I've got to say, some of the coolest people hang out here. Gabriel Law, Caramel Bath (oops, Kara now - sorry!), LiberTeen, Alessa Neri, etc. 'Course, Alptraum's here, and he obviously drags the place down a little, but every OpSite needs its trolls under the metaphorical bridge, right?

My name's Ria Ravensbourne, and you might have heard of me; then again, you mightn't've, and that's no skin off my back. I come from the Land of Down Under, and I'm a part-Maori Asatru biker with a Masters in Scandinavian Linguistics.

I'll give you guys a moment to absorb the seemingly impossible paradox that I represent.

Okay, now you've taken a moment, I'd like to say hi and meet the rest of you guys.

Please don't laugh at me.

Hello. I am Drew, a mysterious lurker that has yet to post anywhere on this site. I'm a computer programmer in Yellowknife, Canada, and erupted a few months ago. Well met and welcome to the boards.

Hi, guys. I'm new too. I'm out here on recommendation of my mentor at the Rashoud Facility. She suggested I make connections with other novas.

So, hi to both of you.

Look at all the babes in the woods. Welcome to node-dom. I hope you enjoy your stay. I'm around if you have any questions.

One word of advice: don't decide too quickly what you want to do. You have all the time in the world to decide.

Hi Ria, Drew, and Mitzi. Welcome to the site.

Hello guys! Ria and Drew, thanks for chatting with me yesterday.

Mitzy, I don't post a lot but welcome to this board!

How wonderful. American's weren't bad enough. Now we have filthy monkey's spreading their feces here.

And now you've been whacked by the board's official troll. Please do not feed.

Hey, ya'll, and welcome. Drew I've met, and I look forward to interacting with Mitzi and Ria.

Hey Ria.

Oh and Drew and Mitzi when someone posts a greeting don't be little asshats and hijack it from them. Go post yer own somewhere, this thread ain't for you it's for Ria.

Show fuckin courtesy.

Welcome Ms. Ravensbourne, Drew, and Mrs. Sipra. I hope we can have many good talks here and maybe meet each other face to face at one of the numerous nova get-togethers we have around here.

Primal, chill. We are all relatively new at this.

Thanks for the greetings, everybody!

Primal: No skin off my back if somebody wants to hijack the greeting! They're merely clinging to my greater glory.

Alptraum: You're an embarrassment to your Germanic/Norse ancestors. I come from a lineage of warriors and heroes on both sides, and I am proud of my heritage. I have no more to say to the get of a snake and a fool.

Everybody else: I look forward to meeting you!

Greetings you three!

Ria, I am sorry that I stepped on your toes. I admire that you're gracious enough to ignore it. I look forward to meeting you in person, someday.

Ah, the cheer and goodwill, the eager greetings and pleasant exchanges of those newly arrived. It calls to mind the first idyllic days of primary school, when friendships and smiles are only narrowly outnumbered by the adorable little tots themselves.

Such a pity it is that such halcyon moments cannot last. The delicate flesh of all-encompassing, unending geniality will inevitably be rent asunder by some slight or other, and the unsightly and pernicious viscera of your flaws will be laid bare for all to see.

Welcome, then, newcomers. Welcome, and good luck to you. You will most assuredly need it here.

Awww...somebody have a little trouble making friends? You know, Jackal, I'm pretty much still friends with most - if not all - of the people I met here and liked from the get-go, so I'm not really sure what you're talking about. It's human nature to sometimes fight and take offense, we all do it, but that doesn't make me any less a friend to anybody here. You, sir, I believe, need to relax a bit.



Hi there, Mitzi! Glad to have you around. What Rashoud Facility did you go to? You mind sharing what you can do?



Hello, Drew! Sorry for the belated welcome. Glad to see another new face here, and congrats on surviving your eruption.



And hello to you, Ria! I'm flattered that you'd bother to group me with the other, much more famous and philanthropic members of this board, but thank you, all the same. I have to say, that's quite a curriculum vitae you have, there! As interesting as it is, I wanted to bring special attention to this:

That is the hottest thing I've read in weeks. Teasing Alptraum is good enough, but you sound so confident, so strong... I'd love to get together some time.

Mitzi: You're welcome.

