...to stake a claim.... like a Tonberry!

If that made no sense, it's not my fault. :P

So... It's hasn't been quite a year since my last post, so I'm still good, right? XD;

Anyway, here's a quick update, since I hardly get around to saying much about stuff these days... Ahem:

Hiked through a river canyon in Zion, photographed Mount Rushmore, moved to Ohio, started on my Master's (Physics), survived the first quarter, and now I'm starting my second! 

But the real reason for the post is to stake yet another claim (yes, I'm no where near to finishing any of my others, but I'm working on it) in 30 Screams.  It looks like it's an abandoned comm, but the prompts are perfect for the FF7 1920's detective series I'm doing, so I'm not waiting for approval.  The Tonberry is my approval.

I'm claiming it for Sephiroth and Zack, of course, and here are the prompts:

Theme #1: A Bloody Knife | Echo
Theme #2: Trapped | In an Elevator
Theme #3: Cemetery | Gone Wrong
Theme #4: Rainy Night | Protection
Theme #5: Haunted | Changes
Theme #6: Broken Mirror | Midnight
Theme #7: A Confession | Cursed
Theme #8: Carnival | Stolen
Theme #9: The Shower | Cruelty
Theme #10: Nightmares | All a Game
Theme #11: Followed | Time's Up
Theme #12: Sunset | Coat of Arms
Theme #13: Pricked | Shots
Theme #14: Broken Heart | Diseased
Theme #15: Revenge | Awakening
Theme #16: The Flood | "Go Back to Sleep"
Theme #17: Rage | Pendant
Theme #18: Under the Moon | Music Box
Theme #19: The Mask | Cavern
Theme #20: Chains | Stranded
Theme #21: Whispers | Hopeless
Theme #22: Something Shattered | Commotion
Theme #23: Nightly Creatures | Loyalty
Theme #24: Shadows | Mist
Theme #25: In the Woods | Tablets
Theme #26: Crime | Vulgarity
Theme #27: Singing | The Hermit
Theme #28: Wounds | The Emperor
Theme #29: Shame | Wheel of Fortune
Theme #30: Death | Roll Credits

#18 is already done, I'm just dawdling a bit on getting it posted. Now I just need to figure out which theme to think about next. Hmm...

 Because everybody needs a hug. X3

But the real reason I'm posting this here is so that I don't forget where I've struck all my claims. Because, believe me, I totally would. XD;

I've gone off the deep end to claim it for Zack and Angeal. I would have done Zack and Seph, but Faye already claimed those two, and I'd rather do something different. Besides, one of the prompts inspired me for a gift fic I'm currently writing for the 2011 DOINK! Final Fantasy Exchange (starring Zack and Angeal), and I totally had to claim them so I could officially use the prompt in that fic. XD

The Tonberry made me do it.

Anyway, here's the list of prompts!

1) hazel eyes

2) rainbows and butterflies

3) snap snap!; photograph

4) teddy bear

5) collide

6) oxygen

7) tangled up

8) fairytales

9) footprints

10) just a memory

11) ice

12) run away

13) euthanasia

14) somei yoshino; a type of sakura

15) fait des beaux reves; sweet dreams

16) think of me and I'll be there

17) orange; color

18) the wrong words

19) aurora borealis; northern lights

20) broken dreams

21) sois un ange; be an angel

22) 一期一会; ichi-go ichi-e

23) candlelight

24) love and hate

25) the curtain falls

26) "I never say the truth."

27) splash

28) dust

29) silhouette

30) hug!

In other news, I have recently (well, since my last real update XD):
- Moved twice (yes, I moved again after that last move I mentioned quite a while back)
- Been studying Japanese
- Been taking lessons on Japanese sword
- Gone to two sword competitions
- Written a whole heck of a lot more FF7 stories than I ever previously imagined myself writing
- Painted last year's giant Christmas card, all by myself, and enlisted some help to make it 3D. >3
- Got a drawing tablet for Christmas, so I can now really do digital art!
- Started a series of drawings of cute FF7 critters, which I still need to post on LJ
- Seen the Grand Canyon in the winter, after unexpectedly driving through a mini blizzard at night
- Visited Yosemite, also in the winter, and stood under the spray of a freezing waterfall. XD
- Seen both Cirque du Soleil's Ka (amazing! *___*) and Phantom of the Opera (also amazing!) in Las Vegas
- Been preparing to move yet again, because...
- I will be getting my master's in Physics, because...
- Once a physicist, always a physicist! My work will not let me take the cyber ops degree. :( But...
- I have other devious plans to get one, at some point, if I still want to.

