Shiny new Smiley Town *bling*

[Whisper in the Wind]

You know what warms my wicked little heart? A certain feeling that I haven't had in a long while, months even, but have suddenly become hit with... a passion for writing!
It happens to the best of us fanficcers, when we start it's with a lot of gusto and enthusiasm, but after a while it begins to wane and you hit a point where you're writing out of necessity, not choice. I was enthusiastic when I started ficcing back in 2002, though it was clear to see that, as time wore on, I began to falter. Though I seemed rekindled every now and then, it would die down once more...
For a couple months now I've just written chapters because, well... I had to in order to keep people reading, eh? It certainly wasn't a healthy attitude, and no doubt my writing suffered for it. However, really randomly and suddenly a couple days ago, I found myself writing because I wanted to. It was fun again, and I can't imagine it having been for any outside influence. Rather, it felt like I was fired up again because something happened in me... Damned if I know what it was, but it's a pretty cool feeling and I reckon it'll last for a while. I hope it does, anyhow. For the last two days all of my spare time has been spent daydreaming about my fic, where I can go with it in the future, how it'll all come together, etc...
Yeah, bit of a mass digression there, but I thought there'd be no better place to announce the return of Drago's belly fire!! Har.

Cool, it's always nice to see people get hit by a moment of inspiration.

[mistysakura]

Yay to inspiration! Personally I always start out inspired, and my 'writing for the sake of producing pages' usually only exists when I'm finishing up what I was inspired to do initially but got stuck in midway. Which does explain why I don't end up with much writing. And I love it how inspiration and a change in the attitude to writing just comes out of nowhere. For me it usually happens when I'm trying to get to sleep, which isn't very convenient.

And a belated congrats to Sam and Shayna. It makes me happy.

[mr_pikachu]

I apologize in advance for the shortness of these comments. It's rather hard to type on a Wii.


Samchu and Shayna: Wow, congratulations, you two! Always knew there was a spark there. ^_^ You make a really cute couple!

I have to confess, though... I, uh, kinda thought Samchu was a guy. In retrospect, I should have at least considered the possibility that "Sam" was short for "Samantha." Still, I stand by those instincts otherwise. Congrats on realizing your feelings! I'm sure that everyone involved will warm up to the idea and give you just as nice of a reception as you've received here.


Ada: Wow, that really was a mixed day! It's a shame that you had to go through all that after such a great show.


D-Knight: See, I like taking the train, to be honest... but maybe it wouldn't be so great to ride on a daily basis.

At any rate, I'm glad you're getting back in the writing mood! It'll be good to have you here for as long as you decide to stay. ^_^


Shonta: ...Remind me to send you a PM later. And I'm sorry for missing all of that.


Faiz: Sounds like there's a lot of turmoil in your area right now. For your sake, I hope it calms down soon.


Sam and Shayna: Congrats again!

...What? It was worth saying a second time.

[classy_cat18]

I apologize in advance for the shortness of these comments. It's rather hard to type on a Wii.

*growls and reaches out to choke him* How dare you rub your Wii in my face!

[Greyfox]

How dare you rub your Wii in my face!

I feel a "That's what she said!" coming on...

-Michael Scott

[mr_pikachu]

*growls and reaches out to choke him* How dare you rub your Wii in my face!

Erk. Suddenly I'm regretting the postscript on that last PM...

[Gavin Luper]

I can't help but laugh every time someone says the word "Wii" around me. My brother thought I was forcing it, but no, I really am that immature.

*snicker*

[darktyranitar]

Ah... inspirational to write. I had those here and then, though they tend to be short. RIght now, I feel an urge to write coming...

BTW, who's Michael Scott?

[Dragonfree]

*revives*

The Quest for the Legends is five years old today. W00t.

The version posted here, of course, is "only" three years old, but it's been five years since I created the Word document containing the very first version of the fic. It feels like much longer.

So yay. Cookies for all.

[Whisper in the Wind]

*revives*

The Quest for the Legends is five years old today. W00t.

The version posted here, of course, is "only" three years old, but it's been five years since I created the Word document containing the very first version of the fic. It feels like much longer.

So yay. Cookies for all.

I'm sure I've expressed my congratulations to you through MSN, but nonetheless, congratulations on the milestone.

