lePoisson-Rouge

Dang, hey guys. It's been a while, huh? Well, I made a new DeviantArt account a while ago and have been chilling out there. Anyway, I logged on to this account accidentally and figured I might as well give anyone still hanging around an update. If you want to see what I'm up to now, feel free to visit my new DeviantArt account and/ or my Wordpress page, which is linked there.

Hello everyone! I know it may seem that I have disappeared and fallen off the face of the earth, but let it be known that I am still very much in existence. The reason behind my apparent vanishing is simply because Deviantart has lost a lot of the appeal that it once had for me. I feel as though my creative flow has been dammed for a time, and while it may be freed again one day, it remains particularly stagnant for now. However, I still appreciate the friends I have made on here and those that I made on other websites and keep in contact with through here, so I figure I may as well give you all an update on what's been happening in my life before I totally depart.

My last journal entry was about me meeting my favorite author, Brent Weeks. That was shortly after I started college, which means that a lot has happened since then. First of all, I changed my major from an undecided "French designation" to elementary education in the hopes that I may become a teacher someday. It seems like something I may excel at, though at the same time, I'm considering pursuing a major in psychology when I transfer next year. I like to give relationship advice and not practice what I preach, so maybe I could become a couple's therapist. Who knows
On the subject of relationships though, I've been in a very good one for four months now. That's a new record!! Lol before, I was lucky if I had a relationship that lasted a month. In fact, the "relationship" I was in previously ended on the same day that marked our first full month together. I kind of expected the same to happen with the boyfriend I have now, but he's much different from the others I've dated. He's attractive, intelligent without seeming to be full of himself, mature (or at least as mature as a 20-year-old man can be), older than me by a reasonable number (big bonus!), funny, sweet, charming, and he actually makes time for me (which the guy before him did not). Plus, he's a great kisser I even picked up a few moves from him. We're considering traveling to either Paris or Tokyo later this year (along with his family, probably. I doubt either of our parents would be too keen on us venturing abroad with only each other ), so I'll finally be able put some of the money I've been saving up since my freshman year of high school to use! The future looks exciting
As for the present, I now have a job at Barnes & Noble! I've been wanting to work there for a long time and I'm happy to say that it's as good a job as I was hoping it would be. My current salary is minimum wage, unfortunately, but they give raises frequently so hopefully I'll be able to acquire a less dismal income before too long. Otherwise, my co-workers are great, the work is enjoyable, and it never feels too repetitive. My favorite part of the job so far was doing Story Time with the little kids on Dr. Seuss's birthday They were so cute! They turned the pages for me, tried bringing me a bunch of other books to read them because I'm just that good *flips hair over shoulder*, and the littlest one, a 4-year-old girl with silver-blonde hair and rosy cheeks, would stop me occasionally before turning the page so she could read a few sentences herself. I was so happy for her ^_^ This is not a job I dread going to. Not like I did JCPenney during the holiday season. That was not so enjoyable ._.

Well, this journal entry feels a lot less organized than I imagined it to be. In any case, there you have it; a brief overview of what has happened in my life up to this point. I will probably log on here a few more times after this to reply to any responses I get, but otherwise, don't expect me back anytime soon. This site has treated me well for years, but I feel as though it has little to offer me now.

I got to meet Brent Weeks today!!!


He's my favorite author and I was so happy to finally meet him! It was great The event started out with an interactive story he made where it's basically like Dungeons and Dragons, and it turns out we were the first group so far that actually made it through alive, and then he answered questions. It was really interesting for me to hear how he came up with his ideas and what it's been like writing for him, because I've been trying to learn from his writing for years. Turns out that, even though his newest book series (the one that I have on the desk there) is based in a fantasy version of Persia, the political system is based on Japanese imperialism. Just thought that was interesting
When it came to book-signing time, he let everyone who hadn't come in time to get a seat line up first, probably just because that made it easier, but it made me feel good because I happened to be one of those people It was great when I got up there too because I asked him to make the signature out to Lady Megana Salamanderson the Great, which is the name I use whenever I comment on his website, and he actually recognized it! I had to write it on a sticky note before going up to him and when he looked at it, he paused and was just like, "I know this name..." I was like, "Haha yes! You do!" and told him I was the great Empress who complained about my name not being shown on the readers' map on his website, and though I don't think he remembered that specifically he laughed anyway. Ah, there were so many other things I wanted to say to him too, but I was afraid of sounding like a hyper-obsessed fangirl/ kissass, so I just kind of stood there, fiddling with my kitty wallet because I didn't want him to see that my hands were shaking slightly (I was really nervous and excited...). Then we took that picture together and he asked if he could put his arm around me and I was like, "Fuck yeah that's almost like hugging a rockstar!" But of course that was just my internal voice; really I just smiled and said yes. I thanked him very earnestly before leaving and have been smiling ever since ^_^
Now I have to get through this behemoth of a book @_@ I can do it... I must do it! I think it's bigger than the last one, and that was already massive. Though I can actually take my time with this one because I'm not trying to catch up before the next book comes out Ah, I'm so happy!

