Something Tells Me I'm Not Gonna Make It

So after a month's worth of feet dragging, I finally started work on my next chapter. Basically, I finished the Percy Jackson books my fiance lent me, craved to read more, but couldn't, and so I decided to distract my craving with some writing of my own - after discovering that Percy Jackson is the fourth most popular fandom to write about on Fanfiction.net... I might have to read some of those ^_^

Anyway, Script Frenzy starts this Friday, and so today and tomorrow are my last days to try to post this next chapter before my month-long hiatus so I can concentrate on my script writing. On the plus side, I had today off and so I had all day to work on my chapter. The down side? I've been violently ill since last night and so I've tag-teamed the bathroom and my bed all day. I did get the full chapter's plot sketched out throughout the course of my day, but with all the naps I was taking I didn't have time to actually start writing. Worst part was when I started falling asleep while in the middle of scripting the plotline and I hoped I could dream about my story so I knew where to go with it - only to dream about friggen Percy Jackson instead! Fiance has me obsessed!

And so, I battled through bathroom runs and naps and writer's block to at least figure out what I want to do with the chapter. I listened to the song it's based on continuously all day. I then spent about an hour or so researching a second song on the internet. Yup, part of my writer's block was when I realized that I wanted ANOTHER song actually in my story - very much like that pain in the butt song Arnold played while dancing with Helga on her rooftop. It kept me about a month to finally get that song figured out, and I had less than two days to figure out the one for this chapter. At first I thought of a DJ mash-up of songs, like those by DJ McFly. But that would make it worse because - as I mentioned for the last song - I don't feel right using "real world" songs for the "Hey Arnold world" and so I'd have to come up with about 20 different songs, describe them, and mash them together. No chance. I then thought of an audio mash-up such as this one for Boxxy. But then I thought it was beyond creepy for the character to have all of these audio bytes of Helga to mash-up and that the song would come across as more creepy then the grand gesture of love it's intended. And so I was again stuck with what to do. That was about the time I passed out hoping to dream about what to do next, only to dream about Percy Jackson instead. XP

Anyway, when I woke up I was still stuck and decided to just flip through some of my favorite Flash submissions on Newgrounds.com. That was when I stumbled upon this little chestnut. Seeing the first character siting outside Spike's bedroom window playing a simple song on a guitar was exactly what I needed. I didn't need to worry about writing a song! I just needed to have my character writing an instrumental song on his guitar! And then at the end of the flash animation, when Spike held up the signs, it was perfect! Helga can know how he feels by him holding up signs for her to read while his song played on a boombox! It would be like Say Anything!

Now, to figure out the guitar song so I knew the feeling while I wrote. I again hit up Newgrounds since it has an audio portal for users to post royalty-free songs that they write, but it was too difficult to find a song that was just instrumental guitar - let alone a slightly sad song. That's when I changed tactics and went to YouTube.com. A few searches later I found this song by Daniel Cripps. It was perfect. Once I figured that out I was pretty much set. Now, I work from six AM until four PM tomorrow, and so we'll see if I can manage to write anything. I hope to get this done before Script Frenzy starts, but we'll see....

Touching Base and Giving Reviews

It's been a while since I last posted and I just wanted to touch base. As per usual I've been horrible when it comes to writing. After I posted my last chapter and blog post I had every intention of continuing writing that day. However, I was actually interested in getting the skeletal timeline down for the script I'm starting April first for Script Frenzy. That way I can just sit and write because I knew where I was gonna go with it. However, work got in the way. And then my co-manager got sick and so I had to pick up more hours which got in the way. And I was only doing openings and so I was exhausted and wanted to sleep, which got in the way. And then my sister was never around to take care of her dog and so I was the one that played with the needy mutt - which, you guessed it, got in the way. And so I STILL don't have much of an outline done and I'm probably not going to when April comes around. So I'll probably spend the first week or so of Script Frenzy just piecing everything together and then knock out the 100-page script over a weekend or something.

