Outpost of the World

Well, I was right. Things really were too good to last. I feel so emotionally exhausted and sad that it's hard to breath. More later when I don't feel so glum. Promise. I'm just so tired of my heart hurting all the time that I can't bring myself to go into the details right now. ;^;

Yahoo! Today's my birthday! Unfortunately, I'm packing to go back for (graduate) school so it's kind of a bummer. It's always been like this though. I'm either a) packing for school b) getting dropped off at school or c) waking up to my first day back. I get homesick easily. XD I like my friends down there, but after five years, it still doesn't really feel like home.

Anyways, I downloaded the FE13 demo today and I am so pumped for this game now! I've already been quite excited about it, but seeing the game and getting a feel for it on the 3DS has really solidified to me that this is going to be fantastic. The visuals are amazing, the sound is great, the characters are already proving to be very promising, and overall, I'm just so happy that Nintendo/IS is getting back to making good Fire Emblems again. :D It's making me excited in the same way that I was excited for FE7, and I haven't felt like that about a Fire Emblem game since... FE7. XD

I'm really curious to see how Nintendo tackles the DLC. I get this inkling that none of the non-western-release characters are going to get brought over. It's just a hunch, but I'm not sure how many people other than die-hards are going to want to purchase, say, Alm. To that extent, we might not get Roy. D: (And I'm still butthurt that there was no Eliwood DLC.) As for the special DLC episodes, I'm not sure about some of them. There's one where I think everyone is wearing a kimono, which sort of kills the fact that Fire Emblem has a uniquely western feel to it despite it's roots. Also, beach episodes. Get them away from me. :I

So I was admitted to the ER yesterday. D: Friday night, I had really severe stomach pains that kept me up until the next morning, which culminated into really severe vomiting. The pain was so bad that I couldn't even stand up straight, so I finally agreed to go to the hospital, where I was told that I had an ovarian cyst that had ruptured. The pain was caused by blood that had seeped into my stomach--apparently the two are never, ever supposed to mix--and the vomiting was a result of the intense pain. Going to a doctor tomorrow for follow-up care and instructions. I feel pretty crummy but I'm hanging in there. ;__;

Dear Friends, particularly those of the FESS variety, although others are welcome--

crystalns and I are calling for a LiveJournal Intervention. We love you. We miss you. You're fun to talk to, and we count on your support. So don't neglect your LJ account! We read what you write and we miss your comments, whether they be uplifting, sarcastic, silly, or otherwise. We miss hearing about you, your life, your victories, and your defeats. Somewhere along the line, we all hit a lull and stopped updating and became lurkers. Let's put an end to this, okay? ;__;

Love,

Popo and Crystal

I was wondering if the FE6 English translation project is officially a closed case. I'm currently using what I believe to be the most updated version of the patch, and while I'm immensely appreciative that there's any patch at all, I see a lot of areas that could use some improvement. In particular, I feel like a lot of the characters are bone-dry, or they suddenly speak in such a way that isn't really appropriate for the time period and/or setting. (Like, one minute Roy will sound like an upstanding noble, and then three lines later he sounds like he's about to bro-fist the next person who comes on screen.) There are also some grammatical mistakes, which is expected, but they should probably be fixed. Also, "lout" and "Well met!" are not used enough. XD

tl;dr: Who do I talk to about helping out with an updated translation, and would they be offended/disinterested if I brought it up?

So. For the first time, I qualified for Club Nintendo's "elite status" gift for this year. In the past, the awards have been amazing. Among other things, there was a velvety life-size, wearable replica of Mario's hat, and a cool looking figurine of the main cast.

This year's prize is pins. Like, little 1"x1" pins that you'd buy at Hot Topic if you were a derpy twelve year old boy.

Thanks, Nintendo. $500+ dollars worth of registered merchandise, and you give me shit I can buy on Etsy for three bucks. u____u

Edit: These could have been 1000x more amazing if they were metal die-cut pins. That would be more than acceptable to me. This is stuff you can make in your basement on the cheap, and they look cheap. :c

Hey, guys! ♥

I just got a preview of my section in Yumi's artbook! Please click HERE and check it out! :D

First of all, I have a serious problem. Remember how I order an APH Hungary One-Coin figure last week to go with the Austria figure I pre-ordered in June? Well. Now I'm getting HRE and Chibitalia as well. XD



I have spent so much money on these little bastards. XD But they're so cute! I can't help it! And I know that I can sell each figure back for a reasonable price when I'm done with them, so really, considering that I only paid about $8-9 for each, I made out quite well. I consider them investments! (Not that I'll ever sell them.) XD

All I need is Prussia and I'll be happy, but he's the most popular figure of the set, most likely because he comes with Gilbird and because he's AWESOME. I actually think I was pretty lucky to get my hands on HRE + Chibitalia for the price I paid. (I got both of them as a set for $16!) I totally swopped in and stole them from this girl who was interested. Oops. XD Honestly, I should have just paid the $60 or $70 it cost to pre-order the entire set, and then I could have saved money by simply selling off the ones I didn't want. TOO LATE. XD

Anyways, when they show up in the mail, look out. I'm going to take like, a million pictures. XD ♥

Related to the subject of giving gifts to myself, I really like these postcards, but they're way too expensive, and I really don't need them. I don't write letters as much as I used to. They're a (bad) impulse buy waiting to happen, but I thought I'd share them in case you guys out there can think of a literature snob in your life who might like them. XD

As for school, finals are here, but I'm doing well. Does anyone remember that class I was upset about a few months ago because I failed a test? Well, on my second to last test, I got a 90%, and on my final test, I got a 100% Wooo! And now it's done, and I don't have to worry about it. XD I have a final oral presentation in one of my German classes tomorrow, and I'm actually a little... I don't know, torn about it? We get to pick our own topics this time, so immediately I though, "Ah! The Virginia Jetzt! farewell tour!" but, I think that wound still needs a little more time to heal. I found a great article, but it was also really sad. D:


Loose translation is loose. XD But yeah, anyways. Talking about this sort of thing would be hard to do in front of my class, so I'm going to find something neutral and boring and bland that I don't care about, get my 'A', and get out. XD



OH. ONE MORE THING. SO MUCH SNOW YESTERDAY. ♥

Hey, guys~! ♥

I hope all is well. I'm working on a submissions for an artbook and I have two related issues that I wanted to inquire about.

First, any tips for speeding up Photoshop and/or my computer's ability to handle large files? The entry for the artbook needs to be of a super high resolution (1748x2480px, resolution is 600 pixels/inch), so the more layers, colors, and lines I add, the longer and longer it takes to open the file, save it, zoom in and out, etc. It takes a good two to three minutes to load the file, and it can take upwards of 30 to 60 seconds to save it. There's also quite a bit of lag when I try to zoom in and out of the piece, at least initially. Are these simply drawbacks of working with a large file?

Second, the image itself is... really starting to frustrate me. XD I think it's because I've spent such a long time looking at it, but it just seems too detailed in some places and not detailed enough in others, and then on top of that, my normal method of coloring has gone from cell-shading to just plain clinical and boring. D: If I post a screenie, can I get some tips/advice/critique? You don't have to be artistically inclined. XD