Another Day in the Life of...

[Kat_05]

Intro and Disclaimer: Basically this story is about the life a Dojoan leads behind the computer. We may all act valiant and funny on the internet, but what about off it? This story is meant to explore the differences between our online and offline personalities and the differences between. Which personality is even the "real one"?

This story is going to be based around Kat_05 and her human (me) Katie, if only because I'd be stepping on too many toes doing anyone else, and to be frank, I can write my offline personality better than yours, if only because I know what I'm like .

That said, other people can feel free to join in, as long as you stick to the storyline. This is from the perspective of you as the person behind the computer (in third person mostly).

Also please note that any conversations and/or events here are likely fictional, and I might end up misrepresenting several of your online/offline personas, if only for the sake of the story. They won't be flattering because that's not what this is going to be about, so don't think a forumer here is horrible just cause I said so, 'kay?

[Kat_05]

In the Dojo, there are many great battles. Many truimphs, many defeats. But above all, the scope of good and evil in this land doesn't matter because of a secret. For in the Dojo, there is a dark secret, always thought of but never mentioned. The Dojo doesn't exist. It is but a thought, shared by many. Each adventure, each battle, is nothing but a story from several humans, all in seperate areas, and all able to walk away and forget at any time.

-"That's horrible! We're all DOOOOOOMED!!!!" said Kat, swishing her tail in fury. The EvilAngel of the EC Cave had escaped and cornered not only Kat, but several members of the Dojo. Even the illustrious DP and Fort could not stop this evil. He rounded on Kat, who had been guarding the Dojo's last defence....-

'That's enough for tonight I think.' Thought Katie (the human presence behind Kat_05). After all, tomarrow was a school night. Katie was glad she had the time to mess with her friends in the Dojo and the cave, but enough was enough. After all, it had taken a good two months to get used to college life enough to even join in the topics in the Dojo. There was still a lot of catching up to do in the forums Katie visited, but nothing that couldn't be pushed off until tomarrow. Kat was just about to get off the computer all together so she could sleep and have a chance of waking in time for class the next morning, but got an IM from a friend just as she was pressing the power button. Ironically, the other person was the EC member currently playing EA -and thus Kat_05's mortal enemy at the moment. So much for sleep...

(note: in the interests of identity hiding, the person behind EA during this time period will be named "Other")

-Other: Hey Katie, long time no see.
-Garucean_timber: Hey <other>, likewise. what's been up?
-Other: nm here. what about u?
-Garucean_timber: Just classes. Been really busy lately. Say, you know anything about economics?
-Other: ever heard of the book "Freakonomics"? Gigglefits!
-Garucean_timber: -_- Yes. It's required reading here. Really should start on that....

... and so the night ran on. Though Katie did enjoy talking with her friend, she did eventually beg out of the conversation in the interests of sleep. After all, there was class tomarrow, and maybe if she went to sleep now Katie wouldn't end up falling asleep when hanging out with her new closest friend Johnson. That happened way to often these days...

[Kat_05]

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Katie did manage to get out of bed the next morning and get a shower, but was almost late for class anyway because she stopped for breakfast inthe nearest dining hall on campus. If it hadn't been for Katie's (slightly nuerotic) habit of setting all her clocks at least 15 minutes early, she definitely would have been late. Katie listened to her professor lecture and half-heartedly took notes for the upcoming test, but her mind was in the clouds this morning. It was kind of sad, but Katie was actually glad class was back in session. It was Monday, and Fall Break was finally over.

Most people would consider any break in school a good thing, but not to Katie. All of Katie's friends left campus for the break and Katie couldn't get a ride home, so the only thing to look foreward to was four days of homework-blech! Even homework was better than the alternative though. You could only spend so much time readng before you're eyes bled (just a saying folks, but still..) and then you got to deal with boredom. Just sitting in an empty dorm room away from the cold outside (it was October after all), and thinking.

Katie tried to be happy over the break, and had done decently well for most of it, but she was starting to realise how social she really was. On the other hand, maybe she was just using other people as a distraction from pining and lonliness. When Katie had first entered KU ( Katie's University) she had about four days before classes began, just like the four days of fall break. Not knowing anyone, Katie had been mildly depressed and extemely bored after she was done exploring campus (she wasn't quite bold enough to explore the city of Springfield* yet. Luckily Katie had run into one of her new friends last time. Thank god for small favors. This time Katie had managed to distract herself for the first two days by catching up on several chapters of homework in the one class that still assigned it. After that though, things had gotten dull very quickly. All Katie had left to do really was work out in the gym (still open) and think. Kat_05 may have been in peak physical condition from all her adventuring, but Katie had no love of the gym and chose thinking. In retrospect, the gym probably would have been better. All Katie ended up thinking about was Johnson.

