25 Things About You (The Player!)

Esper · February 2013

I told @Illidan that I would also post to this thread, to be supportive. So as not to go back on my word, here are some things about me that may or may not be interesting.

1) My name is Patrick. I'm 27, and I currently live in Chicago, IL. I moved from Charleston, SC last September and so far I absolutely love the Windy City.

2) I've been playing Aetolia, off and on, for nearly half my life. This long term relationship with the community has resulted in a vast array of trivial knowledge about the lore and history of the game.

3) In college, I was a Classics/English double major. I mostly faked my way through my Greek classes (I took 10 of them), because I never bothered to learn the vocab. In the vein of trivial knowledge, however, I can rattle off much if not most of the mythic heroes and deities of Greece and to a lesser extent Rome.

4) I have a Master's in English, but I am not pursuing a career in the academy because I believe the professional scholar to be an unethical career that propogates a flawed and manipulative educational system that rivals the greed of a megacorporation.

5) As I've grown older, I've started to hope, perhaps desperately, that technology will usher us into a post-scarcity society. That having been said, I think that the idea of a utopia has existed at least since Aristophanes wrote The Clouds, and probably far earlier than that; it will most likely never happen. However, this idea has been developing into a full fledged belief in socialist principles.

6) I am a proponent of democracy. I do not mean by democracy the oligarchic republic in which we find ourselves, but rather a direct democracy where an educated electorate evaluates, judges, and votes on any issue that would affect society as a whole. Democracy, despite the flaws which may arise from it, is the only equitable means of governance.

7) My second favorite Bright Eyes song is "Waste of Paint". My second favorite lyric from that song is "I love their love and I am thankful that someone actually receives the prize that was promised by all those fairy tales that drugged us." I think this connection between fairy tales and drugs strongly influences my democratic ideology: I wish what the adults in my life told me about as a child were the way the world is.

8) As I've never attended a meeting, I am not an alcoholic. However, there was a point in my life where I would consume a handle over a weekend, by myself. I have moved past this point, for the most part, but I am sorely tempted especially at times when it seems darkest to drown myself in bleary-eyed misery.

9) I am a poet, and I will gladly show you my poetry.

10) I am a writer, and I've recently started earning enough to have paid my rent twice in a row from it. I don't write anything interesting; a lot of what I produce is the detritus of the Internet.

11) I think that it's really easy to string the correct combination of words together to make yourself seem smart, and I believe I'm particularly skilled at it, but a clever rhetorician merely demonstrates how to use tricks with words rather than intellectual sophistication, myself included.

12) The Coen brothers are my favorite directors. Of their movies, my favorite is The Hudsucker Proxy. I hate The Big Lebowski the most. However, my favorite movie, however, is 28 Days Later.

13) I religiously watched Dexter and Weeds, until they got weird: season 5 for both, although I will accept an argument of 6 for Weeds. Because of similarities of plot arcs and character anxieties, I think a compelling argument could be made that the shows shared a writing team, but I don't want to compare the writing credits in case I'm wrong.

14) My least favorite small talk question is, "what kind of music do you like?" You might as well ask, "what kind of food do you like?" The most interesting kind of playlist is one that pulls from multiple genres and styles, without limiting it to a particular scene, counterculture, or series of artistic influences.

15) Despite the fact that I have a degree in literature, I've recently come to the conclusion that I hate reading. My reasoning is long, complicated, and probablly entirely due to the fact that I don't like how I had to train myself to think about books. Sometimes I find myself doing it with movies, and it makes me sad that I might ultimately find myself disliking watching movies.

16) Despite the fact that I dislike reading, I think everyone should read as much as they can, including narrative, argument, and presentations. Those are far better categories of organizing writing that fiction/non-fiction (I'd be happy to discuss why with you, if you'd life). I would also be glad to recommend a book or talk about a book, because I miss talking about literature.

17) I am writing a memoir, but I don't think I have, nor ever will, do anything exceptional. I don't believe that I am an exceptional or even a particularly interesting person who lives in this moment of time, but I want to write down my thoughts for my niece, because I am paranoid that I will not live to see her reach my age.

18) I am somewhat obsessed with death, but I think admitting that makes some people uncomfortable. It seems to me we have a cultural prohibition against thinking about or discussing death, because we are scared of it, and that ultimately results in a far more acute sense of grief when we face loss than if we understood and thought more about it and even accepted its inevitability.

19) Milton's Il Penseroso is far superior to L'Allegro; melancholy is a more pure way to experience the world we create in our self-observations.

20) Noting the above, my current TV show is Six Feet Under. I think it, along with Dead Like Me, are amazing pieces exploring the ideas of death and melancholy.

21) I don't like talking on the phone, although my current work requires it sometimes. I've never ordered a pizza over the phone and I never plan to.

22) Titanic came out when I was in sixth grade. I have never seen it. Every time it is on, I either change the channel or leave the room, because I think being one of the few people of our generation who hasn't seen that movie creates an interesting fact to include on lists like this one. If you haven't seen Avatar, I recommend you do something similar (it's really not the same out of theatres anyway).

23) I have a love/hate relationship with the Oxford comma. I want to dislike it but I find myself adding it automatically when I'm typing. It also freaks me out that everyone, myself included, suddenly seems to know what the Oxford comma is.

24) Because the last few facts have been lackluster, I'll leave off on 24, both because I've been obsessed with negative space for the past year and my inclination is to start railing against rationalism, which is a tired and trollish topic of contention.

Konnorn · February 2013

@Illidan: You know I've held a grudge towards you for some time, mostly because I've heard the lies and known they are lies, but not knowing why. I just want to say thank you and that it's strong of you to do this. Not sure if you will still hold grudges against me, but that's another story. I just want you to know that I won't anymore.

Valenae · February 2013

It would be awesome to think that you've turned over a new leaf and have made this much progress as a human being and this will probably sound more harsh than I would like it to be but you've told so many lies at this point that I have a hard time believing anything that you post. Also, it doesn't change the five or so years that you've bullied other players. : / This doesn't make me team Illidan, sorry. This is a step in the right direction, though.

