momiji

Me: I have to say, trying to install open office dictionaries while you are doped on benzos is an interesting experience
Ced: Benzo'ed Rufus? I see photoshoots in that.
Me: Haha
Me: Yeah, of me walking into things
Me: Or falling over
Ced: Hey, it'd explain the wheelchair pretty nicely.
Me: Haha
Me: Well, if Geostigma induces seizures the way actual lupus does, he totally could be tripped up on benzos in AC
Me: Klonopin I think is mostly used as an anti-epileptic
Ced: Wikipedia says so, yes.
Ced: So, maybe we'll forego the breaking of legs for realism and just go for the sleeping pills and the wheelchair at the 'con?
Me: XD

I did actually manage to get the dictionaries installed despite my very short attention span. Final paper count was 3.1k words, ten pages plus an eleventh of bibliography. I'm now setting off into my second one, which is horribly boring but now one-fifth done.

And as promised - My glasses in action! Another bus-stop camera phone photo, this one far less cool-looking than the last.

I love you even as you break my heart over and over. Seriously, only game to actually outright make me cry, because while the ending is 'good', it's also very bittersweet - you are keenly aware of all the sacrifices that are made to get there. I know FF7 has Aeris, but somehow her death doesn't have the scope, the impact that seeing Yuna perform the Sending for a row of bodies in a half-destroyed village does. Death is more present in Spira, and while the game may have it's little romance plot (I don't really want to say subplot, because while it's subtle it's very important to the story), the focus is really on the balance of life and death, of sorrow and hope.

Part of me wants to like, write a super-long post about Braska and Yuna and why I love them both so so so much, but I don't think I could adequately capture it in words. They're both such complex characters - even though yeah, Braska is in the game for like all of ten minutes total. I don't think I could ever really write FFX fic for the same reason - I could never narrow the focus enough. I can handle Braska in RP, though I don't think I could pull of the hint of uncertainty in herself that Yuna still has through much of the game. I guess I will say this much - I'm pretty much an avowed atheist, but writing Braska gives me a glimpse of the strength and power of belief. And yeah, I am not totally unaware of the irony that my dad's belief system is in some ways very similar to Braska's, although their personalities are, uh. Definitely a bit different. And some of it is that I am kind of a snarky asshole and I play a lot of snarky assholes, and they're all great fun, but there's something both calming and cleansing about writing someone so kind and so certain of himself as Braska.

(Guess who spent like two hours tonight watching FFX clips as a refresher for a Braska app, and then followed it up with horribly depressing FFX fanfic. I feel like I need to do a scene of Braska being totally fluffy with his pet ninja boy or having tea with Minato or something now, to make up for it.)

-Increased dose of Wellbutrin does craaaazy things to my brain. Anxiety as a side-effect + pre-existing anxiety disorders = five hours of me fidgeting compulsively and being totally unable to focus on anything. Hopefully it'll even out after a few days but whoa, that was a bit intense

-Have gotten mostly caught up on Merlin S2 (haven't watched tonight's ep yet, but soon!), and oh BBC, I love you and your iffy script-writing and bad special effects. Best moment so far was the incredibly awkward not-hug which I will be laughing about forever.

-I still hate 18th century lit ahhhhh.

Okay time to try to sleep :|

Suit sewing is a go - I have two weeks before I have to start in on term papers, so I am using them to my cosplay advantage. I am already sick of welt pockets, but ah well. I will be able to add suits to the list of 'sewing projects I could do in my sleep' (other entries - hakama, kimono, and vests) after this, I think. Ced and I have been scheming recruitment and photoshoots, which is always fun, although it's all still planning right now.

Related to that, more Case of Shinra is up - there's canon confirmation for two fanon assumptions (Rufus's mother's death, and the Turks helping evacuate Midgar), evidence for my 'President Shinra is less of a dick than we thought' theory (he uses his son's birthday as his passcode for everything), and Tseng in a Hawaiian shirt. I am kind of loving it.

And not at all related to that, I put up Halloween photos - they're here, I'm too lazy to embed right now.

