Well, the new job hasn't worked out so well. It was just making me feel too stressed and anxious - I'd end up having trouble eating in the morning because of it, and even when I came home I wouldn't be able to really wind down. It was making me feel crap, and it wasn't worth it. So I ended up just telling them that it wasn't right for me.

Thankfully, I was able to still keep my old job at the newsagents, so I'm not unemployed or anything. And I already feel much better - sure, I still have no clue about what I'm going to be doing in the future, but I don't crap every day. I think I will go and see a careers counselor or something sometime though, just to help me figure out what it is that I want to do.

ANYWAYS. On a more fun note, and because I feel like it, a meme!

Explain your usernames~ (Stolen from what seems like everybody)

blue_rampion | I love fairy tails. One of those fairy-tales that I love is Rapunzel. Obviously, rapunzel was taken, but another name for the rapunzel (the plant, that is), is rampion. Well, rampion was also taken, but the rampion flowers tend to be blue to blue-ish-purple to purple. "purple_rampion" just sounds plain weird and "bluishpurplerampion" would never fit in a million years, so I went with "blue_rampion". This was before I had picked any kind of handle for myself, so when I started rping I'd just put "Blue Rampion" as my name on all the forms and this ended up morphing into everyone calling me Blue.

( RP accounts under here! )

Since it occurs to me that I don't actually have a list of the characters I've played anywhere - and I now have enough characters to actually warrant a list - here it is!

Animorphs:
Marco | livestoannoy | trans_9

D.Gray-man:
Miranda Lotto | clock_chime | soul_campaign (formerly discedo, lost_paradigm, jardin_du_ciel)

Discworld:
Susan Sto Helit | inner_sitter | Homeless (formerly discedo, jardin_du_ciel with the journal miss_sensible)

Disney:
Aladdin
Aladdin | doyoutrustme | Homeless

Mulan
Li Shang | manmaker | soul_campaign

Sleeping Beauty
Maleficent | thepowersofhell | Homeless (formerly lost_paradigm)

Fullmetal Alchemist:
Alex Louis Armstrong | manofsparkle | soul_campaign

Monkey Island:
Guybrush Threepwood | inventorypants | Homeless
Murray | rollthroughhell | Homeless

Because I've just realised that I haven't actually posted about this yet...

I have a new job! It's admin, with full-time hours, and I start next week! *yaaaaaaay!*

It will mean that my rping will have to change though, since I won't be able to get on in the mornings when all the Americans are on like I used to. Oh well, people will just have to wait longer for tags or get things done on weekends.

But still. I HAS A SHINY NEW JOB!

55 artists have performed a re-written version of Beds Are Burning, to bring attention to climate change

I do believe in climate change, and I think that people shouldn't be sticking their heads in the sand over the issue. But I'm not sure how I feel about them having re-written "Beds Are Burning" as part of their campaign.

I don't know how much you guys know about "Beds Are Burning" - it's an Australian song, by the very politically-motivated rock group Midnight Oil (You can see the original here). And if you do know the song, I don't know how much you guys know about what it means. So if you do already know, bear with me as I explain.

It's about Aboriginal land rights. When the Brits came to Australia, they claimed it was "terra nullius" - empty of people. Despite the fact that Aboriginals had been living here for at least 40,000 years. The treatment of Aboriginals is a dark part of Australia's history. Many were foricible removed from their land. Even worse was the Stolen Generations - the systematic removal of half-caste Aboriginal children from their familie and culture.

It was only in 1992 that a court rejected the idea of terra nullius, and gave Aboriginals the right to claim any legal connection to the land that was their for so many thousands of years. And it's not just a case of "we invaded and they were here first" - the connection to the land is deeply ingrained into Aboriginal culture. Native Title - the legal recognition of this connection to the land - remains an issue today.

"Beds Are Burning" is essentially a call to recognise this right of the Aboriginal People. It's about us paying respect to those people who were here before "White Australia" arrived, recognising their connection to the land, and trying to move on and resolve the horrible events of the past. It's not an issue that has been covered highly by the music industry. The only other song I know of that does is Treaty.