Katie had actually met Johnson on the first day of classes, because he shared Biology (her last class of the day). Katie had been asking the teacher about any scientific journals in Springfield she could practice writing for when Johnson had made some sort of snide comment -it was love ever since. Katie and Jhonson started a debate right after that and ended up talking for several hours afterwards. The talks continued and by the end of the week, Kate knew quite a lot about Jhonson and he knew a good bit about Katie as well. Katie knew that Johnson had just broken up with his girlfriend and things progressed quickly- Katie and Jhonson were quisi-dating within another week. The only problem (in Katie's eyes) was that before things could go any further, Johnson had gotten back together with his ex, and the two were very happy. Katie, of course, got to be the supportive friend, and Johnson only ever caught Katie crying over the ordeal once.

But that was another story. After thinking and being bored over break, Katie had finally explored the block around campus looking for a grocery store, since she had forgotten the dining halls were closed over fall break and two cups of Ramen weren't enough for four days. That was when Katie found the local art store. The oil paints here were too expensive for Katie to want to buy (Katie was an odd mix between super thrify and a splurger: most of the time she'd skimp and keep her money, but when something stupid like an expensive coffee came along, Katie had no problem spending half her cash on it). The rest of break was spent wandering around the art store or in Tessa's dorm. Tessa was a friend of Katie's who had gotten back early. Needless to say that after Tessa's return, break had ended much faster.

Katie's reminiscing was cut short when class was dismissed. Bit of a waste really, since Katie didn't have any other classes until noon. She'd been on a roll with her daydreaming, too!


________________________
*Simpsons, anyone?

[Kat_05]

"Pretty inventive move, eh DP?"
"Not bad, I'll admit. Shame it won't work."
"What?!? No way! I worked my arse off to get it right!"

*BAM*

And Kat_05's new attack idea met a crushing end, as did one of her claws. Kat was trying to absorb energy through her claws and had tried it on DP, figuring he had energy to spare and if the attack didn't work... wel, Kat had been around long enough to have the photographs needed to keep his mouth shut. She also had pocky, which would do the job just as well.

Maybe DP had a right to get annoyed -he was the one who got stuck getting clawed in a private Dojo room for a several hours. Finally, when Kat caught her claw a LITTLE to close to some
*ehem*
sensitive areas, DP decided it was time to "help" Kat absorb energy. By hurling a bolt of godly energy at the claw. How rude!

"SENSEI! How dare ye? You shall pay for that! I'm telling you!!!!"
"Yeah, and how would I pay for that?"
"By having to watch this..."

At the word "this" Kat revealed a piece of pocky, suspended over a vat of the most hated flavor in the world: super concentrated essence of spinach! As the pocky was dropped into the spinach, DP's reaction was both immidiate and typical. He saved/ate the pocky, at great cost to his tastebuds, which commited suicide shortly after. If you listened closely, you could hear a distinctive
*PoPPOPpopSQUISHpop*

Otherwise known as tounge-ese. The poor tastebuds spent their last moments forever cursing DP for subjecting hem to the taste of the horrible terrible evil no good very bad spinach!

[LordPsycho]

The life of an Admin of a board as active as the Dojo is an active one...and that's cutting out all the distractions of the "real" world.

Rodney, DP's real world alter ego, had been learning this lesson hard over the past few months. He'd manage to squeeze in an actuall RP post here and there, but the vast majority of his time on Blackstar was spent doing background work, making sure the site ran smoothly -- in everything from it's coding to it's policy. He rarely got the chance to RP himself. He felt it was a shame. He was very fond of RP'ing, and had actually dreamt up Blackstar while exploring ways to share this love with others.


As an RP'er, few people were as experienced as him. During the past three years, his character has been everything from Headmaster to the EC to Savior of the Multiverse to a god. But the RP he was currently active in could sacrifice one more day without him.

Rodney woke up blurry-eyed at the crow of the rooster that slept outside his window. It was his normal wake-up call...he had to go feed the thing, and it made sure he didn't forget that fact. Every morning, Rodney told himself if he had left well enough alone last night at blackstar, the mornings would stop coming earlier and earlier. And every evening he ignored his own advice.

He booted up his computer as he got dressed to go feed the Chickens. Looking he noticed that Kat had finally responded to his post in the training hall. Deciding that he can spare a *few* minutes, he quickly types up a response...as well as answers all his PM's from the Dojo's Southern Hemisphere component (gotta love those aussies!). Then he starts his long...boring day.