Emelle · February 2013

Esper said:

4) I have a Master's in English, but I am not pursuing a career in the academy because I believe the professional scholar to be an unethical career that propogates a flawed and manipulative educational system that rivals the greed of a megacorporation.

+1. I feel the same way, and often have a hard time explaining it to people. That said, I do think there are some unique universities whose faculty genuinely care about teaching and the well-being of their students not only as scholars but as people. I fully acknowledge that I am completely biased about this, because I love my alma mater for exactly that reason.

Valenae · February 2013

Emelle said:

Esper said:

4) I have a Master's in English, but I am not pursuing a career in the academy because I believe the professional scholar to be an unethical career that propogates a flawed and manipulative educational system that rivals the greed of a megacorporation.

+1. I feel the same way, and often have a hard time explaining it to people. That said, I do think there are some unique universities whose faculty genuinely care about teaching and the well-being of their students not only as scholars but as people. I fully acknowledge that I am completely biased about this, because I love my alma mater for exactly that reason.

Yeah, I'm getting really fed-up with the politics in Universities. I think that definitely adds to me loosing my patience with my career path, heh. I've done the 'I'mnevergoingbacktothatf'ingplace' thing at least twice a year.

Esper · February 2013

For me, it's less about the departmental politics--although I see where you're coming from--than it is about the self-perpetuating cycle of education. That is, push our youth to attend college to become professors.. the whole time, offering debt solutions classes as a false means of escaping economic circumstances without actually doing anything to improve them. I'm also rather cynical, however, and I do value what I've learned in the process of my education.

Osmond · February 2013

Well dirty D, I have to say if anyone knows the meaning of "whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger" you do brother. We gotta get back into pwnin some noobs in LoL when your net is back.

Illikaal · February 2013

Valenae said:
It would be awesome to think that you've turned over a new leaf and have made this much progress as a human being and this will probably sound more harsh than I would like it to be but you've told so many lies at this point that I have a hard time believing anything that you post. Also, it doesn't change the five or so years that you've bullied other players. : / This doesn't make me team Illidan, sorry. This is a step in the right direction, though.

I didn't make the post to "convince" you, or anyone else of anything. I did it for me. How anyone takes it is up to them.

Valenae · February 2013

@Illidan: I'm expressing my reaction to your post - why you posted this is of very little consequence to me.

Lin · February 2013

And while we're all entitled to our opinions, this is a thread where we're sharing ourselves and being open-minded. This is an awesome topic and I'd hate to see it turn into flame-baiting.

Edhain · February 2013

1) I approve of Devin's sharing and not ashamed to say it, I'm on team Illi and not just because my character is bros with his. Everybody has flaws and I appreciate humanity.

2) Esper's post also really got to me, I like that kind of political awareness. I admit that Esper as a character has always struck me as insanely cool, ever since I was a newb.

3) My reason for filling out this list is because I like this community and I want to share with them. But at the same time I'm wary of sharing too much because I've always been "weird" and I'm getting weirder every day.

4) Part of the growing "weirdness", which I define as difference from society at large, is due to my growing religiousness. I got pretty serious about Islam about a couple years ago and that's actually part of what urged my initial confession regarding my gender. It was a slowly growing conviction that made me "man up" to a lot of stuff and be more intellectually consistent. Now it has cemented itself in my life and I can't separate it from what makes me me anymore.

5) This makes me lose a lot of friends and be more socially introverted because people always sense that I'm judging them even when I'm not. We all have differently working brains, genetically, chemically even sometimes, and psychologically. I think there is an objective right and wrong, but it's far more complex than we can grasp, and all of us can only strive towards what's right as much as we individually understand it. It's impossible to judge another person's experience. Life's trippy like that. I admit, sometimes I do judge, because I'm lame and can't completely force my mind to follow my own philosophy. But this is usually in drastic cases, like Bashar al-Assad, and that's not an excuse, but it's normal to make mistakes. These moments are mistakes and I always scold myself mentally for them and try to train them out.

6) I think it's possible to train your brain like that and that people can change as long as they work at it. I have succeeded in toning out many behaviors of my own that I no longer want, like cursing, drug habits, and being a bully sometimes.

7) In light of Illidan's example, I'll share some stuff from my childhood. I grew up moving a lot.

8) My favorite place I lived was a farm. I had an Amish friend and played outside all day.

9) I discovered the internet when I was 11, but I would lie and say I was 13 because nobody believed I was 11 due to my writing and once they realized I was (due to my immaturity) they gave me no respect. Also I couldn't sign up for some sites unless I was 13.

10) That, and the fact that my first screen name was "Warlord" was why I started lying. When I used that screen name, it was because I loved the game Myth and Lord of the Rings and all that kind of fantasy stuff. I didn't realize people would assume I was a guy. But when they did, I went with it because all the heroes of the books I liked were guys, I identified with them more in stories, etc etc. (I had one video game, Drakuum, with a girl hero- but she was not an identifiable character at all.) So I lied about my age, gender, and after a while I just started making up all sorts of crazy lies. In retrospect I think sometimes I made stuff up just because I could, and I also wanted to see what extent people would believe.

11) I've always liked making up stories and I think my initial lying is also what led to me liking roleplaying. I'd have whole backstories for my internet persona characters that would slowly grow and flesh out.

12) This would always get difficult after a while in a community when I started getting close to people and feeling bad for lying and wanting to be friends with them with my real self.

13) I think, growing up, I didn't really have a "real self" after a while. It was diluted through all my lies and psychological growth as different personas in virtual reality.

14) Like some others who play this game, including Illidan, Elanth, Xarian, etc, I was homeschooled. I'd finish all my work in an hour or less and play for the rest of the day. This lasted until 11th grade, where I went to a Detroit charter school full of public school rejects, and then to a high school in an middle-upper class community which was very different.