So I can't help but feel uneasy, about this song being taken and changed and slapped onto a completely different topic. Perhaps I'm just being silly - it's highly likely that Midnight Oil gave permission for this and were happy for it to be used for Climate Change. But this was a song about an important issue, one that's rarely dealt with by the media. It's a song that encapsulates how I feel, personally, about the issue of Aboriginal land rights. I just can't help but wonder why they had to use this song, instead of another that actually was about environmental issues. Or just writing a new one.

I started up an account on Goodreads, which is...well, a collection of stuff you've read. I have been obsessively been cataloging my books now, and I've finally got them all uploaded. Throughout this process I have discovered that my copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Guards! Guards! have mysteriously disappeared, no one else seems to have ever read the Teen Power Inc books I absolutely loved when I was little, and that I own around 340 books. And have another forty that I want to buy.

And I know someone told me about this site. Or they posted about it or something. Or managed to convey the existence of it to me in some unknown and mysterious transferal process. BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO, DAMMIT.

The only mild annoyance is the way the site keeps remind me that I have "no friends" yet. That's what eljay is for. I just want a way to have a nice neat list of books which I will probably start obsessively organising into categories in the future. Friends are incidental to the process.

Hmm.

Anyways, in RP news that for once isn't related to Once and Future, I have apped Armstrong at soul_campaign, decided to app Li Shang from Mulan, there as well, and have developed the desire to play Aladdin. Somewhere. Anywhere.

I've thought about playing Armstrong before, but at the time I was only involved in Discedo, and I was starting my process of cutting back characters - so I wasn't really going to add another. Shang is completely Eme aka Mulan-mun's fault. Aladdin is just me and my general desire for MORE DISNEY. The fact that I'm listening to the music right now doesn't help. Besides, Aladdin would be so much fuuun.

Oooh, I wonder if there are any Genie roleplayers out there. That would be awesome.

...Wow, I sure have rambled today, haven't I?

From reveillez

1.Comment to this entry saying 'ICONS!' and I will pick 6 of your icons.
2.Make an entry in your own journal and talk about the icons I picked!

Duck Man, from Discworld! I absolutely love Discworld, and the absurdity of combining not just the Duck Man - a crazy homeless man who wears a duck on his head but will respond with "what duck?" if you mention it - and the iPod thing appeals to me. There's actually a whole bunch of these out there for other Discworld characters, too - but I like this one the best.

This is one that I got from my sister, actually. My sister loves elephants. She has a gazillion stuffed elephants and other elephant-themed things. Me, I just like the idea of an elephant on a trampoline. Plus, it's a nice happy icon!

Not one of my favourites, actually. I don't really use it that much. But I do like D.Gray-man, and it's a fun quote. Still, I'll probably change it to something else. Eventually. When I get around to it.

One of the icons that I've made! Again, because I love Discworld, and the Hex quotes are just so awesome. I spent ages trying to figure out how to make animated icons for this. And I'll probably never make another animated on again. But it's great fun to use! XD

Beaker! Because I love the Muppets. Although Beaker's not my favourite Muppet. I rather like Ralph.

I love fantasy, and dragons in particular. And this icon's just so beautiful, so how could I not use it?

I just googled "Miranda Lotto" and "history" (as an app I'm working on asks for links to a credible source"). I was rather amused to find that the first page listed was in fact...the one I have written in my rp journal for her.

Does this mean that I can claim that I am in fact the most credible source on Miranda? *amused amused*

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

From mennybeads:

traveling: I love traveling! Seeing new places, new people (and meeting friends in person!), discovering strange things like the fact that pretzels are EVERYWHERE in America and that there is no point carrying around a map in Venice because you will still get ridiculously lost...what's not to like? So far, I've been to America (west coast - San Francisco, LA, Seattle), the UK (London, Cardiff, Edinburgh), France (Paris, small tiny village near Orleans), and Italy (Milan, Como!, Venice, Rome). Oddly enough, though, I haven't traveled that much in my own country. Someday I'll have to do that too.