Looking at his schedule, he had work in the morning, followed by 4 and a half hours of straight lectures, then capped of by three hours of lab work.

Rodney cursed the day he decided to be an Engineer.

[LordPsycho]

*As Kat let loose of the Pocky, DP, driven by DP Pocky, dived to save it. He was a half second to late, and when he ate the spinach-covered Pocky before he could react, several of his tastebuds decided Jihad wasn't such a bad idea, and released a suicide bomb attack inside his mouth.

DP bearly flinched, but when he spoke, smoke came from his mouth.*

"I say, do that again, and I'll have the grunts arrest you for crimes against Tastebuds!

Now, let's try this from the top...and this time, work on your aim.

What your trying to hit is my energy core. It shifts around, so your going to have to sense where it is and where it's going if you are going to catch it. And Come on, If Mira could hit it, surely you can!"

[Kat_05]

Right after lunch, and yet more free time. Katie realy should be working on her calculus homework right now, but who ever does work when they're supposed to? After checking all her Emails and such, Katie noted that she had quite a few replies in her PM box from inviting other people to join some Roleplays. It was weird, but Katie never could seem to stick with the scessful roleplays anymore. Maybe now that there was more time to waste she could. Life as a whole was pretty uneventful after class and during lunch, but surely that'd be fixed after calc!

'Yeah right." thought Katie cynically.
After all, Mondays always seemed to end up the same. Wake up, Economics, free time, Calc, read or walk with Bryan (there was only an hour of free time after calc, so there wasn't time to do much), and finish the afternoon with Psychology and Biology. Maybe hang out with friends afterwards. How BORING.

"You did NOT just compare me to Shatterstar!" Kat yelled. "I'm still a member of the EC you know, and I have my pride!"

Kat lunged again, but missed both DP's energy core AND DP himself. So much for lucky shots. Kat was really getting fed up with this training though, and this time just had her claws follow her tail as it went after DP.

"What are you doing?" DP eventually asked.

Ooooooookay. Maybe following you're tail isn't the best idea. Kat stopped spinning only for a second to answer:

"I'm finding your energy core of course!"

'How stupid! Funny though.' Katie thought as she typed in a response to the training RP.
'Doesn't really do anything though. Maybe I should revise that a little.'

"You did NOT just compare me to Shatterstar!" Kat yelled. "I'm still a member of the EC you know, and I have my pride!"

Kat lunged again, but missed both DP's energy core AND DP himself. So much for lucky shots. Kat was really getting fed up with this training though, and this time just had her claws follow her tail as it went after DP.

"What are you doing?" DP eventually asked.
He probably had a right to ask though. Ater all, why would a feared wolf creature bother chasing her tail?

Kat stopped a moment to answer:
"I'm finding your energy core of course!"

Luckily that was enough time for Kat's tail to get situated, even if Kat was still dizzy. It lunged at DP, drawing energy from the source Kat just couldn't find on command. Instead of stopping her tail this time, Kat just clawed at the same target the tail was at. Luckily, this did the trick.

Kat had found the energy source! And all she had to deal with was flying halfway across the room from to much energy intake. That rather hurt actually. There is only one response eloquent enough to describe such a flight as Kat had had, or to give a clue of the immense bone-chilling twinge felt throughout her body. As her body accepted the foreign energy as it's own, Kat expressed her joy and pain as only a master of language could...

"OW."

[Kat_05]

Katie was NOT happy. Sure, the calc homework wasn't due, but that was because the teacher was a sub. That may have been fine in highschool, but when there's a test in a week and you aren't learning anything about the subject in question, there's a problem. At least there was dear Quartermain to ease her soul.

Yes, Quartermain. Kat was currently reading a book starring this famous British hunter, and loved how typically racist he was in the setting (not that Kat was a racist herself, but the attitude of the times was so... typical). Other points to note were when Quartermain constantly called himself "meek" before hunting elephants and lions and searching for lost treasure.

And so Katie read...

[Kat_05]

Woot! Book done, tests done, and a whole weekend with friends!

General chat:
Kat_05:Hi all! What's everyone up to? Any halloween plans?
Net: OTHER than the witch-hunt?
Kat_05: ....
Fudgeman?
3kul: Yes! The witch hunt where members of the EC randomly attack all every and all Dojo members not currently in the EC. Then, under the guise of being pests me and Addman are gonna off Fort!

*fort walks by*

..To Florida. Yeah. That's right. Florida. Careful though, it's a secret.
Kat_05: I'm in!