A small update concerning RP and writing. Recently, I have been going through a severe writing block; I've been having problems writing anything for a week now. It bugs me, so I'm trying to put my thoughts into order.

Recently, jardin_du_ciel finally received a bout of activity. From zero threads in several weeks, we suddenly had five or six start in one week. This kind of situation is refreshing, even if the new player flow is nearly zero. But with planned renovation of the game design, complete with more defined locations and a more strict time flow, we expect to restart advertisement and hope to attract more players.

Until then, we're just hoping that someone might notice the game. :X We did receive several interested people - in fact, after advertising and begging for months, we have finally found people interested in Suzaku Kururugi and Euphemia li Britannia. So the game is preparing for its second chance at glory.

conscripted made me realize how really freaking hard it is to play Lelouch to a good Code Geass cast. My initial rush proved exciting, but it drained me out completely. I've been recovering in the last two days, but it's not going as fast as I'd like it to.

Until then, I'm rapidly replaying .hack//G.U. in order to finish my Haseo application for template_rpg. I'm pretty much ready to finish the app, but I'd like to enhance my history a little more. I'm realizing that I don't remember a lot of subtleties about the trilogy, and it would be really helpful for me to get them solid now.

Finally, I should be launching FRAGMENTS, but my writer's block is seriously getting in the way. I expect to kill it off and return to active posting soon enough, but I don't know how "soon" that is.

I wish my RP would flow as smoothly as my IRL is doing right now. That's all I'd need.

I've updated my profile. Since D.Gray-man has become my precious obsession, I thought the change is more than fitting. Mind you, my additions to the code are still incomplete. I'll be adding links to my RP journals and such later.

It's been a very long week, but I'm recovering. Thank you, everyone, who commented on my last post. It wasn't necessary, but a few nice words mattered at the time. I'm still not giving up on myself. Even if my family and university situations are pitiful right now, I intend to pull through once again.

My RP situation is a little better, but sometimes, I think I descend into escapism. That isn't good at all. I started roleplaying as a means to understand and expand myself, and in order to become a better writer. The moment I start using it for escape is the moment it loses meaning. I need to get better about it.

Um... I've cut my hair several days ago? Hacked off about a foot of it. It's really short now. Actually, if I let the bangs on the front hang loose, but slick back the back, it's about the perfect length for doing Allen hair. I know some people complained because they were used to me with super-long hair, but I thought it's about time for a change.

In fact, I think it's about time I change a lot of things.

Dropping two games in one week is leaving me with a bad aftertaste. Ugh.

Island was me being an idiot, yeah. Somehow, all my inspiration for comedy died one day. I don't know if it's because I'm being more and more into prose, drama and CR, or because of other issues, but it just happened. I'm still sorry for doing that, and I'll miss all my canonmates dearly.

Discedo just... Erm. I don't quite know what to say. But in two weeks I've been there, the only two people who bothered clinging onto Allen are Sai and Lenalee. When I launched a log for Allen being found, I did that because multiple people asked for his location. In the end, only Sai responded. And with Lenalee, Sarah plays Lenalee to my Allen on practically every game I'm in. Plus, Allen and Lenalee are canon BFF. A connection was expected.

And when a major event hit today, I found 40 posts on Allen's flist, but with him having next to zero CR, he had nothing to grab onto. It was nearly impossible for me to play through the environment, especially since I didn't even know about the event beforehand. It seems that most of the planning was done in the chatrooms or something. I have no idea. I just had no I had a new character with literally zero chance of grabbing onto something. Even Sarah, who has been in the game for a very long time, was too confused to continue posting there.

In either case, I understand that I joined in the middle of a major drama, but maybe Discedo should consider taking care of their newbies as a great priority than stirring drama on rp_secrets. I'm sure they are great guys and all, but that was disappointing.

Ugh. At least I stil have Template and Jardin du Ciel.

Alright, I never shut up about it, but it's that time again. Yes, the time for shameless pimping. Hear me, roleplayers, for there is stuff going down in the land of revolutionizing the world.

jardin_du_ciel still needs new players! We're now up to 34 characters, but we'd like to have even more. We accept canon characters, AU, original characters, pretty much everything that is written well. The premise of the game is based on Revolutionary Girl Utena, so despite the high-school look of the game, it's more about combat and storyline.

