...And Riss is still doing a risk assessment for a collective system version, I jumped the line and got one just for me.

Ask the depraved heretic a question~! You can even do it anonymously! Feel free to ask me silly things like what my favorite ice cream flavor is and how many times I've been killed by snuff fetishists during religious orgies. (I bounce back from those kinds of things relatively quickly, as you might imagine.) Just to keep things interesting, I'll likely answer questions as if I were still alive and in my home realm, so there won't be an endless string of answers like, "I spend most of my time sitting around and watching Riss type and read textbooks." :P

Just don't ask questions intended for anyone else in our system, since...well, I suppose Riss will get a different account where people can ask about the Multiple Experience and talk to all of us at once.

Feel free to pass this around! Give the URL to people I don't even know, and who don't even know me! Give it to people who have no idea what the 41st Millennium is like! Give it to extremely conservative religious people who will be tempted to start theological debates and turn me from the sinister path of pure sensation! I'm here--use me!! <3 <3

--BT.

(R): On FA, we seem to have a tendency to not delete submissions from our heads-up page if one or more of us ends up too enchanted by a piece to want to let go of it. Logically, this is what the Favorites feature is for. But there are some times when we don't seem to operate logically, this being one of them. :P

(BT): I have just about decided that, if I ever go back home, I may need to take SatouGaki with me. I know folks in need of xir portraiting talents. Xie can keep Dark Aldebaran company while the latter designs my new flagship! And then we can all make costumes for my lower-ranking minions~~ It'll be like a ladies' quilting circle, only with industrial rubber and leather instead of cloth and stuffing. <3 <3 <3 Oh, how I miss the fun we used to have in the days of futures past~~ ^_^

(D): I love SatouGaki too! Different reason, though. Xie was totally able to capture how I feel when I get too close to the front in our human meatself. Spot on, boss--it IS annoying. X(

(BT): Here's another idea that I'd certainly be willing to spend some wo/manpower and resources on. "Coming up with armor for female winged kangaroo succubi required a certain amount of creativity." ...I know that my people have mostly moved past hard ammo weaponry, but really, railguns will forever have a certain oldschool charm. ;9~~~

(D): Pwecious dwaggin wuv! This is just warm n' fuzzy as-is, but I probably would have marked out on overdrive if that had been a thatched-roof cottage in the background. ;B

(R): Amazingly, there's even a piece that [S] can't stop looking at. Khaosdog tends to rock the Internet on a regular basis, though.

(R): ...And I get the embarrassment of being the only one here with an X-rated keepsake, so you'll need your Pr0nz Filter turned off to see it. ^^;;; I just really love the pics I've been able to find of these characters, and a few others like them--the girl is chubby and freckled and wonderfully normal-looking, yet she netted such an impressive man...*u.u* I like it. After a while, pics of flawless people paired up with other flawless people get a little depressing, as if people who are merely average are excluded from the world of sex and romance (or are at least not worth looking at or thinking about in such ways). Art like this just makes me contentedly cheerful. ^____^;

EVERYBODY GIT YA TOWELS READY IT'S ABOUT TA GO DOWN

(Dragon):
Guess what we just got from the parents' place today? Yes, our preorder of James Swallow's BLACK TIDE, the latest gush of tree pulp smeared lovingly with the praises of Powerarmored Vampire Jesus Brother Rafen and his X-TREME, in-your-face modesty, virtue, and love of the Emperor!!

We haven't cracked the covers on this guy yet, but we're working out some internal bets on whether Rafen's veteran sergeant buddy from RED FURYYYYYYY will somehow end up being part of his Chapter's "blood tithe" back to the Blood Angels. Y'know, so he can continue being a grumpy, badass sidekick for Rafen even though he's got a higher rank. Rank counts for nothing in the Gary Stu Imperium!!

VSGT BUDDY: I'm definitely not here because some power beyond my comprehension makes me like you for no reason. I only volunteered for this so I can someday get you back in the dueling ring and put your head on a fucking pike. That's how Flesh Tearers roll, kid.
RAFEN: Wow, I'm so glad you're a Blood Angel now! First things first--we'll teach you oil painting and embroidery, and if you're good at that we can move you on to decorative ceramics and goldsmithing. <3 ^_^
VSGT BUDDY: (quietly, into his vox) Hello, Abaddon the Despoiler? Yeah, any chance of the Black Crusade hitting this part of the galaxy in the next week or so? ...What do you mean, another century?? What the fuck are we hating you people for?? Hello? Hello?? ;_;
RAFEN: C'mon, let's go get our hands dirty mixing pigments...FOR THE EMPEROR~!! <3 <3

Also, I expect all the Named Character heroes to sit around and drink a lot of plasma wine, since they were all but useless last time. Hopefully the rank and file is starting to wonder why they keep these people around. You know, I only vaguely remember the details of the last book because nothing can quite match the impact of a Joe Shmo Battle Brother upstaging every Chapter hero and killing a huge, organic dreadnought with nothing but a power sword and a combat knife. The scene will forever live on in our memory as Epic WTFery. I can only imagine what Swallow will come up with when trying to surpass it.

