I'M NOT THIS WHITNEY GODDAMMIT I BLAME MY DAD FOR ALL OF THIS
Wow I just remembered E3 and stuff was going on today. Glad to always see some new Zelda on board, but Donkey Kong Country Returns is what impresses me the most. I was huge on the DKC games back in the day. I completely forget the status of third-party developers and hence I have no idea if Rare will actually be involved in this game's production (I've been wary of almost everything Donkey Kong-related that Rare didn't have a hand in making). Looks pretty faithful to the classic style, though. I'll look forward to it.
I've just been having such an awful week already. This month's week of hell has been utterly brutal, and worst of all screwed me out of work just yesterday. I don't know how or why since I had my alarm clock set correctly, but I ended up sleeping solidly until 1 PM - well over half my tour of duty. I haven't even been in this job for 2 months yet, so naturally there's some freakout going on in terms of my probation period, whatever the nature of it is.
This was also a solid twelve-hour sleep, so this is not necessarily on account of the fact that I went to bed at 1 AM Sunday night. I slept way too long for what's normal for a human. Periods really do this to me at times, and this is exactly what I was afraid of when I realized I got this job.
But I guess I have friends in higher places since I wasn't even scolded by anybody for being so awfully late. I debated whether or not to even go in at that point, but figured it was safer to be over there than stay at home and have to face my mother about this (which I've still not told her about). I also knew one of the clerks was off this Monday and there was some work that needed to be done, so even if it was for just 2 1/2 hours, I went into work anyway and immensely apologized for sleeping over half the day away.
The vast majority of my team is composed of women. Many of which have already hit menopause, I imagine, but they all seem to understand just how badly a period can wreck your life. A couple of people even said they suffered the exact same extreme symptoms I do presently, and since it was a slow work day and no one really wanted to do anything due to the A/C being busted in the building, nobody (not even our acting manager) seemed to particularly mind my unexpected absence. One coworker was even nice enough to give me the name of a very good gynecologist in Florence who could help me out in coping with this monthly ordeal. First I have to figure out what the hell is taking the HR department so goddamn long to send me my new insurance card, since I don't want to start diving into medical stuff until I get my new, superior coverage in action. But once I get that done, I'm going to start scheduling some appointments after work hours so I can finally get this over with.
For the sleepiness, I'm probably going to need an increase on the Ritalin since two is not cutting it for me when I'm in this condition. I might need a stronger antidepressant to control my emotional outbursts, because that was in full force before I started on Saturday. I made a minor mistake at work on Friday and I seriously came close to crying over it, even though I've done it before on accident and it's not that hard to get around. My friends online can already tell I've generally been extremely bitchy and/or antisocial, which also isn't pleasant. Same goes for any poor fool on the Bulbagarden forums who've had to deal with my bitching.
But most prominently, the sleep has been getting to me. I passed out during the early evening almost every day last week. After starting on Saturday, I was in so much pain that I only ended up getting a few hours of sleep on Sunday. And then I guess I made up for that with an ungodly 12-hour sleep afterwards. The sleepiness has been affecting me at work as well. Granted, that isn't just my hormones as a lot of people on my team are prone to spacing out when there's absolutely nothing to do, but during these times, the temptation to sleep just gets even more powerful.
At least I tried to make up for being so godawfully late yesterday by working my butt off almost nonstop today. No one's been harping on about it (except for the acting manager who was just reminding me to consider the hours I missed yesterday as "sick leave" hours - hey, technically, that's true - when I fill in my timesheet on Friday).
I'm not sure why I didn't get punished or get a really hard dose of scolding, but my team overall is a pretty chillax bunch. Either way, I'm not sure if this means I'm in the clear yet once whoever-it-is evaluates my performance during my probation period (still don't know who does that or if they even do - I was hired under the non-competitive route for disabled people, so as long as I'm capable of doing my job, logically I should be fine...?). I talked about it to my therapist today, who did seem terribly worried about how this will affect my future, especially if this were to happen again. I'll do whatever I can to make sure it doesn't, but when I'm not even sure how I ended up missing work in the first place (I checked - my alarm clock was set correctly and everything... unless I subconsciously turned it off somehow when it started beeping), it's hard to promise something like that when I don't have the first clue of how to somehow jolt myself awake when I'm practically comatose from blood loss.
