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wStuff You Don't Wanna Know But Are Reading Anyway |
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I dunno how you found this, but alas, here you are. So enjoy the frightening fruits of my troubled little brain.
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wFriday, July 18, 2003 |
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feeling: stuffed up
listening to: Gackt - Kalmia
The other night I had what I believe was my first doomsday dream. It was kinda fun. x) Like... the whole Earth received warning ahead of time from some massive alien force that 3 huge world disasters would soon occur, and following the third, he/she/it would eliminate Earth. When I say massive alien force, I mean MASSIVE. The ship flown by the alien dude doing the threatening was like, the size of Africa... and it only carried ONE alien. The head honcho, no doubt. And when he spoke to warn the Earth of its impending doom, he just kind of hovered above the planet somewhere, within sight of an entire hemisphere, and... spoke. Real time, no satellites, no microphones, nothing. Just spoke, and everyone on the planet heard him. THAT is large.
Anyway, the 3 big disasters I don't remember too clearly... one was the destruction of most of Africa (or maybe South America...) using, like, some kind of laser bomb or something. The continent was one massive crater with a big round rock/bomb/thing the size of a truck in the center of it. Naturally, its aftershocks were felt all over the planet. The second incident I don't really remember, but I recall that at some point the alien announced that the final disaster before the apocalypse would be the grisly death of a very influential earthling, one whose falling would be felt all over the world. And guess who this person turned out to be?
Ashley Olsen. *stands on edge of cliff, cries, spreads arms*
She died in a bike 'accident'. She was riding with some friends when a car slammed her to the pavement. She survived that, but then one of her biking buddies came back and rode her bike over her body until it was literally reamed in two. Right at the waist. I still remember how her legs twitched after they were separated from the rest of her...
Anyway... most of the rest of the dream was spent waiting for the end. Being scared stiff, lonely, amused, and mad curious all at once... wondering how and when the planet would meet its demise, whether it would be quick and painless or slow and hurty... ah yes, tension was rampant.
Even my apocalypse dreams are so fudged up it's humorous.
And now, I have a cold. Right on time - almost exactly 2 months since my last cold. This one came from Dad though. It's funny... Dad hardly ever gets sick, even when everyone else in the house is sick. When he was a kid he shared a room with 3 younger brothers who all had chicken pox at once, and he never caught it. But somehow he caught a cold this past week, and within 2 days Mom and I were both sniffling and moaning and coughing and talking in an otherwise-impossibly low register, right along with him. I hate colds. The left side of my nose feels like some tiny little booger-man superglued it shut from the inside. And I can actually feel how full my sinuses are by pressing on the roof of my mouth with my tongue. There's a sinus cavity right above the roof of the mouth... that would be the full one. It's quite a sensation. Next time you have a sinus cold, press hard on the roof of your mouth with your tongue and feel it. I'm serious. XP
Can we tell it's summer and I have absolutely nothing worth posting about?
Oh, yeah... Pinky Peach Mints RULE!!! Must buy lifetime supply next time I'm at Seafood Japan...
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 7/18/2003 02:50:00 AM
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wTuesday, July 08, 2003 |
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feeling: tired and proud ^^
listening to: Cowboy Bebop Movie - Cosmic Dare *jam*
So this is the Guild of Thieves, Raelin thought as she reached the bottom of the staircase. This small hallway was as dreary as the main corridors of the pyramid, but torches lined the sides, and it seemed to be free of nasty creatures like those that roamed above. A few people stood around, some novice fighters like herself, some newly-assigned thieves. Ahead were three doorways, one to the east, one west, and one directly ahead; Raelin poked her head in each one before settling on one that must have been the entrance to the guild's main office. Inside several young people milled around, some showing off their newly attained thief garb, some waiting to receive their assignments, which would assure them a career as a thief upon completion. Raelin joined the latter crowd, turning her attention to a simple-looking young blond woman behind a high counter. It was hard to imagine this attractive girl as a thief, but Raelin supposed it wasn't smart to advertise oneself too much.
After waiting for only a few minutes, it was Raelin's turn. She stepped up to the counter, looking squarely at the blond theif.
"My name's Raelin," she announced. "I'm ready to be a thief."
The girl's eyes twinkled and she donned a toothy grin. "Raelin, huh? All right, honey, you look like you got what it takes. Not just anyone can be a thief, you know."
Raelin rolled her eyes. Great, here comes the lecture, she thought with dismay.
The blond went on, warning Raelin that a thief's life was not easy - always hiding in the shadows, never forming trusting relationships, and doing things that could potentially hurt people were not options, but prerequisites. The more Raelin heard, the more her mind was overwhelmed by second thoughts. Hurt innocent people? She didn't want to do that. She didn't want to hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. She didn't want to steal other people's hard-earned belongings. This wasn't her. Could she really go through with this? Could she be a thief?
