...Hey! It's me, a random person!

[Renisca]

Salutations, y'all! The name's Renisca - well, my real name is Alli, but I would have greatly preferred the name Renisca even though it's not a real name (just one I made up xP). Maybe it can be my pseudonym if I ever become a writer, which I hope to do, but I find myself more of an "idea girl" than someone who can successfully carry out a 300+ page novel, at least at this point. But I still do love a good sit-down-and-write/roleplay session. (I am relatively new to the roleplaying universe, though, my participation on the Neopets forums notwithstanding. xD)

So, yeah. Me in a nutshell, if you're interested (who wouldn't be? ), is included in my biography on my profile. Interestingly enough, I didn't include anything about my past, since my past is much more boring than my personality (and that's saying quite a bit...) for the most part. I'd get bored writing about it; I mean, I've never moved out of town or even changed school districts, for crying out loud.

A few of my favorite things to potentially spark some interest and kinship with you lovely people:

Computer Games: Dreamfall: The Longest Journey: I just love the storyline and how it's simultaneously a game and interactive movie. Basically, it's about how an alternate world accessible by tapping into a virtual reality device (that's sort of a lucid dream of whatever you want) is actually real and causes problems with the real world's all-encompassing information processor, the Wire.
The Sims series
Heavy Rain (It's not out yet, but it seems really intriguing.)

Food: Cake batter/moose tracks/mint chocolate chip/cookie dough/insert-whatever-I'm-forgetting-here ice cream. Ice cream is just amazing. I feel for all you lactose intolerant folks. D: I love food, but it's kind of boring to talk about, in my opinion, so I'll just stop there.

Nature: It rocks. I don't know what else to say, exactly. It's just that some of the remote places in this world are really, really astounding.

Movies/TV: Some of my favorite TV shows are:
Avatar: The Last Airbender - I'm pretty new to the Avatar-verse, probably too new to participate in any of the awesome roleplays revolving around it, but I really like it! The picture in my signature is Zutara-oriented, but that's just one of my favorite scenes and I liked the coloring; I'm fine with the way things actually turned out ship-wise even though I think Zutara/Taang would have also made for a good ending.
Mental - I've never seen this show, but I have a feeling I'd like it if I did see it. That's me for you.
House
America's Next Top Model - I know, I know, but it's addictive. xP
The Office - Again, I know, but it's the only show that can really make me laugh.

Some of my favorite movies are:
A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (which officially makes Jack Angel an awesome judge of taste, because he's Teddy in that movie, Wonkers in Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and also did some voice work for Avatar: The Last Airbender)
What Dreams May Come
The Matrix - However, I thought I came up with the idea of virtual reality until 8th grade, and finding out about this movie's existence really upset me initially (I'd already started the plot and thought it was my best ever and was overly excited) and I've never quite gotten over it. xP
Virtuality - I haven't seen it yet, but I know I'm going to love it since I'm a virtual reality freak.

Music: Songs with a mix of trance and orchestral influences mixed - I know that sounds odd, but here's an example (or, I think so, at least. I'm not exactly an experienced music connoisseur. xD):
http://www.imeem.com/2wheels/music/Jxy26sVD/hybrid-hybrid-in-good-we-trust-soundtrack-edit/
I don't really have any favorite bands; I usually just type my favorite songs into Pandora Radio, which offers up songs of a similar nature based on rigorous criterion. Pandora and the Music Genome Project never cease to amaze me.
Basically, I believe that real, worthwhile music will send a shiver down your spine, and that could be any type of music based on who's listening, but taking the time to find out what music you really, truly love is rewarding, at least more so than just listening to stuff that's conveniently popular but that doesn't provoke emotion.


That's about all I have to say, and I figure it suffices based on length and all. xP Thanks for the invitation; I think I'm really going to like this place. Also, getting invited anywhere on the basis of being a good writer is extremely flattering!

EDIT (Well, actually, I edit so much that it would have cluttered this post if I truly wrote "EDIT" every time, but whatever): Also, I'm going skydiving on Sunday for the first time.

