[link]

I'm not going to go into a whole schpeal about it right now, but I will say this:

This is NOT a good idea.  At all.

And I thought Microsoft's new Xbox was the craziest thing I read today.

Let's switch things up for today with a little history lesson.

The very first cartoon fandom that I got immersed into was Teen Titans (2003-6).  I was a superhero kid of kid (as I imagine most kids were around that time), which was nice.

...I say this like I was a kid back then instead of in the latter years of high school, but just ignore that.

Teen Titans, in my opinion, was pretty much the best cartoon at the time.  It had everything anyone could want: action, drama, hilarity, suspense.

I think I'm forgetting something.

Oh yeah.  The shipping.

I joined a forum named the RBSU (Raven/Beast Boy Shippers United) off of the suggestion of a fanfic author I really enjoyed (who is now one of my closest friends).  I joined the forum almost ten years ago, and now I'm glad to say the people I have met there have grown to be very close friends of mine.

Even though the forum is now basically defunct (although you can still visit it), it was a good stepping stone for my views on fanfiction and fandoms in general.

Oh yeah, and the shipping.

As easily figured by the title of the forum, I was a BB/Raven shipper.  Now, I say shipper, but it was more of the mild variety.  It was nothing like what occurs nowadays, because we didn't have Twitter and all of these social websites back in the day.  Heck, Facebook wasn't even that big back in '03.

Even now, I think TT ended at a point where it didn't manager to get caught up in social media.

Of course, this might all change with Teen Titans Go!.

Speaking of which, I watched the first episode.  Pretty funny.  Having all of old VAs back really helps, even though Hynden Walsh and Tara Strong's voice (IMO) have somehow gotten slightly deeper over time.  Or maybe it's just me.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to more episodes, and especially the ideas that I can come up with for fanfiction.

Which comes to my other point.

The Phineas and Ferb fic that I'm currently working on (This Crazy Little Thing) is going to be updated, and hopefully on Friday, but there are two things happening right now that have the caused the almost month delay to it:

1.) Getting back into the Teen Titans mix (watching old episodes, seeing TTGo!, and the like) and the aforementioned fics

2.) Writing Chapter 2, having parts of Chapter 4 and the ideas all ready to go...and having no idea what to put in Chapter 3.

...Whoops.

Transitions, kids.  They're important.

Hopefully Ch. 3 will be up on Friday, as well as my third TT fic.  It won't be a serious one.

Good lord, it won't be a serious one.

And before anyone asks: No, I'm not done with Phineas and Ferb.  Still want to finish this story, and then I'll have some decisions to make.  But stay tuned for that.

Later, ladies and gents.

Whenever I write a romance story (which is almost all of the time), I always try to not have everything in it revolve around romance.  That would be just entirely mushy, and it usually does not end well from a writing standpoint.

Realize notwithstanding.

But jumping right into a romance story with just romance (unless it's a one-shot, and even then not really) is not the best way to go about things.  After all, romance in real life does not suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Of course, there are several things in P&F that just appear out of nowhere, but you get my point.

The thing is that you have to have some sort of relationship already established in order for the romance that will happen later to make actual sense.  You can't just jump straight into the pool without getting your toes wet first.

Well...you can, but you're going to get very cold if you do.

P&F is no different.  I can't even begin to tell you the amount of stories that I've read on Phinbella where it just jumps into foo foo cuddly poo crap without any sort of rhyme or reason.  It's...befuddling, to say the least.

The major fan couples in P&F have a varying amount of friendship between them, which is not a surprise in itself.  However, the level of friendship will vary from author to author.  This usually makes for a pretty good comparison topic/subject.

I am no different.

I have a scale that I use that lets me know the proper amount of "friendship", so to speak, that I use when making a particular story with a pairing.  How varied is it?

Let me show you it.  In order, from most to least (in my continuity, I should stress):

1.) Django/Milly - Well...I'm going to take a wild guess and say you though I was going to put Isabella and Phineas here.  You thought wrong.

Here's the reasoning.  In my continuity, they are very good friends (just as good as Phineas and Isabella are).  However, they sort of have an unspoken rule where they are technically with each other.  I say "technically", since they are only nine-ten-eleven.

Whatever their age is.

2.) Phineas/Isabella - And then you have number two.

It's barely number two, because they (and by this, I mean Phineas) are too silly to realize that they (and by this again, I mean Isabella) can't notice their (and by this, I mean Isabella) advances and actions.

OK, so maybe it's just Isabella on that end, but you get my point.  They have a history, and they've been friends for a really long time.  Not much else to say here.

3.) Buford/Adyson - If you've read my stories, this is an obvious choice.

If not...then go read my Buford/Adyson stories and then come back.  Then you'll realize it.

Adyson and Buford are under the category of "pretty good friends".  They are more than just Big Idea muscle; they have classes, they do karate together, Adyson occasionally punches Buford in the arm.

It's important to note that they somewhat fit the "opposites attract" archetype, which does start out as them being actual friends.  It's also important to know that I already have something of a setup for these two.  Where it's going to end I'm not sure.

