The embedding isn't working, so here's a link:

http://sketch.odopod.com/sketches/300670

It's 3am and I'm really sleepy, but can't settle down because... well, I'll just put this down because... uh. For the ages, I guess?

During most of this last month:


It's... talk about conflicting signs. I mean, the perfume sure is nice, except I don't really like perfumes, and most perfumes smell obnoxious to me. This one is nice and, most important, very, very subtle, but it's still something I'm likely to use twice a year at most. A pair of headphones would have been way cheaper but, and this I really can't be nicer about, much better appreciated.

Yes, the expensive-ass perfume was an extremely underwhelming gift, and I feel terrible for feeling this way. Clearly she felt terrible about it as well, as someone (don't know who exactly) convinced her that giving me headphones would make me more withdrawn (I'm withdrawn because most everyone around me is shit to hang out with!), so she went with the perfume because... because I can't ever find perfumes which don't get up my nose, I guess. But still... those headphones... my life would be so much better with them. And she wouldn't be guilt-tripping me about being unnapreciative.

I dunno, I think she went to sleep thinking I absolutely hate and abhorr her present, when, really, it's more like I'm completely indifferent to it (which is worse?). She keeps telling me that I have to express myself, that I shouldn't act like I'm fine and happy when I'm not, but she seemed so upset about the perfume thing, I'm wondering if I should have acted like I liked the thing. :/

I'll be spending the night at a relative's, so, for everyone in my f-list, have a happy holiday and a good night :D

Het Challenge:

- FFVII - Lolita Fatale (fic and art)
- My tag on the community

roadsdiverged: FFVII

1. What If: Shame and Regret (posted in the comm and in my journal)
2. Pirates
3. Apocalyptica
4. Are we there yet?
5. High School
6. The dog bites back
7. Herder in the night

Idolverse: Spawned from the What If fic from above
Pairing: Cloti, maybe ZCT, maybe ZCTA...
Rating: I'd say PG. I'm not that good at rating, but there's nothing menacing in this so far.
Genre: Romance and a bit of action
Spoilers and/or Warnings: All that apply to FFVII in general

Prelude: Shame and Regret
1. Midgarian Star
2. Tifa Heart - Part 1 and Part 2

(more to be added)

Godverse: Crackverse, all about the pr0nz
Pairing: Cloti, eventually ZCTA
Rating: SO NOT WORKSAFE IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY
Genre: Romance, crack, AU and pr0nz
Spoilers and/or Warnings: All that apply to FFVII in general + crack + PR0NZ

Part 1
Part 2

Witness and the Crime (in hiatus): Cloud is the only witness to a crime that has put the top 5 in Shinra on edge; problem is, he can't remember it and people keep trying to kill him.
Pairing: Pretty much Gen. Reader is welcome to read anything in it.
Rating: The description of the "hideous crime" is enought to warrant an R.
Genre: Mystery, action, Whodunnit
Spoilers and/or Warnings: All that apply to FFVII in general + extra gore and mindfucking.

Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03

Child of the Mountain (in hiatus): Zack only wanted nookie, but ended up being dragged around the world as a fugitive by a girl and a stuffed cat. And what's worse: everyone seems to know stuff he doesn't.
Pairing: Zack/Aeris, mainly. Also mainly crack.
Rating: Um, PG so far?
Genre: Adventure, mystery, drama and CRACK.
Spoilers and/or Warnings: All that apply to FFVII in general.

01. The Miracle Girl
02. Fort Condor
03. Fairy Tale

Things I have accomplished this past week:

• Coloring 3 fully photoshopped webcomic pages and drawing 14 more for a side story, effectively giving me a buffer which'll last me up to January 15 (which I hope to spend creating a longer buffer, hopefully a chapter-long one).
• Talking to my sister about her terrible habit of assuming people are being stupid, unfaithful and/or maliciously holding back information when they're unable to answer a question from her right away... WITHOUT turning it into a shouting match. It was a surprisingly civil conversation.

