82 replies to this topic

[LionJess]

Apologies for locking my FM thread early and making this one, I'm sick and tired and need bed :3
(If there are any additional questions for me that you intended to ask late, PM me and I'll reply)


You guys know the rules by now. Algernon doesn't have to answer questions that are too personal, too perverse or that have already been answered.




Any problems, ya know where m'office is.

enjoy Algernon, and everyone else too 



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What are 5 goals you've set yourself on your general to-do list of life?

Do you believe that people are inherently good, or bad?

What is your middle name, if you have one?

You're in a committed relationship. Do you prefer your significant other to show you they love you with grand, sweeping gestures of romance (candles, roses, surprising you with something they took time to make for you - poems, artworks, whatever) or with quiet, little gestures of tenderness (making you your favorite meal, giving you a backrub after a long day's work etc.)?

Have you had sex before? If so, do you remember your first time as being a good experience?

If you could change one thing about yourself, physically, what would it be?

What is your favourite dessert?

Describe what a fun weekend would be for you.

What are some of your pet peeves?

When people go fishing, do you think that they should eat the fish, or that they should release it back into the water? (And 'whatever they want', 'depends how hungry they are' etc. are not valid answers - what do YOU think?)

Do you sing in the shower? Anything in particular, or just whatever's stuck in your head at that moment?

how did you pick your username and why?
If you had to meet 5 people off of EC who would it be and why?

If you could have any one superpower what would it be?

If you had to lose one sense, what would it be and why?

Are you into politics? Would you ever want to be President, or involved in the political system?

If you could change one law in your country, what would you change and why?

Do you see your morals as set in stone, or do you often change them? 

Do you believe in soul mates? If so, have you met someone you'd consider to be yours?

If there was one person you could perma ban from EC who would it be?

How did you feel when asked to be a sub-mod?

[Josh Joshson]

You went on holiday.


We want all the details.

[Algernon]

Ah, crap.

I will start replying soon; I just need to get to university for a day of filling in forms and helping new students. I'm sure I will be able to find the time to answer some questions between all that.

Also if you're interested in my vacation, could you ask more specific questions? I'm sure I'd leave out tons of good stuff that's buried deep in my unconscious already if I have to come up with everything at once.

[Josh Joshson]

More specific? No problem.


Where did you go?

What was your overall goal behind this trip?

The part you enjoyed the most?

[Algernon]

The first batch of answers:

What are five goals you've set yourself on your general to-do list of life?
1) Retain my spiritual integrity.
2) Write and publish at least one book in German and at least one in English.
3) Compose a classical symphony.
4) Learn Russian.
5) Move to another country.

Do you believe that people are inherently good, or bad?
Neither. Man is born with little more than suppressed instincts, but he is definitely no tabula rasa. If one believes in a form of collective unconscious – as I do – one could say that everyone is born not only with truncated instincts, but also with a set of ancient behavioral patterns that help in deciding how to act. Obviously genetics has a large influence on how a person will act.

Everyone is born differently, although I would not make a difference between ‘good’ or ‘bad’ (because that’s all relative), but rather between ‘productive’ and ‘destructive’ as some sociologists and psychologists are wont to do.

I must add, however, that I lean towards the belief that every person is born with a deeply egotistical attitude (I do not mean this in the popularly understood negative way, although there are traces of that). Proper education will smooth this out to a more social attitude, but this will not negate the latent instincts, genetics and (possibly) collective unconscious.

What is your middle name, if you have one?
My middle names are Algernon and Gottfried, so my full name is Ralf Algernon Gottfried R. (I’m reluctant to give my last name; not that you will find me online, but still).

