Fanmar

Ohman, so many of the costumes were crazy detailed, you have no idea! x.x; One of my favourite groups was a bunch of people who were dressed in like this weird combination of Sci-Fi and Tribal wear, all in black but with red LEDs light accenting. So cool looking! Of course, we didn't see them until night, so there was no good way to take a photo, sadly. T_T

From what I learned from my father-in-law's girlfriend (the lady in red in the photo with me in it) is that Carnaval is a very big thing in Maastricht, so big that people easily spend weeks (even months!) planning out costumes and floats and things; it's a huge part of their year. So, I guess when you look at it that way, it's not all too surprising that you see people with elaborately decorated costumes and such.

As much as I love the costuming, I think the main reason I prefer Koningsdag/Koninginnedag is that it's more interesting an inclusive. Carnaval was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the parade and dressing up and stuff, but at the end of the day... it's just a lot of people drinking. LOTS of drinking. Of course, there's drinking on K-dag, too, but you also have people selling random stuff with the markets, and there's a lot more interaction with random people than just hanging out with your friends and drinking. At least, there always has been for me; hubby and I like to walk around the whole day on K-dag, drinking and snacking here and there, looking at the stuff people are selling, just generally enjoying the city. Though I do find it funny that he never wears orange; he doesn't even own anything orange.

Also, yeah, my husband was the same way with English, learning it early. He taught himself by watching cartoons and stuff so that he was always ahead of teachers/classes in school. Rather than spending class time learning the language, he thought he would teach himself to speak English without a Dutch accent, since he thinks the Dutch accent sounds silly (I disagree, but he's entitled to his opinion ). He used to sound very British but now talking with me has Americanized his voice somewhat (and Britishified mine!).

I wish I'd had the opportunity to learn a language when I was young. T_T In America, foreign languages aren't even an option in most schools until junior high (13-14 years old), so it's harder to seriously pick up than it would be if it were taught younger. I know part of that is just that it's not as necessary for us (as a German friend of one of my exes once said "Why should you learn another language when everyone else learns English?"), but it's also just part of the collective American arrogance that we don't even try, for the most part. I guess that's part of why I'm so forceful about learning Dutch, even if I'm not particularly good at it.

We're back, actually. Hubby could only take one day off, so we celebrated Saturday evening and the main Sunday event, but we had to train back on Monday. I posted some pictures up in the picture thread; go check them out! We had a blast, for sure, though I think I still prefer Queen's Day (or I guess now, King's Day).

Gutturals still sound weird to me, but I'm getting more used to hearing them, even if I'm not getting all too much better at making them. xD I guess I can't have everything. As far as seperable verbs go, it's just one of those things that's hard for me to wrap my head around. English has it's weird things just as much as Dutch does, but I'm used to those, too. Just a matter of what you grow up with, I guess.

Nothing like "It's a Small World", certainly! It's rather adult in nature, for starters (most kids I've known wouldn't like the weird food, plus booze everywhere), and I think almost everyone dislikes IaSW. >_> <_< Epcot is mostly geared towards a more adult crowd anyway, with less rides and such than the other parks. Though even as a kid I loved it because I loved Sailormoon and origami and so Japan in Epcot was one of my favourite things.

Since we're staying with my father-in-law and his girlfriend, we'll have a place to escape to for sure, which is nice. I hope to not be affected by the crowds too badly (alcohol consumption does wonders to help my social anxiety), but you never know.

I used to be really horrible at the guttural CH & G sounds, but I've gotten a lot better. Rs I can do well, since I learned how to roll my Rs when I studied Spanish when I was younger, though I do have a different rolling sound that my husband and his family (they roll their Rs more in the back of their throat whereas my Rs are more on the roof of my mouth). CH sounds are worst when they're proceeded by an S, and I sometimes get hangups if there multiple CH/G/R sounds close together in a word, but overall, I don't think I'm too bad. I don't think I'll ever be able to pass as a native, but I can get by decently. It's one of the more difficult things about Dutch, I think, but definitely not THE worst (for example, separable verbs can die in a fire).

