Question The Micro-Scenes Discussion thread

Would you believe that this is the scene of Sarah's I personally enjoyed writing the least, so far?

Mostly because it didn't cause me to get really all that emotional writing it, unlike... pretty much every scene of hers except the first two, which didn't really have much to do with her backstory.
I mean, I feel it's important for me personally because it frames how Sarah's going to interact with the rest of Dickinson in my mind, but it also felt kinda "blah" to write, compared to the others.

Was definitely the easiest, technically speaking, though. Half of it was clrl+v for the "return, "beep", return" lines for the heart monitor, which naturally fed into really short lines (for me, I do tend to ramble once I get going.)

^ I think I get it? 'Cause she's just Rage, Rage, Rage... Not much emotional depth, there? Even though the reasons behind it are important to her and stuff?

Currently, I am highly disturbed that a google for "name of British government department for child protection" is not giving me a nice, big clear answer. Like, I thought it would just be "Department of Child Services" or something, but the nearest I can find is stuff that's coming under the 'Department of Education'. (Office of the Children's commissioner)

Like, we've always just referred to it as "Social Services" or "Children protection services" or something colloquially, but I wanted to find the official name, and it's really bothering me that I can't find the official name. I can find numerous charities, but not the actual branch of the government.

Edit to respond @ Malady:
I'm not making her a rager. This is just normal "I'm angry at everything because life is shit" rage.
The pain is fed by the anger, which is fed by the pain at this point.

Kaitha39 wrote: Edit to respond @ Malady:
I'm not making her a rager. This is just normal "I'm angry at everything because life is shit" rage.
The pain is fed by the anger, which is fed by the pain at this point.

Yes. ... I was trying to be funny... Which I probably shouldn't with such a serious topic basis...

... The point I was going for, is that she's basically just angry for the whole scene, so there's not a lot of variation in stuff to make the scene that emotionally provoking in comparison to other scenes? I think?

It's a hope spot, that she's being hugged.
A massively depressing hope spot, that she can't even remember who last hugged her. (Pro-tip, there's a reason she remembers Mum. And er... sorry, what was the age I gave for the funeral? Yeeeeah. Why am I so depressing lately?)
But still a hope spot.

I'm not done being Elrod to Sarah's Kayda, btw ^_^

@elrodw



Loved the info dump! Do I detect a slight influence from "Not Just a Fan"?

Still...you didn't tell us what caliber Kayda likes on her P226. Should we assume .40 S&W because she compared it to the 1911? Or is she a 9mm girl?

I'm glad to know Kayda is a beading enthusiast. The designer bags are so cliche.

Katssun wrote: @elrodw



Loved the info dump! Do I detect a slight influence from "Not Just a Fan"?

Still...you didn't tell us what caliber Kayda likes on her P226. Should we assume .40 S&W because she compared it to the 1911? Or is she a 9mm girl?

I'm glad to know Kayda is a beading enthusiast. The designer bags are so cliche.

There's a slight influence of me and my preferences in all my stories. Example - I love oldies and parodies, and many of my characters over the years have the same musical taste (see, for example, Op Rescue: The New Co-Ed).

9mm. Her dad has a Glock in .40 S&W, but she doesn't like the trigger safety gizmo nor the weight of the polymer-framed pistol when the mag is almost empty - with the steel slide and barrel, it's a bit top-heavy. (I have the same issue ) My fav collectible rifle is a beech-stocked K-31; when my eyes are cooperating, I can put 3 rounds covered by a nickel at 100 yds. 7.5x55 - essentially 30 cal. The rifle is a thing of beauty, built like a Swiss watch! But I also love my Mosin

I'lll admit I'm late to the Harrow scenes, but... Is anyone here willing to bet that the third time could be the charm for Vivian, and even that she could end up on the top precisely because she accounted for her siblings' actions that time?

