GAFF Gabbery pit
Feb. 28th, 2005 12:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrixrefugeeSo my posts on GAFF's Gabbery section won't be lost forever (since the Site Guru deletes inactive threads that are more than a month old)... I present to you the Pit of MR's Posts:
How old is too old to trick-or-treat?
I voted high school, but I meant that in terms of "going-door-to-door-collecting-candy" trick or treating. Not "wearing-a-costume-and-going-for-a-walk-through-the-neighborhood-on-Halloween-night": you're never too old for that! I did it last year with my buddy Mark: I dressed as Joan of Arc, he was himself. This year, I'm dressing as Death, from the "Sandman" series, which almost constitutes "dressing as myself", except Death wears more eyemakeup than I do.
What gender are you?
As far as my chromosomes and plumbing and emotions go, I'm female. As far as the top half of my body and my taste in clothes go, I'm male. Hm. Maybe instead of dressing this Hallowe'en as Death, from the "Sandman" series, I should dress as Death's younger sibling Desire, who's also more or less androgynous (and whom I personally like a lot better; I think he/she's a hottie!).
So what do you think of kids?
Aubrey wrote:
It breaks me heart that so many on here seem to consider kids as pleasent as fungus and refer to them as 'brats', or 'spawn'. They're human beings and don't deserve to be generalized as monsters anymore than southerners deserve to be generalized as rednecks.
Whew! Someone has articulately expressed the feelings I've had pent-up within, and which were threatening to explode in a loud and very impolite rant. That said, I'd like one, *maybe* two kids of my own someday... I just gotta find the right guy to be their dad...
The trouble is, I can't seem to find a guy who'll so much as give me the time of the day, let alone get to know me or win my heart and marry me.
Future Fanbrats
The "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" fandom wanes and waxes very unpredictably. A lot of the early writers have moved on to other things, but Bryan "Pazu" Harrison continues to post new stories every so often. Once in a while, new writers come along and add their glosses on the canon. We've got a couple new fanwriters emerging in our midst, so the fandom continues, like David's 2,000 year vigil...
The "Matrix" fandom is about to get a new lease on life: the "Matrix Online" MORPG is slated to start soon, and since some of the storyline in summary form, and video clips of significant events are going to be made availible online, for the non-players (like myself), there'll be more food for thought for the true fans... and since the damn Twins appear to be making a comeback, we'll be seeing more bad Twinfics from the squee-gurlz who manage to find their way to the MxO site... I'm hoping that the vague statement regarding the return of the Twins is just another of the Wachowski Brothers's vague predictions.
I don't want to, but I do (Crushing on characters)
DeathWynd wrote:
crowdog66 wrote:
And that's all I'm willing to admit to.
Not admitting to Gigolo Joe, are you?
But I will!
Two people here mentioned having a crush on Lucien from "The Sandman": add me in! (I'm a bookworm: having a gentleman friend who's a librarian would be heavenly... especially if the collection he's in charge of is full of chimeric works that never got published/written in the world as we know it.) And I am I the only one who thinks Dream looks like Neil Gaiman's spookier-looking twin?
::Points to her avatar:: I'm also a Merovingian groupie, which is really wierd because I detested the character the first time I saw "The Matrix: Reloaded":
1st viewing: "Gahh... a Frenchman who's got the same attitude as the French nation: refusing to give a hand during a crictical time." ((This was back when France refused to help out the U. S. during the Second Gulf War. Please, please, don't shoot me for my political views: this isn't the place for it, and besides, I have a right to my own opinion, ne?)) "And he sure ain't much to look at... That's gotta be a hair piece..."
2nd viewing: "Well, if you can look past the snootiness with a capital snoo, he's not so bad... he's not so bad to look at, either, especially for an older guy.
By the time "Revolutions" came out:
1st viewing: "They shoulda given him more screen time..."
2nd viewing: ::I'm feeling hot... I'm feeling hot... I'm almost spontaneously combusting...:: "WHOOO!"
I'm in the process of working on a "Constantine" fic, and I can just imagine the kind of reviews I'll get for it, once I start posting it:
"i think yoo shuld hav had Constanteen have TEH HAWT SEXORZ with teh gurl"
"Awwww!!1111 tat fic wuz TEH STOOPID!!!!1111 Natalie should bee Constantine's WUN TWU WUB!!!!1111"
Or from the occasionally met fundamentalist wackos who infiltrate fandoms every so often, eg. the fundie wack-job writing in the "Legend of Zelda" fandom:
"Your OFC is clearly a good Christian; why didn't she try sharing the gospel with Mr. Constantine and encourage him to accept Jesus as his personal savior."
The NWS pic-troller
Shadsie wrote:
One of the few times I'm actually THANKFUL I have a slow-pokey dial up connection. I didn't get to see ALL the pictures - but I need to bleach my eyes now over the ones I did see.
I'm hungry, and want lunch.. but... can't...eat...right..now... AUGGGGGGH!
That makes two of us who are -- for once -- kissing their slowpoke 56K modem. I clicked on that link hoping for once, someone wrote a non-fluffy Mpreg fic where the Right Thing gets done. (To clarify, but please let it stop there): I *am* pro-life, but I believe that a woman should be allowed to have surgery when the pregnancy is ectopic, ie. the embryo has implanted outside the uterus. What's Mpreg but the penultimate ectopic pregnancy?[/end of discussion] ). Boy, was I mistaken!
For once, I'm thankful that I'm one of the lower-profile members, that way my identity is less likely to get stolen.
But now that I've said that, the troll will probably steal my name and post something nasty. ::Praying that it doesn't happen, loading up the Holy Shotgun::
Sue-ify Your Name
That makes me Lady Rrennheee Ceccylya Herrmaennnn Mmullheirree-Cockatiel of Westhillston (Not my town's real name: that's classified info).
Or Mmaytrrrixx Rreffugeeee
It also makes me look like my keyboard is stick-ck-ck-cking.
What did you do while the board was Offline?
--Checked my LJ
--Checked GAFF
--Finishing writing the next chapter of my "Constantine" fanfic.
--Checked GAFF
--Fed my mother's parakeet who thinks he's a piranha
--Checked GAFF
--Read the "Hellblazer" graphic novel I just bought
--Checked GAFF
--Worked on the Merovingian/Flood fic I'm tinkering with for the "Matrix" AU RPG I'm part of
--Checked GAFF
--Cooked supper (and discovered I'd mixed two different cans of Campbell's Chunky Soup together, to make an interesting and tasty new soup)
--Checked GAFF
--Washed dishes
--Checked GAFF
--Checked the "Matrix Online" news sites for any new developments (read: stuff to lift for the "Matrix" AU RPG)
--Checked GAFF
--Played another session of said "Matrix" AU RPG (Hi Crowdog66, Dark Puck and Rebecca Hb.!)
