Entry 23 - Still More Staffers To Go Through - Esifex

[Hanzo K.]

Your thoughts on Marshmallow Cheese? (yes, it's exactly what it says on the tin.)

[Esifex]

Music for a rainy day

>What about text adventures, eh mac?
>Why am I your favorite?
>What sorts of librarian things do you do?
>What do you do when you encounter a story that is just dreadful? Or one where characters are just used badly?

>Don't play them
>You're not
>Librarian stuff
>I'm not at liberty to disclose the stories that we all talk about in the Librarian's Lounge and laugh at and poke fun at the writers. That guy who wrote 'Day Planners' should be ashamed of himself, though, I'll tell you that much.

Okay, seriously, though...
>I really don't do text adventures, either parsing them or playing in them.
>Day Planners. That's why.
>I was in charge of converting completed stories into .pdf files that could be read by eReaders, but I almost immediately hit the per-post limit for attachments after like five stories. Otherwise, I just proof-read for people, and when I get the assignment, write summaries for new stories.
>Seriously though that would be mean of me to point out a story and say 'haha, that's just bad!' Although I will tell you what I did once when I found such a bad story; didn't even get further than the first sentence in before I really physically declared 'Good GOD this is terrible!' and backed out of it. I'm not going to tell you which one, though, because no one knows it because I'm not gonna be mean like that to someone who really just needs some improvement. It's not like they're a bad person, but I know that if someone had that reaction to one of my stories when I was getting started, I'd have been heartbroken. So that juicy little bit of gossip stays with me.

What is your opinion of Shakespeare's works?

I've never actually sat down to read the whole collected works. I'm more of an Edgar Allan Poe, guy, though. I highly recommend The Bells, Annabelle Lee, and... crap, I don't have my massive leather-bound tome handy - I lent it to a friend and she hasn't returned it yet @.@ But Poe wrote out a play similar to Shakespeare's style, but he never finished it. If I get my tome back I'll post it in PSL and possibly write out my own take on how I think it'd end.

If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go?

Just for a vacation? Nonsense. I'd become a vagabond somewhere with nothing to my name but my charm than come back to Florida. But anyways, anywhere? For just a vacation, and assuming I had someone with me who could translate? The actual mountain valley that Hinamizawa is based on, Shirakawa, Gifu.

Out o' curiousity, are there any things you would like to see in White Rose?

Mecha Utsuho's introduction to the Yatagarasu, though that's just wishful thinking, because the time-frame doesn't mesh up with the Moriya Shrines' arrival yet.

Oh hey, someone took a picture of that time we both hit a major acid trip.

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.

You said you swim a lot. Why?
As a continuation, have you ever been swimming with dolphins? Apparently, they do that in Florida. If not, do you ever plan to?

Water calms me down. The only time I don't have anger boiling beneath the surface is if it's raining, my skin is wet, or I'm just outright swimming. It's a very soothing medium for me.

RE: Dolphins; no, I haven't, because it's wicked expensive and you have to make reservations for it because they only allow so many people in a day. I'd like to, though, because dolphins are pretty awesome. They're smart! Occasionally smarter than us! I wonder what sort of empathic sensations I'd get from being around them.

What's the one thing you think you need to improve on in your writing? Productivity is not an answer.

Word diversity. I take the same phrase or term and run it into the ground without realizing it. Also productivity

Is there a difference between writing for entertainment and writing commercially?

Yes. Writing for entertainment is writing what you want to read. Writing commercially is writing what someone else tells you to. The trick is to find someone to tell you to write what you want to read.

You have an interest in music. Ever played an instrument yourself?

Violin, piano, and drums. Very little of all three. I'd love to pick them up and become proficient again, though. I have plans, of sometime down the road, buying a Viola body and a set of Violin and Viola strings for it. You can tune a Viola with Violin strings to sound like a Violin, though it's tricky from what I hear. But knowing how to play both of them would be loads of fun for me. Somewhere in the bottom of my little reptilian brain I wish I could be the next TAM or Marasy. I know it won't happen, but hey, I can dream, can't I?

Your thoughts on Marshmallow Cheese? (yes, it's exactly what it says on the tin.)

