Ice Crystals

Installing Ruby on Rails for the Very New Programmer: A Guide

Wed, 16 May 2012 02:42:13 GMT

Hi, Dreamwidth and LJ!

Did you know that nearly every goddamn version of "how to install Ruby on Rails into your dev environment on Lion" out there skips giant important steps all the time because it assumes Ruby on Rails is not the first programming language you're learning? (At least every one I found.) I have spent seven hours trying to get Ruby on Rails to work. This included crying, double the usual amount of profanity, and my poor beleaguered paladin having to sit me down somewhere and tell me to drink iced tea while he tried to troubleshoot. I cannot even. I do not.

ANYWAY how about I turn this into something constructive?

Let's do how to install Ruby 1.9.3 and Ruby on Rails as of this writing, because that will be really helpful to save somebody else the headaches I just had!

The assumptions here are as follows: You are running Mac OSX 10.7 Lion, and you have never done any programming that requires a compiler, and you are starting from zero. I am going to summarize the steps, and then we're going to do them in detail!

(For the record: my experience prior to this fun game was HTML, JavaScript, a smattering of PHP, and a bunch of SQL, so I had *none* of the experience or tools that my materials seem to assume I have.)

1. Install XCode.
2. Enable Command Line Tools
3. Install Git.
4. Install RVM.
5. Update your bash profile.
6. Reload terminal.
7. Install Ruby 1.9.3
8. Install Rails
9. Verify that Rails installed.
10. (optional) default Ruby to 1.9.3 so you don't have to re-set it every time.

( And now into the fiddly details. )

This guide does not include any of the "how to program Rails" bits, just the setup, because I understood the "how to program" but the setup instructions in my books were...dramatically less than useful, let us say.

Note: I pieced all this together from a series of instructions that consisted of:
1. Install Xcode
2. Install RVM
3. Update bash profile (script provided)
4. Install 1.9.3
5. Install Rails.

That was it. That was all. No additional instructions. No notes about why I needed anything.

CONGRATULATIONS I have now saved you what amounted to seven hours for me!

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April Goals Roundup!

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:51:59 GMT

Sometime this weekend I am posting about what a fucking fantastic time I had at ACen, with some bonus but unrelated fic recs. But for now, goals post!

Writing
In April, I planned to:
* Write 10K words.
* Sign up for FFEX
* 5K on the NaNoNovel (counts toward 10K)
* Edit and post the last chapter of Summoner's Faith

....Well I sure did sign up for FFEX, but apparently I needed some serious recovery time, because that's about all I did. Well. I started a new FF8 multi-chapter. (Suddenly ideas??)

In May, I will:
* Write my FFEX fic
* Add two chapters to the Seiftis thing
* Edit and post Summoner's Faith 5
* Plan for Camp NaNoWriMo in June!

Video Games
In April I said I would:
* Clear final boss of XIII-2
* Get through Day 4 of Devil Survivor
* Make progress in my DAO playthrough

...well, no, not as such! I got sidetracked grinding monster materials. On the other hand I did get to Day 7 in Devil Survivor. And I did play some DAO. But then I discovered Glitch and nothing got done ever again.

In May:
* Play whatever the fuck I want to when I want to. (This....sadly does have to be a goal.)

Mind/Body/Spirit
In April I was going to:
* Dentist appointment
* Get a doctor's appointment for the knee
* Go back to taking daily vitamins since I failed that pretty hard in March.

nope. nope nope nope. I fucked my knee up again at ACen, I didn't make the appointment, and I didn't take vitamins.

In May:
* Keep it simple and take my meds on time every day since I've been fucking that up too. And tomorrow I am calling the damn dentist. Tomorrow. Yes. (They are closed right now.) If by 1pm I have not called them I will fill out their online form.

Money Etc:
In April I planned to:
* Pay $500 on the car loan at the end of the month (this means it will be paid off at the end of May, fuck yeah)
* Only allowed to buy one new game (Xenoblade Chronicles)

Victory! Success!

In May:
* Pay off the car loan when I get my next paycheck
* Do not buy any games
* Pay off the lowest credit card.