And that's my life's update, in a nutshell. XD

 Behold!

I have actually written something for one of my communities. 

But don't think I've just written it. It's been sitting on my computer for quite a while because I forgot that the 50 Scenes community was for, well ... scenes. XD I was going to wait until I made a whole story out of it! But then what would be the point of the comm? XD Yes, I know. I am a genius. XD

Anyway, here it is! 

Detective Verse AU, where both Sephiroth and Zack are detectives in the 1920s, on Earth. This is told from Zack's point of view.


( Stars )

Oh, look! I'm alive! 

At some point I'll post a general update about what I've been up to in the last who knows how long. For now, here's another comm I've joined! Yay, biting off more than I can chew! XD

Oh yeah, and I'm staking the claim for Zack Fair. Who else? XD

30_Losses Table of Themes

1. Baby blue ; Harbor.	2. Broken ; Spirit.	3. Sunset ; Last kiss.	4. Acid tears ; Alone in a crowd.	5. Unexpected emptiness ; Gaping chasm.
6. Miraculous relief ; Shattered glass.	7. Stormy night ; Family reunion.	8. Letting go ; Watching the horizon.	9. Little girl ; Misunderstanding.	10. Gravitational pull ; Starlight in his/her eyes.
'11. It was my sister's' ; Left behind.	12. Leap of faith ; Blinding truth.	13. The end of the beginning ; The beginning of the end.	14. Frantic search ; Tragic moment.	15. Beneath the smiles ; Across the worlds.
16. Haunting melody ; 'Remember me'.	17. Golden mirror ; The phone call.	18. Stranger ; Finality.	19. Harsh revelation ; Denial.	20. In the dead of the night ; High school ring.
21. A path to follow ; Separate ways.	22. The power of goodbye ; Holding on.	23. Counting years ; Photo album.	24. Back garden ; Emergency evacuation.	25. Trust ; Laughter.
26. Accident ; Trauma.	27. Outsider ; Carpe diem (seize the day).	28. Past ; Suspicion.	29. A whisper on the wind ; One final look back.	30. Dry eyes ; Crumbling heart.
31. Explanation ; Excuses.	32. Temper ; Ignored instinct.	33. Natural disaster ; The calm before the storm.	34. Confessions ; Desire.	35. 1 hour ; 'I know it's here somewhere'.
36. Time ; No letter.	37. Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) ; kajira (Gorean slave girl).	38. A life of lies ; Sodium Pentothal.	39. Releasing the sparrow ; Changed for good.	40. Shallow grave ; Serenity incarnate.

To own EVERYTHING FF7! XD

LOL, not really, I'm kidding. Or am I? Sometimes I wonder, since I have so much FF7 stuff, especially prints. And they actually have new Sephiroth and Cloud perfumes that I am horribly tempted to buy. Not because I intend on using them at all, since I never wear perfume, but I really want to see what they smell like! Besides, the idea of FF7 perfumes inspired by the characters is the most ridiculous and random and hilarious thing ever, it's so awesome. XD But, don't worry, because as long as the price for each perfume stays around $100, I have no plans to buy them. ....Really, I don't! **must muster her willpower for the next convention.**

Anyway, I've been inspired by Faye's list of all her awesome Sonic merchandise, and decided to list my own FF7 merchandise! Also, I totally wasted half the day in figuring this out. XD But I have photos! Some of them, anyway. So, here we go:

Figures
- Vincent:  FF7 resin statue, AC Play Arts action figure, Play Arts Game Edition action figure, Trading Arts Series 2 mini figure, DoC Potions mini figure
- Red XIII & Cait Sith:  Play Arts Game Edition action figures
- Aerith:  Play Arts Game Edition action figure, CC Play Arts action figure, Trading Arts mini chibi figure, CC Potions mini figure
- Cloud:  KH Formation Arts mini figure, AC Potions mini figure, FF7 Potions mini figure, Play Arts Game Edition action figure with Hardy Daytona, CC Play Arts action figure, KH Play Arts action figure, Dissidia Trading Arts mini figure, chibi AC figure, AC Play Arts action figure with Fenrir, Static Arts statue
- Sephiroth:  AC Potions mini figure, Static Arts statue, Trading Arts Vol 4 mini chibi figure, FF7 resin statue, Play Arts Game Edition action figure, AC Play Arts action figure, KH Play Arts action figure
- Turks:  BC Potions mini figure
- Yuffie:  Trading Arts Vol 4 mini chibi figure
- Tifa:  Trading Arts mini chibi figure, AC Trading Arts mini chibi figure, FF7 Potions mini figure
- Zack:  CC Play Arts action figure, CC Potions mini figure, Trading Arts Vol 1 secret pewter mini figure
- Kadaj, Yazoo, & Loz:  AC Trading Arts mini chibi figures
- Master Creatures Bahamut figure (FFVIII)
- Master Creatures Phoenix (FFIX)

