"Happy Holidays" and all that...

...Hi!

Okay, so I have a pretty legitimate excuse this time. I've been out from about 9am to 10pm every day for the past three days. And seeing as I get up around 8:30 because I like sleep (not that that's nearly enough), I haven't found much time to post :p


ANYWAY, hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, then I hope your holiday was awesome too :D

A quick overview of my Christmas: I got a bunch of awesome t-shirts. My personal favorite says:

NATIONAL SARCASM SOCIETY

Like we need your support.

XD

The last awesome t-shirt I got has all the Marvel superheroes on it. I'm going to have to wear that to the Captain America and Avengers 2 movies :)

In general I got some pretty cool stuff. Sure, we always get those few useless doohickies from family, but those useless doohickies made me laugh. I think my favorite gift was what I got with my gift cards to Best Buy.... Assassin's Creed 4!!!!! :D I got that yesterday after my family and I went to see Saving Mr. Banks (which is amazing!!). According the home screen, I'm 10% through. I hope to play more of it this evening XD (Sorry guys :p)

Last year, my favorite gift was my samurai sword, and if I had to choose a gift this year to rival that, I think I could have to choose the Ring of Power.

YES, I speak of the One Ring of Power, the Ring of Sauron, the One Ring to Rule Them All >:D

Okay, obviously not that ring, but it is a replica :) Thankfully, I've overcome my fear that rings will get stuck on my fingers, so I've been wearing it a lot! It's so big, in fact, I wear it on my middle finger (and it's still loose).


Okay, so I just let this post sit on the back burning ALL DAY, so I've FINALLY finished it at 10pm!! (Not tired at all, really.) Anyway, guess I may as well hit publish now and get this over with... I need to play my MMO's more :(

I did, however, finish my power-point History project on the evolution of video games. It was a blast! My favoritest project ever XD If I can find a way to share it with you guys, I definitely will! I really love it :3


Happy (belated) Holidays! May your remaining days of 2013 be snowy!
~Emma

Christmas's Eve

So my family has a tradition that we each open one present on Christmas's Eve. I don't know how it started, probably when I was 4 or 5 years old, and I couldn't wait a second longer and just had to open a present right then and there.

This year, today actually, my dad chose to give me this particular present due to the "cold weather we've been having lately." (Everything is still covered in ice, but at least the roads are [mostly] safe now!) I was expecting a pair of boots, but instead I got a sweatshirt.

Now, putting it like that may make it seem like I'm disappointed, but not at all!

The sweatshirt says: Careful or you'll end up in my novel.

:D

I don't have many items of clothing that have words on them, but this is by far my favorite sweatshirt right now XD (Kind of like this, only picture a dark green, hoodie-sweatshirt, and the script is papyrus).

In other, quicker news, I've read the most this week than I have ALL [school] year. I finally finished A Game of Thrones (by George R.R. Martin, though you probably knew that) (and it only took my two months), and I also finished The Lost Gate (by Orson Scott Card), which is a mash up ALL the ancient legends/mythology, from Norse to Greek to Egyptian (basically we've got both Bel and Thor here XD).

I have also completely failed to write much this month. Oh well, what can I say? NaNo wore me out and I'm lucky to even finish my English homework XD Just kidding, but I have been getting new ideas lately :)

I also haven't been on any sort of game this month save a couple hours on Zelda : Skyward Sword (I only died once!!).

We've also had the most Christmas lights up around the house ever. We have blinking ones around the kitchen; some tinsel ones around the lamp in the old living room; the Christmas tree up stairs and old lights around a what-may-or-may-not-be-considered chandelier; and then, of course, year-round ones in my bedroom XD


In other news, I was making a smoothie the other day, and you know when the blade gets to that point where it's not chopping up the frozen fruit? Well, it got to that part, so I stop it, take off the lid, and stick the spoon in to stir it up.

...Well, the blade wasn't quite done spinning.

Basically, smoothie erupted into my face.

I thought it was funny, so I was laughing as I go get a washcloth. Once I clean up most of it, I go back to making my smoothie.

Then my dad's comes over and was "supervising" when there's this splat.

A strawberry had fallen from the ceiling. We both look up and see that the ceiling is pretty much covered in smoothie...


So that's been my week (since Friday) so far :) Hopefully this streak of no-game-play will end soon and I'll also finish Symphony of Storms sooner or later.

Happy Early/Belated Holidays!
~Emma

Symphony of Storms (pt.1?)

(A Short Story)
(...Hopefully)


Leisel Rainsong tapped her quill impatiently against her dark-wood desk. A paper lay in front of her, something she was consciously ignoring as her eyes gazed around the room. Above her, the ceiling was covered in a dark thunder-cloud that would give little rumbles every now and again. Even more occasionally there was a small flash of lightning that would make all the students look up. The cool atmosphere of the room helped most of the students feel calm and focused as they scribbled fiercely across the paper. All of them except Leisel.

Halestorm Balestrom was not unaware of the one student in the back of the room who was not completing the test. As he stood on his desk, surveying the class, he wondered if he should just let Leisel fail the test like she had with the last one... and the one before that... as well as the one before that... and also the one before that. Professor Balestrom sighed and decided to just speak with her after class.

Leisel's mind was not on the test, and it wasn't because she didn't know the information to complete the test. In truth she was a very extraordinary Storm Wizard, very good with spells and smart in duels... but as soon as it came to giving her undivided attention to a single task, her mind seemed to vanish, and she was lost in her own world.

