the kangaroo communique --> back-up style!

Right, so. Yesterday was the first regular school day after the shitstorm that was Ondoy.

The atmosphere was rather... well. It wasn't great, but it wasn't entirely terrible. Still, it's rather haunting, going around and hearing people talk about nothing else but what happened, or occasionally spotting someone crying on someone else's shoulder. My students, for the most part, are okay - we talked long and much about exactly how the tragedy could have reached critical mass the way it did, along with a more regular concern: grades.

I've just spent most of my day checking all of their remaining requirements and computing for their class standing - it doesn't look like I'll be failing anyone this semester, and overall, everyone did stellar in my classes. Tomorrow will involve some negotiations on the parts of a few of my students, and I'll probably let them have their desired grade bumps if they can argue with me well enough.

On the grad studies end of things, I've still got a paper to write. Felt shitty over the past few weeks, so I really haven't been able to do it. Thankfully, I returned to my calm and happy place by rolling around and fixing all (yes, all) of my backlogged files and changing my icon sets, so I think I'm recharged enough to give it a shot. Tonight, perhaps.

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Now let's talk internet things.

First off: HI AND HELLO TO THE NEW FOLKS THAT jusrecht INTRODUCED ME TO! ♥

Aaaand pimp outs.

NEW POST UP ON ORZISMS: Contextualizing Manga the Right Way (And Then Some)


Fic pimps from stitchedophelia:

The World Ends With You: Life is Inevitable and Death Goes On (requested by mienaihoshi ♥)
Suikoden Tierkreis: Stone Shadows
The World Ends With You: Every day is the end of the world (requested by yukitsu ♥)
The Skytides RPG [theskytides]: Now this day too enters history (requested by yukitsu ♥)
Katekyo Hitman Reborn: Death is another country (requested by botling ♥)
KHR: Fiore di Nuvola. All the words... (requested by botling; you might want to read my minibang beLIEve if you want to tackle this one ♥)
Katekyo Hitman Reborn: Come up through the summer rain (requested by botling ♥)
Devil Summoner: Solemn talk of distant rain (requested by botling ♥)
Katekyo Hitman Reborn: O little sparrows, mind your place! (requested by jusrecht ♥)
The World Ends With You: They only let him go wrong out of kindness, I suppose


Snippets and drabbles for my original projects, all requested by yukitsu:

Bloodsport: I wrote on a wall, "I've gone ahead"
Bloodsport: You have outgrown your first kimono
Bloodsport: An old friend you just met
Endtimes: There are no strangers under cherry blossoms


I've actually finished a host of other prompts from the ones people requested from me sometime back, but I won't be posting them up just yet.




...Right, back to work.

A conversation with yukitsu the other night had me attempting something that I've never done before: block out a whole day to do nothing but fuss over my writing.

To make a long story short, it worked.

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KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN!: Return on Investment

Chapter Eight: New ways, old things.
Theme Song: Download link to follow!
Rating: G
Characters: Tsuna, Chrome, Basil, I-Pin, Lambo, Luce, Gamma, Shouichi, with brief appearances and mentions of others
Summary: Tsuna dreams in the car, Luce cleans her office, and occasionally, we see bits and pieces of the past.
Notes: This longfic was my NaNoWriMo project for 2008, although I've actually been itching to write it ever since I returned to the fandom early on this year. It's meant to take place ten years into the new future created by Tsuna and his crew after the TYL arc, and is pretty much very AU now, given how the manga has ended up progressing (point of departure from the canon is around Chapter 215, although I've tried to incorporate bits and pieces from the chapters after that). The title of this chapter is taken from the 31_days theme for July 4, 2008.

4,916 words.



Chapter Nine: No place like home.
Theme Song: Download link to follow!
Rating: PG-13, for shower hanky panky nudity
Characters: Kyoko, Haru, Hana, Ryohei, Yamamoto, Hibari, Reborn x Bianchi, with mentions of others
Summary: The Road Trippers finally reach their destination, and Reborn, after a good morning call from Bianchi, goes off to see one of his stupid students.
Notes: The title of this chapter is taken from the 31_days theme for October 11, 2008.

