've been watching my gallery and checking out the Avatar: The Last Airbender works of recent months, you'll notice how a lot of it was done for SioUte's Plight of the Freedom Fighters 2 comic, a truly epic story created by a team of truly epic writers and authors. As a person who fell in love with Avatar's dirty little secret, the Freedom Fighters, I was inspired by SioUte's original Plight of the Freedom Fighters comic, as well as the works of the rest of her team, SylvaCoer's WildChild fanfiction, and DoodleBuggy's fancomic, Jet-Lagged. They helped push me to write Where Words Fail vicariously, and over time, we all became acquaintances and, eventually, actual friends. :D They're a cool bunch of people over there, believe you me.

But - with Where Words Fail in the editing stages, the girls and I have found some...common ground to stand on. And with that in mind, I have officially joined the staff for Plight of the Freedom Fighters 2.

8D

I'm so incredibly honored to be working on the project with them, to be part of the team; I'm officially the "Adjunct writer and mascot," but I also serve to fill in plot holes in the script and provide some brainstormy ideas. It's so much fun.

I'd say wish me luck, but honestly, I feel like the luckiest guy alive right now. So feel free to use your luckwishes on yourselves. :D

Plight of the Freedom Fighters 2

SioUte

SylvaCoer

DoodleBuggy

It's official now. :D

*bow*

dapperzombie @ 2009-03-29T19:39:00

2009-03-29T23:41:04Z

WANT TO:
Catch up on the friends entries I've been missing for the past month or so
Continue work on editing Where Words Fail
Sleep
Listen to The Brave Little Toaster soundtrack again
Draw

HAVE TO:
Go play DnD X(

He mustard the drive to ketchup with what he missed, and boy did he relish the opportunity!

2009-03-15T20:16:50Z

*gets bricked for the awful awful pun title*

So, I have about two weeks worth of friend entries to ~~ketchup~~ catch up with, and I swear I'll do it...I've just been busy with stuff. @_@

Also, here's Idina Menzel (Maureen Johnson) singing a cover of I'll Cover You from RENT.

dapperzombie @ 2009-03-05T22:59:00

2009-03-06T04:00:10Z

I call quadruple fucking zombie bullshit.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY. is awesome

2009-02-22T20:05:49Z

I just finished Where Words Fail, my Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction. At forty-one chapters and somewhere-in-the-range-of-300+ pages long (exact total subject to change upon second and final draft completion), this is the single longest story I've ever written <i>ever</i> and is the first big story I've seen through to the end in a long time.

Hence the title.

Oh, and I also have this swanky new LJ icon. Just to show how awsome I am.