You're in a committed relationship. Do you prefer your significant other to show you they love you with grand, sweeping gestures of romance (candles, roses, surprising you with something they took time to make for you - poems, artworks, whatever) or with quiet, little gestures of tenderness (making you your favorite meal, giving you a backrub after a long day's work etc.)?
I love both, but I think it’s also a matter of correct timing. I tend to be very theatrical at times. If I can believe my own psychoanalysis, I do this because I feel the world to be grey and lifeless; being theatrical in my speech and gestures and actions (not always, mind you) is my compensation to try and add more life to an otherwise soulless environment. That’s also why I am attracted to grand gestures, although I know very well that a lot of people feel uncomfortable with that. Personally, even the smallest gesture of love is significant to me. Surprising me with a simple, genuine hug from behind will affect me just as much as finding a delicately written poem on gilded paper when I wake up (those were the days) – although the latter also gives me the feeling that I am worth being taken care of, that someone thinks it’s worth to actively invest so much into something to show me that they love me... I’m so alone right now.

A ‘funny’ related story: I once worked several weeks on a classical piece on the piano, a piano poem if you will, for my then-girlfriend whom I loved and still love very much. I divided my time mainly between school (very busy period) and composing because I wanted to finish it as soon as possible. One day she told me she was breaking up with me because I ‘didn’t give her as much attention as I used to’. Valid enough reason, were it not for school and my ‘present’. I was so childishly irritated that I just agreed and never told her about the piano piece. I never finished it either.

Have you had sex before? If so, do you remember your first time as being a good experience?
Yes. The first time was not as awkward as I had feared it would be. Juvenile as we were, we had planned it for over a week, ‘Okay, that day we’ll have a great date and in the evening we’ll have sex.’ It sounds so moronic right now, but back then it seemed like the only safe way to go about it. The sex itself was ‘weird’, in that it was not a Hollywood experience like we had thought it would be. Not that it was bad; far from it, but it was just strange how different it was.

If you could change one thing about yourself, physically, what would it be?
I don’t care about how I look. But, if I have to change one thing: I have the most monstrous, hideous scar on my right thigh from a very nasty fall and surgery many years ago. It would be nice to get rid of it.

What is your favourite dessert?
If it counts, the Feuerzangenbowle: Wikipedia article. Not so much because of the taste (although it’s great), but because of the terrific atmosphere with all your best friends gathered.

If that doesn’t count: Banoffee pie.

Describe what a fun weekend would be for you.
That would depend on my mood. Sometimes a thoroughly entertaining weekend would just have me locked up in my student apartment with my books, music and piano. Sometimes it’s enough to have good weather so I can go out for a day-long rambling and/or kayaking trek. I’m a rather solitary person who puts great value on his solitude and privacy so I don’t need other people to have a great time. People might consider it asocial or even pathetic, but I don’t care. I have a lot of acquaintances and good friends and they understand me. If the mood strikes me, I could just go out on a drinking binge throughout a weekend too.

What are some of your pet peeves?
Intentionally incorrect spelling. I can’t stand people typing ‘ur’ instead of ‘your’ and the like. It’s not so much a pet peeve as a major psychotic fucking hatred, to quote a great man. It’s my biggest source of irritation, although narrow-mindedness, intentional ignorance and disrespect are bad too.

When people go fishing, do you think that they should eat the fish, or that they should release it back into the water? (And 'whatever they want', 'depends how hungry they are' etc. are not valid answers - what do YOU think?)
It depends where they are fishing and why. If they are trying to survive, obviously let them eat it. If they fish for sport, they should release it. I used to go fishing for carp at night with some friends, but that was more a socially acceptable excuse to drink than anything else. We always treated the fish as gently as possible and released it again. Sometimes when we went fishing for trout, we might take one or two to cook and release the rest.

Do you sing in the shower? Anything in particular, or just whatever's stuck in your head at that moment?
I hum melodies, but I also sing sometimes. Right now that awful ‘Woohoo! Weehoo!’ chorus is stuck in my head. I think it’s called ‘Sweet Escape’.

How did you pick your username and why?
Algernon is my middle name, and I prefer it to both Ralf and Gottfried.

[Sarcastic_Guy]

- You just got invited to a night of geekery, playing a pen n' paper RPG system of your choice. You won't be GMing this one. Now pick your system

- Would you answer change if you DID have to GM it? If so, what would that be?

- Incidentally, since we're on this subject, how you describe your gaming? Are you a story teller? Are you a mechanics guy who loves to ekk out every mechanical advantage just to see what happens? Are you a hardcore details simulation buff? While all players will have these aspects manifest themselves in some way, most tend to lean towards one or the other. Which is yours?

