The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins have been one of my obsessions for a long time, along with The Titans and the Gods, Atlantis, Lyonesse, Avalon, alchemy, Persia, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Tir Na Nog, and other myths or unique concepts.

I remember coming across these artworks in a Facebook quiz, and for some reason it intrigued me, because it personified those concepts, and there was just something really cool about that.

Envy

Avarice (or Greed)

Lust

Gluttony

Sloth

Vanity

Wrath

Labels: artwork, misc

JCJC

Owned at
{6:19 AM}

HO HO HO.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Yeah, I know I'm slow. ;)

JCJC

Owned at
{4:56 AM}

The Wonders of the Internet
(and its Terrors)

Ah, so then King managed to convince me to do a couple of crazy/stupid/strange things that I wouldn't normally do - first, he convinced me to play Maple (which I told myself never to do so after they closed down... a particular private server). Then, he somehow turned me into some freaky transvestite-thing.

See, the thing I love - as well as hate - about the Internet is this: you can be anything, anyone you like, as long as you're convincing enough. I'd hate to sound boastful but I kinda have a way with strangers online.

But I'm not here to bore you with a pros-and-cons-of-the-Internet argument, so let's move on. :D

Okay, so then I was playing Maple (using a female character - an old habit that refuses to die out), and King kept asking me to find what he calls a 'local idiot bf'. And somehow, I managed to do so. -.-

It might sound funny but it sure doesn't feel that way. I felt all grossed out when I had to act all girly/mushy to, ahem, the local idiot bf. It was pretty hilarious at the start, and then I grew disgusted with it. I got loads of free loot, though. Ah, with good, old friends and gullible strangers, I sure save loads of mesos.

Okay, I'm not here to bore you with details of how I felt gay and crap either, nor how I'm earning free stuff.

POINT IS: you should never, never trust anyone online. Even if you've known them for years.

Remember, unless you've met them in person (and it's dangerous to do so), you don't know for sure that they are who they are. Photos, info, profile pages, etc etc can all be forged so easily.

Don't get tricked.
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LEARNING TO FORGE A FALSE, ONLINE IDENTITY
Also, as a bonus, you could learn some tips on how to forge a false identity online. Some tips, which may not be 100% successful.

MATERIAL REQUIRED:
1. Moderately good acting skills.
2. The patience to keep up the pretense (until you don't require your victim anymore).

1.1 MODERATELY GOOD ACTING SKILLS
When pretending to be something else, make sure you get a minimal amount of facts about what you're pretending to be. More elaboration below. Also, you need to "be" what you're pretending to be. More elaboration below, once again.

1.11 MINIMAL FACTS
See, suppose I'm pretending to be a New Yorker. I need to get some basic facts about New York that every New Yorker would know.

I mean, if I'm pretending to be one, and someone asks me, "Have you been to the World Trade Center?" or "Have you visited the Statue of Liberty before?" and I reply, "Har?! Statue of Liberty? What's that?" It's gonna be really obvious I'm not a New Yorker.

Get basic facts - and for long-term/advanced acting, get more facts.

1.12 BE WHAT YOU'RE PRETENDING TO BE
One important thing about acting that lots of people don't know is this: you are being someone else, not yourself. You are putting on an appearance for someone else, not yourself.

Suppose you're a really loud-spoken person who'll shout and scream in class. But you're pretending to be someone shy and soft-spoken. Play the act of a shy person - even if you think being shy is gay. Or stupid. Or dumb.

Remember, when acting, you are no longer yourself. Your "true" self would think, "Ew? Soft-spoken? That's damn sissy okay?" but your "fake" self would think it's normal.

Also, since you're a shy person, remember to marvel at daring/brave things. Suppose a guy says, "Let's go prank that guy!" - you should discourage him, not encourage him. I've never seen a shy person prank someone yet.

Another thing is the way you speak. You're on the net, so speaking should be easier (no accents to fake, no appearances to change). Remember, Western people do not use "Har?! Chilli arh?!" or "I already hunted that guy down leh." or "I wanna makan lah." When being a Western, speak as a Western does.

Being who you're pretending to be goes further than just that, and I can't cover every single fact - but remember! Every single, small, minor detail counts. A small detail could doom you.

2.1 PATIENCE TO KEEP UP THE PRETENSE
This is a common... 'mistake' that lots of people, including myself, make.

Simply put - imagine you meet someone online. He's really awesome and stuff, and then you never see him again after that. Where'd he go? Who was he?

If you're acting for a goal (to learn something, to con people of money, etc), make sure you act it out to the end. Don't act only when you're in the mood to do so. You have to be as frequently online in your 'fake' account. Don't come online everyday for a month, and then go offline forever after that (e.g. Joey Wong's "Lyneave" or my 5 fake accounts).

You could make excuses as to why you were offline for so long, but there're only so many plausible excuses.

Suppose you're trying to get items out of, say, a Maple guy. *wink*

For him to give you stuff, you need to gain his trust, forge a friendship. But you see, that's the crucial point. All through the 'forging friendship' and 'gaining trust' parts, you have to be someone you're not.

It sounds easy enough, but it's hard as hell. You have to restrain your instincts, be the person you're pretending to be. Suppose you're a guy pretending to be a girl. *wink*

Girls don't go "MOTHERF@#@ER!" when they die. Uh-uh. Nor do they go, "Hey yo, sup?" or like, "Yo b@#ch, sup?" Or "SONUVA!" when they, say, get really close to levelling up and then they die. Unless you're pretending to be a tom-boy.