Yeah, the question guys delaying flights isn't exactly uncommon, so I guess people are used to it. Still a shame. :< I wonder why they're the only ones that do it, too.

My sister LOVED working for Disney World in Florida, so I'm sure she'll have a blast at Disneyland. I hope that my husband and I will be able to visit her there at some point, even though I do prefer DW myself. Epcot is one of DW's 4 main parks, and in addition to the cool dome thing (which has a ride inside, too!), they have half a section of the park devoted to different countries called World Showcase, with people from that country working in their own country's section, and there are restaurants and shows. World Showcase is my favourite part of DW. I especially love going during the Food and Wine festival when they have even MORE countries represented and food and drink stands set up all over the park. So excellent.

I'm looking forward to Carnaval a lot; it should be a lot of fun! Hubby and I are going to go out on Saturday to pick up some costumes and then down to Maastrict that evening through Monday. I don't really have any idea of what to expect, just planning to have a good time. And I also like that we'll have a "home base" so to speak if I need to escape from the crowds a bit.

About the question thing in Schiphol... I don't know for sure, but I would guess you were probably flying a KLM flight operated by Delta. I've flown back and forth several times now, and whenever I have a KLM flight operated by Delta, I get the question guys, haha. But, yeah, I know exactly what you mean.

I've always been a pretty big Disney fan; I guess it's in my family. We've traveled there several times, and mostly not as kids, actually; we went once when I was 9 and then later when I was ~13 my sister and I went with my Aunt to Disneyland. In my late teens and 20s, we went every other year or so, sometimes a couple years in a row. My sister even did an internship at Disney World, and now that she lives in California with her boyfriend, she's going to be working at Disneyland starting... next week, woo! I do think everyone should go to Disney World at least, and preferably as an adult, too. Of course it's cool as a kid, but I don't think I fully appreciated it then like I do now. Besides, as a kid, you can't do a beer in every country in Epcot! And you don't really appreiciate the food either; I ate an inordinate amount of chicken nuggets my first trip as a kid...

Definitely glad you managed to find your game. :3 I know how terrifying that can feel; I had a panic attack myself when I was packing to move here and I couldn't find one of my favourite games (which is extra funny since it's a PS1 game and I don't even own a PS1 and neither does hubby; I wouldn't be able to play it, but I still wanted to have it!), but I did manage to find it eventually.

Also, kind of funny that we were talking about Carnival recently, because I just made plans for that earlier this week! My father-in-law and his girlfriend live down in Maastricht and they invited us to come down next weekend for Carnival, since I guess it's a pretty big event down there. Should be fun! I guess I'm going to have to go visit that costume store nearby.

I'm very glad you decided to stick around and I'm also happy you managed to complete your collection here!

I didn't have more time to continue the language course, since my internship started in february. I will continue to study it by myself, however, so hopefully I will get fluent some day.

Oh, btw I forgot to mention in my pm that I'd love to trade for a continental Vivillon. I have garden pattern that might interest you ^^

Hey! The course itself was good. It's just that one month is not enough to learn the language. I'll have to continue learning it by myself to get better, since I can't follow another course during my internship.

So how are things for you? How's your quest for Vivillon coming along?

Sorry! I didn't mean to get too personal! I already started my internship. The language course ended a few weeks ago. I still don't speak it sadly. I find remembering vocabulaire the most difficult. >.>

Huh, I guess that makes sense, but I must say that I, personally, have always had a MUCH harder time with customs coming into the States than I have coming into Amsterdam. My husband, who is a Dutch national, has an even harder time than I do with US Customs/Border Patrol. Frequently traveling actually made this harder rather than easier, because he kept getting questioned on why he was flying to the States so often, poor guy. :< The only real exception is when we flew back to A'dam from our honeymoon in Curaçao; I guess Schiphol doesn't trust the Curaçao security (for good reason; they were really lax) because we went through a full double screening and luggage check when we landed.

