★ we're gonna ride the racecars

stick @ 2009-07-09T08:34:00

2009-07-09T15:34:35Z

Your result for Roleplayer Test!...

The Biographer

Plotful, Character-Oriented, Platonic

Like the Portraitist, the development of your character is the most important thing to you when you roleplay. However, you like your development and relationships to have some kind of overarching plot: you're not the type to enjoy a dressing room or any kind of roleplay where your character can't grow in at least a semi-structured manner. You enjoy exploring your character's psyche, but simple exploration isn't enough: you like to discover and then implement and use, and therefore continuity (which gives you "why"s and "how"s) is very important to you. You struggle when your character has no solid base in which to put down its roots, such as in games where there isn't enough structure or ones where the plot is continually changing.

Take Roleplayer Test! at HelloQuizzy

There was another one I thought I should have gotten, but after further thought... I suppose this is pretty true. I like one solid setting that I can tinker around in and explore all aspects of with my characters, and tend to let other characters help with the plot and character development. I looooooove implementing changes in psyche. ~~As we can all see from Mr. Sociopath over there...~~

stick @ 2009-07-08T08:19:00

2009-07-08T15:20:56Z

Aaah, sorry about disappearing last night, people! D: My internet randomly shut off around 11pm, which I took as a sign from above that I should get my ass to bed.

Of course, the day I don't go into work is the day that the rest of the team walks away with five sales. Orz.

stick @ 2009-06-29T11:40:00

2009-06-29T18:42:33Z

TODAY:
• ~~Laundry~~
• ~~Vacuum~~
• ~~Store~~
• Game Logs
• ~~Driving~~
• Music

Yesterday I took the day off because if I didn't, I was going to go insane and snap at someone or have a mental breakdown in front of my boss or something unfortunate and embarrassing like that. I went to the Pride Parade and had a blast with friends. Got my face all sunburned, but I have no regrets. Also went on a hike yesterday morning, which made me feel pretty hardcore. I've decided that the next Monday I get off, I'm going to go to the aquarium and draw fish all day.

I've decided to at least take every other Sunday off for the game, because I need that day full of lulz more than I need a couple of demos, I think.

[10 THINGS I WISH I COULD SAY TO TEN DIFFERENT PEOPLE RIGHT NOW]
1. You totally understand that I work a weird balance between needing to be alone a lot and not wanting to be alone all the time. You let me complain to you when times are tough, and laugh with me during the good times. You're an awesome friend, and I totally know what you're going through.
2. I'm going to be really, really sad if you move, but if you think your personal growth is to be found over there, then go for it. I support you picking up your life and finally starting to move in a new direction. You'll come back in two years and I won't even recognize you. :)
3. You've always been a good buddy to me, and I think that you're a much better person than you give yourself credit for. I just want to see you happy again, you know? I wish you'd believe me more when I tell you things, because I really am telling you the truth. I know you can do it, you just have to grab onto life and stubbornly refuse to let go.
4. You may have a longing for human companionship and all that, but stop right there. You won't find it with this guy. He sounds kind of like a jerk to me. He's only into you for the body and not the brain, so don't go trying to change yourself to win him over. You'll just fall into that same trap you keep falling into over and over and over...
5. You're still my friend, but... The way you talk about another one of my friends really bugs me. I wish you'd just talk it out instead of dancing around the issue all the time. I'd say something myself, but I'm tired of taking sides.
6. If you ever touch my hair like that again, I'm going to snap at you.
7. Sometimes I wonder if you really have a crush on me or something, or if that's just my overinflated ego talking. It's pretty hard to tell. You seem happy with her, though, so I'd much rather you continue in that direction.
8. You're a prick and take everything way too personally. I can't stand being in the same car as you because you make a big deal out of every little thing that goes wrong in your operation. Who cares, man? Just keep moving forward like the rest of us.
9. I don't hear from you too much anymore, but I really am glad you made it through all that. Soon you'll be playing in the big leagues and achieving all your hopes and dreams. The best of luck to you, and I hope that your journeys towards success are relatively smooth ones.
10. You are quite possibly one of the stupidest people I've ever met. How is it that the dumb ones get all the nice things, but the smart ones are stuck with whatever they can scrounge up? Guh, I'm glad I never have to see you again.

