DUDES! DUDETTES!

I just posted three chapters in a row within a week and a half span.

That.

Is.

UNPRECEDENTED!

I'm seriously proud of myself! Especially since a lot of the notes for Hey Let's Switch Turns! future chapters were inadvertently lost/stolen. I put a lot of production notes on my phone and I lost the phone a few weeks ago on the subway. I was hoping someone had the decency to turn it into the lost and found, but alas, no.

So I'll be getting a new phone this weekend (almost got the iPhone). But I won't put any extensive production notes on it.

I actually wrote out some of the later chapters on a pad of paper.. but that'll come in a few months.

These past few chapters I updated deal with Helga and Arnold's punishment from Wartz, as well as the re-introduction of Brainus, Mismatched, and Ash (thought I forgot all about them, huh?) I'll continue with them for a few more chapters before jumping either to God or Jesus or even the Dark Side... then I'll hope back to Helga and Arnold.

Super proud of myself!

In other fanfic-related news, Hellerick wants to translate Hey Let's Switch Turns! in Russian. To which I said, go for it... but I only want chapters one through six translated for now. I'm extremely self-conscious of my work and think it's so unworthy to even be out there since I find so many mistakes with it. I recently redid chapters one through I think... nine? So until I revise all of it to my liking, I think that one through six should be enough.

So yay! Hiatus is sort of over!

I actually decided to not call it a hiatus but just a "writing break" until I'm motivated to write. Lately, I've just been like "WRIIITEE HEY LET'S SWITCH TURNS!" even though it's taking a sort of dramatic turn.

And not "dramatic" as in "oh my god they all died"... more like the tone is shifting from aimless humor to semi-serious romance. That's partially because I can't really write aimless humor anymore, and partially because I look at Arnold and Helga through different eyes than I did before... all I can really see is Helga suffering and Arnold trying to help her.. only for it to turn out that they're both hurt in different ways and they can reach each other the way no one else can.

So yeah. This and that. I hope the readers like it.

Taking another week off the story. Finishing up exams and papers. Deadlines! Blegh!

A sad thing that happened: an older friend passed away; he was a renowned Disney character voice, so you might know him. RIP, I shall miss you old friend. Can't believe you're not here anymore. Seems like only yesterday that I saw you. Wish I gave you a hug.

Also went to Disneyland after my last visit when I was 12 - nine years ago! Wow!

Time for summer school!! :D Yippeee!!!!

XD

Not posting a chapter up again for the second week in a row. But I got a good deal of writing done so I wasn't slacking in particular. In fact, I worked out some plot fumbles!

Anyway, if anyone reads this just know that next time I update, it'll probably be multiple chapters all at once, and they're steadily getting darker.

Yipes!

-BG

I know, I know - I missed an update earlier this week. Didn't even file an excuse. Sometimes life does that and I figure, hey, I was good for five weeks.. take a breather this time around!

But it doesn't mean I forgot about the story! I actually have brainstormed up until the very end what HLST! is going be like. By my estimations, I've already planned out until two or three chapters until the end.

Spoilers:
-Someone from the past chapters is going to be a major villain, as well as an unexpected help from the dark side.
-Someone will rescue someone else.
-Someone will fall in love with someone (and it's not who you think!)
-The later chapters will be progressively darker, the very opposite feeling of the first chapters, which is sort of poetic depending on how you interpret it. But it's good. Really, really, really good.
-Someone will also almost die.
-Someone's parents will show up in a chapter.

Mwa ha ha ha!

I'll go back to brainstorming. There may be a chapter or two (or even several) up next week or the week after that. I'm going to probably post up as many chapter as I can because I totally hate this one a week schedule I'm on. ARRGH, STORY, FINISH!

Wow, I am finally starting to feel exhausted and run-down. From what? Working a full-time job and also going to college 3/4 of the time? Or being in a romantic relationship with more ups and downs than a San Francisco trolley car? Meh.