15) My only friends in those schools were the societal rejects because they were always the ones I felt comfortable approaching; maybe I felt a kinship with them. In that charter school actually my first "friend" was with a girl who was very very rejected. I didn't know it then, but the teachers kept warning me to stay away from her in this weird and secretive way, and she disappeared halfway into the school year, and she was escorted in the hallway by people who didn't seem like parents. So in retrospect I think she was some kind of insane, and she did have some tendencies towards obsessive violence and blood, but I always felt like she was lonely and just wanted to share with a pal.

16) I was never comfortable with people who seemed "normal". Even now that I've realized people are people I still have some lingering residue of suspicion towards "conformists".

17) Running out of train-of-thought... okay, I am an architecture student. This means that I spend the vast majority of my time and effort on my studio projects. It is exhausting but fun and I think it is the career for me, despite how much I dislike the academic politics of the whole thing and the sense of arrogance/elitism that pervades the field. The atmosphere tends to puts a bad taste in my mouth, but all in all it's tolerable and there are some really smart and politically sensitive lecturers that I do appreciate. I think as long as I watch the danger of impending arrogance carefully I can try to stay away from it.

18) Married very happily to a precious fellow who leaves small drawings on the whiteboard beside his notes and has conversations about beating the world record of poop length with me.

19) 23 yrs old and feeling very old. When I was a kid and used to play Final Fantasy I'd always look at the ages of the characters - 16, 17, 18, 21, and feel like by the time I was that age I would be that awesome; doing cool things and being capable of all kinds of skills and going on adventures. Slowly that thinking segued into disappointment with myself and finally realization that real life isn't Final Fantasy.

20) I still think that real life is a serious adventure. It's just slower paced because you have to deal with all the sleeping and eating and walking and defecating and conversating and everything in real time. That doesn't stop me from stepping outside and feeling like I'm in Skyrim sometimes. Seriously, can you ask for better graphics and audio quality? And smell, taste, touch? The world is amazing.

21) And the world is also full of adventurous plots. When I stand at the bus stop, I look around and think to myself, "we're all player characters playing the parts of NPCs". I know that there are adventures to be had in the world, and I even have a pretty good idea of what a lot of them could be, but I don't know if I'll ever have them.

22) I've contented myself with the thought that I might not, because I'm a naturally lazy person. This is just like how I've contented myself with being mediocre at Aetolia due to not being able to play as much anymore because of my hectic schedule.

23) A generic life isn't that bad, really, and the worst villain someone can ever battle is themselves. Considering I've always got that villain at hand, I figure I'm involved in an epic war of getting out of bed in the morning and focusing on my work during the day and putting one foot in front of the other on those really sluggish mornings and not eating that massive raspberry brownie and forcing myself to grow the guts to ask some lady at the side of the road if she wants a ride and so on and so forth. I have this cheesy thing that I tell myself some times in order to cheer myself out of a funk, that this life is our only chance to fight the darkness.

24) I have to go to the bathroom really badly and someone is loudly playing the Star Wars version of Angry Birds in there and trying to beat the world poop record I guess.

25) My life is generally happy these days and I'm a generally happy person. I think I've found a semblance of inner peace, at least, and while life might still be rough and challenging sometimes that's part of its attraction.

Valenae · February 2013

Esper said:

For me, it's less about the departmental politics--although I see where you're coming from--than it is about the self-perpetuating cycle of education. That is, push our youth to attend college to become professors.. the whole time, offering debt solutions classes as a false means of escaping economic circumstances without actually doing anything to improve them. I'm also rather cynical, however, and I do value what I've learned in the process of my education.

Agree! I think this frustration is more of a societal one but I don't like how not choosing to go to college limits your job options substantially in the states. As an example: I went to apply for an entry level office assistant position and realized a four year degree was required.

Esper · February 2013

Edhain said:

20) I still think that real life is a serious adventure.

23) A generic life isn't that bad, really, and the worst villain someone can ever battle is themselves.

I love that you included both of these things. The first is one that many people realize, or even want, but the subsequent understanding that an average life is desirable is something that took me (and I assume others) a very long time to come to terms with. I find it incredibly easy to get trapped in this self-perpetuating cycle of self-destruction and a lot of the causation is my rampant desire for an amazing, epic life.

Edhain · February 2013

Very well said, as usual. It definitely took a while!

Valenae · February 2013

Esper said:

Edhain said:

20) I still think that real life is a serious adventure.

23) A generic life isn't that bad, really, and the worst villain someone can ever battle is themselves.

I love that you included both of these things. The first is one that many people realize, or even want, but the subsequent understanding that an average life is desirable is something that took me (and I assume others) a very long time to come to terms with. I find it incredibly easy to get trapped in this self-perpetuating cycle of self-destruction and a lot of the causation is my rampant desire for an amazing, epic life.

I can't speak for everyone else but that wasn't my experience nor the experiences of people I have interacted with in the transitional living facility. Most of my issues came from the idea of not having a 'normal' life. Pieces of my life (like frequent travel with my parents) were desirable but I didn't derive security from them, and that was the issue. I didn't like my life and I didn't have the skillset to cope so I coped in unhealthy ways. I believe that it just depends on what the individual derives security from and how well they're equipped to deal with varying challenges.

Aryanne · March 2013

I realize no one has posted here in over a month, but I've just spent about 3 hours of my life reading through these (instead of working, shame on me) and have been thoroughly engrossed in all ya'lls lives and have loved it, so I feel like I need to make SOME acknowledgement that your posts are still appreciated.

So, basically this is a belated "thank you!" for posting this stuff :-)

Sirina · April 2013

1) My name is Marisa. I hate people because they can never spell it right, and I don't mean just "Marissa" or something like that. I've had my name spelled "Marishka", "Marshia", "Maria", "Mersa", etc. It's obnoxious. Shut up. I hate you.

2) I have a darling baby girl

The light of my life- Her name is Riley Paige, and I have no idea how she's my baby. She's white with blonde hair and blue eyes o.O Explain that one. I lubs her so much

She sits at the comp and presses buttons while I play so it takes forever for me to post >.> My little bubula.

3) I have a 6 ft female Burmese Python (Lucy Furr) and a 2 ft female Red Bearded Dragon. (Lizz Ard)

4) I'm from Moscow City, Moscow, Russia. Long live the Red Army, and kiss my butooshka.

