Because compulsion is next to godliness...

-List ten of your favourite movies/books/television shows.

-Have your friends comment and try to guess which character is your favourite.

-When guessed, bold the title, post the correct answer, and explain (briefly) why.

-Pass this on like a communicable disease.

1. Lord of the Rings - Eowyn. Because she does what all emotionally-stunted, aggression-bottling women dream of doing: kick total Middle Earthian ass. I love that she's a strong female role model (in armor!)

2. Mst3k

3. Boondock Saints - Agent Paul Smecker. Because who doesn't feel like "Riverdancin'" some days? He also approaches each crime scene with that swarthy wit and cynicism that make a girl's bones turn to jelly.

4. X-Men

5. Spider-Man - The Osborn Clan (Norman and Harry). Hey, it counts as one. I love Norman's outright insanity and Harry's brooding complexity. I can imagine nailing Norman in the back of his Rolls and then pulling Harry into a supply closet at ESU (where we'll be buffing "something" -- but certainly not the bathroom mirrors).

6. LOST - Sawyer. Duh. Josh Holloway said that he plays Sawyer as a kind of mixture of Han Solo and Wolverine -- what's not to like? He's brash, bold, and entirely boinkable. Even if he looks like a "Steamrolled Harry Potter". *loves her some gents in glasses*

7. X-Files - Scully. 'Nuff said.

8. The Preston-Child novels

9. Silence of the Lambs - Hannibal Lecter. Man oh man, I breathed this novel for about six years. It's still one of my favourites. And Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter reigns supreme as one of my all-time favourite literary antagonists. He toys with the psyche and dangles half-truths in front of Clarice's face -- all the while plotting his escape into the great wide open. And that fava bean line? Guh.

10. Star Wars - Han Solo. He's a friggin' SPACE PIRATE! With that roguish cynicism and alluring presence, he banters back and forth with Leia like a prize fighter. And he makes a pretty sexeh' nerf herder, if I do say so myself.

This should be interesting...

Macy Gray, you're so true:

...And quit bitchin 'bout how don't nobody really love you
Spread your rubber lovin' and it bounces back to you

Seriously, people. You get what you give. And quite frankly, I'm tired of giving and not receiving. I don't deny that I've played the "bad guy" sometimes (more often than not, it seems). But if people don't start owning up to their mistakes and make an effort to work through them, than I'm going to have no other choice but to throw up my hands and walk away alltogether. I'm too old (relatively) and too tired to be dealing with this middle school-esque bullshit.

Games are essentially life-avoidance tactics. You create alternate lives for people because you can't deal with certain issues in your own life. But eventually you have to step away from the game and examine what you have left outside of it. And if you can't face that, well, you need a serious reality check. I'm sick of people taking this RPG stuff so seriously. Yes, it's important to me. Yes, I enjoy it. No, it's not something that tops my list of life priorities. Right now I've got a lot on my plate -- school, graduating, going on to receive a higher education, jobs, proper socialization -- and while roleplaying does play a part in my daily life, it is certainly not something by which I define myself. People use it as a crutch. Something that they can crawl inside and use to shut out the world. It's an addiction. And nobody knows more about addictions than me. But when the chatroom closes and you're left with nobody but yourself and your own nagging self-doubt, you have to make a decision about how you're going to go on.

Writers are, by nature, a tricky lot to deal with. Characters get inside of your head -- this I know -- and often won't let you go. But there's a difference between being properly moved by your muse and exploiting it. You have to let go sometime. Otherwise you're just delaying the inevitable.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.