Things I have not accomplished this past week:

• Catching up on NaNoWriMo. Currently stuck at 37.344 words. My webcomics took precedence. How many words of description would 17 comic pages translate as?

So, I dunno if I win or I fail here.

Suddenly, I notice it's been almost half a year since I last updated any of my journals. Erm... sorry? I have been following my flists, though. I'm sure you have seen me comment here and there. I just haven't sat down to write any going-ons. This post is to make sure visitors know I'm not dead.

A quick rundown of what I've done these last few months:( in topics for easier reading )

As for the last month: ( Not in topics )

This is about all I remember being relevant from the latest months. 

It's amazing how my mother managed to destroy my day before I even woke up just by leaving a note on my desk.

I can't remember the last time I felt this shitty.

This week so far:

- Waxed my eyebrows and upper lip on Monday. On arriving home, my father took one look at my face and said he saw no difference. Way to make me feel pretty.

- Woke on on Tuesday with very, very strong pains on my right foot, that seemed to fade throughout the day. My foot hurt if I moved my pinky sideways; it hurt if I put my weight on it, and later in the day if I put my weight on my heel. But after half a day or so, the pain would be gone so long as I didn't put any weight on it, even if I were to stretch or flex the ankle and toes like I do in ballet class. If it were a ballet-related strain, it was one weird strain. I thought it was related to the cold (I've been experiencing all-new temperatures in this new house, I swear it didn't get this cold last year...), and since the pain was almost gone by night, I thought it would be a one-time-only occurrence. Until...

- Wednesday saw me up at 6am again because of the foot-ache, now more achey than ever. Mother drove me to an orthopedist, who diagnosed my foot pain as... tendonitis. On my ankle. I'm a sedentary artist who takes two weekly hours of ballet class just for the sake of not turning into a blob of fat, and yet, I get tendonitis not on my wrist, but on my foot? And the reason why is... because I abuse flat shoes. Flat flip-flopy havaianas at home, flat converses when going out. My last pair of sneakers kicked the bucket years ago and I haven't bothered to replace them since, despite thinking to myself "I could do with new sneakers" every now and again. Well, it's come to bite me in the ass. I still find it quite hilarious, though. 5 days of pills and hot compresses on my ankle, and anti-impact sneakers ASAP, was what I was told. Also, I should invest in footwear with heels, so long as they're no higher than 3cm. I hate heels.

- So today, after discussing with my mother when, where and how to buy new sneakers (I can't walk long distances, and mom is the kind of shopper who checks stores for the whole day only to buy diddly shit), she went to the doctor and I stayed at home. And then she came back home with a pair of Reeboks and a brand new bag! Well, that was kinda out of left field, but I needed a new bag, my old one was very beaten up and still had traces of rock that my sister would collect during her master's course in geology (she never used her own bags for rock-gathering). And now... I'm wearing the new sneakers, they're very comfy. And the new bag is pretty cool and... pretty. Pity my wallet doesn't fit any internal pocket, but my wallet is kind of a jumbo monster anyway.

Good week so far.

Needs to be watched.

Tonight's temp in Niteroi, RJ: 13ºC / 55ºF

GUYS YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW COLD THIS IS FOR TROPICAL LITTLE ME I WORE A SCARF THE WHOLE DAY IT'S MAKING ME SERIOUSLY CONSIDER BUYING GLOVES AND I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY WORN GLOVES EVER


THIS IS AWESOME

I hate my life.

News at eleven.

Guess what? I'm the new computer analyst/troubleshooter in the house! And for free!

Yesterday I was volunteered to format and re-install Windows in an HD my father brought from his store - and today, he brought it back + its CPU because it was still not loading, and also another HD to re-format (a ridiculously old, brick-shaped one).