Is that like Krazee Cheese? The canned stuff that has a nozzel like a whipped-cream can? Because if so,  :barf:
If it's cheese-flavored marshmallows, :barf:
If it's marshmallow-flavored cheese, :barf:
Don't get me wrong, though. I like marshmallows and I like cheese. Just not at the same time. I also don't like that crazy processed cheese fluff.

[Hanzo K.]

What if it was a marshmallow that looked and tasted exactly like a fine block of Parmesan?

Your preferred cheeses? personally, I'm quite partial of Parmesan myself, but I wont say no to a nice block of pepperjack.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

What if it was a marshmallow that looked and tasted exactly like a fine block of Parmesan?

Your preferred cheeses? personally, I'm quite partial of Parmesan myself, but I wont say no to a nice block of pepperjack.

You need to be a staffer so I can question your love of cheese.

Anyway, Esifex. When writing, would you say it's accurate that you put your own emotions into the work? (I'm thinking about this because I just finished the first arc of White Rose, and that ending bit... dear god, I almost cried.)
When writing, what would you say is a good balance between emotional drama and comedy?

[Suikama]

* Iryan highfives Esifex

* Suikama initiates three way _(highfive)

Speaking of threeways though...

With the exception of the on-going battle against my own sex-drive and unbridled anger issues, no. The rest of the fragmentation I've done to my own mind was unpleasant enough - the memory loss, the delicate temperament, and the straight change in personality is not something I intend to intentionally put myself through again. I resist my sex-drive and hormones for personal reasons, that mostly stem from an utter distaste for the people in my generation around me - and while yes, I know that wherever I go, there are GOING to be dumb people who are reckless and treat their bodies with complete irreverence, there is just such a large concentration of them in Florida that I'm actually saddened by it. This may also have something to do with my rage issues - both the self-inflicted sexual frustration and being surrounded by idiots.

Oh man, I don't want to impose or be too preachy here, but fighting your own sex-drive is not really healthy and it's probably one of the contributing factors to your rage (although you probably already figured that out), and that rage causes you to further repress yourself and so on.

Read this and tell me how much it relates to you.

[Esifex]

Read this and tell me how much it relates to you.

Got through the first chapter, looked again at the rest of the chapters

I am deliberately keeping myself celibate, it's not because of some sort of frustration. That book seems to culminate in 'How To Stuff Your Penis In The Vaginas Of Your Choosing'.

That doesn't relate to me at all. Nice Guy Syndrome? Yes. A lot. Wanting to fuck something to relieve stress? No. Not in the slightest. Especially not with any of the women in my local area, in my generation. None of them have any clue what they themselves want to begin with, and the ones that do know what they want don't want a relationship. I'm not going to settle for some clueless broad who's going to be miserable with me or without me just so I can be miserable, too. I get enough misery just from knowing this. Knowing it, and knowing that it's going to be an issue until I can get out of Florida, and put myself where people are more concerned with looking ahead in their lives, rather than making sure they're Alpha Dog in the pack.

While I am made a little uncomfortable by how many bullseyes that comparison list of Common Traits for Nice Guys hits with me, I'm also incredibly offended by the notion that I won't be happy until I can command a woman to submit to my cock. I'm sorry, but that's just absolute fucking bullshit. You can say that's just the virgin in me talking, that I don't know what I'm talking about - because honestly, no, I don't have any direct experience in sex. But I can tell you what I've noticed has happened to the people around me once they started getting sexual - misery. More misery on top of their already hectic and frankly fucked-up daily lives.

Yes, deliberately fighting my own body causes undue stress that frankly frustrates me. But right now? With the choices I have available to me? It's the lesser of two evils. By far.

Maybe I need to stop being such a doormat to my friends - definitely - but the last thing I need is to buy into the ideology that 'fucking things makes you happy'. I have yet to see a single shred of evidence to that, from all the people around me.
Don't try to make an example of the joys of child rearing. I'm 23 and unemployed. A child would ruin me and I won't be able to raise it in a way that would make me proud as a human being. Every other person around me that's had sex already, including the great many of them who have kids already - and yes, remember, I'm in Florida, and the high school I went to was nicknamed Chlamydia High, and in middle school, no less than a dozen girls out of a student body of just under 500 got pregnant - have been nothing but miserable, terrible people.