4.) Baljeet/Ginger, Ferb/Gretchen, & Irving/Katie - Well, I couldn't really decide who to put here, but these three pairing pretty much all fit in the next category, with only slight variations between the three.  Baljeet/Ginger is minutely ahead of Ferb/Gretchen, with Irving/Katie bringing up the rear.

They are "passing friends".  They're cordial, they make nice during projects, the girls all have crushes on their respected gentlemen.  Since Ginger's the most...excitable out of the three, she's first.  Gretchen has the advantage of her superior intelligence to calm herself down, but if the story I want to write ever gets written, you can see she has another problem she has to worry about.  Katie has the added problem of the intense nerd-dom of Irving to deal with, so it sort of skirts to the end of the line.

However, they are all still above...

7.) Balthazar/Holly - This is totally not because Balthazar a relatively unknown character and is the last of the pairings that are taken seriously.

...OK, maybe it is.

Since Balthazar (I need to shorten that name to something; I can't write that out every time) is not part of the main group, it would stand to reason he would be last on the list.  Holly, if you think about it, is sort of in the same boat.  There aren't a lot of fics that focus on here (or even mention her), so she's a mystery as well.

So there you have it.  It's important to not only write your pairings with some sort of restraint, but you also have to make sure it's not overridden with just the pairing.  Not everything is flowers and rainbows and unicorns all of the time.  Sometimes, there has to be dandelions and clouds and horses.

I'm sure there's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Chapter 2 of This Crazy Little Thing will be up on either Wednesday or Friday, depending on how much writing I get done.  Chapter 1 was kind of boring, I know, but I promise it will start rolling with Chapter 2.

Until next time, ladies and gents.

...So I apparently already did a YSCI for Baljeet/Ginger last year.

Whoops.

You should totally go read that by the way.  It might be relevant.

So I'm going to do one for a pairing that will be shown for a little bit in the upcoming Baljeet/Ginger story, as well as the next one shot in this little continuity: Buford/Adyson.

*insert comment about the following being of my opinion only here*

Canon – I would normally go on about the episodes that these two were together in, but I don't think that actually brings anything to the table, so I'm just going to ignore that.  There's quite a few; that's all I'm going to say.

What I will say is something that I had found interesting: the episode which Adyson gets the most screentime/development/whatever you want to call it ("The Great Indoors") doesn't have Buford popping up in it at all.  This is partly the reason why I decided to write Those Great Indoors; it delves a little more into Adyson's background and personality while giving Buford a chance to showcase the friendship they have.

But more on that later.

Fanon – Adyson and Buford fall under the typical love/hate relationship, as done by a lot of fanfictioners I've come across.  However, quite a few recent findings have seen sort of a liking toward Buford/Milly, with Adyson being taken by Django.

Now, I don't personally have anything against the Django/Adyson pairing.  It's...fine.  I guess.  They seem to write it along sort of the same lines as the Buford pairing, only with the more laid-back Django taking the place of the bullheaded Buford.

But I suppose that will be in the next YSCI.

It's a classic constant clashing thing with the two of them, both having (or being written with) alpha personalitites.  Adyson is usually written as someone who feels the need to do everything, if going off of The Great Indoors is any indication.  Overworking, overburdened, and over the top are the main qualities.

Buford...well, it's a little bit harder to pin Buford down.  I mean, he has the usual "RAWR I'M A BULLY" thing, as well as the whole homosexual relationship with Baljeet people like writing about.

For what exact reason, I'm really not sure.

But you can bet that his bully behavior will definitely hit a tipping point somewhere down the line, and he'll have to face the consequences of it (whether he wants to or not).

My Analysis – To start, let's get all of the stupid Buford/Baljeet things out of the way.  One, I'm not a fan of that pairing.  Two, it's, again, stupid.  Three, I honestly don't know why people would even think about that pairing for a fleeting second.  Four...

I actually don't have a four, I just wanted to complete it like that.

Moving on.

I like to go with the fandom on a couple of points on the pairing.  I like to write Adyson as the most sarcastic one of the Fireside Girls, and she is the one that is written as the workaholic.  She, of course, gets this from her mother, who I have down as Melissa the receptionist.

...Come on, it's the hair swoosh.  I can't be the only one who sees it.

Like the show, Buford does have the bully persona he needs to uphold, but he can show that different side of him at unexpected times.  And a great time for that to happen is when he's with Adyson.

Like the two pairings before, I have a them with Buford and Adyson: determination.  She is determined to be the best Fireside Girl as possible (even at her own expense) and to live up to everyone's expectations.  He is determined to keep both sides of him in check (the bully side and the normal kid side).

And they are both utterly determined not to let anyone know that they already like each other.

Because that's fun for me to write.

It's a little different from Django/Milly because with those two, they're written as if they're already in a relationship.  Buford and Adyson are written as if they're trying to avoid that word.

Or "determined" to avoid that word.

See what I did there?

Now, all of this is under the preexisting line that they are already somewhat good friends.  More than Katie and Irving, and less than Django and Milly or Phineas and Isabella.  However, they don't want anyone to really know about the actuality of it.  It makes for a good subplot, trust me.