Further distractions took form a day or so after I posted my last chapter. I did something I rarely did - I drank coffee because I was DRAAAAAAAGGING at work. I don't know if it was the fact that I only drank coffee maybe twice before in my life and my body wasn't use to it, or if it was the brand of coffee Subway sells: Seattle's Best, or if it was my listening to a co-worker when he told me that adding a package of hot chocolate mix to the coffee helped make it less bitter, but somehow, for whatever reason, that coffee made me so sick that I actually left work early for the first time. After an hour or so nap I felt a little better, but kept myself bedridden. I wasn't feeling well enough to write, but I was also getting bored and didn't really feel like playing video games. That was when I saw it, one of two books my fiance lent me nearly a month prior and was constantly begging me to read. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

We had seen the Disney movie "based" on the book and he ended up falling in love with the series - even declaring that the author Rick Riordan officially dethrowned his previously favorite author: Orson Scott Card - which also dethrowned "Ender's Game" as my fiance's favorite story and series.

I had been dragging my feet for the same reason I dragged my feet about Harry Potter - the book series was written for children half my age. I'm not sure why this was an issue for me since I've been OBSESSING over "Hey, Arnold!" for the past year and a half - and that series not only ended nearly a decade ago, but was for ten-year-olds. I still play with toys on occasion and watch movies that are aimed at children, so why am I embarrassed to read childrens' books? Not sure, but it was an issue.

Anyway, there I was, sick, in bed, bored, and staring at this novel my fiance has been begging me to read, and so I did. I was instantly drawn in to Riordan's writing, mostly because it so closely resembled my own writing style. If I write similarly, obviously I would enjoy how it was written. Plus, it gave me hope that my writing style could be publishable some day - even if it were for middle-schoolers. Another bonus for Riordan was my love of Greek Mythology. Finally, the story itself was actually really funny, even to the point of me reading passages that I enjoyed out loud to my fiance so he knew what I was laughing at while we were on the phone. I greatly enjoyed the story and even acknowledged my fiance's "I told you so"s.

Well, now I really was in trouble, what little precious time I had at home was spent reading this novel instead of writing my own. Sure, I thought about my own story a little while at work all of those hours alone, but nothing was committed to paper. Also, since I didn't really remember the Greek mythology too well it kept me at least twice as long to read "The Lightning Thief" because I was going through my "reference book" at the same time. Let me explain, sure, Riordan was good at having different mythology references explained. He understood that the average thirteen-year-old wouldn't know who Medusa was. However, a few years ago my fiance - who is a HUGE Greek Mythology buff by the way - told me about this book he had as a textbook in one of his classes: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton. I have always enjoyed just reading the myths in this book, but now I was using it to get the "full scoop" on the references Riordan used in his story. For example, one of Athena's children starts freaking out around spiders and references Arachne. Riordan has it simply explained that Athena turned Arachne into a spider and that Arachne's children - all of Earth's spiders - always had a grudge against the children of Athena. Reading my "reference book" further explained that Athena was the goddess of crafts and invented the loom, and so when Arachne claimed she could weave as well as - if not better than - Athena, and then proved it in a contest against the goddess, Athena raged against the girl, causing Arachne to become so distressed that she committed suicide by hanging. Athena felt guilty and turned Arachne into a spider so all could appreciate her weaving prowess.

Anyway, my point is that for every single reference Riordan makes in his book, I then spend about twenty minutes reading the myth corresponding to said reference. I've read at least half of the myths by now. Worse yet was that my fiance had also given me the sequel "The Sea of Monsters" to read. He wanted me to bring home the whole series, but I stopped him at two - not thinking I'd even read them. Well, I was able to hold off on the second story for almost a week, again working on the movie script skeleton, but I was really in a reading kick now - especially since I'm actually tag teaming the "Mythology" book and the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series - and I could not be stopped.

Also, my fiance's best friend hosts LARP games, and when I'm visiting for Good Friday through Easter, they will be hosting their Changeling game. Since I'm visiting, I'll be participating even though I've never played this game before and know nothing of the rules or characters. So now I'm reading "The Sea of Monsters", the "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes", as well as the wiki-pages for "Changeling: The Dreaming" - which then leads me to read my book "Irish Fairy & Folk Tales" by W. B. Yeats since the majority of the characters in the Changeling game are based on Irish faerie myths. Yup, reading four things all at the same time, plus spring cleaning, plus wedding shopping now that it's nice enough to go outside again, plus all of the stuff I told you about at the beginning of this post, and so I don't really have extra time to write - another reason I haven't posted in almost a month.