[09 THINGS ABOUT MYSELF]
1. Sushi is my very favorite food in the whole world.
2. I'm thinking of going to school in San Francisco just so that I can intern at Disneyland.
3. For a long time, roleplaying held the highest priority in my life.
4. I always wait until the very last minute to do my laundry.
5. I keep wanting to write a memoir, but am too lazy to actually get around to it.
6. I consider myself to be asexual, as I'm not really sexually attracted to either gender.
7. I honestly and truly believe that the world can be saved if everyone just tries.
8. I'm never really happy with my hair, and so I never do anything with it.
9. Someday I'm going to travel all around the world by train, boat, and bus.

[08 WAYS TO WIN MY HEART]
1. Laugh at my jokes.
2. Honestly care about other people.
3. Understand how I need my space.
4. Be smart and clever.
5. Buy me lunch when I'm out of money.
6. Squee with me about my fandoms.
7. Encourage me to follow my dreams.
8. Understand my pull towards the arts.

[07 THINGS THAT CROSS MY MIND A LOT]
1. "I don't want to get out of bed."
2. "I want to go home."
3. "I miss roleplaying."
4. "That would make a really cool art project."
5. "I need to do my laundry."
6. "I wish I were in school right now."
7. "I'm sick and tired of talking to strangers."

[06 THINGS I DO BEFORE I FALL ASLEEP]
1. Throw my demo kit in a corner.
2. Check my email.
3. Plug in electronic devices for charging.
4. Take a shower, brush teeth, comb hair, etc.
5. Set both of my alarms.
6. Pet my cat until she leaves me alone and lets me sleep.

[05 PEOPLE WHO MEAN A LOT]
1. My parents
2. Havs
3. Fudgey
4. Kiley
5. Sean

[04 THINGS I'M WEARING RIGHT NOW]
1. My fuzzy pink bathrobe
2. My... Underwear...
3. ...My skin...
4. ...My charming personality?
5. My sunburns. ):

[03 SONGS I LISTEN TO OFTEN]
1. "Prelude 12/21" by AFI
2. "Bring Me Back a Dog" by IAMX
3. "Boats and Birds" by Gregory and the Hawk

[02 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE]
1. Work in Disneyland!
2. Make a webcomic that becomes an internet phenomenon!

[01 CONFESSION]
1. I tend to tell little white lies to make my life seem more exciting. Exaggerations, mostly. I'm getting much better at not doing it, but I used to say something not entirely true and then, a moment later, think, "Wait, why did I just say that?"

I'm way behind on my f-list. I'll get on that after I take a chunk out of my to-do list.

Somebody pinch me.

2009-06-18T00:11:12Z

I went to the first day of my professional sucking thing.

I can make a lot more than I thought I could.

I'll get $2000 a month as long as I meet showing minimum.

I'll be working for a boss that actually gives two shits about this trainees.

He said he'd find ways to get me places even without a driver's license.

They cycle people around so I'll get ridiculous amounts of job experience.

The Kirby vacuum is the most badass motherfucking vacuum you will ever see in your life.

It's absolutely disgusting what lives in your mattress.

It turns out I don't work Sunday's after all, so I get my game back.

To top it all off, my dad just texted me to say how proud he is that I finally got a job.

...

This is slightly balanced out by the fact that they may not ask me back if they thought I wasn't good enough today or something like that because they can't admit everyone who applied, but it's not enough to outweigh the fact that I'm so fucking happy right now I could cry.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dozen phone calls to make.

stick @ 2009-06-12T23:15:00

2009-06-13T06:17:13Z

TOMORROW:
• Six-mile hike with Dad. 5am. Set both alarms.
• Buy some new headphones (broke my big ones, orz).
• Look into how expensive iPods are these days.
• Cash that check so that I have more money.
• Badger Mom for driving lesson until she gives in.
• Purchase some ice cream. Eat said ice cream.
• Level up Cynis obsessively until my eyes bleed.

And that'll be my day, I think.

I want to get another icon post up (so far the menu looks like ROR, DOGS, Clover, 9, KH, and DK for my personal reference) before Wednesday. Brandy's graduation is on Tuesday, so I should figure out just who I'm stealing a ride from. Probably Sean.... I thought I had more to write about, but I guess I spoiled that by condensing tomorrow into bullet points.

I've been making a lot of comparisons regarding my growth as an artist lately. I still have the very first manga icon I ever colored, and recolored that same panel again to see how much I've learned about how to actually color things in. See the difference? I also recently found this seven-year-old drawing of mine (yeeeesh) and re-drew it for my monthly art challenge over at DeviantArt. It's a little bloody, but check it out. Makes me wonder how good I'd be now if I hadn't stopped drawing for five years in-between...

stick @ 2009-06-10T21:34:00

2009-06-12T19:27:51Z

Ask me questions. Any questions. If you've ever wondered something about me, or if you just feel like finding out factoids, ask here. I promise to answer every question to the best of my ability.