That about wraps up this pairing.  I don't think I'm forgetting anything.  If anyone wants to see a good example of how I write the pairing, go read Those Great Indoors.  It'll be good, trust me.

The new one-shot will be uploaded at the end of the week.  I may also "re-upload" the Baljeet/Ginger one-shot on Friday on FF.net just so that I can get more people to see it.

I understand this may paint me as a view-whore (or review-whore, or whatever), but I think it's important because it's in an actual continuity going on, so the more people see it the better.  And putting it up on a Saturday night when no one's looking at it is not a good way to do it.  And totally my fault.

See you later in the week, ladies and gents.

NOTE:  Even though I shouldn't have to say it, the items in this blog are of my opinions and my opinions only.  Don't bite my head off because that would make you look silly.  And like a cannibal.

So for this week, I though I would do a topic that is somewhat relevant to the story I will be uploading on Friday.  There's all sorts of hullabaloo about who should end up with that crazy Indian genius nerd, Baljeet...Tjinder.

...Yeah, I'm still getting used to that last name.  I'm still used to writing Patel.  Need to work on that.

Anywho, Ginger and Mishti are the two main people that Baljeet get paired with.  And no, before anyone asks, I'm not counting Buford in that.  That's just...I'm going to ignore that.

Now, anyone who regular follows my stuff here (pay attention, you two) knows that I am on the side of Ginger.  I think that while there's is certainly a lot of...questionable things that Ginger can do in the terms of fanon, there is also a lot of good that the pairing can do.

Not that Mishti is not a good character.

She is.

For what she was used for.

And that's the main reason why I don't really support a Baljeet/Mishti pairing:  She's already served her purpose.

Mishti was in the show for one episode, "That Sinking Feeling".  She was in there as part of the main plot: Baljeet trying to impress his old friend from India.

Friend.

This is important.

People seem to forget that the romance in the story was not instigated by Baljeet.  It was by Phineas (shockingly enough).  And that wasn't even on purpose.  Phineas has his own convoluted vision of what romance is suppose to be; we readily saw that in the episode.

So we go through the episode, with Baljeet trying his best to impress her with such things as the dinner, the flowers and what not, and nothing is working.

But of course nothing is working.

Because this is Phineas' vision.  Not Baljeet's.

The end of the episode rolls around, and 'Jeet and Mishti are both in the raft, and then...the two pretty much end the whole potential there.

They're friends.

Not more.  Not less.

Her story has already been wrapped up.  The fact that she hasn't reappeared in the show supports that.

Now, let me make this very clear: I don't hate Mishti.  In fact, she is similar to another character in the show who is interesting but is not part of a fan pairing I support: Vanessa.  That analysis will come at a later date.  Also, there are people on here who make successful stories with Baljeet/Mishti as a pairing (the whole ThoMarie thing comes to mind).

But to me, there's more potential in Ginger than there is in Mishti.  If you can balance the whole cling problems that Ginger has with Baljeet's general obliviousness to romance (though not as bad as Phineas), you can make a great story.  Too many people, however, tend to overdo the stalker qualities that they think Ginger possesses.

This would seem like a good time to say how I write the pairing.

It's not.  It's late.  I'm tired.  There may or may not be a foot of snow headed my way.  So I'll be off for the night.

Later, people.

...Sort of.

I'm making the decision to pull the story off of the site because...well, for many reasons.

It's now March.  There are a lot of stories that I would like to focus on without this one being on my mind.  So there's that.

I did not do a lot of pre-writing for this story.  But then again, I usually don't, but for my other stories I would usually have at least something later done.  Here, I did not.

But the most important reason is the one rule that I broke whenever I write and upload a story:

Never, ever upload a story that you are not 100% happy with.

Notice I didn't say satisfied.  Satisfied =/= happy.  I'm usually never satisfied with everything that I do, but I'm at least happy with the stuff that I put out.

This entire story was just getting to the point where I wasn't happy with where it was going.  Or even happy writing it.

So I'm going to put it into storage.  I will also be removing it from my FF.net account, effective "as soon as I get to it tonight".

Now, I'm not giving up on the story quite yet.  I'm just going to hold off on it for now, work on some other stuff, and maybe when the next holiday season comes around, I'll have a better idea as to where I want to go with it.

Too many plots circulating around.  Poor writing (IMO).  The songfic style that I'm writing with is unfamiliar and was a larger pain in the butt that I thought it would be.  I'm just...not very happy with it.

Apologies to the people who read it and reviewed it and did like it.  I'm glad that someone did.

Now, the good news is that I have some other stuff pretty much ready to go within the next few days, so be prepared for that.  I should have something up this weekend, most likely Sunday.  Stay tuned for that.

Later, ladies and gents.

I could go on and on about how I haven't been updating.

But I don't want to.

So I won't.

Moving on...

We've gotten quite a bit of new names over the past few months with the P&F characters.  And I'm not even counting Ginger being confirmed as Stacy's sister, because...well, who didn't see what coming?