In summary: TARGET ACQUIRED. FANSQUEE TURN ON.

Riss has some psych stuff to read to keep him on track with classes, so we won't be able to hit this for a few days, but hit it we certainly shall. FOR THE EMPEROR. <3

--D.

(Riss):
THE ARGH: *facepalm* The Army guys often mock the Air Force from afar for doing too much D&C and not enough PT. From what I've heard from the AF cadet in my Behaviorism class, the AF PT is actually quite adequate, at least in my book...and they rock AROTC's fucking face off when it comes to D&C. I mean, D&C is sort of important. If nothing else, it's designed to give everybody the training they need to move about in giant herds using efficient and orderly means. AROTC sucks so hard at this that it is truly not even funny anymore. Today we had the second round of training for flag duty. I have to be in charge of retreat every Friday, so I had to practice all the commands (and will have to continue doing so throughout the weekend ;_;), and I sort of blew the marching part. So did the other guy, who has to be in charge for most of the rest of the week. And the people we're leading have issues with the marching itself, simple stuff like staying in step. Gods, I am so glad that no AF people passed by to see us muddle blindly through two of the most common and fundamental military rituals in existence. -_-;;;

PT scores are not everything, dammit. We looked pathetic. I'm beginning to wish we could do some kind of cultural exchange program where we take in some AF cadets and teach them to harden up into psycho PT beasts that laugh at pain, while sending some Army cadets temporarily into the blue to larn 'em some D&C and personal discipline. Man, I would sign up for that in a heartbeat. Our organization does not look respectable if cadets go around hosing flag ceremonies.

THE WOW #1: I talked to that AF cadet again today. According to my watch, I guess we stood in the hall and talked for...about two hours?? o_O Not just about military stuff though, but also about classic novels and transhumanist technology. True, she's initiated the conversation both times, which circumvents the "should I say something? Yes! No! Maybe! Wait, let me think about it...no, thinking is too hard! I'll just leave and not say anything!" sequence that I usually get into whenever I'm tempted to be social with anybody. But...I don't know, it's been so long since I talked to a normal person for any length of time that I assumed that I'd forgotten how to do it. I am frankly shocked as hell that there's been no catastrophic Social Fail yet, although I have been deliberately steering clear of potentially controversial topics. And I'm learning a lot, since AFROTC actually trains people to be real military leaders instead of playing wargames all the time. She's given me a lot of things to think about. (I continue to wish that I could switch to AF and still shrink heads and have a four-year scholarship. Alas, cruel fate~! TT_TT)

THE WOW #2: So the university processed the FAFSA and sent me the results of the financial aid decision... Last year, I didn't bother filing taxes because ROTC picks up the tuition bill and I use my nontaxable stipend and financial aid to survive, so technically I have no income. Dudes, the government gave me a grant of over $5K and the school already cut me a check. I am looking at it now. Holy poopnuggets, we can definitely live on this for a while. *_* Maybe we can splurge a little after all.

THE WHA?: I checked with my cadre commander, who checked with a couple other cadre members, who described to me the current Army tattoo policy. Under that policy, it is technically okay for me to have that microtattoo I was thinking of getting. To my surprise, it also turns out that you can have the whole back of your neck tattooed as far forward as your ears, which makes me wish that I had the money to get that back piece done before they decide to change the rules again. :P (Part of it was going to be a flying rooster and I wanted the head going up the back of my neck. But I'm thinking that I'll be lucky to get that work done for less than $2K, so it's nowhere on the radar right now.)

The fact that I checked is a big deal because, basically, I got laughed off by the first tattoo artist I talked to about this--not because of the design itself, but because of the location. Now, people constantly tell us that I look twelve years old, or at least ten years younger than we actually are, and perhaps that's why I have to deal with people assuming that I must not have done any research on whatever I'm talking about and that I make choices about permanent body modifications with no in-depth consideration. Yes, it is risky to have even a small tattoo on the back of your hand. It is not a news flash. I would really rather that people give me a polite reality check and then move to helping me out with damage prevention instead of treating me like a complete airhead. [/rant]

Since I've now learned that the Army is technically willing to work with me on this, at least in the sense that I can get the work done without being forced to laser it off later or something, I've been revisiting the design and tweaking the placement. Tomorrow I'll probably put it into Photoshop and do a bunch of resizes so I can see how small I can make it before it's no longer effective for my purposes. I need it in a particular position, but I'm trying to tuck it back a bit so more of it will be covered by the cuff of a coat or dress shirt. To my delight, the new placement should make it all but invisible when I salute, unless the salutee is way taller than we are. ^^