Aside from being busy, I've been uninspired to write the next chapter for one very important reason: I'm not sure how to portray Brainy. He was never really developed in the series and so I more-or-less have to build him a personality for my story. I'm afraid of two things: 1) I'll make him in to a "Marty Stu" and/or 2) people will root for him over Arnold - whom I think I'm already alienating from my audience with my last chapter. Honestly, even I'm not sure how Arnold could possibly win Helga back one last time, and so more feet dragging.

Anyway, my laundry has been done for about an hour now and so I should really get back to that. Sorry to everyone eagerly awaiting my next chapter. I strongly suggest reading any of Rick Riordan's novels. ^_^

Posts, Thank Yous, Author's Notes, and Timelines

Yay! My next chapter is up! And it only took me about six weeks this time. That's a new record! There were nine weeks between chapters one and two, and thirteen weeks between chapter two and chapter three. Sheesh, I'm ticked off at my favorite writers taking YEARS to finish their novels, and I go and take MONTHS to finish simple little fanfiction chapters! Who's a hypocrite? X-P Anyway, I'd like to start off by thanking my readers for their faithfulness and kind reviews. I love watching my hit meter get higher and higher, and for so many to come back after three months - I love you guys! I recently added an appreciation circle to my FF.net profile to thank all of you, but here it is again:

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*APPRECIATION CIRCLE!!*

OK, so I would like to take the time to send out a thank you for all of my readers. You are the reason I keep writing. I'd also like to thank all of you who have either faved me or my story (or both *squee*). Your love for my work - to the point of wanting to go back and re-read it - humbles me and drives me to become a better writer for you. Thank you for your faith in my talent. Finally, I'd like to thank my reviewers. You guys tell me what you think after reading, you are my way of knowing what is working and what isn't. You are my guidance and I appreciate every word of it. You take me in and give me such kind words of encouragement. You drive me to keep writing even when I'm tired from all of my hectic hours, you make me smile when I have a bad day, you swell my ego, you prove to me that I do have a talent that I should master, and finally, you humble me with such phrases as "[This] could well turn into one of those epic fanfictions that has hundreds of reviews!" (Thank you TrulyNonsensical). And now a list of all my faithful readers - those that have reviewed multiple times, faved more than one story, or faved me as an author. I write mostly for you, thank you for staying with me. Stars go to those who either faved or reviewed every story I've posted. You are my superstars ^_^
- Acosta_Perez_Jose_Ramiro* (Thank you for reviewing EVERYTHING I post... you missed a chapter of What is Truly Meant to Be tho.. ^_^) - Annemarie22 (if you review my fluffy V'day piece I Caught You A Star you can get a star! See how nicely that works out?) - Anonymous Latina (Thank you for reviewing every chapter! Check out my one-shots!) - Azure129 - Dotjuh (Thank you for the Author Fave) - Helga G. Pataki (Thank you for the Author Fave) - iHeartPhantomoto (Thank you for the Author Fave) - Knowledge-comes-Wisdom-lingers - KPFan72491 (Thank you for the Author Fave) - Loonytunecrazy*** (Three stars for faving every story, writing a review to every story, and faving me as an author, you ROCK!) - Mony - NazgulNazgul (Thank you for the Author Fave and review) - NicNack4U* (Thank you for faving all of my stories!) - NintendoGal55* (LOL, I love how you listened and went back to my first story. Here's your star ^_^) - SuprSingr (Thank you for the faves and reviews) - TrulyNonsensical (Thank you for the Author Fave) Special love for the following reviewers who really made me smile:
- Acosta_Perez_Jose_Ramiro: I'm always happy to see your name in my mailbox whenever I post something. Thank you for the support. - Anonymous Latina: Thank you for reviewing every chapter of my stories. I love to see what you think of my progress (Also wanting to fave a story twice XD You're awesome) - Knowledge-comes-Wisdom-lingers: I really appreciate you telling me that you had to rush to my most recent chapter as soon as you saw the alert in your mailbox. Even after three months you still needed to know what happened next. Your patience humbles me. - LoonyTuneCrazy: Like I said before, you just rock! I always look for your name when I post something new. - NintendoGal55: I love that you get so invested in my stories. You are the type of reader I write for ^_^ - PokeshippersShadow1: I love that you wanted more of my TJM oneshot. Your faith in my writing for the movie inspired me to do just that for April's Script Frenzy month! - Rachel Cabbit: To receive such rave reviews from an author I admire is mindblowing! And sentences like "The best revelation of Gertie and helga I've read in the fandom" certainly swell the ego ^_^ - SuprSingr: Thank you for constantly reassuring me that I'm staying in character. It's my biggest fear as a fanfic writer. - TrulyNonsensical: Again, thank you for the kind words and the belief that so many others will eventually enjoy my work. - Vanjoygree: As with PokeshippersShadow1, your enjoyment and kind words inspired me to write my own TJM script in April, so stay tuned!