I don't know what anyone would want to ask, but just in case you've been curious or something, here you go. ♥

stick @ 2009-06-10T19:36:00

2009-06-11T02:37:26Z

I got the job.

Training starts Wednesday.

I have a week before I sell my soul to a vacuum.

A vacuum that cleans, paints, blows leaves, cooks dinner, and watches your kids for you, but still.

...

BRB, playing videogames all week.

Jigga-wha?

2009-06-10T15:46:10Z

So I had a dream where I was finally back in college. It was late, I was brushing my teeth, and then I remembered, "I can't go to bed yet, I have math homework to do" and I was actually happy about it. I think that's my subconscious letting me know just how much I really want to get back to school. :|

Of course then it switched to my brother wanting to go to some school event, and needing a chaperon. It was last-minute and getting late, so my mom had me go with him. I agreed reluctantly, but it turns out the event was a Star Trek convention and I was filled with relative glee. They were showing movie previews in one room, and most of them ran on the theme of SCARY ANIMAL vs SCARY ANIMAL. The last one was like, sea turtles vs penguins or something, but after some fierce-looking shots of the dangerous sea turtles, it panned out to show that they were all just kind of stuck on one side of this rock wall and couldn't actually get to the penguins. That produced the narrated line, "What are they going to do, throw food over the wall and hope that the penguins overeat to death?"

Then that switched into a preview for a movie about what would have happened if Padmé Amidala had a shoe obsession and had been kidnapped halfway through the second Star Wars movie by Hitler. I think it was with the intention of forced marriage, and I think they were in Scotland anyway. I am not making this up.

So yeah. I applaud myself for being able to come up with such comedy in my sleep.

♪ so they save and scrape and ponder

2009-06-10T01:46:39Z

Guh, today.

So I had a job interview today. I had to reschedule it because I underestimated how fast I could run to the bus stop, but the lady didn't seem to mind. I got lost on the way there as well, but I asked for directions (twice, orz) and eventually got myself sorted out. There was some chick in front of the building, but she was smoking and chatting away on her cell phone so I assumed she wasn't important and fixed my hair a bit in the reflective window of the next building over. When I walked over, she introduced herself. Turns out she was the one who was going to interview me. Tricksy, y/y?

I got some time to fill out papers in the front, which was good because I was all gross and sweaty (it's really hot outside and I was in double-layered black pants) and I needed a second to not look like I'd been frantically walking around Southcenter with no idea which direction was which. The interview went pretty well, even if at the end when she asked me to describe why I was good for the job, my brain blanked and words came out without rhyme or reason. I think I repeated myself. I don't really remember.

Eventually she goes:

HER: So I saw you prettying yourself up out there.
ME: Ahaha, yeah, I was hoping you weren't someone I'd have to talk to.
HER: That's okay! You wanted to look nice, right?
ME: Yeah, exactly.

My interviewer looked and acted like a normal human being, which was very comforting. I think she liked that I acted like a human being too. She said she'd put in a good word and drew a smiley face on my application. She made a joke about Kirby the pink thing vs Kirby the vacuum. I didn't feel like I was being judged by some overachieving, underweight, perfect-faced popular girl, and that was really the most I could have asked for.

The job pays pretty well, has decent hours, deals in sales (vacuums, exciting), and is actually able and willing to train their employees. The catch is that I'd have to work weekends, which probably means giving up my Saturday morning hikes with Dad and my every-other-Sunday table-top sessions with the group. The idea of ditching either makes my soul shrivel up a little every time I think about it, but the amount of money I'd get from this job starting out would be enough to pay for not one, but two quarters of college. And I need the money. So... Yeah. Maybe I'll run away and live with my friends to stay sane.

That assumes I get the job, of course.

On the way home I almost got a nosebleed on the bus. I thought of walking up the bus driver and going, "Hey, do you have a tissue? 'Cause I'd rather not bleed all over your floor." The potential bleeding stopped pretty soon though, so I didn't have to cause a scene.

At the transfer station, some guy sat down next to me and managed the feat of hitting on me without saying anything. It was like a game of charades. It was kind of charming in a "what the fuck is wrong with you" sort of way. I dodged all questions and looked in the other direction out the window as much as possible. That's the last time I get on a bus without my giant headphones on, man.

