I haven't lived even half as long as adults have

Ahh, jeez...I hate to have to run back home again so soon, but Tracy's come down with something pretty nasty-sounding, probably the Swine Flu, thanks a lot Pokey and I should probably get back there to give my mom a hand, I bet she's had enough trouble this summer just cleaning up after King shedding all over the place.

Still, I can't say I'd rather not visit again, even though it's only been less than two months since I was last there. These sudden little bouts of homesickness are ridiculous, you'd think after being away at school for a whole year I'd be used to it by now.

So I'll be back as soon as I can! The makeup work won't be pretty, I don't know, maybe somebody could email me the assignments? That, or I'll just work extra hard once I get back. And Paula, afterwards I'll taste-test every recipe you've got, if you want me to!

See you guys later!

That would have to be Giant Step! If they don't mind a bit of a trek to get there, that is. The meteor crash site, too, though that's a slightly less historic and more recent "landmark."

...It's been a while, huh? Aheh..

......

Sorry if I made any of you worry, being gone for a while just like that. No excuses here.

I'd better hurry up and figure out my new schedule...!

Well my folks were really relieved to hear everything's okay now, I spent upwards of an hour retelling the story to my mom, dad and little sister one at a time but I think their curiosity's finally subsided (they didn't even sound that impressed when I told them the Aparoid Queen did an illusion/fusion thing with Giygas. That's my family for you, guess they were expecting something new, heheh). They probably knew what was coming, though...since they heard Paula's voice again and all.

I'm stoked for the dance and cruise, they'll be good ways to unwind even though it's already been a few weeks since we won...I checked earlier today and that formal wear store I went to last time is back up and looks like it has some tuxes in wink wink nudge nudge Jeff and Lucas. Maybe I oughta find a pair of slippers for the cruise, too
----
( Private to Paula )
-----
( Private thoughts, hackable to the skilled )

Spoilers: they're all pretty bad

madyoyoskillz: Ness is known for being good with yo-yos in the Smash Bros. series at least since it's a sucky weapon in EB and he is also super leet. I think Trey helped me with that one back in the day because I am horrible at coming up with usernames.
musicalawards: The Tony Awards are all about Broadway musicals and such, according to stereotype gay guys like musicals, Tony is canonically gay. I was proud of this one shut up. :C

(more or less Gone with the Wind)
commanderofpigs: This was AOB's handiwork I guess I am just listing it because I am anal rentetive. But yeah it's true in Mother 3 (SPOILER ALERT) as the Masked Man he leads the Pig Mask Army.
milewidesmile: Mawiles have well hueg mouths. Also my favorite strategy guide ever was Nintendo's one for Yoshi's Island and I distinctly remember the quote, with Marching Milde's "mile-wide smile and easy-going gait" he or she stomps people into the ground I don't know but it was something like that. And I was like.......yes.
spikeandshades: Lakilester doesn't have spikes but his nickname is Spike and he has sunglasses, it sounded cool at the time okay

(Hiding in the closet Dressing Rooms and such)
lovelyhipwiggle: M-my favorite thing about Doria is his little hip-wiggling animation with the hearts. And "lovely" or a variation thereof is almost kind of obligatory when the subject is ~*~Magypsies~*~.
twindrillz: Crashman has them etc. Except literally. Also yaranaika and mycrashbomb are already in use, sob.
Even though I was considering yaranaikaw because lol his face looks like a bird but no.
009_madeofmetal: madeofmetal and notadentist were already taken gdit and gizagizalonelyheart doesn't nearly fit in the character limit. But hell if I wasn't keeping with the Hyadain route so I stuck Metalman's number before the song title and it was all extremely original. ninja_ears was on the backburner since those pointy things look like kunai and also he jumps high and has a mask like KAKASHI-SENSEI SCREECH but that was too big of a stretch for my sophisticated palette.

( Private headset message to close friends )

(A few minutes later!)

( Private headset message to Pokey )

( Backdated V-Day narration (hi Paula) )

Right now, all I can really think to do is mentally prepare myself for whatever's about to happen. Physically, too, but since I use PSI...
It seems wrong that the answer I came up with is "sleep." There's a millions things to do and we don't even know how long we have to do it in, but...rushing into battle half-charged isn't exactly a good idea either. Kind of ironic that by this point, though, sleep's pretty much impossible anyway.

But If anybody needs any help with their preparations, don't be afraid to give me a holler.

Parakarry, if you're still willing to make deliveries, I have a letter to Onett if you can manage it. I'd really appreciate it.

( Letter, unhackable )

Anybody have an out-of-body experience after eating that cake? Haha, just kidding, just kidding.

