My interview? Was seven minutes long. It started at five to two. I got back home at half past two.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THAT'S GOOD OR BAD.

Not-edit: Okay, apparently it is, because I just got offered the job as I was writing this. Woohoo!

I HAVE AN INTERVIEW ON WEDNESDAY. AHHHH.

*huff*huff*huff*

Soooooo. I have been playing quite a lot of The Last Remnant - I'm currently just about to head into the Aqueducts in Nagapur and I've done all but two of the sidequests available. I'm saving those ones for grinding purposes (Cosmos Maiden and Wisdom's Echo). Both Rush and David have randomly learnt Blackout II, skipping Blackout, without me even quite knowing how that happened. Huh.

But. EMMA. Stupid bloody Squenix and their Aeris-style whallops. (Warning: major spoilers in the video.) I am also now deeply afraid of the Conqueror. Is it wrong that I want to see Conqueror/Emma now?

It says something about the way my mind works, though, that I'm not yet at the end of the first disk and I've already daydreamed up a dystopian AU where Rush is on the Conqueror's side.

However, stupid bloody Windows Vista keeps taking exception to TLR. Among other things, it has a) randomly sped up the battle speed in the middle of one battle and now I can't get it back to normal so Rush & Co look like the Energiser Bunny on speed, b) has bluescreened TWICE while I was playing the game, and c) keeps freezing the game in the middle of fights. Sometimes it comes back, sometimes not.

It says something that in the eight-odd years that I used Windows prior to getting the new laptop with Vista, I never once had a computer bluescreen on me. Since getting Vista? Three times in a year. Twice in the last fortnight.

Russell Howard is ridiculously funny. I want to go see him live. XD

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST!

And I just babysat for two young boys and convinced them that they were no longer allowed to ride their bikes until they passed a second cycling proficiency test.

I did tell them the truth eventually. XD

...why is the Gae Bolg a giant penis?

What the fuck, Squenix. What. The. Fuck.

(The Last Remnant finally finished downloading, so I am currently sort-of levelling by cycling through the Gaslin Caves and the Ruins of Robellia Castle. Rule of thumb with any RPG: if you have an opportunity to do stupid amounts of levelling really early on, do so.)

Steam is going to drive me mad, I can tell.

I bought The Last Remnant PC version a couple of days ago and it arrived on Thursday. I thought installing it right there and then would be lethal considering that I have a job to apply for, work to go to, and still those areyougame fics to write that have been eluding me.

HOWEVER. Squeenix appear to have decided that they would put the game itself online, to be installed via Steam, and that the two DVD disks in the box were for something entirely different that I haven't quite worked out yet.

So now The Last Remnant is downloading to my computer at a rate of 235kB/s.

All. Twelve. Gigs. Of. It.

I'm really glad I have Dissidia to tide me over...

I think my nipple piercing is growing out. Fuuuuuuck.

Edit: ...it's the end of an era. If it's started growing out, it's going to keep growing out, and that can only lead to bad things. So I have removed my nipple piercing and I will now let it heal, rather than fight fruitlessly to keep it.

:(

Still playing Dissidia, and spamming the quick battles. I've unlocked the initial 10 villains in the PP catalog, so I just played as Sephiroth for the first time. ( When he wins a battle, he giggles. )

I HAVE DISSIDIA.

Excuse me while I become a hermit for the next few weeks.

Edit: ...I knew it was a mistake to start with Cloud. Cannot beat Sephiroth because I am crap at defending. Argh. >.<

Son of Edit: Levelling in Dissidia is so much fun. I am spamming the quick battle option with Cloud - all the calendar bonuses are now unlocked so I level up pretty much once every three or four battles, and I just unlocked the Advent Children version of Omnislash. Mwahahahahaha.

dragovianknight linked to KnightFight today, and it looked like so much fun that I've signed up for an account. Lookie look, my first mission went well!

An evil duke is terrorising his people. You decide to set them free of his evil rule! Your mission was very successful. You received 108 gold as a reward from the liberated farmers and merchants!

You have been credited with 108 gold. On your mission you were also able to gain 2 experience points and your alignment has shifted 1 points towards the good side!

Not bad for ten minutes' work! Two more EXP points to the next level.