Kaitha39 wrote: Currently, I am highly disturbed that a google for "name of British government department for child protection" is not giving me a nice, big clear answer. Like, I thought it would just be "Department of Child Services" or something, but the nearest I can find is stuff that's coming under the 'Department of Education'. (Office of the Children's commissioner)

Like, we've always just referred to it as "Social Services" or "Children protection services" or something colloquially, but I wanted to find the official name, and it's really bothering me that I can't find the official name. I can find numerous charities, but not the actual branch of the government.

This service is not covered by the central government in the UK. We have a very convoluted system that has evolved over centuries

The main elected body is the Parliament.The political parties that have the majority of seats in Parliament is the Government. The main administrative body is the Civil Service.

Parliament sets the standards of service, raises the taxes, and, covers the funding. The Civil Service checks the operations are running to the chosen standards. Provision of services is done by the local government. This would be the local borough in the case of towns/cities, or the local councils covering a geographic region, in the case of rural area's.

And it is organised and run differently in England, Scotland Wales, and, Northern Ireland.

In general, the name used to describe the whole bureaucratic mess is "Social Services" or "Child Protection Services", but that's just the laypersons terms.

Because you have multiple entities within a bureaucratic system, they would only be referred to by their correct name, by someone who was experienced in dealing with that system.

This also gives lots of opportunities for local-corruption/national-scale-corruption/accidental-mis-communication/deliberate-mis-communication/incompetence, as well as leaving cracks for people to slip through, in both helpful and malicious ways.

And all of this is before you add in the regular top-down re-organisations that happen from the horse-trading/politicking in the top levels of the government.

It's a very british kind of mess...

@elrod: The timing of this aspect is, ah, interesting for me. I am not into firearms much at all, except for some interest in the oddball bits of tech and history here and there, but I have been watching some of the 'forgotten weapons' channel's YouTube videos lately. Just today, a reference on that very series has made me think that it would be interesting to mention that a character - one not from France, Spain, or any former French or Spanish territories - carries a Ruby .32 for some reason, just to try and figure out how he or she happened to be using it.

Why? Because I was intrigued by the history of them. Basically, 'Ruby' is a generic term for several variants of the FN .32 ACP (AKA the 1903 Browning, which they had the licensed rights to) produced under contract in Spain. During WWI, the demand spiked beyond what Fabrique National could fill, so at the end of 1914 they contracted with a Spanish arms manufacturer; as the demand rose from 10,00 per month to over 50,000 per month, they in turn contracted with five or six others in Spain. Nearly a million were produced, but by late 1915 when the demand started climbing, the pressure to make more (and the fact that not all of the manufacturers were very scrupulous) led to a lot of poor construction and poor interchangeability.

At its best, it's apparently a great gun, easy to both handle and maintain, but a lot of them were sub-par and/or saw a lot of rough handling.

(A similar set of circumstances, combined with botched bore conversions by the US Army and inappropriate tactical application also by the US, was a big part of why the Chauchat is often called the worst gun of the war - it wasn't, quite, but it certainly wasn't a good gun even at the best of times.)

Anyway, long story short, it's a gun that was used all over French controlled territory in both World Wars, and often seen on both sides of the fights between the Maquis and the Vichy army, but I gather that in the US is mostly known only to collectors. It is also one which, despite huge production runs, can vary greatly in value depending on the quality of the build and the history of the gunsmiths.

The obvious answer is that it was brought to the US as a prize by a GI who fought in either France or Vietnam, but I'd still need a reason for the character to use it specifically rather than keep it in collection or sell it - sure, the ammunition is standard .32 ACP, and presumably they would be using a well-made variant, but why actually use it in combat today?

As I said, my interest in firearms is purely intellectual, so I have no real understanding of them, and never will. For reasons which I don't fully understand myself, and tend to get me odd looks when I try to explain them, I refuse to so much as touch any hand firearm at all, even by accident(I don't think that the reasons would apply to long arms for some reason, though I don't dare test that theory). So, it is a bit odd for me to even take the topic into consideration at all.

@Kaitha - Aww! Hugs!

And not-hugs... ... Leanna's really, really angry. How did she learn that they fucked?? Gossip or Loose Lips or something...