[Algernon]

If you had to meet 5 people off of EC who would it be and why?
This is a difficult question because I barely ‘know’ anyone here. I post a lot, but I communicate rarely. That said, my list will be largely guesswork.

1) Finality: She was the first person I talked to on Emo Corner and just struck me as a likeable person – at least according to my parameters for liking someone, i.e. caustic, witty, fun-loving, not an utter imbecile.
2) Sentient: Not unlike Finality, but older and more experienced, no matter how dirty that sounds.
3) Sarcastic Guy: Intelligent, witty, friendly, fun. What’s not to like?

Those three are the only definites. The other two... well, maybe Kane because it would be interesting to see how he would react if he got into a genuine, philosophical debate; maybe brunettesrule1000 because she just seems like a nice person to have a day out with; maybe Rellik San to get shit-faced with; maybe Staton to go postal with downtown while blaring metal songs. I probably forgot a lot of possibilities, so my apologies in advance.

If you could have any one superpower what would it be?
Invisibility. I could ignore people and visit places that would otherwise be impossible or very difficult to visit.

If you had to lose one sense, what would it be and why?
That’s a hard one, but I think I would go for smell. Sometimes there’s nothing better than to smell a certain fragrance, whether it’s just good an sich or because it reminds you of something. For instance, varnished wood in the summer sun reminds me of my happiest days with my ex-girlfriend. Sometimes the smell of something like magnolia flowers is all I need to feel superb. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s not as important as for instance sight or hearing.

Are you into politics? Would you ever want to be President, or involved in the political system?
I am not into German politics; it’s boring. I am into American politics because a friend of mine used to study it in university and he dragged me into it. It’s starting to dissipated, though. I would never want to be involved in politics because I am a political atheist. My political beliefs are also off the chart so it would be pointless. I am not a man who easily compromises his beliefs.

If you could change one law in your country, what would you change and why?
I would reinstate the death penalty and expand its use to include other crimes than murder. If we’re going to have to fight overpopulation, we might as well start by killing the most despicable, miserable excuses for human beings.

Do you see your morals as set in stone, or do you often change them?
I have a very barebones framework of morals, but I do not change them for anything. If I do, it would require something positively life-changing.

Do you believe in soul mates? If so, have you met someone you'd consider to be yours?
I do not believe in soul mates. I do not even believe in undying love between two people. I believe that only a solitary person could reach spiritual enlightenment, even though he might need some guidance from another person once in a while. That does not mean I am opposed to love (on the contrary), but I certainly do not believe in soul mates, let alone that there is only one person just right for one other person.

If there was one person you could perma ban from EC who would it be?
Nobody, because I tune out the idiots as much as possible.

How did you feel when asked to be a sub-mod?
I wasn’t asked. I was made a Sub-Moderator all of a sudden. Toni sent me a PM saying that ‘it seemed like I was getting promoted’, but that’s all.

[LionJess]

Describe an "average day" for you when you were away for months. This could include various explorations, your diet/eating habits, any strange things that may happen. If the question is too vague feel free to expand or answer it as you see fit.

I recall saying, while you were away, in the mod forums that we "had to have Algernon when he gets back" and admin replied with some sort of fascination for bugs you might have eaten. So, did you eat bugs Algernon?

[Algernon]

Where did you go?
I went on holiday with a dear friend of mine, Kenneth. We flew from Frankfurt to Miami for a stopover. From there we flew to Mexico City. Our initial plan had been to explore various Aztec ruins (and others, like the famous Chichen Itza) in Yucatan. With the Mexican Flu epidemic in mind, we decided to look into other possibilities. At our hotel we e-mailed Pablo – our contact for the main part of our trip – whether it would be possible to come over earlier than expected. We knew he could only view his e-mail once or twice a week, so we had plenty of time to do something else.