I may have done something incredibly cheesy/daft with my username, though. "Anria" was already taken, and somehow "almighty_frog" just didn't seem to cut it as the name of a Knight. On Friday I picked up a copy of Anna Karenina from Waterstones and I've been reading it ever since, so it was on my desk beside the computer when I registered. (Thus far it is bloody good, by the way.)

So can you guess what I named my Knight, then?

Yup, "Anria Karenina". :D

(Hey, for 7:15am, I think that was pretty imaginative! Or at least pretty punny, not sure which. Or which is better/worse.)

In other news: I am attempting to write my remaining two fics for areyougame, but I've had a few life crises and a return of the dreaded exhaustion (the doctor gave me pills for this! ::shakes fist::) so I've not really got much further than before. :/ I'm trying to force it through, but the tiredness makes it difficult to concentrate and my job is pretty demanding on the "needs attention" scale, so it drains me a lot.

In an attempt to keep to a semi-normal sleeping pattern, though, I've been replaying KH2. It's entertaining and doesn't require much brain power since all I have to do is button-mash. Ooh, look, a beneficial side effect of KH2's designers' laziness!

Edit to fix grammerz.

Everyone and their brother sister sibling has been posting/commenting about Survey!fail, it seems. linkspam has gone a bit mad with all the post roundups - I really love that community.

I don't have much to add to all the discourse, at least in part because I feel kinda of detached from it all. I spent the three years of my degree arguing with determined morons like the "researchers" who sparked off Survey!fail, and I'm just tired of it. They won't change their minds because they have too much incentive not to - behaving like a decent human being with a reasonable set of morals just doesn't weigh against the incentives of privilege, money, and the desire not to take an honest look at their own behaviour.

However, the response from people in fandom has reminded me of just how intelligent, articulate and insightful so many of the people who participate in fandom, however you define "fandom", truly are. Ignoring everything else, a good part of fandom once again shines with the intellects and passions of the people within it.

Unfortunately, that shine has been somewhat tarnished by those who believe the correct response to the behaviour of Ogi and Sai is some quite frankly abusive RPF and photo manips. Please, just ... don't. Those of you who think it's funny should go talk to people who have images of them being sexual abused circulating on the internet. Saying "it's just a story" or "it's just a photoshop" is missing the point, because the effects are the same: a feeling of violation, exposure and degradation. Yes, I know those are feelings Ogi and Sai have caused in many people. Why does that make it okay to do it back?

It's funny how often I'm both proud of and ashamed by fandom in the same breath...

Edit made approx. 2 mins after posting: By "fandom", I mean the collective body of people who read, write, draw, comment, lurk, and so on and so forth in any community setting (in this case internet-based) regarding something that they are a fan of. Argh, bad grammar, but you get the point - I'm trying to be as inclusive as possible. And yeah, that covers a hell of a lot of ground, so it's not really surprising that I should be both proud of and ashamed by fandom as I have defined it. Doesn't change the fact that I would prefer to be one and not the other. Wishful thinking? Probably. Worth thinking? Definitely.

( Finally made it to the Dragovian Sanctuary... )

Edit: AHAHAHAHA I WAS RIGHT. Also, the Dragovian Lord was a ridiculously easy boss. WTF.

I have thumped straight into a wall insofar as my final two areyougame claims are concerned. I'm still trying to write them, just ... kinda failing.

However, I just finished DQ8! Wooh! Haven't done the Dragovian Trials yet, though - those are next up.

( What the hell does 'ragazzo' mean, anyway? )

-----

I figure I should actually try to get these eggs to hatch at some point.

This post contains mentions of child abuse. If you feel this might be triggering, please do not read.

A few days ago jadey linked to a blog on Wordpress called A Search for Survivors, which (funnily enough) searches for survivors of an abusive form of child "therapy" known as holding/attachment therapy.

One of the techniques used in this therapy is to roll a child up in a blanket or rug and tell them to struggle as fiercely as they can to get out while their parents and the healthcare professionals do their best to prevent them from doing so. Several children have died as a result of this treatment.

This blog has been suspended by Wordpress. The blogger has put up a sort of mirror to the last post she made on the website. copperbadge has a more detailed post on what the blog is about and on the suspension available, too.