--Checked GAFF
--Went to bed
--Dreamed about checking GAFF and learning that some fanbrats had gotten in touch with a hacker whom they had paid, with blowjobs, to hack GAFF for us.
--Woke up in a cold sweat, had to restrain self from checking GAFF
::Raising her glass of non-alcoholic Merlot and singing, to the tune of the Drinking Song from the operetta "The Student Prince"::
"Drink, drink, to fics that are bad
And make you say 'Squick!'
Drink, drink, to fans that are mad
And ready to kill the Sues!
Drink, drink, let the snarks fly!"
To GAFF and the GAFFers: may we last a hundred years.
((Come to think of it, I had a dream the other night, in which I was looking at the GAFF equivalent in the universe of a fan-created "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" RPG I'm part of, and I was reading some nasty RPS about two of our characters...))
Name(s) outside of GAFF: Renee; all over the 'Net, I'm Matrix Refugee, so it's kinda become a real name.
Age: 27, almost 28
Where are you? New England (I'm a leetle leery about saying where exactly)
Edukasion: Some college courses
Fandoms in which you participate (just GAFF or outside of it) : the "Matrix" series (natch!)
How long have you been at GAFF and what brought you here? I've been here since... the end of August (I lurked for a while); a couple friends online reccommended this site, and I haven't regretted coming here.
What do you do for money, honey? I'm a bagger in a grocery store
Where do you get your kicks? (read: your hobbies?) Reading, writing, poking around thrift shops for vinyl LPs
Your worst badfic squicks: RPS, MPREG, badly written sex scenes, non-con
U THINK YR soooo good well lets see U RITE FANFICTION!!!111 :
::Points down to the bottom of her sig::
Your GAFF style: This is why this blatantly violates canon/why this character is hopelessly OOC.
Your style outside of GAFF: Thoughtful, but out-going in a reserved kind of way, introspective.
Smoke? Nope, but for some odd reason, I write smokers really well.
Drink? Nope, took the Pledge when I was twenty-one (Reeeally bad drinking problems in my extended family)
Drugs? I don't even like the idea taking meds for depression, unless it's Absolutely Necessary
Religious? Devout but not fanatical Catholic Christian
Pets? Yep! Oskar the jittery cockatiel and Merry the parakeet.
Movies you love: The "Matrix" trilogy, "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence", "Road to Perdition", "Constantine"
Sports team?: I kinda was happy when the Red Sox won the World Series...
MST? I have *got* to get the DVDs of it... and write some of my own, of some "Matrix" badfics...
Gender: Female.
Political Orientation: Moderate conservative (Please, please, please, don't throw things!)
GAFF: The Movie
DangerousAndrogyne wrote:
Lord Evil wrote:
Would we look like our avatars?
I'd say we look like ourselves dressed as our avatars, personally.
I like that idea, ie. dressing like our avatars, since I really don't look anything like Lambert Wilson as the Merovingian (he's too tall, the wrong gender, the wrong age and the wrong nationality)... But I sure wouldn't mind wearing a red silk shirt and a swishy, blue-black, ankle-length frock-coat jacket!
"What's your favorite kind of badfic?"
It was a toss-up between OOC and Ridiculous, senseless, canon-raping plotlines. (Mpreg and other things that explode when faced with logic.), but the latter implies copious amounts of the former, n'est pas? These are the kind of fics I'm most likely to drag onto here to poke at and for you all to make fun of.
I have to admit, the question kinda puzzled me: does it mean "the one form of badfic that is least likely to push your squick buttons and which you actually can laugh at" or does it mean "your favorite to point fingers at"? ((Just wondering))
"What are you pretentious about?"
The Matrix series (of course! I'm the Matrix Refugee!). I get anNOYed with people who didn't "get" the ending of Revolutions, I personally hunt down badfics in ff.n's "Matrix" section and hack into them, and there's parts of me that are a bit suspicious about the Matrix Online RPG. Not to say that I haven't lifted stuff from it to use in a fan-created extended/alternate universe RPG. I'm a little ticked-off over the "Path of the One" console game that's supposed to be coming out at Christmas/the December holidays, since they're supposed to be giving it "a different ending" than Revs. Well, I suppose it *might* be considered the path of one of the other five Ones, but I still feel like it's a cop-out to the jerks who whined how "teh end of Revs was teh SUXXORS!!!!!111"
"What's your favorite kind of badfic"
It was a toss-up between OOC and Ridiculous, senseless, canon-raping plotlines. (Mpreg and other things that explode when faced with logic.), but the latter implies copious amounts of the former, n'est pas? These are the kind of fics I'm most likely to drag onto here to poke at and for you all to make fun of.
I have to admit, the question kinda puzzled me: does it mean "the one form of badfic that is least likely to push your squick buttons and which you actually can laugh at" or does it mean "your favorite to point fingers at"? ((Just wondering))
Antidote: Protecting the U.S. from the evils of DHMO
http://www.dhmo.org/
::Giggles out loud:: Ooh, one of my all time favorite deadpan jokes of all time! The first time I read it, it *almost* fooled me, but then my twisty little brain figgered it out.
"Badfic Hunting"
I don't deliberately go hunting for badfic. I don't need to: I seem to find ones that make me grind my teeth in pain. Thank God I found GAFF so I can vent about the nasty/anNOYing stuff I find and save the already badly-worn enamel on my teeth from further damage.
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"
I'd trade places with that poor child, even though I *KNOW* I'd go stir- crazy from not being able to move around much, or get any fresh air. But there again, I've got a dozen characters in my headspace to keep me company, so I might not be so bad off, really. I don't mind being solitary.
"Badfic Opening Lines"
It's late, but I can think of one... I'll have more in the morning.
"He was nearly eight-hundred years old going on forty-nine, and she was barely sixteen, but when the Merovingian spotted Marie-Suzette dancing in Club Hel, clad in her goth boots and her Hot Topic corset and ripped jeans, he felt the first stirrings of love in what passed for his heart."
"Is Dating a Guy who Smokes like Kissing an Ashtray?"
