Of singers and storms.

[ellana]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLUM!

(aka: thumbs, I'm an hour early but I want to be close-to-first. Ffff! D: )

I guess I owe a real life post.

WORK:
Work went through an evil phase of me doing a bunch of involved things that I really shouldn't have to do (it's not really my job to do them, and it's the customer/sales reps jobs to get us what we need to make ads look satisfactory, IMHO, but they don't). The sales reps keep giving me the "oh, but you do it so well~" cop-out and I have realized the short answer: I'm the one that will go above and beyond the call of duty. I'm the perfectionist. I'm the one who will struggle through an ad, rebuild from scratch if necessary, etc, etc... when everyone else puts a foot down and goes "Heck no, I ain't doing that!". Last week I rebuilt three jewelry wrappers (large pages separate from the rest of the paper that are bundled around the paper). This week I rebuilt a car ad with SIXTY-FREAKING-FIVE cars in it. And they had to be in price order on each row. And the boxes switch between black and white, so I had to change the colors back around on quite a few of the objects. I also had to open up all sixty-or-so pictures and convert them all to .tif, CMYK, 300dpi. WHAT. FUN~! [/sarcasm]. So, yeah. Basically I am the little "sweet" (not!) perfectionist who will get your ad done as nicely as humanly possible. Do I get thanks for it? No, not really... [sigh] But on the bright side, larger ads cost like THOUSANDS of dollars, and lots of people see them, so even though nobody knows I made them, I at least have an audience and at least the customers are pleased sometimes. And occasionally I hear about how pleased they were. I guess my employers can't complain too much.

STORMS:
The storm last night? It was actually pretty severe. Rain dumped on us in torrents from like 10-something for the next hour straight. It lightning/thundered pretty bad and didn't end until 1 or 2 AM at which point my dad sawing logs in his sleep woke me up. Seriously it got really bad as soon as I logged off. But no, I didn't hide in a closet like Haruhi. Although I did lay down on my floor with a book until it calmed down a bit.

BOOKS:
So, book talk. I finished the Jane Lindskold book I was reading which turned out to be pretty good, if still feeling too much like a summary of a book. Interesting plot twists near the end. One was obvious, the other not-so-much, but it's pretty common as far as plot twists go.

The book I'm starting now I've had for a while and got as a Bargain Book at Books-a-Million. It's part of a series (one of the later/last books and completely readable on its own, although now I'm kinda interesting in reading the others). Anyway, the interesting thing about "Singer in the Snow" is that it has a lot of things that coincidentally remind me of Tales of the Abyss. Pfft! I'm not kidding, okay?

So they have these people called Singers/Cantors/Cantrixes who sing/use an instrument (filla/filhata) to create music. This music then creates light/heat and can be used to perform magic (healing/calming/light stuff mostly). I don't know, but this reminded me a lot of Abyss' Melodists (for the uninitiated: Tear Grants is one) and the whole fonon/fonic hymns thing. The Oracle Knights in Abyss also have ranks that are ranks in the system in this book (which are music terms)... ie. Maestro/Maestra and Cantor. The other coincidence? There's a character named Luke. XDD Only this one is a stable hand and basically a normal person whereas the Abyss one is a noble. Maybe I'm just easily amused, but either way, I find the music/magic relationship cool, and the book is quite good so far.

TALES OF THE ABYSS/ROLEPLAYING:
Before I get off the Abyss topic, I know some people on my Flist here follow the Abyss manga... Do any of you know if there have been chapters with Tear flashbacks yet? I'm still looking for a few more younger!Tear images for a roleplaying event over on memento_eden, although I broke down and got a paid account/extension for her and have like 93 icons. Well, I kept switching icons out and realized I had made about 50 out of anime caps, so I went ahead and got paid for the next two months.

VACATION/MORE TALES:
Well, one week until my Niagara Falls trip! I'm really excited! Although I think it's a shame that most of the time will be spent riding in a bus to Canada. Only one day actually there. (I'll be gone next Saturday thru Monday.) I went by Gamestop last weekend and was going to get the first Star Ocean game for my PSP, but then I decided to ask if they had a used copy of Tales of Phantasia... and they did! So I got it for like $8. =D Only thing is it's hard going back to piddly little Gameboy games and a really sloooow battle system. But I love what I've seen of the characters so far, so I think it'll be all right. I still plan to get that Arche figure eventually, but not until after I get back. I also need to finish off the Abyss trading figures... >_>;; Poor Guy's surrounded by women.