In the interests of continuing word of mouth on this topic, please consider doing as the maintainer asks: If you oppose the permanent suspension of A Search for Survivors, I ask that you please write WordPress at tosreports@wordpress.com

Put this in the subject line: [WordPress #352210]: 493@childtorture.wordpress.com

Please phrase any protests, inquiries and arguments with the utmost courtesy. Thank you.

I feel this is especially important because, as someone was abused as a child by a childcare professional, I know all too well of the debilitating fear that can come along with your abuser holding a respected position in society. Who am I to say that the way this person has treated me is wrong, when they have qualifications and are trusted, and I am a nobody child/teenager/young adult? Part of the reason it took me twelve years to finally speak to anybody about the abuse I suffered, in any detail, was because I was bone-deep terrified of someone refusing to believe me. Denying what I said. Denying me my voice. If I didn't say anything, I couldn't be told I was wrong.

The suspension of this blog, although it concerns a form of abuse that I (thankfully) never suffered, hits way too close to home as a result. Please help to give these survivors back their voice and the support that comes with having people acknowledge that what they suffered was abuse. Please help protest the suspension with Wordpress.

Edit: Boo to Wordpress.

I have recently begun playing Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. Well, I say "recently" - I've managed to build up over 50 hours' gameplay, though, so the "recently" is more like "obsessively for a couple of weeks now".

I wasn't expecting much from DQ8, which equates to MORE FOOL ME. Ohmygod it's awesome. SO much fun, and SO wonderfully detailed, and pretty, and challenging without being controller-breakingly irritating (certain bosses excluded)...

One thing I really like so far is that Jessica, even though she gets the typical, stupid battle costumes (including a freaking PLAYBOY BUNNY OUTFIT) is independent and strong-willed and quite firmly does not respond to flirtation or allow herself to become a damsel-in-distress character. Although I do get freaky incest pings from her.

Money in the game, however, is an issue. And constantly resetting the game to make the casino in Baccarat obey me is really friggin' annoying.

-----

Sooooooooo. Roz came to mine this weekend and we sat and watched all of Samurai Champloo together. Arrjsghskfjhgfjkghj AWESOME. I got pinged so hard for the Mugen-Jin-Fuu threesome of DESTINY.

Although I did also like the crazy ninja chick who decided she was going to marry Mugen after shooting him down half a dozen times and kicking him in the balls.

Good fics found so far:

The Barbless Hook
Rhythmic Appreciation
Grace
Distance
Crossroads

-----

I have no idea what this Dragon Cave thing is all about. Nevertheless: .

When I was writing A Step to the Left, I found it really difficult to actually stop, and I wrote a whole different end to it that I scrapped because by that point the fic was eleven pages long and it was just getting silly. I wanted to write even more after that.

But then the people who replied to the fic on the areyougame comm asked if I could write more, so I figured I could resurrect this as an "alternate" ending.

Please note: given that this was the original ending to the fic, some bits of it don't match up with the fic and other bits are repeated.

( A Step to the Left: Alternate Ending )

AND I WILL STOP SPAMMING YOU ALL NOW.

Title: A Step to the Left
Pairing: blink-and-you'll-miss-it Zack/Cloud, background Seifer/Zell
Warnings: AU, gratuitous mangling of FFVII & FFVIII canon
Summary: The more Cloud's life changes, the more fate cracks a whip to bring it back on track.
Notes: For an areyougame claim. The prompt was as follows: Crossover, Final Fantasy VII/Final Fantasy VIII, Cloud Strife: testing - He couldn't qualify to be a SOLDIER, but maybe he could make it as a SeeD. Link goes to the fic on the areyougame comm.

[ A STEP TO THE LEFT ]

Title: Firebrand
Pairing: Angeal/Genesis
Warnings: Set mid-Crisis Core, so some very mild game spoilers.
Summary: Angeal did once try to steal from the tree near Genesis’ house.
Notes: For an areyougame claim. The prompt was as follows: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Angeal/Genesis, First meeting - He was shy.. Link goes to the fic on the areyougame comm.

[ FIREBRAND ]

I'm hiding from the world again. Be back later.