5) My favourite colour is Lime Green- Second favourite is Pumpkin Orange- Third favourite is Cherry Red (By now I hope you notice the food pattern)

6) I've been playing Aetolia on and off for about.... 7 years on and off. I remember when the Magi were still a guild and Ashtan wasn't an exhibit in Atlantis. Then again, so does most of Aetolia >///>

7) I'm a Model for the Brock Agency o3o And... I dunno. Stuff

8) I have trust issues because my trust has been spit on and thrown in my face so many times and all that emo stuff.

9) I really don't know what else to say... I'm a boring person... I'll try to get to 10...

10) Oh, look! 10! Umm... My favourite flowers are yellow daffodils, which also happen to be my birth flower

The end!

Moirean · April 2013

Solaria · April 2013

1) My name is Edna.

2) I'm 5 months away from 30.

3) I'm married with three cats, though I'm more of a dog person.

4) I have no living blood parents. I have only my step-mom left. I technically have a stepfather...sort of.

5) I moved said stepmom closer to me after handling my dad's estate back in November and on.

6) I live in Charlotte, but was born in a tiny NC town called Edenton.

7) My stepfather can't enter the state, so I haven't seen him since my mom died in 1992. No calls, nothing

8) Until the age of 9, I had no idea that said stepfather was not my biological father.

9) Said stepfather can't enter the state because of me. Makes me very happy.

10) Had a crazy teen phase. To be honest, lucky I'm not pregnant or dead. I'm very fortunate.

11) I graduated from high school early by 6 months and entered college at ECPI in VAB. Worst mistake for education.

12) Got my AS in Web Design in 2002. Immediately started for my BS at ECSU and had to start over from scratch.

13) I helped my dad run an auction house and various other businesses while attending school.

14) I attended Mendenhall I'm High Point and shortly after became NC auctioneer.

15) I have been a public notary before as well.

16) I work at a small electronic company now. Really good people. Got lucky that they took me back. Had to quit for 2 months or so to settle my dad's affairs and get my mom situated.

17) My husband and I bought our first house recently.

18) My dad's death has woken me up about my weight, so I'm trying my hardest to get on track.

19) I have a bad habit of getting bored of things quickly and being wasteful because of that. Trying to break that habit too.

20) I have finally quit WoW after trying time and time again. And it feels good.

21) After handling my dad and mom's affairs, I am resentful towards mt siblings. I am the youngest, and handled almost everything. And in the end, I got the least photos/momentos when they divided them without me. I am very hurt still and trying not to let it make me bitter.

22) My dad hadn't spoken to most of my siblings in years because they treated him poorly. I don't want to be like him, but I understand him more now.

23) Happier note, graduated in 2007 with my BS in Comp Sci. Even if I don't use it now.

24) I can play the piano decently. Out of practice, but desperately want a keyboard.

25) I've come back to Aetolia because I still end up with too much time on my hands and my husband typically doesn't play games that I like as well or that have 2 player mode.

Guess that'll do.

Arbre · April 2013

Moirean said:

9. Part of that is because I have dyscalculia (number dyslexia). I transpose numbers in my head, I can only remember phone numbers by the physical act of typing them in, I can barely read analog clocks (it's seriously something I've only tentatively mastered in the past few years), and I have a very bad sense of time. I never manage to gauge how long a task will take. I can't manage money, no matter how much I try and I am constantly surprised by how much my grocery total rings up to at the register. In 3rd grade we did 60-second times tables charts every day and I was stuck in the 4s when the entire rest of the class had progressed on to the 11s and 12s. I spent hours every night on math homework and frequently cried over it because it just wouldn't make sense.

I've never heard about this condition before and am immediately fascinated. I'm terrible at math to the point that it's a running joke (I give wrong change and have to write out simple math problems, and heaven forbid I need to do simple two digit addition in my head). The clock thing is something I've never understood why I couldn't get. I have to count, even after wearing nothing but analog watches since Jr. High in hopes that I'd force myself to read it more swiftly - it hasn't worked. How do you get -tested- for it?

Moirean · April 2013

As far as I know, there isn't a standard test and it's more a series of assessments of your overall aptitude for stuff and how you process math-based stuff. My first math professor in college was a bit fascinated by how my brain seemed to make no sense - I was TA'ing the calc 1 and 2 classes as a freshman for work study, but beating my head against the wall when it came to the practical applications in cacl 3 - and he sent me to the university's student services. They were like "Oh, sup" and I was like OMG WHY COULDN'T I HAVE KNOWN THIS YEARS AGO.

My parents still shrug it off though and insist I am just lazy. They don't believe learning disorders exist, so I was never tested as a child, even though I showed pretty clear signs of learning issues (at one point in second grade my teacher moved my desk into the freaking coat room which adjoined the classroom so I'd stop bothering the other students when I was hyper and distracted and, as mentioned, the hours-long tear-inducing math homework).

If it is something you are interested in, see if your university will test you. It can really help you when you tackle things like money or time management if you go into it knowing what your issues are.

http://www.squidoo.com/dyscalculia-test

Arbre · April 2013

My kindergarten teacher told my mother I was going to grow up to be either the President or Hitler. Looking at my track record in Aetolia..........

Toz · April 2013

I'm just sleep-deprived enough to crank one of these out, I think.

1) I'll be 21 in July. That's...so strange.

2) My dad being a college coach, I grew up around college-aged people (mostly college-aged softball players). This has given me an incredibly warped sense of age - when I was younger, I felt like I was older than I really was. People my age drove me nuts, hanging out with 14 year olds when you've talked politics/economics with a college graduate the night before? Totally weird, I got age whiplash. Now that I'm in college, I constantly feel like everyone around me is/looks/acts older than I do. Can't quite get used to the fact that I'm 'one of them' now.

3) I am absurdly lucky. My mom never liked me saying it, because my family is Christian (blessed, not lucky) - but it's true. Random chance? I've got 60% odds on a 50/50 shot, at least. I mean, I once walked up to a vending machine and had it give ME money. This luck is one reason my study habits suck - I can rock a multiple choice test (hellooooo, SAT) like nobody's business because I narrow it down to a few, and lady luck has my back. Usually.