ROLEPLAYING:
Still roleplay-related. I have decided I should research the other canons of characters I roleplay with that I don't know (and luckily I know some of them already). Like today I watched a fan anime project for Touhou Project to get a better feel for Aya and Reimu (since I have interacted with both of them), and my mind's vision was completely off. I had watched an episode of Soul Eater like a month ago and I realized I was a little misguided there, too. So I'd like to experiment with watching some of the other canons so I can read everyone's posts correctly and with a little extra insight. You know when you read a book and you get a vision of a character that's completely different from a movie version of the character, and sometimes completely different even from the book's description of the character? It's like that. Like in Firekeeper I never imagined Sir Jared ("Doc") looking as he is described. In my brain his hair is not black (I believe I read a few books ago that it was black anyway x-x). And I don't like beards, so I imagine characters without beards even when they supposedly have them. Stuff like that. Seriously. Give me a canon to check out if you want.

Still roleplay-related. Five-year-old Tear and three-year-old Lloyd at once... I still say I'm crazy for that one. But at least I'll be crazy all at once and not have to go back and forth between serious and moe!/kiddie. I'm... I'm looking forward to playing the moeblob. OMG. You have no idea.

So yeah, I'll end this essay...
....
....

MEME:
And I'll steal this from regalblaze while I'm at it.

Ask me a question about my roleplaying characters in context of the game. It can be any question, about relationships, history, plans, what they're doing right now, romance, what they want to do, their favorite comfort foods, anything. It just has to be about the character in game context. I will do my best to answer the question in as much detail as possible.

(Tear Grants, Lloyd Irving and Ren Tsuruga in Memento Eden; Anyone I have played in Kokoro; Yuan, Martel, Lloyd and Tear in Ad Libitum.)

Comments

[princessk492.livejournal.com]

From what I've seen scanlated, no I haven't seen any Tear flashbacks. It's possible that there are some raws out there with some, though, if they've gotten to any scenes like that in the manga yet.

[ellana]

All right. Just thought I'd check. Thanks, though! ^^;

[sistaofpeace1.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I feel like whoever's drawing the mangas is more of a Natalia/Asch fan than they are of Tear or anyone else...the former two have gotten so much exposure, it's not even funny <.<

Funny to hear about the book you're reading with all the TotA coincidences XD

As for your meme, I guess I'll ask about the Tear Grants you're roleplaying :p

[ellana]

Which one, and what would you like to know about her? Although I'm guessing you're asking about the one I roleplay more frequently at Memento Eden. XD

Ah. Poor Tear/others. =/ Although I do like Asch/Natalia.

Yes, I was really amused at the time. I totally bought it before I got into this big Abyss kick.

[sistaofpeace1.livejournal.com]

Oh sorry I didn't clarify that, heh, how about the Ad Libitim one? Maybe in terms of romance XD

[ellana]

I'll give you both, since Ad Libitum is new and we still haven't had a Luke sign up, although this is the third time one has been reserved. XDD

In Ad Libitum (based on Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology), Tear has no romantic involvement to speak of. Jade doesn't trust her because she's from a point in time during which the group was leaving Luke behind in Eldrant and Jade is from pre-Akzeriuth, and as such Tear refuses to reveal very much about what happens. She gets along well enough with Flynn Scifo, but the person she's most comfortable with at the moment is Asch because they both got dragged in from around the same time and thus know spoilers that the rest of the Abyss cast doesn't. They have formed an alliance of sorts and are both hoping (although Asch would never admit it on his end) that Luke survived and will show up in Atlas soon.

Over in Memento Eden (this is a deal where all characters lose their memories and are transported to an island; they regain them over time. Right now Tear only remembers her first name and pre-game Van), Tear still has no romantic involvement to speak of. She has made a few friends however, and there is a Luke (he's game end + a few days; Tear is from game end). A few people seem to be able to sense these things and have already tried to play match-maker between the two, which Tear doesn't appreciate at all. Luke and Tear's relationship is sort of on-and-off. She gets exhausted with his pride/attitude, but finds his enthusiasm for some things endearing. She also feels sorry for him since he has remembered being locked up all his life in the manor.

I guess someone will try to flirt with her eventually (Raven and Zelos have sort of tried, but they haven't been too serious about it). =3

[sistaofpeace1.livejournal.com]

Hahaha ah I see, sounds interesting XD I'd love to know if she ever hooks up with Luke (or anyone really) in the future, lol :p

Thanks for sharing ^^

[ellana]

It is pretty interesting. XD Feel free to stalk her occasionally if you're bored. She's already been in some pretty amusing circumstances to say the least. ^^;

Welcome.

[sistaofpeace1.livejournal.com]

Haha, will do then XD

[sugarvoice.livejournal.com]

um... Can I ask Tear in ME what she thinks of... Rika? -wondering if Tear realizes how evil Rika really is-

[ellana]

She has absolutely no idea that Rika is evil. =3 She thinks Rika is quite cute and with a little practice, Rika could learn how to set off her "cute/fangirling mode" on command. XD

She is of a mindset that cute things are cute and totally innocent and that's the end of it. Therefore if Rika gets bullied, she'll step in. She would also totally mother/big sister Rika if Rika wanted her to. XD

(Although that's not to say she doesn't think Rika's capable of teasing/playing "harmless" jokes on people. Example being that she doesn't particularly get any evil vibes from Luke, either even though he was supposedly bullying Rika.)

