Raiha

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well seeing as how I'm a born and bred asian girl, I HAVE to take off the shoes in the house. That and it's so dusty/muddy outside, wearing shoes inside would just be ridiculous. Besides, if the carpets don't stay clean, it'll be really expensive to get them cleaned when I move out someday. But anyway there's nothing much else to report, except that my room mate is cleverly avoiding me and doing everything on the list so far. This is good. ......EDIT: New report. Room mate Tomfoolery...... The townhouse complex where I live have been experiencing a series of real break-ins. In which stuff is robbed and property is damaged. A white male and a black male together work out of a U-Haul that's been seen outside/near the complex. They come in through open windows, the bathrooms upstairs, the sliding glass doors unsecured downstairs, etc. But when I tried to explain this report to my incredulous room mate, she did not believe me. She said that she HAD to sleep with her window open at night, unsecured, and unlocked. She laughed at the very idea of someone coming in through the bathroom windows. She said that it was me who left the garage door unlocked when the garage door was already locked and closed from the inside. She said NOBODY could get in through her bedroom window when she lives above the garage where there's a wide flat surface for people to walk on. In fact, people have already walked across the roof and seen inside her room because she never closes her blinds, and didn't invest in curtains like me. End result? I'm ready to scream obscenities at her and rip her hair out at the roots. I've never been this angry at her before. I came dangerously close to loosing my cool with her. I wanted to shout at her like an angry parent who had a child that doesn't see the danger in front of her. I content myself now with imaging the results of having someone break in through her window and just tossing her room without stealing anything. I realize that it's a monumentally stupid idea, but it'll help me cope. But as far as my own security goes. There is nothing to stand on outside my window. And my door locks. But now I'm considering seriously the purchasing of an extra dead bolt for when the lock is easily picked and a baseball bat for when the truly determined come in. ....Maybe an axe. But seriously folks. I have no idea how much clearer I can make things for her.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Think 1600s. Bad times. Dark and cold and wet and uncool. Only time has stood still because of government control. At least technologically speaking. I should probably put that in the introduction..... ........wow I'm forgetful.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Me likes the signups in Auditions so far. Everyone's doing quite well, and has made the minor changes I asked for. One thing to remember. Civilization hasn't made any real technological advances. So just ignore the picture in the background of inwardscream's ultra sexy picture. ...I'm trying to decide if society's even figured out that coal burns better than wood. Ideas? How would we power this massive evil society?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Oh man. I don't even have a Wii and I'm excited. Then again I work at Gamestop and it's hard to avoid the mania that comes with any Super Mario game. I fielded so many reservations for Galaxy. And there are so many more people who didn't want to reserve and will come crying to me when we sell out in the first 48 hours. It's going to be pretty ugly. But actually what is ugly is the number of people that ask me every day if we have any Wiis in stock. Are you KIDDING? We haven't had new Wiis in for months. Nintendo is so evil. If you're thinking about getting a Wii now, just stop. Don't think about it. You won't get one. Unless of course you send me money and I purchase the next used system we get in the store with my super fine discount and ship it to you. Anyway though, the demo is out and playable and all over the place in the store I work at. I have to time people so one person doesn't just keep playing it for hours. Of course the fact that the average age of people playing with it is....oh....8... .....if they don't have their parents I get to kick them out by the tail anyway. But it comes out in less than two days. We have Galaxy promo posters plastered everywhere! Go wild people![/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Uh. ......mosquitos bite. They don't inject. Now that folks is a fact. Mosquitos bite. And by passes diseases, I mean that the diseases mosquitos do pass to others exacerbate preexisting conditions and leave the immune system weak and succeptible to HIV. Women have ovaries. Men don't. The Majority of active players on the neopets website are people between the ages of 18-25. ......and sadly I'm one of them.