But we've had three new last names/whole names revealed in a relatively short amount of time:

1.) Baljeet's last name is Tjinder.  Not really new, but new enough to mention.
2.) The Ballpit Kid's full name is Balthazar Horowitz.  Uhh...that's...a name.
3.) Irving's last name is Du Bois, just revealed within the last few days.

First of all...now I have to go change everyone's names in my fics.

(Not really, I'm not changing anything that I've already written.)

Second, this is sort of interesting because I feel like this is going to lead to something big.  Can't quite put my finger on what just yet.  But hey, it makes for entertaining speculation.

Wonder if we'll get Coltrane's last name next.

...If it's Jackson, I will laugh so hard.

Still have to catch up on new P&F episodes, but I'm getting there.  Should be caught up pretty soon.

Until next time.

It's that time to reflect on things we've done, learn from them, and see what we want to do in the next 365 days.

Or, maybe in my case, the things that I haven't done.

It's not a surprise that I did not accomplish most of what I wanted to do in this year (from a fanfiction standpoint, anyway).  That can be blamed on a number of things.  Work, illness, family.

I know that I keep making promises about what I want to do, and they don't seem to be coming through.  So, for this year...

I won't.

Making a promise to not make promises.  How meta of you, Jason.

I do want to thank all of the people who have read and reviewed the stories I did put out this year.  I didn't read any of the reviews I had for the past month or so because...well, I was scared, to be quite honest.  I'm always a little bit nervous when it comes to seeing what others think of my stories, even though I really shouldn't be.  I've had nothing but positive feedback for everything (sans one fic, but I was expecting that anyway).

Special thanks go out to gibberishic, Spongey444, and PnfFan101 for supporting me through this year.  You guys are the best.

In any case, the happenings in the past few months will all be explained on here soon enough.  I know a couple of people are probably confused (especially with Numb), but trust me.  You'll be enlightened soon enough.

With that out of the way...I have work to do.

Hope everyone has a happy new year.  See you on the other side.

~Arctimon

Also, I figured that I would at least update with a story before I update this journal.

This will be only a mini-update, which I'm sure will be to the chagrin of everyone here.

I have a holiday fic that I'm working on, and that will take up the majority of my time.  I probably won't be properly updating the journal until a later point in time, but I at least figured that I should update somewhere.

As for the other story that I uploaded at the wee hours of the morning...

Heh.

I don't really expect anyone to understand what goes on in my head.  Heck, I don't even know what goes on from time to time.

It's a curse, I swear.

I've said before that I don't think you should ever write when you're not in the mood.  But there comes a certain point in time where if you don't force yourself down and do it, you'll never do it again.  And that's what I sort of went through last night.

I'll have a journal out later chronicling what's been going on the past few months.  Not now, of course.  Probably in the new year.

In the meantime, enjoy the story.  I'll update it pretty frequently over the next few weeks.

The holidays are here, ladies and gents.  Time to get ready.

To all of the American people on the site, please do your best to go out and vote (if you are of age).

Saying you want one candidate over the other is meaningless unless you go and put someone's name down.

As corny as it is to say that every single vote matters...it does.  It might when it comes to this election.  Obama and Romney are in a dead heat (popular vote-wise).

Also, some people really cheese me off when they go off about politics and then don't do a single thing about it.

Go to your local voting booth and put up.  Or shut up.

Simple as that.

A lot of rain and wind where I am, but not much else, thankfully.  Though, the worst is yet to come, from what I hear.

So the updates are going to be a little late, as you can probably imagine.  I am working on things as we speak, but who knows how much longer I'll have power.

If you are anywhere near the path of Sandy, I would suggest that you hunker down and wait until the storm passes to do anything.  And if you've already lost power and can't read anything that I'm typing...well, then it's sort of moot.

I'll be working as long as I have power.  Then it might be an early bedtime for me.  Which is good, because I'm old.

Ish.

Stay safe, everyone.

Plus an actual "putting out stories" update.

But that's for later.

-----

In the case that you've been living under a rock for the past week or so, there was some news that came out regarding the P&F movie.  A Disney Executive was in attendance of the New York Comic-Con, and the article with this news mentioned a delay in the movie (thanks to rwmead and 022288knarrow for the link):

This week, the New York Comic Con was held in, perhaps not surprisingly, New York City. Although the Phineas and Ferb creative staff did not attend, nor was the show officially represented, ToonZone reports that during a Q&A session with a Disney representative before a screening of Disney XD's newest animated series- Slugterra and Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja- it was revealed that "the rumored Fireside Girls spinoff from Phineas and Ferb is not being actively worked on at the moment, and that they're focusing more on the show and the movie." Ever since Dan Povenmire & Jeff "Swampy" Marsh signed new contracts with Disney Television Animation in 2011 which included the option for an additional pilot, which may or may not be a spinoff of Phineas and Ferb, rumors have been spreading as to whether or not such a thing may happen, especially when combined with the New York Times reporting in 2010 that " potential spinoff is centered on the Fireside Girls." Whether or not Povenmire & Marsh's second series will happen- and whether or not it will involve the Fireside Girls- remains at this point something only time will tell.