I was about to ask this question, for research purposes, since I write "Constantine" fics... Not that I'm gonna write any Constantine/Mary Sue romance, but I was wondering what a three-pack-a-day smoker's kiss would taste like. Thanks for the info!
Saleha wrote:
Matrix Refugee wrote:
I was about to ask this question, for research purposes, since I write "Constantine" fics... Not that I'm gonna write any Constantine/Mary Sue romance, but I was wondering what a three-pack-a-day smoker's kiss would taste like. Thanks for the info!
Now THAT would probably be a different story. If you assume that the person sleeps 8 hours a day, you have 16 hours in which to smoke 60 cigarettes. That means 3.75 cigs per hour. Now, I'd wager THAT person tastes like an ashtray, no matter how long he scrubs his teeth every day . Vast amounts of mints might help, but I'm really not so sure about that. At least, he would probably have generally bad breath. My experience has been mostly with people who smoked around 1 to 1 1/2 packs a day.
Oyy... well, the scene I had in mind involved the OFC (who's rather exuberent in expressing her emotions, to the point one of her friends thinks she's manic-depressive) planting a wet, exuberent "Thank you!" smack on the demon-hunter's startled mouth, though based on the above data, she'll probably wish that she'd curbed her enthusiasm
"Who Is the Half-Blood Prince?"
Kippur wrote:
First off: We know that Harry Potter and Voldemort are not the prince.
Draco, any of the Weasleys or Neville will not be it. They're all full bloods. (Despite what some fan ficcers would like to say about Draco, making him half veela and what not.)
Personally, I'd like for it to be Draco: it would put a hole in his and his father's posturing about pure blood.
"The Best Novel In the World"
Just one?
Someone mentioned "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and I have to agree with them. I can't say I've seen a more layered novel that pulls together so many things: history and mythology and social philosophy/commentary all colliding at once. And the cast of characters is utterly life-like and believable, from the regular people like Shadow and the Minnesota townfolk to the gods themselves... Sure, the story may take some detours that don't seem to get resolved (ie. Ibis's accounts of various people at different points in American history bringing their gods to the New World), but the book is all about a *journey*, and sometimes journeys take you onto little detours and dead ends you didn't expect, but were no less enjoyable.
Further proof of how good this book is: I've been quoting from it on my LJ every now and then, usually at holidays (ie. Shadow's conversation with Mad Sweeny the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day; Easter's comments on the holiday named for her... there's one bit on the American spirit which I wanted to quote on the Fourth of July, but I can't seem to find it...)
Neil's got a sequel/spin-off/follow-up to "American Gods" coming out in September, "Anansi Boys", which follows the escapades of two sons of "Mr. Nancy", a character from "American Gods". I'm looking forward to reading that, and to meeting the author when he's in my area for a book-signing.
"Things I Learned from my Job(s)"
Dark Puck wrote:
Busch Gardens Williamsburg: ~ Yes, it is possible for you to be standing in front of the bathroom and have a guest ask you where the bathroom is.
People do that in grocery stores, too, but it usually involves an item they're looking for.
Bakery clerk
--There are twenty ways to spell even the most simple names.
--It's easier to write on cakes than to write on paper.
--Customers will always inSIST that you write on a cake in whatever strange color they want, when they're getting a cake from the cake case.
--There's always at least one elderly regular who changes their mind three times when you're getting fancy mini-pastries out of the display case.
--The mirrored sides of the cases fool some customers into thinking there's another item next to the real one they're looking at.
Dry Cleaners Intake Clerk
--There's always one guy who wears heavy cologne that soaks into his shirts.
--There's also one guy who brings a month's worth of shirts all at once at the first of every month.
--Never look at your boss wierd if you catch her smoking in the bathroom, even though she's undergoing chemo for lung cancer. She will make the next two weeks hell for you.
--Saris can be classed as tablecloths or curtains on the order forms.
--Santa Suits aren't suits: they also go under "curtains".
Grocery store bagger
--Older customers are either really sweet folks who aren't above chit-chatting with you about anything and everything, or they're perfectionistic bastards who insist that you put only one item in each bag.
--Small children will climb on anything and everything as if it were monkey-bars, up to and including the shopping carts, and the register itself.
--Check the magazine racks every time there's a lull: you'll find left-behind items someone decided they didn't want. Check the floor under the top end of the lane, too: I once found a whole 20 pound turkey there.
--If a creepy customer tries talking you up, start talking about things you and your significant other are doing this weekend... even if you don't *have* a significant other.
--Rainy days are always the busiest days.
--Wear three shirts and thermal underwear and a scarf around your neck in the winter if you're in a cold area: you might even need to wind the scarf around your head like a Muslim woman's hejab. The draft from the doors opening and closing all the time will turn you into an icicle, otherwise.
Keaton the Black Jackal wrote:
I've learned that lounging is very good for your soul. Just not for your health.
What? I'm unemployed.
~Keaton the Black Jackal
::Singing along with Bachman Turner Overdrive::
"It's the work that we avoid,
Look at me: I'm self-employed.
I love to work at nothin' all day!"
I forgot one:
Box Packer in a Mom-and-Pop Printer's Shop
--Grommet presses (used for putting reinforcement rings on the holes to hang up big cardstock posters) look menacing even though they're small, but they're shockingly easy to work.
--There actually *are* company heads who will get alongside the regular Joes and Janes working the floor, and do the exact same work.
--The goofy-looking bull mastiff that meets you in the hallway is not the guard dog: He's the supervisor's buddy.
--Paper cuts caused by big posters hurt like hell.
--The local chain grocery store where you once worked three days as a cashier has its posters printed at this shop you're packing boxes for.
--Dogs will mistake big cardboard mailing tubes for big bones.
"Into Which Hogwarts House Would ___ Be Sorted?"
Waaah, someone beat me to this...
pokenerd56 wrote:
Ooh, interesting.
The Matrix Trilogy:
Neo: An even split between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff
Trinity: Gryffindor all the flippin' way, baby!
Morpheus: Ravenclaw, of course
Mouse: Ravenclaw, with a dash of chicken-flavored Gryffindor thrown in just for fun
Tank & Dozer: Gryffindor
The Agents: Hufflepuff
Smith: Slytherin
The Oracle: Slytherin*
The Architect: Ravenclaw
Niobe: Gryffindor
Ghost: Ravenclaw
The Machines: Slytherin, for battery-related reasons
* Well, she sort-of manipulates (in plain sight) everybody so that her although selfless goals would be achieved.
I'll add a few more:
Seraph -- Gryffindor all the way!