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]At the college I used to attend, I can name any number of occasions where a homosexual friend of a friend was in the same bathroom as me. An example is when I was showering and came out wrapped in a towel and there he was in the female bathroom, brushing his teeth. I'm comfortable enough in my sexuality to not freak out. But if it had been my uptight Christian room mate and not me? She would've completely lost it. Barney Frank isn't exactly the most shining example of American democratic process. I don't like him because he's an incompetent jerk, not because he's homosexual. Remember that hissy fit he threw on the House Floor? The time he called Santorum a 'jerk'? I remember. And woah now. Not EVERYONE loves Clinton. I can think of the almost half of the general public that voted for the other guy. And you were what? Six? And not EVERYONE loves JFK. Mostly because of that Bay of Pigs, Marilyn Monroe... ...thing... Do I not count because I'm well informed AND a scholar? Oh yeah, I also don't really happen to deeply passionately care what laws are passed, because I don't live or die with politics. But interesting note. Congress has a 18% approval rating. Even Bush beats them. And your reference to Giuliani? He is NOT going to be the Republican nominee. He's an old fashioned Democrate, and a New Yorker, and he's lived his life like one. Most Americans don't live like New Yorkers. He's got so much baggage that it's amazing the media's held out this long on reporting it [/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Lunox'][font="trebuchet ms"] [font="trebuchet ms"] How is vetoing the bill considering the future of any Republican ever elected to office again? Do you realize that all of the Republican candidates right now are trying to distance themselves from Bush? Do you think the Iraq war, our tremendous deficit, and the recession and possible stagflation our economy will undergo is not going to make Bush one of the most controversial and possibly one of the most disliked presidents in history? [font="trebuchet ms"] What Representative or Senator of the US Congress has ever said that? I'm really just curious. I never never heard of this, ever, and I would just really like to get links or sources on this. [/font][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I never said that a representative of any body of office had made that argument on record. This is something the grassroots American groups are angry about. And what they say can be found on any blog with a Republican slant. Furthermore, no bill should ever be slipped through any part of the government. Even if you are afraid. The American people, no matter what they believe, have a RIGHT to know what laws are being put through. Do you realize that Republican candidates distancing themselves from the President in office right now are doing exactly what they've done for years? If you want controversy, Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus. Vice President Aaron Burr shot someone to death in a duel. JFK was a philandering, if well meaning drug addict. Bill Clinton had hundreds of people connected to him die under mysterious circumstances during his 8 years in office. Candidates want to come in on their own power, not riding his coattails. What he does shouldn't have anything to do with them, but it does. And this is all a big political game. The rules of logic have less to do with it than we'd like. Money and politics baby. That's all this is. Reps don't really care about homosexual discrimination or any other number of things, they get paid by special interest groups to do their thing. Or they think that doing this whole Congress thing for a career is a good gig. Sad but true. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Two sexy Irish boys. I knew this was a good idea... But seriously in the way of characters, we need the following cast list just in general. 1: Revolutionaries 2: Assorted Monarchs. 3: Counter Revolutionaries 4: Dignitaries/Diplomats/Ambassadors 5: Disgruntled peasants.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]The poor birds... ...wait, avian flu comes from what? Nevermind, pass the chicken. Another great fact that nobody in their right mind ever really did care about? SARS was just a particularly nasty strain of the flu. But here is one people should care about. HIV is passed more effectively through the population through malaria. An unchecked mosquito population passes both diseases without bias. Millions have died from getting malaria, then HIV. Ever since the banning of DDT, Malaria cases have skyrocketed and so have casualties. Bring back DDT! I don't care about birds! I care about humans![/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Lunox'][font="trebuchet ms"] Legislation isn't a bunch of useless words; do you think major changes would've occurred if civil rights legislation wasn't introduced? What were we going to do, sit around and wait for society to all agree black people were the same as white people? Duh, a lot of employers will still go against the law, but it still brings about gradual, even if slow, change. Should this impede the front to make anti-discrimination against gays laws? (If anyone thinks 'yes', the biggest problem with US politics isn't its bipartisan nature, or PACs, or interest groups, or whatever, it's politically apathetic people who stubbornly say "I don't care" and then ***** about things later.) And seriously, I don't care if Bush is a politician, it's still a dick move. I knew he would veto it, but I personally think it's stupid. It's like saying a president who vetoes civil rights legislation is just 'doing his job' because his supporters don't want it. That's BS to me. It's not like he's can run again for office, either. He's already created the biggest deficit in US history because of a war half of America didn't agree with, and now we're possible going to stagflation, and definitely a recession. He's not going to be remembered well. [/font][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="times new roman"]I never said that