-Zombies were a success!
-So was the fudge and marshmallows.
-A+ comment of the evening from Julie, when I showed up with my hair slicked back: "OH MY GOD ARE YOU ZOMBIE RUFUS?!" Tragically no, although that'd be an awesome costume
-Best costume, by far, of the night - the guy who dressed as George Harrison, came with a nice classic electric guitar, and played Beatles songs all night.
-Watching a shirtless man in leggings and a luchadore mask singing Rock Band songs at the top of his lungs is awesome

My plan for the rest of the night is to upload and edit camera images, and zen out to the sounds of my roommate playing Katamari Forever while I read more Nabari no Ou and get something to eat that isn't packed with sugar~

Relevent to some people's interests! The first chunk of the translation of Case of Shinra is online (NB: the arrows at the bottom only go up to page three. The drop down menu goes up to page six). Interesting bits:

-Reeve is badass
-teeny BC!Turks cameo (blink and you'll miss it)
-The presidential office has an ESCAPE CHUTE
-I was totally right about them having Rufus be fine after Weapon's attack
-And this little gem which is so awesome I am going to quote it here, when Tseng shows up post-Sephiroth gut wound and all of the other Turks think he was dead:

She suddenly jumped up and gave Tseng a hug.

"Oh come on, Elena. You know I want to do that too," said Reno.

"No need to hold back, Senpai."

Real life news is that midterms suck, my house is still a mess, and that is pretty much it. My blog had it's eight-year anniversary back on the 10th, which is awesome although not really noteworthy. Trying to decide if I should be lazy this year and dress as Virgil for Halloween again (stfu, I know I'm a nerd), or get off my ass and actually do my zombie umbrella scientist idea. Decisions.

(ps HEY NEW PEOPLE o/)

WTB reliable Rufus RPer. I know posting here won't get me one, I just feel like whining XD

What is with all the crappy FF7 werewolf AUs. I have seen at least three (by different people!). I blame Twilight for this one.

For my Dystopian Lit term paper - elements of transhumanism and definitions of humanity in dystopian literature (focusing on Neuromancer and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), or antiheroes, sociopaths, and their role in dystopian societies (focusing on Neuromancer, Watchmen, and A Clockwork Orange)? Am actually somewhat curious for others' thoughts on this, although I have a month to pick still

Related to the above, get to write a paper on parallels between A Handmaid's Tale and Children of Men, which means rewatching the latter this weekend and probably throwing popcorn at the tv.

Still have a cold ugh.

I have done so much writing this week, pretty much all of it incredibly self-indulgent. And you know what? I don't care. I am having an awesome time RPing and having Tseng discuss cats with Vash and get into fights with Reno and be fluffy with Sheska and Aeris, and writing Rufus genderswap, and Braska having break-downs, and all that jazz. It just feels good to be doing something fun and creative again.

Also, fall is finally actually here, which means I got to break out my favorite coat ever (yes, it is leather, no, I still can't believe I bought it for $75 either) for the cool weather. Unfortunately aforementioned weather has also brought with it the first cold of the season, which is annoying but bearable for the moment. Hopefully it will not morph into ZOMGdeath flu!!1! or something.

Which I realize I talk about a lot, but nobody cares about twenty-page-long microarray overview papers giving me headaches (mostly because the authors assume more of a data analysis background than I have). So, in no particular order-

-I am a huge nerd and contemplating trying to plot out functional mechanics for magic/mako and Geostigma ('science' and 'Final Fantasy' = two things that should probably not be in the same sentence)
-I bought a Crisis Core wallscroll today! This art, no idea where I'm going to hang it as I have CLAMP and FFX posters that still need hanging too
-Fangirl Freudian slip of the evening - substituting 'Wall Market' for 'Night Market'. I actually caught myself after the first word but was in a car of other fanpersons who called me on it. In my defense, the Night Market is like the Wall Market, only with more Chinese bootlegs and less places to sit.

In non-FF7 news, the marshmallows were (and are) absolutely delicious, I went into T&T to buy dried mushrooms and BBQ sauce and came out with two bags of groceries and eight kilos of rice, and I am seriously contemplating Kanji. Nevermind that I do not have a crazy widow's peak and have lots of cosplay projects already. But he's so full of win, and I've made that style of uniform before (teen!Seishirou, which never got worn and is now too small). Bonus points would be convincing Rosie to dress as Naoto, because she's got the right build and looks for it, and would be all over getting to wear a boy's uniform and a kickass hat.

I hate it when I come across amazing WIP fics that haven't been updated for a year and a half :< I also hate it when I decide to wear my white pants out one day and of course they end up with some weird huge stain on one leg. Yes, they're my Rufus pants. Yes, I will actually cry if I can't get it out.

On the plus side - I have tea, techno, Alton Brown, and a successfully finished Population Genetics assignment, so it's not all bad.

EDIT: Ahaha wonders of using white cotton twill for this suit = the magic stain removing power of chloride bleach! The worst of the mess (looked like pen ink of some sort - very dark blue) is gone, and I'm going to let the last little dark bits soak overnight.