We are heavily story-based, so most characters would easily get CR. However, the chars who'd get CR and plot time really easily because canonmates are already present, are:

( poke here for the list )

But really, we're looking for anyone at all. So plz, check out the game and apply if you're interested. You know you want to. We're extreme. Plz don't let us die. ;_;

Also, I just realized the best semi-crack RP I could ever launch. I really want to do a RP based on dungeon-crawling games like Etrian Odyssey, Diablo and so on.

It would be based in an adventurer guild, with epic adventures in different exotic locales that would change once every location is cleared. That way, we would be able to constantly change the environment in order to keep it from getting boring. And because different environment can provide different plot, we could always get different flavors of RP. We could play creepy dark fantasy a la Diablo one month, and the next, we'd be in a dungeon where a dangerous FOE Pedobear escapes every Saturday, so everyone has to grab a loli bait, pick up their pitchforks and go catch it back.

Yes, we would have FOEs. We would even let different people app FOEs as NPCs.

It's an amazing idea, but I'm not yet sure if I should do it or how would I run it.

Space Invaders Extreme has the most fantastic design ever. The entire game is set to a constant upbeat techno tune, and every shot and explosion produces a musical tone that blends into the background music. It sounds simple, but the resulting sound is amazing and literally sinks you into the game until you keep playing for more and more.

It's a game as simple as it is beautiful. Of all games SquareEnix could release this month, this is probably the most euphoric experience I had. Only the ending of The World Ends With You can compare.

Than you, SquareEnix and Taito, for still remembering what good game design is about.

Launching major storylines in games is tiring beyond belief. Even if it's been going in that direction for several weeks, I didn't expect to end up staying until 5 in the morning in order to ensure this thing is up and running.

In either case, the main storyline of jardin_du_ciel is now running, so I feel like we achieved something. I ended up sacrificing possible RP on Template and Discedo, but I feel like I can catch up with it later.

Now the question is if this is going to generate activity. I'm hopeful, but still not helpful enough. It might be my lack of sleep and usual depression talking, but our initial trickle of players is pretty much done for. I'll be disappointed if our activity won't suffer a boost.

I'm looking forward to the next month.

Etrian Odyssey II novelization will begin next week.

First of all, a minor observation for Trauma Center fans. In Etrian Odyssey II, the medic overseeing the main hospital of the game is a bespectacled man with short brown hair. In conversation, he introduces himself as Dr.Stiles. I'm not even a Trauma Center fan, but this made me a little fuzzy on the inside.

That said, I decided to go ahead and write stuffs based on that game. I wanted some good writing exercise, and this seems like a good way to distract me from my other ideas.

I already know how I'll treat character personalities, but I decided to not post profiles. I think it would be more fun to let people familiarize themselves with the entire cast from writing.

I'll have to note, though, that I'll be using FRAGMENTS characters for the cast. :X

I has crazy idea.

Alright, so I almost never post here. That's because, to be honest, I consider my real life utterly boring and uninspiring to write or read about. When it comes to online, people can easily go read my RP. When it comes to anime, movies and manga, that's much easier to get from chatting with me on AIM.

But there's one possibility. It's called video games.

You see, I'm currently playing Etrian Odyssey II : Heroes of Lagaard. It's a fascinating RPG based on heavy dungeon-crawling and completing sub-quests, with a very high level of difficulty and excellent design. Its only weakness is lack of characterization that leads to the story not being fleshed out. It's a game based on gameplay, so it doesn't suffer from that. However.

I'm considering giving it characterization. To be precise, I'm considering doing a Let's Play series, but going in a different direction. Rather than simply chronicle my advances, I would write series of short stories based on my party's misadventures in Etrian Odyssey II, complete with characterization, fleshing out of bossfights that consist of button-mashing into combat scenes, and all such wonderful things. Basically, I would novelize Etrian Odyssey II into a story based on the party I'm using.

Question is... Should I?

I normally don't do memes, but since I didn't post in a while and orphen asked...

You know how sometimes people on your friends list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when are they working THERE? Since when are they dating HIM/HER? Since when?" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy mine below, erase my answers putting yours in their place then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration! One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out.

( Click for Answers )

As promised once upon a time, I'm getting around to writing fic. I promised mennybeads to write a fic of Ether and Melusine, our characters from FRAGMENTS, because she wanted to see me write her perspective. It turned out very dark, because Ether is a difficult character, and the two of them share a very complex chemistry.

