Curiouser and Curiouser

I did it.

I joined fanfiction.net.

I told elenuial I was doing it, and though he teased me about writing fanfiction, he commended me for being totally unapologetic about it. And, naturally, reminded me that he had suggested I try my hand at it years ago.

I found an awesome beta who was happy to give my story the once-over, and I posted it after a few rounds of revision and creating a blurb.

Me at 5:00: OHMIGOD I JUST POSTED SOMETHING I WROTE ON THE SITE OMG OMG I FINISHED SOMETHING WHAT IF NO ONE LIKES IT WHAT IF NO ONE READS IT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE ON MY BIO

And then I went to buy ingredients for dinner. I came back to my browser to check the recipe I was trying, and saw a notification in my FFnet filter.

Me at 5:15: OHMIGOD SOMEONE ALREADY READ MY STORY AND REALLY LIKED IT AND LEFT AN AWESOME REVIEW AND ADDED IT TO THEIR FAVORITES :D :D

I was, and still am, fully aware that this is what people do on that site. But 15 minutes? And added to her short list of favorites? I hummed to myself as I cooked, bouncing through dinner, and PMing my beta reader to share my excitement. She said I was super cute and I could pretty much hear her laughing at me through the text. Or it could've been elenuial actually laughing at me from my left. But I didn't care. Because it kept coming.

Me at 7:00: SOMEONE ELSE ADDED IT TO FAVORITES AND TWO PEOPLE SUBSCRIBED TO ME BASED ON ONE STORY AND THAT MEANS PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT TO READ WHAT I WRITE SHOULD I LEARN TO WRITE SMUT NOW THIS IS SO COOL :D :D

I didn't think anyone would actually read anything I posted. I thought it would be like LJ, where friends who shared the fandom would go to hang out. The idea of a total stranger who is not obligated to be nice to me actually taking the time to read my story?

Pretty fucking great.

Something really small and dumb to be excited over, but this is new and fun and really silly. And I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually.

But for now?

Me five minutes ago: ANOTHER REVIEW AND SHE REALLY REALLY LIKED IT

elenuial: Huge. Dork.

Me: :D

Man, the last few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster. No word of a lie.

I've been fluctuating between extreme highs and lows, the highs usually coming from outside influences (like an awesome wedding) and a few of the lows, too. Thanks to everyone who offered hugs and support and socializing. It's helping.

Right now is the first time in a long time that I've felt middle-of-the-road. Just okay.

Things that have helped (and will continue to help in the future): fun RPing via internets, sewing my super sweet halloween costume (just need to find a specific pattern of ribbon!), housework, making jewelry, and finding random television to watch via Xbox Netflix.

I need to not write any character sheets for Leash while in the low stage. They make for very unhappy characters.

And I should cast for Martha's, too. Only one person didn't send back a questionnaire, and I'm just going to assume he's still playing.

One of the major upswings I got, though: in eight days, these are the babies I can take home. The breeder sent the photos, and is holding them aside for me until I can meet them. Yes, that's a quarter for scale. Yes, they are two months old.
I will be shopping for decorations for their tank at the expo. Like mad.

So, remember that sketch I made?

I finally got a scanner and photoshop working and did something with it.

Granted, I've never colored anything in Photoshop before, so it was a learning experience, but...

( Finished product below the cut! )

I'm not all that happy with it, and I'll probably tweak it later, but here it is for now.

The dirigibles are there since the Chancel that Frank's part of is a flying trade armada made up entirely of dirigibles. =)

Man, now my head hurts. But I can say that I've colored something in Photoshop, and that I have a picture of Frank!

EDIT: I think I might like it better in sepia tones, actually.

So, elenuial and I are headed off to be rather incommunicado for a week as we vacation with his folks (we're leaving at 7am tomorrow).

This means that I won't be able to play Fable 2 for a week (tragic!), but seeing as you can still collect from your real estate when the console is off, I've bought everything it's possible to buy so that each payment cycle, I get roughly $12k. And seeing as the limit is 100 payments, I plan to use this break to make a million dollars by doing absolutely nothing.

We'll still check email occasionally (in theory), so that's the best way to shoot us a line.

Real estate moguldom, here I come!

So, I'm stuck at a level in Portal where in order to progress, I need to jump off a cliff (into a portal) in order to come out jumping as high as possible on the other side.

My question is this: Do you gain more momentum by
a) pencil-dropping into a portal close to the base
or
b) jumping on an angle into a portal some distance from the base?

Whichever it is, I need to figure out how to get that extra edge. I'm coming up just barely too short every time.

-H

EDIT: To help, here's a cheap little diagram:

1. Jump into hole.
2. Come out of hole full-force
3. Shoot next platform with previous color portal at apex of jump
4. Come out of new portal instead, repeat 3

That continues for about 4 platforms or so.

SPLITTER.

I finally got an AV splitter for all our consoles. Now I don't have to go all the way up and go through the fuss of switching cables (the TV has them in the back, by the way) every time I want to play a different system.

Oh, that makes me so happy.

It's so pretty.

RICK. RICK.

119 OUT OF 120 STARS. SO. CLOSE.

Know what stands between me and a complete game? Toy town. Fucking LUIGI IN SPACE. Covered in PURPLE COINS on surfaces that either dissolve out from under you, spin as soon as you touch them, or are inescapable quicksand! And don't forget bordered by THE VOID THAT IS SPACE.

I HAVE LOST SO MANY LIVES ON THIS. I HATE THE LONG JUMP. I HATE IT IN THE FACE.

HAZ IS ANGRY. THIS ENTRY IS HALF IN CAPS TO SHOW HOW ANGRY I AM.

... I'm going to try again tomorrow anyway. But still! AGH!

-Haz