australia: My country! The place where I live, and the place where everyone else should go, because it's awesome. Australia's home, and I can't really imagine living anywhere else. I grew up in Melbourne, which is down south, and about ten years ago my family moved up to Brisbane, which is where I live right now. Oddly enough, though, when I have "Australia" as a prompt find it hard to find things so say. I guess because it's a freaking big country, and you can't really sum in up in one neat little package, I guess! It's easier to talk about the little parts of Australia though.

religion: I must admit, I was surprised at this word, because...well, I'm not at all religious. I was raised as a Catholic, but around the time when I was in High School I realised that what Catholicism is and what I actually believed were two separate things, so I became...not Catholic. I have beliefs, of course, but I don't follow any particular religion. I also tend to find that the kind of public religiosity you get in many other countries very strange. In Australia, religion is mostly a private thing, and I prefer it that way.

rp: I started rping about mid last year, and since then it's managed to completely suck me in and has become a big part of my life, now. My first attempt was actually as Lenalee, but I made one post and then the game died...so, I tend to not really count that game. But I still wanted to try - only this time, I really wanted to play Miranda. I found Jardin, and voila! I had a lot of fun there, and met some great people, even though the game ended up dying in a great ball of fire. I had a short stint at modding for another game, which unfortunately never got off the ground. I did find that I like modding, though (it's the obsessive organiser in me XD), and that part of the reason why I'm trying to build a game now. Although I'm probably crazy for wanting to do it, seeing as pretty much no one on my flist has shown any interest in Once and Future...but I still want to give it a shot. (And dammit, there should be more fantasy rpgs out there! We've got enough spaceships and apocalypses, now we need dragons and magic swords and epic castles too.)

rapunzel: I love fairy tails, and Rapunzel in particular is one of my favourites. It's where my username comes from, actually - rampion is another name for Rapunzel (the plant, that is), and it's flowers can be either blue, purple, or a bluish-purple. So, blue_rampion. (I never actually went and picked a name for myself, though. I just started getting called either "Blue" or "Rampie" by the people at Jardin. Blue was more common, so...that's what I started to go by.) ANYWAYS. Back to the actual topic: one of the reasons I find fairy tails fascinating is because they are constantly re-told and re-interpreted. There is no one, definitive "Rapunzel" story, there's many. And I find the way that so many authors can tell a one story in so many different ways interesting.

Okay, no more rambling now. XD

So, not that long I ago I posted about a possible idea for an rp game that I'd had. I've decided to go ahead and do it, possibly because I'm completely crazy. I'm calling it, "Once and Future."

So far I've just got a few pages up, but it should at least give you a good idea of where it's heading. I've got a premise, setting information, a timeline of events, some information on (non-player) important people, and a FAQ. Although the FAQ's only partially done. Don't click on the links, they don't go anywhere yet. (And it occurs to me how trying it is, writing an FAQ...when as yet, no one as asked any questions. Hmmm. Mysterious...)

But, since trying to do this all on my own would be even more insane, I'd like to know: are any of you interesting in helping to mod it with me?

If you're wondering, mod duties would pretty much involve: checking applications, updating lists (such as the taken characters page), making announcements from time to time, bouncing around ideas and helping to put events in play, and playing NPC characters. How involved the NPCs will be is going to depend on what sort of events we have going, and...well, how how willing we are to play them. Most NPCs will not be directly interacting with players unless a plot specifically calls for it, The exception is Merlin and Morgan le Fay. They're the ones who summon the characters, and they will be the NPCs that interact with the characters directly most of the time. Essentially, playing these two would be like playing a normal character in the game.

Course, if you really, really don't like one aspect of modding or something, we can figure something out. So, if you're even remotely interested, give my a poke?

So, I probably shouldn't be trying to app a new character somewhere while I'm also trying to organise the expansion of the school on Discedo and apply for graduate programs and whatnot. But hey, might as well start...somewhere? Even if I move at snail speed?