[mistysakura]

Wow, five years. Congrats! *munches on cookie* That fic has come far.

[mistysakura]

Got back from Singapore yesterday. It was a good trip; the food was awesome (yay to multicultural cities), went and did all the tourist sights, nice and relaxing, pretty good shopping as well. Met my aunt who lives there for the first time in 17 years, which meant I didn't remember her at all. Also met my cousins again for the first time in eight years (except I didn't remember them at all either). Went to visit my uncle's grave for the first time since he died which was kinda strange because I supposedly knew him but didn't remember him at all. Unfortunately, no amusing stories to tell except for the kinda creepy guy who was stitting next to me on the plane there (my parents had been upgraded to business, lucky people). He would have been about 60 or so, and was perfectly nice except he asked the strangest questions. Problem is because I'm not that well acquainted with Singaporean or even Chinese etiquette in more 'mature' circles, I don't know what questions are normal. So when I'm asked 'so what do your parents do?' and 'how old's your dad?', I'm sitting there thinking 'are you from the Communist secret police in China or something???' Ah well it all passed without incident.

Now, back to reading fics.

[classy_cat18]

Actually, you probably can expect questions like that from someone that sits next to you on a plane, Ada. Usually when I fly, I'm sitting next to my brother and one of us has a window seat. We have to come up with stuff to talk about because the plane ride can get boring. But one time a guy that was around his forties was asking me the same questions and I was just answering them because I was bored.

Reminds me of the time I was getting ready to board the plane back to Atlanta from Bermuda. Not including me, there had to be at least four people with a copy of the fifth Harry Potter book. And I was getting back here in August; the book was released in June and I got it in July, I think.

Well...got back to school last week after less than a week of vacation. Today I'm on vacation due to the Fourth of July. The good news is they canceled one of my required classes this quarter so I only have to go two days out of the week. The bad news is that I don't get home until ten...at night.

[Gavin Luper]

Sounds like you had a good time, Ada. I've only ever been to Singapore Airport, but I always get the impression that it's a really international kind of city. Or maybe that's just because I'm - well - in the airport.

It must have been a bit bizarre meeting your relatives after so long. At least you had met them before, though. When I went to Italy I basically phoned these people and was like "Hi, I'm in your town, and I'm a long lost cousin." I think they were kind of taken aback by it all. Of course, you had the advantage of speaking the same language as your relatives, I'm sure that would've helped.

Hehe, that would've been awkward with the plane guy. It sucks that you got left in economy too - though I suppose it wasn't an overly long flight.

Let's push this thread to 500!

[mr_pikachu]

...Okay, so my mom's in surgery right now.

She's been having serious problems with her hand for several years, and they believe it's because the tendon that runs along her fingers has become inflamed. It's at the point where she can no longer bend or straighten certain fingers beyond a very limited range. So they're trying to take care of that today.

I asked her yesterday if she was nervous about it... she said she's just been looking forward to having this surgery for months. It's not a major procedure, but hopefully her hand will be better after her recovery.

[Gavin Luper]

Crap, Brian, when I read that I thought it was going to be something really serious.

Nonetheless, I hope everything goes well in the surgery, and I'm sure it will. It doesn't sound like it's going to be particularly difficult, at least, which must be a weight off both your's and your mum's minds. I imagine your mum will be glad to have a fully-functioning, painless hand again, though.

Let us know how it turns out in the end.

And sorry to take away from the seriousness of this post, but I have to say it.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is out today! Hoorah! I'm pretty excited to be honest. Is anyone else planning to go see it today?

I need sleep now, it's 3am.

[mistysakura]

Yikes, Brian. I know it isn't major surgery, but still it must be pretty scary. I wish her well.

OOTP? I'm not really that excited. I'm going to see it on the 20th with fellow HP fan friends. I would be excited, but the only thing I care about is...

Ten days until Deathly Hallows comes out! Yay.

[Gavin Luper]

OOTP? I'm not really that excited. I'm going to see it on the 20th with fellow HP fan friends. I would be excited, but the only thing I care about is...

Ten days until Deathly Hallows comes out! Yay.

That's a whole new level of excitement again.