That last item will entail getting paid for freelancing + claiming from my FSA for medical expenses incurred in January, both of which are entirely doable. I am going to do this. I am conquering my debts. SEE ME CONQUER! RAR!

...Now I am going to go try to make words instead of playing Glitch forever. /o\

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So hey

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:40:22 GMT

If you are going to Anime Central and you want to see me in meatspace, let me know so we can exchange some kind of contact information, yeah?

(Fair warning: I'm going to be drunk for a lot of this con. seventhe will be here and we will drink all the things. ALL OF THEM. But I probably won't be drunk until at least 2pm so if seeing me sober is a huge priority, tell me that! Though me drunk mostly equals hugging everybody and telling them how much I love them, so.)

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March Goals Roundup, and FFEX!

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:17:41 GMT

First things first: It's FF Exchange time!

Come play! Word minimum is 1000/finished or cleaned up art, all FFs welcome, and we're usually well-represented in the smaller fandoms (hint, hint!)

And now, March Goals Round-Up/April Goals:

Writing

In March, I planned to:
* Write 10K words
* Turn in all my areyougame prompts on time
* Turn in newgameplus remix (March 16)

So, overall I wrote 20K words (bringing me to 40K for the year), turned in all but one AreYouGame prompt on time (and that one was written on time, I was just AFK all day, so it was 12 hours late), and I turned in NGP on time and well over minimum and I'm so proud of it. I thought it was awesome, and the recipient liked it, so win!

Bonus Round: I finished the rough draft of the final chapter of "A Summoner's Faith." FUCK YEAH.

I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.

In April, I will:
* Write 10K words.
* Sign up for FFEX
* 5K on the NaNoNovel (counts toward 10K)
* Edit and post the last chapter of Summoner's Faith

Video Games
I basically only asked myself to make progress in XIII-2, which I did. (I beat a random silly computer game, too, and started Devil Survivor.) I'm also somewhat over my burnout now. Oh, and there was Mass Effect 3. That took up most of March.

In April:
* Clear final boss of XIII-2
* Get through Day 4 of Devil Survivor
* Make progress in my DAO playthrough

Mind/Body/Spirit

In March, I said I would:
* Attend dentist appointment
* Do yoga once a week, presuming my knee holds up
* If weather permits, do one mile-long walk per week.

....NOPE. None of the above. My knee is still complaining, and although the weather was gorgeous, I was often too wary of my knee to do my walks. :|

In April:
* Dentist appointment
* Get a doctor's appointment for the knee
* Go back to taking daily vitamins since I failed that pretty hard in March.

Money Etc:
In March I said I would:
* Pay minimum $500 on the car loan at the end of the month
* Not buy any new books, because seriously self, you have plenty to read.

VICTORY AT SEA! Accomplished and DONE.

In April I will:
* Pay $500 on the car loan at the end of the month (this means it will be paid off at the end of May, fuck yeah)
* Only allowed to buy one new game (Xenoblade Chronicles)

....Okay, March was a pretty good month for me. Though I seem to only be able to excel in one or at most two categories at once. :|

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Recs Post: Two Fics

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:18:16 GMT

Substitute (2592 words) by wingeddserpent
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VI
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Celes Chere & Terra Branford
Characters: Celes Chere, Terra Branford, Locke Cole, Edgar Roni Figaro, Sabin René Figaro
Summary:

There's one thing in the world that Terra wants more than anything; Celes surprises herself by being able to help provide it.

Holy shit, you guys. I can't even. This fic is amazing. There are perfect little bits of Celes's characterization in here, and so many incredibly good sharp pointed little lines. Just. Go read it. GO.

Dragon Age 2
Lacrimosa, by loquaciousquark. Author's summary: This is how it ends: quietly, rain-soaked, and without glory. Fenris/Hawke. Complete. Warning for character death.

I was in tears through this entire fic. It's brutal and perfect and so exactly the right pitch for each of the companions, and it hurts in the very best way. (Really I have yet to read anything I didn't love from this author, and I suspect that when I work through my Instapaper backlog of Stuff to Read, there are going to be a lot more recs with this name attached.) Link goes to LJ, but there's an FF.net link as well there if you prefer.