On the short walk home, one of the neighbor's dogs came up to me with a tennis ball in his mouth. I thought maybe he wanted someone to throw it for him, so I told him to drop it, but he rolled right over in front of me instead. So I rubbed his tummy. He was very friendly, and made up for the creepy charades guy, I guess.

Now I'm tired and kind of in a weird mood. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

Everyone else can ignore this, lulz.

2009-06-09T05:23:58Z

HEY ANDI!

I believe you wanted this?

stick @ 2009-06-05T21:39:00

2009-06-06T04:41:03Z

I think it's really kind of strange how I get my best roleplay ideas, advice, and tips for improvement off of the meme meant to cause wank and turmoil. Maybe it's only because I feel like I could comment there and actually get a response besides "don't know their canon, but all your characters are ♥!". Not that there's anything wrong with love and maybe I'm not doing it as wrong as I think I am, and it's not like anyone's said anything bad about me but HEY I'M IN A WEIRD MOOD AND JUST WANTED TO SAY THIS SOMEWHERE SO IT'S OUT OF MY HEAD.

Me and roleplaying are a little weird right now, I guess. I've been feeling a little burned out for a while, but knowing that other anons out there have similar ideas as me gives me a wacky sort of inspiration to go back to the way things used to be. Fuck the norms, fun is for winners.

And I am a winner.

PS: I'm typing this from my closet. No really, I'm leaning on my jackets. They're warm and cozy.

Possibly a GIP.

2009-06-04T15:29:17Z

BRB NAVIGATING

Hope that I don't get lost and miss my interview, orz.

Things. Now with 20% more stuff!

2009-06-04T00:59:25Z

I wanted to do a quick twenty-minute sketch of the crew of the Silent Monsoon up on deck saying various witty things. Spent way more time on it than I'd planned, and I kept scrapping various angles and going, "grrr, that looks all messed up!" and ended up hating all of it and just ditching the idea entirely until I can get a decent scheme together and have the time to commit to it. I randomly adored this little doodle of Kelzin looking mortified, though, so I salvaged it. So it goes.

It's gotten really hot in the last couple of days. The sweaty, gross, if-you-stay-upstairs-then-you-die kind of hot. I've migrated onto the living room couch, and claimed it as my own. The windows are open, there are no screens separating the inside from the outside, and and lots of insects are taking advantage of this. There were half-a-dozen flies chillin' in the middle of the room this morning. I've seen two wasps buzz past my face today. There are moths in the cupboard, but that's mostly unrelated. Just annoying.

I love the temperature and the sun, but why must so many bad things come with it? Dat ain't fly, Mother Nature. Can't we all just get along? I'm sticking to my couch, for the love of Pete.

Tomorrow I have an internship interview with The Mountaineers. I'm nervous, as I always am for anything social and vaguely official-like, but not worried. They asked me, not the other way around. They so dig me. I'm awesome and a winner. When I get home from that tomorrow I need to call my Financial Aid office about... Uh, financial aid. Because I don't want to wait a month for my mail to get here. Because by then my money will be due. And that would be bad.

Crunch time. Yeah, baby.

In less stressful news, I have a game this Sunday! Now, to spend my experience points on helpful skills... Or nifty artifacts that I'll probably never use? Dunno if I could justify buying more hearthstones, but I want that one that converts all lethal damage to bashing. Just in case I get shiv'd again. Chumps or not, being shiv'd hurts.

Came up with another random Original Character. Her name's Jack Tar, and she's been just about every Jack in history from Jack and the Beanstalk to Jack Frost to the Jack-of-all-Trades to Jack Ketch. You could even say that she was Every Man Jack of them. Except, funnily enough, she wasn't involved in the Jack the Ripper fiasco. She was on the other side of Europe at the time. I could probably translate her over to an O!WOD setting, since I have a plot for how to turn her into a starting level character. As long as she's something that could live until the age of 800-900 and still be pretty.

stick @ 2009-06-01T17:29:00

2009-06-02T00:31:06Z

I ♥ Baldur's Gate so much.

Being a level one character with a bounty on your head kind of really sucks, though. Out of gold, and our new party member needs some better equipment. Also need to be able to afford a Stone to Skin scroll to free a... Cleric, I think? She's pretty hip. If I get her, I'll have a full party again. Kicked the Evil characters out of my party because they were pissing off the rest of the group. :| I'm the only Chaotic Good one in my party. I'm like Robin Hood... With a merry band of adventuring crazies.