4) This luck does not apply to relationships of any kind. I'm like a fish out of water when it comes to social situations - people say I blend in well with almost any crowd, and I guess I have a lot of practice doing it? But when it comes down to it, I never know what to do/say/whatever, so I usually just sit there quietly or chatter on and on about something that interests me while trying to make as many jokes as I can. Much happier having internet friends, so I have time to formulate a response, and I don't have to worry about maintaining proper body language.

5) I don't date. Nor have I ever - see 4. I had some socially awkward stuff go down freshman year of high school, got burned and had it rubbed in my face for 4 years. Somewhere in the mix, I decided to just not bother with it. So, I don't! No prom, never been on a date. Don't particularly care to date, either.

6) I have a majorly addictive personality. Giftbag promos demolish my bank account - just one more. Gonna hit it big this time for sure. Being lucky doesn't help matters, because once you win you don't stop. Ever. And I won big my first bag set this go-round so I bought like 10 more. And every win, no matter how small, just makes me want more. I'll sit down and play a game I'm hooked on for hours straight, I once blew up a computer because I ran it 17 hours a day playing video games. For a week straight.

7) I get bored really easily, too. This might seem to clash with 6, and it certainly kind of confuses me - I burn out. If I fall in love with a game (Mortal Kombat, for instance) I'll play the heck out of it for a few weeks and then never be able to touch it ever again, except for like 30 minute bursts. My game library is pretty big, but at any given time I'm only playing 2-3 of them. Some games that have managed to keep me around, somehow? League of Legends, IRE games, AtonementRPI (rest in peace). Minecraft/terraria suck me in pretty badly from time to time.

8) I have never actually broken a bone.

9) All of my best friends except 2? Met them online. Of the two who I did not, I met one in elementary school (he moved away, have not talked to him in years) and the other was killed in a car crash my sophmore year of high school. Riding in the back of a truck that ran off the road. No one else even had to get stitches, despite him not being alone in the bed of the truck. I'll sooner walk than ride in the back of a truck now.

10) I also always wear my seatbelt. A person who went to my dad's camps was involved in a horrible accident - her best friend was killed, she almost died. The bodies were so banged up the only way to ID them was by their fingernail polish - seatbelt could have saved her best friend's life, and having watch her struggle through recovery (given a .02% chance to even live)? Yeah, I buckle up before I even start the car.

11) I have two dogs and a cat (on to happier topics for a bit) - a weenie dog that is named Jazmine (the 'z' was very important to my 5 year old self), an Australian shepherd named Nosey (fitting), and a cat named Zelda (though I affectionately call her by her true name, Satan).

12) As a result of my dad's work, I've met some interesting people. I yelled at the owner of the Atlanta Braves for trading my favorite player, Bret Boone (I think that's how you spell it, anyway - so long ago I barely remember). I got to play at an arcade with a two-time Olympic gold medalist who is now also a doctor. I've also gotten to travel because of it, to Hawaii (3 times, love it), to Canada (Toronto, Nova Scotia, Keswick, a few other places) and to a variety of random states.

13) I'm a computer science major, though I kind of wonder if I'll actually be able to do it. Lazy, can't really rely on luck to get my code working (though a few rituals in the 13th hour have yielded moderate results), and it seems like everyone else already knows everything compared to me. Frustrating, especially since I hate asking people for help.

14) I've flown a plane before. I do not have my pilot's licence. In the interest of keeping the person who arranged this out of trouble, let me just simply say that it was amazing, and if I didn't have so much trouble getting yelled at, I totally would have gone into the military and flown planes for forever.

15) When I was young, because of Toy Story and The Brave Little Toaster? I never threw away anything. Ever. And some kids used to break pencils when they were mad, in class? I did it once and broke down crying, because what if I just killed it. I watched that AC unit die in Brave Little Toaster, and now I just murdered a pencil because I was upset.

16) I'm all over the place with these tonight - when a new meme or whatever comes out (Harlem Shake, for instance)? I won't watch anything related to it for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, it has burned out and is old news. I can go look for the most upvoted ones and see generally which were the funniest/best done without having to wade through all the ones that suck.

17) My baby in high school was my car - a 300 ZX. I used to park way in the middle of nowhere so no one would ding it up. It's an '85 and only had like 40k miles on it when I bought it. Currently sitting in the garage, unused. Breaks my heart just a little bit every time I go down there and see her, but I'm saving her for when I'm not surrounded by bumper-bashing, mirror-smashing, paint-keying college kids.

18) I have a weakness for rap. I mean, I can definitely appreciate clever rap/good music, but when I'm in a bad mood? I end up playing something like Grillz, or Just A Friend (or whatever that song is called).

19) I have a hat. I have posted 2 pictures so far of this hat. I love this hat as I have never loved an article of clothing before - my usual attire is jeans and a t-shirt, a hoodie if it's cold. Now it is always that, and the hat. A friend of mine made it, and my dad claims I look like Eminem while my mom complains I look like a dock worker. I do not care, I love my hat.

20) I'm really weird about clothing. I have not been seen without my shirt on in RL years. If I go swimming, I wear a fast-drying shirt. If I'm at the beach? Shirt and shorts. I have an absolutely wicked farmer's tan because of this, but I don't care. No shirt, no Seth.

21) My friends have nicknamed me 'cat'. Apparently I am cat-like in how I act, which suits me just fine - cats are awesome. Even Satan-Zelda, but don't tell her I said that. It'll go straight to her head.

22) To kind of expand on 21, I sleep in a ball under the covers. The 'cat' nickname gets brought up when we talk about sleeping, because I do curl up like a cat. When I was little, I was scared of the dark. And somehow I got it into my head if I was under the covers, bad guys (whoever they are) wouldn't know where to stab to kill me, if I was in a ball. Can't cut my throat if you have no idea where it is...apparently I was morbid, for a 4 year old. Even to this day, I am more comfortable entirely under the covers, I can't sleep unless my head is covered up.