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Alright, now that is out of the way, how about some extended Author's Notes?
As I mentioned both in earlier posts and in the A/N for the chapter itself: the song that inspired me was "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston for the movie "The Bodyguard." It was tricky to translate the song in to prose. If this truly were a musical it would be easy to have Arnold wish Helga farewell and then belt this song out to her. Unfortunately, I can't do that in prose form - at least, not without being flamed or banned from FF.net. Although, if I don't have any other ideas for next year's Script Frenzy I just might redo this whole story as a legitimate musical. ^_^
The big problem I had when it came to writing the song as a chapter was that the song sort of repeated the same ideas: I'll only be in your way if I stayed with you, and so I'm leaving for your own good even though I'm still in love with you, but I'll always remember you and those memories will be so bittersweet; again, goodbye and please don't cry over us because we both know I'm not what you need right now; finally, I'd like to wish you a good life, all your dreams will come true, that you will be happy and joy filled, and most importantly I wish you will find the great love of your life. That was the whole song summed up, and in dialogue it's tricky to make that paragraph a full chapter. I hope I did a good enough job.
Another hurdle was trying to reserve some sympathy for Arnold. I needed to leave the audience with the thought that he still had enough of a redeeming quality for them to still hope Helga takes him back one last time. He broke her heart twice, and I hated making Arnold do that. It would have been so much better if I just left it as Arnold dumping Helga in eighth grade and not returning until their senior year. However, I already set up that Arnold was at Helga's Sweet Sixteen, and from there those two just managed to get back together - IT WAS THEIR OWN CHEMISTRY, NOT ME, I SWEAR!!! X-P Point is that since they got back together at her birthday, but I needed them to be broken up when she was eighteen I had no choice but to write this chapter. DON'T HATE ME ARNOLD, I'M SORRY I MADE YOU SUCH AN IDIOT!!! I just hope I didn't make all of my fellow ArnoldxHelga shippers *SPOILER: Hover Mouse To See*
A final hurdle I had was the fact that I'm actually in a successful seven-year long-distance relationship. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it hurts to want to hold him or kiss him but he's not here. Yes, there are days I wish I could just run home and curl up in his comforting arms. Yes, there are times I get upset because I really need to talk to him and he's not available. Yes, there have even been times where I resent him because I feel like I'm only dating someone in title alone, and I desperately want to go to a bar and flirt and dance with a random guy just to have that interaction. I've even thought about a few of my guy friends who ended up having crushes on me, and wondering if I would have returned their feelings if I never met my fiance. I even miss having that fun in college of just being single and flirty. So Arnold does have valid concerns.
However, my fiance and I talk every night on the phone just before going to bed. We IM, email, and chat via webcam. We visit each other multiple times a year. We even have phone-dates where we sit on the phone while eating similar food and watching the same movie, like in When Harry Met Sally or in The Truth About Cats and Dogs. And finally, we have family, friends, and video games to distract us. It's tough to have a relationship like this, but it's not as hard as most people think. I'm actually a little surprised that people call me strong for being able to hold on to such a tough relationship. My response is that at least I'm not an Army spouse; at least I know my loved one is safe; I could never sleep knowing my beloved was in a warzone. Knowing that long distance relationships DO WORK if you put the effort in to them makes Helga's argument terribly valid, and I sort of hate not having Arnold at least TRY the relationship out.
I even debated redoing the chapter so that he was breaking up with her over the phone. Helga's resentment for being alone would cause them to argue - as Arnold feared they would - and a guilt-ridden Arnold decides to let her go. I didn't like the idea of Arnold dumping her over the phone, however, and so I left it as Easter Monday.