...that's a weird line to come back to even with context. My computer's battery died a little while ago and it took up until a few days ago for the new one to come in the mail (I think there's a newbie on the Escargo Express staff, I guess I really might as well just stick with regular mail while I'm over here, FDC acts like it's in that one Bermuda Triangle place or something). I'd thought about using a library computer in the meantime but there's nothing new to report, plus I see you guys every day, so I figured why not take a break from the internet for now?
Admittedly it was tough...!

In hindsight I could've gone electronics store-hunting or maye even asked someone around here - there's no real shortage of people to go to for tech help, that's for sure! - but it's cold out side and I've never bought something over the phone before and I didn't want to trouble anyone, so...well everything's running properly, it wasn't even that hard to switch the batteries so no problems here!

You can really start to tell the days are getting longer again. It's easier to appreciate the setting sun when it's not on its way down while you're still in the middle of class.
Then again it's hard to appreciate anything in the sky when it's cloudy, but that's a given.

...Wow now that I think about it, I've been pretty lucky when it comes to these dorm switcheroos.

(Role-playing journal for SBG here.)

"Do you still want to be friends?"

"Hey, what happened to your ascot?"

Haha, I'm just surprised it doesn't happen more often.

Boy, I had a great Christmas! I hope everybody else did too. Thanks for the gifts (err, even the speedo), and Andy that really is a fridge and not a second trash can. It seems like it..respawns burgers every so often so if you ever want one, go ahead at your own risk though probably. Best mini-fridge ever Apple Kid, thanks!

Even though I got to see dad on Thanksgiving, it was still cool seeing him again over the holiday break. Cooler, actually, since we got to spend more time together instead of just half a day. Tracy and I built a snowman -- well I helped her stack it, the rest of the time I was either rolling up another body part or trying to keep King from jumping on it. I swear as old as he is, he suddenly gets these bursts of energy whenever it snows, it's funny in a sort of charming way seeing him act like a puppy again.

Heh...these beds are fine and all, but nothing beats sleeping in your own room. Or getting to use your own bathroom. That's not what I was most thankful for but it was definitely a perk. And mom's steak...home-cooked meals in general. In a way, being at school like this is an adventure too, I almost felt the same way that first night back at my own house as I did when I finally came home from that crazy "trip" around the world a few years ago.

I guess it's like that saying, you don't know what you have until it's gone, or in this case hundreds of miles away. And that's what long breaks are for!

( Private to Ninten, pretty hackable )

[[Ness can be found walking around campus with a his old hat back on his head (occasionally switched out for one of the caps Paula got him of course!) and his Franklin Badge pinned to his shirt. tyvm Fang]]

-----

*Ness bought Yoshi one of those cool fruit baskets except it's wrapped like they usually are. "-Your friend from the cafe," the tag reads. There's also a tropical island-themed calendar for the new year!*

[[OOC: W-we won the bowl game! I'll get to posting actual journals and tags (god how many are waiting on me aaahh) soon, I just wanted to get this out of the way first hnngh]]

( very backdated Christmas gifts )

*Ness is not exactly going out of his way to smooch people (except maybe one person~) but hey he doesn't think badly of the tradition!*

Ahh just in case.

Ness:
His offscreen family, which consists of his mom, very busy dad, little sister Tracy and their dog King.
I thiiink he's mentioned Picky a few times um...in accordance with the conversations he's had with his (Ness') mom over the phone. Ehehe, my bad Aris. It hasn't really been anything controlling but if I'm stepping on toes, let me know. ♥

Tony:
KITT :Db Goroh gave him to Tony though so Pixle has just as much say in what goes on with KITT if not MORE considering she also made an account for him xD
Tony has no canon family, NPC or otherwise baw

Claus:
Boney to some extent, I borrowed him for walkies once and I think that's about it. I'll just kind of assume that's okay since he's probably an NPC for the whole family, even though Groove takes the responsibility of posting the occasional comment for him?

If Lakilester's accepted:
His girlfriend, Lakilulu~ Also offscreen. I'd lol bad if she were apped/DR'd though hrr

Thanksgiving was really great this year, even better than last year. It's not every holiday you get to celebrate twice, after all!

I couldn't have asked for better company, either. The food doesn't make or break a Thanksgiving, it's the people you spend time and share the meal with, so even if the turkey was a bit funky (I swear your theory sounds like it would've worked to me, Jeff) I still had a good time. I think we all did! Maybe we should do something similar for Christmas, only hold it on a day besides Christmas eve/day so more people can join. There's something about celebrating holidays like these with friends and classmates...it's hard to beat being with your family, but I gotta say this is a pretty nice alternative.

