Yeah, there's nothing worse than a dirty transgenderism. I should keep mine sparkly. And, twenty cross-dressers a day is just too many. I'm going to run out of cross-dressers at this rate.

( Fic meme taken from ravenbell and wordsofastory )

( First up, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Veleda style )

In other news, holiday cards are not going to arrive on time, but people will get them. I have not forgotten you!

I don't have much to say. I am dull.

Oh, I've been meaning to do a fic roundup.

First of all, my months old V for Vendetta fic, Discovering the Question. I'm fairly certain I've never mentioned it here. It was written for fic_on_demand.

Over at wishkisses I've written Christmas Present, a Fruits Basket fic with a Ritsu/Mitsuru (Shigure's editor) pairing, and The Fine Art of Experimentation, a Tatsumi/Watari fic that gave me no end of trouble. Darn thing just didn't want to be written. I also wrote Prize, which is Hisoka/Oriya, and Monkey See, Monkey Do, a Saiyuki fic, with a Goku/Gojyo pairing of all things.

In the "written for me" pile we have Bosatsu's Gambit by ranalore. It is Kanzeon Bosatsu/Jiroushin. You want to read the Kanzeon Bosatsu/Jiroushin. There's also Wishing by fuzipenguin. It's Bleach, Shunsui/Nanao. Yay! Last, but definitely not least, there's Behind the Mask of You and I by trensaddiction. It features my Peacemaker Kurogane OTP, Akesato/Yamanami. Read it; it's beautiful.

I am still dull.

I will not feel sorry for Akito, damn it. I will not. And if I really must, then it will only be the vague sort of sympathy that I feel for Muraki. There is no excuse for Akito's kind of cruelty. Finding that he's hurting as well changes nothing.

On the upside, I finally got to read chap. 97, which I've been waiting for ever since I first truly became interested in Furuba. Yeah, I'm so predictable.

Just finished Fruits Basket chapter 88. Best school play story ever. It it totally trumps Ranma 1/2's production of Romeo and Juliet and leaves Cardcaptor Sakura's Sleeping Beauty in the Dust. Maybe I'll post it up here later. I don't think you have to be overly familiar with Fruits Basket to understand it.

So, the other day I was thinking how disappointed I was that Fruits Basket doesn't have much room for geekery. For the most part, I like series that challenge me intellectually somehow. Whether it's the symbolism of Utena, the history behind Peacemaker Kurogane and Rurouni Kenshin, even Yami no Matsuei has a lot of room for exploring the psychology behind the characters (not to mention all those plot holes Yoko Matsushita leaves lying around), but Furuba doesn't have anything like that.

Then I started thinking. And now I realize that I can make anything geeky. So, I present to you an exploration of Furuba characters I like and dislike, and why.

The reason I like so many characters in FB is that they're so incredibly flawed but they're also trying to overcome these flaws. I liked Ayame when I first saw him, but it didn't go beyond, "what a funny character." It was only after we discovered that he has doubts and fears just like most people, and seeing that he really does try to help Yuki, that I really became attached to him. Similarly, Yuki only started to grow on me once he wasn't treated like a perfect character. This is also one of the reasons I like Kyou and Ritsu; they both try so hard.

You may wonder, then, why I like Shigure so much. After all, he has no interest in self-improvement. Simply put: he's cool. Shigure's raw coolness factor makes up for any lack of soul searching. Yes, I am shallow at times.

The idea of faults and trying to overcome them is one of the main reasons I don't really like Tohru. She's presented as a character without faults, so it's impossible for her to improve. Because Tohru does have faults. They problem is that we're supposed to not notice them. They're not supposed to be treated as faults. Think of when she first meets Hiro (I'll be getting to my feelings on him later); in that seen we see a major problem Tohru has-- she's a complete and total pushover, however this is hardly examined at all. Then later, Tohru does get worked up about something Hiro says: he tells her she talks too much about her mother. Now, is this really such a bad thing? So the girl likes to talk about her mom. The cast doesn't care (except for Hiro), and, more importantly, the audience doesn't care. (At least, I don't think so.) Despite this, Tohru freaks out anyway. It seems to me that we're supposed to think "oh, what a wonderful person she is" for worrying about something that isn't even a problem. Note that it's not the panicking over nothing that annoys me. Ritsu does it too, and I love Ritsu. No, what bothers me is how the scene is treated. So really, it's not Tohru's fault I don't like her, it's the presentation.

There are other reasons too. I'm sick of the the "You'll let me stay with you? Oh, thank you! In return I shall do all the housework." It was old after Snow White did it. (I'd like to say that the root of the Snow White story involved the Norse goddess Freya, a diamond necklace, and sex. Just so you know.) And then, finally, I simply do not find her believable. In the end, it's more for literary reasons that I dislike Tohru.

There's another character I dislike, even more than Tohru, and that's Hiro. His cruelty seriously annoys me. "But, Veleda," you say, "Kyou says mean things too, but you like him!" This is true, however there is a huge difference between the two of them. Kyou is not unkind because he enjoys causing other people pain, he is unkind because he does not know how else to act. He has learned to reject others before they reject him. The problem is, that this habit doesn't really have an "off" switch. He pushes everyone away, regardless of intent, because he doesn't believe that anyone would show him genuine kindness. However, once you get passed his barrier, you see a totally different side of him. Tell me you weren't surprised when Kazuma first shows up. That huge smile on Kyou's face has been the most lasting image from the series for me. Hiro, on the other hand, seems to genuinely enjoy hurting others.

