Small update with a tag! :3

Hello, everyone! Sorry that it's been so long since an update on my part of this - rehearsals for Hercules have now finished and we're doing school-day performances today, so we'll actually be beginning those now! Means there's only two weeks left of the experience in and of itself (I'll be working to appreciate every moment!), but that also means my schedule is pretty booked now.

But, that's not what I'm here to write about! For those of you who know me, I can get excited about things that normal people wouldn't really tend to care about. For example, when notified me that I was tagged in his journal, I was actually ecstatic about it! Sorry that this is a few days late, though - I've had a busy schedule, so I just managed to get this finalized before I started getting ready for shows this morning. Hopefully as I've been working and editing through this all these past few days, everything will make sense and be properly coordinated! 

Alrighty, here I go (I'll do my best to answer these questions openly and honestly):

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The rules:

(1) You must post these rules!

(2) Each person has to share 10 things about themselves.

(3) Answer 10 questions asked to you and invent 10 questions the people you tag will answer.

(4) Choose 10 people and put their icons on your journal.

(5) Go to their page and inform them they are tagged.

(6) Not something All like "You are tagged if you read this!"

(7) You have to legitimately tag 10 people.

(8) No tag-backs

(9) You can't say that you don't do tags

(10) You MUST MAKE A JOURNAL ENTRY!

Alrighty, here are some things about me that you may or may not know:

1. I'm 17 years old and I live in the United States with my sister, mom, dad, and dog Ranger (who I genuinely believe is the best dog ever, even with his faults). I'm still going through high school - I'm in my junior year right now with my good friend - and two years from now I'm planning to go to a great college where my dad works as a registrar and I can go tuition free.

2. Ever since I was little, my dream has always been to be a writer! Sometimes in an actually literal way, since when I was younger I tended to have many vivid dreams that I recalled and wrote stories about - some of my most early inspiration for stories. Most of them would be about things I was currently reading or interested in such as Power Rangers (I wanted to make my own team someday), Pokémon, Animorphs, BIONICLE, and Harry Potter. I was still into Star Wars then, but it's never been my primary interest even though I've always enjoyed playing a part in it. I guess it just never struck a chord in my dreams that much.

3. My favorite activity to do when I'm not busy doing homework or spending time with my family is participating in a local Christian youth theater group. I used to be in the children's choir at my church, and I loved singing back then and I still do today! Now I've expanded more into the acting and dancing regions of musical theater, but the overall best part of the group is the people that are in it - many of them I've known since I was in 4th grade, and so I've had seven years to forge some great friendships with them.

4. Although there are tons of great videogames out there, my personal favorite has always been Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I don't get to play it as often as I used to, but the story is so invigorating and it's a game that my dad and I would take turns with playing and watching together when I was younger. In many ways, all of my favorite videogames are ones that my dad and I played together (we still play quite a few, as when I got into Pokémon, he joined it with me). Recently, we've been replaying a GameCube game called Digimon World 4 that we never actually finished, and now that we (mostly I) know more about how to play games like that we can do a lot more than we used to!

5. Although I've always wanted to be a writer, the only full-out story I've ever finished was one that Xeirla and I worked on a few years ago called Dragons: Velcrecst. It was his idea fully, and he allowed me to put a character in there for him to bounce dialogue against and incorporate into the story. I didn't have much effect on the plot, but my character was able to help my friend's characters develop as the story went on and I was able to insert my own ideas every once in a while - it is the best story that we've worked on to date, in my opinion, although that was probably the last story that we truly worked on together.

6. Since I've mentioned him a few times already, my in real-life best friend is Xeirla! Ever since we met in 4th grade, we've been fortunate to be in the same advanced classes up until high school (which basically guaranteed that we'd be in the same classes all those years), and although our interests are the same as they used to be, we still keep in contact and try to spend as much time together as my schedule allows. Our two separate areas of interests, writing and drawing, always complimented each other really well during school and we've helped each other grow in our creativity and beliefs as well. Here's a huggle dedicated to him:

7. I like to talk a lot of the time, even though I'm learning to be a good listener as well. If there was one quality I'd want to keep for the rest of my life, it's the ability to listen to someone else and not interject my own thoughts into their ideas. I wish I was better at it than I am, but I'm working on it.