all legislation was useless, some legislation is however, and this is a rather good example. Of course I live in California, so I might be confusing California/OSHA law with the rest of state law. That and Shy's boyfriend somehow managed to get a very good, high paying job, without ever being discriminated against. It's possible I simply don't care about the rest of the country. I should look into that... It is also intellectually dishonest to equate black Americans with gay Americans. You're talking about race and trying to equate it with sexual orientation. This law was written for the 3% of the population that wants to be a protected class. When there's a law passed that defends the 65% of Christians from being discriminated against by homosexuals in the workplace, then I'll stand up and cheer. But as far as Bush making a dick move? He's considering the future of any Republican ever elected to office again. Throwing in bogus statistics about statistics and the 'illegal war' has no bearing on your argument and instead makes it look like you're grasping at straws. If Bush signs this bill into law, it is only a matter of time before other pieces of legislation are passed to make discrimination a crime where pedophiles are concerned. It's a slippery slope, and don't forget that this bill was originally not a big deal because it was being quietly slipped through the various venues of the government for a vote. This is a representative republic, and the people of America have a voice of their own. It's premature to say that Bush will automatically veto the bill when it hasn't even passed the Senate where it will in fact, most likely, assuredly go down to defeat. Now that people know that this bill is about to be voted on, they will call their representatives and Bush will never find this bill on his desk. If he does? He'll do right by his base, and by the majority of Americans that do not find this bill Constitutional. One of the major arguments I hear against this bill is the issue of gays and lesbians finding their way into showers, locker rooms, and bathrooms of those of the opposite gender. If you were a parent, would you want ANY male in the same bathroom as your daughter? This opens a path for potential pedophiles to share the same bathroom as your 10 year old. Say I'm a hater, but this is potentially possible. This isn't crazy theory, this could very well happen if this bill becomes the law of the land.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I should warn you all now that be sure to check your facts against 'snopes.com' before posting them. If you posted a 'fact' that was in fact an urban legend disproved, boy your face would be red. Cool Weird Facts? Canaries can't swallow when hung upside down. They lack the muscles that humans have allowing such an action. A Chinese man who lived well past 100 attributed his long existence to his diet and distinct lack of sexual activity. ...ever. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Please tell me Josh dear, that you weren't just trying to hint heavily at what I should get you for Christmas. Because I just may do it! .....or someone here will and you'll end up with several copies of that which you so desire. [URL="http://nuklearpower.com/"]Nuklear Power[/URL] Behold, the GOD of Sprite Comics. Everyone here must read it or suffer the eternal wrath of being mindless ignorant fools who have never touched the glory and beauty that comes from the brain of Brian Clevinger. ...and now I realize someone linked to it already but called it 8-bit Theatre. .....oh whatever.[URL="http://www.nuklearpower.com/comics/070801.png"]Best....Comic......EVER.[/URL] And since I can't post this without either resizing or other stuff, just click. It's worth it. I SWEAR.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well naturally (haha I'm so witty) that depends on your philosophy on Nature Vs. Nurture. I happen to believe that humans are products of their own choices and how they've used their freedom to choose. People who say they 'can't help' something I tend to view as weak willed. But I also understand that this is not a wildly popular view. It's just what I believe. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well, in THAT case... I have other favorites. Good example would be [URL="http://zebragirl.keenspot.com/"]Zebra Girl![/URL] Hate! Love! Spontaneous Combustion! But really, it's awesome. A normal girl gets transformed into a less than normal demon when her room mate slams shut a book of spells. And then she discovers that she can spontaneously light people on fire. .......and that she has a third eye. And wings. And stripes. And a tail. It's a dark comic with an excellent artist.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Gunslinger'][COLOR="77656"] Raiha: She wsn't acting bisexual, she is bisexual. She's dated a girl ad she likes girls. Actually there was this protest at her school because they wouldn't let a lesbian couple become homecoming queen and king. Startign next year, the school is allowing same-sex couples become king and king or queen and queen, which I think is a brave step for this area. Where I live, people aren't too open about these things and that ead's to threats and trouble. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Wait wait wait. I didn't mean to imply that she ISN'T bisexual, I was just wondering why she was acting out her sexual orientation in a bathroom. And while that protest is indicative of the usual societal problems in America, things do change. They just don't happen over night. Of course, I don't really see a point to a lesbian couple as homecoming King and Queen, mostly because I always mentally associated 'Homecoming' with 'Popularity Contest.' It's possible I'm biased in that sense... But back to the real topic. You can't pass this bill and expect all Americans to instantly become accepting of non heterosexuals. And you can't protest and demand change, because that just gets the people all riled. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well I believe there's only one really clever and amazing thing I can say to all of this scientific hoopla: [quote] The proof that there is intelligent life out there, is that they have not tried to make contact with us yet. [/quote][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Seeing as how you haven't been on this planet for too long Gunslinger, I wouldn't be surprised that you haven't run into the other group of gay males that decided that they would in fact like to like other boys. A Self Aware Choice. A choice made on their own over time as they find their identity. Kinda like how I discovered gradually that I was in fact like most women. I am erotically plastic. I am turned on by whoever happens to make me feel good. Male, female, either and or. Edit: My fundamental instincts are to obtain pleasure regardless of gender. Am I just a nutterbutter? And as far as women being superior? We are not superior. We are equal. As far as your little statistic about a slightly higher IQ? That's crap and anyone who knows just a tiny bit about statistics knows it. Don't even get me started on how the IQ test measures intelligence, because that is inherently flawed all on its own. In a world without women, odds are males would be a lot calmer, less stressed, and less prone to invading other countries to prove their manliness. And that part about your girlfriend not being able to stand up to a bunch of bullies, I believe that's something that should make her stronger. Of course as your boyfriend, you could beat up those girls, but then you'd get in trouble yourself, and quite frankly I don't see a point, even if it is to protect someone you like. I told my female friends I was attracted to females, and nobody came to kill me. But then again it's probably because I'm armed at all times. You should look into that. But this begs the question, why was your girlfriend acting bisexual in a bathroom? That's just asking for trouble.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][URL="http://www.flipsidecomics.com/"]Flipside![/URL] The story of Maytag, a nymphomaniac jester girl and her homosexual life partner, Bernadette the Knight. Sorcerers! Knights! Swords! Poison! Dimensional Bags! It's good times folks. That and I met the creator/author/writer/designer/etc. at ComicCon this year and he signed my ***. That was superb.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I do not approve of the insinuation being made here that the majority of people in America are all gay fearing, gay bashing, intolerant, self serving, bigoted jerkoffs. It's easy to sit back and call Americans homophobic simply because of well publicized cases of homophobia in the workplace, but since anti-discrimination laws are already in effect on a national level, ENDA is completely and utterly pointless. It is ILLEGAL to ask a potential employee their sexual orientation, and those that make it obvious, or even answer questions that could inform the employer of their orientation are just unaware of this fact. In the same vein, it's illegal to discriminate against hiring females, people of a certain religion, or those in a certain age group. As a bisexual female, I manage to get job offers regardless of my orientation, perhaps because I never answer questions during interviews that could tip off my potential boss as to who I might happen to be attracted to. Oh yes. Legislate away, but employers are still going to find some excuse to not hire people they don't want to hire. And as far as gay president? ......No. And why would Bush veto such a bill? Aside from the fact that it would destroy any standing he'd have with his political base, there would be more than just a few Americans that would loathe this move. You're forgetting that he's a politician. He has to play to his Republican base. And the Republican base is comprised of Heartland Americans, at the grassroots level, that holds onto Christian beliefs and values that are at odds with virtually everyone else. But that's what you get. I'm not saying all Republicans are homophobic, or even are slightly uncomfortable around gays. But the people writing the Republican party checks, are the people you have to please. Things are never as simple as we'd like them to be, but keep on saying 'BUSH IS TEH MORON OMG AMERICA IS DUMB!' It just reminds me why I never threw my hat into either the Republican or Democratic party.