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Final fic roundup of March? maybe! probably.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:35:27 GMT

ffffff okay I turned in my final AreYouGame piece tonight and I am done. Holy crap. My brain. MY WRISTS.

The final batch, including my newgameplus remix:

Final Fantasy VI
"Purpose Lost, Purpose Found," Celes and Cyan, G. 1291 words. After the final battle, Celes finds herself without direction, and goes to ask for help from Cyan. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Final Fantasy VIII
"Ruby Light," Carbuncle, PG-13. 3961 words. Carbuncle is not a warrior, not a healer. She is a protector. How did she come to be? Well, a long time ago... Written for pantswarrior in the newgameplus Remix Round.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Final Fantasy Tactics
"Familiar Stranger," Beowulf/Reis, 523 words. A human comes to her den, but not to hunt her. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

In other news, we finished Mass Effect 3 on Friday. I am still gathering my thoughts, but I liked the ending well enough. Obviously I would have liked more of...something, I haven't put my finger precisely on what, but I was pretty okay with how it ended.

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Giant fic post

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:23:56 GMT

All the things! I am now down to two things left to write for areyougame, and I'm about 10% through edits on the NaNo project (by "edits" I mean "fix the typos so celeloriel doesn't gouge out her eyes, and remove anything I already struck through," but otherwise leave it intact. I probably will fix continuity glitches. I can't resist.)

Final Fantasy VI: "Night Watch," Celes and Cyan, G. 750 words. During a night watch, Celes and Cyan throw down gauntlets at each other regarding mutual distrust. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Final Fantasy IV: "As She Forgives Those Who Trespass Against Her," Kain and Rosa, 916 words. Kain sought forgiveness and restitution in solitude, but true absolution eluded him. To whom, then, might he turn? Writen for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Final Fantasy IX: "Knight's Oath," Beatrix/Garnet. She has sworn her oath already, but that was to an office; this is to Garnet.

Dreamwidth | AO3

In other news we're in Act 3 of Mass Effect 3 and I am contemplating committing fic. Or maybe I'll read Homestuck instead.

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no I would not like cheese with that

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:47:44 GMT

Naming things is hard, gosh. I found a tasty name generator that helps (I use it as a starting point and then tweak things until they sound nice to me) but kldfsjlskj. It took me the better part of four hours today to name fifteen things in the NaNo adventure. But all the things are named now, I guess. I still need to make up a myth and actually fill in shit I left with bracket notes saying "oh god something cool." But it's progress.

In other news, we are still playing Mass Effect, I still love it, and we went to see Riverdance last night. This was the fifth time I've been to see it. It gives me all the feels, y'all, I can't even. I just. I know it's overcommercialized lowest-common-denominator and these are the fucks I give, okay, because I love it. And it will be going away. ;; sob.

...my brain is leaking out my ears.

Oh I guess I did accomplish something of value today: reorganized the pantry and threw out all the canned goods past their date. Unfucking my habitat proceeds.

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Fic, and adventures in food.

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:41:39 GMT

I crawl out of the hell that is weather change headaches (30 degree temperature drop in an hour? Seriously, Chicago?) to bring more fic!

"Homecoming," Persona 3, Akihiko/FeMC/Shinjiro, G. Spoilers. 820 words. Shinjiro wakes up and she's just cooking in his kitchen like she never left. How the hell does that even work?

Dreamwidth | AO3

(Ten down, five to go. One of which is already written. I can so do this!)

Last night I went out with lindensphinx for dinner at Hopleaf, which involved fantastic food and wonderful conversation. It was a gorgeous day--80 degrees!--and we got to sit outside and drink tasty beer and have dinner, and it was basically awesome. We talked about all manner of things, and a lovely evening was had (at least by me; I hope by Linden.)

Conclusion: I don't get to spend nearly enough face time with people from the Internet. XD

In other news, I am wretchedly far behind on like half the things I watch. And my to-read pile keeps getting bigger no matter how I beat it up. Time, what are you.