The Merovingian -- *Definately* Slytherin, though I'd say there's a streak of Ravenclaw as well (he's intellectually smart, but he does really dumb things...)
Persephone -- Gryffindor (she's brave to have stayed with *him* so long)
The Keymaker -- Hufflepuff. He's quiet little duffer.
Sparks -- Hufflepuff, with a bit of Gryffindor (He has to be brave to be operator on the Logos, without going nuts)
Roland -- Another Hufflepuff
Councillor Hamann -- Ravenclaw with a touch of Hufflepuff
Commander Locke -- Hufflepuff/Gryffindor, hard to say...
The Trainman -- Slytherin/Hufflepuff
Link -- Gryffindor/Hufflepuff
The Kid -- Gryffindor
Tyndall (from the "Matrix Online") -- Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff (she's a bit frail after an accident in the Matrix that almost cost her her life, so she has to stay out in the Real, but she works hard in Zion Command)
Flood (also from the MxO) -- Deeefinately Slytherin (As the Merv's second in command, he's every bit as crooked as his boss)
"How Long Does it Take You to Write Fanfic?"
I've written drabbles in the space of an hour, twenty-page one shots in the space of an afternoon, and short novels in the space of a week. I've had multi-chapter novel-length fics that took a year to write/type/post. It all depends on the length of the story, how fiercely the plot bunnies are biting, how I'm feeling (I get stressed out at work a lot, so that cuts into my time to mentally plot stuff out), how much time I have to work, any number of factors.
"Anyone Else Here Scared of Trolls?"
Ever since I and NxO (in that order) relit the torch for a certain "Matrix" fic, I'm waiting for the author and her minions to come storming on here. I'm all prepared for it...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/MatrixRefugee/RPG_Pics/Fanfic%20pics/MTXreloadfire.jpg
That's me in the frock coat jacket, dead center, with Dark Puck in white on my immediate left (the viewer's right); from left to right are Runa_27, Avari, and Sarukrelf, with Memehunter and Crowdog on the other side of Puck.
((I'm kidding, of course, but part of me *is* looking forward to the kerfuffle liable to happen if the fanbratz come to GAFF. Problem is, she'd be fighting on our ground, which would be as logical as waging a landwar in Asia.))
"Are People Really Stupid Enough to Fall for This?"
And then there's the reverse of phishing: the suspicious customer who won't give out their credit card number/driver's license number to even the most legit company. I remember one time at work, when a customer had misplaced their check-cashing card (which you need in order to cash a check or pay with a check at the store where I work), so the cashier asked for the customer's driver's license number. Said customer got really pissy about it, and the cashier had to call the supervisor over to explain the situation to the customer, who still wouldn't listen since the supervisor was a young guy in his early twenties, and for some reason that made him untrustworthy. Finally, they had to call the store manager over to talk to the customer!
Then there was the guy on LiveJournal's "customerssuck", who worked for the tech support for some ISP (I don't think it was AOhelL..), who was trying to help someone with a problem they were having with their email, for which he needed the person's username and password. Yep, the customer refused to give the neccessary info to him.
"Sick Fic"
I have to admit that Mpreg is one of my pet guilty pleasures (well, depending on who's being Mpregged. Some I can laugh at, others make me get the heaves), even though at the very same time, it squicks me out completely. I don't know if this means I'm a masochist, or what it means. Any thoughts?
"Signature Graveyard"
crowdog66 wrote:
*cracks open the "dead sig" file and gets to work...*
Quote:
"Once you've had a lover-robot, you'll never want a real man... again," Gigolo Joe purred, smooth as Velveeta -- and twice as cheesy.
Where did you find that one? I meant to ask before...
And laying my current sig to rest:
Memehunter wrote:
Quote:
Characters: Trinity, Neo, John Smith, Adam Jones, "Mero"vigian, Persephone, Morpheus, Niobe, Jason Locke, Twin 1 & 2.
The "Mero"vigian(sic)?? What's that, a badly hacked shareware version of the Merovingian?
A Merovingian-Basher wrote:
"Anozzer day at ze chateau, anozzer bottle of wine, anozzer beautiful woman to seduce, non?" The Merovingian chuckled to himself as he poured the dark, seasoned wine into his crystal goblet.
I might take it up again, someday...
Retiring my "Trollin'" sig.
BlueByrd, on trolling wrote:
OK everybody, sing it with me now:
Trollin', trollin', trollin'...
Trollin', trollin', trollin'...
Trollin', trollin', trollin'... Onliiiiiiiiiiiine!!
might take this one up again soon, since it's a trophy from the great Smith Fanbrat Debacle...
GG Crono wrote:
Quote:
Emotion. Passion. Devotion. Smith.
Does this read like a cologne advert to anyone else?
"The new fragrance from Calvin Klein...Smith."
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 12:48 am Post subject: ANTIDOTE: Kill your Boss! (NWS, obviously)
http://www.doodie.com/boss_flash_animation.php
My favourites are the ruler, chair, and wall.
"NaNoWriMo"
I already have an idea for a novel that I've started poking at... inspired by the debacle with the Agent Smith Fanbrat Who Must Not Be Named. The operative words here are "inspired by": I'm heavily fictionalizing what happens. Names and in a couple cases genders will be changed to protect all parties involved.
...I just have to get a better computer before then, since this one is way too unreliable.
"RL Headdesk Moments"
Cleo, the nut wrote:
Another headdesk moment: once, I was trying to read a Manga, and it was making absolutely no sense. I read it three times, but still nothing. Finally, I showed it to a friend and asked them to make sense of it. That is when I found out that you read Manga right-to-left.
I really did hit my head on a desk at that point.
::Giggles:: Glad to see I'm *not* the only one to do something similar: the first manga I ever bought was "Chobits" (On a friend's reccomendation). When I picked up the first volume, I wondered why the front cover-type artwork was on the *back* cover, and why the blurb was on the *front* cover. Then I opened it up and discovered all kinds of "You're reading this the wrong way" messages on the inside of what I thought was the front cover. I didn't have a desk handy, so I had to do some head-bookshelfing, which didn't pleas the Barnes & Noble clerks...
"Why You Chose Your Avatar"
New avatar: It's based on a bit of concept art from the Matrix Online MMORPG: the handsome but snooty-looking fellow is Flood, the Merovingian's second in command, who I'm told has a sassy, snarky sense of humor. I bet he'd fit right in here!
