Yes, my mom got me an awesome pink camcorder for our New Orleans trip and I love it.

You know what that means.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS AHOY!

Well, at least this one:

~ [link] ~

First ever youtube video made by me and the lovely and talented

Weeell.... Have a nice day. c':

Going to New Orleans right now.

Be back Tuesday. c:

I'm back. c:

It was absolutely fabulous, semi-life-changing, and -as an artist- just plain inspirational. Now I know how artists get sucked i8nto that place and just never leave.

I WOULD write about every little detail of my trip like I normally do, but I am tired and have alot of Spanish work ahead of me, not to mention some catching up on DA I need to do.

Some main points of my trip:

I learned SO MUCH about the history of that amazing little city. I've ALWAYS loved cajun culture (YES it's because of Gambit. YOU WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT?) But NOW I'm even MORE curious- two things I REALLY want to do some independent research on is Cajun history and Voodoo, but because of school, I doubt I'll be able to any time soon.

Oh yes, I've become just FASCINATED by Voodoo.

My parents and I went on a night-tour of New Orleans with a renowned expert on the history of New Orleans, and Voodoo-practicer (I seriously do not know a term for it, I mean no offense), she calls herself "Bloody Mary" and she has been on TONS of documentaries on History Channel, Travel channel, that sort of thing.

She taught us SO much about Voodoo, I got really absorbed in it.

Voodoo is the world's oldest religion- to which point all scholars agree- and it originated in Africa. Voodoo is a truly amazing religion because it is the only one that does not destroy or push away all other religions it comes in contact with- instead it absorbs them and makes them part of itself.

Hollywood is responsible for completely demoralizing voodoo in the public eye- making it into some absurd black-magic used to put horrible curses on people.

For instance- the voodoo doll.

Voodoo dolls where NEVER used to bring someone HARM, that's Hollywood. The voodoo doll's true purpose is for HEALING. (sort of like an implement to pray for someone's health) The purpose of the nails/needles is to FOCUS the healing on a specific part of the body.

Bloody Mary showed us a voodoo doll she had made earlier, and it was very simplistic, but interesting. From what I remember, the only real requirements were that it be stuffed with Spanish moss and have an item (I think like a hair) from the person you wish for it to represent. She told us how with hers, she tied each knot of the cloth with a prayer.

My mother has been trying to teach me this my entire life, but before that night, it had never REALLY sunk in for me that not all spirits mean me harm.
On our tour we visited many of New Orleans' almost ENDLESSLY haunted sights, and there we learned so much of the town's history, as well as the personal histories of the spirits who inhabited the sights.

She showed us tons of "spirit exposures" (photos showing spirits or spirit-energy) including ones she took on the spot- but I never managed to get one until the next night when we ate at Mulates, one of the only cajun establishments in New Orleans (One of the things I LOVE about New Orleans is that it's one of the only towns today that still stubbornly grips to it's historical identity- and that is a Creole town) I just couldn't get a non-shaky photo of the place, and I wasn't shaking at the time- plus my camera is REMARKABLE about taking non-blurry photos, even when I'm moving a bit. When I looked closer, I could see that same light-blue smoke (There was no one smoking, skeptics) that spirit energy always takes on in photos. It doesn't surprise me that some (probably cajun) spirits like that lively energy of the place, one seemed to be dancing, the other eating.

Even if you don't believe in spirit-exposures, and I barely do myself, I do believe in spirits. It's hard not to in a town like that, and really, there's so much reason to believe. Plus, I was raised to believe in spirits.

Well, I wrote a bit more than I intended, but Oh well. I had the time of my life and I feel like I took a little piece of the city with me, and left a little of myself behind just maybe.

THAT'S RIGHT. GEEZ, It's about TIME I did this journal. D8< I was GOING to color the references but I didn't change their COLORS so what's the point in putting it off 'til then anyway?