The flying back and forth does get kind of expensive, but my husband makes good money, and he knows I miss seeing my family, so he doesn't mind the expense. We also try to fly on the weekdays and during off-peak times, so our tickets aren't as expensive, which does help. Christmas trips are usually the most expensive, sometimes twice as much as when we fly at other times.

My aunt wanted to borrow the book because she knew I liked it and she'd heard good things about the author. I had an unsigned copy that I was planning to lend her instead, but I couldn't find it, so I reluctantly lent her the signed one. She has a young son, so I can't help but feel afraid that something terrible happened to the book and that's why it hasn't been returned. ^^; Hopefully I'll find out soon, though. My mum is much more assertive than I am, so I hope that if I have her ask my aunt about it that she'll get a firm answer.

Also, Disney World really is super amazing. My parents are Disney Vacation Club members so I've gone there very frequently; it's one of my favourite places to visit! I haven't been to Disneyland Paris yet (though I hope to sometime over the next couple years), so I can't exactly compare, but I do know that DW is much bigger than Disneyland in California. There are 4 main parks, a few smaller water parks and such, and tonnes of resorts, restaurants, shopping, etc. Disney owns a LOT of land, and they put a lot of it to good use. But, yeah, I'm a huge Disney buff. Very excited to be going back again this next winter.

I know publishing is kind of a crapshoot and such, and it's certainly much easier and more accessible than it was 20 years or so ago, but as a very shy/anxious person, I can't help but be very worried and take everything personally, lol. Which I guess is why I'm avoiding it as long as possible. Ah well, someday.

I've actually had pretty good luck with airport security; after all, who wants to smuggle things into Amsterdam? But I guess it helps that I don't bring back all too much stuff at once, too. I think the most was a booster box and a few promo packs of Pokémon cards (so much cheaper in the States than here!) and some t-shirts I had ordered online. But it seems like I travel to the States at least once a year (3 times last year because of my wedding and wedding prep, 2 times this year to attend 2 weddings and a con, and then a later trip back for Christmas and to visit Disney World), so I have a lot of opportunities, too.

The book was lent out to my Aunt. I've asked her about it a few times, but she never really gave me a straight answer and I never got it back. I hope to have my parents ask her about it before they come to visit in April so maybe they can bring it with them, but... I've kind of given up hope of ever getting it back. A shame, because it's one of my favourite books, and a lot of nice memories regarding getting the signature and such.

And, yeah, I know my writing quality should speak for itself, and I hope to get far enough into the process that I can get published, but it does still seem daunting. x.x; Especially with the publishing world being as goofy as it is. When I actually have a workable manuscript (I'm hoping for my current one, then later, perhaps, revising/rewriting some of my older work), I'll start the process. I'm not looking forward to it, even if I'm looking forward to the end result.

No problem; I'm rather busy myself now, and heading to bed soon, so I'll have to reply tomorrow.

Yeah, it's a lot harder now that I'm in Europe. Even when places do ship here, shipping and customs sometimes double the prices of things I'd like to buy. :< I've taken to shipping stuff to my parents house in the US, now, and then picking them up when I visit.

Also, super awesome con story, yourself! I'm a huge Star Wars geek myself, so I can totally relate. It always feels awesome to be singled out, especially by someone you admire. My manga isn't in a safe, lol, but I do keep good care of it along with the few other signed things I have. I'm kind of paranoid about losing them or something ever since I lent away my signed copy of American Gods and never got it back... *sniff*

I guess in some ways it can be hard to write when you're a perfectionist, but on the other hand, I know that when I do something and I'm proud of it, I know it's bound to be of good quality, which helps. I actually rarely share my non-fan work with others, but I do hope to get published one day, and when that happens, I'll share my books with everyone. An ex-boyfriend of mine actually got a book deal recently, and I'm super jealous. >.> I have to give him credit, though, since he's been writing and such solid for several years and did a lot of freelance writing jobs and stuff, so he deserves it after all the work he's put in, whereas I'm just now starting to seriously start that work, so there's a long, uphill battle ahead of me.