The motto is my own rip on Descartes's "Cogito Ergo Sum" (I think, therefore I am); I've also been using this as an LJ icon, and it's one of my favorites (out of the ones I made, that is).
How old is too old to trick-or-treat?
I voted high school, but I meant that in terms of "going-door-to-door-collecting-candy" trick or treating. Not "wearing-a-costume-and-going-for-a-walk-through-the-neighborhood-on-Halloween-night": you're never too old for that! I did it last year with my buddy Mark: I dressed as Joan of Arc, he was himself. This year, I'm dressing as Death, from the "Sandman" series, which almost constitutes "dressing as myself", except Death wears more eyemakeup than I do.
What gender are you?
As far as my chromosomes and plumbing and emotions go, I'm female. As far as the top half of my body and my taste in clothes go, I'm male. Hm. Maybe instead of dressing this Hallowe'en as Death, from the "Sandman" series, I should dress as Death's younger sibling Desire, who's also more or less androgynous (and whom I personally like a lot better; I think he/she's a hottie!).
So what do you think of kids?
Aubrey wrote:
It breaks me heart that so many on here seem to consider kids as pleasent as fungus and refer to them as 'brats', or 'spawn'. They're human beings and don't deserve to be generalized as monsters anymore than southerners deserve to be generalized as rednecks.
Whew! Someone has articulately expressed the feelings I've had pent-up within, and which were threatening to explode in a loud and very impolite rant. That said, I'd like one, *maybe* two kids of my own someday... I just gotta find the right guy to be their dad...
The trouble is, I can't seem to find a guy who'll so much as give me the time of the day, let alone get to know me or win my heart and marry me.
Future Fanbrats
The "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" fandom wanes and waxes very unpredictably. A lot of the early writers have moved on to other things, but Bryan "Pazu" Harrison continues to post new stories every so often. Once in a while, new writers come along and add their glosses on the canon. We've got a couple new fanwriters emerging in our midst, so the fandom continues, like David's 2,000 year vigil...
The "Matrix" fandom is about to get a new lease on life: the "Matrix Online" MORPG is slated to start soon, and since some of the storyline in summary form, and video clips of significant events are going to be made availible online, for the non-players (like myself), there'll be more food for thought for the true fans... and since the damn Twins appear to be making a comeback, we'll be seeing more bad Twinfics from the squee-gurlz who manage to find their way to the MxO site... I'm hoping that the vague statement regarding the return of the Twins is just another of the Wachowski Brothers's vague predictions.
I don't want to, but I do (Crushing on characters)
DeathWynd wrote:
crowdog66 wrote:
And that's all I'm willing to admit to.
Not admitting to Gigolo Joe, are you?
But I will!
Two people here mentioned having a crush on Lucien from "The Sandman": add me in! (I'm a bookworm: having a gentleman friend who's a librarian would be heavenly... especially if the collection he's in charge of is full of chimeric works that never got published/written in the world as we know it.) And I am I the only one who thinks Dream looks like Neil Gaiman's spookier-looking twin?
::Points to her avatar:: I'm also a Merovingian groupie, which is really wierd because I detested the character the first time I saw "The Matrix: Reloaded":
1st viewing: "Gahh... a Frenchman who's got the same attitude as the French nation: refusing to give a hand during a crictical time." ((This was back when France refused to help out the U. S. during the Second Gulf War. Please, please, don't shoot me for my political views: this isn't the place for it, and besides, I have a right to my own opinion, ne?)) "And he sure ain't much to look at... That's gotta be a hair piece..."
2nd viewing: "Well, if you can look past the snootiness with a capital snoo, he's not so bad... he's not so bad to look at, either, especially for an older guy.
By the time "Revolutions" came out:
1st viewing: "They shoulda given him more screen time..."
2nd viewing: ::I'm feeling hot... I'm feeling hot... I'm almost spontaneously combusting...:: "WHOOO!"
I'm in the process of working on a "Constantine" fic, and I can just imagine the kind of reviews I'll get for it, once I start posting it:
"i think yoo shuld hav had Constanteen have TEH HAWT SEXORZ with teh gurl"
"Awwww!!1111 tat fic wuz TEH STOOPID!!!!1111 Natalie should bee Constantine's WUN TWU WUB!!!!1111"
Or from the occasionally met fundamentalist wackos who infiltrate fandoms every so often, eg. the fundie wack-job writing in the "Legend of Zelda" fandom:
"Your OFC is clearly a good Christian; why didn't she try sharing the gospel with Mr. Constantine and encourage him to accept Jesus as his personal savior."
The NWS pic-troller
Shadsie wrote:
One of the few times I'm actually THANKFUL I have a slow-pokey dial up connection. I didn't get to see ALL the pictures - but I need to bleach my eyes now over the ones I did see.
I'm hungry, and want lunch.. but... can't...eat...right..now... AUGGGGGGH!
That makes two of us who are -- for once -- kissing their slowpoke 56K modem. I clicked on that link hoping for once, someone wrote a non-fluffy Mpreg fic where the Right Thing gets done. (To clarify, but please let it stop there): I *am* pro-life, but I believe that a woman should be allowed to have surgery when the pregnancy is ectopic, ie. the embryo has implanted outside the uterus. What's Mpreg but the penultimate ectopic pregnancy?[/end of discussion] ). Boy, was I mistaken!
For once, I'm thankful that I'm one of the lower-profile members, that way my identity is less likely to get stolen.
But now that I've said that, the troll will probably steal my name and post something nasty. ::Praying that it doesn't happen, loading up the Holy Shotgun::
Sue-ify Your Name
That makes me Lady Rrennheee Ceccylya Herrmaennnn Mmullheirree-Cockatiel of Westhillston (Not my town's real name: that's classified info).
Or Mmaytrrrixx Rreffugeeee
It also makes me look like my keyboard is stick-ck-ck-cking.
What did you do while the board was Offline?
--Checked my LJ
--Checked GAFF
--Finishing writing the next chapter of my "Constantine" fanfic.
--Checked GAFF
--Fed my mother's parakeet who thinks he's a piranha
--Checked GAFF
--Read the "Hellblazer" graphic novel I just bought
--Checked GAFF
--Worked on the Merovingian/Flood fic I'm tinkering with for the "Matrix" AU RPG I'm part of
--Checked GAFF
--Cooked supper (and discovered I'd mixed two different cans of Campbell's Chunky Soup together, to make an interesting and tasty new soup)
--Checked GAFF
--Washed dishes
--Checked GAFF
--Checked the "Matrix Online" news sites for any new developments (read: stuff to lift for the "Matrix" AU RPG)
--Checked GAFF
--Played another session of said "Matrix" AU RPG (Hi Crowdog66, Dark Puck and Rebecca Hb.!)