I need to get stronger so that I don't get my but kicked by every evil bounty hunter who happens to be out to kill me. And, you know, the giant spider side-quest. I guess that means I'll level grind on some bandits and hobgoblins until I can kill the goddamn mages before they cast Fear, Hold, and Entangle on everyone in rapid succession.

My party thus far consists of Giovanna (me! Ranger, befriends animals, hates skeletons, doesn't afraid of anything), Imoen (thief, neutral good, sucks at picking locks something awful), Khalid (fighter, neutral good, has a stutter and dislikes confrontation), Jaheira (fighter/druid multiclass, true neutral, currently my token healer), and Minsc (ranger, neutral good, has a berserk button and a hamster companion named Boo). I needs that Cleric for healytiems and the ability to turn the dead. Those zombie motherfuckers are going down.

It's stuff like this that really makes me want to try running a campaign. Probably not one based on D&D... Too much math. But the world works, because everyone understands the world. I could find a simple game and apply the setting, and it wouldn't be too hard. I know I've got the BESM guide around here somewhere, and maybe I'll browse through some of my mom's RP rulebooks in a while.

stick @ 2009-05-29T20:04:00

2009-05-30T03:04:40Z

Dude, you guys. I totally have internet connection all the way up in my treehouse.

My dad built me, like, the most badass treehouse ever (it's shaped like a ship and has all these portholes and everything) but I was scared to come up here for the longest time because it was full of bugs and dead stuff and the last time I tried I got attacked by a wasp's nest when I opened the door. And the crow's nest was rather precarious and I was worried it might fall on my head or something (it was also a good forty feet in the air and that just makes me nervous). But today my dad went up and took out the crows nest and cleaned out all the dead stuff and I'm up here for the first time in years and it's aaaaawesome.

Not to mention it was actually hot today. I loooved it. My brother was writhing in agony in the family room because it was too toasty for him, while I was chillaxin' in jeans and a black t-shirt. I love the heat so muuuuch. ♥

So yeah. Happy. :3

I'M GOING ON ANOTHER HIKE WITH MY DAD TOMORROW... SO IF YOU NEVER HEAR FROM ME AGAIN, I DIED.

PROBABLY EATEN BY A COUGAR.

Excuse me while I flail.

2009-05-27T18:39:47Z

Today I have a college orientation, which means that tonight I'll be cleaning the upstairs and running loads of laundry through the washer and dryer well into the night, but that's fine because I don't usually go to sleep until morning anyway. Tomorrow I can tackle the downstairs. I will make the living room shine.

S-Still no word from the job thing, so for now I'm setting it in the "lost cause" category of my brain to worry about later. I have five other emails I need to send regarding job things, so I will get on that... After cleaning, while the laundry is going. Organization, yes!

But right now I'm just worried about oriiiientation oh god what if it's something stupid like what they did with high school? I really hope not. I don't want to take a tour and learn people's names. I really don't. I'm only there to sign up for classes so I can know just what I'm taking and how much it will cost. ;;

I should get my Financial Aid feedback in five days.

I MIGHT BE JUST A LITTLE NERVOUS AND SPAZZY RIGHT NOW, DON'T MIND ME.

stick @ 2009-05-25T15:45:00

2009-05-25T22:46:29Z

It's very hard to explain the inner workings of websites and the internet to people who don't go on the internet much. "Web hosting" does not automatically translate into layman's language. Neither does the logic behind Katamari Damacy, but that's only because it's ridiculous.

Went to the movies for my brother's birthday. Saw a longer preview for 9, squee'd like a little girl. The Sherlock Holmes movie looks like a million kinds of fun, and that movie with the people that go around in robot versions of themselves? Awesome.

And instead of seeing Star Trek like the rest of the world, we went and saw Terminator: Salvation. And I... Really liked it. I mean, it definitely wasn't a moving commentary on the nature of the humans vs. machines, and it wasn't beautifully crafted scripting and plot, but so help me... There were explosions and robots and a lot of people running around being badass. Quite a few moments had us going, "Eeeeeeh," but there were also a few moments that had us going, "Oh... Clever!" as well. And did I mention the explosions? Lots of those. :)

So as long as you're willing to not take it seriously, it's pretty cool.

stick @ 2009-05-21T11:21:00

2009-05-21T18:22:43Z

The How's My Driving? Meme

I was late to the Para HMD, so maybe this will make up for it.

♪ all the birds are singin' that you're gonna die

2009-05-20T23:08:59Z

I think things have been going really well the last couple of weeks.