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relevant to certain interests on my f-list

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:58:11 GMT

"Rolling with the Punches," Celes/Locke, R (fistfights, sex, fightsex). 1968 words. Locke finds a way to help Celes work off a bad mood. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

In other news my remix fic is kissing 4000 words. What is my life.

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More fic!

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:38:52 GMT

"Weakness," Persona 3, Akihiko/Mitsuru. 365 words. NSFW, contains sex. Mitsuru commands his weaknesses. Akihiko doesn't mind. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Nine AYG fics written (including tomorrow's), six still to go.

And in other news, we are playing Mass Effect 3. I am posting no spoilers at this point, but I am basically exploding in a shower of sparkly heart-shaped bits every time anyone talks. Glee. Glee and joy and delight.

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Fic Post

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:14:49 GMT

Two things!

"What Purpose Her Service," Final Fantasy Tactics, G, Agrias/Meliadoul. 926 words. What purpose her service, when all that held it has been tarnished? Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

"Shiver," Celes/Locke, R (sex with magickink). 100 words. She doesn't need to touch him to make him shiver. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth

In other news, it is fucking gorgeous outside. We went for a long walk and had lunch at Panera, and then I came home and paladin helped unfuck a counter in the kitchen, and I watched stuff on the TiVo, and now I am writing. (I also dusted everything in the common room, and paladin repaired one of my dragon statuettes, and I unpacked the other two from boxes they'd been in since I moved and now they are hanging out atop a bookshelf.)

I'm still rocking out keeping things clean that I already cleaned, though I'm slowing down dramatically on the new cleaning front. Partially that was because this week was hellishly busy all over. But I shall persevere.

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Fic Post!

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:58:05 GMT

ugh, I am getting sick. But I will soldier on.

"Under His Skin," Persona 3, Shinjiro/FeMC. 540 words. He's not sure how she got under his skin, but she's past all his defenses. He's not sure he minds. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Five down. Ten to go. I can do this!

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Fic Post, and Unfucking Everything

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:37:14 GMT

Today's AYG Fic:

"Reflection," Persona 4, Yukiko, 524 words. It gives her a little thrill to watch herself do this. R/NSFW, masturbation.

Dreamwidth | AO3

In totally other news, a couple weeks back both synecdochic and yuki_onna linked to Unfuck Your Habitat, which intrigues me on a conceptual level; I have a negative reaction to being told to clean things, but the acknowledgment that my habitat is in fact a little fucked up and the impetus to, well, unfuck it has turned out to be pretty great for me.

( Process, and progress lists! )

What I'm proudest of is that not only have I gotten stuff cleaned and organized, I'm *keeping* it that way. The bedroom has stayed clean. The bookshelves have stayed organized. The coffee table has stayed clean. I'm super proud of all this.

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Fic Post

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:24:52 GMT

Quick hit on this one because my brain is a gooey mess and somehow I must coerce it into planning Exalted, but ANYWAY.

"Safe in His Arms," Persona 3, Akihiko/Mitsuru. Spoilers for November full moon, and also warning for gore. 2130 words. After the events of the November full moon, Akihiko takes care of Mitsuru, and she realizes that she can trust him with the most important thing of all: herself.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Edit: Oh yeah and while I was writing this today I also churned out 1500 words to finish the first draft of the NaNo novel. There are scenes missing and stuff, but whatever, IT'S DONE.

I'm a rockstar today.

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February Goals Roundup/March Goals

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:10:47 GMT

February goals! I admit in advance this is going to be kinda pathetic.

Writing
In February I was going to write:
* Yuri Challenge (1000 words)
* dragonagewomen fic (Leliana/Cassandra, 0/??? words; my outline is looking sorta terrifying right now.)
* 1k on NaNo
* 1K on Every Light
* At least one Promptmas fic

....Welp. I wrote a total of 15,500 words in February. I did two Yuri Challenge fics for a total of about 4000 words, plus the threesome fic, plus Kiss Battle and I put 4K onto that Leliana/Cassandra fic. However, I didn't work on NaNo or Every Light or Promptmas, and I didn't in fact finish the Dragon Age fic because I realized I wasn't very enthused about it. I still want to write it, just not right now.