"Hey! I said, are you ready to receive your test??"
With a start, Raelin met the blond girl's eyes again, realizing that her lecture was over, and it was time to make her decision.
"I, um..."
No, I can't, she thought briefly. I can't hurt people. I just want to waste those disgusting Orcs and their leader.
But was there any other way? Of all the jobs that were offered to people her age in Rune-Midgard, the only one fully capable of fulfilling her revenge was the assassin's path. The assassin was a master of death, a shadow itself. Sword fighters, magicians, archers... they just didn't have the stealth and agility an assassin would have. And there was no way to become an assassin but to work one's way up the ladder in the Guild of Thieves - to be a thief.
"I'm ready."
The blond grinned. "Great! You know, honey, I've seen a lot of kids your age come through here, but you really look stronger than most of them. I'm sure you have all you need to be a great thief."
Raelin dropped her gaze. She wished she had this girl's enthusiasm.
"So, your test..." the blond thief glanced at a handful of papers on the counter, tapping one that Raelin assumed outlined her assignment. "Here we go. You are to travel to the field of a nearby mushroom farmer and gather as many mushrooms as you can. Several types grow there; you'll have to collect some of each. Bring them to me when you're finished, and I'll declare you a member of the Guild of Thieves." She looked up, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she grinned at Raelin. "Got that, hon?"
Raelin gave her a look. "I have to get... mushrooms?"
"That's right. Don't think this will be an easy task. Recently the farmer has figured out that we're sending potential thieves to loot his fields, and he's not happy. He's set boatloads of vicious monsters loose to protect the mushrooms. If they get a hold of you, you'll be in serious trouble... and if HE gets a hold of you, well, you can forget about planning your next birthday."
Monsters? This didn't sound as attractive as it had back when Raelin had made the decision to come here. She could die? And all just to steal some stupid mushrooms from an innocent farmer whose crops meant so much to him that he'd set evil beasts loose to protect it? How could she bring herself to do this? But, she reminded herself, she had no choice if she wanted to avenge her hometown. That was all she wanted to do.
Sighing deeply, Raelin squared her shoulders and looked at the blond again. "You got it," she declared.
The thief giggled a little. "Perfect!" she squealed. "You be careful, ok, honey? Bring back those mushrooms and you're as good as in! Best of luck!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Brrr," Raelin muttered as she entered the garden she'd been directed to by a guild member. It was just as dark and haunting as the pyramid she'd just come from. The air was heavy with the scents of vegetables and dead animals, and from all sides she could hear the squeals and howls of monsters ready to defend their turf. There weren't many others around, but occasionally she did spot another potential thief in the darkness, hacking away at any mushroom that dared to show itself through the gloom. So, here goes, she told herself, walking rather quickly toward the first bright orange mushroom that caught her eye.
This really wasn't as easy as it had sounded. Mushrooms weren't easy to find in the unnatural darkness, and many that she did find were guarded by large caterpillar-like creatures that, though not too strong, defended the farm with vicious zeal. After only a few minutes, Raelin's dagger was covered in sticky mushroom ooze and dark monster blood.
Finally, Raelin observed that she'd collected a substantial number of mushrooms, varying in type, size, and degree of dagger damage. Deciding that her hard-earned prize should be more than sufficient, she made her way toward the field's gate.
Naturally, it was at this point that a huge, ghastly monster resembling a seahorse became visible through the heavy darkness. Its fins fluttered without the aid of wind, and it hovered above the ground, formless eyes roaming the area for invaders. Instinctively closing her stance, Raelin edged away from the beast as slowly as she could, afraid even to breathe for fear of alerting it to her presence. She didn't remember clearly what happened after that - only the feel of the sweatdrops burning her eyes, the sound of her ragged breath, her slight jump at the unintendional scrape of her dagger against a half-dead sapling, the terror as the seahorse-beast's eyes locked on her own, the overwhelming silence as she ran as fast as she could toward the gate...
Blinking several times, Raelin slowly lifted her head. It wasn't dark anymore. She was sitting on the grassy ground, slumped against a stately tree, the sun shining as far as she could see. Was this Paradise? Had that seahorse-beast killed her? Or had the farm been a dream? Shortly, Raelin felt something else - stiffness. Extreme stiffness. Her body was drained of most of its energy. There was also a heaviness she hadn't felt before... heaviness contained in the pack draped over her back.