Why was I not made aware that it had already aired until now?? Regardless, I found the three episodes that already showed today and I just have to say, so far, it's amazing I like the idea of airbenders coming back into the world, and I have to admit, I'm siding with all the people who were once non-benders and are now airbenders, that Korra and Tenzin are asking to adopt the Air Nomad lifestyle and refusing. I mean really, just because you become an airbender doesn't mean you have to live like they used to. It's not a part of your culture; you grew up as a non-bender in an earth-/fire-/water-bending town. Why should you have to become something you may have never wanted to be just because you were given airbending? I'm not a big fan of Korra's crew right now because they can't seem to see that yet Plus, Makko is still there... Makko needs to die after all he did in Book 2... And is it just me, or do Korra and Asami seem like they would make a really good couple? Or at the very least, something like Thelma and Louise (as featured in this video!: )
  
Though I guess that's the direction they're heading right now... But really. I wish our society was to the point already where homosexual relationships are acceptable to feature in "children's" shows because those two seem like they'd be cute together. I know it'll never be canon though ;_; *sigh*

Anyway, I guess Ba Sing Se is like North Korea now too =/ That's the first thought that ran through my head while watching the third episode. The grandma hushes her grandson from speaking rumors of the queen and then promptly bows to a portrait of said queen hanging on her wall? And people are disappearing at random, but no one is allowed to question and/or speak of it? And only the privileged receive human dignity? Yup, sounds like good ol' NK to me.
But other than that, the new and developing group of villains look really awesome too. The waterbending lady reminded me of Dyemelikeasunset's character Kye for a moment, if only because she's badass and has no arms And the rest of them all have really unique ways of using their bending. I can't wait to see more of them

This season looks like it's going to be epic!

(Wow, talk about under-eye wrinkles!)
Hey guys! My sister and I just got back from this year's Denver Comic Con It was so fun! And yes, my sister and I are wearing matching TMNT t-shirts and Bioshock: Infinite bird/cage friendship necklaces. Anyway, we rode the train to the convention center with cosplayers of all fandoms, and when we got there, it was just amazing how many people were in costume and how many of them did it well. The first ones we saw in the place were these two Terrence and Philip cosplayers, and we didn't see them at first but rather heard them. They got the voices down perfectly and were in character for (I assume) most of the time.


(Sorry for the blurry pictures by the way; I was using my phone's camera.) They demanded hugs as payment, and while I hate hugging people I don't know well, I did it anyway We later saw Link and Marth cosplayers:


We didn't really know where to go when we got there, but we found our way to the merchant area soon enough and were overwhelmed with the desire to blast through all our money. There were so many cool little shops there! Some of my favorites were the ones that sold swords and daggers. I wanted to get a dagger so bad, but I kept having to remind myself that I have no need for one and would only chop veggies with it, so I forced myself to pass on them. I'll find cooler ones eventually anyway There were a lot of cool cosplayers in the merchant area too:

Chell and Glados, from Portal/Portal 2


Gordon Freeman from the Half-Life series. And yes, he did speak, but he kept his voice very low and quiet to keep up the mute facade.


Lego Batman, who was later approached by a little boy dressed as Scarecrow, had a staring contest with him, and then they hugged


One of my favorite group cosplays. I love Teen Titans! The girl who played Raven did it pretty well in my opinion. And the guy who played Robin had a staff, but it kept breaking in half, ironically (if you've ever watched the show you know his staff breaks constantly!)

And then this one is my favorite. She's a vending machine from Bioshock: Infinite I thought it was a really clever costume.


In the middle of the merchant area, they had this big Lord of the Rings exhibit where there were statues of the characters, original costume pieces from the movie, and even the sword that they used in it! It was really cool!




I don't remember whose bow this is, but it looks neat, no?


This is a sword they used in the movies (sorry, I'm really only familiar with The Hobbit ), "forged in 1999."


Axes used in the movie(s). Pretty self-explanatory.


