Welcome to one of my strange little corners of the galaxy. My name is Tai, and I will be your guide for this evening. Please keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times, as management is not responsible if one is lost outside the vehicle. Actually, management is not responsible for any lost items, most especially minds, though if anyone finds a missing wallet management will be glad to return it to its owner.

As for the real me, what's there to tell? I'm twenty-one, go to college, live in an apartment (at last!) with my OWN ROOM, and unfortunately the apartmentmates are scared of rodents so no rats. Sniff. I'm anAsian Studiesmajor with dreams of becoming a professional writer that actually makes a good living at it, and try to enjoy everything I do. I love my friends and my pets, obsess over the weirdest things sometimes, get into technical detail arguments with my roommate about everything in the Harry Potter world, and love to read, write, watch movies (but not TV), and play video games.

I currently worship the fully-detailed posable Boromir action figure with thirty points of articulation that's sitting on my desk. Along with the devil ducky, Chinese zodiac rat statue, giant Tootsie Pop-shaped pillow, good luck geta, Buddhist prayer flags, copy of the Hair OBC recording, and dictionary printed in 1973 at some place called Kwik-Kopy Printing. I have a Hat that personifies me, 'cause it's a comfy bucket hat embroidered in the front that says "TECHIE" with little embroidered fresnel lights shining on the letters. It's also covered with pins of characters from various anime and video games. I love it.

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Story Progress

The Last Resort - a series of one-shots picking out interesting (some funny, some painful) points in the lives of Cid, Aerith, Squall, and Yuffie starting with the invasion of Hollow Bastion and finishing with their return to their home. Chapter Two (part three) has been posted, Chapter Three (part four) is in the works, focusing on everyone's favorite little ninja and her specific problems in dealing with the fall of the Bastion. Several other chapters have also been begun, and several of those are finished; I'm not even trying to write it in order, I'm just writing whatever is being inspired, and so far it's going well.

Simple - my first ever Squffie and my first KH songfic. Entirely done; I'm not planning any sort of continuation 'cause I like where it ends. The "full" version, complete with lyrics, can be found on my livejournal if anyone's interested.

The Dream Made Real - yep, FFX fic. Finished, posted, done, and it shall stay a one-shot. Go to fayth for the inspiration for this fic; that site is amazing. Nope, I'm not gonna write a "this is my version of Braska's pilgrimage" story, because I don't have enough ideas for one and there's a lot of them already. But this turned out interesting; it's quite seriously almost the shortest thing I've ever written.

Unnamed Lulu/Chappu fic - another FFX, I have some parts of it planned out but not enough for me to start writing it yet. Will most likely be another one-shot, though a longer one, though if it does evolve into chapters there won't be more than three, if that many. If it goes the way I want it to, it'll center around a letter that Chappu sends to Lulu just before the Djose beach incident - the way that soldiers nowadays write letters to be mailed home in case they're killed.

Downfall - another Squffie, though a longer one than Simple, with a much more complicated plot, though not nearly as complicated as Last Resort. Story has been planned out and Chapter One has been begun, but my attention got stolen by other things. It's coming up soon, though.

Taming of the Ninja - random burst of craziness inspired by a 36oz Coke and far too much chocolate, but one that makes me insanely gleeful. Based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You, Chapter Nine has been posted and Chapter Ten is currently stalled. Definitely my record setter for "fastest updating ever."

Fireborn - another FFX fic that spawned off "The Dream Made Real," about the fayth Ifrit - or actually the person he used to be. Asking the question of what leads a person to become a fayth, and giving a possible answer for how he himself became one.

Of Mud and Stars - FFVII Cid-centric semi-drabble about many different things all squashed into something that's less than a thousand words long. His wandering thoughts just after he arrives home from the final battle in the Northern Crater, lost in his mind as he thinks about what came before it in the wake of the fight - and comes to a few conclusions. Preparation/sort of character study for another, longer FFVII fic I'm currently planning out.

Unnamed Shera fic - Shera-centric pre-FFVII fic about the formation of the team for ShinRa 26, Cid and Shera's first meeting, and everything that led up to the failed launch. Might include some Cid POV along the line and might also have some CidxShera, but of a different sort than usual.She is the main focus, though. (Character interaction overhaul at the moment. Expect the first chapter sometime in January.)

Unnamed Cloud and Tifa fic - non-romantic fic (well, potentially a little one-sided romance, but nothing heavy and more friendship-like) that bridges the gap between FFVII and AC - because really, Cloud seemed to do a complete one-eighty between the end of the game and the beginning of the movie. Why did that happen, and how did he come to separate himself so much from those that love him, despite being happy (and dorky) when they defeated Sephiroth? (Considering axing this, now that I know about On the Way to a Smile - because my idea IS that novella.)

Whether the Weather - formerly a oneshot called "Gusts," now a collection of short Squffie stories each featuring a certain type of weather and how it likes to mess up situations significantly. Surprisingly un-sappy, as there hasn't even been a kiss in it anywhere yet.

Oshougatsu - another oneshot, mildly Squffie. Focusing on the feelings that people have when they're some place they shouldn't be, and how much they want to get out of there. Very personal story for me.

What You Have - Brought about by me mistaking pics of Lucrecia from DoC for pics of Shera, which led to me thinking that Vincent might compare his and Cid's situations. And from Vincent's point of view, his friend is probably... more than a little idiotic. Once again feeding my Cid-obsession, possibly a prequel to "Of Mud and Stars."

I really like W titles, don't I?

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Tairako LiveJournal

Since ff.n is apparently cracking down on author-reader "dialogue" in author's notes (which is really, really stupid...), I've started an LJ where I can talk to readers. Having being in the fanfic game for way too long, I've found that only actually finishing a chapter or story tops the greatness of being able to talk to readers and fellow authors, and in other fics I've written my author's notes have usually been long (though nowhere near as long as the chapters themselves) discussions between me and my reviewers. They know I'll answer questions and respond to them, so they ask stuff and make comments and we'll have fun talking. And since I'd like to keep doing that, I'm going to move that section over to my new LJ, under user name tairako (http:///users/tairako for the link itself). It's also linked as my "website" above. Anonymous reviews are permitted, so even if you don't have an LJ you can comment - all I ask is that you sign your anon reviews : ) Deal?

I'll also be posting other things up there, fics (songfics) that ff.n won't allow us to post anymore. More likely than not the fics will be posted up, though without song lyrics so it doesn't violate the ff.n rules. I'll remind people in the author notes for those fics that the "full" version can be found on my LJ. I just posted the "full" version of Simple up there, so go there if you want to read it with the lyrics that inspired me to write it.

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Kaze-chan, the other Tairako.

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"I still haven't decided whether you're charming or absolutely terrifying." "Your mistake is to assume one thing excludes the other!" -Dave and Blue, from College Roomies From Hell

"I'm not a concept. I'm just a fucked up girl looking for my own peace of mind." - Clementine, from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

"Insanity is just a state of mind." -Hawkeye Pierce, from MASH