I'll take anger issues that I can regulate through meditation over becoming someone that I'd be disgusted to be. No matter how many times I have to make that choice.

[Esifex]

Music for the sake of loving music

What if it was a marshmallow that looked and tasted exactly like a fine block of Parmesan?

Your preferred cheeses? personally, I'm quite partial of Parmesan myself, but I wont say no to a nice block of pepperjack.

Parmesan marshmallow would be weird, just because of the texture. Bleh. Shivers just thinking about it.
I'm a big fan of pepperjack, myself. Made myself some poached eggs for breakfast this morning and put them on a sandwich with a slice of pepperjack and some crushed red peppers. I'm a spice aficionado. THE SPICE MUST FLOW 8|

When writing, would you say it's accurate that you put your own emotions into the work? (I'm thinking about this because I just finished the first arc of White Rose, and that ending bit... dear god, I almost cried.)
When writing, what would you say is a good balance between emotional drama and comedy?

I try to make an effort to feel similarly to a situation at hand while writing a scene, but I've found that that doesn't always make the emotion transfer very easily. For example? If I'm bawling my eyes out because I'm a sobbing, snotty mess who can't see straight, I'm obviously not going to be writing at the top of my game. So at times, I force myself to be as emotionally neutral as I can be while writing, then go back and re-read it and tweak it slightly to make sure it works right. Then, I browse my incredibly huge library of music available to me and see if I can't find a song that amplifies the emotion I'm trying for at that particular scene. And since I'm usually listening to music no matter what I'm doing (even while sleeping, I leave a playlist going on my computer {which isn't specifically geared towards 'sleep-therapy' music or anything - it's just music I like to listen to until I fall asleep}), I'll occasionally make sure that what I'm listening to won't trigger the emotion I'm writing for, ergo screwing me up in the middle of writing. But, I'm not as extreme as Ruro, in this regard - I'll never turn to Brittany Spears while writing :derp:
By the way, I did cry while reading White Rose. Since I have - for the most part - gone out of my way to suppress any powerful emotions, when I'm in a safe environment (like, my room, at home, and I'm settled down to do some reading) I won't fight it if it comes up. It's very refreshing at times, y'know? Gets all the nasty out of you. Like puking, for the soul. (Cookies if anyone recognizes that quote)

As for a balance between comedy in the midst of drama, I feel that even in daily life people do their best to inject whatever flavor of humor they have into any situation at hand. Because when you look around and step back and really think hard about it, you realize, life sucks, man. But only if you let it get to you. There's no reason to stop and dwell on that, so you're better off just hiking up your skirt and pressing on, and laughing at whatever you can afford to. That being said, though, there are obviously times where humor isn't appreciated. I think I probably would've hauled off and decked someone if I heard anyone crack a joke at my Granpa's funeral, if I weren't weak as a kitten at the time.
For comedy in the midst of emotional drama, that's when it becomes situational. If someone is grieving? You don't joke about the subject at hand. Anything else is fair game. If they're just sad about something? The subject matter is fair game now, to a certain extent. You don't want to have someone come across as being unnecessarily vicious to someone when they're sad - that'll just come across as kicking someone when they're down. But if there's a dynamic between the characters and you can make the one crack a joke that makes the other burst out laughing through all the snot and tears they're suffering through, then that is a good way of showing a good connection between the characters. If the sad person can smile and say 'You're such a dork!', then obviously the humor was in good taste. If the expected response is 'What the fuck, you ass!' then, no, comedy has gone a little too far into bad territory.

[Hanzo K.]

Hell yeah. Gotta love a nice and spicy meal.
I've always wanted to try super-spicy curry myself. Wasn't there a special documentary or something on the world's spiciest curry?
Can't remember for the life of me what it was called though, but I'd like to try it someday..

What it it was a Block of cheese that tasted like a marshmallow?

[Jana]

I am deliberately keeping myself celibate, it's not because of some sort of frustration.
...
Yes, deliberately fighting my own body causes undue stress that frankly frustrates me. But right now? With the choices I have available to me? It's the lesser of two evils. By far.