Other Stuff

- Pins of chibi Zack, a chocobo, AC Cloud, and AC Vincent
- Play Arts Arms Collection (Cloud's Hardedge, Yuffie's Conformer, Aerith's Fairy Tale, Tifa's Dragon Claw, Vincent's Death Penalty)
- Random metal replica of Yuffie's shuriken
- Master Arms replica of Vincent's Cerberus
- Random metal replica of Cloud's AC sword
- Tonberry charm
- 9 other random keychains/charms
- Tonberry plush, reading chocobo plush, Black Mage chocobo plush
- FF7AC T-shirt with the Cloudy wolf symbol on it
- All 8 of the Potions cans, some of which I have yet to drink. LOL.
- Cloud book (at least I think it's that one.... It's still packed up somewhere!)
- FF7 game for PC
- Dirge of Cerberus game for PS2
- Crisis Core game for PSP (both English and Japanese versions)
- Special edition Crisis Core PSP
- Crisis Core strategy guide
- FF7 Advent Children movie, signed by Sephiroth! (Toshiyuki Morikawa)
- 4 random bookmarks
- Random pink Cloud bag. LOLOL.
- And 47 different FF7 prints. ....If I counted correctly. XD  At least two more are on the way.

Oh wait! There's more!

- 7 different FF7 fanfics/blurbs I’ve written, 48 different fanart images I’ve drawn (that I’ve posted, anyway XD), 674 fanfics I’ve collected (seriously? That can’t be right), and countless other fanart/official pics I’ve stashed on my computer (okay, my computer says roughly 21,258. XD)!
- And one license plate named Fenrir. X3

The End.


Except, I'm betting that I forgot something. Oh well, there's always next time....


As I looked up more information about the figures online, so I could figure out what to properly call them, I found one of Vincent in Chaos form! WANT! I wonder when it came out? Usually I know about most stuff, and I didn't see it at AX this year..... **goes hunting for it.** And there's another one of Bahamut! >3 I also need the new one of Dissidia Seph, and a few more of the summons.....


If you're interested in browsing through the silly photo shoot I did with my figures, and also see some of my prints, you can go here! I didn't include them all in this post. XD

While this isn't the first community I've joined, it's probably the first community I've started doing anything for. XD;  Yeah, I'm horrible, I know.

But check out the table! So many awesome prompts....

001.	Sleep.	002.	Love.	003.	Pain.	004.	Sand.	005.	Glass.
006.	Church.	007.	Moonlight.	008.	Happiness.	009.	Tears.	010.	Writer's Choice.
011.	Cry.	012.	Silence.	013.	Sun.	014.	Sing.	015.	Twist.
016.	Empty.	017.	Blossom.	018.	Harp.	019.	Control.	020.	Writer's Choice.
021.	Psychotic.	022.	Hope.	023.	Alone.	024.	Viridian.	025.	Gasp.
026.	Smirk.	027.	Piece.	028.	Fly.	029.	Elope.	030.	Writer's Choice.
031.	Moment.	032.	Eternal.	033.	Wish.	034.	Darkness.	035.	Poem.
036.	Sick.	037.	Turbulence.	038.	Malevolence.	039.	Sugar.	040.	Writer's Choice.
041.	Embrace.	042.	Dark Eyes.	043.	Hands.	044.	Youth.	045.	Ignored.
046.	Mistake.	047.	Stars.	048.	Pluto.	049.	Fortune.	050.	Writer's Choice.