I also want to touch upon one more thing. Thanks to the concerns voiced by one of my readers, I'd like to verify something. Yes, the chapters of What is Truly Meant to Be are all prequels to the first chapter. If it didn't take me months to post an update it might be easier to pick up on. Basically, the first chapter has the pull of Arnold running to confess his love to Helga. We then have the shocker ending of *SPOILER*. I then wanted to show everyone how they got to that point. I wanted to show the journey Arnold and Helga took from him dumping her when they were thirteen all the way up to his love confession five years later. However, if I had placed the chapters in chronological order the fact that Helga's *SPOILER* wouldn't be such a shock.
To clarify, here is the official timeline:
CHAPTER 1: LIFE AFTER YOU Arnold and Helga are both 18 - or Arnold's about to turn 18, depending on where in the year you place his birthday and if he's older or younger than Helga. It is the summer before college and Arnold realizes his love for Helga and races back to Hillwood to see her, only to be surprised at what he finds.
CHAPTER 2: GOODBYE TO YOU The story as a whole flashes back so you can see how Helga and Arnold end up where they are in Chapter 1. This chapter is right after Arnold breaks up with Helga when they were thirteen. Helga is on a destructive bender and Phoebe tries to help her get past the hurt of Arnold dumping her.
CHAPTER 3: LADY IN RED We now jump about three years and it's Helga's Sweet Sixteen party. I used some "Word of God" about the pitched-but-never-made show The Patakis. For instance, Olga moved back home and the Patakis are slowly but surely becoming a little less dysfunctional. They're sort of like The Simpsons now, where the family can be at each other's throats, but the viewer still knows that they truly love and care for each other. Arnold had moved away with his parents right around the time they turned fourteen. Since I had Arnold break up with Helga during the school year, perhaps the Shortmans move over the summer between eighth and ninth grade - a nice transition point, just before high school. Anyway, even though Arnold comes back to visit throughout the year, he still hasn't really interacted with Helga, and so he never really noticed how amazingly beautiful and popular she had become while he was away. Not needing her front to prevent people from teasing her really helped charm her classmates. And recharm Arnold.
CHAPTER 4: I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU A week has passed since Helga's Sweet Sixteen party. Aside from an April Fools prank during Harold's Passover and Easter Sunday itself, Helga and Arnold have spent every moment together. It is now the Monday after Easter and Arnold has to head home with his parents. We know from the first chapter that Arnold and Helga aren't together, and this chapter shows why.
CHAPTER 5: *SPOILER* I think telling you the songs the upcoming chapters are based off of could be a bit of a spoiler, but you can look if you wish. Just hover your mouse over the word "Spoiler". Anyway, this upcoming chapter is shortly after Arnold returns home, so Helga's still sixteen. A certain someone comforts our broken-hearted blond as he tries to woo her away from Arnold.
CHAPTER 6: *SPOILER* Again, if you want to know, hover over "Spoiler". This chapter is sort of an overview of Helga's years without Arnold. I'm not sure if this will be just before the grand return of Arnold that we saw in the first chapter, but Helga would be about seventeen or eighteen here - depending on what I feel like. ^_^
CHAPTER 7: *SPOILER* The last of the "flashback" chapters. We're finally back to Arnold as we see the last days of his Senior year in high school. Something weird is going on around him and it makes him realize that maybe he still loves Helga. By the end of this chapter he's on his way to make that epic trip we see in the first chapter.
CHAPTER 8 AND BEYOND And now we're back to "present day". Chapter Eight will start with Arnold's reaction to Helga's Big Reveal at the end of the first chapter and continue on in chronological order from there. I believe I have about sixteen chapters total for this story. That is, of course, unless another chapter runs long like Chapter Three did and I have to split it up.
OK, I hope that cleared some things up for you guys. Well, I'm running late for work, so I'll hope to see you soon. ^_^

