Damn It, Harry, That's Not Good Enough.

[rionaleonhart]

Firstly: mission_central. In apiphile's words, shortly before its creation:

...it would be a fic challenge community where each week the moderators took a different problem/challenge/ludicrous situation (anything, from a simple "get more milk" to the stuff from the Survival Scenarios prompts to "three team members are dead and one of the others is the killer" or whatever) and the community members would write a fic or several fics each about how the Torchwood team dealt with it. It would be AWESOME.

It's not only for Torchwood; you can have any fictional organisation carrying out the missions in your fic (SG-1, for example, or a SeeD unit). The first challenge isn't up yet, but it is a brilliant idea, so I'd advise you to add it to your watchlist.

Secondly, an account of Riona's Exciting Adventures in the Less Familiar Parts of the Internet: today, I went on Runescape (this is not, I hasten to add, a frequent habit of mine - the game helpfully informed me when I logged in that the last time I had used my account was over two years ago - but my brother had called me up to say 'HEY LET'S GO ON RUNESCAPE AND WANDER THROUGH HORDES OF UNGRAMMATICAL HEROES TOGETHER', and it's always nice to slay goblins with my family when I'm physically separated from them by university), and, while my character was happily hacking away at an oak tree with his hatchet, another character marched up and said 'Out of the way n00b'.

I, raising an eyebrow (and also another eyebrow, because alas I have not yet developed the fine eyebrow control I would like), typed 'Well, if you insist' and wandered away.

What interests me is that my displacer then took over the role of abusing the tree with a 'ty'. A 'thank you', even an abbreviated one, is slightly jarring when one has just been called a 'n00b' and ordered to 'get out of the way'. I can only conclude that 'out of the way n00b' is perfectly acceptable in polite Runespeak.

(Seriously, everyone on Runescape speaks in the same way. It is frightening. I was playing for about an hour, and not one correctly punctuated message did I see. I think it would be a fascinating site for psychological study.)

EDIT: Oh! And I forgot to mention that sacred_sarcasm sent me a lovely card! It is very colourful and tells the highly amusing story of how Captain Jack Harkness, rather unusually, did not have sex with Richard Hammond. Also, it is addressed to "Harriet" Evans, scare quotes and all, which is a bit bizarre (it is my real name, I swear!). Thank you so much!

Comments

[aestivalis]

I've only played Runescape once, and was horrified to find that having my character dance in public places did not cause all the players around me to join in. Where's the fun in that?

Also, that challenge community sounds like fun :O!

[rionaleonhart]

That would be beautiful. If that happened, I would play it all the time.

[the-funmonkey.livejournal.com]

I think it would be a fascinating site for psychological study.

It's this sort of reaction that makes you a good person. All I'd do is be seething and insisting that they all be burned with fire.

[rionaleonhart]

Hee. While it's lovely of you to say that I'm a good person, I'm not sure 'lol, Runescapers are weird, I wonder what goes on in those strange minds of theirs?' is a terribly good attitude to take either.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

I still find it hilarious that you share a first name with the most terrifying female character I write. A WEREWOLF, FFS.

[reipan.livejournal.com]

Ah, Runescape. All I remember of that game is the weird little dance and the guy who followed me and Jo around the woods, saying things to her like "you must be a broom cause you swept me off my feet".

You should've turned the hatchet on your abuser. I don't know if you can actually do that in Runescape, but YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED.

[rionaleonhart]

WHO MAY QUITE POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN FRED. I believe I told you of his habit of looking up bad chatup lines and then trying them out on random Runescape players? (I can't stop laughing at 'you must be a broom cause you swept me off my feet'. That is a truly beautiful level of awfulness.)

But he was so polite! You know, after I'd submitted.

NO, REI. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING AND I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

[reipan.livejournal.com]

You did! WE WILL NEVER KNOW. (It's wonderful, isn't it? Almost poetic, in a terrible sort of way.)

"Ty" is not polite. It's not politeness unless they at least type out some approximation of the full phrase; it is my theory that no word becomes acceptably polite until it hits three letters or more. "Ty" is about as polite as...as..."as".

(TEEHEE YOU SUBMITTED TO A RANDOM BAD-MOUTHED STRANGER. LOLZ PERV.)

[rionaleonhart]

I really want to believe it was him. It would be such a beautiful coincidence. Although the concept of Fred hitting on you is a severely weird one.

Well, it was more polite than anything I'd expected from Runescape, I have to say.

[reipan.livejournal.com]

He wasn't hitting on me, he was hitting on Jo. Don't make it odd, Hats.

But it's still not polite. YOU HAVE NO JUSTIFICATION FOR YOUR STATEMENT THAT HE WAS "SO POLITE" AFTER YOU HAD GIVEN IN TO HIS WEIRD, POSSIBLY-SEXUAL TORMENTS. EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MISSY.

[darthfi.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine is a mod on Runescape. When asked what she does for a living, she beams and says "I'm paid to be mean to teenage boys".

Most of us agree that this is the Best Job Description In The World Ever.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

If I ever have money and send you real-life stuff, I'll address it to Riona, "Harriet Evans" Leon-Hart.

And that Torchwood fic I'm not writing also has Captain Jack not having sex with Richard (Richard's carried off by Myfanwy before they get around to it; Myfanwy also does not have sex with Richard Hammond). It could be a theme?

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

Myfanwy also does not have sex with Richard Hammond

*sigh* Now I want to write fic where she DOES. What is with me and Top Gear bestiality?

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but I'm not starting a 'pterodactyl sex' challenge for this one.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

I am clinging to my sanity by one finger, here.

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

WIMP!

*does filing quietly and efficiently*