SOOOOOOOOOOO, here we go. c: Here are the revamps of Azure, Fang, and Ayame. c:



1. AZURE



YES. Azy is now my pudgy adorable little lovebird. (only as you all know she's a gryphon, also- I'm really not considering any of them neos anymore. Azy's a gryphon, Fang is a dog, Aya's a squirrel.) Azure is a optimistic, bubbly, cheery sort of girl, much like before, but to a more realistic extent. She makes excellent grades in school, and is typically a teacher's pet. However, she is almost comically naive when it comes to the real world. Her friends are always astounded at how GULLIBLE she can be, and how upset she gets when she realized someone pulled the wool over her eyes. She has big dreams of being a great chef one day, which is why she cooks so much and is a little on the heavy side if you catch my drift, and obviously you do. C; She is aware that her older, adopted brother, Fang, has an unusually strong attachment to her, but she secretly loves it and indulges it more than perhaps she should (rather than trying to help foster his independence). Deep down, on some level, she knows she's not doing the right thing, but she'll typically deny it if you confront her, always saying "It's fine... really, it's ok. He needs me, it won't be forever or anything, he'll be ok... really!"
Azure has also, as some of you may know, had some pretty extensive boy-troubles in her life. (Some of you may remember the specific characters but I won't mention them here as they've all been scrapped) Let's see, one guy who had a huge crush on her was suicidal, and by the time she started really warming up to him, he killed himself. Another guy had a huge thing for her but by the time she noticed, he had come to despise her. And unfortunately, she hasn't been able to see her current boyfriend for a very long time.

Here are some more cutey-pie pictures of her new look. c:








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2. FANG



Fang looks exactly the same, the major changes are... well, complicated. You see, Fang has always had a particular set of mental conditions, nameless ones I THOUGHT I was just making up. But, as it turns out, Upon reading an AMAZING book called "A Friend Like Henry" I realized that Fang had a practically textbook case of Autism.
Yes, that is correct. c: Fang is on the autistic-spectrum. I still need to do ALOT of research, but I feel I know enough to at least announce it. c: Autism is a rather difficult condition to explain in full. BASICALLY, Autism is a developmental disorder one is born with that affects the natural development of social interaction and communication skills. Some of the main issues Fang faces from Autism are his discomfort and below-average ability to communicate his thoughts and feelings in any way, his limited understanding/sense of empathy, and his obsessive habit-forming nature. Fang has a relatively mild case, but these challenges are still very prevalent in his every-day life. As I've mentioned before, Fang has formed a sort of dependent relationship with his slightly younger sister, Azure. Those around him are somewhat concerned about their relationship, seeing Azure as a potential obstacle on Fang's difficult road to independence as an adult with autism.




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3. AYAME



AYAME had perhaps the most extensive personality revamp. But I personally LOVE the new her. Ayame is no longer a hyper sunshiny flowery mess (hooray!). She is not lethargic, just not pointlessly energetic. She is still rather girly (but not in a pink way, if that makes sense) and cheery, she doesn't take life too seriously for the most part, and she's always looking for new ways to have fun, always making new games out of life. And her games usually involve inconveniencing someone in some way or another... :'D; Oh well, she's just bored. The main difference isn't really a difference to me. Alot of people might not have noticed it, but Ayame has ALWAYS been a little on the insensitive side, and I decided to work that a little bit more. She's not exactly mean or selfish... ok she's a little selfish. She really doesn't think about what other people want or how they'll feel if she says something. She is definitely self-absorbed, not out of pure ego, that's just how she is. It's definitely a reason why she doesn't have too many girl-friends. It takes a special kind of person to put up with Ayame for very long.
she still smiles alot, but occasionally it's like:
"WHY ARE YOU SMILING IN THIS SITUATION?! e e"
"Because it's REALLY funny! ^ ^"
".........D8|"
She's a very positive person, but she is the poster-child for "that sarcastic selfish stage"
She makes fun of Fang alot, and she is always making snarky comments about his and Azure's relationship, but secretly it's because she resents always being left out, which is even harder for an adopted kid.
ALSO, Ayame makes HORRIBLE grades in school. :'D;; She's always resentful towards Azure for doing so well, as Azure is usually pretty... yeah. Not the brightest, it would seem.
"Why LEARN when you can GOOGLE?! D8<"
Personally, I think she's MUCH less Annoying this way.

Some delightful pictures of Ayame and her best friend (not to be confused with her boyfriend, Karen.), KK. KK's passive and forgiving nature allows him to put up with Ayame's selfishness, and on some level, Ayame realizes this, and appreciates him for it.








I think perhaps FINALLY I have achieved in scraping the Mary-Su and Gary-Stu off these siblings, at least for the most part. I hope everyone likes the changes as much as I do.

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I just watched youtube video of an Irish Comedian that I quite like.

And the thing had SUBTITLES.

In ENGLISH.

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SUBTITLES.

FOR AN IRISH MAN.





......... WHAT?!