A post commenting on a comment posted...

This "Extra Strength Nobody Cares" post has been brought to you by our sponsors: sleep deprivation and the number 420. (...just walk away slowly, and don't make eye contact...)

Xalthal said: "Dunno if you actually are reading the comments..."

Yes, I do generally try to read all the comments that get posted. :) Even the negative ones are appreciated - the honest complaints and criticism taken to heart, with the sad whiny trolls providing a dose of comic relief.

Not always though. A couple times when I was struggling along with difficulty, I would run into a troll comment that I was weak enough at the time to actually fall for and get upset over. I fairly quickly learned to avoid reading comments if I was having doubts of my own about the project.

And then yet again, occasionally the nastiest comments are my favoutite ones to get. In early January, as I was nearing the first beta release, 'tornado261' posted this: "It's DEAD or a HOAX. I don't know and I don't care which (but I've got my money on the latter). That is all." Though afterit was an understandable expression of frustration after over seven months of silence from me, that comment got under my skin though in a different way. I found myself eager to make tornado eat those words as soon as possible. It was just a few days later that I finished the first complete beta build, sent it off to my beta team, and then finally broke my long long silence, announcing making to beta here and to /u/.

- CountPacula - rose-at-sonohanabira-dot-countpacula-dot-com

(A parting question: this might sound stupid, but how many of /u/ realized what those pictures that I was posting in the thread I started were exactly? I don't know which question is dumber: "Did any of you notice?" or "Was there anyone who did -not- notice?" More importantly, does anybody other than me even -care-? )

Holy crap - just three days left?!

(A warning to the squeamish and jaded among you: this post includes some personal details, and may be considered Too Much Information.)

I'm scared.

This is the first time I've ever attempted let alone come this close to finishing a public project like this. I've had a lot of self-doubt along the way, and there were times that I was paralyzed with fear of failure so much that I was literally unable to work on the project at all, thinking that there was absolutely NO way I could ever actually finish, so why bother trying.

For a long time, I couldn't even bring myself to make a post here, even just to let you all know that I was still alive, because I didn't want to give any potentially false hopes. It was not until I had managed to bring the translation up to a beta level - pretty rough yet in a few places perhaps, but still essentially complete - that I finally felt comfortable and confident enough to break my long silence.

And so, despite all of the doubts, we have almost arrived at our destination. Already having gone through several beta revisions since my last post, the script is currently undergoing one final round of proofreading before being packaged up for release. Likewise, the graphical modifications have been checked over, the few issues that were discovered are now fixed, and indeed, the graphical part of the translation patch I now consider complete - packed up waiting to be released.

So yes, I'm scared. But I'm also hopeful.

Scared of what you all will think of my work once it gets into your hands in a few days. But then again, as I read over and play through my translation, I also feel a tiny glimmer of pride in what I've managed to accomplish with it. The people who have played the beta translation have been quite pleased with what I've done - including the main person for whom I started this project in the first place: my wife (Yay Canada!), CountPokey, who now has finally been able to read this wonderfully sweet story together with me. One way or another, I hope there will soon be at least a few of you out there who will enjoy as well.

- CountPacula - rose-at-sonohanabira-dot-countpacula-dot-com

One final thing: I've given the current beta version to a friend of mine, with instructions to post it publicly if something happens to me. I'm know I'm just being paranoid, but - just in case - I'd prefer to be remembered as somebody who actually managed to keep her promises and deliver on them, rather than be dismissed as just yet another troll.