I think you're being a little unclear, so let me choose my words carefully. Are you remaining celibate because you think sex is some kind of corrupting influence? It's pretty plain to see that you're hurting yourself already, whatever method and reason you've got. To be frank, I think your words are a little... Offensive?

[Mimachiro]

Who's the most influential person in your life and why?

Do you think Gensokyou exists somewhere? (Besides in the minds of ZUN and others)

If you could use danmaku, what would your bullets be?

[Esifex]

Techno, well-done, even if a little over-done

What it it was a Block of cheese that tasted like a marshmallow?

We've long since dove into the rabbit's hole, haven't we? You're just getting weirder and weirder. And soon, you're going to ruin cheese for me. :C

I think you're being a little unclear, so let me choose my words carefully. Are you remaining celibate because you think sex is some kind of corrupting influence? It's pretty plain to see that you're hurting yourself already, whatever method and reason you've got. To be frank, I think your words are a little... Offensive?

I'm remaining celibate because I live in Florida, the land of Nothing To Do. The joke about Florida being God's Waiting Room is more or less true; unless you want to shell out ridiculous amounts of money to go to one of the major theme parks we have here - and depending on where you live, that means even more money for the commute - there really isn't a lot of anything to do besides hang out at the mall. There's very little social scenery down here if you're not a tourist. On top of all this Nothing going on, Florida also has a very diverse population. If you drove through Orlando for the length of maybe half a mile, you'll most likely have driven past a half-dozen different ethnicities. Now, don't pounce on that and think I'm being racist; I bring this up for a reason.
People will sooner gravitate towards their own ethnicity in a random crowd, in their neighborhoods, in schools, where ever. When you start having people go for strength of numbers, you start forming a mob mentality. Within itself, that's all fine and dandy. Everyone gets along.
Now take a half-dozen mobs and put them next to each other, and suddenly you have a whole lot of cock-flexing going on, everyone trying to be Top Dog and be the dominant force. It's fucking stupid.
And my problem with it is that there are far too many people in my generation who are caught up in it. Every potential girlfriend in Florida that I could get has more often than not had some kind of exposure to this mentality and in turn subscribes to it. The ones that haven't are either already taken or are in the same school of thought as me; stay away from relationships until everyone around you grows the fuck up and matures a little. The reason why Florida is a fucking terrible place is because no one bothers to mature here - they're more concerned with the 'here-and-now', rather than the 'down-the-road'. I'm not someone who can be happy making minimum wage working in a McDonalds just because my minimum wage and my girlfriends' wages combined can afford us a shitty apartment - especially because that means that I'll be very dependent on having a girlfriend, and being unable to support myself on my own if we should break up. It'd be a relationship of necessity, not emotion, and that in turn means we'd be way more likely to piss each other off constantly than actually appreciate each others' company. This harkens back to my argument about a lot of relationships in my environment being massive sources of frustration and anger for a lot of the people around me. There's a reason I feel this way, and a reason I feel that Florida is the worst goddamn place to live, and both reasons are directly linked to each other. That is why I've personally demonized sex, and that is why I want to get out of Florida so badly. Until it stops being a casual, 'recreational' activity for the people in my age bracket around me, I want nothing to do with it. I don't feel like catching something when I lose my virginity, and unfortunately, it seems like every girl who's 'on the market' has already had multiple partners. Am I saying all girls are like this? Fuck no. That'd be a like hanging up a big neon arrow over my head that says in bright shiny letters 'MASSIVE MISOGYNIST/ROYAL ASSHOLE'. I know better than to make such a specific accusation. I know that this ideology is incredibly flawed. But the problem is, it's still more than 70% applicable to the girls around me, and ergo, I'm going to play it safe.
I don't think sex is a corrupting influence, per se, but I do believe that it causes a change in someone on a rather deep mental level. In some people this could manifest as corruption, in others, maybe maturity, but in most, hedonism. I'm already hedonistic enough - I listen to music obsessively for the high I get off of good music, I waste countless hours playing pointless video games for the primal sake of entertainment, I eat the food I do for its taste, not for the health benefit (in this regard I've lucked out, because I like the taste of most healthy food). The last thing I need is to be reckless with something so serious as procreation, at my age, in my current income bracket - that being 'zero annual income'. When I'm established, have a good job that can support me, then sure, I'll start looking for a partner, and I'll most likely end up fucking her brains out. Until then, I'd rather look at something that has the potential to royally fuck my life up from a very logical position. It's just not a good idea for me, or for a lot of the people around me, so I'm not going to do it. Not until I - and any potential girlfriends I invest in - grow up.