Well, that was no dream, she thought tiredly. Looking around, she deduced that this was no Paradise either. It was Morroc. Not far to her left she could see the outline of the pyramid outlining the sunlit sky. And the heaviness of her backpack... it was the mushrooms. It had to be.
Eventually, Raelin felt strong enough to stand again, making her way decidedly toward the pyramid. She ignored the stares she earned from male merchants and swordsmen around the entrance, ignored the heavy smells of blood and death in the mazelike dungeon, ignored everything around her until she reached the Guild of Thieves. Upon entering, she marched to the counter, past the line of novices awaiting their assignments, and plopped her loaded backpack onto its polished top. The blond thief behind the counter looked up with a start, her expression faltering for a moment at the sight of Raelin's fiery eyes.
"Here are your stupid mushrooms," Raelin announced, her eyes unmoving from the blond girl's. "I believe you will find them to your approval."
Regaining her composure, the girl cocked an eyebrow at Raelin. "What? Mushrooms...?" She looked at Raelin, then at the pack, then at Raelin again. Finally her eyes widened, seeming to laugh at the dissheveled, frustrated girl in front of her. "You mean you actually went and collected mushrooms? Gosh, honey, I just made that test up to see whether you'd be willing to go through with it! I didn't think you'd actually DO it!"
Raelin's eyes burned. The mushrooms, the haunted farm, the horrible creatures, the seahorse-ghost... she wasn't even supposed to...
"Hey, take it easy!" the blond interrupted Raelin's internal seething, chuckling nervously and quickly scrawling something on a sheet of paper in front of her. "You passed with flying colors, Raelin! It's all settled - you're a thief! Here, let me show you to the room where you'll receive your equipment..."
Raelin was never so happy to feel the warm sun on her face. She was more than ready to put that pyramid behind her forever. Seating herself near a tree some distance from the usual crowd, she took a moment to observe her new garb. It felt quite light, from the cotton jacket covering her arms (and not much else) to the cushioned, stealthy shoes on her feet. So this was what being a thief felt like. The best part was, now that her guild membership was official, she had the freedom to polish her methods by any means she saw fit - which meant she didn't have to hurt innocent people. She could become stronger by fighting the endless mobs of monsters roaming the planet... by fighting evil, not by disturbing peace. This was the start of her journey toward becoming the world's most renowned assassin.
But first, she had a little score to settle with a certain female blond thief...
There you have it. Part two of the story of Raelin. Written to commemorate her becoming a big bad assassin earlier this evening. I'm such a proud mommy~ ^_^
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 7/08/2003 04:10:00 AM
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wWednesday, July 02, 2003 |
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feeling: cheesed
listening to: the whistling of steam spurting from my ears
About an hour ago, my computer decided it would be fun to delete my Kazaa shared folder. The WHOLE THING. I lost 5 gigs' worth of videos. I downloaded a program that restores lost data, but it is crap:
1) it will not restore items to the directory in which they were found (meaning since my folder was in the C drive, it can't be restored back to it... but it won't freaking FIT on any other drives);
2) it won't restore files any larger than 10kb unless I send them 50 bucks - and ALL the files in that folder were over 10kb.
What this recovery program did give me was a list of filenames of all the files I lost. Tell you what... that sure is coming in handy. 9_9
So I basically have to redownload EVERY file. I start with the Gackt ones, which comprise the majority. Interview clips, live performances, music videos, commercials, generally amusing stuff. All but 5 or so are either in my queue to download or already complete, and along the way I've found a few new Gackt clips I never saw before, which is nice. But still... the 5 or so I haven't found yet include some of my favorite Gackt moments. Go figure. Examples: Gackt and Hamada grabbing each other's crotches, Gackt on the Hey Hey Hey Christmas show with the kimchi cake and Matsumoto dressing up as Gackt, and Gackt showcasing some of his favorite underwear and cups. Also can't find the clip of him singing Japan's national anthem or the video for Seki-Ray... but I think those'll turn up eventually. The 5 Utaban interview clips, some of the most hilarious pieces of video ever, are all giving me crap also. Won't download, or won't play, or will play only as sound files... arrrgggh.
Other files I'll need to redownload include a handful of really cool Ayumi Hamasaki videos and concert clips, which I don't think will be hard to find, and several fan-made Utena AMVs (anime music videos), which I think will be a serious pain in the butt to find. There were also a lot of anime episodes and a few movies, but I'm not sure I'll redownload them. They took up a LOT of space, and most of them I was only interested in enough to watch once anyway. I might get some of them back, but not all of them... and if I do, they won't take long to find.
Heh, that's me... always finding the bright side of a crisis. :P But man, what a serious pain... redownloading all those files, some of which took me literally months to find and/or download... *fume*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 7/02/2003 04:00:00 AM
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