This is the author's note I was going to include in the most recent chapter I uploaded to Hey Let's Switch Turns!:

Everyone likes to make fun of Mr. Simmons for (possibly) being gay just because of his gentle demeanor and of course, the name association with a famous fitness guru. I like to make it a little ambigious. After all - he could just be a well meaning bachelor who has no real clue what to do around ladies!

In fact, I think Mr. Wartz's questions would make him uncomfortable just because, well, uh, IT'S PERSONAL INFORMATION! Not because of anything weird. (I was sort of tempted to put a little 'gay humor' in here but decided to nix it since why would it be funny to laugh at someone's sexuality?) Hopefully I did him justice in this chapter. I always wanted Simmons to call Wartz, well, "crazy" to his face.

I'm glad about the reader response to this story. I've been really brainstorming this fanfic and I think I've made a rough outline to the end which (I was right) could very well likely be another twenty or so chapters. Probably more.

Just so you know the next chapter with be the last Arnold-Helga centric one... for at least one chapter (in which I'll refocus on our favorite deities and SCHEMING! I know you love scheming!) Brainy's coming back-

(Brainy wheezes, "wahooooo..")

-as well as CURLY, and Miss Matched with her self-appointed sidekick Ash.. and maybe even a Muse or two! Not to forget: GOD!

Gaaah, so much to look forward to in the next few chapters.
 

Yeeaah, feelin' happy because for some reason my writing comes really alive whenever I write about deities. I've always been fascinated with the notion of gods and religion and stuff, despite never really being religious myself. It's more like I'm a comedic scholar who happens to write very well on a fanfiction site. Nice.

Personally, I love Mr. Simmons as a character. Honestly - he's NEVER come across as "gay" to me when I watch the shows. I mean, I understand the interpretation, I get it, it makes sense in a way - but it never resonated with me, y'know? And some of the writers who write Hey Arnold! fanfiction are really cruel with that concept and depict him (forgive me for saying) as a "fag".

I mean, okay, nothing wrong with homosexuality, and for all we know Craig Bartlett meant for Mr. Simmons to seem or be gay but Nickolodeon's strict guidelines on what was and wasn't appropriate for children to watch (like Miriam Pataki's supposed alcoholism and depression and Chocolate Boy's veiled look of an drug addict). Hey Arnold! paints more of a 'sunnier' look of depressing inner-city life for people through a kid's eyes.

But I just don't see any concrete proof for Mr. Simmons being one way or another. He's not depicted with a partner, male or female. He's actually very asexual when you think about it, because episodes that have him in it just focus him on teaching, guiding, not really uncomfortable in any terms.

This is just a bit of a free-based introspection, not a rant because really, it doesn't matter if he is or isn't gay. I just think it's unfair to him to associate him with a sexuality and make it a sort of joke, as if it's a negative or funny to be gay or straight. What? Just because he's in touch with his feminity and wants to wade through caution before judging someone harshly - that means he's a flamining homo? That's actually kind of b.s. in my eyes. It's wrong that writers out there in the Fanfiction world tout it out like fact or something to be poked at - and it sets a really bad example to readers.

Right, right, enough political correctness. I don't give out my opinions which is why it's on a blog that is not shoved into people's faces. I'm open to being challenged but really, what sort of view is that to be challenged. It's not like I'm staking a claim really other than "I don't see any proof that Mr. Simmons is either heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual" and even go so far as to say "it feels like he's actually just asexual" because that's how he comes off as.

ANYWAY

So. I updated a really short chapter and I'm STILL working on that Weekenders Chapter. It's like I'm putting off all things that require thought. Maybe I overloaded a while ago. Or maybe making the promise of a weekly update was too much for me.

Maybe I should just upload when I finish with a chapter instead of just "wait". After all, it's not like I'm getting a ton of reviews on average per chapter because either the readership for Hey Arnold! fanfiction is down, the readership for my story is down because of infrequent prolonged hiatuses, or the readership is truly intimidated by the sight that a story actually is eight years long in the making, twenty two chapters in progress, and still going strong.

Advertising hasn't really achieved MUCH by way of popping into forums and even establishing a livejournal. Maybe trying to see results after four weeks is too soon? Or maybe four weeks is too long?

