Current mood:	chipper
Current music:	Billy Joel -- "This is the Time" (maybe)

You've given me the best of you, but now I need the rest of you.
Hi everyone. Still alive. My computer spontaneously de-registered itself from the network recently, and then I had to do a clean system reinstall, but the godlike Allyson (smileloki) fixed it and all is now well.

I. Request for Creativity!

This is a request for creativity from everyone -- even people who don't play Exalted. You don't need to play Exalted to answer this, although you do need to glance over the next few paragraphs.

Shataina has become the Goddess of Stories (doesn't that rock?). Dustin and I are still working out her powers as such. One of the coolest ones is that she has the Shapechange Charm: her version of the Charm allows her to Shapechange into any, and yes, that does say any being from myth, legend, story, whatever. The only restriction on this power is that Dustin wants me to make up a list of the forms she can take on before we play her too much more, because he won't allow me to use any forms I haven't come up with by the beginning of each game session.

I'm trying to come up with new legends for Shataina to be able to take on the form of. Once she takes on the form, she can also take on any associated powers (if she spends extra power). One of the forms she can take on, for example, is that of Pegasus, the flying horse -- then she can spend the extra power to give herself the ability to fly. Dustin wants each "special ability" to have a drawback associated with the legend, though. So if Shataina takes on the form of Pegasus, and then takes on Pegasus's ability to fly, then she will simultaneously take on another characteristic of Pegasus: the fact that he was "the horse who would never be ridden". Thus, if she's in flying-Pegasus form, no one can ride her.

Another legend Shataina can Shapechange into is Macavity, the Mystery Cat. One of the powers she can take on for Macavity is that she can not be where people are looking, so if anyone seeks her, they won't find her.

So, if you can think of any childhood stories or heroes or characters who had awesome powers -- or even if you make one up -- show your love for me and suggest it. :grin:

II. Random Anecdote that Occurred to Me Today: the Practical Joke I Almost Played on Jake

I was thinking about this prank I almost played on Jake back when we were dating. It was hilarious, and I feel the urge to share.

So, back when Jake and I were dating, he went to Boy Scout camp over the summer for six weeks and we communicated mostly through letters. One day Hannah emailed me and suggested that, because he opened his packages in public, we send him a huge pair of old lady panties as a practical joke. Immediately, the fiendish gears of my brain began to turn, and I thought, "Why limit it at that?"

Accordingly, I came up with a hugely complicated plan, like so:

1) Buy the most horrifyingly shameless pair of panties I could find.
2) Send them in a package postmarked from Jake's hometown (this, sadly, required me to actually go to his hometown, which was about an hour's drive. That's probably why I never actually managed to go through with this little prank).
3) Include a note which said: "Darling Jacob -- I hope you don't miss home too much. Thinking of you -- I hope these make you think of me. Love, Mom." (I believe the wording was originally better, mostly because I had Vinny's aid, but I couldn't remember it exactly.)

I actually went through with most of this plan. I searched eBay for the most absurd pair of panties I could find. The panties I ended up with were ... practically indescribable. Picture this:

* Lavender chiffony-type net.
* Crotchless.
* Edged in black lace.
* In the front, on the bit under which the mons veneris would be, was sewn a long cord, from which depended a silver whistle.

I realized after I had bought these panties for $6.50 or so (plus shipping and handling!) that I didn't actually know Jake's home address. I tried looking it up, but for some reason I can't remember I had no luck. I also needed to know what his mother's full name was. Accordingly, I enlisted the aid of an old friend, who called their house and pretended to be the Census Bureau, asking for the requisite information. Sadly, Jake's mother is paranoid, and she insisted on not giving out that kind of information over the phone.

So, I ended up without the information (and I couldn't ask him for it, of course, nor his parents). I might have gone through with it anyway, except I would have had to go all the way to Putnam Valley, which wasn't even on the same train line.

But it was funny to think about. And I still have those panties, which led to some interesting expressions on Ed's face when he spotted them lying around my room first:

Me: Ed, what's wrong?
Ed: Er ...
Me: Oh, those. They're for a practical joke.
Ed: Oh, really.
Me: Seriously! I promise!
Ed: Well, that's a relief.
[pause]
So, were they for [Ex-Boyfriend A] or [Ex-Boyfriend B]?

So it's not so bad; at least Ed only thinks I'm depraved, which isn't much new anyway.

III. I have a Wiki page now.

I have a page on the Exalted Wiki now. It isn't anything super-special.

Shataina on the Wiki

IV. Other Notes.

Break is the week after the week after next. The Dresden Dolls are playing at Bard on the weekend that begins my break, so I suspect Dustin and I shall be there.

I dropped my class on the Thousand and One Nights, because the freshmen made me want to kill things and our entire class reading was basically the Thousand and One Nights, which I can read on my own. So I was learning nothing. Ah well.