23) To go along with this, I blush at the drop of a hat. Kind of growing out of it, thank God, but not there yet. It is not cute. It is not adorable. You can go headbutt a unicorn, I hate it with a fiery passion that far outshines any heat my face or ears may produce. To this end, I wear my hair long (hides my ears) and favor hoodies (partially conceal my ears/face). I also tend to make less eye contact, because if my head's down, you can see less of my face.

24) Every night, I eat a bag of popcorn covered with Lawry's seasoned salt. I dunno who started me on it, but that's how I have always done it, so that's what I do. I can't sleep right without it, I get hungry in the middle of the night. Going to go make that after I finish the next point, I think.

25) The only time I have ever felt entirely, completely socially secure? I flew to Texas to meet a bunch of friends from Achaea. For 5 amazing days, I was surrounded by people who knew my deepest, darkest secrets - and they didn't care. I don't talk shop with anyone I know RL, ever. Another one of my rules, trusting is hard. If you tell someone in Hawaii you're afraid of the dark, who cares? It can't come back to bite you - but high schoolers were unicorns. So never to my RL friends...but meeting them after they already knew and had accepted me anyway? It was...perfect. There was nothing I could say that they didn't know, and I felt like I had known them my whole life too. So, in closing, thanks to those of you who listen to me rant on AIM or Skype - I probably do it a lot, but I'd have popped by now if it weren't for you guys letting me vent, because I've got nowhere else to do it.

Kiyotan · April 2013

Arbre said:

My kindergarten teacher told my mother I was going to grow up to be either the President or Hitler. Looking at my track record in Aetolia..........

Well, go on.

Suri · May 2013

1. I'm old enough to be your mother.

2. I live within one hour of the beach, snow skiing, Disneyland, Magic Mountain and Hollywood.

3. If I could live in Disneyland, I would. Everything is fun and so beautifully maintained! (I'd have a full-time staff - so no cleaning for me!)

4. If I could have a vacation home, it would be in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

5. I sing for lots of people a lot.

6. I feel weird when people ask if I'm a professional singer - because I don't make a living at it, but I have been paid to sing a lot.

7. I make every group I audition for.

8. Because my voice can go ridiculously high, I sing in the first soprano section of every group I join, though when I write songs, I don't write them in that range.

9. I don't sing opera but I do sing classical music in choirs.

10. I am in the middle of a recording an inspirational CD - not particularly in my ridiculously high range - So - if it EVER gets done, I'll post a link to it on the forums.

11. I believe in the ultimate power of love -

12. I believe God, our creator and Father is the source of that love -

13. I believe that His son, Jesus Christ, is the conduit of pure love that breeches the divide between our selfishness and the pureness of the Father who created us.

14. I believe we were created to succeed and grow, and that agency to choose is the reason this world was created to begin with.

15. Along with number 14 - I believe agency comes with a price and we see it in the selfish acts we perpetrate on each other in this world.

16. Wouldn't trade places with God because I wouldn't be able to restrain myself against smacking down people who are cruel and abusive.

17. I have met countless people in online games who were abused or neglected by their poor, imperfect parents. I've often wished I could adopt them and give them a safe refuge where they will feel loved to the core.

18. I'm not perfect, but I have created a loving home. It has been my life's main goal.

19. I have met people on Aetolia who are so brilliant. I can't believe they don't know how brilliant they are! I feel privileged to have had a peek into their minds through the characters they have created.

20. My first character EVER was on Aetolia. She is 326 years old...so yeah, I've played on and off for ten years.

21. I am addicted to the creativity of the alternate universe in this game. I wish I could devote more time to it, but that would mean neglecting other things that need and want my attention.

22. I love horses, but I had to give up the horse I bought as a grown-up. They need constant work or they become too dangerous - which I painfully discovered last summer. I named Suri's horse after the horse I gave up. I miss him that much.

23. Would buy another horse if I could live with it, establish the proper relationship on a daily basis and enjoy it even if I was not capable of riding.

24. Chocolate makes my throat scratchy! I don't eat candy from October 30th until after Christmas. (Too many singing performances around Christmas time.)

25. Duiran is my Jackson Hole, Wyoming!!!

Minarael · June 2013

Just spent a silly amount of time reading through these. Aetolians are a pretty diverse group! I like things that make you examine self and think.

1. I'm 32, a mother of 3 girls, polyamorous, pagan, a freelance writer, a nerd, and an self-isolating goofball. I live in Washington state in the shadow of my beloved mountain.

2. I recently lost a man I intended to marry, in September. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack at 25. We met in another IRE game and were together for 7 years. He had muscular dystrophy. Which meant that I had to field a ton of stupid questions and see all the many and varied irritating ways people interact with obviously disabled people. His fantastic personality and incredibly genuine way of interacting with people won over most of the folks he interacted with. He raised my kids, they saw him as their father. It is the absolute hardest thing I have ever gone through, in a long string of challenging life events. Because he was disabled, people keep telling me that 'at least I had prepared for it.' It's really kind of astounding I haven't been arrested for assault yet.

3. On that note, I tend to be abrasive and aggressive. I am aware of it and actively try to modulate my tone and demeanor, but if I'm tired or sick that goes away and I am a walking offensive miasma. I am generally a pretty nice person, I don't try to be rude to people, but I seem to have a knack for it. Particularly since I believe strongly that honesty is vitally important and I tend to speak directly. It tends to sort out the folks around me very quickly into those that can take me and those that can't. Sometimes it makes me sad. Most of the time I am okay with it. To each, their own.

4. My parents divorced when I was an infant, and my mom remarried when I was 3. Both my step-dad and bio-dad were active in my life. I moved back and forth a lot. So I have two dads. My mom and step-dad are musicians primarily. My bio-dad was career Navy. So they moved a lot. I had a pretty nomadic childhood that alternated between hanging out with Marine/Navy officers and delivering morning 'Happy Pills" of stapled printer paper packets filled with M&Ms and hanging out with hippies, bikers, musicians, artists, and other weirdos.