LiberTeen: Thanks to everything you said. Alptraum is small potatoes compared to some of the more extreme Folkish Asatru I've met over the years, all of whom took exception to my mixed ancestry.

I'm a telekinetic, if you're interested - I was actually riding that Honda Valkyrie over the waves by attuning with my quantum signature.

(Yes, those bikes are that light.)

I went to Baltimore's Facility; it's the closest to my house, so it was the logical place to be. I can move faster and make things stop. I'm stronger, faster and more attractive than before. But after hearing what Ria can do, I'm envious!

738lbs? That's one hell of a quantum attunment ya got there kid. Grats.

Well Primal, as far as I have been hearing, the Valkyres are made of Ceramics and reinforced plasting, it might still be migthy heavy, but I'm betting it's not close to 700lbs. =D

Why ya debating? I was congratulating her not arguing with her you idiot.

However the lightest bikes are Yamahas (365-420lbs) the lightest dry weight I've seen on a Valkyrie is 682lbs. If she has gotten it lighter than that I wanna know how, I could use lighter bike.

Carrying mine when I leap over canyons is a pain in the ass sometimes.

Primal: It's the 2009 version that's coming out. About a 100 kilos because it's made from ceramics, titanium and plastics. I still have to use a combination of my lifting telekinesis and flying telekinesis, but it looks awesome to ride the whale-road!

Incidentally, you are HOT!



Mitzi: please don't bitch about whatever nova powers you got, unless they're something completely and utterly lame, like the ability to turn into purple goo or something. My looks and charisma improved, but not to superhuman levels; I do have superhumanly flawless balance, some extra resiliency, and my ability to remember things and learn new languages has improved incredibly.

I still wanna look like a make-up ad whenever I walk out the door though!

Yeah. I know.

Watch out, lady - he bites.

Just a fair warning.

I was not debating Primal, everything you say just sounds so...sarcasm laden, but I figured you didn't knew about the Valkyre specifically.

Turns out I was right, huh?

I bet he is. I'm hardly an expert in terms of international theology, but much of what I've heard about Asatru sounds positively wonderful, in terms of religion, until it gets crudded up with all the 'White Power' stuff. I realize that isn't an integral part of the belief system, but I've noticed it does tend to lend itself to those kind of sensibilities.

Riding a motorcycle over water? That is awesome. I fly, and that's pretty great, but I imagine that must be an experience all its own. I normally don't get that close to water when I'm flying over.



Forgive me if I'm just ignorant of engineering, Primal, but I'd think you'd need a heavier bike to support both your weight and the amount of strain you'd put on such a vehicle. Am I mistaken?

LiberTeen: Awww, you say some of the nicest stuff! People make the habit of assuming that because I'm an Asatru biker, I am therefore involved with white supremacy and crime; the code of conduct I follow is as restrictive as a clergyman's in many ways. I don't drink to excess, I don't take mind-altering substances outside of the odd ritual or two, and I most certainly don't sleep around. (Please don't take that as a criticism of your lifestyle choices - I have defended people's rights to follow their own path, however much I may personally disagree with it).

Clan is important, most certainly, and I consider the Valhalla Riders to be my extended family. I also believe strongly in 'united we stand, divided we fall', and that stronger pagans, like the Asatru, should protect the other groups who can't, through inclination, belief system or just plain inability, defend themselves against some very nasty people from other organised religions out there.

Besides, anyone able to give groups like Focus on the Family (look up Australia's variant Family First) the flying fickle finger of fate and remain completely wholesome doing it earns a special place in my heart. I must confess, my methods are more direct, and more eloquent in a colourful way. Fundamentalists have been the bane of my life since kindergarten and I'm more than happy to return the abuse.

You SO have to come visit the Valhalla Riders clubhouse; you and Alessa are currently the pin-up nova girls for the guys (and a couple girls!) Don't worry, the rules of hearth and hospitality will apply - I'll make sure the guys remain polite.

Coyote: Hey, just 'cause you admire a lion don't mean you want to meet him up close and personal.

Alessa and Primal: Thanks for sticking up for me in your own ways.

Yer thinking to hard Sex Kitten. It's simpler than that.