And Telepathy Hug! ... Those fonts! PaintingTheMedium well! ... Cliffhanger of her reaction, sooo much!

@Rose - Vigils! So nice! ... The sadness of bring suddenly alone! ... Oooh! Flashback! ... Gruesome... I bet these people have screwed up, bringing Metro into this. ....And her awakening's detected!

... Hmm... She's not in her body... New Power of Astral Projection or something, searching for Donnie? ... Or, just a metaphor for catatonia??

Metaphor.

Rose Bunny wrote: Metaphor.

Or, a programmed defense mechanism to defeat telepathic interrogation while the transport unit reconfigures itself, probably to something more lethal. But how would anyone know?

I mean sure, you could program a biocontainer to just shut down its high regeneration capacity when not in use so one can avoid regen clones proliferating. But who'd want to do that?

Or maybe that?

Malady wrote: @Kaitha - Aww! Hugs!

And not-hugs... ... Leanna's really, really angry. How did she learn that they fucked?? Gossip or Loose Lips or something...

And Telepathy Hug! ... Those fonts! PaintingTheMedium well! ... Cliffhanger of her reaction, sooo much!

I kinda answered this in the latest scene, which I'm not sure I'm happy with the way I worded the dialogue.

I knew I wanted Blotter having a rant at Runic while she did detention inside Poe, but I feel it came out a little... expository?
Changing formatting for bold, italics and underline really brings out the pain in certain words for Sarah. Just having the "know" and "saw" changing works really well for pointing out the paranoid panicking she's going through, I feel.

And hugs are always good. Next scene I want to do is addressing the cliffhanger of the hug, but I'm getting muse-block on it.

OMG. Leanna Psychology! So awesome! So informative! So Sad! But understandable!

And we get more info on her mom!

... I got Tempest mixed up with Hippolyta, thinking she was muscular?

Nice alliteration, with "perform, let alone pilfer his poison".

I didn't know he was a rapist... Or is she being pejorative... Although, Sarah was high when they fucked... I guess that could count??

Malady wrote: And we get more info on her mom!

I'm assuming that in Britain, with the NHS and lawyers, you need to have a license to heal and it needs to be done in official methods and with paperwork.

Which is kinda hard to do on the scene of a car crash. And though you'd think that there would be some kind of "life or death situation" clause in the legal works, I don't think Rupert Murdoch's newspapers would care in this world, let alone one that hates mutants, about such clauses to prevent publishing trash stories.
I mean, they hacked into a dead girl's mobile phone answer box in order to get news stories. They don't have much in the way of standards....

... I got Tempest mixed up with Hippolyta, thinking she was muscular?

Tempest is Sharisha. The overweight black girl with a problem with Toni, who constantly tried to get Vox to break up with Phase.
Hippolyta is from either Afganistan or Pakistan (I don't remember atm) and was entered into a child marriage. She's in the FSoA and part of Sara's Pack.

I didn't know he was a rapist... Or is she being pejorative... Although, Sarah was high when they fucked... I guess that could count??

She's kinda being pejorative. She's never actually had any of the potion, but she saw Stephen try to dope one of her sleepovers with it. I see Stephen's potion as kinda being like, it makes you lustful for sex the same way being hungry would make you want chocolate?
Like, you really really want it, and you would really really enjoy it, but you're still perfectly able to turn it down and go eat an omelet or something instead.

...
This metaphor is making me hungry when it's time to go to bed over here....

Malady wrote: Nice alliteration, with "perform, let alone pilfer his poison"

But he wouldn't pilfer (steal) from himself. Maybe "peddle" or "push"?

Malady wrote: Although, Sarah was high when they fucked... I guess that could count??

Was she in a position to give consent? They did agree to have sex before she got high.
Did he pressure her into continuing to agree to it? No.
The trouble is that she was in crisis going in, something that can't be conveniently tracked with blood tests and alcohol analyzers. That might make a legal case very hard to bring to trial, especially if drugs were involved afterward.