5. I think because of the forced socialization when I was a kid (my mother knows -absolutely everyone-) I have become an adult who is much more comfortable being home then going out and being around other people. This is exacerbated by the constant movement, which made it a challenge to make close friendships. I'm pretty sucky at retaining friendships. I get caught up in my own head and projects and forget to check in on other people. That said, I'm great for temporary communication and interaction. I'm comfortable in social settings, and even enjoy them. I looove a good conversation.

6. Before my mister died, I was going to school with a long term goal of getting a Master's in Bioengineering and a Doctorate in Nanotechnology. I still want to, but I don't know when. I'm currently a freelance writer trying to build up my business enough to support my family so I can go back to school. I write content for blogs, short stories, and other stuff. I make more doing this than I did working a pretty good retail job. The benefits are nice too (working from home) but I miss insurance and I am not yet making enough/stable enough to return to school comfortably.

7. I make crazy decisions sometimes. They always seem to turn out well. I moved to Michigan because my life here sucked and I'd not realized Kalamazoo was a real place till I bought the Greyhound ticket. I stayed 6 years, bought a house there, had my youngest child, and made a good life for myself. Illness brought me back home.

8. After my mister (Jesse) passed away, my former boyfriend unexpectedly came back into my life. He moved in with me ridiculously quickly from across the country because of a collection of circumstances I won't get into here. I had a lot of support from my friends and family despite the insanity of my decisions, and it has worked out very well. He is incredibly loving, supportive, and has made the last half year a lot more bearable than it otherwise would have been. Jesse would have approved. Everyone that actually knew us at the time we broke up thought I was insane. If you'd asked me even a month before I started talking to him if this would happen I would have adamantly said no. We'd both convinced each other that we -hated- one another. Life is odd.

9. I have been playing MUD/MUSH games since I was 8. Back then, it was on a Telnet dedicated machine. It had a built-in keyboard, a plug, and a slot for the phone line. My first MUD was a space-themed one. I also used to hang out on BBS, before AOL existed.

10. I was a closet nerd for most of my youth. My friends were all thuggish types. I ran with drug dealers and criminals. I spent a lot of time homeless when I was a teenager and I could often be found on a bare mattress reading a sci fi/fantasy novel while everyone else was getting blitzed. I never met other people who thought like me till I went to my first convention to meet with one of the guest speakers (for a reason that had nothing to do with the convention). I wandered into a filk room. I didn't emerge for another 12 hours. Now I am a huge board game geek, play text games, read/write speculative fiction, tabletop, and I'm even a card carrying member of the SCA. I want to be a pirate when I grow up.

11. I was raised to believe firmly in gay rights, but I was horrified at the idea of being bisexual for a very long time. I didn't 'come out' till I was in my late 20s. I came out because I decided to stop entering monogamous relationships finally. I grew up with the old school gay community, in which bi folks were just people who were afraid to just be gay and face the consequences, or straight folks who wanted attention. I spent a lot of time worrying about it.

12. I had long-term relationships with two other IRE players and one IRE God. I was the order head for the God, but didn't actually talk to the player until a year after he'd stepped down. My current mister is an IRE player. For a long time, most of my social circle was from IRE. Now, most of my social circle is from college and none of them play text games.

13. I absolutely cannot live without music. I grew up with it. I used to pass out on speakers, feeling the bass thrum through my body. I have met quite a few 'famous' musicians including Dr. John and Chuck Berry. I love old blues. Especially Howlin' Wolf. I love Denver Sound stuff, gothic Americana stuff. I love music with a dark soul. Most metal but symphonic (too pretty) and thrashy stuff annoys me. A lot of old outlaw country. Good industrial music, particularly stuff I can dance too. The only dance clubs I'll go to are industrial ones. And then I'll dance my rear off till the wee hours. I love good hip hop, but most of the modern radio-rotation stuff can stuff itself. Some rockabilly inspired stuff is amazing (Imelda May and Rev Horton Heat). I am not a huge fan of jazz or pop music of pretty much any kind. I occasionally get into fits where I will spend a week listening to old soul music, or 50s music, or something. Depends on my mood.

14. If I had the cash, I'd probably always dress in retro clothes. This has been true since I was a kid and fell in love with the fashion in the old movies my mother fancies. Either that or I'd dress like Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac. I'm a sucker for a well dressed gentleman.

15. I can cook. I can cook very well. I'm entirely self-taught. It's been an obsession of mine actually. I feed people I care about. I check my favorite foodie blogs like some people check their Twitter feeds. I'm starting to venture into baking things other than bread. I recently made a Reese's Peanut Butter Cupcake and learned how to make crumpets. Because, crumpets!

16. I adore dark chocolate, tolerate milk chocolate, and white chocolate makes me rage. It's nasty. Pie over cake most of the time. I am impatiently waiting for the cupcake trend to die a slow, painful death and be replaced by the much more awesome handheld pie craze.

17. My family owned a beadstore for 12 years. I can bead anything. I can teach anyone to bead. I don't bead.

18. I am a fair hand with ceramics and if I had the money I'd own a kiln and throwing wheel -right now-. Likewise, I'd get back into stained glass art. I used to make jewelry - bracelets, watches, pendants, and sculptured stained glass figurines set on interesting natural finds like rocks and driftwood. I miss art.

19. I am a very hit or miss sketch artist. Sometimes I sketch things I am incredibly proud of. Other times I wonder why I bother. This is mostly because I don't sketch regularly. I greatly enjoy digital painting and am pretty decent at it, but I am a HUGE perfectionist and I put a lot of attention to detail in it. Consequentially, one painting takes me a month to finish usually. So I do other things instead.

20. I'm pagan, but almost all my friends and my most important relationship partners have all been atheists or agnostic. I don't often get along well with the general pagan community. My spiritual beliefs are intensely personal and very important to me. The inclusiveness of the pagan community often bothers me, even if I understand the need for it.

21. I am a mother of teenagers. Which means I spend a lot of time absolutely frustrated, stressed, and irritated. I also spend a lot of time in terror wondering if I've given my kids the tools they need to survive. Being a teenager sucks. Most of the time, I am astounded at what amazing young women my kids are turning out to be. I look forward to seeing who they become as women.