We took a good look at our wallets and decided it would cost a lot of money, but we were going to Peru. Why? Machu Picchu! It was shockingly expensive (probably because we were ignorant white tourists) but we managed to catch a plane to Lima, and from there we struggled towards the Lost City of the Incas. Needless to say, it took my breath away. Even for all the vast swarms of loudmouthed, arrogant tourists, it was beautiful beyond my wildest expectations. You can look at a picture of Machu Picchu and think, ‘Wow,’ but when you drive up to the ruins and then walk through it, you have to carry your jaw in your hand because otherwise it’d drag across the dirt. The only thing that aggravated to no end were the tourists. Unbelievable how disrespectful people can be in the face of such staggering and majestic vista of history.

After an overnight stay at an international youth inn where we were accosted by Dutch tourists (the very worst of tourists, as anyone who has dealt with them can testify) who were looking for drugs. Kenneth was inclined to join them in their Holy Quest, but I managed to persuade him from staying a good boy by applying a Fujiwara armbar and threatening to pull his arm from his shoulder socket while the Dutch assholes were gone for a moment*. The next morning an e-mail from Pablo awaited us to say we could join him as soon as we liked. Off to Lima it was, where we took the plane to Bogota. We left the same day for Popayán in a rust-bucket plane filled to the brim with natives who eyed us in very ambiguous ways. We stayed there for the following two days, not only because we had to wait for Pablo to come and get us but also because Popayán is an exceedingly beautiful town rich in history. There are several museums and colonial bridges, churches, mansions and the like. Very surprising, but also very gorgeous.

(*authenticity of this claim is questionable, but the result remains the same.)

Then the following morning, Pablo found us in the ramshackle hotel we were staying at. He knew Kenneth because Kenneth had already spent three months with him the previous summer. Pablo turned out to be a very cool guy, although stereotypically behind the times when it comes to what’s ‘cool’ nowadays. Anyway, we had to take yet another plane to go to our almost-final destination: Guapi, a bum-fuck, shit-face little town at the bank of the Guapi River. It lies four miles from the Pacific Ocean. This would be our only connection to civilisation – at least if you want to credit that vomited-up assembly of ramshackle shitbrick-and-clapboard buildings with containing a shred of civilisation. (Don’t take me too seriously, I want to build tension and drama as if it were the heart of fucking darkness itself, but it wasn’t that bad. It was pretty scary at times, though.)

Apparently when Kenneth told me that our home was a half-hour walk through the jungle, he failed to mention this also included a boat trip on the Guapi. If you saw how crowded it was on the river and how people steered their boats, you would understand why I would have preferred a four-hour march through the toxic underbrush instead. Unfortunately that never happened. People were going to and coming back from the ocean all the time and they did not seem to care if they hit someone. Pablo warned me that it was considered rude and ignorant to scowl at those who nearly rived your boat in two. Apparently it was habit that everyone was as crazy a captain as Ahab hot on the trail of his great white whale himself.

The boat trip took about twenty minutes, although it could be a lot longer when we were in the proximity of Guapi and the river was exceptionally crowded. Once we reached a certain location some distance away from the fishermen, we pulled the boat ashore and hid it in the underbrush. It was too dangerous to use the boat any further, Pablo explained, because there were sharp, jutting rocks and even corals that could tear the belly from his boat. The difficulty was the rest of the walk: you had the ocean... and jungle. No beach whatsoever, except for a small patch of a few feet now and then. I walked between Kenneth and Pablo. Pablo kept telling in pretty good English what to look out for, everything from flowers and leafs to insects and vermin. It was only a small taste of what was really living in the jungle, but it sharpened my senses immediately. (Again, building tension. Oh, the drama!)

After fifty minutes or so (we had all our gear with us, and I was inexperienced in jungle trekking, as you can imagine), we arrived at a single, solitary hut on stilts. It looked old, but in good condition. The trees and grass were all hacked or burned away to create a small open space at the jungle-side. There was an outhouse as well. Yes, a fucking outhouse where I spent a lot more time than any non-masochistic person would ever want to. Inside it was better, but from the outside it looked like it could have been taken from hundreds of years ago. It was wonderful, though: a strip of beach, the jungle and behind the first few feet of trees, the hut. Fairytale-like.

What was your overall goal behind this trip?
Nothing. I wanted to get away from everything, I wanted to go somewhere new and unique that I had never experienced before, I wanted to relax, I wanted to think. The opportunity was perfect.