15,500 words in a month is still pretty awesome, though.

In March, I will:
* Write 10K words
* Turn in all my areyougame prompts on time
* Turn in newgameplus remix (March 16)

(If I can accomplish all of that, I'm doing well, trust me.)

Video Games
In February, I planned to:
* Finish Legend of Heroes
* Start (and make progress in) FFXIII-2

DONE! I'm done Chapter 2 in FFXIII-2 (which, okay, is not that far plot-wise but I'm also already into my fourth Crystarium expansion because levels!! I can have them!)

I'm sort of taking a video gaming break right now because I realized it felt a lot like work, so instead I am reading a ton. However, in March I will continue to work on XIII-2.

Mind/Body/Spirit
In February, I planned to:
* Take my vitamins daily
* Attend my annual checkup appointment :|
* Make the dentist appointment
* Focus on getting my knee healed so I can go back to (pretending I'm going to be) working out.

3 out of 4 ain't bad. I haven't made the dentist appointment. That is on my list for tomorrow.

For March:
* Attend dentist appointment
* Do yoga once a week, presuming my knee holds up
* If weather permits, do one mile-long walk per week.

Money/Career
In February, I was going to:
* Pay minimum $1200 on the car loan at the end of the month (thank you extra paycheck)
* Avoid going shopping--no new games, clothes, etc.
* Seriously start with Rails.

I did pay $1200 on the car loan. I did not avoid shopping (but in my defense it was mostly with gift cards, so it sorta counts.) I did not start with Rails because my entire month apparently went to words.

In March, I will:
* Pay minimum $500 on the car loan at the end of the month
* Not buy any new books, because seriously self, you have plenty to read.

....Not so great on many goal fronts in February. Le sigh.

comments

Giant Fic Post!

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 23:34:06 GMT

Yes, I do plan to be posting a ton of fic this month, why do you ask.

Today's haul: FF Kiss Battle, plus today's AreYouGame, plus a couple of things I found when I was going through my fic folders. (Also: my accomplishment du jour is that I have taken everything written so far this month and put it into a text file with links already compiled for the end of year fic post, so hopefully next January it will not take me five hours to compile the end of year post.)

Final Fantasy I
"Service," Garland/Sara, 100 words. He will do anything she asks. For the FF Kissbattle. G.

Dreamwidth

Final Fantasy IV
"Image," Cagnazzo/Kain, G. 491 words. Cagnazzo can appear however he wishes; Kain is not deceived.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Final Fantasy VI
"Armour," Celes, G. 365 words. She is the armour; it is part of her.

Dreamwidth | AO3

"The Icy Touch of Magicite," Celes/Locke, NC-17 (explicit sex, temperature play). 1361 words. Locke has some interesting ideas on how to cool off.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Final Fantasy VIII
"Could've Gone Worse," Irvine/Selphie, PG. 691 words. Irvine and Selphie are in a tight spot and may not get out; that said, there's nothing to lose. Written for the Kiss Battle.

Dreamwidth | AO3

Persona 3 Portable
"Empty," Akihiko/Minako/Shinjiro, G. 367 words. Postgame spoilers. Her shadow lay always in bed between them. Written for areyougame.

Dreamwidth | AO3

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Fic Post!

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 02:57:12 GMT

This week has been ridiculous and when I have more brain tomorrow I will post about it and do my goals round up (I wrote 15K words in February, my brain is dead).

In the meantime, the first of my (fifteen, why am I an idiot) claims for areyougame:

"Luxury," Suikoden I, Flik/Odessa, NC-17 for explicit sex. They have a rare night alone, a luxury for them.

Dreamwidth | AO3

And since we're on the subject, have my two offerings for yuri_challenge:

"Least She Could Do," Final Fantasy XIII, G, Fang/Vanille, for dagas_isa. An AU in which Fang and Vanille do not become L'Cie. Oerba needs to set up an advance camp for mining the materials that make their technology run, and Fang and Vanille are on the scouting team, which may not turn out as easy as they had hoped.