4,560 words.



Chapter Ten: Raison d’etre.
Theme Song: Download link to follow!
Rating: R, for interhouse mansexxing an implied sexual encounter
Characters: Dino x Hibari, Gokudera, Tsuna, Kyoko, Basil, Chrome, Yamamoto and Reborn, with mentions of others
Summary: Hibari in Venice, two hours late for an engagement. Gokudera, on assignment. Tsuna, heading home. Yamamoto and Reborn, at a bar, with drinks.
Notes: The title of this chapter is taken from the 31_days theme for August 14, 2008.

4,440 words.



Chapter Eleven: Somewhere just left of nowhere.
Theme Song: Download link to follow!
Rating: NC-17, for graphic sex
Characters: Dino x Hibari
Summary: Ten years in the past at Namimori / Ten years into the future at Venice.
Notes: The title of this chapter is taken from the 31_days theme for August 7, 2008.

3,663 words.

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Feels like centuries since I last posted Return on Investment stuff, huh? orz

Also: ridiculously happy about how Fiore di Nuvola has been received so far. Was honestly afraid that no one would read it because of the premise, but the folks who have were fabulous with their feedback.

For this next week, I'm thinking of trying to write just a little bit each day rather than take a whole day out for it. We'll see which one works out for me better. ♥

The writing of this entry was massively delayed because of Suikoden Tierkreis.

No, I do not have a DS - khursten lent me hers, with encouragement from yukitsu, because the both of them are delightfully evil.

My PSP is with Khursten now. orz

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Cold aside, this week was pretty glorious because two vacations that consequently landed on the only remaining work days that I had pretty much left me with a four-day weekend. Used Tuesday and Wednesday up for tackling my backlog (which I managed to finish), and rolled around on Thursday. Met with the girls on Friday, which felt strangely like Saturday because lmao, long weekend is long.

Friday was also the day that I took home Khursten's DS, and it ate me alive. It's... still chewing on my arm. ._.

Saturday class was lulzy because we tackled Formalism and Reader Response Theory. Had a lot to contribute to both while I was tackling the gazillion tags I got from all of my RP accounts. I'm getting better at juggling all this stuff, but also realizing that I may definitely have to cut down on my activities and RPs soon. There are so many other things that I ought to be or would rather be doing with my time now.

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Title: Insanity is hereditary.
Characters/Pairing(s): Tsuyoshi, Iemitsu, Shamal, mentions of others
Rating: G
Summary: On the eve of a fight for succession, some not-so-tired old men get together for a good drink.
Warnings? Manry bonding, and alcohol.
Notes: Originally written for khr_undercover. I wrote for the theme, "Origins", and I actually won, which is pretty cool. o_o The title is taken from a theme found in one of the 31_days sets!


1,495 words.


...There is a funny story behind this one. See, I joined khr_uc not knowing that it was actually a contest, and since I was srsly busy, I forgot to join the community and keep track of the updates. So, when I finally found out that the results were up and I saw my name on the post as one of the winners for the theme competition, I was like "whut". XD;

Still, it was challenging and very fun. I'm considering joining the third round, but with my hit record with writing, it's probably better if I didn't.

Deadline for the minibang is coming up by the end of this month. I've checked my entry over for the umpteenth time, and I figure that I can get by on minimal editing. The thing, as a whole, looks perfectly fine on its own.

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Been tripping out massively on movies lately, and that sort of made me realize something about my writerly cycle that I'll probably blog about sometime.

I should also blog about my stand on KHR!, since I've been gabbing off to a select few people ever since the first chapter for this month came out.

For the moment, though, I'll pimp out the entry on Nine Inch Nails that I made sometime back, since a couple of you guys were asking.


Nine Inch Nails and How I Owe Them Just Short of Everything

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May open myself up for prompts. Possibly when my brain stops dribbling out of my nose.

Another horribly belated birthday gift, this time for desumethis. Know that I love you, bb, and I'm looking forward to meeting you when you fly back home! ♥


( Xanxus & Squalo - Married, Domestic Violence Included )