[Adrius Frostglare]

Welcome to FOG! Hope you enjoy your stay! Emergency exits are on the upper right and upper left corners of the screen. Thank you for writing with FOG International. Have a nice RPlay!

[Renisca]

Heh, thanks! But I don't see an exit on the upper-left corner, just an icon of a fox. (Mozilla Firefox is way better than Internet Explorer, kids!) Or do you mean the back button?

But since I really will be exiting from a plane in two days, I suppose I need the practice!

[Adrius Frostglare]

No better training than VR

*fixes her scratched sentence*

Mozilla Firefox is way better than Internet Explorer, kids!

*sips Cool-Aid*
Indeed.

Actually, my Firefox does have said exits. See the X button over there? Spend five hours on the comp typing a complex idea, a wonderful story. Then, before you do anything else, click it.

Go on.

I dare you.

THEN you'll know what it's like to make an emergency jump while leaving behind your luggage!

[Renisca]

Oh, God, I wish I could really train with VR! I was so not born for this century. (...Unless, of course, we're all dead by the next century. In that case, never mind.)

While I've never actually exited the screen by accident, I have had my work destroyed by other methods. One was just me being dumb: I did 3-4 pages' worth of typing, saved it, closed out, and later brought up Word again to finish it. However, instead of clicking Open, I clicked Save As, clicked on the file name, ignored the "Are you sure you want to replace the file?" or whatever it says, and basically saved my file over as a blank document. If that's not enough, I did the same exact thing again about a year later. Yeah.

But I didn't know you could actually click on the logo on the left and close it that way! I learned something new today. xP

But, yeah. If it had been an awesome story rather than a school essay, I probably would have cried. Heh!

[Kathryn Lacey]

:: pounces :: Hello, thar! I'm one of the biggest Avatards on this forum, and I would like to direct you toward the Avatar: The Last Airbender Discussion Thread. If you haven't finished the series, you may want to wait on that.

I'm a Zutara shipper. I'm disappointed with Kataang and Maiko, though I understand the importance of the latter pairing. I can live with them because I must, and I love the series soooo damn much!

The Office is also a great one, so there's no need to worry. It's hilarious. As far as I can see, you have great taste in television and movies.

Welcome to FoG, btw. I hope you enjoy it here.

[Renisca]

Hey! Well, I sort of skipped around and watched the series finale before I knew much of anything about it. I can remember stating to a friend (who shares your name! ) that "Those two Eskimo-looking kids who go around with the bald-headed kid would be cute together!" and she replies..."Uh, they're brother and sister." and I, dumbfounded, reply, "Oh. Oops." Yeah, that's how little I knew about Avatar. xD But I'm a little more well-versed now, at least.

I remember a Kataang joke that cracked me up: "Kataang - because when I was a freshman in high school, I was totally checking out the local 6th graders." And I also didn't like Maiko at first, but I think I might have misinterpreted it a little by only seeing the couple of scenes where Mai's apathy bordered on insensitivity and not the one where she saved Zuko at the Boiling Rock. But, yeah, now that I think about it, I guess I probably find Zutara the most fun to think about and Ozai/Zhao the most disturbing to think about, as illustrated here: http://booter-freak.deviantart.com/art/Gagstrip-10-19945126.

I mostly love The Office for Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson. (I watch the American version, but I've never seen the British version.) Those two are just amazing, seriously! I always thought Dwight and Angela should have ended up together just because they're both so weird. xP

Thanks for the welcome! Glad to be here!

[Fate Flyer]

Hey there, Renisca! I'm Fate, one of the Admins here. You sound like a really cool and fun person.

*cheers for another Avatar fan* ^^ I most definitely agree with you on those pairings. I would have loved to see an ending play out with those couples together.

*cheers again for another The Office fan* XD My fiancé and I are addicts of that show. I love Jim, haha. He's hilarious. Well, they all are! It's such a perfect show.