That said, it's a good introduction into the relationship of these two, so it works. I hope it's not too terrible.

( It always seems to begin like this. )

Looking through backlog, I'm far too behind on my video games than I'd like to be. I should note that much of my gaming and anime choices come from what I feel like RPing at the moment. I usually have much more dedications to games from which I want to RP characters than to games that are popular at the moment.

That said, my resulting current backlog is:

For jardin_du_ciel:
.hack//G.U. - Need to replay to apply Haseo.
Apollo Justice - Need it to apply Phoenix Wright.
Devil Summoner : Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army - Needed for Raidou.
Spiral : Bond of Reasoning - Should rewatch it for Narumi.
Valkyrie Profile : Lenneth/Silmeria - I cant decide if I should app Lenneth or Alicia. Replaying the first and playing the second should figure that out.

For template_rpg
Big O - Need to rewatch it and poke Lieke to apply Dorothy.
Fate/Stay Night - I rewatched it recently, but I could do it again for Archer.
Final Fantasy Tactics : War of the Lions - Should finish my save for Ramza.
Mana-Khemia : Alchemists of Al-Revis - Needed for Vayne Aurelius.

For myself:
Fatal Frame : Crimson Butterfly/Voice of the Tattoo
Persona 3 : FES
Tales of Legendia

I wish I could figure out where to start. :/

Alright, so x_fragments_x is almost completely finished. It will be possible to launch sometime next week, depending on how much time I'll have for such things. I still have exams, but launching my writing project feels too exciting to be true.

Anyway, there is only one thing left to do. Sure, we only have three members, but opinions are still important. I want the first season to be as exciting for us as possible, so I'll be asking you how it should go.

Note - bracketed additions in every question are to help you understand what genre I am talking about.

( Click here for the poll. )

Also, because we only have only three members, I would like to add that we are recruiting. So if you're interested in writing an original story with a great deal of artistic freedom and approval of occasional crossover, poke me here and I'll answer. We tend to stick to certain shonen manga conventions in terms of setting design, but we don't demand a single genre. Also, because this is a writing project, not a roleplaying game, serious activity isn't required.

We have several pre-created characters who are available for use, but we allow original characters, provided you run them past the team first. If you have any questions concerning any of that, just ask here.

Finally, Rai? Lieke? Do join both x_fragments_x and fragments_ooc with your character and player journals, alright? XD

The Phonetics exam also passed. I'd like to believe I did well on it, and my grades prove the same thing. I still need to brush up and retake Ecology, and I have tons of work to do with Latin... But I believe in myself. With just a little more work, I think I can pull through this year just fine.

I still don't like most of the university, though. It may be because I'm better at humanitarian sciences, but every time language study comes up, I find myself bored out of my mind. It doesn't help that Latin is only cool until start learning to speak it.

In either case, I only have Latin, Ecology, Spanish, Literature, Ukranian History and Culture Study left to finish. I have a month to do that. I can't help but feel optimistic in my chances.


In other news, I was pretty surprised at the poll I put up last weekend. I was sure that Raidou would get voted as a most expected character, since there were expectations concerning him... But, somehow, Lenneth Valkyrie completely outdid him through votes of people not involved with the game. *_*

Not that I mind. I'll still pull up Lenneth. Jardin needs more female characters, anyway. Somehow, so far, we mostly get Fire Emblem, D.Gray-man and Apollo Justice. But on the good side, the game is finally picking up.

I can't wait to launch the next major event this weekend.

Alright, people who care, I need your help.

Right now, I have three free character slots on jardin_du_ciel. However, I have six characters I would like to play. All six are characters with a lot of amazing potential. All six are drastically different from each other. Needless to say, playing all six would provide an excellent experience. I seriously doubt most of them would get players on our game. In other words, applying them would be awesome in all cases.

But because there are six, while I only have three slots, I need you to help me. Please, click the LJ-cut and vote for the chars I should apply for. It would greatly benefit my indecisive self.

( Click for ticky boxes! )

Thank you in advance. ;o;

Name : Aether
ESP'er Rank : Composer - B
ESP'er Points : 2220 pts. - C
Noise Report : 95 types - 98.9% - A
Pin Mastery : 165 types - 54.2% - C
Item Collection : 460 types - 97.4% - A
Final Time Attack : Not taken yet.

Level : 100
Neku's Statistics : 26/26
Shiki's Statistics : 13/10
Joshua's Statistics : 12/2
Beat's Statistics : 23/22

Favorite song : Emptiness And...