Dreamwidth | AO3

"Quick Study," Last Remnant, Emmy/Irina, PG, for cypher. Irina would like to be friends, as their mothers were; Emmy teaches her self-defense, and a bit more besides.

Dreamwidth | AO3

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quick hit fic post!

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:40:23 GMT

Ahem, owlmoose? This is your fault.

"Given the Terms," Final Fantasy XII. Al-Cid/Ashe/Balthier, established relationship. Balthier and Al-Cid make a bet regarding Ashe and something about which she says she has never had quite enough; she is likely to find that it is best to be wise with one's wishes, for they might be granted.

NC-17/NSFW, contains explicit sex, bondage, tag-teaming. 5500 words (yes, really, in 24 hours, even.)

Dreamwidth | AO3

(many thanks due to seventhe for encouragement and beta, and to who_shot_kr for making happy noises at me while I was copy-pasting giant chunks into the IM window.)

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Meta: Games, Roleplaying, and Choices

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:45:42 GMT

So, I have a thing with (computer) RPGs.

I find it pretty much impossible to not play a paladin. Not in terms of class, but always Good-aligned, and usually....well okay usually Chaotic Good, but yeah. I always have to do the Right Thing and help people and do all the good quests and save people.

I don't have the same impulse in tabletop or LARP games; in fact my current LARP character is by any objective measure an absolutely terrible person who should not be allowed to run free. My longest-running Exalted character does horrible things while in Limit Break and sometimes when she's not in Limit Break. I've played many terrible awful horrible no-good characters around the gaming table and in the LARP group.

But when it comes time to deal with pixel people, I always take the heroic route.

My Warden in DAO was a female Cousland rogue, and although she did harden some of her companions, (insert excellent puns here about hardening Alistair and inserting things, yup, I'm still 12) she always took what I perceived to be the "good" choice. When I played Dragon Age 2, I was diplomatic Hawke all the way. In Mass Effect, which my paladin plays and I get to kvetch on, I feel much, much more in tune with our pure-Paragon fem!Shep, and our hard-Renegade m!Shep really just doesn't interest me much. In Strange Journey, I went Law hard first (and I was so horrified at how that turned out. It was as horrifying as when I played through on Chaos later.)

I don't know why this is, but in my current DAO playthrough (f!Tabris) I'm trying really, really hard to think about what the character would do, and it's hard. I don't want to disappoint the pixel people. I don't want to do mean things. I can't imagine what would drive my character to take some of the, um, less friendly options but I think that's because I let *me* drive the mouse too much.

In LARP or in tabletop, when my character does something objectively bad (like, say, leave an entire settlement's worth of people to be killed by the erupting volcano because it is not expedient to rescue them and they have no intrinsic value to the party at present--Somber Orchid in Limit Break is the best thing ever, clearly) then I acknowledge it's objectively bad and that I would never do it, but the person-that-is-my-character is distinct and separate from me. In video games, I hate doing objectively bad things. I don't want people to die. I don't want people to be upset with me.

Maybe it's because in tabletop/LARP I can say to the other players, hey, we're cool, right? You know this is just a game and I don't actually want to [whatever horrible thing my character just did]? I wonder if it's that the game worlds are so immersive I can't break myself out of them long enough to think that way, or if it's that I feel oddly not-okay about not being able to clear my actions OOC with the other PCs (yes, I know, there are no other PCs in Dragon Age/Mass Effect. Try telling my lizard brain that.)

Anyway. Do any of you have this issue? Or do you have thoughts? Inquiring minds want to know!

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bring to me your sugestions!

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:36:35 GMT

Hello, DW. I come to you in search of advice! For you see, I will soon have a shiny and pretty brand new iPhone (for those of you who love specs: 4S/64GB/black on Verizon). I require your app recs!

Things I had on my Droidphone that have iOS versions:
Google Authenticator
Mail/Calendar/Contacts
Maps, etc.