ANYWAYS. As I posted about a little while back, I'd really, really like to app Guybrush from Monkey Island somewhere. I haven't the foggiest idea of where, though. I know I could go an app him at Discedo, but the fact is Discedo is huge and just having two characters is already taking up quite a bit of time. (Probably wouldn't be as much time if Susan didn't keep insisting on educating all these people...but hey. What can you do.)

Plus, I miss small games. Ones where you can actually read all the posts - and their comments, and if you wanted, you could tag every post. Where you can get to know all of the characters in the game, not just the ones you choose to interact with.

Aaaand since it's always nice to join a friends game, does anyone have any suggestions? Other than the small requirement, I'd prefer a game that wasn't depressingly dark or complete crack. I don't mind Deep and Serious Plots or crack, but not all the time. (And I don't really think Guybrush would fit into a serious game anyway. I mean, this is a guy who's afraid of porcelain. He definitely leans more towards the crack end of the spectrum. Actually, if you don't know Monkey Island and are wondering what sort of character Guybrush is, this will give you a good idea.)

So. Any suggestions?

Today, I watched a video of Keating: The Musical. Paul Keating, who the show is about, was one of Australia's Prime Ministers.

Yes, we have a musical about a man who was once the leader of our country. And it's a fantastic show, seriously. Hopefully I can find a cd of the music somewhere, but for now, you guys will just have to settle for some videos or some of the more memorable songs.

It's Time / Ruler of the Land - in which Keating takes over the leadership and becomes Prime Minister, and then sings a reggae style song about the fact that he's now the ruler of the land.
Arse End of the Earth / Freaky - the first song's not one of the better ones, in my opinion - but the second one? Well...you kinda need to see it. (And for reference...the reason for this character's attire is this picture. Yes, that is one of our politicians. He used to be our foreign minister.)
Power - quite frankly, an awesome song. Seriously awesome. If you only listen to one of these songs, listen to this one. No prizes for guessing what it's about. (The character is our last Prime Minister.)
Choose Me / Light on the Hill - first first song is cool, but the second one? An amazingly beautiful song about, of all things, an election.

There should be more musicals about politicians. Although, it occurs to me that since many rps won't allow real people but will allow fictional representations of real people, I could in fact go and rp an aussie Prime Minister someone. (Oh god, what a terrifying thought...)

Meme! From both mennybeads and reveillez

Comment here and I will:

1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, a word etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ.

It's been a while since I posted some icons, hasn't it? Most of while I made a while back but just didn't get around to posting them, but some of them I've made in a recent bout of icon-making. ANYWAYS. On to the icons!

D.Gray-man
Miranda Lotto - 24
Disney
Sleeping Beauty
Maleficent - 17

Total - 41

Preview:


( Icons... )

I'm back home again!

I arrived yesterday morning, where I was greeted by sun and lots of people with Aussie accents. I do have a little bit of jet lag, but it's not major.

And after being laptop-deprived, and only being able to use hostel computers that cost money were often even more ridiculously slow than mine and would have the tab-less explorer or suddenly STOP WORKING even when you still have money left...I will never again complain about my laptop being slow and old. OH HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU, LAPTOP!

(...But when I eventually have the money for it, seeing as my money is now all gone get around to getting a new laptop, I'm going to have to make sure it's one of those super-tiny ones. So I can take both camera AND laptop while traveling.)

Traveling is fun, but it turns out that my country is on fire. Which is not fun.

Thankfully though, my mum send a message saying that my rellies who live in the area are okay.

MERRY CHRISSYMAS!!

Yes, I know most not all of you will be in Christmas yet. But I don't care, because it's Christmas here!

And because it is Christmas, I will give you all a link to this, a version of Carol of the Bells. Because Carol of the Bells is awesome and my favourite Christmas carol! (Although really, when you listen to the actual music, it doesn't sound like a Christmas carol should. It sounds more like it should be about an epic battle between good and evil, or some other bundle of awesomeness, rather than just "Merry merry merry merry Christmas". Especially when you listen to the version by the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

For some completely unknown reason, my AIM has suddenly decided to...stop working. AT ALL.

I try to log in, and the bloody thing won't connect. It'll just say the "connection failed", or spend forever at "connecting..." AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. AND THE BLOODY "AUTO CONFIGURE THING" DOESN'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL.