On the other paw, she was mentally in no condition to make a responsible choice when she walked in the den with the intent to exchange sex for something to take the pain away. (She's clearly self-medicating for underlying problems in addition to her addiction. Leave those to fend for themselves, and an addict can quickly kiss their sobriety goodbye as the same-old, same-old begins to surround them again.)

null0trooper wrote: But he wouldn't pilfer (steal) from himself. Maybe "peddle" or "push"?

This is one of the reasons I edit so much. 3AM BST is not the best time to be checking your work.
Though she could have been meaning it as a contranym...
Besides, it's dialogue. People usually don't always talkings right words correct for speech. ^_^

Malady wrote: Although, Sarah was high when they fucked... I guess that could count??

On the other hand, For length:

For null0trooper's scene:
At first I wasn't sure, but I like it. If it's Sarah's PoV though, needs more swearing, especially self-depreciation.
Some little continuity errors though:
1. Dr. Tenet and Whateley don't know anything about Reece. WPC Jenkins didn't actually believe Sarah started as a boy, so she didn't put it in the report. Hence why Sarah is in Dickinson, not Poe.
2. Sarah didn't meet any other girls in Ryan's care.
- Slight querk of British Sex law: Prostitution itself is legal (ignore that Sarah's only fourteen. Ryan never asked.) Just about anything else about prostitution is illegal, including running a brothel. Two girls offering services in the same building makes it count as a brothel.
So I imagine most pimps, in an effort to keep some form of legal defense when the boys in blue find them, would keep their girls in separate flats in separate buildings.
I mean, some won't care to, but I imagine some will.
Edit: 3. Probably would be better for it to be not Tuesday, since Sarah's now going to be having to visit Dr. Markham then.

Kaitha39 wrote: For null0trooper's scene:
At first I wasn't sure, but I like it. If it's Sarah's PoV though, needs more swearing, especially self-depreciation.
Some little continuity errors though:
1. Dr. Tenet and Whateley don't know anything about Reece. WPC Jenkins didn't actually believe Sarah started as a boy, so she didn't put it in the report. Hence why Sarah is in Dickinson, not Poe.

Ah. I didn't catch that. Mads would have picked up on the "blue threads" because, a) in his culture, gender reassignment is a known quantity, and b) he always scrutinizes people he doesn't know.

Kaitha39 wrote: 2. Sarah didn't meet any other girls in Ryan's care.
- Slight querk of British Sex law: Prostitution itself is legal (ignore that Sarah's only fourteen. Ryan never asked.) Just about anything else about prostitution is illegal, including running a brothel. Two girls offering services in the same building makes it count as a brothel.
So I imagine most pimps, in an effort to keep some form of legal defense when the boys in blue find them, would keep their girls in separate flats in separate buildings.
I mean, some won't care to, but I imagine some will.

I did not know that. Hm.

Kaitha39 wrote: Edit: 3. Probably would be better for it to be not Tuesday, since Sarah's now going to be having to visit Dr. Markham then.

Can do. By this point, Ito's thrown Metro and Valravn out of the dojo at least once for Mads coming to class badly dehydrated (winter heating + one student who shouldn't be breathing dry air all the time.) Doctor Tenent could have arranged a chance meeting.

@Kattsun - OMFG! It's Stacy! Awww! So cute! ... I was wondering why this scene, then I went to check the names!

Any guesses at what Stacy's two words to Gavin were?

Hint: They are not, "Me too."

"I know."

"Of course."

"Marry me"

"I'm pregnant."

"Fuck me" - or any variation of asking him to come back to her room for that follow-up.

"Same here."

Lol if she's pregnant too.

Hint #2: The Fort Wayne stories are set in 2007, and they planned to send Jordan to Whateley for 2008 because they couldn't afford it in 2007. Cora manifested at least a year earlier than Stacy expected.

Given that I already suggested pregnancy and the method to create a pregnancy, I'm now more confused.

Cause the maths says that 92 pregnancy would make Jordan a 93 birth, making him 14 in 2007, so that would be the obvious answer.
But more hints suggest that it's not either of those.

It was absolutely "I'm pregnant."

Jordan is 14 or 15 in 2007.