PokéBeach does use ads to supplement its costs, yeah. I'm not sure how much of our funds come from ads, but we don't have any other source of revenue at the moment.

I'm also a fan of adblock, though I like giving directly where I can. I like buying merch for webcomics I like (I have a statue of Jonas from Phoenix Requiem, 3 Gunnerkrigg shirts, a shirt and a book from Awkward Zombie, a hoodie and Scalemate plush from Homestuck...), and I donate directly when I can. I've always liked to give money to things that I appreciate. I'd donate to PokéBeach if I could.

I'll make sure to share if/when I make it to con. At least Den Haag isn't too far. Hubby and I have a lot of trips planned this year, but if we just go for the day, I don't think he would mind adding it onto our schedule.

I do have a con story that I have to share with you now that I know you enjoy con stories, though.

A few years ago, one of my favourite manga artists, Junko Mizuno, was coming to the States to be a guest at Anime Central (my hometown anime con in Chicago). I've always been a huge fan of her work; in fact, I even have a tattoo on my back of her work (based off of this cover of her Princess Mermaid manga), just to give you an idea of how much I like her. I wasn't even planning on going to ACen that year (very busy with work and such), but I figured I had to go for that one day at least to meet her and get an autograph.

So, I show up a bit early to her panel and grab a seat towards the middle. The people who had the panel before were in the process of cleaning up and people were just standing around and chatting, waiting for Junko to show up. Someone taps me on my shoulder and a woman behind me compliments me on my tattoo (I was wearing a shirt that was low-cut in the back), which I kind of expected, given that Junko Mizuno fans were here. She asked if she could take a picture and post it on her website, so I said sure, and when she was done, she gave me her business card so I could access the website.

... It was Junko Mizuno herself, she had come up to me because she thought my tatoo of her artwork was cool. I was floored! I thanked her profusely and got her autograph on the copy of her manga that I had brought with me for signing, and she signed a postcard for me too. So amazing. Best con experience.

As far as my writing goes... I've been writing for a very long time. I wrote (and illustrated!) my first story when I was 4 years old, and I've always been a big fan of fiction since then. I did a lot of fanfiction in high school, and even did a novel for NaNaWriMo in my early 20s, expanding on the world and situation a few times with other novel drafts, short stories, and even an RPG that I ran on another forum. I slowed down quite a lot after that, but started writing again last year. I can actually thank PokéBeach for that, since a mod's short story contest was what encouraged me to start writing again. I ended up winning the contest, too.

I'm always my own worst critic, but even when I think what I'm writing isn't very good, I keep writing. I think that's the biggest key, just sticking with it and not giving up. Even if what I write never turns out as good on paper as it does in my head, I enjoy spinning these stories and watching them grow as I create them. I mostly lean towards fantasy, because it gives me the most opportunities to create and explore new worlds, such as in the novel I'm working on now.

As far as environment goes, when my husband and I moved to our new place, I specifically picked out a desk that I knew would be good for me for writing, a corner desk with a hutch that is nice and closed in to help me concentrate. I like to listen to music while I write, instrumental, typically BGM for video games and anime, though I've since added Homestuck music into the mix, too. Sometimes I'll play specifics songs or playlists to get me into certain moods, like dark, creepy music for horror stories and such. I usually write in the afternoons, but that's mostly just because that's when I have the most free time.

Yeah, most webcomics don't end, so Homestuck is interesting in that regard. The same author also have another webcomic that he finished, Problem Sleuth, which was actually pretty good. One of my favourite webcomic artists, Sarah Ellerton, has had 2 webcomics that have finished, which is pretty cool; she wrote them more like comics that just happened to be distributed for free online than a huge, ongoing story. But that's definitely outside of the norm.

I agree with you on the MLP fanbase, too, which is why I stay away from it. My husband and I are both fans of the show, but I avoid the fandom itself. Some Pokémon fans are the same, too, but at least with that, there are many different communities, and some of them are nice, like here.