I think my claim will be for Sephiroth and Zack.  And I'll probably focus on my Detective AU. >3

I've finally finished my first FF7 detective fic!  It will hopefully be the first of many, and it was definitely a blast to write.  It's done in first-person, from Zack's POV, in a classic detective narrative style, complete with all those ridiculous metaphors.  LOL.  I'm already starting on my second fic, even though I should really get back to working on the Star Wars crossover fic. XD;

Anyway, for those who are interested, here's the link:

Meet Zack Fair, First Class SOLDIER world-class detective.


In other news, I am insane and have decided to participate in a Japanese sword competition in three weeks!  Even though I barely know what I'm doing at this point!  Go me! XD

It's supposed to be part of this really big seminar over a few days, where they bring in the heads of all these different sword forms all the way from Japan.  I'd be interested in going even if I wasn't competing, just to see the demonstrations.  But my Japanese sword teacher said that three weeks should be plenty of time to practice and be ready for it.  We'd just be doing the kata in any case, and only three of them.  So all I need to do is learn those movements, which hopefully won't be that hard.  He said that one of the big things they grade on is projecting a Sephiroth-like presence and determination, so it really looks as if you're committed to wiping out your imaginary enemy. XD

Anyway, I agreed to do it, so here I go!  We've been shown the first two kata already, and now I just need to practice.  We'll get the third one next week.  The competition is over Labor Day weekend.  The rest of the students in the dojo are going to be competing in various things too, so I'm looking forward to see how everyone does!  This is gonna be exciting. >3

Got this meme from Faye!  So it goes like this: if you want to join in, just say so, and I will ask you five questions that you then have to post in your journal!

Faye's questions:

1. What is the best thing about now officially writing fanfiction?  Oh gosh.... It is awesome.  I never thought I really could write fanfiction before, or that I could really write the characters all that well, so I figured I'd just be limited to my own original stories.  But now that I've started, it's like I've been set free. >3  Also, before I started, I thought I would be limited to only the story I was planning out, but now I totally feel like I could write any old random blurb from any old prompt with the characters.  **may offer to take prompts from everyone at some point.**  I absolutely love writing them!  Though at this point, I still feel limited to the certain characters I've chosen to write about, since I still don't feel all that familiar with the others, but what with throwing in Angeal and Genesis and doing pretty well with them, I think I could probably give any other FF7 character a shot too. >3  It's so great, because I totally feel like I can now tell all the stories that I've only wished other people had written about them.  So I guess the best thing is that it's all shown me that I'm totally capable of writing anything and everything I feel like writing. X3

2. Do you have a favorite combination of materia or single materia/spell?  Yes.  Yes I do. XD  It's a combination that I used to use in the original FF7 game when I was trying to level the materia/characters.  First you allow a character to get affected by Fury, meaning that they'll immediately always do a regular attack without allowing you to control it.  Then you equip them with the Pre-Emptive materia which gives the character a higher probability of attacking before the enemies do.  Finally, you equip the Slash-All materia, which allows you to attack all the enemies at once, and if you have it leveled, then it gains the Flash ability, which is an instant death attack to all enemies.  And then, without you having to do much of anything, every time a new battle starts, the Fury-affected character will usually always attack first, instantly killing all the enemies (unless they're immune), and instantly ending the battle almost before it's even started. LOLOL. The only thing you have to do is steer the characters around the map until a battle starts, then do nothing and watch it end on it's own.  The quick, easy, and lazy way to level everyone up! XD

In Crisis Core, it's much more difficult to find a specific combo of materia to consistently use, because those darn monsters keep getting harder and more creative. I'd settle with one configuration for a short while, but then be forced to completely change them out and adapt a new fighting style. XD  Some that I almost always equipped, though, were Moogle Power, which increased chances of using the Moogle limit break to level up your materia, and Lucky Stars, which increased the chances of using Cissnei's limit break, which, in turn, increased the chances of you pulling other limit breaks.  And I discovered, somewhat later on, that Tri-Lighting works great on a lot of monsters, along with Osmose to let you steal MP from them to keep using materia. LOL. Assault Twister was an early favorite (allowing a spinning attack to hit whatever was nearest you), and my specially fused Curaga was almost always used, along with Regen.