Ah! And I loved AI: Artificial Intelligence. Most people I know hated that movie, but I liked it a lot. I'm glad that you enjoyed it too. What Dreams May Come is also a great movie. Of course, gotta love The Matrix! Lol that's so sad though that you were onto a plot similar to that in the 8th grade.

Okay, so I am really jealous of you for giving to be sky diving Sunday!! You'll have to let us know how it is! I'm sure you'll have a blast. That's something that I'd love to do someday!

Great to meet you, Renisca!

[Lara]

Hello, Renisca! Welcome to FOG.

I've never heard of Dreamfall: The Longest Journey before, but now that I have looked it up, I've determined that the storyline reminds me enough of Shadow of Destiny (a PS2/PC game which I really enjoy) to make me want to find it and play it!

I fully agree that nature's amazing. 's why I love experiencing it and taking photographs of it.

Ahaha, you like Avatar? You could have stopped there, and you'd have fit in almost perfectly.

-jumps in on the Firefox discussion- But see, that's why Firefox deserves to be loved! As long as you have multiple tabs open, it warns you that you're about to click out, and even offers to save your tabs for next time. AND if your computer decides to shut down for no reason and you haven't saved? Don't worry! Chances are decent that if you reopen your closed tabs after restarting, and then wait patiently for a little bit, your post will still be there! (At least, that's what happened to me. :3 )

Skydiving? I almost envy your bravery.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Well, the Zutara joke I saw was "Zutara: Too hot for ten year olds." I don't really like the Taang pairing because Toph is too hard for sensitive Aang, but oh well. I'm content with Sukka ((or is it Sokki?)) pairing.

hahahah You didn't realize they were siblings? The artists did a really fantastic job with making them look related. You remind me of those people that think Luke and Leia should hook up... except they didn't really look very related in the movies.

I think I'm scarred for life from seeing that Zhao/Ozai thing. XD

[Inerio]

HEY!
I know you from gateway!!!

[Renisca]

Hi! D'aww, I'm really cool and fun? I actually haven't heard that one before in regards to my personality; maybe that's because my real-life personality is very toned down compared to that on the Internet. Whatever people say about other people putting up false pretenses and being disingenuous online, I think it's much easier to be yourself on the web. Heh.

Yeah, I felt bad for poor Toph when she ended up as the only main protagonist not in a relationship by the end of the series. Of course, I'm not saying that every character has to end up with someone or even that she wanted to be with Aang, but, seriously, a writer should never leave just one person out of the lovers' loop. It's cold. xD

Oh, I forgot about Jim! He's such a cutie. xP I love those moments when something (usually negative) happens to him and he looks over to the camera, as if to say, "What did you guys think about that one?" That's one of the great things about The Office, how it breaks the fourth wall all the time. Either that or they're part of some never-ending documentary.

I visited the IMdB boards for A.I. and was surprised to find that nearly everyone hated it. I found myself partially agreeing with one user, who suggested that it should have ended with David pleading for the blue fairy, since the alien arrival seemed sort of random. But, dang, that would have also made for a very depressing ending. I think I would have preferred something where his mother was the one to find him, thus actually giving evidence of her love for him. That would have given things a nice, full-circle sort of resolution. And, yeah, What Dreams May Come was phenomenal, even though that ending was also, debatably, not the best.

One movie where the ending did ruin things for me was The Knowing. I think they were trying to avoid cliches by making the love interest die and the human children get taken away to start a new race, but it just wasn't working for me. I care about conclusions too much, now that I think about it. xD

Yeah, I was explaining the plot to a friend and she remarked how it "sort of sounded like The Matrix". 'Twas the beginning of the end, heh. Except my idea was slightly different, involving an underground association breaking into the VR facility, called R.O.O.M.S. (Reality-based Operations with Organisms' Mental States...Yeah, making up an acronym is harder than it looks!), and rescuing some people. And it would have subverted the typical "Oh! Cool! Looks like I'm in an alternate world, but I'm not really that affected!" trope by having some of them go crazy. I still like the idea, but I fear that anyone reading it would call it a knock-off of The Matrix.