When the period ended, all the Master Diviner's stood and handed their tests to Professor Balestrom, chatting amongst themselves. Professor Balestrom tried to look over the crowd of bouncing heads, attempting to spot Leisel. However, it seemed the girl had already escaped into Ravenwood Courtyard. Once the classroom was clear, he hopped over to her desk to find her test laying there uncompleted.

Almost to the tunnel to the Commons, Leisel jumped a good six inches as she felt a hand clamp over her shoulder. She spun around to see her friend, Devon Flamestrider, standing there, a mischievous smirk across his lips. His ruby red eyes gleamed with laughter as his blonde hair shone in the faint patches of light that spilled through Bartleby's branches. "Well you seem jumpy today."

Leisel sighed and ran a hand through her long blue hair, brushing it away from her face, as it seemed to always fall forward. "Just a little stressed," she replied.

"Fail another test?" Devon inquired.

Leisel frowned, scraping the toe of her boot against the cobblestone. "No..."

"That means yes."

"Does not..." she argued lamely.

Devon slung an arm over his friend's shoulder, walking her towards the tunnel. "I say you're in need of a stress reliever. I'll get strawberries."

"I'm allergic to strawberries."

"What? No, the strawberries are for me. If I eat strawberries, it increases my brain capacity, and I'll be able to think of a stress reliever for you."

Leisel smirked. "That's can't be possible."

"What? Why?"

"If you try to increase your brain capacity, it may shutdown as it's so small. It wouldn't be able to handle it," she said cheekily.

They continued to argue as they walked through the sunny Commons and into the shaded streets of the Shopping District. It was fairly busy with the Christmas season coming up. Many other Wizards were shopping, trying to bargain for the best price for gifts for their friends and family. Leisel mentally reminded herself that she needed to find gifts for people as well.

"Meet you at Elik's Edge in ten minutes. I am starving, so I am going to find strawberries," Devon said.

"Alright," was all Leisel replied with. Devon rolled his eyes, knowing his friend was now lost. He knew this was why she always failed tests.

Leisel maneuvered around the people, making her way to the edge. Here there were fewer people, but the hustle and bustle and general noise of people still resonated behind her. Though in a crowd, Leisel was alone, and that was okay with her. Sitting down on the low stone wall, she set her pack on her legs ad rummaged around the mess of stuff before finally pulling out a flute. She looked down at the instrument. It was thin and black, very sleek, and made of a material she could not recognize. She had won it from a Ronin in MooShu several months ago, but there was something wrong with it.

She could not play it.

Leisel was a master at most instruments, and the flute was one of her three best pieces. She had her own, silver flute at home, which she could play just fine. However, when she brought her lips to this flute, not a sound was made.

She did that now. She raised the flute with strong arms, setting it against her mouth, and attempted to blow a G. There was no sound, not even the hissing of her own breath. It was as if she were deaf to it's music, and everyone else was too.

Annoyed, for some reason her inability to play the instrument infuriating her more than usual, she started playing a song, playing it as loud as she could. It was the tune one often heard floating around the Jade Palace, one she had learned by ear. Still, there was not a single note she could hear.

"You called me?"

Leisel jumped for the second time that day. She turned to her right where there was now someone sitting beside her. This someone looked young, perhaps twelve years if not eleven, with straight black hair reaching down to her waist and glowing amber eyes. She wore strange garb: a long robe with dark colored flowers pressed against their royal purple background with a crimson underskirt. The newcomer smiled.

"Who're you?" Leisel stuttered.

"My name is Nieve, the Spirit of Jade. You found my flute some time ago, and I've been waiting for you to call." Nieve stood and bowed with a flourish. To Leisel's confusion, no one around them seemed to notice her. "How can I be of service?"

Confused, but deciding to just go with it, Leisel held up the flute. "Why can't I hear it when I play it?"

Nieve tiled her head to the side. "It is because you do not believe in it. You take your ability for granted, and the flute will only be heard by those who believe."


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WELL ALRIGHTY THEN

So this was supposed to be a short story. A SHORT story. You know that means, don't you? It means the story is SHORT.

Why do I do this to myself -_-

It's not short anymore!!


Moving on from that, how was it? It was supposed to be my appreciation (something like that) piece for the Sound of Music that was broadcasted live last night (didn't get to see all of it, but what I did see was amazing!!).

Here's the image that officially inspired the piece:

Flute Dragon Water. Digital image. Desktop Nexus Wallpapers. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

Hopefully this will stay under two parts. It's only 1,000 words (just a little over), and I want to keep it that way. I hope you guys enjoyed it! :)


In other news... it rained here last night. Is still raining. And now the temperature is dropping, which means there's going to be ice everywhere. Everywhere! We're finally getting attacked by that fierce snowstorm that's been blowing across the west. I hope everyone stays safe.


~Emma

Some Details And A Writing/Gaming Schedule

  Emma strode into the conference room with a purpose. Sliding into the sleek and official-looking wheel-y chair, she slapped at a loose strand of brown hair hanging in her face before slapping the folder of papers down in front of her. She surveyed her audience -- both real and imaginative -- before flipping open the folder with a hand well practiced in the arts of magic casting and cutlass wielding.

  "Now," Emma started, her tone hinting that what she was about to say was of the utmost importance, "you're probably wondering why I've gathered you here today..."