And as long as we're on the subject of the Phineas and Ferb movie: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures announced their new release schedule today. In addition to giving slots to two as-of-yet-unannounced animated features and giving a date to the next Marvel hero to get the big-screen treatment, Ant-Man (November 6, 2015, to be exact), the studio has pushed back the Phineas and Ferb feature film from its originally-announced release date of July 26, 2013 to sometime in 2014 (the exact date is yet to be determined by the studio.) The new schedule can be seen in various spots on the Internet, including (but not limited to) Box Office Mojo, Stitch Kingdom, and Entertainment Weekly.

Now, like the article mentions a little bit later, the news regarding the delay is not that surprising, considering that there was very little news coming out of the woodwork with the writing of the script, producers, and what not in the past several months.

And I will basically repeat what most of the people around have been saying, because I agree with it:  Yes, it is a bummer.  It was a movie that I was really looking forward to.  But...better to wait a little while longer and make a good product than rush something out and it stink.  Dan and Jeff are fully aware of that.  Plus they have a show to worry about.

It's also not like we won't see it anymore now that it's been delayed.  We're all going to see the freakin' movie.  Although I wonder what Disney will do with Thor 2 now.  If you remember, they moved the release date of that movie to make room for P&F.  It will probably be nothing, because they don't want to deal with The Wolverine

What I am interested in a little bit more, however, is this part:

"...during a Q&A session with a Disney representative before a screening of Disney XD's newest animated series- Slugterra and Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja- it was revealed that 'the rumored Fireside Girls spinoff from Phineas and Ferb is not being actively worked on at the moment, and that they're focusing more on the show and the movie'."

Hmm.

If I remember correctly, there hasn't been anyone higher on the totem pole than Dan and Jeff saying anything about  the rumors of the spin-off.  The co-creators have mentioned it several times, including the NY Times panel they did back in the summer of 2011.

And that's what they were.  Rumors.

Until now.

The wording of that phrase by the executive (if that is indeed the correct one) says that it's "rumors".  On the other hands, the person also say that it's "not being actively worked on at the moment".

...But that means it was.

To what degree and extent no one except Disney knows, but it's intriguing that the exec would say "actively".  That constitutes that there was some sort of work being put into it at a previous point.  Not animation and VA work work.  But maybe plot planning and structure work.

The point is that, IMO, the detractors saying that a spin-off will never happen because of X, Y, and Z should probably reconsider their argument, because it sounds like it is going to happen.  Don't know when, don't know for how long, but it seems like a pretty done deal at this point.  

