The Write Life

It’s been over a week since my last post and there really hasn’t been anything too exciting going on around my life right now.

For the moment, it looks like Josh and I will be staying put in Raleigh. There was some talk of him being transferred within his company to California. >.< While I kinda like the idea of being in a new location, that’s the nomad in me, the actual thought of having to clean out, pack, clean the apartment until spotless, and then drive one of the cars across country is just not a pleasant thought.  Not to mention that the standard of living out there is about twice as much as it is here. takaidesune!

I guess the point that I’m trying to get to is, that while we were in the big hurry to wait and see what was going to happen, I stated looking for jobs that I might be interested in on that coast and with that coast being big with the manga industry here in the US, I’m sure you could imagine where I started looking.  Within minuets of beginning my search, I found a job that I would absolutely love! So much so in fact, that I’m still going to apply for it and hope that they will allow me to telecommute and travel from here as needed. A big wish, but not impossible for this job I think.  What is it, you ask?

A Pop Japan Tour Coordinator.

I would get to  create and coordinate pop culture-themed tour plans, itineraries, and budgets; find special events, concerts, festivals and shows to be included in the itineraries; a few other responsibilities that I have some experience with, and then the best part: Serve as tour guide.  I would be paid to travel to Japan, and visit all the places that I’d already want to go to and see! Akihabara, Harajuku, some of the shines maybe, Tokyo Tower, the pier, and that’s just in Tokyo! Think of all the other places in Osaka, Nagoya, and Hokkaido that would be interesting to a Pop Culture enthusiast! The regular shows and conventions, the maid cafes! This list could go on forever! *-*

I’m really nervous about sending off my resume, which, thanks to the help of my aunt is all tweeked out to help me at least get an interview with them.  I’m still working on my cover letter. OMG I’m completely obsessing over every little detail for this! >.<  I even updated my LinkedIn Profile for it; something that I haven’t done since I joined the site. My weakest point I feel is my Japanese level, but I think that this will only improve, especially with frequent trips to Japan!

Music Video time! Warning: this video is soooo not suited for minors or little children. So, be warned!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

I hope your enjoying your day!

Today, I wanted to post a tribute to all my favorite anime pairings! First off, to get us in an even sweeter mood, I’ve posted ELS’s Two is Better than One amv. I LOVE this one, it’s sickeningly sweet. ^o^

Next up we have another by ELS, with the pairing of Amu and Ikuto from Shugo Chara.

This next one isn’t directed specifically at Tamaki and Haruhi from Host Club, but I think that it does show off the love/ friendship between them and the rest of the club.

And a final one to Saya and Haji from Blood +

So, I got to meet with some friends last night and one of the things we talked about was the Three Act Structure that I’ve been having such a hard time with lately. Just talking through the steps with them got my mind working again and I came home and just busted out the ideas to get most of the structure done! I’m glad that they talked me into sticking with it. :)

Here’s a shot of my board that I’ve been working on to get it done.  I know that there were probably easier ways to go about this, but I just used things that I had on hand around my apartment: A scrap canvas painted white, some left over ribbon from the wedding, left over index cards from uni, a bit of charcoal to lay out the lines, a sharpie to label the sequences and acts and to permanently mark the lines, and of course, safety pins to hold everything together.  I’ll probably reuse this method until the canvas falls apart, but hopefully by then I’ll be a published writer, and the materials for a new board will be tax deductible.

So, I’ll probably get back to writing Grim Aspects again this weekend, now that I have a better idea of the direction that I’m heading in.  I still feel like leaving a snipit behind today before I move into my AMV for the post.  I’ve dug into my binder of goodies and pulled out a little something that I wrote a year or two ago.  There are a few rough patches in the scene especially where Nick gives a little too much information away, but I was leaving cluse for myself so I could pick it up later. This is definitely a piece that I’m looking forward to expanding on someday. A little warning though, PG-13 for strong language.

“NICKOLAS!!”

His fingers hesitated over his keyboard, eyes closing for the brief moment it took Sammie to bust in the door. He glanced up. She’d practically torn the bedroom door it’s hinges. Sammie stood there in the door way dressed in her normal jeans and tank. Anger washed off her slender body in waves as she tried to form a coherent sentence.

“A week. A fucking week you’ve been back, and there’s already some lousy junkie in my apartment! God damn you, Nickolas, why do you have to bring that filth inside my house?!”

He studied her carefully, before turning his eyes back to the screen. “His not a junkie. That would imply that he was addicted to …”

“NOT a junkie? Are you kidding me?” She interrupted. “Nick, that kid has more bite marks than I’ve seen at once on anybody! He looks like he was used for a freaking pin cushion, there’s no way he isn’t.”

Nickolas pulled off his glasses and rubbed his face before looking back at her. “Samantha, I saw the kid last night. He’d looked lost or something, but he wasn’t a junkie. He was the healthy kid he should’ve been. I caught some of them trying to dump him in an alley earlier tonight.”

She ran her hands through her long hair and let out an exasperated sigh. “Nick…that still doesn’t mean you have to bring him here. There’s places you could have taken him to…”

“You know as well as I do that those so called ‘centers’ do not actually help people. I’m not going to let some unlucky kid get stuck in one of them.”

She began to pace in the confined space between the door and the bed. “You can’t save them all, Nick.”

“We’ve had this conversation before. You know my feelings on the topic.” He turned away from her, clearly not wanting to talk more.

Sammie visibly shook herself. “You can’t do this here, Nick! You’re going to draw attention to yourself. And frankly, I may be stronger than the average human, but I’m not up for a fight against the strongest coven of vampires on the east coast. Damn it, you know what they’re like, you use to be one of them!”

“I was NEVER one of them.” he spat back. Nickolas stood then. He stepped around the desk and stopped barely an inch from touching her shoulder.

He kept his face straight on as he whispered,“Yes, it was their leader who turned me, but I did not take part in what the others did for ‘fun’.”

He turned his face into hers, taking a deep breath as his lips hovered over the pulse on her throat. “I may not know what I am, but I know what I can do. If killing enough of them will wake my sire from his sleep, then I will drain every single drop from their bodies.”

Sammie held her breath, staying as still as she possibly could.

Then just as suddenly, he was on the other side of the room. His arms wrapped tightly around himself. “Get out.”

“Nick…”

“Now.”

She often forgot how dangerous Nickolas could be. He had mastered the art of acting human and he never had to pretend to be dangerous.

Bless it, I still get chills reading this. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  ^o^

Now since I’ve got this vampire theme going with Grim Aspects and the little snipit with Nick, I thought I’d keep it going with an AMV from Vampire Knight, one of my favorite animes. Here’s a little insight to the story line.

Yuki’s earliest memory is of a snowy night in winter, when she was attacked by one vampire and was saved by another, Kaname Kuran. Ten years later, Yuki Cross, the adopted daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy, has grown up and become a “prefect” (also known as a guardian) for the school with two purposes: to protect the Day class students (humans) from the Night class students (vampires) and to protect the true identity of the Night class students from being discovered by the Day class students. Her fellow guardian, Zero Kiryu, a childhood companion whose parents were killed by a pureblood vampire, is now determined to kill them all and refuses to trust them. Through a cruel twist of fate, Zero becomes a vampire himself, having been bitten by a pureblood vampire four years before, Shizuka Hiou. Kaname, Yuki’s savior, leads the group of Night class, with the help of Takuma Ichijo (the vice president). (wikipedia)

The two featured in this video is Yuki and Zero.