Trabia Garden

I love this meme. It boils my journal down to its absolute essence.


- Write a list of characters and number them.
- Input the number of characters into this random number generator as the maximum and generate two numbers.
- Ramble about how the corresponding pairing/partnership/general interaction would (or, indeed, wouldn't) work. Perhaps write a snippet/one-sentence fic for it if you're feeling brave.
- Repeat to your heart's content.


( Fandoms represented: Derren Brown, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy XII, Supernatural, Harry Potter, Torchwood, House, Silent Hill, Avatar, Scrubs, Kingdom Hearts, Hetalia, The Mentalist, Jak and Daxter. )


I was just looking over some of the writing I did for NaNoWriMo in 2004, and, whilst much of it makes me cringe (the wordcount-padding is embarrassingly obvious), this part rather amused me:


Hero was making a valiant effort to remain calm, but it was terribly difficult. Love Interest, kidnapped? He would obviously have to do something about it.

Friend had teased Hero sometimes that he was falling in love with Love Interest, but he generally just ignored it. She was his friend. Nothing more. The fact that her name happened to be ‘Love Interest’ was clearly an unfortunate coincidence.


MY GOODNESS, SHE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED? I SHALL OBVIOUSLY HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT.

Also, I am mildly bewildered by the fact that one of the characters, Tai, is totally Sokka. I wrote this four years before watching Avatar and several months before Avatar even began, but he is still totally Sokka. How bizarre.

Yesterday, my brother, my mother, three of my brother's friends and I came second in a pub quiz! This was in part because one round involved naming European countries from a map, and my knowledge of European geography had improved quite a bit recently, due to, um.

Hetalia.

(It's educational!)

There was also a round in which we had to fold an origami giraffe. Who knew that learning to fold the paper swan from Prison Break would one day come in handy?

What I have learnt from this is that being in fandom can be surprisingly useful.


And now I am going to ramble about Kingdom Hearts II!

I love the world of Kingdom Hearts, in which Sora only has to know someone for half a minute and he's already Best Friends Forever with them. It makes me so sad that he was indoctrinated into the 'Nobodies are bad' mindset before he met Demyx, because I am certain that otherwise they would have got on amazingly.

I also love the huge battle in Hollow Bastion so much. Squall and Cloud standing back-to-back to face the oncoming enemies: awesome! Aerith healing Yuffie: adorable! Fighting alongside Final Fantasy characters! (Why is there no fight alongside Aerith, though? Is it because she can't fight? Because, er, she can totally fight, Kingdom Hearts.) Donald's love for Goofy! The 1,000 Heartless battle, which is just such an awesome moment! Sora wanting to help Maleficent, even though she's their enemy!

OF COURSE, THERE IS ONE THING I DO NOT LOVE ABOUT THE HUGE BATTLE IN HOLLOW BASTION. I don't want to fight you, Demyx! You don't want to fight! Let's just have a tea party together.

(Spoilers for the Hollow Bastion battle; highlight to read:

And then Sora addresses Xemnas as 'Nobody', which is such a dehumanising thing to do, and oh, Sora, please just question what Yen Sid told you a little. You can't trust Yen Sid! He has evil eyes!)


Does nobody find it even slightly fishy that Mickey Mouse appears to be wearing an Organization XIII cloak? Hmm.


Ahahaha, oh, dear. Squall and Tifa were merely in the same room during the first Space Paranoids visit, not even interacting, and I suddenly wanted to 'ship them. I love the bizarre pairing possibilities that Kingdom Hearts opens up.

I am quite sad that they made Yuna into a bizarre treasure-driven flying pixie thing, because that means that we'll never have the amazing strong Yuna of Final Fantasy X in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Of course, Cid received a rather rubbish treatment as well. As did Vivi. Alas. And Leon smiles far too much.

Kingdom Hearts Seifer is also a fairly large departure from Final Fantasy VIII Seifer, but I think Kingdom Hearts Seifer is hilarious, so I'll forgive him. Also, he's kept the 'I don't like you, but that doesn't mean I don't respect you' aspect of his character, which is something I've always rather liked about Seifer. And I do like Kingdom Hearts Yuffie quite a lot.

How would other Final Fantasy characters be represented in Kingdom Hearts? I'd love to see Rinoa in a future game, as I think she would fit beautifully with the general tone of Kingdom Hearts, and I'm delighted that the ending of Kingdom Hearts II seems to hint towards her existence in this universe. And I have no idea how they would represent Balthier and Fran, but Balthier and Fran would be amazing.