Yeah, I'll definitely update you guys on how the skydiving goes! My dad and I are having the whole experience videotaped. My family will definitely be laughing at whatever my expression is going to look like upon jumping out of the plane. xP

[Kalon Ordona II]

Nature: It rocks.

Yup, nature rocks. And trees.

Welcome to the FOG! ^_^

I love what you said about music up there at the top. The most worthwhile music is the kind that sends shivers down your spine. xD I get that from epic music, mostly. Or from singers like Enya and Josh Groban. But epic music is really where it's at, for me, whether it's orchestrated game music or stuff like Requiem for a Dream. Medieval music like in Lords of the Realm II also really trips my trigger. ^_^

You should get an award for Most Talkative (or Typative), and that's not sarcasm. You seem like a very friendly person, if I may say.

[Igraine]

Just wanted to throw in my two cents, and say a quick welcome to FOG, Renisca. And just curious - have a favorite book or two to throw in "the list" as well?

[Kathryn Lacey]

Nature: It rocks.

Yup, nature rocks. And trees.

Trees are nature. :: shakes head ::

But epic music is really where it's at, for me, whether it's orchestrated game music or stuff like Requiem for a Dream.

Also, I like the song they used in Requiem for a Dream, but, if I remember correctly, they just used that same song over and over throughout the movie.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Trees are nature. :: shakes head ::

It's a play on words. Nature rocks. And trees. Rocks are nature, too, see. Rocks = is awesome, vs. Rocks = stones. Play on words. But it's less funny now that it's explained.

Help me out, Adrius! xD

[Guest]

Hello there, welcome aboard.

People who are new to RP is a good thing, as sometimes people that even have a little time under their belt tend to get insufferable. In my eyes, newness means that the person is far less likely to be full of themselves.

And people who get full of themselves generally get complacent, so I wouldn't think of feeling new as being a bad thing as much as a very good thing as you can't learn without recognizing that you don't know something.

That sounds like Jedi-esque nonsense, but it's true. People often shoot themselves in the foot on learning out of egotism and fear of appearing vulnerable.

Anyway, I hope you have good luck with things around here. Welcome to FOG.

[Renisca]

@Inerio: Yep, I've basically been searching around for the perfect roleplaying forum. I was invited here on RPGateway and...I think my search is over! (And I'm not just saying that, people! xD) But I'd also like to continued the RP I have there and everything, if you're still up for it.

@Kathryn: Yeah, I think Toph might be too overbearing for Aang, now that you mention it. But, I guess the whole "opposites attract" mantra that people use with Zutara (even though they are quite a bit alike, in my opinion) works if you believe in it. xP Maybe it would have been better for both Toph and Aang to have remained single - after all, they haven't even passed puberty yet, lol. And, yeah, I probably should have warned "viewer discretion advised" about that Ozai/Zhao pic. Also, I have no idea why I didn't get that Katara and Sokka were related, but I'm definitely not of the opinion that "incest is wincest" as I've heard stated alongside those kinds of pairings. xD

@Ingraine: I knew I was forgetting something! Lol, I probably sound kind of uncultured, now, not having included any books. But my favorites are Farenheit 451 (and even though its plot suits me, I mostly love it because it = impeccable and bone-chilling Ray Bradbury description at its best - half the time, I'm unsure that his genius is of the conscious sort/that he's "just that good" intentionally), The Anne of Green Gables series (not for any particular reason, just loved them growing up), The Guardians of Time series (now, see here. I know this series is not actually good at all, but it's my guilty pleasure - my "cocaine fix", if you will.), The Killer Angels (just got done reading this for school and loved it even though reading about history typically makes me spontaneously combust. Historical fiction/speculation for the win when it's on a very humanistic level), Manifold: Time (if I read it; I haven't, but I know I'd love it.), Running out of Time (very simple reading, but a great plot), The House of the Scorpion, A Separate Peace (rockin' description!), and the most recent biography of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (I'm a fan...Haven't actually read his works themselves, though...).
At the same time, these books don't necessarily reflect my own writing style/genre. Overall, I'm probably rather unread compared to the rest of you folks, especially with the classics, but I'm just too busy/lazy. xD