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Ladies and Gentlemen, let me first say that this RPG is not for the feeble minded, the obviously short sighted, and the easily offended. It will have adult themes, adult messages, and adult references. All of that said, welcome to the first RPG I've ever designed with a real plot in mind. The goal of this story, aside from the development of characters, will be the overarching theme of revolution and freedom of thought. If your character is part of the world without revolution, you'll be exploring ways to bring down the monarchy you live under. If your character is chosen to be the one from the real world, your goal will to be convince the rest of us poor unfortunate souls that revolution is the key to progress and true freedom. If you've been keeping up with the Backstage thread, then you have a vague idea of what I'll ask of you now. If you haven't, go there now. It isn't painfully long, nor will it kill you. But seriously folks, here it is. And if you're wondering about the title, I rolled a die to determine what it would be. Expect the rest of this RPG to be equally random. However how I choose the one person who has come through the real world into this alternate one, is not random. That will be skill based. As far as posting rate, or planning, you decide how fast you want your character to develop. If you can only post sporadically, that's just fine, so long as you actually post once every couple of weeks. Of course if you sign up and then later decide that you're too tired/busy/lazy to post, I'm sure your horrific and untimely death can be arranged. So, aside from the usual signup, if you have an interest in being the person from the world with America, post or PM me a sample of how your character would react when seeing my character as a Chinese noble for the first time. Remember of course that I won't know who the hell you are, and that you will think it's just me playing dress up. If your heart is set on being that one universal interloper and not just a character stuck in the world without revolution, then only post your audition attempt. But if you still want to participate, feel free to post both a regular signup and the sample of your work.[/i] [center][b]As things stand, the world is much as it was before the 1700s. Deific monarchies have near complete control over their great empires, and those that harbor dangerous revolutionary thoughts are either very quiet about it, or are always on the move. At first, your goal is to live your life quietly or comfortably, or just to live at all. But eventually news will reach you that there is to be a meeting in Paris between dignitaries from both the British Empire and the Chinese Imperials. And it's entirely possible that those who have those dangerous new ideas may have secret meetings in an undisclosed location simultaneously, but that'd be crazy. The act of desperate men longing to be free. Will you be there?[/b] ~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center] [b]Name:[/b] Di Ahn Chang [b]Age:[/b] 20 [b]Country of Origin:[/b] China [b]Personality:[/b] Often haughty, sometimes kind, occasionally rude. Di Ahn has a very strong will, yet will always bend it to her family's wishes, like any filial daughter would. Of course when it comes to her own personal concerns, like ordering her servants around, she exerts her own agenda over them with absolute authority. Then again, when she's studying under one of her private tutors, she's far more likely to show deference to them as well. After all, they are older than her. [b]Appearance:[/b] see attachment. Very dark brown hair, but light brown eyes. There has been some speculation by more unkind and undoubtedly jealous members of the family as to her heritage, but seeing as how her mother would have them killed if she found out... ...there hasn't been [i]that[/i] much speculation. [b]Family History:[/b] Di's family has owned a long string of banks in the Nantsang Province for centuries, ensuring a great deal of residual income and general comfort for the immediate members of the Chang clan. Di's mother is number three daughter in a family of three girls, but because the first two were barren, all the wealth and attention that would've gone to the firstborn came to her instead. By statute, Di has been given her fair share of spoiling as well. Firstborn daughter ensured her a comfortable lifestyle, and while she will someday owe deference to her younger brother, Number one son, that doesn't bother her much. After all, he looks up to her and probably always will. [b]Occupation:[/b] A noble in the house of Chang, sometimes receives guests, and merchants, often is a decorative object at parties and gatherings. [b]Social Standing:[/b] Married to a man of house Liang, but since his untimely death in a horrible cart accident, she now lives at home again with her only son. [b]Have you ever had Revolutionary Thoughts?[/b] Never.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]........if someone ever used my toothbrush, I would RAPE them to DEATH. I would not stop until there was broken pelvis shards littering the floor. Do you know how unsanitary and DISGUSTING someone else's mouth is? And don't get me started on the underwear thing. That is how fun and exciting STDs get spread without the fun and exciting times right before infection sets in.