So I guess this period thing is a pretty legitimate threat to my job after all. Like I said before, I've tried every over-the-counter medication specifically made for menstrual issues and none of them really work. Only the heavy stuff that my mom needs for her herniated spinal disc seems to completely erase the pain and keep me emotionally even and focused. Problem is, I'm reliant my mom's supply of that and often I don't have that option available. The obvious answer is to get my own prescription, but since I have no major physical injury, it's not going to be easy getting something like that. However, my psychologist (who prescribes all my medications) who is very proud of me for finally getting a job after three years would possibly be inclined to prescribe me something along those lines just enough to last a couple of weeks (because PMS symptoms can be just as bad, if not worse than the actual bloody deal for me) every month to ensure that I will be covered every time my dreaded hormones threaten to screw me over. He'd definitely be inclined to do so once I see a gynecologist, though, so that really should be my first course of action... after figuring out where my insurance card is, considering I've been playing into my own insurance for a while now. I'd kinda like to use it at this point.
Sooo yeah, my past several days have been ruined because of this. If anyone's got suggestions, I'm listening. And I'll even commend you for being able to read through all of this without wanting to shoot yourself in the head from sheer and utter boredom.
Aside from that, I did set a small goal for myself to finish Trifecta 14 by this coming Sunday, which happens to be Father's Day. Huh. ♥ I'm still around 4000kish words but close to getting the Brandon scene done. Provided the Barry/Conway stuff doesn't get too dragged out (and who knows... it just might. It's a brand new duo I'm experimenting with!)... by the end of this week I ought to be over this godawful period and back into my writing mode. I haven't been able to make any progress at work since the last couple of days have been spent trying to catch up on crap since Friday, but hopefully tomorrow will be a little less brutal both on my body and my workload. Don't get me wrong; I really am enjoying my job. Dry, peeling skin on my fingers from going through so much paper is pretty unpleasant, but most of the procedures are pretty natural for a computer dork like me. There's just been a lot to do the past few times with little time to rest, relax, and focus on furthering the story, but hopefully that'll change by the later half of the week. I tend to write fics pretty fast contrary to how long the gaps are when I release the chapters; I would really at least like this one done before June ends, though.
Bulbagarden's forums are doing some Fanfiction Awards thingy somewhat similar to how Serebii's done it for years, though evidently it's "quarterly" (four times a year?) and no one seems to realize the redundancy of people nominating the same stories for the same category over and over again. I sort of agree with Serebii's method; once a story's nominated for a particular category, there's no need for a second post to nominate the exact same thing. It's already officially nominated; this isn't the voting segment, so there's no point to nominate something twice in the exact same category (other categories? Fine, but not the same one...).
Not to mention it sorta spoils the voting course anyway if so many people nominate the same thing for the same genre. Nominating =/= voting. That's even happened to Trifecta; it's been nominated twice for Best Serial Fic (which I know like hell it's not gonna win that... I'm surprised it's not considered a Journey fic since Paul (and now Conway) ARE traveling Sinnoh to collect badges to qualify for the League... it just happens to have a lot of thick plot and drama in the way as well). I'm a little disappointed that's all Trifecta's being nominated for so far, but meh. Can't have it all. At least I won Best Canon Character-Centric and tied for Best Expansion of Canon in Serebii's awards, where there were a lot more contenders to deal with. I can't in all good conscience complain too much since none of my other fics have ever gotten this kind of recognition in all the decade-plus years I've been writing fanfiction, but I hope next time Bulbagarden has a bit more of a coherent way of handling the nomination system.
It also amuses me how Zak, who was once a mod/admin at Total Drama Wiki and abused his power and was ultimately banned, started a huge load of shit by initiating something that required all of the higher-ups' votes... and shortly after, before ever submitting his votes, went off on vacation and insisted we all waited for him for like 2 weeks to come back before reaching a decision. And he's doing it again here in Bulbagarden.
Buuuut anyway, win or lose, I'll do whatever I can to get Trifecta 14 out and ready before June ends. After that, it's straight to writing down full transcripts of both A Pyramiding Rage! and Battle Pyramid! Shinji vs Jindai!!. While the dub for the most part stuck to the script very well, there was a line or two that was oddly translated and I want to incorporate the Japanese dialog along with the dub's adaptation. First thing that comes to mind is Reggie's line: "I learned one important thing... that I still have a lot to learn." compared to Reiji's line: "I was made aware... of my own immaturity."
The original line has a lot more depth to it whereas the dub one is sorta... ehh. Way too vague. Anyway, most changes aren't going to be that drastic, but they'll be handy references to have while I'm working on the chapter at my cubicle where I won't have the episodes on hand to go by scene-by-scene (unless I somehow get them into my iPod, and even then it's probably best I don't distract myself too much on the job). Still, it'll be a lot less irritating than going over Pursuing a Lofty Goal! over and over and over again. I'll look forward to it; the 15th chapter of Trifecta is going to be my pride and joy, and I definitely want it done by KP's birthday in mid-August, so I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I will as I do my boldest attempt in saving face where the anime dropped the ball on the oh-so-sensible theory.