Which is... Kind of weird. I mean, check this out:

• All my financial aid stuff is in and I'm just waiting for them to process it.
• Assuming it isn't a crazy internet hoax, I'll be making $80 a day pretty soon.
• I've got two paying website projects set up behind that, huzzah for freelance.
• My friends have rented an amazing house and I'll eventually move in with them.
• I've been cranking out pieces for this art series that I'm actually proud of.
• I seem to have crawled out of my RP slump with new inspiration for my characters.

And to top it off, the weather is fabulous today.

I... Don't want to jinx it, but holy moly, it's so strange to not be stressing about something.

Meanwhile, in Creation...

2009-05-18T04:20:30Z

Steps to restoring the First Age:

1. Do exactly what the voices in your head tell you to do.
2. Follow a mysterious mechanical woman all the way to Cybertron.
3. Have a quick moral debate before becoming an ANATHEMAAAAA.
4. Swear to use your powers only for good and great justice.
5. Make a machine to keep all Fair Folk out of Creation forever.
6. ???
7. Profit!

And I guess that's pretty much the plan so far.

I should have just played a combat character. :|

stick @ 2009-05-14T20:40:00

2009-05-15T05:41:29Z

And we just got the entire Fullmetal Alchemist series on DVD.

BECAUSE DAMN IT, I REALLY LOVED THE FIRST SERIES EVEN IF IT SLAUGHTERS THE MANGA PLOT.

:|b

This hasn't quite registered yet.

2009-05-14T18:47:31Z

Guys.

Guys.

Guys.

...

I think I got a job.

♪ i wasn't born to be a skeleton

2009-05-13T02:09:43Z

I was away from the internet for two days, and now I feel like I've fallen behind on a ton of stuff. School things, job offers... Like, four different art projects... All those stray RP tags... Although the blame is partly on me, as I spent all of today just vegetating and recovering from two crazy days with very little sleep in between.

So my Dragon Lines character managed to create a cure for a quickly-spreading plague, which makes me incredibly happy considering she's a pretty specialized character with not a lot of uses outside of creating things for other people.

I think I'm pretty happy with my skill setup as of now, so I think I'll spend whatever I get from bonus contributions on another three dots worth of Hearthstones or something. The next step after that is learning every Craft skill ever and get them all up to at least four dots so that I can do crazy shit like create new forms of life, zombie mech, giant lasers, and jewelry so fabulous that people will literally scramble over each other to try and buy it from me.

Somewhere in there I'd like to buy two more dots in Resources (as people would pay me well for my Craft abilities) so that I can get myself all the materials I will ever need to make anything. Then again, that might be a... Connections background. Or something else. I'm not sure what would get me access to almost any lab anywhere, but I know that having significant amounts of money, the proper materials, and a cousin who's bullet-shaped towards bribing people will certainly help.

I also want to buy another dot in Compassion, because... Don't look at me like that. B| I think that my character quite honestly cares about other people, more so than a lot of the group. Even if she thinks individuals are obnoxious twats who are just going to tear each other apart for their own personal gain, she really likes the Dragon Blooded race as a whole and gets kind of upset when they're threatened. And, you know, her motivation is rather selfless, considering how she wants to make the world better for everyone. She believes she's the only one who can see just how messed up it is, and thus the responsibility falls to her to make things right. It might just be the "holy crap, Mechlandia! 8'D" instincts talking, but she really does worry that there's a race of people dying or something right under their noses. Hence her growing concern with Glory's case. She just wants to fix things so that everyone can be happy.

It'll tie with her Temperance of course, because when people start telling her she's crazy for helping a bunch of people she doesn't even understand she'll be all, "SHUT UP, I'M DOING THE RIGHT THING. B|" even though it... Probably... Isn't. 8|

The Fair Folk don't get an extension of her Compassion, though. The first thing she'll make when she becomes the ultimate mad scientist is a disease that wipes them all out so that Creation can live in peace for a while, damn it. Though this would involve capturing a live one, and that's... A bad... Idea... Even if it's for science.

This will be a very fun journal entry to type up. |D

So yesterday I spent eighteen hours with Sean and Kiley driving all around Washington. Fifteen of those hours were spent crammed in his little clown car, but I got the fuzzy blanket... Which made it livable. Plus I could lay down on the massive pile of clothes, towels, and sandwiches and rest my eyes when keeping them open kind of started to hurt. I was tired, yo. We all were, and we were all listening to music and drinking soda and distracting each other to keep awake. I even gulped down a bit of root beer when we got to the first destination (I hate carbonation, you see) to get a bit more energy.