I don't know.

All I know is I'm pretty much writing for myself these days and I'm totally annoyed that this story isn't finished yet.

I also suck at scheduling myself. But until I get better hours or someone out there pays just for my rent - writing takes a second wing these days because my schooling comes first (after work, ha!)

~_~

Boooo.

Back to the story: I think for the next few chapters, it's going to be therapeutic to write about God, Brainy/Brainus, Mismatched, Jesus, Archangels... so on. Just because it's pure silliness and inventive. And because no one's really reading anymore anyway, I'm totally going to go with it.

Also: ashamed to admit, I wanted to write some steamy M-rated Full Moon wo Sagashite fanfiction after writing thirty episodes the past weekend. I know, so wrong. I resisted, thankfully. It's bad enough I've still got Labyrinth and a Beetlejuice projects on hold, not to forget a possible Hey Arnold! fic in the future - don't need to drag myself through Full Moon.

But.

Idea.

So.

Goooood.

GAH.

-BG

Wow, I am finally starting to feel exhausted and run-down. From what? Working a full-time job and also going to college 3/4 of the time? Or being in a romantic relationship with more ups and downs than a San Francisco trolley car? Meh.

This is the author's note I was going to include in the most recent chapter I uploaded to Hey Let's Switch Turns!:

Everyone likes to make fun of Mr. Simmons for (possibly) being gay just because of his gentle demeanor and of course, the name association with a famous fitness guru. I like to make it a little ambigious. After all - he could just be a well meaning bachelor who has no real clue what to do around ladies!

In fact, I think Mr. Wartz's questions would make him uncomfortable just because, well, uh, IT'S PERSONAL INFORMATION! Not because of anything weird. (I was sort of tempted to put a little 'gay humor' in here but decided to nix it since why would it be funny to laugh at someone's sexuality?) Hopefully I did him justice in this chapter. I always wanted Simmons to call Wartz, well, "crazy" to his face.

I'm glad about the reader response to this story. I've been really brainstorming this fanfic and I think I've made a rough outline to the end which (I was right) could very well likely be another twenty or so chapters. Probably more.

Just so you know the next chapter with be the last Arnold-Helga centric one... for at least one chapter (in which I'll refocus on our favorite deities and SCHEMING! I know you love scheming!) Brainy's coming back-

(Brainy wheezes, "wahooooo..")

-as well as CURLY, and Miss Matched with her self-appointed sidekick Ash.. and maybe even a Muse or two! Not to forget: GOD!

Gaaah, so much to look forward to in the next few chapters.
 

Yeeaah, feelin' happy because for some reason my writing comes really alive whenever I write about deities. I've always been fascinated with the notion of gods and religion and stuff, despite never really being religious myself. It's more like I'm a comedic scholar who happens to write very well on a fanfiction site. Nice.

Personally, I love Mr. Simmons as a character. Honestly - he's NEVER come across as "gay" to me when I watch the shows. I mean, I understand the interpretation, I get it, it makes sense in a way - but it never resonated with me, y'know? And some of the writers who write Hey Arnold! fanfiction are really cruel with that concept and depict him (forgive me for saying) as a "fag".

I mean, okay, nothing wrong with homosexuality, and for all we know Craig Bartlett meant for Mr. Simmons to seem or be gay but Nickolodeon's strict guidelines on what was and wasn't appropriate for children to watch (like Miriam Pataki's supposed alcoholism and depression and Chocolate Boy's veiled look of an drug addict). Hey Arnold! paints more of a 'sunnier' look of depressing inner-city life for people through a kid's eyes.

But I just don't see any concrete proof for Mr. Simmons being one way or another. He's not depicted with a partner, male or female. He's actually very asexual when you think about it, because episodes that have him in it just focus him on teaching, guiding, not really uncomfortable in any terms.