I may also try to map out some chapters beyond 21 and edit others before officially starting 15. Since Barry doesn't ever get Crasher Wake's badge (as I recall, anyway), I may have Conway already earn that badge by the time I finally get to his scenes. That way they can both take on Fantina (where Barry will surely lose again, since it wasn't until his most recent anime appearance that he finally got himself a Relic Badge) and Conway can (mostly) conquer his phobia of ghosts. Not to mention I think it'd be pretty fun writing for Fantina. I certainly enjoyed writing for Candice! And lord knows I'll have a blast writing for Barry. Then there's Roark's badge, the Coal Badge, which Barry earned after his introductory episode, which is a good time for both him and Conway to formally meet Roark, who has the potential of becoming a secondary character if the opportunity shows itself. After all, he's the son of the original Badass Three (i.e. Brandon, Byron & Palmer). It's a battle that would surely be fun to write between him and Barry... and with Conway, you know those two will attempt to out-creep the other with the glare on the lenses of their glasses. I'm pretty sure I won't be writing all of the Twinleaf Festival arc (the end of which is about where I have my specific story plans capped off for now, so I gotta figure out what my main guys are gonna be up to while Ash & Co. meet Lyra and Khoury which segues to them beating Team Galactic).
It also occurred to me that Maylene won't outright disappear for several chapters after 13, as she'll basically be the go-to person for Pokemon exchanges on Paul's end while Reggie will be there with him. Still, that's a very limited role, but at least she won't completely vanish. Though she's easily the least-important character in Trifecta, sadly. Poor kid. Paul's going to be making a lot of exchanges, though; enough for Maylene to sorta go WTF? at him when he trades Torterra, Honchkrow, Gliscor, and Weavile for Hariyama, Magmar, Lairon (backstory opportunities!!), and Nidoking for the Brandon battle, then trading back Hariyama, Lairon, & Nidoking for Torterra, Honchkrow, & Weavile for the full battle with Ash, and finally after that's all said and done, he'll exchange Magmortar for Gliscor again so he can finally defeat Candice as he (and Conway) originally intended to.
... And after winning that battle, Paul will swap Gliscor for Magmortar so that the trip back down from northern Sinnoh won't be so goddamn cold. What an asshole, right? ♥
sooo yeah, lots of stuff to come. Nope, I'm not generous enough to give you LJ cuts tonight. Sorry! Wait for a day where I'm not bleeding several days without dying!
I've just been having such an awful week already. This month's week of hell has been utterly brutal, and worst of all screwed me out of work just yesterday. I don't know how or why since I had my alarm clock set correctly, but I ended up sleeping solidly until 1 PM - well over half my tour of duty. I haven't even been in this job for 2 months yet, so naturally there's some freakout going on in terms of my probation period, whatever the nature of it is.
This was also a solid twelve-hour sleep, so this is not necessarily on account of the fact that I went to bed at 1 AM Sunday night. I slept way too long for what's normal for a human. Periods really do this to me at times, and this is exactly what I was afraid of when I realized I got this job.
But I guess I have friends in higher places since I wasn't even scolded by anybody for being so awfully late. I debated whether or not to even go in at that point, but figured it was safer to be over there than stay at home and have to face my mother about this (which I've still not told her about). I also knew one of the clerks was off this Monday and there was some work that needed to be done, so even if it was for just 2 1/2 hours, I went into work anyway and immensely apologized for sleeping over half the day away.
The vast majority of my team is composed of women. Many of which have already hit menopause, I imagine, but they all seem to understand just how badly a period can wreck your life. A couple of people even said they suffered the exact same extreme symptoms I do presently, and since it was a slow work day and no one really wanted to do anything due to the A/C being busted in the building, nobody (not even our acting manager) seemed to particularly mind my unexpected absence. One coworker was even nice enough to give me the name of a very good gynecologist in Florence who could help me out in coping with this monthly ordeal. First I have to figure out what the hell is taking the HR department so goddamn long to send me my new insurance card, since I don't want to start diving into medical stuff until I get my new, superior coverage in action. But once I get that done, I'm going to start scheduling some appointments after work hours so I can finally get this over with.
For the sleepiness, I'm probably going to need an increase on the Ritalin since two is not cutting it for me when I'm in this condition. I might need a stronger antidepressant to control my emotional outbursts, because that was in full force before I started on Saturday. I made a minor mistake at work on Friday and I seriously came close to crying over it, even though I've done it before on accident and it's not that hard to get around. My friends online can already tell I've generally been extremely bitchy and/or antisocial, which also isn't pleasant. Same goes for any poor fool on the Bulbagarden forums who've had to deal with my bitching.