Stacy and Gavin are both college dropouts. That's a big part of why Angela funding all four kids is important. Stacy gives Angela free day-care and training in exchange for Whateley tuition for Jordan and Junior High admission for Cordelia.

That guantlet needs a name. I vote for "Nutcracker".

NJM1564 wrote: That guantlet needs a name. I vote for "Nutcracker".

Wasn't that the name of a Japanese game show ?

I tried to make it super obvious. It's Subaru's Revolver Knuckle from Nanoha StrikerS.

I expect Jade to lose it when she sees Cora with it on campus.

I give Jade about an hour after seeing the gauntlet before she is trying to get her own one way or another....

Anne wrote: I give Jade about an hour after seeing the gauntlet before she is trying to get her own one way or another....

Ditto for Nephandus.

NJM1564 wrote:

Anne wrote: I give Jade about an hour after seeing the gauntlet before she is trying to get her own one way or another....

Ditto for Nephandus.

Jay-Arm is part of the reason I wrote the Yates siblings the way I did. He shouldn't be one of the few examples that want to combine magic and technology since he's such a creep. It's a natural fit because their mother is a Wiz who doesn't believe in the superiority of magic and their father is a gadgeteer.

But Jay-Arm is still brilliant in his own way, so it should take two people to do what he's capable of by himself.

Katssun wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Anne wrote: I give Jade about an hour after seeing the gauntlet before she is trying to get her own one way or another....

Ditto for Nephandus.

Jay-Arm is part of the reason I wrote the Yates siblings the way I did. He shouldn't be one of the few examples that want to combine magic and technology since he's such a creep. It's a natural fit because their mother is a Wiz who doesn't believe in the superiority of magic and their father is a gadgeteer.

But Jay-Arm is still brilliant in his own way, so it should take two people to do what he's capable of by himself.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 2 people to melt down there life's work.

And I dought it's as rare as it seems. After all you would mostly hear about it after it goes kaboom. And we know that in the courts there was a kinda magictechness by way of Kodiak's bracers.

NJM1564 wrote: I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 2 people to melt down there life's work.

And I dought it's as rare as it seems. After all you would mostly hear about it after it goes kaboom. And we know that in the courts there was a kinda magictechness by way of Kodiak's bracers.

I'm not so sure. The vibe at Whateley (and among the superhero/villain community) tends to be pretty adverse to combining magic and devisor tech, despite the running theory from the magic side that devisors are basically mages anyway.

I've always assumed it's a pride thing. The devisors don't want to admit they're doing magic, since they think their inspirations are rooted in scientific principles, and the mages don't want to admit that years of study can be supplanted by a technology nerd who had an epiphany while eating Weet-Bix when their spoon dipped into the milk in a weird way.

Like the cute rivalry between the Psychic and Magic departments at Whateley.

One of the things that Metro had learned on his fourth initiation was "centering" (Using words of power, prayer, gestures, etc. to focus one's concentration while working magic so one doesn't risk backlash so badly), but I never could think of what the guy would naturally do to achieve that, with him so paranoid about being ID'd as a mage in a firefight.

That's one of the things I'll be keeping from the ill-fated Carentan micro series: for his ranged spells, he'll be "shooting" through his (optical) scope or down his pistol sights. Going with something, even though it's technology-based, that's been part of his life. And... it gets rid of any pesky windows or token forcefields that might bounce the spell or set it off before going all the way down-range. That wouldn't work for touch-based spells, but many of those spells can be part of a procedure (first responder steps for first aid and CPR, breaking out a mirror and makeup kit for an illusory appearance one doesn't have down cold, etc.) or ritual anyway.

For an example of this consider the motions and means that Caitlin Bardeau uses to focus her intent. Her latest life began as Eric Mahern, who was a Marine before he became the Range teacher at Whateley. She uses guns or throwing motions to focus her intent.

hmmm... one would think more writers would have their characters stick their foot in their mouths with Shelly. Well done.

Rose Bunny wrote: hmmm... one would think more writers would have their characters stick their foot in their mouths with Shelly. Well done.