Also, I have no expectations for anime cons aside from having fun. I've been to big cons and small, and for different types of things. I helped staff at a con for it's start-up year once, and then the very next year I was Press for one of the biggest cons in the States (Otakon). I actually usually end up liking the smaller cons, to be honest, because I have anxiety issues and I'd prefer to avoid the giant masses of people that you get at the super busy cons. I think I'd have a lot of fun.

And, yeah, I agree with you on fanfiction, too. I actually very rarely use canon characters specifically because of how it can polarize people. My playthrough with Jessie is the first time that I'm actually using a character as opposed to just putting my characters into a world situation. At least with Jessie she's more of a comedic figure that doesn't have a whole lot of backstory or characterization, so I don't have to worry too much about being true to canon, which gives me some amount of freedom. But, yeah, even stories that might be good can be ruined by changing a character, whether they're actually changing them or if they're just challenging my own head canon.

You're absolutely right: Homestuck fans are the worst. I am actually not a part of any Homestuck fan groups because I dislike the fanbase so much. Not all of them are bad, of course (I'd like to think I'm one of the good ones!) but a lot of them are obnoxious at best or mean at worst.

As far as the comic itself goes... it's very involved and incredibly bizarre. It's certainly not for everyone. There's a lot of silly humour and such, but what I personally like about it is the detailed world that he's built up and the relationships between the characters. The first 4 acts are the best, and the 5th is pretty good too, but the 6th act (ongoing, and also the last act) is kind of cluster of lots of things happening and the quality has gone down, in my opinion, by adding too many new things. It's almost done though; we're in the middle of a break period while the author writes everything else up to the end.

I probably seem kind of negative in those last few paragraphs, but overall, I do really enjoy the comic. Oddly enough, my favourite thing about Homestuck is the music that's been created for it, for the flash animations and such. A lot of beautiful, fun music has been spawned as a result.

Anyway, whoa, thanks for all the links! Seems like I just missed Tsunacon, and sadly I'll be in the States during Abunaicon, but maybe hubby and I can make Animecon in June, at least for a day. I don't have any costumes ready, sadly, but it would be fun to go to an anime con again.

Also, fanfiction is difficult to get into, I feel. I really very little of it because for every 1 good story out there, there's 99 stories that are crap, and it's not worth my time to try and sift through it. Of course, I think my own writing is good. But if you like my Jessie story and are ever super bored, I do have some other fanfiction on this site that you can check out; one is ongoing and linked in my sig (it's long, though, just a warning, and only about halfway done), the other is on hold until I finish the other one. I do a lot of writing (fanfiction and serious work), so I'd like to think I'm rather decent at it. I hope to be published one day.

I've only lived in the neighborhood for a few months and I don't really know people that well, so I don't know if there are kids here or not. I'm too shy to talk to people. ^^; My husband says there are a lot of expats in the area, but that's all. Regardless, I'll still always have candy available just in case any kids come by. >.> Though I'll probably buy less candy next year.

Also, no, it's not bad at all; I tend to favour more obscure games and characters. I guess Homestuck is popular, but even that's a webcomic not an anime. I've not seen or heard of any anime cons around here (neither has my hubby) so I didn't know there were any around. ^^; Do you know of any websites where I could find more info? Or even the names of cons would be useful enough. I do miss the convention scene and would love to do more cons.

Also, this is my first time doing a challenge sort of run, so it's very exciting for me! I've wanted to do a Wonderlocke since I first heard about the concept, but I had to wait for PokéBank to come out because I didn't want to lose my Pokémon when I restarted. Glad you're enjoying the story, though. :3 It's been fun to write. I do enjoy writing a lot, and I've had a lot of fun lately combining writing and Pokémon.

Fanmar, thank you!!

Nope, you aren't annoying anyone!

And it's always good to see new members here. Welcome to Pokebeach!

Fanmar, nice to meet you too!