This is just a bit of a free-based introspection, not a rant because really, it doesn't matter if he is or isn't gay. I just think it's unfair to him to associate him with a sexuality and make it a sort of joke, as if it's a negative or funny to be gay or straight. What? Just because he's in touch with his feminity and wants to wade through caution before judging someone harshly - that means he's a flamining homo? That's actually kind of b.s. in my eyes. It's wrong that writers out there in the Fanfiction world tout it out like fact or something to be poked at - and it sets a really bad example to readers.

Right, right, enough political correctness. I don't give out my opinions which is why it's on a blog that is not shoved into people's faces. I'm open to being challenged but really, what sort of view is that to be challenged. It's not like I'm staking a claim really other than "I don't see any proof that Mr. Simmons is either heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual" and even go so far as to say "it feels like he's actually just asexual" because that's how he comes off as.

ANYWAY

So. I updated a really short chapter and I'm STILL working on that Weekenders Chapter. It's like I'm putting off all things that require thought. Maybe I overloaded a while ago. Or maybe making the promise of a weekly update was too much for me.

Maybe I should just upload when I finish with a chapter instead of just "wait". After all, it's not like I'm getting a ton of reviews on average per chapter because either the readership for Hey Arnold! fanfiction is down, the readership for my story is down because of infrequent prolonged hiatuses, or the readership is truly intimidated by the sight that a story actually is eight years long in the making, twenty two chapters in progress, and still going strong.

Advertising hasn't really achieved MUCH by way of popping into forums and even establishing a livejournal. Maybe trying to see results after four weeks is too soon? Or maybe four weeks is too long?

I don't know.

All I know is I'm pretty much writing for myself these days and I'm totally annoyed that this story isn't finished yet.

I also suck at scheduling myself. But until I get better hours or someone out there pays just for my rent - writing takes a second wing these days because my schooling comes first (after work, ha!)

~_~

Boooo.

Back to the story: I think for the next few chapters, it's going to be therapeutic to write about God, Brainy/Brainus, Mismatched, Jesus, Archangels... so on. Just because it's pure silliness and inventive. And because no one's really reading anymore anyway, I'm totally going to go with it.

Also: ashamed to admit, I wanted to write some steamy M-rated Full Moon wo Sagashite fanfiction after writing thirty episodes the past weekend. I know, so wrong. I resisted, thankfully. It's bad enough I've still got Labyrinth and a Beetlejuice projects on hold, not to forget a possible Hey Arnold! fic in the future - don't need to drag myself through Full Moon.

But.

Idea.

So.

Goooood.

GAH.

-BG

Hellerick posted a funny review to my recently updated story, "Hey Let's Switch Turns" on ff.net. Something he said spurred me to reply back to him immediately, eager to correct him.

He wrote that it was Arnold that launched himself on Helga in front of Wartz.

I wrote back,

Lol, you are mistaken ole boy. It was Helga who technically forced herself on Arnold while being in Arnold's body making it look like it was Arnold forcing himself on Helga in front of Big Bob.

Confusing, I know.

I like to think that Helga discovers that she's attracted to Arnold's essence, so to speak... not just his outward appearance. That's why she reacts the way she does; his personality flips a switch in her that she can't control and it makes her go beserk, especially in this situation. She knows it's Arnold in her body which is why she glosses over the fact that it's HER body.

I like your idea. I may use it. I'm still working on the Weekenders chapter. My life has been a little hectic lately so I'm glad I wrote a few chapters more than I usually do because I've just been swamped and writing-blocked. Blah. I have until next week to really get cracking on writing more otherwise it may another inadvertant hiatus.

But I digress. I think Phoebe will come to that conclusion that it's definitely not Helga, but she can't bring herself to believe it no matter how much evidence amounts to the answer. Maybe because it's irrational, or maybe because it's not the answer she wanted to expect, but it plays a part. Gerald on the other hand would readily believe such a thing - so what I'm doing is playing on opposites: Gerald believes, Phoebe doesn't, but they both fit together naturally so it's funny. But mind you, I'm not going to write about the two until I'm near the end of this story. I DID want to work on a sequel to this so time will tell if it's in the cards for me to write a continuation.