--Checked GAFF
--Went to bed
--Dreamed about checking GAFF and learning that some fanbrats had gotten in touch with a hacker whom they had paid, with blowjobs, to hack GAFF for us.
--Woke up in a cold sweat, had to restrain self from checking GAFF
::Raising her glass of non-alcoholic Merlot and singing, to the tune of the Drinking Song from the operetta "The Student Prince"::
"Drink, drink, to fics that are bad
And make you say 'Squick!'
Drink, drink, to fans that are mad
And ready to kill the Sues!
Drink, drink, let the snarks fly!"
To GAFF and the GAFFers: may we last a hundred years.
((Come to think of it, I had a dream the other night, in which I was looking at the GAFF equivalent in the universe of a fan-created "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" RPG I'm part of, and I was reading some nasty RPS about two of our characters...))
Name(s) outside of GAFF: Renee; all over the 'Net, I'm Matrix Refugee, so it's kinda become a real name.
Age: 27, almost 28
Where are you? New England (I'm a leetle leery about saying where exactly)
Edukasion: Some college courses
Fandoms in which you participate (just GAFF or outside of it) : the "Matrix" series (natch!)
How long have you been at GAFF and what brought you here? I've been here since... the end of August (I lurked for a while); a couple friends online reccommended this site, and I haven't regretted coming here.
What do you do for money, honey? I'm a bagger in a grocery store
Where do you get your kicks? (read: your hobbies?) Reading, writing, poking around thrift shops for vinyl LPs
Your worst badfic squicks: RPS, MPREG, badly written sex scenes, non-con
U THINK YR soooo good well lets see U RITE FANFICTION!!!111 :
::Points down to the bottom of her sig::
Your GAFF style: This is why this blatantly violates canon/why this character is hopelessly OOC.
Your style outside of GAFF: Thoughtful, but out-going in a reserved kind of way, introspective.
Smoke? Nope, but for some odd reason, I write smokers really well.
Drink? Nope, took the Pledge when I was twenty-one (Reeeally bad drinking problems in my extended family)
Drugs? I don't even like the idea taking meds for depression, unless it's Absolutely Necessary
Religious? Devout but not fanatical Catholic Christian
Pets? Yep! Oskar the jittery cockatiel and Merry the parakeet.
Movies you love: The "Matrix" trilogy, "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence", "Road to Perdition", "Constantine"
Sports team?: I kinda was happy when the Red Sox won the World Series...
MST? I have *got* to get the DVDs of it... and write some of my own, of some "Matrix" badfics...
Gender: Female.
Political Orientation: Moderate conservative (Please, please, please, don't throw things!)
GAFF: The Movie
DangerousAndrogyne wrote:
Lord Evil wrote:
Would we look like our avatars?
I'd say we look like ourselves dressed as our avatars, personally.
I like that idea, ie. dressing like our avatars, since I really don't look anything like Lambert Wilson as the Merovingian (he's too tall, the wrong gender, the wrong age and the wrong nationality)... But I sure wouldn't mind wearing a red silk shirt and a swishy, blue-black, ankle-length frock-coat jacket!
"What's your favorite kind of badfic?"
It was a toss-up between OOC and Ridiculous, senseless, canon-raping plotlines. (Mpreg and other things that explode when faced with logic.), but the latter implies copious amounts of the former, n'est pas? These are the kind of fics I'm most likely to drag onto here to poke at and for you all to make fun of.
I have to admit, the question kinda puzzled me: does it mean "the one form of badfic that is least likely to push your squick buttons and which you actually can laugh at" or does it mean "your favorite to point fingers at"? ((Just wondering))
"What are you pretentious about?"
The Matrix series (of course! I'm the Matrix Refugee!). I get anNOYed with people who didn't "get" the ending of Revolutions, I personally hunt down badfics in ff.n's "Matrix" section and hack into them, and there's parts of me that are a bit suspicious about the Matrix Online RPG. Not to say that I haven't lifted stuff from it to use in a fan-created extended/alternate universe RPG. I'm a little ticked-off over the "Path of the One" console game that's supposed to be coming out at Christmas/the December holidays, since they're supposed to be giving it "a different ending" than Revs. Well, I suppose it *might* be considered the path of one of the other five Ones, but I still feel like it's a cop-out to the jerks who whined how "teh end of Revs was teh SUXXORS!!!!!111"
"What's your favorite kind of badfic"
It was a toss-up between OOC and Ridiculous, senseless, canon-raping plotlines. (Mpreg and other things that explode when faced with logic.), but the latter implies copious amounts of the former, n'est pas? These are the kind of fics I'm most likely to drag onto here to poke at and for you all to make fun of.
I have to admit, the question kinda puzzled me: does it mean "the one form of badfic that is least likely to push your squick buttons and which you actually can laugh at" or does it mean "your favorite to point fingers at"? ((Just wondering))
Antidote: Protecting the U.S. from the evils of DHMO
http://www.dhmo.org/
::Giggles out loud:: Ooh, one of my all time favorite deadpan jokes of all time! The first time I read it, it *almost* fooled me, but then my twisty little brain figgered it out.
"Badfic Hunting"
I don't deliberately go hunting for badfic. I don't need to: I seem to find ones that make me grind my teeth in pain. Thank God I found GAFF so I can vent about the nasty/anNOYing stuff I find and save the already badly-worn enamel on my teeth from further damage.
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"
I'd trade places with that poor child, even though I *KNOW* I'd go stir- crazy from not being able to move around much, or get any fresh air. But there again, I've got a dozen characters in my headspace to keep me company, so I might not be so bad off, really. I don't mind being solitary.
"Badfic Opening Lines"
It's late, but I can think of one... I'll have more in the morning.
"He was nearly eight-hundred years old going on forty-nine, and she was barely sixteen, but when the Merovingian spotted Marie-Suzette dancing in Club Hel, clad in her goth boots and her Hot Topic corset and ripped jeans, he felt the first stirrings of love in what passed for his heart."
"Is Dating a Guy who Smokes like Kissing an Ashtray?"
I was about to ask this question, for research purposes, since I write "Constantine" fics... Not that I'm gonna write any Constantine/Mary Sue romance, but I was wondering what a three-pack-a-day smoker's kiss would taste like. Thanks for the info!