Castle Fanfiction Devoured More of My Life

Well, I did it again. I allowed myself to be consumed with Castle fanfiction. I spent about four hours reading more fanfiction in an attempt to find that illusive story I mentioned in the last post - the one written based on the preview for this week's episode. I had to muse about the fact that an amazing episode such as this week's "Countdown" ends up spawning an insane amount of fanfics. Seems a good episode inspires many. If only Hey, Arnold! was still on air, perhaps it would have a lot more fanfics.

Anyway, when I noticed that it was about one PM and I still was reading fanfiction I forced myself to close all of the stories I had opened up in sort of a queue form. I then FINALLY reread the story I was looking for in the first place - I ended up looking through the list of my reviews in order to find the story; should have done that in the first place.

I worked on my own story periodically throughout the rest of the day, but I was frequently interrupted by showering, laundry, eating, taking care of my sister's dog, and watching episodes of Hey, Arnold! as a means of research.

I did manage to get the opening of the chapter done as well as the set up leading to Arnold's realization that he has to break it off with Helga. A few more days like today and I might get this done before mid-March. Which means only two months in between chapters XP At least my readers will be so use to the hiatuses that taking a month off to write during Script Frenzy will seem normal to them...

Back to the Grind

So after my post yesterday I feverishly started writing out the plot of my next chapter for my story. In fact, I was almost late for work because I refused to leave until I was done writing out my chapter's skeleton! I DO THIS ALL FOR YOU, MY READERS!!! XD

When all was said and done, and I had a few moments to myself while driving to my internship today, I ended up mentally changing the entire beginning of my next chapter. Oh well. See, originally I was going to have Arnold talk to Gerald and Gerald would say something that would get Arnold thinking. Therefore, Gerald would inadvertently break up Helga and Arnold. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that to poor Gerald. Plus, if Arnold dumping Helga ended up being a twisted form of peer pressure, then his realization that he really is in love with her - as seen in the first chapter - seems less powerful. It would be kind of like "Well, yeah, I'm in love with her, I always was, I was just coerced in to dumping her." I need more of an "I thought I just liked her, and gave her up because I didn't love her, and yet it turns out I do".

My only problem with the later scenario is that it feels too much like Arnold's reaction to Lila in the episode "Arnold and Lila". Quick recap for those who don't know or remember. Lila, through a twist of fate involving Helga, ends up thinking Arnold has a crush on her and forms one for him as well. Arnold goes on "dates" with Lila even though he doesn't have this supposed crush on her, but eventually ends things because he's a nice guy and doesn't feel like dragging Lila along if he doesn't like her "that way". It's not until after he breaks it off with Lila does he realize that he really DOES have a crush on her. And thus two and a half seasons pass with Arnold crushing Lila and all the ArnoldxHelga shippers sending death glares to the Wendy's mascot look-a-like.

However, seeing as how this scenario of "just kidding, I really DO like you that way" has already occurred in canon, it just might be precedent enough to make Arnold's reaction believable. If he made that mistake with Lila, why not do so again with Helga? Aw, but then we have the "but he already knew he liked her romantically because they already dated" argument. GAAR! XP

I still think I'm going to leave it with Arnold thinking that he doesn't love Helga and having her love him and them being in a long distance relationship just isn't fair to her. This whole thing is ironic because I'm using the song "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston as my inspiration for this next chapter... Gaaaah, I'll figure it out.

Regardless of me not really knowing how I'm going to set up the inevitable breakup, I still managed to write a few paragraphs today. I actually brought my netbook in with me this time when I went to my internship. Smart move because I did end up needing to kill about a half an hour before they had something for me to do.