@Kalon: Haha! "Nature: It rocks! And trees." Plays on words are awesome! Or are plays [written] in words? ...Yeah, I fail. xD
I like epic music as well (...now that you were the first person to introduce me to it xD), but I thrive on a subtle techno edge. I think it's because of my semi-obsession with the future in general. I found the thread - seemingly the only one of its kind - where people can submit ideas for music. I have a few inspirational doozies.
"Typative"! Heh. Yeah, I'm definitely much more typative than talkative. I think people would get frustrated with me if I were as talkative as I am typative.

@Heyseuss: Thanks! And I agree! (As a person that underrates ability in general often, though, I may be more extreme. xD) It's just crazy when amateurs get pretentious and it's even worse when their characters suck (well, everything is subjective, I guess, but Mary-Sues are a no-no and I know that!). Like you said, it may very well be rooted in insecurity. Me, I just openly show the insecurity and hope nobody makes fun of me or what-not. xD If they'd take some advice - which, on a nice forum like this, probably comes with a spoonful of sugar to help the criticism go down - at least they wouldn't be so...insufferable, like you said. I encountered a lot of people like that in my short experience on Neopets roleplaying boards. But I'm definitely all ears and ready to take direction and harness to the max whatever ability as a writer I may have.




...Also, apparently it's "role-playing", not "roleplaying". W00t, I wonder how many times I've said that I'm taking on a fantasy role (the definition of "roleplaying", I guess) rather than my characters.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Oh, is that the distinction between role-playing and roleplaying? Interesting...

So "I'm roleplaying" = "I'm pretending to be something else."
Whereas "I'm role-playing" = "I'm operating a character."

Do I have that right?

[Guest]

If they'd take some advice - which, on a nice forum like this, probably comes with a spoonful of sugar to help the criticism go down - at least they wouldn't be so...insufferable, like you said. I encountered a lot of people like that in my short experience on Neopets roleplaying boards. But I'm definitely all ears and ready to take direction and harness to the max whatever ability as a writer I may have.

I haven't seen anyone really throw out much in the way of writing criticism, but I don't read all the threads, and only a couple instances of obnoxiousness, and that's only happened in the last week or so. Hopefully we'll be back to blessed normality next week.

I think we're safe.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Well, the thing about Zutara, is that they are both passionate people. The opposite thing is the Water/Fire deal. Honestly, but both elements appeal to passion. Fire is obvious, but water while soothing can also be deadly.

Toph and Aang just don't mesh in a relationship. Sokka and Toph make a better pair, but I prefer Sokka with Suki.

Nah. I know the Internet, and it was actually not as horrible as I expected it to be. It was still pretty traumatizing, though... >.>;;

[Dio the Awesome]

Wow it's like. It's like I'm looking at a parallel universe version of me, only female, and 15 degrees to the left. I hope to see you arou-

WAIT! I'm introducing myself like a normal person! There's got to be a way out of this... Uh uh uh... SHOOP UR WHOOP!



Welcome to the boards! I hope you enjoy your st-LAZOR!

[Adrius Frostglare]

That, sir, does not compare to...

THIS

[Renisca]

Hey, guys! I have to go to bed, but I'll talk tomorrow if possible! Meanwhile, here's the skydiving video (with my epic fail landing...Don't worry, I'm okay.)

[Lara]

Wow, that was really awesome! I'd be way too scared to do that, though. o: Looks like you had fun!

[Guest]

I can't really see how it's possible to do a proper PLF (Parachute Landing Fall) when you're strapped to someone else anyway.

Good going! It's not about being scared, but about mastering the fear.