Dammit. Why couldn't I have been one of those computer savvy people?

Yeah, I know that most of you know about this. But even so. PLEASE COME BE IN IT. (Except Ali, because you are already in it!) I have Miranda and Maleficent here, and will probably end up apping Susan here at some point too.

CITY OF AMNESIA

This place, Paradigm City, is a town of forgetfulness. One day, forty years ago, every person here lost all memories of everything that should've occurred before that day. But humans are adaptable creatures. They make due and go on with life. If they're smart enough to figure out how to operate machinery and get electricity, they can still have a kind of a civilization, even without a history. People can survive without knowing what did or didn't happen in the past. Each day they try their hardest to do just that. The only ones who regret the loss of these memories are the city's elderly. But memories, like nightmares, sometimes come when you least expect them.

PARADIGM CITY

LOST PARADIGM is a multi-fandom RPG based on the setting from the animated series BIG O. Characters find themselves living fake lives within Paradigm City, a post-apocalyptic megalopolis where a mysterious event from forty years ago erased all history. The atmosphere of film noir is thick in this place, memories are the most expensive goods known to man and giant controlled robots known as Megadeuses exist as a remnant from the forgotten past. As events continue, they confront the mysteries and dangers hidden around the city, attempt to recover their scattered memories and do their best to discover the truth. But is the truth something they can handle? It is up to them to decide. We accept characters from all fandoms and mediums, with the option of playing both original and alternate versions. We also accept original characters created by players. Familiarity with the original series is not required. Interested? Then check out the rules and the F.A.Q. for more information!

LINK LIST

COMMUNITY MAIN + LOGS + OOC + FANWORK COMMUNITY CHARACTER TAKEN + PLAYER LIST [LOCKED] RESERVATIONS + WANTED + APPLICATION HIATUS / DROP FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ETIQUETTE + CHARACTER RULES HOW TO POST + EVENTS AND CONTINUITY PARADIGM CITY + MEMORIES AND ROLES + MEGADEUS

Well, I've been obsessively organising my character journals (and spent FOREVER trying to find a layout that was workable andsuited Susan), and made a few decisions.

I've reserved Susan at conscripted, because it'll be interesting to send her into a war situation (and it's looks fun!). The game opens on the fifteenth, but I think I should be able to finish her application by then - especially since Susan's information doesn't really need updating.

Haven't fully decided yet, but I think I'll send Miranda to crucible_rpg. But she won't be going in for a little while, since she does need updating. There's new events to add to the history, her abilities have expanded a little, and things like her Personality could use expansion as well.

As for Maleficent - well, I think I'll send her to lostparadigm when it eventually opens (along with Miranda and Susan as well). I asked, and it turns out that yes, I can make Maleficent a mafia boss. Which I think would be fun! XD Since it should be a while before it opens, I'll have plenty of time to write up all of Maleficent's profile and whatnot.

Okay. Have stared blankly at mass ads for rpgs, and thought dear god they're all the same any why do they all seem to involve memory loss?!?!.

But! I've been reading up on a few that people have recommended to me, and I now know which rp I want to app for: crucible_rpg It's looks awesome. And there's a really interesting bunch of characters too - they have Kuzco. Kuzco! From The Emperors New Groove! That's just, instant awesome. (Alas, he's not a llama. Because that would be even more awesome)

So. Now that I've found an rpg I want to join, I have to figure out which character I want to app: Miranda, Susan, or Maleficent. I'd prefer to have Miranda in a rp with other D.gray-man characters - they have Tyki, but Miranda would most likely hide from him and not interact much - but it could be interesting to play her without her canonmates. And Susan - well, she's Susan, and always fun, but I don't know exactly how she'd fit into the scenario. As for Maleficent - well, the fact that they have Kuzco, Salem (the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch), and The TARDIS, suggests that the people there aren't going to be adverse to having a Disney villain in their midst.

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DECIDE, DAMMIT? *weeps*


I just really hope that the fact that they do real-time won't mean I'll miss everything, on account of my timezone