Who's the most influential person in your life and why?

Never really put much thought to it. There is no 'big-name' celebrity that I can point at and say 's/he's my role model'. If I had to think of someone, it'd probably be my friend Brittany. We're excellent foils for each other, and we use each other as sounding boards constantly. She comes to me for my Libra trait of assessing all the angles, and I go to her for her Capricorn ability to plow through tough decisions.
Before anyone pounces on this and says 'Esi! Look! Female that you get along with! Go out with her!', NO. We're good friends. We'd be terrible mates for all the reasons that we're good friends. On top of that, she's a poly-amorous bi-sexual who's had more partners than I can care to remember. I'm monogamous. And terribly inexperienced. I'd be a disappointment for her sexually.

Do you think Gensokyou exists somewhere? (Besides in the minds of ZUN and others)

Physically? No. But boy, would I love to be proven wrong.

If you could use danmaku, what would your bullets be?

Blasts of hard light mixed with warped-air bubbles, and my character accessory would either be a Lyre or a scale.

[Suikama]

So basically the only thing you'll fuck in Florida is Florida itself? BV

[Mimachiro]

Believe me when I say that Esi is pretty much right about all he said about sex. I fully understand why he wants to wait; most in our age bracket just aren't ready. Anyway...

Have you ever tried to split an arrow down the middle with another arrow?

Have you ever been hunting before?

What if that marshmallow tasted like a steak that was cooked and seasoned to perfection?

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

I appreciate your opinions on sexuality, Esi. You seem to be showing a lot of maturity and long-term thinking, and I'd like to think you're looking more for an emotionally fulfilling long-term relationship with a person you respect than satisfaction of short-term wants. I'd like to say I share the same opinion, but while you've looked to meditation and such to cope, I found... other means.

As a PSL Librarian, what do you think of me aspiring to be a professional librarian?

White bread or whole wheat?

Gaming system of choice?

Spices you'd suggest to someone wanting to expand their culinary horizons?

[Esifex]

This isn't ironic at all for the last few questions

Not that many questions this time. SPEED ROUND, GO

So basically the only thing you'll fuck in Florida is Florida itself? BV

That sounds painful, why would I try to stick my penis in the ground  :wat:

Have you ever tried to split an arrow down the middle with another arrow?

I've tried to many times, but the one time I did, it was an accident. And someone elses' arrow.

Have you ever been hunting before?

Nope. Not even interested, either.

What if that marshmallow tasted like a steak that was cooked and seasoned to perfection?

WHY DO YOU ALL WANT TO BOMBARD ME WITH MARSHMALLOW QUESTIONS
And steakmallow? What the hell is with you people? ;-;

I appreciate your opinions on sexuality, Esi. You seem to be showing a lot of maturity and long-term thinking, and I'd like to think you're looking more for an emotionally fulfilling long-term relationship with a person you respect than satisfaction of short-term wants. I'd like to say I share the same opinion, but while you've looked to meditation and such to cope, I found... other means.

So have I. I'm not that innocent.

As a PSL Librarian, what do you think of me aspiring to be a professional librarian?

I'm actually hella-jealous. I would love to organize books in a massive massive county library or somethin like that. Hell, I did it all through middle and high school during my lunch hours - got a light snack, went to the 'media center', and grabbed a cart of books and took 'em to their places on the shelf.

White bread or whole wheat?

Whole wheat between those two choices, but I'm a big sucker for tomato basil bread.

Gaming system of choice?

PC first, then PS3, then 360. Nintendo just doesn't hold my interest anymore - nothing after GameBoy Advance.

Spices you'd suggest to someone wanting to expand their culinary horizons?

