The Thessaliad Redux

I've been more or less maintaining radio silence lately - sorry. However, had to break it for the following, ganked from redstapler:

Which Torchwood Character Are You? Your Result: Ianto Jones   You most resemble the team's composed, sarcastic general support. Passionate but excellent at hiding it under a reserved exterior, you care deeply about people and have a hard time letting go. The downside of keeping such a tight leash on your external emotions is that sometimes you lose control and have to let it all out. Competent and hard-working, you like to be on top of things.
Toshiko Sato
Gwen Cooper
Owen Harper
Captain Jack Harkness
Which Torchwood Character Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I can't decide whether this is incredibly apropos or just so very, very wrong...

Groundbreaking thinker, hmm? Bouncing off the walls, more like. Eh well, it'll do for the time being. Much like darkdanc3r, I didn't really like the questions much - it might have been better as a 'tick all that apply' thing and let it sort it out on the basis of what won out. People are always a mass of contradictions and it's hard for anyone to accurately sum up which one comes to the forefront more often. I mean, I'm a shy extrovert - love people, hate the idea that I might make an idiot of myself in front of people I don't know very well. However, I had to tick 'extrovert' because instead of just being shy and wishing I could talk to people, I have a tendency to say "fuck it" and be extroverted anyway, cringing inside as my natural absurdist tendencies take over until a sort of comfort level is achieved with the people I'm being myself around.

...I ought to go out and do something on Saturday. Oriental City before it shuts down, maybe? Quick yomp to the Trocadero to play some Silent Scope? (This'll amuse you, nightskywarlock; I nearly called it 'Embarcadero'. Evidently my inner Eshu wants to go back to San Francisco.) I could take iMisc out and get some writing done someplace. Even if it's just settling in the Coffee Republic down the road with the free WiFi; I really ought to get out of the house for something that's not work. Might inspire me to actually write something, as there's the ideas swarm again and I'm not going to get anything done if I'm going to be distracted by, among other things, "Hey, maybe I should stick up my party flag and see if I can get my quest items for my limit break"...

...And now there's a building I need to design in Sims 2 as I now have an Idea. I think I finally got a handle on this one story idea that's been driving me nuts and now maybe it can actually move again instead of sitting around in a wheat field in Manitoba looking bemused.

...

This LJ post was brought to you by whatever overcaffeinated sparkly place in my brain that spawns the voice of Astrid Hawthorn. Have a nice day.

Was going to go and do the FFXI thing, but my every attempt results in "The server is too busy or not responding. Please check your connections and try again". Well, considering that Firefox is generally the first thing to bork when the Sourcebook Central 2.0 router needs resetting, I don't think the problem is me.

This is a pity because there were things I wanted to do, thanks muchly. For a start, if I'm levelling White Mage, there's a whole bunch of spells I need. To get them, I require not only access to the game, but a whole lot more gil than I currently have. At least there are always good and simple ways of building up my gil stores (particularly since last night's levelling session got me more water crystals than ... no, wait, I know exactly what to do with them. Bug broth and the resultant large amount of gil!) ... but I can't exactly do that if, y'know, the game won't let me in.

Eh well. I'll keep trying and in the meantime, I can try to make sense of my notes on what I am currently referring to (for brevity and simplicity) as Misfit Nation. You know, get them in tidy format. I've pretty much sorted out the timeline ... I think, anyway. Look, there's never any sure way of telling when I'm done with a project, because the next thing I know, some other idea's come at me out of left field and Thren's demanding I fit it in somewhere and there's this one spot in the timeline / plot / whatever where it would fit perfectly but it does lead up to something interesting here which expands to a whole other timeline segment and... Well, you get the idea. But I think I've at least gone as far as I want to go on timeline and, beyond working out a few detail points, there's not much more I need to do as foundation work. I was about to say that I've never been very keen on foundation work, but that's wrong - it's just that generally, foundation work just happens. Now, though, I'm learning that some of my projects turn out to be group projects and if I want to work with dodgyhoodoo or anyone else on this thing, I need to have my foundation work visible to others. It's like showing my work in maths classes. I always hated doing that, too - if I got the right answer, who cares why?

Well, anyone who wants to play a RPG based on the world I just created, for a start. Which brings me to the fact that I still don't know what to do with this world. I mean, there it is - in the last two days, I've written a thirty-year timeline of political, social, evolutional, technological and economic development and now I don't know what to do with it. It's a relatively simple choice, I suppose - game, or novel? But then again, it's never 'simple' with me - when an idea has legs (and dodgyhoodoo assures me it has; he goes "*squee**poing*" whenever it gets brought up) I want to use it to its best advantage. Of course, dodgyhoodoo also says that it could be both novel and game; novel to get me fully confident in the world, and then a game. He has great confidence in my ability to write a novel in a short amount of time, I think. I mean, he's been encouraging me to get something done for ACG for quite some time now, and I can't say I blame him, given the investment he's made in the company. Still, if he's content to put this "idea with legs" on hold while I write a novel set in the possible game world, he must be fairly convinced that I could get the actual novel written in quite short order...