I am about 70% done with The World Ends With You. I've already finished off the secret final boss. Most enemies are incapable of hurting me on Ultimate with a 10 level handicap. My natural drop rate is 9.

I'm still not convinced. I intend to get my statistics up to 100% in all ranks or I won't be satisfied.

I don't remember the last time I was obsessed with perfecting a game like this. It feels strangely satisfying to have something to aim for.

This week was a massive pain in the arse, but I'm proud because everything worked out. The seminar on King Lear proved to run too well; I scored a perfect score once again. To be honest, I'm becoming amazed with how easily I continue crunching down Literature seminars in this semester. It's been four, and I've gotten perfect scores on all of them. The literature teachers are reaching the point of quiet amazement.

In addition, I was recently appointed as the scriptwriter for my class' Phonetics exam. We are supposed to prepare a scene and play it out in front of the crowd. I understand that I and the teacher are on good terms, in addition to her knowing I dabble in writing, but I'm still confused that I was chosen. I am hopeful, but not yet sure how this will end.

That, complete with Jardin suddenly getting several reservations in the last two days, has considerably lifted my spirits. I'm still suffering from mental exhaustion following my fight with my father, so this kind of feeling is welcome.

I just hope good things do not end on this.

My list of required activities for tonight.

1. Finish doing important comments and posts on Jardin du Ciel. COMPLETE
2. Do some tagging on Template and Island.
3. Complete the Allen Walker application for Template. COMPLETE
4. Rework FRAGMENTS into a working community.
5. Dig through my CD collection, recover Orphen and Final Fantasy : UNLIMITED.
6. Complete my Latin homework. COMPLETE
7. Begin reading King Lears.
8. Get some fresh air. COMPLETE

Let's see how much of that I'll be able to do in 10 hours.

Gwendolyn, my pet rat, has devoured my modem wire. It took me a day to realize that happened. Although the wire is now restored, I'm still a bit confused by how much the internets changed in one day. More than fifty posts were made, and I can barely keep up with anything. I'll grow accustomed to the pace by the next morning, but for now, I'm still lost.

I had a lot of time to think over this day, and I decided. I am turning FRAGMENTS into a complete cooperative project. Sure, there are only three of us, but it's a good beginning. And depending how many people out there are willing to write original stories and characters, it might grow beyond that.

I can't wait until Sunday, when I'll have time to restructure the community for that purpose.

I had a crazy idea recently. It won't concern most people, but...

As some may know, I have this series called FRAGMENTS. FRAGMENTS is a series of web-novels, with an occasional story from roleplaying thrown into the mix. I intend to eventually move on to doing mods for random games as additional content, but that'll only happen when I have free time.

Anyway, FRAGMENTS is a fantasy/science-fiction series. The main story focuses on a wandering android named Aether. The setting is heavily influenced by mythology and folklore, while pacing is designed to resemble animated series and video games. There is no existing genre. This is done to allow exploring anything in the novels, beginning with generic adventure stories and ending with psychological horror and drama. Even poems are allowed.

Anyway, aside of me playing Aether, at least two other people are involved. There is Lieke, mennybeads, who is responsible for the character of Melusine (all androids in the series are named after mythological figures). There is also Rai, discombobulate, who is responsible for Sliver. Ish, koala_nest, might join us with another character.

Anyway. Recently, I've been thinking. I am working on FRAGMENTS novels, and all characters are in play on Jardin du Ciel. But is that really enough? I have a community registered that is mostly used for concepts and world information for the series. I'm considering turning it into a writing/RP comm, with making another for "OOC" discussion. There, people involved would be able to run threads, post stories for their own characters from the setting and generally expand the universe.

Authorship is not a question. FRAGMENTS is my baby, but I feel awkward being the only one working on it. It was designed as a group project from the beginning, and I would like to expand it that way. Besides, the universe designed for it is very loose and allows multiple worlds, thus allowing multiple people develop their own ideas.

Granted, I would keep it relatively small and semi-private; I would allow new people and characters into the project, but I don't intend to let someone I've never met before into a group based around my setting. Which is why this question is aimed at my friendlist, since you people are awesome and I wouldn't mind seeing you around the project.

So? Should I expand the project into something based around teamwork and make it more exciting to work for, or should I just slowly and steadily work on those web-novels? I keep thinking it would be fun to expand, but I would want advice on it first.