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Name: Renalori Grace Age: 24 Gender: Female Appearance: Observe Attachment. Note the slender limbs, the pale skin, the wealth of auburn hair. The manic glint in her bronze eyes. Personality: Mentally unstable. Cracked. Loopy. Loony. Unhinged. Renalori is an heiress to a moderate family fortune, which she doesn't really care about, since the only thing she does care about is Crossover. Crossover experience: 5 years. Was among the first to register. Etheria: [URL="http://www.jaestudio.com/BlackDeath.jpg"]Metarka[/URL]: The dragon monarch. It's big, it's bad, and it likes Renalori. I wouldn't call Renalori and her alliance with Metarka unholy or evil by any means, but the two paired together definitely produce serious problems for those that like to think of themselves as good. If you ask Renalori if she's evil, she'll just say she follows an alternative system of morality. Metarka is a wind based monster, capable of flight, creating hurricanes, and generally causing serious destruction to private property. He likes to rampage, and if he didn't have Renalori to control him, he'd destroy everything he could get to. [URL="http://www.jaestudio.com/NightSerpent.jpg"]Kemmler[/URL]: A snake. A really really really big snake. The summoning of this Etheria is far more complicated than the calling of Metarka, because unlike Metarka, who is happy to serve a master like Renalori, Kemmler has an oversized serpentine ego. However Renalori loves ritual and rites of sacrifice and such and thus, has Kemmler essentially bound to her in an almost equal partnership. Poison based, and when paired with Metarka, capable of causing a windstorm of venom. ......They tell me that poison tornados are bad. While the picture might show him as enormous, Kemmler isn't THAT huge, but the fact remains that if Renalori stood next to his face, she'd have to stand on tiptoe to make eye contact with him. He has big fangs, that don't necessarily drip venom, but when they are extended, most things within range usually get grazed. [url="http://www.jaestudio.com/SpiritofDragons.jpg"]She Ma Nai[/url]: Spirit of Fire. A blue dragon of asian extraction, covered in the steam created from his body that burns eternally with blue fire. Not often used by Renalori for major battles, but when used, almost always ensures a quick and dirty victory. We think it's because he vaporizes everything in his immediate vicinity. He, like Kemmler, demands a mildly complicated summoning ritual, but since Renalori has yet to screw up a summoning of him, it's all good. He likes to grow in power, so while Renalori doesn't call him up to destroy entire towns, she does call him quite often, using him steadily and carefully, unwilling to make serious mistakes with his growth.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Karl Marx never was a degenerate boil infested philosopher with an addiction to gambling. George Washington stayed a rich aristocrat, loyal to the British Crown. Mao Tse Tung was a boring, overweight farmer that lived out his days in the fields in a southern province in China. In this world, America was never conceived in the minds of mankind. Human freedom is one big celestial joke, because freedom is a lie. Great Britain was craftier and more careful with its resources. They did not overextend themselves, but kept a careful control over the colonies they held. China was very clever itself. The Emperor reigns supreme over his loyal subjects, and Japan is held quiet under a very tricky treaty signed centuries before. Germany, France, Italy, all the European countries recognize the supremacy of British rule, but have their own, smaller monarchies. In this world, there is no separation of church and state. Revolutionary thought is not allowed, not even something men dare to think of. The common people have a fanatical love of their leader, and truth be told, the leaders in this world are a definitely smarter than those from our own. Queen Elizabeth raised a successor every bit as intelligent as her. The Prophet Muhammad appointed an heir apparent before his untimely death and there was no Sunni Shi'a split within the Muslim faith. The Chinese Imperial family was comprised of intelligent men, philosophers and scholars. Think back to your mother's ancestors. Pick the country that most of them came from. That's where you're from. And now the fun part. My ideas completely come up dry. Do I do the alternative universe route? OR Do I make the real antagonist in the story the suppression of revolutionary thought? In this universe, I would be Chinese nobility, the daughter of a long line of bankers with expensive taste. Who would you be?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]For the record, if someone asked you to be a moderator, you wouldn't apply. You'd just have to accept. To Former Staff Members: Would you return to your post? Hell no. God no. Please. No. I moderated the Poetry forum which is now of course the Anthology thread, and then of course OB revamped again and it got changed and shuffled around but that was years ago. That and I can't remember doing more than dealing with ridiculous questions from newbies and handling a stack of PMs that just made me want to choke myself to death with my power cord. I hated being in a position of authority and in fact the only nice thing was being able to tell someone to stop posting spam before I closed their thread for ignoring me. Of course, now that Jokopoko and Ikillion are good friends of mine, I can still get that done, just through back channels and AIM. Which I prefer.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Yeah well, I'm a neat freak, and my room mate professed at one point to be concerned that I'd be as clean as her but let's face it. My snake is cleaner than her. At least he doesn't leave dishes in the sink after every meal. And as far as security goes, I'll probably trot out the statistics that the city with the highest crime rate in San Bernardino County...which is by the way larger than about half of New England... is in fact San Bernardino. The lovely city in which you can be shot in broad daylight in the grocery store parking lot. Hoorah for gangs and crystal meth.[/FONT][/COLOR]