8. Um...I used to play Webkinz online for a time when my sister was into it! She wanted someone to be able to play with and connect with on it, so I joined up and ended up probably doing more with it than she did, even though I was finicky about which stuffed animals I got for the game. I absolutely love my sister (she's two years younger than me), and I couldn't have asked for a better one!!

9. My favorite books series is the Young Jedi Knight series by Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J. Anderson. It was made in the same year I was born, and I stumbled on the books one time in my town's public library when looking for some new Star Wars books to read. They only had so many of the books at the library, but my mom surprised me for my birthday and bought the entire series from someone on Ebay that I still cherish today in my personal library of books (which is about two-three bookshelves worth of books I'd say). Other favorites of mine include the Bionicle books, Harry Potter, Redwall series by Brian Jacques, Boxcar Children, and the Secrets of Droon books by Tony Abbott. Many of them are books that I got when I was younger, but I still love reading them even while I'm 17.

10. FINALLY! THE LAST ONE! Hm...here's something you probably don't know. Despite my beliefs, one of my favorite subjects to learn about is Greek mythology. It's fun for me to imagine what the world would be like if such places did exist, and it reminds me of just how powerful the reality of life is in comparison to it.

*phew* Alrighty! These are more so like a few fun facts about me, but now that this is done I can answer questions that joekabox wrote up and then ask my own to those who I tag. Ready? Here we go!

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1. What is your favorite movie and why? If you do not like movies or do not have a favorite, replace movie with either Video Game, Book, or TV Show. If the same applies to them, explain why you don't have a favorite movie.

I'd say that my favorite movie is probably...well, hm. That's hard to say, actually! I have so many favorites, like Star Wars: The Clone Wars for its original take on Star Wars events and The Avengers for managing to bring to life some of the old comic stories that my dad used to share with me. There are many others, so maybe I'd say that my favorite movies are those that either involve Star Wars or Disney.

2. What do you look for in a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/mate/whatever? If you don't want any of those, what do you look for in a friend?

This one is a trickier one for me to answer, as I'm currently not looking for a girlfriend and I'm not super interested in having one at this time in my life (still not really sure if I'm ready to embrace that section of becoming-an-adult yet, let alone accepting growing up in the first place). However, when I'm looking for a friend, the most prominent qualities tend to be that they 1) challenge me, yet also support me when I need it 2) stay by my side when I'm going through hardships and help me get through tough days and that they 3) have at least something in common with me, whether it be by a character trait or common interest.

3. You can choose to live in one of five worlds, which one would you choose? 1) The Pokémon world, but for whatever reason you aren't allowed to catch Pokémon. 2) The world of Harry Potter, but you are a Squib. 3) The world of Yu-Gi-Oh! (whatever series you want), but you suck at dueling (you can get better, but it takes far longer than anyone else). 4) A perfect world where everything is exactly as you'd want it and everyone is happy with it, but you only live for 50 years (you can choose to go there as you are now or be born again). 5) The world as it is now but you get to live a full life without disease, illness, physical harm, or loss of loved ones (you can still be poor, lose property, and things like that however).

Of all these options, I think my choice would be the Pokémon world - just because I can't catch 'em all doesn't mean I can't befriend them all! Part of me also feels like the other options all have downsides, as 1) Harry Potter's universe would only really be fun for me if I could actually use magic 2) I don't really know much about Yu-Gi-Oh, so I wouldn't last long XD 3) A perfect world isn't perfect if you only have 50 years to live on it and 4) a life without hardship would be an empty life, I feel. Without difficulties, I wouldn't be able to grow! And, I have a feeling I'd really just like to be able to live in a world of Pokemon.

4. Do you want to have kids someday? Regardless of whether or not you do, why?

From what I know about this "question" from Health class, I'm not too sure at this point in my life. When I grow older, maybe it'll be something I'll do, but the whole idea of what that process entails doesn't sit well with me at my age and I'd much rather adopt a kid who needs a family instead. In this sense, yes, I would possibly like to start a family one day when I feel ready to do so.