Gandalf the Grey's staff! I couldn't get a good shot of it because there were a lot of people in the way, but it was still pretty cool to see


Gandalf and Thorin (I think?) atop the exhibit:


Hey look there they are again!


"You shall not PASS!!"


A Gollum statue they had set up. I tried taking a picture of my sister next to it, but it turned out way too blurry -_-


This one was just a piece of the wall separating the weapons' windows, but I thought it looked nifty:


They also had a little Bombur figurine in a case:


After we found the LotR exhibit, we wandered around some more and came across a bunch of famous cars from superhero movies and one from Ghostbusters. I'm not much of a car person, but hey I became one for those few minutes This one is a Batmobile I believe:


And some other car with a name that escapes me:


The Love Bug


And of course, the Ghostbuster car, complete with a rotating gun on the top. It was next to Bumblebee, but idk, something just made me not want to photograph that guy.


Around noon we got hungry and stopped at the café to eat a tuna salad sandwich, and then we were off to the video game section. At first, we were underwhelmed. It just looked like a few arcade games set up with some Kinects, a huge screen with Rock Band on stage (which was pretty awesome, I have to admit. People would sit in front of it like it was a concert while people played. One of the "bands" that went up named themselves "The Miscellaneous Virgins" ), a small section set aside for LARPing, and an Oculus Rift, which my sister and I got to try out. The game they had for it was a flight simulator and you moved by looking in the direction you wanted to go. It was really disorienting at first, and within the first few seconds of my game I decided to do a backflip, which made me feel nauseous, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad It definitely needs some tweaks--for instance, I was trying to ascend a few times and it just kept pulling me back toward the ground--but otherwise, it was a really unique gaming experience.
Anyway, it didn't seem like much, but then we went further down the hall and found some conference rooms that they turned into gaming halls. The first room we went into was just a bunch of guys playing CoD like they normally could at home =/ But the next one was full of indie games and games-in-the-making. One of the games my sister tried was also featured at E3! There was one I tried as well that seemed like it was trying to be Portal, but without the fun of it. I felt really bad just leaving it because it was the first game the guy had made, but it just annoyed me -.- Although there was another game we found where you could play as a dragon and terrorize villages! It looked really cool I talked to the guy who was running it and he said it would be available on Steam in August, and he gave me his card so if anyone's interested just go to www.dragonthegame.net The guy running it (who was rather cute, by the way, and quite fun to talk to. Should have gotten at least his name...) took mine and my sister's picture while we were playing it, so who knows we might be in a promo at some point
It was kinda funny when we walked into that room though; my sister and I were the only teenage girls in there And the guys running the games noticed because I saw one of them look at us, chuckle, and say "that's a first" (not derisively, mind you).

After a while, we decided to head back to the merchant area and blow all our remaining cash. Here's all the loot I got:


"Summer Goblin Market" tea, a pocket watch, a tea infuser with a blue stone weight, a Denver Comic Con exclusive Bee and Puppycat comic, signed by the cover artist herself, issue #2 of Bee and Puppycat which has to do with music boxes, but instead of trying to make the reader imagine the music, the author/artist put in little barcode things that you can scan with your phone that take you to a YouTube video of the songs they play (pretty clever, huh?), a Donatello figure, and a huge thing of Punisher comics that I got my dad for Father's Day. We got it for half-price too, so that $40 there was actually a $20 Here's each item individualized:


I actually got to choose that weight from a big-ass basket full of other stones, some carved into skulls, others into pretty shapes, but that one just looked really good to me. I like the spots on it


You have no idea how tempted I was to buy every tea they had there. Alas, 1oz cost $6 T_T I'm surprised that I didn't get the "Elven Mist" flavor though; elves are my biggest weakness.

Pocket watch closed... (It's more blue in real life.)


Pocket watch opened! I don't think I can change the time on it though =/ It shall forever tick falsely...


Bee and Puppycat exclusive cover. I love how it's all just picture and has no text to interfere with it (discounting the signature).


I know you can just buy these things at Barnes and Noble, but it was an impulse buy... I can't resist Donatello!


And lastly, my dad's huge stack of Punisher:


Needless to say, Denver Comic Con was a great experience. I was smiling the whole time, and when I wasn't smiling, I was grinning. I hope to go again next year, and maybe I'll even cosplay! Now I'm off to go make some goblin tea (my throat hurts so much... It was pretty noisy so I had to speak rather loudly most of the time) and pester my parents for dinner. Thanks to those who scrolled down this whole thing. I'm glad I could share my joy with you