Another week passed by. I am beginning to seriously hate my university. While I enjoy my classes, some of them are simply not worth taking. Ukrainian Business Language is an irritating pain in the arse, and Latin is completely ruined by our teacher being a jackass of the massive variety.

I'm in this entirely for languages, Culture Study and Literature, just so you know.

To make the week worse, I've been suffering from manga withdrawal. For some reason, last week's Shonen JUMP skipped D.Gray-man. Thankfully, the chapter 158 is out now and it's gorgeous, but I'm still not sure if making the fans wait for two weeks was worth it.

In other news, jardin_du_ciel went through a redesign in terms of posting format and narrative. Several important NPC's will be introduced tonight, and the story is expected to take off next week. So if you were confused by the flaky posting structure before, please, take another look at the game.

Other than that, not much interesting happened. I'll be posting lots of fandom ramblings soon, but that's about it.

Until next time, folks.

I just stayed up until 3AM putting the finishing touches onto the Neku application for Template. I could casually finish it during weekends, but nooo, my inspiration had to hit right now.

One day, I'll learn to manage my time properly.

Everyone has a favorite movie.

I'm not talking about a movie that you consider the most superior in terms of narrative, visuals or acting. I'm not talking about a movie that is the most intelligent you've ever seen. No, I'm talking about your pet movie. That movie you truly love from the bottom of your heart even now. The one that may not necessarily be perfect in any manner, but that awakens in you a kind of rampant favoritism, makes you biased and illogical about it, no matter the proof at hand. The kind you've seen a long time ago, maybe as a child, but you can see it numerous times and still be fascinated with it. It always brings a smile to your lips and tears to your eyes, making you destroy its container with repeat watchings and then buy a new copy. The kind that made your heart flutter numerous times and continues to do so again.

It isn't easy to find that kind of movie. It is very hard, sometimes impossible, to let go of it once you have found it.

Why am I talking about it?

Tonight, in a video store, I found a 20th anniversary DVD of Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam. It is a movie most doubtfully remember, but it's that one that always makes me happy. And now I can finally watch it without ruining my ancient video tape.

I have no time during this week, but this weekend is promising to be the most fascinating and exciting I've had in months.

The more I'm doing story design for my characters on Jardin, the more I realize I accidentally ended up patterning my story themes as 'fake identity and memories versus real ones'.

Allen dedicated his whole life to fighting Akuma and he never once regretted it, but this is the only chance at a normal life he ever had. It'll be a punch once he recovers his memories.

Lelouch considers his memories and identity to be some of the most precious things he has, and realizing his were faked is sure to set him on scorching the entire academy and the revolution game. Same goes for Haseo, who treasures his identity and friends much more than he lets it show.

Serenade has always dreamed of this kind of normal, peaceful life, but many decades ago, he has abandoned it on the side of the road and walked away. He never turned back since. But now that he has what he wanted, he can't help but feel wrong and already seeks his lost memories.

Minato and Saya are the only characters who don't have that streak, and they pale when I consider that my other character ideas are Neku Sakuraba (The World Ends With You), Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile) and Kuroki Kaze (Final Fantasy : UNLIMITED).

I'm not sure about this yet, but I hope I can make the pattern worthwhile.

Okay, so the one week break from university has come to an end. As fitting for someone of my hobbies, I spent this week either roleplaying, or playing Persona 3 and The World Ends With You. I'll expand on my feelings concerning the second one later, when I have my feelings arranged and the Secret Reports filled out. But for now, I'll ramble about something the usual stuff.

i_s_l_a_n_d_rp is becoming my main RP, mostly because it consistently delivers good threads. It has the best DOGS cast I've ever seen, and both D.Gray-man and Soul Eater players are wonderful. Incidentally, it filled my desire to RP Soul Eater; we already have 90% of the cast's good guys. I wish we could find Sid and Thompson sisters somewhere. My favorite character is still Allen Walker, but that's because wearing his skin for me is like breathing. It's like I'm back playing X, but with more delicious canon.

template_rpg has a good chance of devouring a huge chunk of my soul, as well, provided I can easily get into playing Neku. He's a char I can easily get into, but I reserve the right to judge until I actually find myself writing him.

jardin_du_ciel is finally getting off the ground, but I'm still not content with its speed and very small cast. We can run it, but not at the pace I would find comfortable. I still wish Allen would stop being the sole representative of the D.Gray-man fandom, and for us to get more chars from Persona 3, Code Geass and .hack, but I can live with it for now.