The part you enjoyed the most?
It wasn’t an actual event, but oftentimes I sat against a tree at the beach with my feet in the sand, writing a journal entry or a letter or reading or just sitting there and enjoying the sights and smells and sounds. Every few minutes, I would look up from whatever I was doing and just go, ‘... Wow... Wow! Look at this!’ and I would just smile to myself, feel a kind of inner peace winnow its pinions over and through me. It was a most wonderful feeling. Then with a final smile I would return to whatever I was doing and a few minutes later I would again look up and go, ‘Wow... Wow! This is amazing! I’m actually here!’

[Josh Joshson]

Did you visit the Nazca Lines?

[Algernon]

Did you visit the Nazca Lines?

No.

[Josh Joshson]

Any particular reason why?

[Algernon]

Any particular reason why?

No real interest, plus we wanted to go to our cozy little hut as soon as possible.

[Josh Joshson]

Okay. Which school of philosophy do you identify most with?

[Algernon]

You just got invited to a night of geekery, playing a pen n' paper RPG system of your choice. You won't be GMing this one. Now pick your system.
D&D 3.5. If it’s just one night, I might as well stick to easy rules that can be quite a lot of fun in combat – especially when you add some combat heroes, e.g. the Iron Heroes ones or from additional D&D books.

Would you answer change if you DID have to GM it? If so, what would that be?
I would keep D&D 3.5 because from all the systems I’ve played, I know it the best. When you’re a GM, you should know all the rules without having to look everything up. Maybe if it was for a longer campaign, I would go with GURPS or Burning Wheel because they are more fun and have more freedom than D&D, especially GURPS.

Incidentally, since we're on this subject, how you describe your gaming? Are you a story teller? Are you a mechanics guy who loves to ekk out every mechanical advantage just to see what happens? Are you a hardcore details simulation buff? While all players will have these aspects manifest themselves in some way, most tend to lean towards one or the other. Which is yours?
I’m definitely a story teller. As a GM, I love to give detailed accounts of what the characters see, hear, smell and I love to write ‘cut-scenes’ and long monologues. If a player has a great idea that would work wonders in the story or the situation at hand but is not really allowed by the rules, I will always work around the rules. The story is the most important thing. I don’t care for players who want to hack ‘n’ slash; they should just play Diablo or grind online. I also don’t care for power players. Of course everyone is a power player to a certain extent, but rule-bending on the basis of ambiguous grammar or the like is going way too far and I’d just as soon stop playing altogether than to put up with that bullshit. RPG’s are just that: role-playing games. You play a role and you form a story with that role.

[Lavinia]

Do you have any special talents?

Which is your favourite?

Do you wish you could do anyting in particular [talent wise, or anything in general]?

[Shoot me if they've been asked.]

[Algernon]

Describe an "average day" for you when you were away for months. This could include various explorations, your diet/eating habits, any strange things that may happen. If the question is too vague feel free to expand or answer it as you see fit.
It varied day to day. At first I was obviously eager to explore my surroundings. Pablo was an experienced guide for many ignorant westerners like myself (he frequently kept tourists with him). We trudged through the jungle, went down tributary rivers and went out to sea to circumscribe more difficult terrain.

Only on a couple of occasions did we stay away from home for longer than one day, and we never slept in the jungle itself, but always at someone’s hut. It was shocking to see how friendly people were, although there was also a lot of distrust of me at first. Everyone knew Pablo, but he told me that he had had problems with some tourists and that was why the other natives distrusted me at first. Luckily I managed to communicate my pitiful self clearly enough so they understood I had nothing but respect from them and the world they lived in.

On some occasions we would return to Guapi, especially when Kenneth was feeling jittery. He wanted to get drunk and do cocaine, and there was no lack of either in Guapi. That was why I hated going to Guapi most of the time: as soon as the people there get to know you, they will stop ripping you off, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any bad apples there. In fact, there were quite a few. One of the more horrifying stories was one night when Kenneth and I were sitting on the patio of a scummy pub on the riverside. Pablo came running towards us and said, ‘Thank God you are okay!’ We asked him what was wrong and apparently some drunk white guy got his ears cut off with a machete. He thought it might have been Kenneth.