I'm not talkin' about leaping a canyon while riding it, I'm talkin' about having to get off it, pick it up, and leap it that way.

I can't fly, but I can leap over a mile and carry over a ton so when I get to places my bike can't make it over I have to 'back pack' it. It's no big deal except that they are awkward and the heavier they are the more they shred my shoulder apart when I land. That shit hurts, Libby.

I must apologize for the rather belated nature of my reply to your smiley-stippled post. I've been incommunicado until very recently.

I should point out, however, that I presently consider you a saccharine caricature of a real person, and as such I summarily disregard your abilities or preferences with consideration to social niceties or interpersonal relationships. You're clearly either under the effects of psychotropic chemicals, or suffering from some sort of emotional block which affects your perception of reality; no-one is genuinely that appallingly cheerful.

I am also quite relaxed.

Well Ria, you and I can be best of buds so long as you don't actually LIKE vegamite.

I know it sounds trite, but even though I don't agree with your religious leanings, Ria, I really do have no problem with how you express it. My problem with religion really isn't so much what people believe as how they go about acting on those beliefs, and it's there that I run into so many problems with groups like Focus on the Family. It's unfortunate that there are so many people who use Christianity as a weapon against other people, and it's likewise terribly that there are so many of every sect who seem to have an interest in using their ideology to harm others.

I'm glad you are the way you are, though. And to be honest, I think I'd really like to hear more about what you believe and how you practice it.



I won't lie, Ria. People like that definitely make me angry enough to get violent. They definitely fill me with hate. I don't see anything too terribly wrong with hate: we hate it when people belittle us, or choose not to understand our position, or when people are callous or cruel or wicked, don't we? We should hate injustice and tyranny. I mean, I come from a military home, believe me, I understand things like the use of force and violence to achieve your ends, and I'm not against them. It's just not the way I do things. I try to be a role model. I have to try and be better than the people who are against me, because it's the only way I'll win what I'm really after: I don't want to slay my enemies, I want to win the hearts and minds of the people.



I'd love to! Mind you, they don't have to be too polite. I'm pretty capable of saying "no" when I want to, you know. And I'd love to meet some of your friends.

Tell me, are they all bound by the same sexual rigors you are?



I bet it does. I guess that makes sense, Primal, I just hadn't thought of it that way. For some reason, I have this mental image of you riding some huge motorcycle like elephant Satan going to war, and the idea of you riding a more lightweight machine just kind of makes me laugh.



So because you don't understand how I operate, you've come to the conclusion that I'm either fake or deranged? How enlightened. I'm not happy all the time, Jackal, as some of the people here can personally attest to. But your own attitude is something you can largely control, and when I get up in the morning, I make a choice to be cheerful, seek opportunities to make the world better and help others, and to bravely face obstacles with the understanding that to live is to sometimes suffer and the resolve to see through them and do what I can to make things right. You apparently wake up and choose to brood. Maybe if we had lived each other's lives, we'd understand each other better. As it stands, I don't think either of us is more right than the other. But I promise you, I'm neither high nor stupid; I can just afford to be happy, and it's something I work hard to hold on to.

I gave all of my smileys to her. I wasn't using them.

*snicker*

This board is a scream.

I'm currently calling from San Diego; I've been pretty damn busy lifting shit with my mind and trying not to smack that asshole who's claiming TBO was the result of God's wrath upon novas and their kind. It's kind of frightening that one of Fred Phelps' grandkids actually got to marry and spawn some more, isn't it?

Johnny: Vegemite is an instrument of torture in our household. I prefer Promite.

LiberTeen: Interesting post on several levels you made there, let me answer your points.

Most of my clan (the Riders) don't follow the same rules of conduct I do. I'm the skald and seidh-worker for my club, and that means I need to be clearer of mind than the average Asatruar.

There's also the fact that sleeping around and getting high would only play into fundamentalist stereotypes about pagans of every stripe. I'm a representative for my faith, and so I need to keep that public image in mind.

The irony is that I probably know more on theology than half those so-called 'Men of God'; one of my minors was Scandinavian religious literature.

Oh, and about you wanting to get to know the guys and girls a little better? Go ahead. I'm sure I could work it into a fertility rite to Freya without blushing too much.