Hope that answers a few questions,
BG
 

I wanted to post that on there to clarify to everyone else that this is going to be a reoccuring problem in the story: Arnold's going to be forced to deal with Helga's hormones and her body's urges whenever he's around Helga (who's in his body) and likewise, Helga's dilemma in Arnold's body is that she's suddenly unsure of herself, and uncomfortable being alone with Arnold...

Which should clue you into my own theory that Arnold secretly likes Helga BACK even when he's not aware of it.

He is, after all, very dense.

Anyway, the next chapter is going to be so much fun to write and read only because they get into more trouble than they intended to be in! Also, it may just be the transition chapter back into the otherworld. Look for Three Stooges-esque Archangels, Hippie Jesus's, and flaming golden chariots.

-BG

I am so tired.

I updated Hey Let's Switch Turns! - it's a good thing I wrote the chapter (and the one ahead of it) ahead of time because this weekend was SUCH a flippin downer!

I shall write more later but I'm adament this newfound life drama WILL NOT KEEP ME FROM FINISHING MY STORIES... AGAIN! I had to deal with this once before and it's better just to barrel through it than hide and just forget my writing. Nope. No sirree.

Gonna do it.

-BG

So I talked to Hellerick today who reviewed that me rearranging chapters in HA! made it hard to follow.

I get that. But I had to explain to him I did it for my own peace of mind as a writer, not for another soul (okay, maybe a LITTLE BIT for new readers who'll get a better sense of coherence and continuity). So yeah, it creates more 'pointless' work for me, but I like to think of it as striving for perfection or even as an exercise in writing characters that I haven't written on a regular basis.

I'm actually looking forward to how the Weekenders will turn out. I've got a STRONG inkling that instead of one chapter, it'll be divied up into two or even three parts. That's to preserve the length limit I have in mind but also because I think the first chapter will just be about Saturday, then I might switch over to the OtherWorld for a second, and then possibly the third will be about a nice hellish Sunday on which God strokes his metaphorical beard and skulks.

One note about the Otherworld: I LOVE writing about them, but I know that ever since I updated two big chapters just focused on Ditey and the gang, I might've burned out my audience. I thought it might be better if I divided those two humongous chapters into several smaller ones for new audiences to digest, but it didn't look like it took either way. So now I'm very hesitant about even writing even a LITTLE bit about them which sucks because you know, I want to get back to the Mismatched/Brainus subplot - I'm not going to give it away entirely but Mismatched does have a hand in getting Arnold and Helga together finally and it's no secret that I'm going to pair Mismatched with Brainus (to rid him of that darned Helga crush.)

One thing I've been trying to do is really be vocal about my fanfic in forums and communities that specialize either in HA! romance or HA! in general. I'm not exactly sure if it's successful because there's no way to gauge it, but I want to be optimistic that some people get curious and click on the link.

I even finally revised earlier chapters and spruced them up a bit, trying to give 'em a little bit of jazz. No dice, it seems.

I'd like to link my forum on here on FF.net, because it looks like despite my earnest urgings, there's little to no traffic on it! Bah! I made that forum for a reason, people! To kick my butt to update. If more people participated and sent me messages, I would've probably gone back to writing sooner (even though it would've been the reason of being harried to.) Then again, I make myself too available. I give out my e-mail address, my screen name, my LJ, a forum - and yet, nothing.

Anyways.

I think I should mention in this post that I'm currently writing the last few chapters of Dreams of Blue Skies. I'll most likely be revising it after that's accomplished and then finish it completely. I was planning on doing a Q and A for the very last chapter but since FF.net outlaws that sort of submission, I think I'll host the Q and A either on a live chat or on my LJ (probably my LJ because there's very little chance many people would sign onto do a live chat).

That's all I've got to say for the moment,

BG

WELCOME TO MY INCREDIBLY UNINTERESTING LIVEJOURNAL.

Prepare to be bored to death.

Also: I write fanfiction and I hate twitter. Is it wrong to hate Twitter? O_o

Just updated Hey Let's Switch Turns!

Let me know what you think of it!

-BG