Though, I was lucky enough to be able to do both this time. Dad didn't get home until around seven anyway, so Mom and Tracy weren't waiting on me. I know I keep saying how my mom makes the best steak, but her turkey isn't anything to sneeze at either. Tracy must've helped her with the pies again, and I wasn't there to watch how much of what ingredients she used...ahh boy were they ever sweet. She knows by now apples have enough natural sugar in them already, sheesh. We all traded stories about what we've been up to over the past few weeks, played a few games of Go Fish and tried to get King to play tug-of-war but he was being stubborn as usual. Mom even gave him some scraps, I guess he must've been waiting for a leg or something, heheh.

I should list all the things I'm thankful for, too. Better late than never, right?

I'm thankful for my family, and that my dad's able to get some holidays off from work to spend time with us.
I'm thankful for my friends, who've stuck by me through thick and thin, and are always there when I need them.
I'm thankful for the good health of everyone I know, and for their happiness, like Lucas and his family. I know, I know, but it's true!
I'm thankful I have the opportunity to go to this school, and that I've met so many great students and teachers here. This isn't something I could've done in Eagleland, that's for sure.
I'm thankful for homecoming, and that everybody was able to have such a good time there. I'm also thankful Paula went with me.
I'm thankful they don't all seem to hate him as much anymore.
I'm thankful I'm alive to be writing all this. That sounds kinda morbid but when you get right down to it, there are a lot of people who should be able to say the same thing, but can't. Kinda like that youtube video Pipsy linked a couple days ago. Some things you just can't plan for, you know?

That's about all I can think of right now.
Oh right, and, I'm thankful for leftovers and mini-fridges! Haha. Technology does have its uses.

( Because this icon will totally be used IC )

I'd really rather not be lost than ask for help, you never know what you'll run into wandering around aimlessly after all. Though it doesn't always seem worth it when you have to pay for most of the help you ask for.

The dance was really great...really, really great. Probably the highlight of this year so far.

I'm still not used to not wearing my hat though. I guess it could be worth getting accustomed with, especially if Paula likes it that way, but it's harder to beat the cold without something on your head! And I'm having a hard time picturing myself in something with ear flaps...heh.

( Private to Paula )

( Private to Jeff )

It looks like my room was hit on Halloween, 'cause I'm missing a few things that normally I'd never lose. My hat, for one. Of course, the one day I don't wear it...It's not like what was stolen is even very valuable, they're just kinda important to me and well, I'd rather have them than not, y'know? I've got to wonder why the person or people responsible would even take them in the first place instead of my other junk that's lying around in plain sight. Most of what was taken I keep in my backpack, since I always have it on me. Well, almost always, anyway.

Speaking of Halloween, it was really weird to spend it here at school. I mean, as fun as it was seeing everybody in costume and with all the little activities going on, I have to admit I kinda missed taking Tracy out trick-or-treating in town. Last time I talked to Mom she said she was planning on going with Picky and judging from how dedicated our police force is I doubt they ran into any trouble.

Andy, are you missing anything? We oughta get a list together of everything that's gone, just so we know what to look out for.

( Private to Kyle )

( Private to self, hackable )

I was beginning to think we'd end up seeing the birth of the Donut Eraser after yesterday, but I guess another resident mechanic had a little more extra time on her hands and took care of (most of) the problem.

But as good as they looked, I've learned not to trust moving inanimate objects, and on top of where they might've been up until they came floating into my room...well I'd already had a big lunch anyway. Besides, I'm kinda partial to crow cookies. And there's keeping in shape we've gotta worry about, so...!

Tazmily was pretty incredible. For all the places I've been, it had some of the kindest people with one of the most pleasant atmospheres I've ever encountered. It seems almost appropriate for Tazmily to be as isolated as it is, the air there is actually clean and once you're out in the wilderness it gets that distinct rural feeling you don't see often nowadays. It was great. I Hope everybody had a good break too!

So starting next week it'll be back to the daily grind, huh? Oh well...at least we all have Halloween to look forward to, and then homecoming. That'll be lots of fun! And a real test of courage ah man

( Private to Jeff and Lucas )

If I wasn't so relieved all my friends and classmates are back safe, I would be......well there's no one emotion to describe it, but let's just say it's nothing good. Above all else, though, I know I am disappointed. There were some decisions that never should have been made the way they were. Call me blind, but I just can't see what happened as anything other than a really bad move. A terrible move. This place is famous, why are we making it infamous?

It's almost funny, but back home we think of schools as safe places. Up until now I never would've guessed I'd call my town normal for once.

( Private thoughts, hackable to the determined )

THIS IS MY OFFICIAL OOC ICON OKAY

( Please to be helping me help myself what )

( Private thoughts! )