5. What's your favorite food?

Ugh...coming off of that last question, I have to think on this one for an extra moment. My favorite food would have to be Éclair Cake, and if not that it'd be fried chicken with fettuccini alfredo.

6. Do you have a Pokésona? Either human, Pokémon, or both. If so, would you mind showing them and/or describing them?

The closest thing I have to a Pokésona is my character Firequil. He and Splasher were originally based off me and my friend, but since I first made them they've evolved into characters that are beyond that type of relation anymore. Firequil and I are still pretty close, as when I'm writing stories with him in them I tend to connect to a thought or problem I'm dealing with heavily at the moment. Firequil is timid unless he's around Pokémon he's comfortable being with, but he's incredibly sagacious (me using big, fancy words just to impress people...he's wise, in other words ) and kind. He loves to read and study, and I'd like to believe that if he were in this world with me, he'd believe in Christianity as well. Since he's an adolescent (like me) he still has a lot to learn about the world, but he uses his time purposefully and makes the best out of every situation.

7. What are your thoughts on role playing (not role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, but role playing between two people through text)?

I've never role played with someone other than Xeirla, so I don't have a wide berth of experiences to choose from. Overall, from my experience with him, role playing is fun when I remember that my characters are actually affected by the invisible laws of physics and such and when we both are on the same page in terms of where we're headed with a story.

8. Animals, do they deserve rights, respect, and fair treatment?

I believe that animals should be treated respectfully, since my belief is that God gave animals for mankind to take care of and nourish, but I also believe that animals were given to us to be used as food and other things. My primary representation of what I'm thinking would be the shepherd in Biblical times, who would care for the sheep and make sure that they were safe. Although eventually they would be eaten and used for wool, the people didn't maltreat them for that. I still feel like animals should be treated respectfully and with love, due to the fact that they were given under our care as humans.

9. If you could, would you change your name?

Nope. :3 My real life name is Daniel, which my parents say came from them both liking Daniel from the Bible as well as just liking the name in general. I've always loved being named after such a courageous and amazing person, so I would want to keep my name! I've also grown used to it, too, so I doubt I'd remember any other names aside from this one.

10. It is a common debate among people (mostly nerds) as to whether or not a teleportation device like those in Star Trek would technically kill you and then clone another you with all your memories (due to the fact the way it teleports you is by breaking you down to atoms, sending you somewhere else, and then putting you back together). That being said, here is a question. If a loved one, just one, were in danger and only you could save them, but the only way to get to them in time is to use a teleporter, knowing that using it could very well end your life and make a clone of you to live instead, would you do it? Think of this as a very nerdy version of sacrificing yourself to save another.

I think if I had the option, I would absolutely do so. If the teleporter did kill me, at least I would know that I was doing the right thing in saving a loved one. It would pain me more to know I didn't do anything than to die knowing that I did right.

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Alrighty, now for the tags:



Here are my 10 questions for you all:

1. What would you say is your favorite videogame to play? If you're a Pokemon fan as well, explain what your favorite generation of Pokemon is and why as well.

2. If you had a choice to be either a Jedi Master or a Sith Warrior, which would you want to be and why? If neither, where do you think your place would be in relation to the Star Wars Universe?

3. All of you are either artists, graphic designers, or writers - when did it first become apparent to you that it was something you wanted to pursue/do in your free time? 

4. This may seem like an incredibly random question, but what's your favorite dessert?

5. Have you traveled out of country before? Where did you go if you did, and did you or did you not like it? If you haven't, are there any really amazing places that you've gone to that are local to where you live now? 

6. If you had the opportunity to live in any fictional world that already been created whether via books, movies, media, etc., where would you choose to live and why?

7. Are you a fan of Marvel? If so, if you had to choose a faction to join, would you most likely be a part of the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants? If not, what are your main interests in general?

8. When you're looking to find a good friend, what types of qualities do you tend to look for?

9. (I liked this question, so I'm taking it and re-posting it) If you could, would you change your name? Why or why not?

10. Aside from writing/drawing/designing, what would you like to do in your free time?

Thanks for reading through this, and thanks in advance for those who will answer these questions. Have a great day, all!