Garlic salt instead of regular iodized salt! It's better for you, and you can use a lot less and still get a noticeable change in flavor. Also, try using a lemon-pepper rub on chicken or fish. Eez deleeshus.

[Suikama]

That sounds painful, why would I try to stick my penis in the ground  :wat:

Well....

[Esifex]

Due to technical difficulties, Esi will be unable to answer any further questions tonight.
Direct any inquires as to cause or consequence to one 'Suikama Dash'

[Mimachiro]

So, stuff happened?

Ever have one of your female acquaintances attempt to decorate you with her makeup?

What's one bad habit you have that you'd like to kick?

[Minch]

PFFFF. Suikama :V

If you have 5000 dollars, what would you do with it?

Why do you hate Florida? Would you move to L.A. instead?

[Suikama]

oops i broke esi :3

[Molten]

Favorite color?
If you got one wish, what would it be?
Mundo goes where?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome is this site?

[Esifex]

Blame Iryan for this

So, stuff happened?

That came after.

Ever have one of your female acquaintances attempt to decorate you with her makeup?

Yes. Blue sparkly hair gel. I didn't know it was happening until she was halfway done, because I was reading and she was behind me and being very careful. It wasn't until I rolled my neck to get a kink out that I felt something happening.

What's one bad habit you have that you'd like to kick?

Laziness/lack of motivation. I know there are dishes in the sink waiting on me right now, but before I can do that, I have to empty the dishwasher, and that's just :effort:

If you have 5000 dollars, what would you do with it?

Pay Mom. Half my student loan, gone!

Why do you hate Florida? Would you move to L.A. instead?

I haven't exactly heard good things about L.A., to be frank. Gangs are just as much an issue and the air quality is far and away worse than where I live now.

Favorite color?

Blue. I mentioned earlier that it's the color of expression, as well, which is another reason why I like it so much.

If you got one wish, what would it be?

More wishes BV Okay, seriously, the ability to warp reality.

Mundo goes where?

Oh come on, that's almost too easy. Couldn't you have made it a little harder?
MUNDO GOES WHERE HE PLEASES

On a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome is this site?

Well, I spend about 90% of the time Firefox is open, here, so I guess 9. Even though I only go between about three or four subforums.

[Mimachiro]

Do you have your own Shanghai and Hourai dolls?

Have you ever attempted puppetry before?

If you could have a doll version of any member of MotK, who would it be?

[Aya Squawkermaru]

What kinds of music do you enjoy?

What are your thoughts on fanservice in anime/manga?

What do you think is the most interesting scientific field?

[Shadoweh]

Gasp, now how did this go so far without the obligatory questions?

Obligatory how did you find MotK?
Obligatory how did you become a staff member?
Obligatory what DO you do here as staff?

Your Librarian persona is the psychic that only speaks german or something, right? If so, why?
What feelings are invoked by "Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai, Hourai, Hourai, Hourai, Hourai!"
Why are there so few Yuka x Alice fanfictions here? :< Wouldn't Pajamas!Yuka and Chibi!Alice be SO CUTE?!
Do you have a preferred Alice pairing?
Does it bother you that Alice doujins are 75% TsunAlice, 95% more about the other person then her and 99% end when she shacks up with Marisa?
Can you recommend any good fics or doujins about Shanghai and/or Hourai?

[Esifex]

Okay so yeah maybe this is cheating a little bit
It's still good music, leave me alone

Do you have your own Shanghai and Hourai dolls?

I don't actually own any memorabilia from any of my interests, with the exception of my computer, and my longbow. The rest of my possessions are just my clothes. And my nook, though I count that under 'computer', but I get this feeling that someone is gonna be like 'WAIT YOU HAVE A NOOK :V'. I also have a feeling that it would've been Sakana. He's a shifty guy like that.

Have you ever attempted puppetry before?

Hilarity ensued. Needless to say, I won't be attempting it again anytime soon. I just don't have the fine-motor control in my right arm for it. Thankfully I have enough to be able to undo catastrophic tangles.

If you could have a doll version of any member of MotK, who would it be?