Which is good...because I really want that show to happen.

~~~~~

Now to the other part.

For the better part of three months, I have had a really difficult time with my writing.  I've also had a lot of things happen that I've had to put a higher priority on other than my stories.  It's not...anything I really want to discuss in detail right now, but suffice to say it had to be taken care of.

So I've recently been slogging back through some of my old drafts, dabbling here and there through them, and writing out some new things.  I've been out of practice, and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I believe that I am finally at the point where I can start posting stories again.

I know I've been saying that for...well...three months, but I'm confidant enough to say with certainty that I will be back uploading stories.

That was the good news.

Here is the bad news.

It will NOT all be P&F.

The show has cooled off for me, to be quite honest.  I don't have anything against it, nor do I have anything against the people in the fandom.  Things have happened.  I didn't have the time to get as much exposure to the show as I used to.  As a matter of fact, I haven't watch the vast majority of new episodes in the past...year?

That would probably explain my deterioration of updates.

But with the news of the movie and the fact that I have been catching up on my writing makes me feel that I should get my hat back into the right.

Oh, and the one other thing.

I miss you guys.

I miss putting stuff up and seeing the response that they've gotten.(good and bad).  I've missed chatting to people in the fandom about a myriad amount of things, ranging from pairing to episode quality to just what exact kind of bear Buford was suppose to be dressed up as.  I miss seeing people being really happy and thankful that I write stuff, even if it was controversial (Nine Eleven) or not about P&F (Profile), or even about a pairing that they don't like (insert all of my non-Phinbella fics here).

...Seriously, though, Irving's not that bad.  Or Coltrane.

Anyway.

I just miss the experience.

I do have some P&F stories on board, but I have a few other shows that I have ideas for, including:

Another NCIS:LA story
Borderlands
Borderlands 2
Teen Titans
Pokemon
The World Ends With You
Encyclopedia Brown

And a couple others that are so far in their primary stages that it wouldn't be any fun to mention them now.

So, if you like those (as well as P&F), you'll be in luck in the future.  I can't promise that I will update every week, but I'll try to have something up every couple weeks.

But for the meantime, I have two stories that I will have out on Saturday, one of which is a little P&F one-shot  that will let me get back into the swing of things.

The other....well, the other is a birthday gift that was due to a friend of mine a long time ago, but because of everything that has happened got put on the back-burner.

Before anyone says anything, yes, I'm a horrible friend.  The profuse apology that will be my message to said person will be long, I assure you.

But hey.  Maybe it can be a two-month birthday-year...thing.

I don't know.

Or maybe ninjas will be sent to kill me.  I haven't figured it out yet.  I'll let you guys now.

Thanks for the patience, guys.  The stories will be up on Saturday.  Until then, stay frosty.

It's been a while since I've updated this journal, so I figured, "Hey, I might as well knock something out now."  Been busy with many things.  Fics.  Work.  Illness.  I may have bronchitis.  Possibly.  But in any case, let's move on.

Whenever I feel like I need to have a pick-me-up, I have a go-to favorite episode of P&F.  It's one that I've had to re-watch recently to sort of get me back into the game.

Which one is it, you ask?

It would be so easy to say one of the specials (Rollercoaster, 2nd Dimension, and the like).  And in any other case, I probably would.

But the best one, in my opinion?

*points to title*

Now, I'm sure that some of you are asking, "Jason, you exemplar of an Adonis-like piece of man-meat, why would you say that particular episode?"

...Or more than likely you're not.

Maybe the latter part.

Anywho.

To me, "That Sinking Feeling" strikes that perfect balance of humor and romance and silliness that I can't really apply to any other episode.  I'm not saying the others aren't great (they are), but I just fell in love with this episode.

Plus, I think it's sort of an insight into one of my favorite characters in the show: Baljeet.  All of that silly awkwardness, fun jokes, and a runaway lighthouse makes it awesome.

(Never mind the fact that Baljeet is really suppose to have a crush on Isabella, but I guess this episode was early enough that it wasn't really formally introduced, but...I digress.)

It also has Doof's best quotes ever:
The boats will follow it, like moths following a...wait, have I already used that, uh...that metaphor? I think I... oh, how about bees going to...umm... whatever bees go to, or flies to...oh, let's just go with the moth thing.!
"Boat of Romance" is just weird.  The good weird.

And stupid oblivious Phineas makes everything better.

It also brings forth someone whom a lot of people are generally flip-flopping about: Mishti.

Or they used to be.  I haven't really heard much from the fandom front from her lately.

But since I'm so out of sync with the updates, we'll go ahead and do something about that.

...Later in the week.

It has been quite a while since I've updating on here, hasn't it?

Well, let's work to change that, shall we?

Over the past couple of months, I have really not had any sort of inclination to write.  And that's because of a myriad of things.  Work.  Stress.

...Mostly work.

It's disappointing because for my particular job, summer is sort of a lull period for me.  And I was hoping to get a lot of exciting, new material out to you guys.

And then that didn't happen.

Now, with my hours on the verge of transitioning to rush time, it will leave me a lot less time to write.

Frustrating, I know.

I was sitting at work, doing what I do, and thinking about what stories I want to continue doing, and which ones I needed to put on the backburner.  And to be quite honest, I was thinking about giving up the practice entirely.  I sort of lost my passion for writing.

It's weird.  I've been putting up stories and writing for FF.net and here for a little more than a year now, and there was a point in time where I was updating weekly.  I honestly don't know how I was able to do it, looking back.  Maybe it was because I was new, and didn't know any better.

I look at people like Freedom Fighter and see him updating almost every week without fail and think "How the frack does he do it?"  Maybe that's why I consider him one of the best fanfic writers out there, not because he updates often (sort of), but because he makes really good stories as well.

In any case, here's what it comes down to.

I do want to get back into the swing of things.  I want to get back to writing.  I have had a few people still liking my stories, on here and FF.net, and it's sort of make me feel better.  And it makes me want to write.  I've met a lot of people over the past year and change.  People have liked my stories.  People have loved my stories.  People have had...strong opinions about my story.