Things I had on my Droidphone that, to my knowledge, do not have explicit iOS equivalents and for which I really want a replacement:
Plurka (for Plurk)
TweetDeck (Yes, technically TweetDeck has an iOS version, but I hate TweetDeck on my iPad so I am declaring shenanigans/GTFO, and I want something that works like TweetDeck does on my Droid.)

So! Give me your recs for:

*Plurk apps
*Twitter and FB apps
*Anything else you think I would like!

Caveats:
*I am neurotic and paranoid and hate turning on location-based services unless I'm explicitly using something that requires it at present (i.e. Maps). Ergo, I really don't want things that are going to stand up and do a little awkward dance when I arrive somewhere, or that are reliant on location data to function. Geotagging turned the F off.
*Not super interested in streaming media. My music collection is ridiculous enough.
*For social media apps, I would prefer things that do not auto-load images/video; placeholders by default or an option to set them preferred.
*Again for social media apps, if they have desktop equivalents that will know which Tweets/etc. I have read and can sync, that's cool!

I'm totally willing to pay for good apps, or to pay for an app in order to avoid advertising.

I also own an iPad and an iPod, and games are more likely to get installed on those because I won't require their battery power to last all day. ( Games I own already )

(FWIW, when considering my phone habits: the apps I use daily or better on my Droid are my finance app (which does have an iOS version), Chrome/browser, Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, TweetDeck, and Plurka. Intermittently I use: NoteEverything, News/Weather, and the camera. I do not use my phone for much beyond email right now.)

If you, too, possess an iDevice and wish to add me for messaging, let me know--my iPhone is going to be set up with my legal name, but if you already have my phone number and/or legal name (address, have stayed with me at a con, etc.), it is fairly safe to assume I am willing to add you to iMessage.

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January Goals Roundup/February Goals

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:22:42 GMT

hi, DW. I have been very very busy this week. In fact I have still not started Final Fantasy XIII-2. That is how busy I have been. It mocks me.

This is also why my goals round up is so late. Well, here goes nothing!

Writing
In January, I was going to write:
* 2K on the NaNo adventure
* Finish chapter five of A Summoner's Faith
* Write one prompt or kink meme fill, any fandom, of 500+ words.
* 1K on Every Light.
* Promptmas fics (which do not count toward goal #3).

lolololololol. Um. Well. I did 500 words on the NaNo adventure, and I did write a 2600+ word kink meme fill. I didn't do any of the others. I did, however, finally get started posting my fic to AO3. Did you know I had totally forgotten I wrote a whole bunch of stuff that never got posted anywhere? I will have links later.

In February, I will write:
* Yuri Challenge (1000 words)
* dragonagewomen fic (Leliana/Cassandra, 0/??? words; my outline is looking sorta terrifying right now.)
* 1k on NaNo
* 1K on Every Light
* At least one Promptmas fic

Video Games
In January, I planned to:
* Start Dragon Age: Awakenings
* Make measurable progress in Infinite Undiscovery and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

I did not start Awakenings because I started a female City Elf in Dragon Age: Origins instead. I am presently in the final section of Legend of Heroes, and I am about to hit a big old plot fuck-you in Infinite Undiscovery. I also played Super Mario 3D Land start to finish during January, so I'm declaring net victory in games. (I also start-to-finish beat 3 little PC games: one hidden object and two puzzle.)

In February, I will:
* Finish Legend of Heroes
* Start (and make progress in) FFXIII-2

Mind/Body/Spirit
In January, I planned to:
* Once per week, spend ten minutes meditating.
* When we go skiing, take it on with confidence. I'm not as good at this as I used to be and that's okay, but I would like to work up to skiing one of the darker blues by the end of the trip.
* Continue taking my vitamins daily.
* Make that damn dentist appointment for the fillings.
* For the weeks I am home, yoga once per week.

....I managed vitamins. And I did try a blue, but that ended poorly. Failboat capsized.

In February, I will:
* Take my vitamins daily
* Attend my annual checkup appointment :|
* Make the dentist appointment
* Focus on getting my knee healed so I can go back to (pretending I'm going to be) working out.

