almalthia

So, to those of you that are unaware (that don't follow us on facebook or twitter), our house was robbed yesterday while everyone was gone. The thief got away with three laptops (one brand new), a glucose meter, and an iPod/iPhone charging cord. The computers in question belonged to Tish and myself. We were lucky in a sense .. they didn't know about Tish's school computer that was in the same room as the other three, nor did they find Ronda's computer in her own room.

It all happened in about a 30-40 minute timespan when the house was completely empty, although we are in the belief that the house was cased around 1130-noon while Tish was napping in the back room. She heard someone talking outside the window, but just figured it was in her dreams or a tv from the backroom. Turns out it was very likely the culprit, thinking the house was already empty, and trying to see in the bedroom.

The blinds were drawn, however, and they couldn't see in. They could see into the living room, however, and saw the three laptops in question. Our bedroom was completely tossed in a matter of minutes while they looked for quick things of value and came up lacking. They had my underwear tossed all over my side of the bed and all the drawers of our dressers were pulled out and raided through.

The sense of invasion is perhaps the worse of it all .. we live in a gated community and you would think it would make you safe, but it doesn't. We feel invaded and scared and angry at different moments .. we'd give anything for a good dose of vigilante justice right about now. The thief jimmied open the sliding glass door and our dog is a big lover, so he couldn't have cared less (the dummy). They took what they wanted and fled, and yes we (and the neighbors) have a suspicion of the guilty party, but until the fingerprints are run and come back positive, we can't do shit. *sigh*

We have to tell ourselves that everything on our computers is gone .. EVERYTHING. All the correspondence between Tish and I when we first met, old logs and chats, stories and ficlets ... Artwork and commissions. Yes, we have some things backed up, but nothing recent enough to help a lot of it.


So, here's where all of you come in. I need files. I need files of anything and everything you've ever done for me if you still have them. Artwork, commissions, logs, stories .. whatever you have, I need it. Did you do an icon for me and still happen to have it saved? Awesome, send her over. Did I commission you for something and you still have it saved to an old hard drive somewhere? Awesome, send it over! Do you know someone that I got something from and know it's still online somewhere? Fucking GREAT, send me a link or a file!

I know I have old artwork up on VCL and such .. and that's all fine and good. I can get around to saving those at some point .. and I have hard copies of a lot of stuff, either here or still up in Alaska .. but there is a ton of stuff that was only ever online and I'd love to recover as much of it as feasibly possible.

Same goes for Tish .. I know I've commissioned Harry Potter artwork in the past for the two of us, and other stuff was done as gifts and freebies. I can only hope that there are backups somewhere on someone's hard drive.

I know it's just 'stuff' and I know I won't recover it all .. fucking sucks like hell, but I know it. It's just so much of it had personal meaning for us and it HURTS to see it gone. Hurts like a mother fucker to know we won't see it again; ever.

So, if you have something, even if it's a something you think is small and of no matter, please send it to me or link me to it. If you'd rather not link to something you have, feel free to email it to me: almalthia80 AT yahoo DOT com

If you could link to this/pass it around, that would be a great help too. I'm going to cross post it to DA and things of that nature, and hopefully that will help a bit too.

Thanks so much everyone. This blows, but we're taking it a step at a time.

All right, DA! I am planning a rather special Christmas gift for my daughter, Lila, but it requires I ask around to those of you with artistic capabilities.

Lila LOVES Pokemon. Like, I'm not even able to articulate just how nuts she is about them. I want to commission a piece of art for her in an 8x11 or 11x13 size range (something we can frame for her wall.)

So, I am calling out to anyone that can do pokemon fan art of any kind. I want to get a picture of Lila with her favorite Pokemon (Lugia and possibly Butterfree or another). She is nuts about Lugia and I know she'd flip her shit for a personalized picture. So, I guess I'm looking for someone that is comfortable doing art of not just pokemon, but a human as well. Anime style is fine, or your own personal styling.

I'd be looking at around the $15-30 price range, full color if at all possible (even if it's computer colored with generic or no shading).

If any of you would be willing, I'd love it if you would comment here, or spread the word (or suggest someone) if you know of someone else that would fit this bill. I definitely want it before Christmas, so I could gift it to her from me.

I appreciate any and all help in this search!

~A

(cross posted at LJ)

Thornwolf is doing free sketches until midnight tonight! Check out the link below for more info!!

thornwolf.livejournal.com/9192…

I'm at work right now, but I've been chatting back and forth with haumea since I got to work. My back was jacked up when I got up this morning, so Ronda very nicely let me have her spot on phones for the evening. (Thanks, Ronda!! xoxoxo)

Now, when and I chat, it's about anything and everything. We can have lengthy discussions about something she is watching, or an issue I might be having at the office. We sometimes work on plotting out game stuff for 4h_tng and sometimes about various things happening in the overwhelming world of twitter or elsewhere.

Tonight she sent me a link to Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball, and event that takes place every year at the Henry Fonda MusicBox Theatre in Hollywood. Amanda Palmer was talking about it on Twitter and was apparently giving some tickets away throughout the day.

I doubt I'll be attending this year, unless the fates decree me good enough to be blessed with a pair of tickets. However, I have already spoken to her about attending the Ball in 2010 (next July). Both Tish and I will be having costumes done by (here on DA) for our 'wedding' and they would actually be really awesome for this event as well. I can't see any reason for them to not be ready in time, a we were told the costumes would be started after Comic Con this year.