I guess I should try advertising again.

Anyway, time for me to do my homework. If I don't come back tomorrow, it means I finally snapped and destroyed my Latin teacher for crimes against humanity.

It's been ten days since I touched this thing. I know I had several new people friend me and should be doing an introduction post, but I've been in a mood too foul to do anything productive. I haven't been updating FRAGMENTS for over a week, and while the promised fic is moving, it's moving very slowly. Sometimes, I go online and just wonder if I should bother hitting the 'enter' button at all.

I find myself intellectually starved. These days, my biggest pleasure in life is story-driven RP. However, it's been the longest time since I got to do any of that. I find myself so starved where RP is considered, the gears of my mind refuse to turn at all.

Don't get me wrong, Island is a fascinating game. I love the people, the action and everything else. I even somehow managed to score a popular character. However, it's still a crack RP and I'm in it for the people and for the fun. It cheers me up a great deal, but it doesn't really have what I'm looking for.

Jardin du Ciel, on other hand, fails me because it is nearly dead. Every day, I find myself considering a post that would close the game, and only Lieke's interventions keep me from doing so. Finding players proved to be an awkward and often hellish experience. The few we have are great, but I keep worrying that even they will lose interest due to lacking activity and wander off.

It pains me, because it is my game and I put tons of effort into it. However, launching games and finding players is extremely difficult if you're not popular in fandom, and I'm anything but that.

I considered applying to other games, but I still don't know about that. I mostly play popular characters who are already taken on every game out there, and the more obscure choices of mine usually fail to generate interest. Rather than try and fail, I would rather not try at all. I know it's a morbid outlook, but lately, I find it more comfortable to be a fatalist than to be myself.

I find it tiring that a hobby of mine is giving me so much stress. I should've picked one with less chance of error.

I love how every time a story arc in D.Gray-man ends, I find tears coming to my eyes. Chapter 156 begins with a beautiful collage of the entire Exorcist cast and then moves into one of the most heartbreaking chapters of the series. I slowly realize that I would cry over this series the most on the day it ends.

The World Ends With You is like a massive apology for everything Tetsuya Nomura did wrong after Parasite Eve. It's a gorgeous game with excellent gameplay and rich, engaging characters who I absolutely love, except for a few completely annoying ones. I'm looking at you, Joshua.

Lieke has made an advertisement for jardin_du_ciel. You can copy it from the text box below. If you're on the game and/or want to help in advertising and making it bigger, use it as much as you want.

<table width="500" cellpadding="4" align="center"><tr><td align="center"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v704/firstreploid/ROLEPLAY/jardinbanner.jpg"></td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="#3E81BD" align="center"><span style="color:white">PREMISE</span></td></tr> <tr><td><font size="1"> On a prestigious academy in what seems like a normal city, strange things are happening. All over campus, students are waking up, and realising they don’t remember a thing from their lives before they came to the academy. Slowly but surely, through discovering hints of their past in the streets, they’ll find themselves trapped in a game led by the mysterious End of the World, who promises them the power to revolutionise the world—but at what price? Determined to reclaim their memories, all use the key to open the door to their past and the other riches they will receive if they win— however, they’ll have to fight for it! </font></td</tr> <lj-cut text="the power to revolutionise the world?"><tr><td bgcolor="#3E81BD" align="center"><span style="color:white">THE GAME</span></td></tr> <tr><td><font size="1">Jardin du Ciel is a multi-fandom, multi-universe RPG based on concepts and themes from the series Revolutionary Girl Utena. We accept characters from all fandoms and mediums, with the option of playing the original version of the character and the alternate universe one. We also accept original characters created by the player. Interested? Then check out the rules and the FAQ for more information! <tr><td bgcolor="#3E81BD" align="center"><span style="color:white">THE LINKS</span></td></tr> <tr><td><font size="1"><b>Rules</b> - You can read the general rules of IC and OOC conduct in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/656.html">this post</a>. <b>F.A.Q.</b> - You can read the details concerning characters and applications in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1005.html">this post</a>. <b>Setting Information</b> - You can read more about the game world in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1061.html">this post</a>. <b>Application Post</b> - You can apply the character you're interested in playing in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1306.html">this post</a>. <b>Taken Characters</b> - You can read the list of characters present in the game in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1784.html">this post</a>. <b>Maintenance Center</b> - You can reserve characters, add them to your wishlist, etc. in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/2019.html">this post</a>.</font></td></tr></lj-cut>

To all those who answered my offer to request fic, I'm currently working on it, so just be patient. Meanwhile, feel free to request more fic for me to write.