Librarian!Esi Good question. Do you mean like a figma doll, or, more like a doll-doll, or a puppet-doll? In any regards, probably...
Huh. I really dunno. Maybe Iryan, just so I can have him around to blame constantly. Blame him for why the water in the kettle boiled away. Blame him for the music I link (though this time it's actually Ruro's fault). Blame him for the economy

What kinds of music do you enjoy?

I answered this already D: But to reiterate, lots and lots of different kinds, though I tend to gravitate towards the lyric-less. I love a good song, don't get me wrong, and I'll sing along to the best of my ability (RE: Diablo Swing Orchestra, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Red Hot Chili Peppers) but most of what I listen to is purely instrumental.

What are your thoughts on fanservice in anime/manga?

Not enough I really don't read enough manga to have an opinion on that, but I can still answer. I'm gonna have to echo Ruro once again, too; if there's no reason for it to be there, then it doesn't really need to be there. If it's done tastefully, though, and has a justification, then, sure, I can tolerate it. Hell, I'm only human. I like boobies as much as the next guy. (Just not big ones, on account of being a massage therapist, and knowing all the troubles those will cause me)

What do you think is the most interesting scientific field?

Doesn't anyone read the preceding questions? D: Paranormal phenomenon. Unfortunate that so many people decry any of it's findings as 'well I couldn't reproduce it so clearly it's a load of horse-feathers'. That's because you don't have the right sensitivity, yo. Some people are born athletes, some people are born charming, and some people draw the short straw and look like the south end of a north-bound horse. Same goes for having the mental acuity for telepathy and astral projection/remote viewing, scrying, precognition, and the like. A lot of that also has to do with whether or not the mind itself will let it happen. If you don't think it's possible for your mind to see something in another room, it won't. You're convincing your mind that it'll fail, so it fails. There's a certain and specific amount of proprioceptive sense you need for this sort of thing to work for you, just like you need a certain amount to be able to coil all the muscles in your legs properly to give you a seven-foot vertical leap.

Gasp, now how did this go so far without the obligatory questions?

Cuz you weren't here yet! :O

Obligatory how did you find MotK?
Obligatory how did you become a staff member?
Obligatory what DO you do here as staff?

Actually, that first one was asked already. So was the third one.
Obligatory how I became a staffer! When I came in, the only forum that I reeeeeeeeally hung around was the Creative Fanworks forum, back before it was split into PSL/AAA. All I did was read pretty much every bit of literature that was posted, but I also left little notes of encouragement in what I read. 'I'd love to see this continued!' 'Keep going, I wanna know how this ends!' 'I love where this is going.' Stuff like that. So I was a pretty vocal cheerleader, if you will, towards the other writers. Because of the sheer volume of those little notes and stuff I'd littered the board with, Sakana and Ruro both knew just how much of the fanworks I'd read - which, at the time, was very nearly just about everything posted. When it came time for them to start organizing for the Index to be put together and they started calling for volunteers, they saved a spot specifically for me (Ruro did, at least. I think Sakana may have been worried about the Law of Conservation of Germanness, even though by default he gets more than I do. We've since smoothed that patch out.) because I more or less had a head-start on being able to summarize the stories.
Go figure that when I got assigned my first batch of stories to summarize, roughly half of them were ones I hadn't gotten around to reading yet. Just as well, because then I ended up reading them. Everyone was happy.

Your Librarian persona is the psychic that only speaks german or something, right? If so, why?

Only speaks German (despite being a psychic, who would therefore know and be fluent in every language spoken around her) to troll people. German because I'm German, and if I can't speak German in reality, than I will in fiction. She's fluent in English, obviously, and has no qualms with speaking it, but would sooner just talk directly into someones' mind, where there is no language barrier - thoughts are concepts, not letters arranged into words. Psychic because, well, come on now. Haven't you been reading my answers? XD

What feelings are invoked by "Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai, Hourai, Hourai, Hourai, Hourai!"