Funny thing about Kenneth: Pablo called him ‘Suave’ (or something), which means ‘calm’. Not because Kenneth was a relaxed person, but quite the opposite: last year Pablo always had to tell him ‘Suave! Suave!’ because he never calmed the fuck down, especially when he had some coke in him. Luckily his drug use was limited this time around.

When I got used to my surroundings, I spent a lot of time roaming around the beach and along the edges of the jungle. I admit without any shame that I was too anxious to venture deeper into the jungle in case I got lost or poisoned – or both. It was just a trip to be there. Just being there, so far from Erfurt and all its troubles and joys was a profound mental sensation. I kept getting shivers down my spine whenever I looked around and realised where I was. It was just the reality of being in that location that occupied a lot of my mind and time.

Later I spent much time reading my books, writing journal entries and letters to friends (which I only managed to mail when I was back in Erfurt), and thinking. Maybe some more pointed questions regarding my days might help refresh my memories.

One story that comes to mind: do you remember those fun-loving, tiny creatures I mentioned called bullet ants? Right, it bit me. Pablo and I were walking through the jungle when I suddenly felt like a dull, rusty knife was suddenly jabbed through the top of my foot. Pablo, who was walking behind me for once, shoved me so hard I went flying and almost tripped. He didn’t know what was going on, only that I screamed as if my soul was being torn from my right eye-socket. Shoving me was some kind of freak-way to ensure my safety... by pushing me towards the threat. I never figured that out either, but so it goes.

Anyway, the shove knocked the bullet ant from my foot. Between hyperventilating breaths and clenched-teeth groans I told Pablo I didn’t know what had happened, but that my foot was being torn apart from the inside. He spotted a trail of bullet ants, took a hold of me and dragged me through the underbrush to the hut. It took almost half an hour. Every step I took was hell when I landed on my foot and I felt the pain creeping up my leg. It was indescribably painful. We got to the hut, he literally shoved me down against the floorboards and ran to the kitchen. I was banging my head against the wood to distract me a little from the pain. It sounds overly dramatic, but this time I am not being needlessly theatrical. Pablo returned with a pile of leafs in a glass jar, put them on my leg and feet and wrapped a bandage around it. The pain continued for a long time and my leg – from my foot to my thigh – swelled to scary proportions. It looked like my ankle was going to implode soon. I didn’t sleep that night from the pain, but the next day the swelling had gone down a little. I didn’t dare to walk much, but late that evening, I was okay again. Worst pain ever, bar none.

I recall saying, while you were away, in the mod forums that we "had to have Algernon when he gets back" and admin replied with some sort of fascination for bugs you might have eaten. So, did you eat bugs Algernon?
Only one species on a couple of occasions, but never alive. More precisely, it was a kind of grub whose name eludes me that was roasted over a fire. It was good, actually, but seeing it roasted was not so much fun because you could see it excrete its bodily contents while being baked alive. Still... good food, even though I only had it three or four times.

[HeyThereDelilah]

What do you look like?

[Algernon]

Which school of philosophy do you identify most with?
What exactly do you mean with ‘school of philosophy’ and ‘identify’? Do you mean which philosophical theories I believe in and support? Which philosopher I resemble most? Which branch of philosophy I am interested in most? On what subject do you want me to elaborate? Existentialism? Ontology? Teleology? Metaphysics? Purely ‘psychological’?

Do you have any special talents?
I don’t have any talents that I consider to be special. I am proud of my ability to play the piano, but that is a matter of practicing and not a matter of being naturally talented.

Which is your favourite?
The piano is a cardinal part of my life, so it will be my piano skills.

Do you wish you could do anything in particular [talent wise, or anything in general]?
I wish I were fluent in Russian because Russian literature is my favourite ‘type’ of literature and reading translations will never be as fulfilling or good as reading a book in its original language with all its original nuances.

What do you look like?
Blond hair, blue eyes, at the moment rather emaciated, about 6'4".

[Josh Joshson]

^ Who you identify most with, Sorry.