[Renisca]

@ Kalon: Yeah, I think that's it. I'll be sure to say "role-playing" from now on. xD

@ Heyseuss: A'ight, good. I'm a sensitive soul, so critique is a formidable beast for me - hard to look in the eye even though it's necessary to do so. Huh. Horrible metaphor. (I didn't say I couldn't critique myself. xD)

@ Kathryn: Agreed. That's what puts the "punch" and excitement in Zutara for me. There are obstacles exacerbated by how stubborn they both are, but they're also so passionate that, once you take the time to ease them into the right moment, it's a really fun relationship to play with and speculate about.
The more I think about it, maybe they should have just left the not-set-in-stone relationships alone in the last episode. I mean, wouldn't Mai have felt that she didn't even know Zuko anymore, after they both switched sides and questioned themselves so much and so much crap happened and he left her in the cell? And after Katara became such an outright surrogate mother to Aang, well...Even though I don't exactly mind Kataang, I see why some fans were "squicked out", as they say. Did they made her look temporarily shorter for that scene? xD Anyway, there's some really good fanfiction out there. Maybe I'll do some Avatar-related fanfics or something if I watch the...1/3 or so of the series that I haven't yet. xP

@ Diodri: There are people like me? Huh, that's rather surprising - according to my abacus, here, there's only an .001% chance of me encountering someone as crazy as I am at any given point in time. Unless it a Tuesday. Or maybe that's just because my abacus always incorrectly calculates the Tuesday Conundrum (by Mr. Ruby Tuesday). *ahem* ...Well, thanks for the bout of randomness! I needed it - too much normality and I might actually become normal, and that'd be a bit of a drag. Of course, if I were normal, I probably wouldn't think of it as a drag. I'd be too busy doing mundane, normal-person things in my natural - or man-made, more like - habitat.

@ Adrius: xD Actually, I don't even know who this "Cell" guy in the video is. But, yeah, he's a good target for these shenanigans.

@ Lara: Hehe! It was definitely the best experience of my life, except I couldn't hardly breathe and I think my goggles were falling off. But my instructor (who was admittedly a bit loopy...High on adrenaline, maybe? The adrenaline rushes opened up new sinus passages to the brain and got into all the lobes and allowed him to attain a new state of consciousness, and now he's crazy?) warned me that, once you skydive, every other high-impact activity will pale in comparison to the point where it's disappointing and boring, and you'll crave it again and it'll become an addiction.

@ Heyseuss: I know, right? We actually practiced the landing for the first time while in the parachute and on the way down, and I tried telling him that I couldn't keep my legs up for more than about three seconds - not sure why, exactly, since I can under normal circumstances - but he...didn't really respond. xD I think the leg straps were cutting off my circulation, and maybe that caused it. At least the pain is gone, lol.

[Dio the Awesome]

Normality is over rated. I try to waffle as much as possible. Sometimes three of four times a day. It helps me to escalator.

[Guest]

@ Heyseuss: I know, right? We actually practiced the landing for the first time while in the parachute and on the way down, and I tried telling him that I couldn't keep my legs up for more than about three seconds - not sure why, exactly, since I can under normal circumstances - but he...didn't really respond. xD I think the leg straps were cutting off my circulation, and maybe that caused it. At least the pain is gone, lol.

I know that jump school at Benning makes you practice those landings on the ground for the first week, then off a tower the second week, before you actually make your training jumps the third week.

While the towers and practice jumps are out, showing you how to do the PLF would have probably helped you by showing you what to expect on landing, even if you are going tandem like that.

Hope you had fun though, that stuff is an utter adrenaline rush.

[Renisca]

@ Diodri: I am so pathetic. I actually tried looking up "waffle" on Urban Dictionary before I realized...yeah. I s'pose everyone has his/her blonde moments, right? Maybe I just need to go slam my head against the revolving smiley face a few times. ;D

@ Heyseuss: Wow, that seems pretty intensive, so at least they were ensured safety. I guess there's also a difference between a jumping school and just doing it once, but I thought they were at least going to hold a little "class" for us. We were only spoken to about all the procedures for about 5 or 10 minutes total!
I wonder what happens if the person passes out before the landing, as our instructor was complaining about the girl before us urinating on him and then passing out...xD But I definitely still had fun, and that fact probably wouldn't have changed unless I'd broken something.

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