3. Who is your favorite Harry Potter character and why?  Hmm.  Well, it used to be Ron, when I was really into reading the books a while back.  I think he was amusing at the time, but had so many misfortunes befall him. XD; But now.... I really like Harry, and I've always identified with Hermione in almost every way because we were both the school nerds that knew everything from the books, and didn't really fit in otherwise. XD **was even given her wand as a birthday gift.** So I think I now like the three main characters equally.... Oh, and I really like Sirius, Harry's godfather.  He was always such a great person, loyal both to Harry's father and Harry himself, and I thought it was wonderful how Harry finally had someone to call family when he came along! It was so horrible when he died, but because of the whole mirror thing, I refuse to believe he's really dead. I haven't finished reading the last book yet.... **is reading it right now.** So I'm holding out hope that he might still come back somehow. >3 So don't spoil anything for me! XD

4. Out of all the amazing songs you've found/heard, is there one that stands out as the one you'd like to make an AMV with the most?  LOL, I remember a long while back when I was chatting with Faye about various songs I'd like to make an AMV out of.... I started a list too, but it's not complete because I haven't really kept it up. XD; Let's see.... **digs up list.** Of the ones I have listed, I've wanted to do The Children of Eve, Faith of the Heart, At the Beginning, and Reach a Little Longer the most. (I'm bad at remembering the artists who did them, so I won't list those. XD;) I've always thought Children of Eve would fit best with all the FF7 characters, particularly Avalanche. Faith of the Heart and Reach a Little Longer always make me think of Zack, and At the Beginning is totally Zack/Aerith. X3 Most recently, I'd love to do Bless the Broken Road (Zack/Aerith) and Life After You (also Zack/Aerith). It's hard to list just one song, because there are so many I just love. ♥ Which reminds me, I need to do some more recordings and update my mp3 player! >3

5. I can't remember if you've ever said this, but I don't think so.... How did you get into YGO?  Hmmm.... So that was a while back, when I was still in high school, and my sister and I started covertly taping Pokémon and Digimon because the monsters were cool. We didn't really tell our parents because it was a kids cartoon and we were totally too old for that sort of thing. LOL. Anyway, along with the recordings, we'd get snippets of YGO with it because we always taped five minutes both before and after the shows, so we'd occasionally see those, and of course the commercials. It always looked kinda stupid to me, because there was some fruitcake with multicolored, huge, spiked up hair. With pink in it. LOLOL. I always thought he was some weirdo. Anyway, we ended up seeing fragments of weird battles with cards and monsters, and didn't have a clue what that was about for the longest time, so we just ignored it.... Until my sister admitted that she'd started watching a few shows because the monsters looked interesting. XD So, she started taping the entire show and we watched it to check it out. It seemed interesting enough so we just kept watching it, and eventually just got into it that way. And then, I think it was the first Christmas after we started college, we agreed to buy each other the Yugi Starter Deck as a present - the original one that's so awful, and if you tried to play it today, you'll get smashed before you set your first card down. XD And things just took off from there! And believe it or not, I learned most of everything I know about dueling from a free, online game we downloaded. LOL. Which does have the correct rules, by the way, so you can be assured that I'm not playing by the half-baked, incorrect rules that the anime or the other computer games might use. XD (Which bug me so much now. XD)

Lo and behold, I have officially started my FF7/SW crossover universe! X3 The story that I'm launching everything with is called Distant Worlds, Broken Souls.  I'll be posting the actual fics on FF.net, but if I have any random blurbs, I'll still post them here. Right now, I've got the prologue and the first chapter up!

You can find the story here: www.fanfiction.net/s/5903666/1/Distant_Worlds_Broken_Souls.

Can you believe I'm actually writing FF7 fanfiction? I still can't believe it. XD It sure is different from my old werewolf stories, that's for sure! Especially since I'll be posting chapter-by-chapter, like all you strange fanfic writers, instead of waiting until the entire thing is finished like I've done before. LOL. Faye tells me that it's good because then people can suggest ideas as I go along! So maybe that will be helpful, especially since I still don't have a crystal clear idea of what's going to happen next. XD; Chapter 2 will be interesting, since that's where I need to figure out exactly how I want to bring the various SW groups into the thing, and decide what characters I need to create for it. Some of the characters will be important to the plot down the road, so that chapter is really going to be the one that determines a lot of the story from here on out.

Hope you enjoy reading it! Feel free to poke and prod and criticize all you want, since all this is still new to me. XD

This just happens to be the 100th FF7 picture I've uploaded to this site! X3 It probably counts all the icons, too, though, because I'm sure I haven't drawn 100 pics. XD 

I love Ralph. ♥ And Treo's eyes. X3