But most prominently, the sleep has been getting to me. I passed out during the early evening almost every day last week. After starting on Saturday, I was in so much pain that I only ended up getting a few hours of sleep on Sunday. And then I guess I made up for that with an ungodly 12-hour sleep afterwards. The sleepiness has been affecting me at work as well. Granted, that isn't just my hormones as a lot of people on my team are prone to spacing out when there's absolutely nothing to do, but during these times, the temptation to sleep just gets even more powerful.
At least I tried to make up for being so godawfully late yesterday by working my butt off almost nonstop today. No one's been harping on about it (except for the acting manager who was just reminding me to consider the hours I missed yesterday as "sick leave" hours - hey, technically, that's true - when I fill in my timesheet on Friday).
I'm not sure why I didn't get punished or get a really hard dose of scolding, but my team overall is a pretty chillax bunch. Either way, I'm not sure if this means I'm in the clear yet once whoever-it-is evaluates my performance during my probation period (still don't know who does that or if they even do - I was hired under the non-competitive route for disabled people, so as long as I'm capable of doing my job, logically I should be fine...?). I talked about it to my therapist today, who did seem terribly worried about how this will affect my future, especially if this were to happen again. I'll do whatever I can to make sure it doesn't, but when I'm not even sure how I ended up missing work in the first place (I checked - my alarm clock was set correctly and everything... unless I subconsciously turned it off somehow when it started beeping), it's hard to promise something like that when I don't have the first clue of how to somehow jolt myself awake when I'm practically comatose from blood loss.
So I guess this period thing is a pretty legitimate threat to my job after all. Like I said before, I've tried every over-the-counter medication specifically made for menstrual issues and none of them really work. Only the heavy stuff that my mom needs for her herniated spinal disc seems to completely erase the pain and keep me emotionally even and focused. Problem is, I'm reliant my mom's supply of that and often I don't have that option available. The obvious answer is to get my own prescription, but since I have no major physical injury, it's not going to be easy getting something like that. However, my psychologist (who prescribes all my medications) who is very proud of me for finally getting a job after three years would possibly be inclined to prescribe me something along those lines just enough to last a couple of weeks (because PMS symptoms can be just as bad, if not worse than the actual bloody deal for me) every month to ensure that I will be covered every time my dreaded hormones threaten to screw me over. He'd definitely be inclined to do so once I see a gynecologist, though, so that really should be my first course of action... after figuring out where my insurance card is, considering I've been playing into my own insurance for a while now. I'd kinda like to use it at this point.
Sooo yeah, my past several days have been ruined because of this. If anyone's got suggestions, I'm listening. And I'll even commend you for being able to read through all of this without wanting to shoot yourself in the head from sheer and utter boredom.
Aside from that, I did set a small goal for myself to finish Trifecta 14 by this coming Sunday, which happens to be Father's Day. Huh. ♥ I'm still around 4000kish words but close to getting the Brandon scene done. Provided the Barry/Conway stuff doesn't get too dragged out (and who knows... it just might. It's a brand new duo I'm experimenting with!)... by the end of this week I ought to be over this godawful period and back into my writing mode. I haven't been able to make any progress at work since the last couple of days have been spent trying to catch up on crap since Friday, but hopefully tomorrow will be a little less brutal both on my body and my workload. Don't get me wrong; I really am enjoying my job. Dry, peeling skin on my fingers from going through so much paper is pretty unpleasant, but most of the procedures are pretty natural for a computer dork like me. There's just been a lot to do the past few times with little time to rest, relax, and focus on furthering the story, but hopefully that'll change by the later half of the week. I tend to write fics pretty fast contrary to how long the gaps are when I release the chapters; I would really at least like this one done before June ends, though.
Bulbagarden's forums are doing some Fanfiction Awards thingy somewhat similar to how Serebii's done it for years, though evidently it's "quarterly" (four times a year?) and no one seems to realize the redundancy of people nominating the same stories for the same category over and over again. I sort of agree with Serebii's method; once a story's nominated for a particular category, there's no need for a second post to nominate the exact same thing. It's already officially nominated; this isn't the voting segment, so there's no point to nominate something twice in the exact same category (other categories? Fine, but not the same one...).