I am still going to check around and see where I can get the best sense of quality for a decent price, since I'm now aware that studios have minimum tattoo prices that apply even to really tiny things. I am resisting the temptation to finalize one of the other, simpler designs and do them both together so I can feel like I'm getting the most for my money... This is really the only one that I feel a need for at the moment. The design for [S] and I can't happen before the winter solstice, and most of the others are too complicated and thus way too expensive to justify right now. Really, the only one I could see doing would be the Thorn Company pseudo-fan tattoo, which I'd rather wait on. ^_^;; Anyway, I'll see what kinds of prices I can find.

Possibly Fridays will end up being Sudden Journal Activity days for this semester, since I really do need the whole weekend to crunch for school (at least while I'm in ROTC leadership) but I can spare a bit of time on the front end to run my/our fingers/mouth. ^^

(Riss):
-- Today I had just enough time after school to run down to the post office and pick up a parcel, while still in my Army uniform. It turned out to be our copy of Sacred Kink by passionandsoul. ...I think there's some irony in there somewhere, or at least a hearty dose of dark humor. ^^

( So the lock on our collar broke... )

-- Also in related news, I got my first haircut of the year. My old stylist had left, so I had to describe the 'do to the new one. I could have sworn that the old one based the layers on two inches of hair in the very front, but I think that she must have cut it short in front and then left it longer elsewhere on the head. This one set the longest layers at two inches and then made everything else shorter...now it's the shortest it's ever been. It's kind of like a very small white kid afro, because our hair is so thick that it sticks straight out from our head at this length. I'm fluffy~! XD I already had a person pet my head. This is cool because we always have to rein ourselves in around buzzcut people--they look so soft and fuzzy and touchable. And all the ROTC guys are buzzcut, so it's like being in a roomful of plushies that you are forbidden to cuddle. :_(

( And some typical complaining about teaching styles. )

-- Finally, we have to do our wish list for ROTC--the form where we tell them what our top ten branch choices are, which stations we'd like to go to, etc. I'm still a little bit confused about it, but I'll sit down with it after classes tomorrow and muse thoughtfully. In a way, I've really put all my eggs in one basket, because if I can't get the education delay, grad school, and the Psy.D then I've lost and I barely care what they do with me. (As long as they don't send me to actual medical school somehow. I do not want to be that kind of doctor, even though I'm sure the Army would love it.)

( The chaplaincy bites me on the face again, not that there is much I can do about it. )

Anyway, I have stayed up too late brooding and have a PT test tomorrow, so I should go attempt to sleep now. I've really been exhausted lately...

--Riss.

(Riss):
( ...Houston, we may have a problem. )
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(Riss):
( Rambling about potential future skin art. )

(Dragon):
Ignore the little spastic dude freaking out about release date delays and just pay attention to the important stuff.

Long story short: Dan Abnett got diagnosed with epilepsy late last year and it's been making his work difficult. Slower output is not such a big deal to us, but Dan writes for a living and now his health problems are screwing up his flow.

Riss says that he's never heard of epilepsy itself being potentially life-threatening (he actually rambled about how epilepsy can sometimes cause hypergraphia and maybe Dan's hypergraphia is more useful than it usually is blah blah etc.), and I hope that's the case... I'm still worried. Poor Dan.

So everybody, pray for Dan or send some happy healing light or put a saucer of milk out for the fae folk, or do whatever else you might do to help him get better. (Or to make his meds work well or whatever it is they do for epilepsy. I don't know if it's something you can cure. ;_;) He's given the world's rabid 40K fans so much--he deserves our support in times of need!! <3 <3 <3

--D.

(R): I think the amount of 40K crap in our brain has finally reached some kind of critical mass. I've been having trouble sleeping, I think just due to stress, and for several nights I've been dreaming about...Space Marines. ^^;;; Different chapters/legions each time, sometimes in really bizarre circumstances--like I think I had this epic magical-realism story that was being told as a video game, and there was all of this mystical imagery and floating castle cities and whatnot plus random Space Marines who were trying to complete some sort of mission. And they were major characters too, not just random scenery. And last night was hell trying to get to sleep, but when I managed to pass out for a couple hours I dreamed about World Eaters laying waste to planet after planet where everything was the color of blood, even the wind.

(R): ...I need to scrounge around to see what I could use to knock myself out, because I'm getting amazingly sleep-deprived and it's not even because of schoolwork. X( Un-acceptable!!