Saleha wrote:
Matrix Refugee wrote:
I was about to ask this question, for research purposes, since I write "Constantine" fics... Not that I'm gonna write any Constantine/Mary Sue romance, but I was wondering what a three-pack-a-day smoker's kiss would taste like. Thanks for the info!
Now THAT would probably be a different story. If you assume that the person sleeps 8 hours a day, you have 16 hours in which to smoke 60 cigarettes. That means 3.75 cigs per hour. Now, I'd wager THAT person tastes like an ashtray, no matter how long he scrubs his teeth every day . Vast amounts of mints might help, but I'm really not so sure about that. At least, he would probably have generally bad breath. My experience has been mostly with people who smoked around 1 to 1 1/2 packs a day.
Oyy... well, the scene I had in mind involved the OFC (who's rather exuberent in expressing her emotions, to the point one of her friends thinks she's manic-depressive) planting a wet, exuberent "Thank you!" smack on the demon-hunter's startled mouth, though based on the above data, she'll probably wish that she'd curbed her enthusiasm
"Who Is the Half-Blood Prince?"
Kippur wrote:
First off: We know that Harry Potter and Voldemort are not the prince.
Draco, any of the Weasleys or Neville will not be it. They're all full bloods. (Despite what some fan ficcers would like to say about Draco, making him half veela and what not.)
Personally, I'd like for it to be Draco: it would put a hole in his and his father's posturing about pure blood.
"The Best Novel In the World"
Just one?
Someone mentioned "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and I have to agree with them. I can't say I've seen a more layered novel that pulls together so many things: history and mythology and social philosophy/commentary all colliding at once. And the cast of characters is utterly life-like and believable, from the regular people like Shadow and the Minnesota townfolk to the gods themselves... Sure, the story may take some detours that don't seem to get resolved (ie. Ibis's accounts of various people at different points in American history bringing their gods to the New World), but the book is all about a *journey*, and sometimes journeys take you onto little detours and dead ends you didn't expect, but were no less enjoyable.
Further proof of how good this book is: I've been quoting from it on my LJ every now and then, usually at holidays (ie. Shadow's conversation with Mad Sweeny the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day; Easter's comments on the holiday named for her... there's one bit on the American spirit which I wanted to quote on the Fourth of July, but I can't seem to find it...)
Neil's got a sequel/spin-off/follow-up to "American Gods" coming out in September, "Anansi Boys", which follows the escapades of two sons of "Mr. Nancy", a character from "American Gods". I'm looking forward to reading that, and to meeting the author when he's in my area for a book-signing.
"Things I Learned from my Job(s)"
Dark Puck wrote:
Busch Gardens Williamsburg: ~ Yes, it is possible for you to be standing in front of the bathroom and have a guest ask you where the bathroom is.
People do that in grocery stores, too, but it usually involves an item they're looking for.
Bakery clerk
--There are twenty ways to spell even the most simple names.
--It's easier to write on cakes than to write on paper.
--Customers will always inSIST that you write on a cake in whatever strange color they want, when they're getting a cake from the cake case.
--There's always at least one elderly regular who changes their mind three times when you're getting fancy mini-pastries out of the display case.
--The mirrored sides of the cases fool some customers into thinking there's another item next to the real one they're looking at.
Dry Cleaners Intake Clerk
--There's always one guy who wears heavy cologne that soaks into his shirts.
--There's also one guy who brings a month's worth of shirts all at once at the first of every month.
--Never look at your boss wierd if you catch her smoking in the bathroom, even though she's undergoing chemo for lung cancer. She will make the next two weeks hell for you.
--Saris can be classed as tablecloths or curtains on the order forms.
--Santa Suits aren't suits: they also go under "curtains".
Grocery store bagger
--Older customers are either really sweet folks who aren't above chit-chatting with you about anything and everything, or they're perfectionistic bastards who insist that you put only one item in each bag.
--Small children will climb on anything and everything as if it were monkey-bars, up to and including the shopping carts, and the register itself.
--Check the magazine racks every time there's a lull: you'll find left-behind items someone decided they didn't want. Check the floor under the top end of the lane, too: I once found a whole 20 pound turkey there.
--If a creepy customer tries talking you up, start talking about things you and your significant other are doing this weekend... even if you don't *have* a significant other.
--Rainy days are always the busiest days.
--Wear three shirts and thermal underwear and a scarf around your neck in the winter if you're in a cold area: you might even need to wind the scarf around your head like a Muslim woman's hejab. The draft from the doors opening and closing all the time will turn you into an icicle, otherwise.
Keaton the Black Jackal wrote:
I've learned that lounging is very good for your soul. Just not for your health.
What? I'm unemployed.
~Keaton the Black Jackal
::Singing along with Bachman Turner Overdrive::
"It's the work that we avoid,
Look at me: I'm self-employed.
I love to work at nothin' all day!"
I forgot one:
Box Packer in a Mom-and-Pop Printer's Shop
--Grommet presses (used for putting reinforcement rings on the holes to hang up big cardstock posters) look menacing even though they're small, but they're shockingly easy to work.
--There actually *are* company heads who will get alongside the regular Joes and Janes working the floor, and do the exact same work.
--The goofy-looking bull mastiff that meets you in the hallway is not the guard dog: He's the supervisor's buddy.
--Paper cuts caused by big posters hurt like hell.
--The local chain grocery store where you once worked three days as a cashier has its posters printed at this shop you're packing boxes for.
--Dogs will mistake big cardboard mailing tubes for big bones.
"Into Which Hogwarts House Would ___ Be Sorted?"
Waaah, someone beat me to this...
pokenerd56 wrote:
Ooh, interesting.
The Matrix Trilogy:
Neo: An even split between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff
Trinity: Gryffindor all the flippin' way, baby!
Morpheus: Ravenclaw, of course
Mouse: Ravenclaw, with a dash of chicken-flavored Gryffindor thrown in just for fun
Tank & Dozer: Gryffindor
The Agents: Hufflepuff
Smith: Slytherin
The Oracle: Slytherin*
The Architect: Ravenclaw
Niobe: Gryffindor
Ghost: Ravenclaw
The Machines: Slytherin, for battery-related reasons
* Well, she sort-of manipulates (in plain sight) everybody so that her although selfless goals would be achieved.
I'll add a few more:
Seraph -- Gryffindor all the way!
The Merovingian -- *Definately* Slytherin, though I'd say there's a streak of Ravenclaw as well (he's intellectually smart, but he does really dumb things...)