[mr_pikachu]

Yesterday was a bad day.

Okay, so on Friday I went to a friend's house to stay until Saturday night/Sunday morning. (He lives two hours away, so when you visit him you make it worthwhile!) Anyway, I left his house at 4 a.m. Sunday so that I could get a few hours of sleep before a meeting at noon. Figured it'd take the usual two hours, and I could crash into bed at my parents' place at about six.

Naturally, at 5:30 the car broke down on the highway. Had to call my parents and get my dad to help. (The battery light was on, so we thought it might work with a jumpstart.) Didn't work. Neither did adding oil, which we thought might be the problem - more on that later.

My dad had to call a tow truck and drive us to a nearby town (the one in which we live is too small to have a decent auto repair shop, sadly), where we then had breakfast. I ended up getting back home at about 10:30. Since I needed to take a shower, that meant I had no time for sleep. And considering that I barely slept Friday night and played two straight hours of ultimate frisbee on Saturday, I was pretty much trashed for that joyful five-hour meeting.

Oh, and I ought to mention the fact that my mom's livid. See, we've been having raccoon problems. So whenever we catch them my dad takes my car, drives to another state, and dumps them there so they won't come back. Why he refuses to use his own car but thinks I'll be fine with him taking mine and then leaving a mess in it is beyond me.

Recently I noticed that my car was having some problems (I could occasionally hear it grinding when I hit the brakes or turned), so I figured the oil was catastrophically low as a result of these interstate trips. But I'm honestly not very knowledgeable about cars, and my dad was out of town until Thursday, so until then I couldn't ask what kind of oil to put in the car (or whether it mattered).

Ended up getting a migraine Thursday night and forgetting to put oil in the car... so if this breakdown is my fault, and if the engine's gone, I'm dead. And my corpse won't have a car for at least the rest of the year.

...And if I lose my car because of this, I will start hunting these raccoons, legal or not. With knives. Because killing with a gun is just too impersonal.


EDIT: Don't you just love Smiley Town?


EDIT2: The car's dead, and my mom has begun her self-righteous lecturing. Happy days. [/irritation]

[mistysakura]

Ooh, Brian, that doesn't sound good at all. Hope the car gets fixed... Yeah I do love Smiley Town! Can't you just see the rainbows and butterflies?

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, the butterflies make a great side dish when you have leprechaun on a bun.

But when I said the car was dead in that edit, I meant that it's dead. As in, we're donating the remains to some charity, or something. Yay.

[Gavin Luper]

That sounds like a rather shite day, Brian. Have things taken a turn for the better now?

My car was playing up too. Turned out there was water in the spark plugs, of all things. I fitted some new leads in this arvo and it's running smooth again. But I shouldn't be bragging about how my car is fixed. Are you gonna get a new one then?

[Blademaster]

...And if I lose my car because of this, I will start hunting these raccoons, legal or not. With knives. Because killing with a gun is just too impersonal.


(time lapse)


EDIT2: The car's dead, and my mom has begun her self-righteous lecturing. Happy days. [/irritation]

As much as I like to laugh at others' misfortunes, that must really, really, REALLY suck.

So, as a way of showing my support, please feel free to take my advice and not kill innocent, helpless raccoons with a knife...

...

Go after them with a pair of scissors instead. Makes it easier to torture and hack off certain parts before you land the finishing blow.

[classy_cat18]

Please don't kill the raccoons, Brian! They're so cute and frisky! Besides, if you must kill them...

...don't let them go to waste. My grandfather says that raccoon makes good barbeque. I'm really not kidding.

[mr_pikachu]

Gavin: Nope. We've got company coming over, my mom's still recovering from her surgery, and both of my parents are so on edge that I'm trying to avoid them even more than usual.

Water in the spark plugs, huh? That's, uh... weird. But at least fixable.


Blademaster: I would do that, but there are too many of them to worry about individual torture. Gotta go after the mob and take out as many as I can, as fast as I can.

I'm considering some projectile weapons to get the ones that try to escape. Maybe some shuriken, or something.


Shonta: Yeah, they're cute. They could also kill our little toy poodle with ease.

And of course we'll make use of the raccoons afterward! You don't go on a hunt and let the spoils just go to waste. We can have some coonskin caps, a big family barbecue, maybe make a rug or two...