And I've had a few other things happen in the course of this year...but those are rather personal, so forgive me if I don't go into them.

I feel like I want to give to the newer people just as much as the old ones.  The people who just found me and love my stories are great.  I think they deserve more stuff to see, as well as the older people.  

With this posting hopefully comes a transition back somewhat into the swing of things.  My schedule will be wonky for the next few weeks, since I will have more hours to work, so I'll only have one-shots up for now.  But perhaps I can do a multi-chapter story after a while.

So stay tuned, kids.  Let's see if we can get this horse moseying along.

P.S. - I do want to add something else, since I've had a couple of people alert me to the...situation that's happened a couple of weeks ago.  While most of what I want to say won't help or change anything, I will say this:

When you get suspended for doing something, come back, and proceed to do the exact same thing that you were suspended for, don't be surprised when you get banned.  It's not very becoming.

Or smart.

(I originally had a whole different journal coming up, but then this happened.)

I grew up on the Encyclopedia Brown series.

It was a series of books that let me into a much more basic time.  Nowadays, we have an outlandish amount of technology that basically does the crime solving and perpetrator busting for us.

But not when it came to Encyclopedia.

Rarely would a case show up that would involve little more than problem solving and a little cleverness.  You didn't need fancy fingerprinting, or DNA testing, or microbial...stuff.  All you needed was to think for a bit.

The Encyclopedia Brown series was surprisingly simple, and that worked.  It let the reader become immersed in the story and didn't try to confuse anyone with words or actions.  It let the mystery do the talking.

They were my favorite books when I was a kid, along with the Hardy Boys.  And while the Boys had their own special meaning to me, I always went back to good ol' Encyclopedia.

The series never had the overwhelming commercial success that other series had (like Twilight, or Harry Potter) but it didn't need sales to back up just how much it affected young kids.  It is also infamous for spawning several tropes over at TVTropes for its somewhat contradictory solutions to cases.

Of course, I say all this like the series is going to stop.  The newest book will be out in October, and you bet that I will be getting it.  For purely recollection purposes...

Yeah, right.

I never got to meet the man, but I know that he was a author through and through, writing even up to the final days of his life.  A man who never seemed to be satisfied with being done, or bringing smiles to the faces of his readers.

Thank you, Mr. Sobol, for not being satisfied.  It makes me, in turn, not satisfied with what I've done so far.  I know that I can do better, and I will keep doing my craft because I know you would not want your fellow writers to be satisfied with what they have either.

It took two dozen publishers rejecting you until you got your break.  Perhaps you knew, like your titular character, that you would always get your man (or pub) in the end.

Thank you for enriching my life as a young boy.  Thank you for teaching me about persistence, about not giving up, and how a little intelligence and imagination was all you needed to make a story.

...And for making me realize that mustard on sauerkraut is simply ridiculous.

Even though some people like it.

...Guess we can't have them all, right?

Rest in peace, Mr. Sobol.  After all of the work you've done, I think you've deserved a little rest.

Too long to put a sarcasm tag on this.

Power has gone out all throughout my city.  I may not get power back for at most a week.

Joy.

I'm typing this from my sister's iPad.  I still have plans to get the chapter up, but if I don't get power back by Monday, it will go up then.  I can upload it from work then.

I would be a little less brief, but it's 100+ degrees here, have no air conditioning, and I'm pissed.  So...sorry for being short.

Smell y'all later.  And if I don't get hot water back, you will definitely be smelling me later.  

Getting this out of the way, I would like to again thank the people who have been patient with me for the past few months of very little updating.  It has not been a very easy period of time for me, and I am desperately trying to get back into the swing of things.  Thank you for understanding.

Now that that's out of the way, a few things to say:

1.) I am going to sit down and watch the Avatar: Legend of Korra season finale tonight.  I did not get an opportunity to watch it over the weekend because CRABS ARE AWESOME AND SCRUMPTIOUS.

Depending on what happens in the episodes, I may have a fic up sometime in the next couple of weeks.  I had an idea for one before the finale aired, but certain aspects may change if the episode demands it.  So stay tuned for that.  Also, please do not send me any spoilers.  I would like to find out what happens in the episodes on my own.

2.) When Push Comes to Love will be completed this week.  I spent entirely way too much time on it, and I just really want to get it out of the way now.  The chapter's about 50-75% done, so I only have a little more ways to go.  I have no idea which P&F fic I'm going to put out next, so don't ask.  It may be a Phinbella, or maybe another one-shot.  It's up in the air.

3.) Did you know that there are a grand total of three Encyclopedia Brown fanfics on FF.net?  Pity.  That needs to be rectified.  Immediately.  

4.) I've gotten a fair amount of messages asking me about *KicsterAsh and her "withdrawal" (as one of the messages put it) from the P&F fandom.  Now this alone is going to require a fair amount of bullet points:

First of all...why on God's green Earth are you asking me about her?  She has a perfectly serviceable journal that you're capable of reading yourself, and I think that she has made it quite clear about her reasoning and her intentions.

Second of all...no, I will not talk to her and try to convince her to come back.  She does not owe anyone anything.  People leave fandoms all the time.  Just because she is more popular than the average person doesn't make her an exception to the rule.  I am sorry that you will not be able to enjoy any new P&F artwork from her, but she has a crapton of exceptional art on her gallery that you can enjoy, as well as hundreds of other talented artists on this site.

Third...well, I don't have a concrete third point, but I'm just going to say this here.

Kicster and I aren't really friends.  That's not a knock against her, or even some sort of bitter realization that I have; that's just the truth.  She is someone that I follow on this site.  I put comments and/or lame jokes on her art and stories, and she sometimes responds/pity laughs at my lame jokes.  That's pretty much the extent of our relationship.  We're acquaintances if nothing else.  I'm pretty sure she has a laundry list of people she goes to talk about anything before she even gets to me.  So please don't act like I'm buddy-buddy with her, because I'm not.