Persephone -- Gryffindor (she's brave to have stayed with *him* so long)
The Keymaker -- Hufflepuff. He's quiet little duffer.
Sparks -- Hufflepuff, with a bit of Gryffindor (He has to be brave to be operator on the Logos, without going nuts)
Roland -- Another Hufflepuff
Councillor Hamann -- Ravenclaw with a touch of Hufflepuff
Commander Locke -- Hufflepuff/Gryffindor, hard to say...
The Trainman -- Slytherin/Hufflepuff
Link -- Gryffindor/Hufflepuff
The Kid -- Gryffindor
Tyndall (from the "Matrix Online") -- Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff (she's a bit frail after an accident in the Matrix that almost cost her her life, so she has to stay out in the Real, but she works hard in Zion Command)
Flood (also from the MxO) -- Deeefinately Slytherin (As the Merv's second in command, he's every bit as crooked as his boss)
"How Long Does it Take You to Write Fanfic?"
I've written drabbles in the space of an hour, twenty-page one shots in the space of an afternoon, and short novels in the space of a week. I've had multi-chapter novel-length fics that took a year to write/type/post. It all depends on the length of the story, how fiercely the plot bunnies are biting, how I'm feeling (I get stressed out at work a lot, so that cuts into my time to mentally plot stuff out), how much time I have to work, any number of factors.
"Anyone Else Here Scared of Trolls?"
Ever since I and NxO (in that order) relit the torch for a certain "Matrix" fic, I'm waiting for the author and her minions to come storming on here. I'm all prepared for it...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/MatrixRefugee/RPG_Pics/Fanfic%20pics/MTXreloadfire.jpg
That's me in the frock coat jacket, dead center, with Dark Puck in white on my immediate left (the viewer's right); from left to right are Runa_27, Avari, and Sarukrelf, with Memehunter and Crowdog on the other side of Puck.
((I'm kidding, of course, but part of me *is* looking forward to the kerfuffle liable to happen if the fanbratz come to GAFF. Problem is, she'd be fighting on our ground, which would be as logical as waging a landwar in Asia.))
"Are People Really Stupid Enough to Fall for This?"
And then there's the reverse of phishing: the suspicious customer who won't give out their credit card number/driver's license number to even the most legit company. I remember one time at work, when a customer had misplaced their check-cashing card (which you need in order to cash a check or pay with a check at the store where I work), so the cashier asked for the customer's driver's license number. Said customer got really pissy about it, and the cashier had to call the supervisor over to explain the situation to the customer, who still wouldn't listen since the supervisor was a young guy in his early twenties, and for some reason that made him untrustworthy. Finally, they had to call the store manager over to talk to the customer!
Then there was the guy on LiveJournal's "customerssuck", who worked for the tech support for some ISP (I don't think it was AOhelL..), who was trying to help someone with a problem they were having with their email, for which he needed the person's username and password. Yep, the customer refused to give the neccessary info to him.
"Sick Fic"
I have to admit that Mpreg is one of my pet guilty pleasures (well, depending on who's being Mpregged. Some I can laugh at, others make me get the heaves), even though at the very same time, it squicks me out completely. I don't know if this means I'm a masochist, or what it means. Any thoughts?
"Signature Graveyard"
crowdog66 wrote:
*cracks open the "dead sig" file and gets to work...*
Quote:
"Once you've had a lover-robot, you'll never want a real man... again," Gigolo Joe purred, smooth as Velveeta -- and twice as cheesy.
Where did you find that one? I meant to ask before...
And laying my current sig to rest:
Memehunter wrote:
Quote:
Characters: Trinity, Neo, John Smith, Adam Jones, "Mero"vigian, Persephone, Morpheus, Niobe, Jason Locke, Twin 1 & 2.
The "Mero"vigian(sic)?? What's that, a badly hacked shareware version of the Merovingian?
A Merovingian-Basher wrote:
"Anozzer day at ze chateau, anozzer bottle of wine, anozzer beautiful woman to seduce, non?" The Merovingian chuckled to himself as he poured the dark, seasoned wine into his crystal goblet.
I might take it up again, someday...
Retiring my "Trollin'" sig.
BlueByrd, on trolling wrote:
OK everybody, sing it with me now:
Trollin', trollin', trollin'...
Trollin', trollin', trollin'...
Trollin', trollin', trollin'... Onliiiiiiiiiiiine!!
might take this one up again soon, since it's a trophy from the great Smith Fanbrat Debacle...
GG Crono wrote:
Quote:
Emotion. Passion. Devotion. Smith.
Does this read like a cologne advert to anyone else?
"The new fragrance from Calvin Klein...Smith."
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 12:48 am Post subject: ANTIDOTE: Kill your Boss! (NWS, obviously)
http://www.doodie.com/boss_flash_animation.php
My favourites are the ruler, chair, and wall.
"NaNoWriMo"
I already have an idea for a novel that I've started poking at... inspired by the debacle with the Agent Smith Fanbrat Who Must Not Be Named. The operative words here are "inspired by": I'm heavily fictionalizing what happens. Names and in a couple cases genders will be changed to protect all parties involved.
...I just have to get a better computer before then, since this one is way too unreliable.
"RL Headdesk Moments"
Cleo, the nut wrote:
Another headdesk moment: once, I was trying to read a Manga, and it was making absolutely no sense. I read it three times, but still nothing. Finally, I showed it to a friend and asked them to make sense of it. That is when I found out that you read Manga right-to-left.
I really did hit my head on a desk at that point.
::Giggles:: Glad to see I'm *not* the only one to do something similar: the first manga I ever bought was "Chobits" (On a friend's reccomendation). When I picked up the first volume, I wondered why the front cover-type artwork was on the *back* cover, and why the blurb was on the *front* cover. Then I opened it up and discovered all kinds of "You're reading this the wrong way" messages on the inside of what I thought was the front cover. I didn't have a desk handy, so I had to do some head-bookshelfing, which didn't pleas the Barnes & Noble clerks...
"Why You Chose Your Avatar"
New avatar: It's based on a bit of concept art from the Matrix Online MMORPG: the handsome but snooty-looking fellow is Flood, the Merovingian's second in command, who I'm told has a sassy, snarky sense of humor. I bet he'd fit right in here!
The motto is my own rip on Descartes's "Cogito Ergo Sum" (I think, therefore I am); I've also been using this as an LJ icon, and it's one of my favorites (out of the ones I made, that is).