[kaitou-marina.livejournal.com]

Just in case you're considering Tsubasa, I would definitely suggest reading the manga rather than watching the anime. The anime, while sort of pretty, is actually a really poor adaptation and the characters are sort of OOC (i.e. they "straighten out" Fay, have Kuro make inappropriate flirt-noises at Sakura, etc.). It's really fucking weird. XD HOWEVER, when you get to the later chapters of the manga, there's a really excellent OVA adaptation that was done by a different studio that's five episodes long if you want to watch those to get the look of it moving and the sound of the voices and stuff. There's also a movie too, but I think that one is harder to find online.

[ellana]

Ah, see, I am actually somewhat (key: somewhat) familiar with Tsubasa! =D I started watching the anime's first season back when it came out, and I've read the manga through volume 8 (although this was quite a long time ago and not very far all thing's considered).

I plan to read the rest eventually, but I'd rather buy what I need in bulk used on ebay or somewhere for less money, since the total for all of them new would be pretty expensive cuz it's so long (I tried doing this with Skip Beat! and had limited success, it's also very long and ongoing). I watched the first episode of the OVA and have started the second season (also a while back, have it all downloaded =X).

And I actually have seen the movie around online but when I downloaded it (still a while back) the track with the voices in it was so quiet it was almost impossible to hear, so I gave up. ^^;

[kaitou-marina.livejournal.com]

Oh awesome *LOL* I was going off of what you had listed back on the friending meme so I wasn't sure. If you are liking the anime, more power to you. I just got burned really bad by it so it's my instict to warn people about it (there's an entire arc where they just sit. On a bus. Forever and ever. WTF).

Buying the Tsubasa manga would be wise, seeing as the scanlations go completely south a lot of the time. XD Damn, if you lived nearby I would lend it to you. @.@ Do you not like reading manga online?

[annalouise.livejournal.com]

I also had to open up all sixty-or-so pictures and convert them all to .tif, CMYK, 300dpi. WHAT. FUN~! [/sarcasm].

I don't know if it was an option you could do... but have you looked into Adobe's batch processing method? You would record the actions for one image (so change to cymk, 300 dpi, save as tif, close) and then batch process the whole folder? Sometimes it works for certain things.

[ellana]

I tried doing something like that, but I haven't figured out how it works exactly yet. I plan to look it up, though, and try it next time. Seems like it'd save me a lot of trouble.

[thumbs.livejournal.com]

You were first. ;_;
Thank you, Churu~ ♥

[ellana]

You're welcome. =/

I hope you don't plan on calling me "Cherry" IRL...

[thumbs.livejournal.com]

I don't call you "Cherry". I call you "Churu"~ :'D
Nah, I'll use your name. o:
Although my family keeps using Cherry and can't remember your real name. D:

[ellana]

That your family calls me anything scares me. D=

[thumbs.livejournal.com]

Porque? D:

[lilac-breeze.livejournal.com]

About work: Wow, hun, that's... not cool. I used to be like that, go above and beyond, and yet still get no thanks for it, so I've stopped. I mean, I still do my work, just... only what I feel like I'm paid for, you know? Sometimes I'll do more, but usually just don't care anymore. You should be proud of your hard work, even if it's pretty much thankless. I think that's admirable, really.

That sounds like a good book! I need to keep these in mind, if I ever get through my backlog of novels to read. XD; (Which will never, ever happen, haha.)

You're going to Niagara Falls, huh? Neat! It's pretty there. Have fun on your trip!

Mini-Tear is adorable, but. BUT. Mini-Lloyd? GAH SO CUTE. His ICONS. *flails* I just hope you know that Louise will never, ever forget how sweet and adorable he is right now and will forever be his mommy. You brought this upon yourself. XD

For the meme: I love this meme, but I'm so bad at coming up with questions. Um. Tell me what your characters really think of where they're stuck right now! Any people they really like? Or really hate? Answer with whoever you want!

[m-a-foxfire.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, Lindskold! Which one's that?

Meme: What does Tear do in her free time?

[ellana]

"When the Gods are Silent". I think there are still a few others by her I wanted to read outside of the Firekeeper Saga. I don't remember which, though.

Tear... free time... *scratches head*

It's divided among:
1. Reading (books/novels in general, books on music (although she gave up on this for the time being), cookbooks to get ideas for the cafe to submit to the manager)
2. Training (she throws her knives at targets in the woods and generally fails with her staff)
3. Hanging out with People (er... Tear doesn't really "hang out", but there are a few people she's comfortable with and will spend time around. With the rest it mainly involves lecturing.)
4. Spending Time Outdoors (she likes going out at night (suspicious much?), also likes seeing the flowers during the day; the fresh air is relaxing)
5. Thinking (she does this too much because she can't really take action)
6. Secretly Fangirling Over Cute Things (if one is available)

She's not very exciting. XD