That video was only as inane as it was because they had to come up with some nonsense lyrics to match Alice's theme song. When you already have the music written, you'd be surprised how tricky it could be to write lyrics to a song to match it. You have to get the syllable counts to match up with the measures available to you. The theme-song itself is nice. The IOSYS video that goes with it is just weird. CHECK IT GEE CHECK IT GEE CHECK IT GEE UGG UGG UGG UGG UGG

Why are there so few Yuka x Alice fanfictions here? :< Wouldn't Pajamas!Yuka and Chibi!Alice be SO CUTE?!

Could be, but unfortunately you asked this question before you asked the next. Take a peek.

Do you have a preferred Alice pairing?

No, I don't. My whole attraction to Alice is, as mentioned before, because of the mental acuity I assume she'd need to be able to multitask the control of so many dolls at once. In a sense, she's a very enlightened mind, with an intellect to rival Patchouli's and the temperament of, say, Youmu (who is canonically shown to be very serious - which has nothing to do with level of intelligence, mind you, which explains Yuyuko trolling her so much). In short, she is Gensokyo's Nikola Tesla - too busy with educating herself and advancing her field of study to have time to invest in other relationships...

Does it bother you that Alice doujins are 75% TsunAlice, 95% more about the other person then her and 99% end when she shacks up with Marisa?

... including ones with a short-lived human. Also yes TsunAlice needs to die in a fire. She's a goddamn puppeteer. Have you ever met a puppeteer? They're pretty strange people. Of course she's going to come across as a little off. She's a Youkai, she's a puppetmaster, and she's a Magician. All three of these things are not exactly conducive to 'normality'. She gets shipped with Marisa less so for the sake of it being a good match for Alice but more so because Marisa has a harem reputation to uphold. Nitori makes a better match for Marisa because they're both such inquisitive minds, constantly working at making the Next Best Thing. Alice just wants to perfect her magic, and possibly just safeguard the world from her Grimoire. Not sure on that last bit yet.

Can you recommend any good fics or doujins about Shanghai and/or Hourai?

Danbooru. Hoi hoi. Shanghoi. Beyond that, no, not really.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

A. Sorry, must have missed the music one. I am reading this, but I'm only human.

B. To be honest, I don't really consider it science if it can't be replicated by anyone, anywhere (with the right environmental adjustments, of course) but eh, to each his own. I guess that's why I didn't take that one into account.

Have you ever read a fanfic that turned one of your least favorite characters into one of your most favorite characters, or at least made you like them a whole lot more? Not characters you were neutral about, mind you, but characters you actively disliked.

[Reddyne]

Doesn't anyone read the preceding questions? D: Paranormal phenomenon. Unfortunate that so many people decry any of it's findings as 'well I couldn't reproduce it so clearly it's a load of horse-feathers'. That's because you don't have the right sensitivity, yo.

:objection!:

Explanation time from a resident science guy. The reason why paranormal phenomena are not (yet) taken seriously by the scientific community is that one of the very principles of the scientific method is reproducibility. Coincidentally, these concepts of paranormal phenomena are unexplored and nebulous enough that they lack falsifiability, so they, by law of scientific method, cannot be dismissed. Also, even a slight variation in the wording of a hypothesis provides a new hypothesis which can be tested, so even if one concept is out-and-out proven false, a very similar or specific concept could be proven true. Still, the key is the ability for these concepts to be tested in a manner that creates a reliable and predictable result. Paranormal phenomena typically lack definition and could benefit from a distinct value that defines it. Properly state the concept or element of what you are testing, test it in a controlled manner, then REproduce the result within definable limits, and it will gain a lot of credibility. It's how science has done so many of the things it has for the world. Any bit of reproducibility will help push it from pseudoscience and into the proper scientific realm. Until then, apples will fall down and not up, ducks will go "quack" and not "I'm the ghost of your uncle Luke! Couldja spare us a fiver?" and 1+1 will equal 2 and not cheesecake even if that would make math a lot tastier.

Anyway,

What's one thing that you would like to change about yourself and what one thing would you never want to change?

[Mimachiro]

Ever locked yourself in a place deemed to be "haunted?"

What do you think about Touhou ghosts?

Is Youmu's ghost half a marshmallow? That tastes like a cheese steak?

[Alfred F. Jones]

If you could change any historical event to have the outcome of your choice, what would you change and why?

How good are you at the Touhou games?