After the delightful experience of having Auron join the party in the Underworld, I'd like more levels in which the guest-star party member is a Final Fantasy character, actually. I have nothing at all against the Disney characters, but a little more Final Fantasy would be lovely. There is the problem that almost all of the worlds are Disney-based, so there's not much room for Final Fantasy characters in most of them, but I'm sure Square can work something out. (Also, when I was playing in the Land of Dragons, it occurred to me that there should be more female guest party members. There's Ariel in the first game and Mulan in the second, but I think that's all.)

You know what I would really, really love? A level in which Riku and Kairi are Sora's party members. That would be amazing. I like the Sora/Donald/Goofy friendship, but I am completely smitten by the Sora/Riku/Kairi one, and there simply isn't enough of it. MORE SORA/RIKU/KAIRI INTERACTION, PLEASE, KINGDOM HEARTS.

(I adore the shot in the (confusing and nonsensical, but so pretty) Kingdom Hearts II opening video in which Sora, Riku and Kairi are lying on the beach and holding hands. ♥!

...wait.

The opening video totally represents Time Compression, doesn't it?)

Ladies and gentlemen, the worst pun I have ever made:

(RIONA and housemate RACHAEL are cleaning out the refrigerator, in preparation for moving house.)
Riona: We appear to have some freak grapes in here. They expired on the twenty-second of May, and yet they still look fresh and green.
Rachael: Oh, really? And I bought that pack from SPAR last week, and they had mould growing on them the next day.
Riona: They must have been a pack of Dorian grapes.

I'm sorry, but not nearly as sorry as I should be.


In other news:

- I love Sweden/Finland, but it simultaneously makes me a bit sad. Don't be so afraid of Sweden, Finland! Sweden is a sweetheart! I'll take him off your hands if you don't want him.

(HERE ARE SOME SWEDEN/FINLAND STRIPS (read the panels from right to left): warm now?, have you met my wife?, SWEDEN HOW ARE YOU SO ADORABLE (from the Polish-Swedish wars), NO SERIOUSLY HOW (can't find the translator for this one), watch what you say around someone so determined to attend to your needs (1, 2, from the battle for America).

I love that the Hetalia fandom have agreed on the styles in which to translate characters like Sweden and Poland. Poland's valley-girl speak brings joy to my heart.)

- I, er, appear to have applied for Germany/Italy at 1sentence. Whoops. (I'm not quite sure how I feel about Germany/Italy. I adore their relationship, but it has to remain quite innocent, because after a certain point my mind starts going 'HANG ON, THEY CAN'T DO THAT, ITALY IS MENTALLY ABOUT TEN'. These sentences are entirely rated G.) In writing the sentences, I have discovered that I am completely incapable of adopting Italy's perspective. I seem to get on quite well with Germany's, though, and as I love Germany to bits I think this is a good thing.

- You should all also make claims at 1sentence, incidentally.

- New Torchwood tonight, and, whilst I swore during the last series that I was going to stop watching this dreadful thing, we all knew I was lying. Let's have a little more fun and a little less senseless depression this time, all right, Torchwood? (And a little more Rhys.) Also: dear self, if this mini-series is as terrible as the series that preceded it, please stop watching.

- I hope that Hetalia introduces a Wales before long. The Torchwood crossovers would be many and ridiculous.

- Speaking of ridiculous Hetalia crossovers: I think the Top Gear team would be delighted to have the physical incarnation of England as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car. (I haven't been posting about the new series of Top Gear, have I? I am enjoying it very much.)

- And surely someone must have written fanfiction in which the Winchesters encounter America. Surely.

- I want to go home! My academic year finished almost a month ago! PLEASE STOP BEING SO COMPLICATED, UNIVERSITY HOUSING SITUATION; I JUST WANT TO SEE MY FAMILY.

Watching Episode 23 of Hetalia, I was oddly touched by the sibling relationship between Switzerland and Liechtenstein (or by Switzerland's attitude to Liechtenstein, at least; Liechtenstein's emulation of Switzerland is just a tiiiiny bit creepy), and also struck by Switzerland's voice, although I didn't quite know why.

And then I discovered that the voice actors for Switzerland and Liechtenstein also voice Edward and Alphonse, respectively, of Fullmetal Alchemist.

I have no idea how a Fullmetal Alchemist/Hetalia crossover would work (it is rather difficult to justify the concept of characters meeting the personifications of Earth's nations when the characters in question do not live on Earth), but I want one immediately. Perhaps Ed and Al do not have to meet Switzerland and Liechtenstein; perhaps Switzerland and Liechtenstein are just setting out on a quest for the Philosopher's Stone. I do not know why Switzerland and Liechtenstein would need the Philosopher's Stone, but I'm sure there's some reason.