Money/Career
In January, I planned to:
* Have $150 saved at the end of the month for adding to the car payment.
* Limit lunches eaten out/purchased downtown to no more than once per week.
* Read three chapters of the Ruby on Rails HeadFirst book I bought.

I did save $150. Lunches I did not succeed at. Nor the Rails book.

In February, I will:
* Pay minimum $1200 on the car loan at the end of the month (thank you extra paycheck)
* Avoid going shopping--no new games, clothes, etc.
* Seriously start with Rails.

for now, though, I think it is time to make a goal of sleep.

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that fucking figures.

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:52:44 GMT

So I fell yesterday.

I was going down Vagabond, which is a very nice blue run, and I hit a patch of ice. I started going straight downhill (very uncool), attempted to turn, skidded, and somehow wound up on my back going down the hill headfirst. Nothing hurt, but when I got up, my right knee felt a little wobbly.

I made it the rest of the way down (bailed onto a green at the first opportunity), and continued to feel a little wobbly. We had lunch and I returned to the condo, and then eventually betook myself to the local medical center.

$242 later, I have been seen by a medical professional and acquired a knee brace. The doctor said not to ski unless my knee feels "great," but said I probably didn't do serious damage--a minor tear to the meniscus or minor cartilage damage. Fuck my life, y'all, I had two days left to ski. :| And we're probably not coming back next year.

So I spent all day today on my ass updating AO3 and my ficjournal (have gotten through a lot of fandoms; I have six or seven trivial-sized fandom collections to do, and then FF6 and FF12, which basically are huge and I hate myself).

It doesn't hurt most of the time (and hurts in a "this is stiff and sore" sort of way when it does, which is when I straighten my leg all the way out), which makes it more obnoxious. Not that I actually want to be in pain, but it's fucking annoying to be plonked on my ass when I don't even feel like it's necessary 99.95% of the time.

Yes, I realize this is a case of serious first world problems, but I was just getting up to skiing blues and feeling good about it, so I am going to pout. Like a pouting thing.

Dammit.

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The best thing about vacation is the food.

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:52:20 GMT

So we are on vacation! We are in Steamboat Springs, again, for a week. We are here with my parents. We got in yesterday--it was a horrifically bumpy landing and I was making alarmed squeaky noises the entire time. (I hate flying. I hate it. I hate it so much. Paladin was trying to calm me down and I was having none of it.)

We got here in one piece and checked in, and then did the early errands--acquiring skis, doing the grocery shopping, etc. We ended up ordering pizza for dinner--with elk sausage, boar sausage, red onion, and mushrooms, and it was amazingly delicious.

Today we got skis for my parents and paladin went off to do his own thing, while I skied with my parents. We did the same little green run six or seven times, getting used to skiing again and getting our boots adjusted to be tight enough. We came back to watch the AFC Championship (I was good no matter who won; pretty happy with the Patriots, especially since I think they'll do a better job of wrecking the razzafrazzing Giants dlskfjlkasjdfkljasldfj raaaaage.) We went out for Italian for dinner--I had duck confit canneloni in a Chianti reduction with dried cherries and cheese of some kind. oh. my. God. It was amazing.

(I have also had several excellent amaretto sours and a thing called a Hot Apple Pie, which consists of hot apple cider with Tuaca. Mmmmmmmmm.)

Tomorrow we're planning on taking on some longer greens, maybe one of the easy blues if we're feeling up for it. So far things are going pretty well; apart from my horrific anxiety during the landing of the plane--dear God let it not be that way going back--I've been pretty okay. We took it pretty easy today, and probably will tomorrow as well.

And now I am going to go try to convince myself to write, instead of flopping on Plurk and Tumblr.

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Shopping Adventures!

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:54:52 GMT

I swear I do not know where this week went. (I actually do--multiple days of playing Exalted plus classes plus freelance work, but still.) But it has been a very productive weekend! I saved all the erranding for today, which was possibly a poor decision in terms of having to deal with far too many idiots at the mall, but oh well.

( Spoils, and minor retail rants )

Finally swung by Chipotle for lunch, and now I am home and full of tasty foods, and I can has video games for the rest of the day :D

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