Sadly, I have no money right now, and my parents say they won't have the resources to help me with the car issue until the end of the year (despite the fact that they're buying furniture and donating to charities every other week). So no car for awhile, it seems.

The ironic thing about all this is that I have multiple obligations off-campus that require me to drive to a different location, and I can't get out of any of those obligations. So I'm going to have to use my credit card (for which my parents pay as long as I only use it for necessities) to hire a taxi that can take me to all of those places on a regular basis, which (and I don't think my parents realize this) will likely approach the cost of a used car.

[darktyranitar]

Right. So if you have noticed, I've only drop to TPM for about 3-4 times per week. The reason: college.

Now, when I'm speaking of college, this is not the full 3-4 year course college we're talking about. You see, I'm in this one kind of college called matriculation college (somewhere we go before going to university), and we only have about 11 month to finish a course that would normally take 3 years... so you can understand the packed daily schedule.

Posting in case I'm absent from TPM for a while. 11 month... and if I fail, then no university then. No kidding.

But yeah, I'll try to come here at a regular interval each week. And of course, there's the semester break too... which is about 3 weeks from now... after mid-sem exam, come this monday.

*busybusybusy*

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Osu. Normally I don't show up in Fanfic except to comment on threads shoved in my face by the lovely Ms. Overlord, but dt/Faizer texted me to report that his wi-fi is horribly, unimaginably down, he can't get online, and as such there'll be trouble/delay with the Fanfic Awards (which I think he's supposed to be handling). He also apologizes in all profusion, etc. etc.

[Gavin Luper]

Ah, okay ... that explains things ... thanks for that, Emotional Faun Chiko-sai (there HAS to be an easier name to call you by!).

[classy_cat18]

Osu. Normally I don't show up in Fanfic except to comment on threads shoved in my face by the lovely Ms. Overlord, but dt/Faizer texted me to report that his wi-fi is horribly, unimaginably down, he can't get online, and as such there'll be trouble/delay with the Fanfic Awards (which I think he's supposed to be handling). He also apologizes in all profusion, etc. etc.

*eye twitches*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Chiko-sai/Wennford works

I'll keep you guys updated if there's any further news from him :> I suspect that it should be Hyperness in here doing the reporting, since she's more familiar with him and the Fanfic board in general, but her computer's down too so... there's just me and my cellphone xD

EDIT TO AVOID DOUBLEPOST: dt says he might be able to get on tonight (GMT+8 hours) to send the vote tally. If you guys want to get it over and done with ASAP, (I'm not sure what he's trying to say here but I'll repeat it verbatim) you can ask The Arbiter and Charles Legend for their PMs. He also says classy should chill xD

[Gavin Luper]

OK, that makes sense to me - I'll see what the others think. Cheers again.

[Greyfox]

If we're (Chaz Legend and I) the only ones who sent our votes to Faiz, then I'll forward mine to the other mod...

[mistysakura]

And the 'other mod' has received it. Thanks! Poor Faiz and his technical issues...

[Greyfox]

Yeah... sorry... I probably should've learnt the mods identities at least...

[mr_pikachu]

No kidding. And she's our senior mod, too!

...Seriously. She's been a mod longer than any of the rest of us. Amazing, isn't it?

[Greyfox]

...and the only one I haven't had a conversation with... oi...

[mistysakura]

Oh, you want a conversation? I'll add you to my MSN then. I think it's amazing that I'm supposedly the senior mod too. I feel like everyone's little sister really, which is probably an impression left over from when I started modding at the age of 14 (it's weird thinking about that).

[mr_pikachu]

Well, I think you are the youngest of us... except for maybe Gavin. Need to check. But yeah, you have seniority. You have our eternal respect and admiration, oh great senior mod! *bows*

[Greyfox]

Don't get too excited... I'm not that great a conversationalist (I'm not sure if that's a word... if not, then it is now).

Notwithstanding, I can't use MSN at the moment due to lack of computer, but I'm hoping to remedy that problem soon...

EDIT: Gavin is older actually... by a few months, at least.

[mr_pikachu]

Hey, wait! Faiz is younger than Ada by over a month! *is shocked*