I have an exam in culture study tomorrow, so I better abandon the computer now. Until later.

This is an insane thing of me to do, considering that I still have to finish tons of stuff for the meme on fandomsecrets (Iris, fic to two of your requests is coming up sometime this week), but I figure it won't hurt too much.

You see, I've been feeling like writing fic lately. I've been writing a lot of it, and while it's not as filling as good RP, it's good as a secondary meal. Thus, I give you an offer. Leave me a comment with a story request here, and I'll write a one-chapter fanfic for you.

What kind of request? Anything. As long as it's a fandom I'm familiar with and can write it, I'll do it. If it's a crossover, I'll also do it. I'll do pairing fic and, if you ask nicely, maybe even smut. If you're not sure if it's a fandom I'm into, comment here and I'll clarify. In the end, if it's a fandom I know, I'll happily write about it.

The only rule is that I won't take a character OOC for any purpose.

Also, I'll accept FRAGMENTS-related requests, but this would only affect Lieke and Rai, since they're the only ones who follow that series. 8|

One important thing to understand about Shoji Kawamori is that his work is like fine wine. He gets truly better with age, and every next attempt of his shines with experience gathered from previous ones. The sophisticated militarism of Armored Core, elegant fantasy of Escaflowne, whimsical rebelliousness of Eureka Seven, graceful idealism of Sousei no Aquarion. Everything he touches seems to shine like gold and diamonds, except that it has much more substance.

That said, Macross Frontier is perfect. It is an animated series about a Kabuki actor, a galaxy-traveling pop-songstress and a waitress dreaming of a singing career saving the universe with a transformable mecha and music composed by Yoko Kanno. I tried looking for flaws, and there are none. Nothing is out of place. Much like, many years ago, Kawamori began his path to brilliance with Super Dimension Fortress Macross, he now soars to perfection with Macross once again.

Even if you're not a fan of mecha, give this series a chance. I guarantee that it'll change your perspective of the genre.

After the second half of 2007 and the torrent of crap someone confused for animated series, I was almost not expecting anything good from 2008. I could endure one thousand of date-sim series, but Rosario+Vampire was an outright offense to every sensible soul and a true proof why GONZO should not be allowed to adapt manga into animation.

You know, if the disastrous treatment of Chrono Crusade and Bokurano didn't already prove that.

But this season is damn good. xxxHolic KEI apologises for all the disasters done by the first season by accurately following all important stories of the manga, and even adding actually amusing content. Tower of Druaga : Aegis of Uruk strokes one's fantasy-based nostalgia by proving tha some people still not only remember, but are fond of good RPGs as ancient as 1984. KURE-nai brings forth rich, engaging human drama by adopting its original work's personalities and ideals faithfully and carefully, once again proving that light novel series are good. To-LOVE-Ru proves that fanservice can still be amusing, while Chi's Sweet Home proves that a two-minute slice of life series can be more pleasant and welcome than any engaging story in the market for someone who wants to relax after work.

Most importantly, Soul Eater brings back the BONES teams who worked on Ouran Host Club and Fullmetal Alchemist, along with the composer of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and shows everyone how to make rich, intelligent, visually and atmospherically exciting stories with great characterization. I had hoped that D.Gray-man animation would do that, but Soul Eater is similar enough in themes and style to take over its spot quite nicely.

This is a good year. I look forward to it.

I refuse to watch D.Gray-man animation because it ruins the manga's atmosphere terribly, but god, I get giddy like a kid in a candy store every time the new opening is leaked to YouTube.

I don't know what's wrong with me. The anime is terrible when compared to the manga, but the opening themes are always good and I cannot help but follow them. D.Gray-man is one of the most wonderful series I've discovered this year. It helped me pull through some horrible times with its ability to remain optimistic even during the darkest story arcs. Even if I'm cursing about how the cliffhangers and short chapters suck lately, getting a new chapter every Saturday is one of my greatest pleasures.