The lesson here is that I need to sleep more before I go on these trips... But at least now we know that we can definitely survive with each other on future road trips. We discussed this, actually. We work well together. There are other friends we like to hang out with, of course, but they'd probably be driven insane by Kiley and Sean by the end of the trip--or vice-versa. I'm really patient with... Everyone, so they said I'd probably survive the best out of all of them. It makes me really want to learn how to drive before our June trip, so that I can take over the wheel a bit when things get crazy.

So they said, "We'll pick you up around 5-6am", which naturally meant that they wouldn't show up until around seven. Which they did. I wasn't surprised, and used this keen prediction sense of mine to fit in another hour of sleep. We got in the car and headed off to Ocean Shores, which was the only place we'd planned to go. When we got there, the weather was atrocious. Hilariously so, as Sean kept making sails out of the flaps of his button-up shirt and I was bundled up in not one, but two jackets, the second of which made me look like a cross between a logger and a marshmallow.

I bought some ice cream for a sugar rush and then we poked around town for a little while, mostly looking in gift stop windows as we're all pretty broke at the moment. They jumped in the ocean until they were totally numb and soaked from head to toe, while I stayed on the shore and laughed at them and collected the broken halves of sand-dollars. We had a bunch of fun even if we only stayed out there for about an hour. After they changed into dry clothes, we all huddled back up in the car with the heater on and ate our lunches. Since we still had a hell of a lot of time until we had to be home, we decided we'd head off to Forks for the lulz (YES, THAT FORKS), since we thought it was close by. Turns out it was a hundred miles away, but whatever.

We stopped by a couple places on the way. I pointed out the Ranger Station and we went for a short hike up to some really gorgeous waterfalls. We also went to go take a look at the world's largest spruce tree, which was several kinds of awesome. I tried to give it a hug like the hippie I am, but the roots were so big that I could barely get near the trunk, let alone wrap my arms around the thing. We also stopped by this notable cedar tree. The trunk had been carved out by the Native Americans of the area years ago, so you could walk around inside of the thing like it was a cave. A lot of the roots outside looked kind of like people, which caught Kiley's attention. The tree itself was long-dead, but it'd turned into a nurser log and had quite a few new trees growing out of it. Majorly cool.

We eventually passed through Forks, and after the majestic tree experience, we were kind of disappointed. X'D It was so mediocre that we couldn't even really make fun of it. At least we could pass around jokes about sparkling vampires, which made it better. We realized when we got to Forks that we might as well just keep driving forward, since we were halfway across the state anyway. It took about an hour longer to get home than we'd anticipated, but that's because my friends are always terrible at getting anywhere on time, I think. We stopped in Port Angeles on the way back and phoned all our families when we had bars on our phones again, and had dinner at this really good Chinese restaurant.

After that, it was all jokes and nostalgia. A lot of me going, "Guys... We're not going to make it back to Seattle in an hour. 8|" and them going, "It only takes forty minutes to get from Olympia to Seattle, we'll be fine." even though it most certainly does not. But Sean was good and stayed on the speed limit, and we had a grand time anyway, even if we were all tired and stuffed in a clown car. |Db

The two of them are planning to take me on a trip to North Carolina with them sometime in mid-June for Sean's mother's wedding. It'll be right after graduation. We fly all the way over there, stick around for a few days, and then drive over to New York. We'll do the tourist-y thing and stay the night in a cheap (cheaper, really, since all hotels in New York are expensive...) hotel or hostel or something and then drive back to Seattle. Yes... All the way back to Seattle. That's the plan, anyway. They might decide to go round-trip and just fly back too, since my updates on the plan are kind of outdated, but whatever.

They're going to pay for me... A lot. I feel a little guilty, but they're pretty insistent about it, and it's not like I have the money to do it myself. Plus, I didn't think before this that I'd ever really... Go to New York. Ever. So this sounds like a really neat experience that I don't want to miss out on...

Though what's got me even more excited is the idea that I might be able to move out of my house by the time school starts again, if I can get my financial shit together. Kiley, Sean, and Jamie all live together in a hotel room at the moment, and are looking around for an actual house. They plan to get one by summer's end, and they've been pretty good at managing their money and paying their bills... As Kiley says, it'll be a lot easier to pay off if there are four people all contributing.