Hiro doesn't have any of Kyou's traumas. His mother, upon finding out he was cursed, hugged him and said "I love sheep!" Compare that to Kyou's birth parents. His mother killed herself over him, and his father calls him an "it." I'd have issues too, thank you very much. Another "jerk" character, Rin, is much the same way. Her parents despised her, and her love for Haru put both of them in danger, and led to her getting hurt. These characters have reasons for their behavior. Hiro simply doesn't compare. (You could say that his feelings for Kisa are dangerous, but I have yet to see any sign of this in the manga. If I'm missing or forgetting something, please tell me.) Edit: Oh, wait, I just remembered that Akito does indeed hurt Kisa. I feel dumb. Well, Hiro still hasn't gone through as much pain as Rin and Kyou have, so I think my point still stands. /edit

Well, it's late, and I'm tired. If there's more to say, I'll say it tomorrow, err, later today. (I also apologize for typos. I'm too sleepy to comb this thing.)

Ok, sorry about that post. I don't any real crises have occurred, luckily. I shouldn't wallow in self-pity like that. Other people certainly don't want to listen to it.

This is such a theme. First I whine and angst, then I apologize for it, repeat ad nauseam. The obvious solution is to just stop whining, but I've never been able to do that. One of my biggest character flaws is that I never improve myself. I know I should stop complaining/get more organized/stop procrastinating/stop being so passive, but I never do. Bleh.

In somewhat lighter news, I've joined another RPG, junnishi_rpg. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I'm giving it a shot. And, hey, the worst that can happen is that I make myself miserable trying stay in even though I hate it, and let everybody down, and possibly making them angry at me until I finally quit and hate myself for it.

....Ok, maybe the worst that could happen is pretty bad, but I don't care! Ganbatte, Veleda, ganbatte!

.....I have mood swings from hell.

The truth is, I'm not even all that crazy about Fruits Basket. I do like several of the characters though, which is one of the most important things in an RPG. Characters I'm particularly fond of are:

1. Kyou- This is a rather good thing, seeing as I'm playing him. I just love this type of character. Kyou is like a less angsty Kurosaki Hisoka (Yami Matsuei), who is my second favorite anime character, I think.

2. Shigure- He's so suave. And evil. But a cool, subtle, enigmatic kind of evil. He's so hard to figure out.

3. Ayame- He's just so much fun. And I love how he and Shigure interact.

4. Ritsu- I so identify with Ritsu. There's the whole feeling way more comfortable in the clothes meant for the opposite physical sex, not to mention the self-loathing and frantic apologizing. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! I'm so sorry! I don't deserve to live! I can't believe I did that! I'm so sorry!" (Not an actual quote from the manga, but it gives you the general idea.)

So, yes, that's all for now. I'm so sorry for making you read this! ;)

You know what I thought I'd do today? Reviews! I'm going to review recent anime and manga that I've seen.

Fruits Basket: Up to manga 5
Originally I had practically no desire to read this manga. But after finding out a huge spoiler, that I won't mention here, I became intrigued. The final straw was when I found a fic called "Shigure's Homosexual Bondage Dungeon," a humor fic by one of my favorite authors. I had to read the manga, so I would understand the fanfic.

When I first started reading, I hated it. The curse didn't create enough tension for me, and the characters were horrible. Tohru is the ultimate Mary Sue. She is way too perfect. Just reading made me want to wretch. Same problem with Yuki, too damn perfect. Kyo and Shigure were ok, but they were so stereotypical. Kyo is practically Hibiki Ryouga under a different name.

Fruits Basket has all this going against it. But, surprisingly, it has begun to suck me in. Tohru has gotten a little less irritating, Yuki has started to display some interesting weakness, and damnit if I don't like Kyo. Plus, the introduction of Akito gives me a character that seems deliciously malevolent. I -want- to know what's between him and Yuki.

In conclusion, I do not recommend buying this manga. However, if you have some time to kill at a book store, it's a fine way to pass the time.

Peacemaker Kurogane: Episodes 1-4
I heart this show. It is -so- cool. Okita is well on his way to becoming one of my anime gods. Okita kicks ass. Okita is master of shoe-fu. *Goes into hyperactive fanboy mode* He's like fighting this guy and then kicks his foot up and uses his geta to block and twist the sword away then he disarms the guy with his hand and steals the other guy's wakazashi. *Pauses for breath* I guess you had to be there.

The show's main weakness, in my book, is the main character, Tetsunoske. I find him annoying. He's lazy, has no understanding of consequences, and is very disrespectful. I deal with a flood people like this every day. I do not want it in anime. I'm hoping Hijitaka will finally bust his ass one of these days. This, however, is really not enough to deter me. The action is cool, and the other characters are strong enough to more than make for the not so good main character. PMK is great.

Rurouni Kenshin: Episodes 58-62
I finally finished the Kyoto arc! Alright, I already knew what happened. I've read manga translations and episode summaries, but still. It was, of course, very good. The fights came out really well. Plus Saitou got another chance to be really cool. And finally, Kamatari appears in another episode! And s/he looks really pretty!

Not that I'm obsessed with Kamatari or anything. At least, not much. ALRIGHT ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!

Ok I am calm. Signing off.