You have to make sure, each time you die and stuff, you don't do anything that will jeopardize your act. If you're a girl, act like one! And you have to do it over long periods of time.

But of course, there're always exceptions. You could be an exception - a girl who uses vulgarities as much as guys do - or a guy who's so sissy he screams at the sight of a Zombie Mushroom - or an old man who knows how to rap - and the like.

-----------------------

That's pretty much all for today. :D

Hope this lesson helps, you schemers out there. It's not much because I'm tired, but I hope it'll be enough for the beginners. :D:D

Labels: misc

JCJC

Owned at
{7:46 AM}

BannedStory

So then I was asked how I created my Maple characters in the picture about... what, two posts ago? The one with loads of characters in the heart-shaped cloud in Amoria.

I used BannedStory, which is this simulator that allows you to create your characters from scratch. Really nifty if, say, you wanted to create a Maple comic or animation series.

Unfortunately, BannedStory doesn't provide backgrounds, so you'll either have to (1) find maps online or (2) get them yourself.

Labels: misc

JCJC

Owned at
{11:38 PM}

JC v3.0

(WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO MAIN/DIARY BLOG)
Alright, in a moment of hormone-induced recklessness which happened to coincide with a surge of necrophobia. And that's while talking to King about some... PnC stuff. :D

So... I asked myself (funnily enough, I just realised it's the very same line the teacher in the I Wanna Rock music video said): "What do you want to do with your life?"

There were a series of answers from the various parts of my brains, some funny, others plain meaningless, some silly, others meaningful. Somehow, I have no idea why, I settled on: "Live a happy life of good deeds."

And so, with that, I decided to change myself, for the better. Count it as my upcoming New Year resolution. ;D

Yes, I do acknowledge that I've resolved to do this a couple of times in the past, with varying degrees of success, though all have ended in me reverting back to my old ways. However, I have managed to bring myself to... do this act of... ah, repentance. I'm pretty sure I'll come to regret it later, but it's all for the best, and I do hope I can accept it.

There I go again, talking about myself like I'm someone else. -.-

So, changing myself for the better. King and I debated while Tyr gave a small interjection every once in a while about why I want to/should change. There were loads of points, like how people who usually do good things get no rewards (as proven by the Chinese saying, "Hao xin mei hao bao."), the practical reason I should change, and the like.

King said things like, "It's not like anyone would care/know if you changed for the better. Would anyone think more/less of you if you don't spout vulgarities?"

My response was that it doesn't matter what people thought of you. I'm not changing for other people. I'm changing for myself. It's not what people think of me. It's who I am. It doesn't matter if no one appreciates someone for doing something good. It's the fact that he did do something good.

Maybe no one will notice me not spouting vulgarities. Maybe no one will appreciate me doing good things (ahem, look at the SL Camp... but I'm not going to go into that). But it doesn't matter! It's about being someone better.

He also said, " Will who you are matter if no one else on Earth knows?"

Yes. Once again, it's not about how others think of me, it's about myself.

Tyr mentioned something like, "Well, you don't have to force yourself to change."

My response? I'm not forcing myself to change. Not this time. It was the mistake I committed in the past, trying to force myself and ultimately feeling so stressed that I gave up. I'm gonna take it nice and slow this time. It may take a year, maybe two, but ho, I'd change, that's for sure.

Of course - and rightly so - my proclamation that I'd change was also met with skepticism. Mostly from King - the only thing Tyr mentioned that sounded negative's stated above.

King said: "You can change how you act but never how you think." and "Frankly, I don't think you'll change." and "Actually, I don't care if you change." etc etc.

Lovely. ;)

Some interesting points we used in our debate:

At one point, I said, "It's like saving Earth, going green, conserving nature. If you're not affected, you don't need to care. If the future generation suffers, it's none of your business. But people care! Why?"

And he conceded that he'd never thought of it that way. And I continued with stuff like, "It's like religious beliefs. People have no solid facts to prove their gods exist, but they believe anyway."

But he later came up with a remark, "Not knowing how to explain it isn't a good reason to do what your instincts tell you to do."

I replied, "It's like Tyr's leap of faith. It's a matter of belief."

I'm not gonna elaborate on how I'm gonna change my thinking, because you readers won't know, and so, won't be affected, and thus, probably won't care. No, the things that're gonna affect you is how I'm gonna handle my physical acts in the future.

You can expect:
1. Less crude words
2. Less violence (I've already cut it down to nearly non-existent, but I'm on the lookout in case any violent urges rise)
3. Less lust, less lewd jokes
4. Less sarcasm
5. More offers to help out
6. More willing to study with friends - I won't say "more willing to study" because that's aiming too high, for now, though I'd aim for that pretty soon
7. More willing to go out so as to stay away from the computer - in other words, more willing to end my computer addiction

However, I'm not gonna make myself a stereotype "GOOD IS GOOD, BAD IS BAD" nerd. Uh-uh, I'll know where the line is, and I'll be more casual and open with friends. Like, saying "damn" is acceptable with friends, I guess. You can argue, "Well, isn't saying 'fuck' with your friends acceptable too?" but I'd say that I'm not gonna cross the line.

That's about half of what I'm trying to do - learn where the line is and prevent myself from crossing it - while the other half is about doing good. It's like... 'Not doing bad' and 'Doing good' merged into one.

Labels: about me, misc

JCJC

Owned at
{7:38 AM}