I .. I am insanely excited about this event, and it's still more than a year away. We don't have details. We don't have tickets. We don't have costumes. I'm torn, though, as to if we should wait and see how the costumes come out as to if they will cover it or not. This is a costume ball, or formal attire event. I'm going to have a Mad Hatter costume made, with petticoats and the works, and Tish is having a Queen of Hearts costume made.

Should I do something more elaborate for a costume, do you think? Do any of you have suggestions? I have a limited amount of funds that will be able to go into this, but ideas and such would be greatly appreciated. This event looks to be a once in a lifetime experience and I want to 'wow' the crowds with a stunning costume. I love gowns and such, but anything artistic and crazy, that will fit the bill, would be great.


XOXOX
~Alma

Hi there everyone,

Yeah, it's been forever and a day since I've updated anything at all having to do with DA. Well, when it comes to my own account, anyway. I've been going through everyone elses updates and all that jazz, but I really haven't been drawing too much in my spare time of late. I've been focusing mostly on writing and rping, truth be told, which leads to the backstory on an image I commissioned from :: found here.

I figured it would be far easier to write up one single response and direct people to it, rather than my own form of spamming to answer the various questions that have come my way about it. Not to say that it isn't absolutely brilliant that so many folks are interested in the backstory to the image itself, because it is brilliant!

~~~

I'm currently delighted to be co-modding and playing in a livejournal HP game called The Four Houses. In this game I play Nymphadora Tonks, whom I've had since joining, and Severus Snape, whom I acquired several months ago.

In our game, Remus is currently with Hermione Granger. Yes, you read that correctly, Hermione. As a matter of fact, Sirius is quite out of the picture, having fallen through the Veil as written in OoTP. Tonks has had feelings for Remus for years, dating back to the days he used to babysit her with Sirius. Of course, who can possibly take a 7 year old seriously in matters of love and marriage?

Tonks recently walked in on Remus and Hermione in a rather .. compromising situation, as can be found here. Needless to say, this is devastating to poor Tonks and she finds herself piss drunk. Severus is on nightly patrol around the grounds when he comes across her, initially thinking her Bellatrix, as she looks rather like her aunt in her 'typical' form.

I digress here, saying that I have a very specific image of Tonks when she is under no form of metamorphing at all.

:: My image of Tonks ::
Hair :: Long black hair, loose waves to her hips. No bangs.
Eyes :: Icy-blue *Almost a blue tinted white*
Scars :: Small scar above her left brow *viewer's right*, near the temple. *received from her fall on the stone steps during her duel with Bellatrix in OotP*
Complexion :: Very fair, almost pale

I'm feel that she would share the typical Black family features and see black hair an pale complexion as very suiting to her.

So, Severus finds her and see a perfect opportunity laying before him in the form of a distraught and drunk Nymphadora. He knows that there is little else that could possibly effect Lupin more than to successfully bed Tonks and have her in his confidence rather than Lupin's. Remus, the poor sod, does care for her more than he'll let himself believe, Hermione or not.

Now, Severus Snape could never be a gentle lover, most certainly not in the beginning of any sort of relationship. He is abusive, both physically and emotionally, cunning and manipulative. He takes full advantage of Nymphadora's emotional weaknesses and gets her so turned around that she wants for nothing but his attentions. It's sad, yes, but even in the violent moments, she feels she is getting more from Severus than she could ever get from Remus. She feels she was never good enough for Remus, which is compounded by Severus' words to her nightly.

I went with this and took it a step away from the RP for the moment, adding Sirius into the image and plotline, purely for my own devices. *grins smoothly* Sirius has returned, by whatever means possible, only to find that Remus has bungled things more horribly than he could have possibly imagined in his absence. He learns of Hermione, which he doesn't approve highly of at all, but further still, he learns of what Tonks saw that unfortunate night.

Tonks arrives in the Great Hall one evening, possibly the night of Sirius' arrival, upon Severus' arm. She has altered physically, and even her demeanor is different. Remus and Sirus look up from their conversation, both freezing mid-word. Remus' expression is a pain filled shock, Sirius both shocked and disgusted at what he sees before him. Neither men could have possibly foreseen this event before them.

Severus does not even try to hide his smug satisfaction, his arm possessively around Nymphadora's waist. Tonks turns her white-blue gaze on Remus, her expression a mixture of cold bitterness and sadness, while her hand absently trails across Severus' chest. Her words would almost be too soft, were she not speaking across the hallway to a lycanthrope.

"You made your choice, Remus." She casts her gaze upwards to Severus, who smirks still across at the pair of men. "And now," she looks back at Remus pointedly, "I have made mine."

Remus' jaw drops in shock, the hurt and loss plainly visible upon his features as his hands fall limply to his sides. Sirius, his expression darkening as he meets Severus' gaze, lifts his hand to Remus' shoulder, squeezing it softly to remind his best mate of his presense beside him.

~~~

So, that's that. No, the image was not meant to be slashy by any means, as Sirius is merely offering a supportive hand to his best mate. Yes, the idea is there, I suppose, particularly with the words on the image, but I didn't intend the image to be taken that way, and do not do so myself.

Gamewise, I suppose anything is possible, though. *grins smoothly* But then, you'll have to continue reading The Four Houses to find out what happens next, won't you?

If you have any further questions, or comments, please feel free to comment here or note me. Happy to oblige, wot.

~Alma