But it actually sounds... Doable. I told them I'm definitely not going anywhere until I know I can pay for college beforehand, but once I've set up a loan or two or whatever I need for two years of community college, I can work hard towards grants and scholarships during school, and the job I better have by then would work towards paying for the house and food and stuff. I wouldn't move too far away... Probably not more than an hour away from home at the most, and I wouldn't have to worry about furniture or anything since I've practically got everything I'd need to survive in my room already. I could just load it all up in my dad's truck and drive it over. I'll probably share a room, but I don't mind. Hell, I wouldn't mind it even if I ended up sleeping on the floor in the living room or something; I'm adaptive. Any chance to feel like I'm finally living on my own and not mooching off my parents would be amazing.

They all have these grand, over-the-top plans of, "We're going to have eight cars! 8D" and "We'll have a kickass surround-sound stereo system... |D" but my friends know that they have to afford the house first. But the thing is... If we really try and save our extra money... We totally could have an awesome stereo system or some nice cars or decent furniture or a rose garden or a couple pets...

Sean's really good at taking care of himself and others, and Kiley's been managing stuff for her family for years. Jamie's the one that got them their current hotel room in the first place. I feel like I'd be in good hands. The thing that really keeps getting to me is how Kiley's told me, "If you ever need a place to stay, you can come live with us." She says that I can stay with them as long as I want so long as I start paying them back eventually. It just makes me really happy that they care about me that much. I mean, it's not like my parents would kick me out or anything, but the option is still... Really nice. I guess I'm so used to the notion that I'm TOTALLY FUCKED if I can't support myself financially that the fact that my friends have my back if I'm ever in trouble is just... Really... Really nice. It's like a weight off my shoulders, I guess. It's letting me worry a little less about whether or not I get a good job or if I get booted out of a job early or something.

Although it's kind of ironic (the good ironic!), since now that this potential pathway has opened up for me... Assuming they're able to get their house, it's given me more incentive to get a job. I feel like I should be spending my weeks going for eight job apps and four scholarship applications instead of the other way around. I hate feeling like I'm leeching off other people, but I know that they wouldn't mind as much, so I'm suddenly not as worried about the whole job thing any more. I can totally get one, even if it's crap, and at least help them pay for food and internet connection for the four of us. I'm very low-maintenance. I like the idea of us all taking care of each other. I'd totally love making breakfast for them, since I know they fail at that Most Important Meal Of The Day thing. We'd all end up healthier. They'd encourage me to go outside and socialize and get exercise, and I use my Voice of Logic and make sure they're eating right and keep them on the road through that college thing.

So... Yeah. That's my goal. I want to move in with my friends by the end of the summer.

And I think I can do it. Just gotta... Make like my astrological sign and grab life by the horns? Or something like that. The whole idea just gives me such a nice warm, fuzzy feeling inside. And if the plan kerplunks, I go back to living with my parents (s-sob) and they go back to their apartment and we re-think the whole thing. Either way, it'd be a good experience for when I head off to art college, since the one I want to go to will most-likely involve me living on my own in a dorm and all that. I don't know much about paying bills or handling money, so this'd be a really good chance in a low-pressure environment.

I feel like I should have a closing paragraph or something because this practically turned into an essay, but I've always sucked at conclusions. ):

Some Glee

2009-05-08T10:19:16Z

You know what I find endearing and lovable about Resident Evil 4? You go around collecting potted plants and golden chicken eggs and mixing herbs to make your health bar go up. You can carry around four or five guns, an small arsenal of grenades, and a freaking rocket-launcher in your suitcase. The whole point of the game is to wipe out an entire Spanish community, including a castle full of Darth Maul wannabe monks (half of which have tentacles coming out of their heads). Leon says things like, "Hasta luego" before shooting barrels full of oil to set the big bad on fire, and you spend cut-scenes trading quips with a two-foot-tall napoleon guy instead of just sniping him in the face like any sane person would do at that point.

And yet, despite all this, the game still manages to take itself completely seriously.

It's a disturbingly good mix of, "haha, who the fuck does this guy think he is?" and "WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT CHANTING COMING FROM I'M RUNNING OUT OF AMMO OH GOD I'M GOING TO TURN A CORNER AND GET MY FACE EATEN AND WHERE'S THAT MERCHANT WHEN YOU NEED HIM--"

The downside to the game is... That I suck at sniping things, and I can't play it late at night without getting the feeling I'm being followed up the stairs by something dangerous afterwords, but that's just me.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

2009-05-07T06:49:20Z

The gameplay looks iffy to me just from the trailer, but the chance to wander around Arkham while punching psychopathic inmates in the face in true Batman-brawler style? I'm sold.

The Dark Knight may have spoiled me for any and all portrayals of the Joker I will ever find, but my little fangirly heart flutters with glee to hear Kevin Conroy doing Batman's voice again. ♥