PERHAPS LIECHTENSTEIN WANTS TO TRANSMUTE HERSELF INTO SWITZERLAND. An incredibly creepy desire, but not one I would put past Liechtenstein. As her country is quite a bit smaller than Switzerland's, she needs the Stone to bypass the equivalent exchange rule. Switzerland is under the impression that they need the Stone for some other purpose, because I am not sure he would approve of his little sister trying to turn herself into him.

Of course, this entry will make sense to about two of you, as very few people on my flist know either Fullmetal Alchemist or Hetalia and even fewer are familiar with both, but apparently I feel the need to post it anyway.


The night before last, I dreamt that I met Derren Brown. After we had talked for a while, he embraced me intimately, in what I suspect was purely an attempt to mess with my head, and then he turned into a cat.

There is a part of me that is now convinced I actually did have a conversation with Derren Brown, because obviously he is capable of psychically projecting himself into my subconscious for a chat.

SO, BASICALLY, DERREN BROWN, YOU HAVE MADE ME INSANE.

THANKS.

When I was walking out of my room a couple of days ago, I had the fleeting but very powerful impression that I was England. (Er, the personification of England in Hetalia, rather than the actual landmass.) For a moment, I was convinced that I was a blond man with bright green eyes and eyebrows that could probably swallow people whole (the eyebrows registered particularly strongly). This happens sometimes: when I've been immersing myself in something, I'll occasionally have brief flashes of conviction that I am one of the characters. It is bizarre. I sort of hope this is something everyone experiences but considers so extremely normal that they don't bother to talk about it.


In less I'm-a-weirdo news (if only slightly less): Hetalia and Pokémon, it turns out, make an absolutely delightful combination! hippyjolteon had me write a crossover snippet in my last entry, and it was so much fun to write, and now I find myself wanting to expand it into a full-length Hetalia/Pokémon fic. I do not know what would happen in the fic at all, but my goodness do I want to write it. Japan would have an Eevee, and China would have a Dragonair. France has a Jynx; it sneaks up on you and uses Lovely Kiss when you least expect it. Sealand, futuresoon has suggested, has a Goldeen that he insists is some day going to become the greatest Seaking ever. This is obviously one hundred per cent true and also adorable.

England has a Wartortle:




I don't know why. I just think they'd look pretty awesome together.

I would also enjoy seeing how the countries would fare at Hogwarts (has anyone written this yet?). America, of course, is a Gryffindor. Italy is a Hufflepuff. Japan is probably a Ravenclaw. It took me a moment to decide what England would be, but the moment I settled on Slytherin it seemed so obvious. Germany is giving me trouble, though.

Speaking of Germany giving me trouble: Germany, you are too attractive. Stop that. This level of attraction to a country is weird. (But not as weird, as futuresoon has pointed out, as such a level of attraction to one's own country. There would, I imagine, be an odd, almost incestuous feel about it. I like England, but, thankfully, not to such an alarming extent.)

My second year of university is officially over! None of the topics for which I had been preparing came up in the literature exam, hurrah, but I didn't cry or faint and I did actually manage to write things, which means that it went better than expected. (I was terrified about that exam.)

Entirely because of futuresoon, I found myself celebrating with the twenty available episodes of Hetalia: Axis Powers (Axis Powers: Hetalia? Oh, I'm just going to call it Hetalia). They are only five minutes each, and watching them has been one of the most confusing experiences of my life.

I think I may have enjoyed it.

Here are some notes:


- Personifications of countries are adorable. I feel like a slightly awful person for finding it all so cute. World War II is absolutely not supposed to be cute.

- It is educational! Sort of! I didn't know that the prime minister of France proposed a union with England in 1956, and, given the way in which it was portrayed in Hetalia, I'm not likely to forget it. Also, should I ever need to remember historical events in the future, I shall probably find it easier now that I have the option of imagining little anthropomorphic countries acting them out.

- Apparently, England has a flying green rabbit, which I don't quite understand. I have lived here all my life, and my encounters with flying green rabbits have been few. Also, his eyebrows are spectacular.

- Oh, my goodness, the flashback to England giving young America toys in the seventeenth episode is actually really cute. And sad!

- The eighteenth episode: ...did America seriously say 'I choose you, China!'? Is it too early to be considering Pokémon crossovers? (Is it ever too early to be considering Pokémon crossovers?)

- I appear to be 'shipping Germany with Northern Italy. This is not really something I ever expected to think.

- Germany is sort of hot.


(Here, if you are interested in experiencing the bewilderment for yourself, is the first five-minute episode. It is An Experience. (A warning: Hetalia is a very silly series involving anthropomorphised countries. It likes to draw on and absurdly exaggerate national stereotypes. Much of it, although it avoids the particularly unpleasant aspects, is set during World War II. As a result, it has the potential to be really quite offensive, and even if you're not offended you may feel vaguely as if you are doing something wrong by watching it.))