Not to mention it sorta spoils the voting course anyway if so many people nominate the same thing for the same genre. Nominating =/= voting. That's even happened to Trifecta; it's been nominated twice for Best Serial Fic (which I know like hell it's not gonna win that... I'm surprised it's not considered a Journey fic since Paul (and now Conway) ARE traveling Sinnoh to collect badges to qualify for the League... it just happens to have a lot of thick plot and drama in the way as well). I'm a little disappointed that's all Trifecta's being nominated for so far, but meh. Can't have it all. At least I won Best Canon Character-Centric and tied for Best Expansion of Canon in Serebii's awards, where there were a lot more contenders to deal with. I can't in all good conscience complain too much since none of my other fics have ever gotten this kind of recognition in all the decade-plus years I've been writing fanfiction, but I hope next time Bulbagarden has a bit more of a coherent way of handling the nomination system.
It also amuses me how Zak, who was once a mod/admin at Total Drama Wiki and abused his power and was ultimately banned, started a huge load of shit by initiating something that required all of the higher-ups' votes... and shortly after, before ever submitting his votes, went off on vacation and insisted we all waited for him for like 2 weeks to come back before reaching a decision. And he's doing it again here in Bulbagarden.
Buuuut anyway, win or lose, I'll do whatever I can to get Trifecta 14 out and ready before June ends. After that, it's straight to writing down full transcripts of both A Pyramiding Rage! and Battle Pyramid! Shinji vs Jindai!!. While the dub for the most part stuck to the script very well, there was a line or two that was oddly translated and I want to incorporate the Japanese dialog along with the dub's adaptation. First thing that comes to mind is Reggie's line: "I learned one important thing... that I still have a lot to learn." compared to Reiji's line: "I was made aware... of my own immaturity."
The original line has a lot more depth to it whereas the dub one is sorta... ehh. Way too vague. Anyway, most changes aren't going to be that drastic, but they'll be handy references to have while I'm working on the chapter at my cubicle where I won't have the episodes on hand to go by scene-by-scene (unless I somehow get them into my iPod, and even then it's probably best I don't distract myself too much on the job). Still, it'll be a lot less irritating than going over Pursuing a Lofty Goal! over and over and over again. I'll look forward to it; the 15th chapter of Trifecta is going to be my pride and joy, and I definitely want it done by KP's birthday in mid-August, so I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I will as I do my boldest attempt in saving face where the anime dropped the ball on the oh-so-sensible theory.
I may also try to map out some chapters beyond 21 and edit others before officially starting 15. Since Barry doesn't ever get Crasher Wake's badge (as I recall, anyway), I may have Conway already earn that badge by the time I finally get to his scenes. That way they can both take on Fantina (where Barry will surely lose again, since it wasn't until his most recent anime appearance that he finally got himself a Relic Badge) and Conway can (mostly) conquer his phobia of ghosts. Not to mention I think it'd be pretty fun writing for Fantina. I certainly enjoyed writing for Candice! And lord knows I'll have a blast writing for Barry. Then there's Roark's badge, the Coal Badge, which Barry earned after his introductory episode, which is a good time for both him and Conway to formally meet Roark, who has the potential of becoming a secondary character if the opportunity shows itself. After all, he's the son of the original Badass Three (i.e. Brandon, Byron & Palmer). It's a battle that would surely be fun to write between him and Barry... and with Conway, you know those two will attempt to out-creep the other with the glare on the lenses of their glasses. I'm pretty sure I won't be writing all of the Twinleaf Festival arc (the end of which is about where I have my specific story plans capped off for now, so I gotta figure out what my main guys are gonna be up to while Ash & Co. meet Lyra and Khoury which segues to them beating Team Galactic).
It also occurred to me that Maylene won't outright disappear for several chapters after 13, as she'll basically be the go-to person for Pokemon exchanges on Paul's end while Reggie will be there with him. Still, that's a very limited role, but at least she won't completely vanish. Though she's easily the least-important character in Trifecta, sadly. Poor kid. Paul's going to be making a lot of exchanges, though; enough for Maylene to sorta go WTF? at him when he trades Torterra, Honchkrow, Gliscor, and Weavile for Hariyama, Magmar, Lairon (backstory opportunities!!), and Nidoking for the Brandon battle, then trading back Hariyama, Lairon, & Nidoking for Torterra, Honchkrow, & Weavile for the full battle with Ash, and finally after that's all said and done, he'll exchange Magmortar for Gliscor again so he can finally defeat Candice as he (and Conway) originally intended to.
... And after winning that battle, Paul will swap Gliscor for Magmortar so that the trip back down from northern Sinnoh won't be so goddamn cold. What an asshole, right? ♥
sooo yeah, lots of stuff to come. Nope, I'm not generous enough to give you LJ cuts tonight. Sorry! Wait for a day where I'm not bleeding several days without dying!