I might actually end up watching the anime to get my Allen and Lenalee fix, now that the manga is back on hiatus. ;_;

ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! \o/

Dear dad,

This may come off as a shocker to you, but there is one thing about being a man that instantly decides his worth as a person, his success in business and his appearance in front of others.

A man never does anything for the sake of being thanked or appreciated. A man doesn't bribe people to gain love and respect. A man doesn't beg others for recognition. And he most certainly doesn't openly blackmail people by withholding aid and demanding respect in exchange for that. No. Real. Man. Ever does such things. Only the lowest of the low resort to such actions. They do it because it is the only way to stroke their ego.

A man helps those who need help because they need help. A man does things because they need to be done. A man lies only to protect his friends, never his worthless pride. A man only raises his fist to protect people and beliefs precious to him, never to bully others into agreement and respect through fear and pain. A man doesn't buy affection and gratitude because it's his job to love, to protect and to learn gratitude by being a shield for his family and friends.

If you want to open your mouth and claim you are a real man, try to fit at least one of these points. Protip : insulting a fifty-year old woman who is twice smaller than you, dropping a bucket of dirty water on her and then going into your son's room to bitch and moan about her like a retarded passive-aggressive teenager is not the way to do it.

Being a man is a harsh, thankless path. There are no shortcuts or easy choices on it. You grit your teeth, stand your ground and move or you shut up and bow out of the race. You can't have both things at once.

Now shut the fuck up and get off the road. There are more worthy people out there who deserve to walk the path of heaven.

Come back when you're something more than a petty cockroach.

Alright, so jardin_du_ciel begins tomorrow.

I am excited, except for one tiny detail. Nobody, including me, has finished all of the applications for their reserved characters.

So, for those who already reserved their characters, I'm making everything a bit easier on you. Because I already know everyone who applied as good, skilled players, you are free to make your character journals and begin your game already, as long as you finish your applications and apply those characters by May 1st. I think giving another month for simply filling in your character information is more than enough time.

The other rule is that you must run the list of your characters' possessions past me so I can tell which will be confiscated for the beginning of the game and which will remain by their side. In other words, things that actually matter IC.

So if you're worried about starting tomorrow because your applications aren't finished, worry not. Everyone who already joined in, can start off tomorrow.

fidchell: My current party is:
Ramza. Squire : Mastered. Knight : Mastered. Monk : Level 8. Current Class : Monk.
Agrias. Half-mastered Holy Knight.
Mustadio. Half-mastered Mechanist.
Generic Black Mage, almost Mastered.
Generic White Mage, almost Mastered.
Geomancer who is also a Mastered Knight and Level 8 Monk.
fidchell: Who should I switch out?
fidchell: I like the Geomancer because she's on high levels, but considering that Ramza and Agrias are raep tiem nao in anything that even remotely resembles close combat, I'm considering instead moving in Mustadio and training him to be a NINJA.
discombobulate: i'd switch Ramza to Thief, so he can unlock Ninja
discombobulate: i find that Mustadio is most useful with a gun, honestly
fidchell: I'll definitely work Ramza over to Ninja so I can get Dark Knight on him, but I want to master the Monk.
fidchell: Mustadio is useful with a gun, but I think it would be hilarious to have a ninja Mustadio.
fidchell: Not to mention that Mustadio's options with a gun are kind of limited, so adding up Ninja skills on him could be epically useful.
discombobulate: yeah, but i don't especially like throw, honestly >_>;
fidchell: Yeah, but it would be hilarious and I'm so not training him for an Arethmitician.
fidchell: Not after I spent 10 hours getting just one spell set for my Black Mage, who is my plan for the Arethmitician.
discombobulate: so then Chemist is probably out of the question
fidchell: Actually, a Chemist is another good idea.
fidchell: Because I need someone to Throw those items.
fidchell: I should totally turn Mustadio in this kind of epic tosser.
fidchell: Who tosses everything and anything.
discombobulate: that just makes me lulz
fidchell: You know it's the best Mustadio ever.
discombobulate: Mustadio is a natural born tosser
fidchell: He can even toss your mom.
fidchell: Ramza : I beg you, not my dear mother in heaven, God bless her soul.
discombobulate: poor Ramza

The local media store got another influx of anime-related goodies.

Now, I have no idea if their chief has no clue what he's doing or what. The figurines they received this time are a set of Onimusha 2-3 figurines and another set dedicated to Samurai 7, GONZO's remake of an Akira Kurosawa classic. While both series