Sunday, July 11, 2004

Witless Networking...

The last few days, aside from being social, anti-social and asleep, we've been having a wireless network installed to try and get our three computers on a network. This enables me (and my sister) to have a Broadband connection upstairs, which is muchly appreciated since all I've had is crappy half-speed dial-up. The problem is: it only just works. When my sister and I tried out a network game of Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, the whole thing crashed. Every time. So there are still a lot of problems. Witless Brainworking... I'm afraid I'll be fired if I don't keep up with the Moderating left to do. I missed a mass-spamming episode in the Anime Lounge afew days ago, and it's something I should really have had responsibility for. Dagger had to sit through it all, bless her. It's all cleared up now, but I can't help but feel in many ways I'm only hanging by a thread. It's an unpleasant feeling, something I'm sure would be cured once the course is over and done with. But even there I seem to drift between social groups. As people are getting ready to say their goodbyes, they're forming into cliques of their best and better friends, leaving me and Lawrence relatively in the middle, and even he sems to get noticed more than I do. I have to physically put myself in the picture to... But you don't want to hear all that, heh. I made a personal vow to myself to stop whining about myself and actually get moving to do stuff about it. But it still bothers me. As much as I know this site is meant to be just for me, I know other people read it. I want you to read something you might actually find interesting, rather than read another 'typical' blog. There are few popular MyOs which are 'typical' as such, but... yeah, you know what I mean. Anyway... I've actually started on two different Enter the Net chapters. With any luck (and a lot of work), they should be good 'uns. First, here's a Nazreal extract. * * * "Wheee!" The young girl's ecstatic voice echoed throughout the marble chambers; a joyous sound that warmed the hearts of everyone roaming the castle. The young fox-empress sat gleefully in one of the windowed halls that she'd dubbed her play-room, swinging her tiny wooden figurines from left to right in a happy dance. Digger and Seoul- the two fox-figure friends on an adventure to have fun. She grinned, letting herself fall completely into the wonder of her fantasy game. Lifting herself from her protective circle of pillows and throws, she skipped to a table by the side of the room and rested the two animal figures on it. Unbeknownst to her, her father stood behind the drapes of the doorway, peeking underneath the cloth to watch her play. As she smiled, he smiled too- she was a beautiful daughter, pure of heart and soul. "Now, you stay here," she said in her firmest play-voice to one of the statues, who was balanced precariously near the edge of the massive wooden table. As she whirled round to fetch her pillows, she heard a clatter behind her. She looked round quizzically and saw only one of her figures on the table. The other lay on the floor, one of its legs snapped in two. A terrible silence followed, where the young heir to the throne stared desperately at the toy, almost in disbelief that such a horrible thing could have happened. A single sniff, and she stooped down to pick it up. The leg wouldn't fit back on any more. No matter how long she held it onto its stump for, it kept falling back to the floor. Her eyes welled up with tears and she let out tiny whispered cries from her throat. Within seconds, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She didn't turn to look at her father, but continued to stare forlornly at her broken friend. "What is it, Faron?" She sniffed loudly. "My... my Digger's broken." The emperor wrapped his arms around his daughter's body and lifted her into a hug, holding her closely to his chest. "Oh dear," he said softly, gently rocking her to and fro as her cries became louder and more despairing. "Ssh, it's alright." "But he's broken..." she sobbed, burying her face in his arms, tears streaming down her face. Kier reached for the two pieces of broken toy and studied them carefully. The wood had split across the grain- it could easily fixed again. “Faron, it’s alright. He can be fixed.” Kier soothed. Faron’s cries subsided slightly; she turned and looked at her father through watery eyes and wiped her nose. “He can?” “Yes,” Kier said with a smile. Faron wiped her eyes, but still didn’t look happy. “But Digger won’t be the same now he breaks,” she croaked. “He might break again, and Seoul too.” Sensing that she was about to cry again, Kier brought Faron back close to him again, hugging her tightly. “But would you like to keep playing with them?” he asked. She nodded glumly. “Then I’ll fix him for you. They might break again, but at least you’ll still be able to have them with you.” Faron sniffed again. “Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the table…” Kier smiled. “You shouldn’t regret playing with them, Faron. These things happen. Think of all the fun you’ve had with them so far. If you’d never played with them because they might have broken, you’d have lost all those happy memories. Is that what you’d want?” Faron turned round boldly, resting her arms on Kier’s and gazing into his eyes. “Dad, I want to make more happy memories.” Kier hugged Faron tightly and picked her up, handing her the two bits of Digger. She rested her head against his chest and they began making their way towards the door. As they reached the drapes, Faron turned her head towards the table and patted her father on the shoulder. He walked back and knelt down next to the table. Faron reached for Seoul and pulled her into her chest, next to Digger. As her father carried her towards the castle grounds, she looked at the two figures in her hands and smiled. * * *

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