Would I like to at some point?  Of course.  Who wouldn't?  But I don't think I'm going to get on her good side by belittling her.

(Or by making a journal entry that she's probably never going to read about her, but that's beside the point.)

Do I have any pull with her decision-making?  Hell to the no.  And even if I did, why would I waste it on something like this?

Do I agree with her decision to move on from the fandom?

No.

Of course I don't.

But it's really not my decision to make, now is it?

I support her decision in regards to what I am: an outsider looking in.  And even if I was buddy-buddy with her, I would still support her decision.  Not just try to switch her mind even though that's the exact thing people should not be doing.

She has a life.  She has college.  She has family.  She has other work that she does.  The attitudes that people got toward her did not help matters either.

Truth be told, I cannot begin to imagine what sort of hateful things people were saying to her.  I would like to think I do, since I have gotten a little bit of it before, but when you have a crapton more subscribers and pageviews, this sort of thing exacerbates infinitely.  That, believe it or not, can tally on a person's psyche.  

So what am I trying to say?

Get off her back.  Seriously.  She has enough going on right now in her life that I'm pretty sure she doesn't need you to pile it on.

*sigh* I'm always surprised at how surprised I get at the actions of people sometimes.

Seriously, guys.  It's not the end of the world.

Story will go up either Friday or Saturday.

I shall talk to you later.

So the Avatar: Legend of Korra finale is tomorrow.  I, for one, am super excited to see what is going to happen, including if Korra is going to get debended, who the frell Amon is, and just how much badass is going to fit in one hour.

Well...forty-four minutes, technically.

If I have to give my honest opinion, I think Korra has done an excellent job on building drama in its own way, unlike the original series.  Since it's more condensed (12 episodes instead of the original's 20), the filler is few and far between.  Now, that does make things a little more steely, which is sort of disappointing, but you can't duplicate the silliness of the original in here.  It just won't work.  You can try to put a little, but too much would just be...well...silly.

Speaking of finales, I know that Season 3 of P&F is coming to an end soon (the end of July).  I still have quite a few episodes that I need to catch up on, not to mention whatever writing I can get done.  We shall see how much I can get done this weekend.

I do have a planned updated this weekend, but we will see what happens.

See y'all later.

In the new few minutes, I'll be putting up Chapter 4 of When Push Comes to Love.  It say it's been a while since I've updated with something is an understatement.

And as I will say in the AN for Chapter 4, it was either get this part out or punch myself out of frustration.

I should have the final chapter out next week.  And after that...I don't know.

But I am preparing myself to get back into the swing of things.  No more moping around for now.  Writing keeps me occupied, and not doing that was beginning to take a tole on me.

That's the past, though.  Let's see what I can do in the next few weeks.

Regular journal updates will resume next week.

Thank you for everyone who's been watching and waiting.  I hope that the stuff to come won't disappoint.

See y'all later.

(EDIT: OK, since DevArt has decided to be retarded and take forever to do anything, I will probably wait until tomorrow to load the chapter.  Or if it decides to work again, later tonight.  Whenever.)

A lot of you have probably noticed that I haven't been around as much recently.

And by "much", I mean "at all".

There are several reasons for this.  The main reason?

...I'm burnt out.

Throughout the past year (even less than that), I've put out 25 different stories of various amounts.  To a person such as myself who is not used to doing such volume at such a quick rate...I'm pretty damn tired.

Every time I try to sit down at the computer to finish or start something, I got nothing.  This is especially frustrating since I have a story that I need to finish.  Chapter 4 of WPCtL is problematic because that was actually the first chapter I wrote for the story.  Chapters 1-3 have altered it enough that I just can't plug it into the story and call it a day.  Things would get confusing.

So I'm stuck trying to finagle it into the rest of the story, and it's...not really working that well.

So there's that.

Two, my sleep/work schedule sucks.  Work is sort of OK, but it requires me to get up awfully early.  Combined with not going to bed until 2 sometimes...yeah.  Not fun.

Third, I had plans this summer to visit a dear friend of mine.  Plans that I had in place for several months.  Those...are pretty much shot at this point.  It's nothing I can really do about it, because it's no one's fault.  It's still really disappointing, because it was something I was looking forward to.

Fourth, there's a person who I happen to care about very much, who I recently got the nerve to tell how I feel.  And that...went about as well as expected.

Actually, that's not completely fair to the other person involved.  She was very nice about it, very thankful, and very flattered...but she's not ready.  She has things in her life that are happening that take precedence over any sort of relationship.  And I can't fault her for that.  And I'm not going to fault her for that.

And even though that was the outcome I expected to happen (although the reasons are somewhat different), it doesn't make it feel any better.

So...now we've come to this.

I do apologize to anyone who has been waiting for me to finish the story that I left near the end, and I will finish it.  When?

I don't know.

To be quite honest, I have no idea.  I could have a brainstorm and have it out by the weekend.  I could have it done in a couple of weeks.  It could take longer.  I don't know.

The thing that probably makes me the most agitated is the fact that I'm now (at the time of me writing this) one day away from my birthday.  I should be excited.  I should be happy.

But I'm not.

Not even close.

And there's no one to blame.  Not me.  Not the other parties involved.  No one.

Sometimes things just happen that you don't have any control over.  And you have no choice but to sit back and be there for the ride and hope you get out on the other side all right.

So...let's review.

I'm emo.  Or angsty.  Or bitter.  Or insert adjective here.

And I really can't do a thing about it until it passes.

I will work hard to try to get the last chapter of WPCtL out sometime within the next couple of weeks.  I cannot guarantee that though.  If my funk lasts a bit, it will be a while before something comes out.

Thank you to everyone who's sent me early birthday wishes.  It is making me a little more cheerful, and that is something.

In the meantime...stay cool.

Stay sharp.

And I'll see you all later.