Once I was done with my internship and I came home I had every intention of working some more on my chapter - before it became another three month wait like the last one - and yet I was distracted by another of my Fandoms: Castle. I was running late at work last night and so I ended up missing the oh-so-important first half of the episode. I fought with the internet a bit today, but ended up getting to the episode. Afterwards I wanted to go back to a fanfic that someone had written based on the episode preview and see how close they were. Unfortunately the story I was looking for was buried under tons of new fanfics inspired by the episode. I ended up spending my night reading those instead of working on my own story. Worst yet is that I never did find that original story I was looking for...

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I also have tomorrow off - which is rare on two accounts: 1) I rarely get two days off in a row and 2) rarer still is me getting a Wednesday off. Well, I didn't find out my schedule until about nine PM, and so there is no way I can give Lou Reda Productions a heads up that I'd be coming in; resulting in me having an old fashioned day off again. I'll try REAL HARD to use it to write, but I do have a messy bedroom that I've been neglecting...

We'll see how this goes. Stay tuned!

That Took Forever!

Well, I finally completed my super-uber-fluffy Valentine's Day story! I really did intend to post the second and final chapter just a day or two later - not two weeks later! As I mentioned in my last post, I had an opportunity to write while getting my hair dyed, but stupid me didn't think to bring my netbook with me. I then waisted more time staring at walls when I ended up waiting for about an hour and a half for my laser hair removal treatment. The whole treatment takes about ten or fifteen minutes, and I never thought I'd wait for so long for my appointment; resulting in me yet again leaving my netbook behind. Because of this I decided to bring the thing EVERYWHERE with me.

And yet I lost another two hours of possible writing time. I just started an internship with a production company. I brought my netbook with me - as I have now decided to do - and yet I thought it would be unprofessional to bring it in with me. I then sat and literally did nothing but people watch for two hours because the company had no clue what to do with me! I wanted to run out to my car to grab my netbook so I could at least write, but I also didn't want to seem unprofessional! Gaar! Don't care, the damn thing is coming in with me when I go again tomorrow.

Anyway, with all of these missed opportunities, coupled with long hours at work - and then throw in my sister's dog randomly jumping in to bed with me and trying to climb over my netbook keyboard - meant that I only had an hour or so to write each night.

But I did manage to finish, and I posted yesterday. My next battle was the fact that I posted the story at like four or five PM and yet the email alert didn't go out until one-thirty AM. What's up with that, FanFiction.net?

OK, so now how about some talk of inspiration? I know I touched upon it in my Author's Notes, but I also promised to go more in depth here. First of all, let's start with the show Frasier. I loved, loved, loved this show! Anyway, in the episode "Visions of Daphne" the character Donny proposes to Daphne. Even though this moment was heart wrenching because Niles was there to witness he proposal and Daphne's acceptance, I still melted over Donny's speech and loved the fact that he referred to the engagement ring diamond as a star he caught for Daphne. I have yet to find another scripted proposal so sweet. I secretly wanted my future fiance to propose to me in the same manner.

In a way I got my wish. My fiance is really big in to astronomy and so for his birthday I bought him one of those stuffed animals that come with a code for you to register a star. Well, he decided he didn't want to register his name on the star his stuffed animal gifted him. Instead, he wanted to use the star for his proposal. He planned to register the star with the name "[LycoRogue] will you marry me" and then show the International Star Registry printout to me. I would then read the star name, realize the proposal, cry, and shout "yes I'll marry you!" Just like Arnold, however, his proposal didn't really go as planned.

He hadn't registered the star ahead of time because he wasn't sure he could predate the star name and he wanted the registry to have the date he proposed printed on it. However, the website wasn't working well on the day he wanted to propose. It kept glitching and freezing on him. I was in the living room with his parents - it was Father's Day - and I heard him slamming things upstairs. I kind of wish he wasn't so irritated prior to proposing to me, but it is what it is. Well, he finally got the star registered - at least he thinks so - but then the registry form wouldn't print. We still don't know if the star was ever officially registered, but we like to think it is, and that's enough for us.