22. I'm a professional writer, but I have a mostly intuitive grasp of the English language. Which means I tend to make a lot of little grammatical errors. Thankfully, my partner is a great editor (and also a freelance writer) and catches the bits I miss after I read over my work.

23. My entire family, essentially, is some form of alcoholic or addict. The amount of crazy in it often astounds me. I am distant from all of them but my mother. I am terrified of becoming an addict myself, even though I have always been very careful. I have an internal checklist that I go through before I ever drink anything to make sure I'm not leaning on alcohol as a crutch.

24. I took the bus for years because I didn't want to deal with having a car. I only bought one recently because my disabled mister was going to need it with recent bus cuts. I haven't had cable for almost a decade, by choice. I use Netflix when I need to watch something. I'm one of those obnoxious 'buy local' people. I get my coffee beans from a local roaster, I used to get my produce from a CSA (and will again when I can afford it), my milk and cheese delivered from a local dairy. I try to shop as much as possible at the small chain, locally-owned grocer that sources much of their stuff from the area as they can. We budgeted our finances carefully so we could afford to spend more on quality food, and cut a lot of modern 'conveniences' to do so.

25. Only in the last year have I been able to have a real relationship with my mom. I really adore the person my mom is, with everyone else. There is so much bad history between us that it has been hard for me to learn to trust her to any degree. Especially now that I have a child who is older than I was when she started throwing me out of the house. I can't fathom ever doing that to my child, no matter how much she aggravates me. I can't imagine putting my own flesh and blood through what she put me through. But I have learned to forgive her, because she did the best she had with a difficult set of circumstances and a lot of bad parenting examples from her own childhood. I'm beginning to appreciate her as she is, and she's beginning to see me as an adult and not the angry and explosive teen girl I was.

Denser · October 2013

Oh my, I really love going through all these. Mine seems rather boring but here goes.

1) My name is Dixon, my race is Chinese, am 24 years old and I come from Singapore

2) And Singapore is not a part of China. It is somewhere in South East Asia

3) Which explains why when I am online most people aren't which is kind of irritating.

4) I am studying Pure Mathematics as my college degree even though I don't like it. It was allocated to me due to a teaching scholarship I took up. After my degree is completed I will be sent for a year of teacher's training before being posted to a secondary school (7th to 10/11 grade).

5) People tend to think that I look younger than I am which I fancy since it would probably mean I won't have a large gap between my students and I.

6) Of course that was until my students told me I look like them...

7) I am really bad with reaction games. By the time I react to it, I would probably have lost. I need some time to think.

8) I broke someone's nose when I was 6 years old when my left hand was already in a sling from a wrist dislocation I got from being thrown off the bed by my cousin.

9) That is not why I joined the Carnifex... not to relieve a childhood experience and crush people's noses.

10) I am highly passionate about things and people. If I like you I would do a lot for you, if I hate you I would do a lot against you.

11) I like discussing and debating about issues but I hate it when people use really big words to do so. I want to talk about an issue, not spend time google-ing what your sentence means.

12) My first IRE was Achaea, after which I tried Imperian and very briefly Lusternia. I stopped playing IRE for a good 2-3 years when I was 18 years old because I had compulsory conscription into the army. As such my 19 year old (IC) GM of the Amazons in Imperian had to retire.

13) I eat like a kid. I hate vegetables and love sweets, chocolates and ice cream!

14) My parents were really strict when I was young and had high expectations (especially my mother). Any test below 95/100 for 1st grade would see me being caned. Caning, having to stand in the balcony overnight, getting chased out of the house overnight, chilli rubbed on the mouth and belting till I puked did happen.

15) I like to chat with people in RL, highly sociable but that doesn't mean I am trying to date you. Something my friends seem to misunderstand sometimes.

16) I have a sister two years younger than me (22 years old this year) whom I really dote on and whom really dotes on me.

17) I don't or can't drink coffee because I tend to have the urge to puke after I do. I can eat coffee-flavoured cakes, sweets, etc though.

18) I can drink alcohol but I do not enjoy drinking it. When my friends are buying alcohol from a 24/7 convenience store before clubbing, I buy myself a nice ice-cream instead.

19) I am lazy. I know how to do a lot of things but I am too lazy to do them. Examples include but are not limited to baking, cooking, cleaning, washing, etc.

20) I respect what other people choose to do even if I do not agree with them. That includes their religion, lifestyle, etc. I prefer to think that we first and foremost alike as humans rather than different due to [dumb reasons].

21) That doesn't mean I agree with stuff like beating your parents or torturing animals though.

22) I think people in Aetolia are really really more helpful than Achaea. Especially @Moirean whom after reading her 25 reasons, makes me think she is cool OOC.

23) Of course, that does not mean I want to date her!!

24) Because I am homosexual (which doesn't mean I hate girls. I love interacting with them, just not sexually). Ha, but don't come flaming me.

25) And now everyone here knows about point 24 even when very few know in RL.

Moirean · October 2013

24) Because I am homosexual

Incoming transfer to Spinesreach in 3....2....

Re: Singapore, we actually had a decent crew of players from there a while back: @winters, @elene, @calikura, few others. Dunno if any of them are still kicking around on alts, though.

Welcome to Aetolia!

Denser · October 2013

Moirean said:

24) Because I am homosexual

Incoming transfer to Spinesreach in 3....2....

Re: Singapore, we actually had a decent crew of players from there a while back: @winters, @elene, @calikura, few others. Dunno if any of them are still kicking around on alts, though.

Welcome to Aetolia!

Well I do know a few Singaporean Achaeans. Not sure if they are on Aetolia too

Xenia · October 2013

Moirean said:

24) Because I am homosexual

Incoming transfer to Spinesreach in 3....2....

Re: Singapore, we actually had a decent crew of players from there a while back: @winters, @elene, @calikura, few others. Dunno if any of them are still kicking around on alts, though.

Welcome to Aetolia!

I laughed my ass off at reason 24.

Howdy, Stranger!

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