...And I guess he's right to. How many years running have I successfully completed NaNoWriMo now? I could at least have a Misfit Nation novella done by my birthday, at the rate I normally go. Now I just need characters - the problem with doing all that background work is that you tend to lose sight of the individuals involved when you're writing all the global stuff. Eh, well. If I can whip up RPG characters for all in the space of a couple of hours, character sheets included, I think I can come up with some good novel characters much more quickly as plot demands. Now all I need is plot. But I do have a few ideas that I want to try to work with ... but then, don't I always?

Anyway, that's stuff to think about while I wait for FFXI to stop being stupid. And in the meantime... ( Quiz thing - the picture's really pretty. )

I finally started reading Megatokyo again - not sure why. One of those things I did to deal with a bout of insomnia, I suppose. Much like this quiz, then, really - I only did it 'cos I can't sleep. Again.

So anyway:

You scored as Seraphim. You are Seraphim! </td> Seraphim 95% Dom 70% Miho 70% Yuki 60% Largo 55% Piro 40% Kimiko 40% Erika 30% Which Megatokyo Character Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

Yeah, I guess.

Your clan is a dysfunctional one. That is because you are a Malkavian. Something is poisonous about this clan's blood that drives all those embraced to madness. However, in this madness, you tend to have great insight. Unfortunately, people just take it as senseless ramblings. In every family there is an insane one. You're it. What Vampire Clan Do You Belong To?

I like to think I make more sense than this, but I suppose it's better than Toreador...

This one's been doing the rounds, and I'm amused by some of the results, so...

( Buffy quizzage )

...yay?

( Ooh, the pretty colours... )
Meme courtesy ilyena_sylph

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

Muh? Maybe?

Yesterday's segue from 'day' to 'evening' did not go well. The commute wasn't so bad, all things considered - my first bus wasn't overcrowded and the second one came along so quickly that I'd only just had one puff of my smoke, which I snuffed and put away so as not to waste it. It seems a thing to do, if possible or convenient. So when I got off the bus again closer to home, I took that one out and lit it. And this bloke comes up to me and asks for a cigarette. Now, I did have a few smokes, but I don't make it a habit to hand out my cigarettes to random strangers ... though I will sometimes, if the pack's basically full and/or I'm feeling generous. Neither of those were the case, and I didn't like the way he was looking at me, so I said, "No, sorry" and walked on past him.

Or at least, I tried to. Next thing I saw was this arsehole's hand approaching my face at speed. So I dodged enough to get my right shoulder between his hand and my face, and he managed to pinch-grab a section of my shoulder hard enough for it to still hurt now. I followed the dodge through and turned around to glare in total incredulity at this total nut-sack who had apparently decided that trying to grab a burning cigarette out of someone's mouth was a smart move and a reasonable thing to do when you've been told 'no'. I took the smoke out of my mouth at that point, figuring that if the mongrel decided to try something again, it would make a reasonable weapon. But in the face of glare and me essentially arming myself, the guy just gave me this sort of smirk that can be roughly translated to "Gotcha, bitch" and we both went out separate ways.

How do people wind up believing that it's okay to grab things from other people, just because they want them? How does it happen that simple courtesy and respect for others goes so far out the window so fast? I will never, ever understand.

And in other news, that's pretty much it for me and Doctor Who now. First Ecclestone had to go, and there are varying opinions about Tennant but even without the mad gurning, the scripts aren't doing him any favours in my view. Now Billie Piper's off at the end of this season, and I shudder to think who's next. On the other hand, it might be a shrewd move on the part of casting directors who figure that maybe they can get a Doctor's Companion who actually has the kind of chemistry with Tennant that Piper and Ecclestone had. I could go on, but I'm getting to the stage now where I can turn around to the people who say, "Tennant's not that bad" and say, "Maybe, but he's not that good either and it's a pity, but I think I'll just stick with my Ecclestone!Who box sets, thanks..." Matter of personal preference, I suppose, so not something to get worked up about. I will be paying attention to how Rose leaves the show, though, because I really hope they do her justice. It was a fantastic surprise to find out that Piper can act, and I'm glad she's moving on to other things, but if they don't give her some really good way to go out, I am going to find the scriptwriters and cut their hearts out with a spoon.

(Because it's dull, you twit. It'll hurt more.)

And before I go to lunch, finally I can actually view the answer to that Star Trek character quiz that's been doing the rounds.

( First clue; I be an alien... )

Except I have the sense not to wear that god-awful grey spandex thing.

This just amused me, so I thought I'd pass it on.

Your Stripper Song Is

by Nine Inch Nails "You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you Help me I broke apart my insides, help me I’ve got no Soul to tell" When you dance, it's a little scary - and a lot sexy.