After all of the frustration he ended up coming back down to the livingroom and his parents left us alone. He knelt down and - just like Helga in my "realistic chapter" - I instantly figured out what was going on and starting smacking him in the shoulder. He explained what he planned and I still cried at the thought.

He then told me that he not only registered the star in the Cassiopeia constellation because of our love for the movie "Serendipity," but also because I had the same freckle pattern on my arm as the character Sarah. For those who don't know the reference, towards the beginning of the movie the male lead Jonathan notices that the female lead Sarah has a freckle pattern on her arm that looks like the Cassiopeia constellation. Just like Sarah, I too had no clue I had this constellation on my arm until he pointed it out. It was just so sweet that he noticed something so tiny! Anyway, it just made the proposal so much better! I debated having Arnold register the star in a constellation Helga's freckles resembled, but I then thought that freckles were Lila's thing, and so I left it with Helga's zodiac sign.

Well, just like Helga, I never actually answered the poor boy, I just kissed him, shoved my hand in his face, and yelled for him to put the ring on. He teased that he wasn't sure what my answer was, and so I finally, officially said "yes" and proceeded to call him "My fiaaaaaance" for the next hour or so.

So, aside from Donny's proposal to Daphne inspiring my first chapter, and my fiance's own proposal inspiring both chapters, I also had a third inspiration: Niles Crane. Going back to the Frasier OTP of Niles and Daphne, my last inspiration was the episode "Niles Proposes to Daphne." In this episode Niles plans this extravagant evening so Daphne's proposal is the most magnificent night of her life. However, things go array when Daphne announces that she has the flu. Niles decides that just the two of them cuddled next to the fire is the perfect moment and proposes without all of the fanfare he originally planned. This inspired my ending of Arnold proposing even though he couldn't play off the illusion that the engagement ring was a fallen star.

Well, I believe that is the extent of my Author's Notes.

As for my return to my chaptered story, I'm working on the skeleton plotline today, and possibly starting to write the next chapter tomorrow after I'm done with the internship. If this week goes like the last two did it might be a little before I get the chapter up. I'm sorry for anyone who was waiting for it. If I hadn't stopped to work on this fluffy story I might have had the next chapter up by now. Anyway, any ArnoldxHelga shippers should get that box of tissues ready, because I have no choice but to break those two up again in the upcoming chapter. Sorry.

Where Does the Time Go???

I'm so annoyed with my writing availability right now! I really wanted to post my "realistic" chapter for my Valentine's Day fluff piece a day or two later. It's now over a week later and the story still isn't done!

Between work, wedding appointments, impromptu social events, and taking care of my sister's overly-needy dog, I've only had about an hour or so to write every day, making this chapter's writing process a long one. And the longer I take writing this, the longer it will be until I can get my next chapter for my main story posted. GAAR! I just want to post this chapter already!!!!

The thing that really kills me is that one of the days this past week, I was getting my hair dyed. I had an hour wait before they even started, and then I had the hour or so of them dying my hair and me just sitting around. I COULD HAVE BEEN WRITING!!! But I decided last minute to go get my hair dyed right after work, and so I didn't think to bring my netbook with me. Then, the very next day I went to one of my laser hair removal appointments. There is no point in bringing the netbook since 1) I'm blindfolded so I won't get blinded by the laser, and 2) the whole thing takes maybe fifteen minutes. However, I didn't anticipate waiting over an hour and a half for them to finally get me in to my appointment!!! I COULD HAVE BEEN WRITING AGAIN! Nope, instead I had to spend both days staring at the walls - because I didn't want to read a four-month-old issue of Glamour - and humming along to the same radio station I'm stuck listening to while at work! Such wasted days!

I have tomorrow off, and so normally I would be able to finish my story with all of my free time. However, I just recently got a volunteer position with a local production company and so I'm now spending my weekdays off there. In theory, the company office is only open until five, and so I might be able to write after that, but it never seems to work out when I'm done with my actual work at four. I wouldn't hold your breath that I can get any writing done any time soon. We'll see.