( Finished the Soul Drinker omnibus; very general impressions. )
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(R): The bandage design survived the PT session! I am so happy!! T_T Although, for want of a profile letter to replace my outdated one, I had to do a bunch of pushups on the arm that I haven't used for about three months now. Relative to other cadets and to my semester-end performance, I didn't do very well today...but I'm actually pleased just for personal reasons. I was afraid the arm was going to be literally unusable. ^^;;

(R): It's getting late, so I'll go try to sleep again. Bets on who shows up tonight? Howling Griffons? Legion of the Damned? Rainbow Warriors~~~?? XD

(Riss):
As the title suggests, school started today. ^_^; Things that happened:

- ROTC inbrief and awards ceremony. These most recent academic ribbons mean (if I've got my count right) that I can now swap the bronze oak clusters for one shiny silver cluster each~ It's like buying a hotel in Monopoly! XD Also, even though I thought they'd ignored my APFT score of 272 because it was only done to get out of unofficial remedial PT, somebody must have taken notice because I actually got a ribbon for that too. Holy shit, the hardcore nerd has two PT ribbons? Unthinkable!! O_O
--- Dudes, our platoon actually got a guidon streamer for being the most academically accomplished (highest average GPA) out of the whole battalion. HOOAH NERDS high speed low drag all the way and then some et cetera et cetera...XD XD
- Not too sure exactly what ROTC class is going to be like, since today was all inprocessing and nobody got any syllabi or anything. However, given that camp is this summer, I sort of expect that ROTC in general is going to be my biggest source of stress. :/
- My ASL teacher already told us that we'll have more speech projects, which is not surprising. For some reason, I find them less worrisome than regular presentations, possibly because I much prefer to have something constructive to do with my body while "speaking" (sign and body posture) and plain dislike using my voice for anything. Strange, I know. :/ Anyway, one of them will be the translation of a song into ASL. I am seriously considering "YMCA." We don't listen to much vocal music, and a lot of the stuff we do listen to is probably unusable for various reasons. :P
- Abnormal Psych and Developmental Psych grade based entirely on exams. PRAISE BE TO HEAVEN. Both of the teachers did the "do not be lured into thinking that this is easy, foolish heroes!" routine, which I do take completely seriously. These are upper-div classes, so professors are within their rights to stop hand-holding and begin crushing the spirit out of all us potential grad students. :P Unfortunately for them, I have no spirit left to crush! Ha ha ha!! However...my crippling academic anxiety goes through the roof when I get a writing assignment. Tests are not a big deal, since they have a definite beginning and end. I will cheerfully study until my eyes bleed, because I am blissfully without papers to write!! TT_______TT
- I still need to go to my Learning & Motivation cognitive psych class tomorrow, so there is still a chance of having papers due this semester... Man, I hope not. I pray not. I would be bouncing-off-the-walls gleeful if it were not.
- My psychosomatic junk has been building itself up to full steam over the past few days. I wish it weren't so, but no point in sticking my head in the sand. :/ Hopefully I will not actually get called out about my perpetually crappy PT performance. There is no easy way to tell a superior that I don't have asthma but still can't breathe when I run because exercising under pressure with a great herd of other people makes me quietly freak out all the time. -_-;;;

[EDIT]
OMG!!!11! Just checked the website for my cogpsych class and found that the teacher had posted the syllabus early. NO PAPERS. OMG, I swear I would be already jumping up and down and screaming with INSANE DELIGHT if only I did not live in an apartment with super-thin walls. *SCREEEEEEEAM!* *dance dance dance!*

Oh, I am so, so happy. I want to hug the whole world right now. ^______^ *HUG* <3 Somebody out there loves me~!
[/EDIT]

( And the scar bandages are holding nicely! )

Also, predictably, this is the notice that school started, so I am probably going to be a little more scarce as I try to keep my nose to the grindstone. :P We may also end up using personal journals more, since I'm hoping to keep my New Year's resolution by wrangling with some issues that aren't system-wide.

--Riss.

(R): I think we ate something that's made our internal components unhappy, so we may go lay down in a little bit here.

(D): BTW, I know we're usually the last people to hear about anything trendy, so probably everybody's seen this already, but I confess--I totally LOLd. => Hot Na'vi Sex. "We're not even drinking soup right now!!" Also, the expression on her face when she plays the clarinet is FLAWLESS.

( WH40K: Minireviews for Cain, -Titanicus-, -Dark Creed-, -Daemon World-. Also, holy shit, Ben Counter can write?? NO WAY. )

(R): Regardless, [S] wants us to focus and finish reading Soul Drinkers before school starts on Tuesday so that we can begin the year without fatal distractions. ^_^;

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( Scar updates, cut for squick and mild TMI. Summary: No cheese with my whine, please, as I am allergic. Also, if you're thinking about doing something like this, reconsider before putting it somewhere really awkward and flexible that can't be easily bandaged. :P )