yukinoomoni: (Lucina Unmasked)
Omoni ([personal profile] yukinoomoni) wrote2013-07-30 02:50 pm

Silence Shattered By My Loud, Mannish Laugh

Hello.

It's been quite a long time, hasn't it? How are you all? What's new? What have I missed? I hope nothing bad.

I've been avoiding updating anything for weeks, obviously. It feels longer than it actually has been, which is odd to me. Time usually passes quickly for me. But it's been sluggish when it comes to going online.

I realised maybe a week after my last entry that these words fall upon many caring and kind eyes, and usually greeted by words sharing such feelings. But it wasn't until it really hit me that Kristen was dead, really dead and gone, and I would never meet her and hug her and thank her voice-to-voice for her years of love, support, challenge, and debate, that I suddenly just broke.

I sobbed. Hard. Because I realised that as I was grieving for Kristen, I was realising that it could happen to any of you. ANY OF YOU. And it HAD - to Kristen. I was (and am, truth be told) shaken to the core and terrified. I realised that loving, trusting, and knowing many of you, also made me come to terms with the very fact that I will probably NEVER meet 95% of you, and if I did lose any more of you, I would never know unless someone cared enough to come online on your behalf. There would be no way to see you, to be able to put flesh and blood and bone to words and icons and ideas.

So I disappeared. I wondered, rather in cruel irony, if anyone would wonder or think I died (finally and that there WAS no one there to let any of you know. And then I wondered about being alive, if I was, all of that terrifying shit that keeps me awake less now that I'm going off Zoloft (long story; will explain under a lock). For that, I'm very sorry if I actually DID scare any of you or made you think the worst.

The truth is, I have not been okay. I have been in a dark enclosed chrysalis of self-hate and self-blame, self-abuse and abuse to others (verbal - I'm pretty weak now anyway). I buried myself in my Nintento DS or in a pile of real books and a pile of e-books, in between Milo and Nim, hidden under the hand-stitched blanket my mother made and gave to me, that does little to warm my chill so deep that it's rare for me to feel anything but it when inside the house. I was afraid of the internet, of fandom and fanfiction, of reading any news, forums, or online things I used to adore.

I was, in short, acting like a child who has discovered death escapes no one. And it usually makes no sense in its claims. Which is exactly it.

But today I picked up my netbook instead of my tablet, and when I booted it up to look up a medicine, I found myself opening up a Notepad and typing all of this down, even before DreamWidth loaded or the internet connected properly. (During the duration of this update, the internet disconnected twice. Hard not to take that personally, internet.) I realised that I needed to contact you all, to keep contact open, just in case I actually DO lose any of you, though I hope I do not, and that I go first. Even though I do not feel particularly important, I can imagine that suddenly vanishing offline would be confusing at the least (no, the least is ignored. Oh well). In the span of ten years, I have spilled my guts online to the benefit of anyone willing to read it, and I suddenly have realised how significant that is.

Ten years. A decade of documentation. That is a long, long time, and plenty to easily watch me grow up. Well, so far, anyway. If I were to suddenly vanished on my own choice without so much as a so long, I do not like to imagine how that would feel for those of you who care. And while this is NOT my goodbye, please note that from now on, you can depend on my updating at least once a week, just even with one word or two, so you can make sure I live.

Plus, I began this journal to meet people and express my feelings. Granted, it was also to get closer to a boy I liked, but luckily he liked me too, and somehow we still do. I sort of feel as if it could also be a record of the relationship he and I have had, from the span of being dumb teenagers to actual adults (or adult-shaped... we really are still grossly affectionate).


So, to sum up, I really am still here and around. Just not online. And it was due to fear and loss and both. And I will strive to come online once a week, if just to update my writing (which has been really awesome).

Also, I humble request detailed comments about your own goings-on since I was online last. Even a sentence is okay. I just want to make sure you are all okay, and I think it would take WAY too long to try to read that far back (if I can).

A detailed post following this one will be locked, as it goes into details about personal stuff. So if I have not provided an acceptable explanation, you can probably figure it out from it (maybe). If you are reading this as a public post but would like to know more, just comment here and I will explain as much as I feel comfortable doing so in public. Otherwise, PM me.

Once again, sorry.

And, hello.

[identity profile] lalunatique.livejournal.com 2013-07-31 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
This reminds me that I really should make provisions for updates if something were to happen to me. I've been disappearing during periods of busyness, too, and I know I worried at least one of my online friends when I was unresponsive to her messages. I am so sorry about your loss--the senselessness of death is just terrifying, and makes the grief even worse. Be kind to yourself, and sometimes it's good to hide away while the wound scabs over.

As for me, it's been a madly hectic time since late June to mid-July because of a major conference where I was one of the main organizers. I have some regrets about my performance, but I'm glad the event ended successfully and I learned a lot of stuff along the way. Unfortunately some of those were painful lessons and a friendship grew strained along the way, with both her flaws and mine on full display. I'll have to watch and see where things go with this person, though I'm pretty sure we won't be as close as we used to be. That stings a little, but that's life and it's not like she was a really close friend. I don't know what I'd do if something went wrong with my closest friends. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with that scenario yet, hopefully ever.

Then, the week after the stress and mess of the conference Mark and I traveled for a week on this lovely island. Driving, bicycling, lazing on a beach... great times. Wrap-up work from the conference followed me for the first couple of days of it, but fortunately that's all done now. Married life is great as ever, a source of comfort and a break from all the other crap in life. Should I be like an overbearing aunt and nag you about when you're going to tie the knot? ;)

And now we're back. It feels like summer vacation has started in earnest and I'm acting it, too, by being extra lazy. There's a lot to do--I have to get started on my dissertation, prep for next semester's classes (I'm teaching two) and keep up on my part-time work. There's also roleplaying stuff to be done, with a mini-convention coming up where I have a table and a publishing venture that I'm working on with Mark.

But heck, none of that is as easy and pleasant as shooting the breeze on LJ. :D Ugh, responsibility and real life. Welcome back, talk to you again!

[identity profile] yukinoomoni.livejournal.com 2013-07-31 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
True. I did find out yesterday that writing it all out - just the process of it - was very soothing and helpful. And easy. So I plan on trying to write before I take a sock off, which since last night has worked.

Your life is so busy, and you work so hard online, too, from last I checked! I have no clue how you do it all (cloning? magic? slavery? =P) but I am happy you do it. Now that Korra is on DVD, I really hope that it will give me new vigour to work on fanfic again. Or maybe I could watch all four sets... hm...

Damn. I just looked over my ff.net profile. Have I really not written in so long? And hey, I never did finish that second long fanfic project for the Mai/Zuko big bang community. Ugh. I loved that story. I want the rest finished!

Pffft. I'm so sad =D

[identity profile] lalunatique.livejournal.com 2013-08-01 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
My army of monkeys with typewriters would like to thank you for your high opinion of their productivity. Though really, my current frenzy of LJ activity is more pent-up frustration than anything, from the period of real-life-enforced silence. Private and public writing are both freeing in their different ways, and a part of me just can't seem to function without going on a giant rant in public every once in a while.

I've written a few pieces of LoK fanfic, and want to write at least one more. I should probably get it done before Book 2 comes out, since it's a (critical) parody of Book 1. You should totally get back in the fanfic writing groove, too, if original writing and real life allow it.