Turns out the HD I fixed yesterday didn't even need formatting - the motherboard was the root of the problem. It's kinda not recognizing HDs. The other, oldass HD actually managed to make my motherboard not load. Yes, it froze Asus Expressgate. You could hear the disk inside it trying and failing to turn. It's like the good old times, when I had to slap my CPU to make the fan turn!

Tinkering inside computers rose a lot of dust, and it's making a mess of my throat. I'm still kinda sick :/ Hope I don't get worse again.

So, a while ago I had laryngitis. Well, now I have faryngitis. Yay?

Okay, the fever seems to have broken. It actually got to 39°C (102.2°F), and though it's only lowered to 38,5°C (101.3°F) so far, I'm starting to feel hot when before I was shivering under a thick eiderdown. I also feel okay with standing up and sitting at the comp. I'll take that as an improvement.

I've been coughing a lot, but there's barely any phlegm coming out. My eyes are heavy and a little achy. Also, I'm bored out of my mind, and my father's an ass.

What should I do to relieve the boredom? Try and draw more Steampunk Vikings? Try and write down the fairly angsty h/c HTTYD fanfic that's worming around in my mind (it involves sickness, and I'm getting some first-hand experience here!)? Try and watch my OMG ILLEGAL copy of HTTYD? Browse youtube for more japanese trailers? So many options, so little energy.

Okay, body, you gotta stop this.

First, it was the sore throat starting last night. Then the long sleepless hours of coughing. Then the waking up at 7am with more sore throat and achy muscles, and now the headache?

We were so awesome together, yesterday. Remember all that drawing we did? The Steampunk Vikings? I want to do more sketching. There's a webcomic to update. Stop crapping out on me.

No love,
Paula

- The floods on my city affected me in no way except for leaving me locked at home for over a week straight. Since I'm a hermit to begin with, it was no problem. The rest of my family went stir-crazy, though.

- Been really stressed with job stuff, which makes me wildly unproductive. My parents really, really want me to have a government job, and my thoughts on the matter are clearly of no consequence to them.

- Changed my website's layout again. http://www.fanelorn.net I like it. Then again, I always like a new layout for the first month or so, and then start to loathe it.

- Today I'm going to the eye doctor to talk about the laser operation for nearsightedness. I've reached the conclusion that my glasses do nothing to improve my self-image and esteem. And since it turns out I can't keep my contacts on for more than a couple hours or so... :/

- I went to the movies to watch How to Train your Dragon. IT WAS THE BEST MOVIE EVER. I loved every second of it. My greatest regret: being unable to watch it in 3D. The nearest 3D cinemas are over 2 hours away from my house, and they have all been invaded by Tim Burton's Alice. Screw Alice.

- Finally put together a decent-looking digital portfolio presentation. Am now panicking, wondering how to go about sending them to whom.

- The day is sunny, but it's chilly enough to make me want to put on socks. I like this weather!

It's been raining buckets non-stop since monday evening. Flooded streets, collapsed houses, a pool that slid down the hill and onto an avenue a couple minutes from home, it's chaos here in Rio right now.

My house is nice and safe except for a leaky roof, but electricity and internet keep going kaput without warning. I can't go anywhere because of the closed streets - and this sucks more than usual since on monday, right before the rain came tearing down, I actually bought a movie ticket for the first time in years. :/ Those are 10 reais I'll never see again.

I slept like shit this evening. My eyes hurt. I'm bored.

I GOT 23538 IN ONE WISH

47496 IN THREE WISHES

HELL YEAH I OWN ROBOT UNICORNS!

In this time of familial crisis, when my mother and father have had the first great row of the year and are currently sitting at the living room in lethal silence, I escape from this harsh reality by crossing into the colorful world of sparkles and rainbows and ROBOT UNICORNS.

ALWAYS I WANNA BEEEEEEEEEE WITH YOU AND MAKE BELIEEEEEEEEEVE WITH YOU AND LIVE IN HARMONY HARMONY OH LOOOOOVE