There's even a method to the madness. No one ever asks why the students on detention can't go to Boston, or even to Dunwich without close supervision.

That doesn't mean he always enjoys being the default Security fill-in or plus-one in the sims. Imagine being tasked to even out the numbers on Bravo's team, or Peeper's, or Pucelle's?

Katssun wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 2 people to melt down there life's work.

And I dought it's as rare as it seems. After all you would mostly hear about it after it goes kaboom. And we know that in the courts there was a kinda magictechness by way of Kodiak's bracers.

I'm not so sure. The vibe at Whateley (and among the superhero/villain community) tends to be pretty adverse to combining magic and devisor tech, despite the running theory from the magic side that devisors are basically mages anyway.

I've always assumed it's a pride thing. The devisors don't want to admit they're doing magic, since they think their inspirations are rooted in scientific principles, and the mages don't want to admit that years of study can be supplanted by a technology nerd who had an epiphany while eating Weet-Bix when their spoon dipped into the milk in a weird way.

Like the cute rivalry between the Psychic and Magic departments at Whateley.

I think one of the specifically stated problems is gathering enough essence to actually do anything with it. Tech tends to require a pretty steady power source. And early work would be terribly inefficient.
And simple things would cause big accidents. Like the inability to gauge or control the kind of power needed power. Nefy never invented anything like a circuit breaker, fuse, or resister. With some mutants wiz rating and someone who was thinking clearly and not getting all giddy over making a, male virility enhancer wasn't it, wouldn't have that sort of problem.

null0trooper wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: That guantlet needs a name. I vote for "Nutcracker".

Wasn't that the name of a Japanese game show ?

I wonder if they would beg to have Nasty the Horse on, or want to make sure he doesn't ever go on at all.


Yes, this is what he does for a living. And yes, he has children, and he made a point of testing make sure that he's their biological father.

I once tweeted him asking him if he was bitten by a radioactive ball bearing as a kid; he tweeted back saying no, he was the result of a top-secret government experiment...

Katssun wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 2 people to melt down there life's work.

And I dought it's as rare as it seems. After all you would mostly hear about it after it goes kaboom. And we know that in the courts there was a kinda magictechness by way of Kodiak's bracers.

"Any sufficiently analysed magic is indistinguishable from Science!"

Just because you are using a different flavour of materials for the implementation, doesn't mean that you can't use the same algorithms to structure the architecture.

Katssun wrote: I'm not so sure. The vibe at Whateley (and among the superhero/villain community) tends to be pretty adverse to combining magic and devisor tech, despite the running theory from the magic side that devisors are basically mages anyway.

I've always assumed it's a pride thing. The devisors don't want to admit they're doing magic, since they think their inspirations are rooted in scientific principles, and the mages don't want to admit that years of study can be supplanted by a technology nerd who had an epiphany while eating Weet-Bix when their spoon dipped into the milk in a weird way.

Compare the discussions at the end of Silent Nacht.

Katssun wrote: Like the cute rivalry between the Psychic and Magic departments at Whateley.

That's not cute. It's standard MO between different departments within the same bureaucratic structure. They're both competing for the same resources with departmental budgets.

The differing world-views held by the faculty members, and how those cause some of the inherent conflicts, is just the "Cherry on the Shit-Cake".

Mister D wrote:

Katssun wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 2 people to melt down there life's work.

And I dought it's as rare as it seems. After all you would mostly hear about it after it goes kaboom. And we know that in the courts there was a kinda magictechness by way of Kodiak's bracers.

"Any sufficiently analysed magic is indistinguishable from Science!"

Just because you are using a different flavour of materials for the implementation, doesn't mean that you can't use the same algorithms to structure the architecture.

But the trick is running the analyses. Wasn't it mentioned that 10 quantum computers from the gen 2 timeline, run by a way past human smart demon no less, wasn't able really get anywhere with the Mutant Meta-Gene Complex. All she managed to do was imprint herself on another.

@Rose - Yay! She's gonna get help! ... At least, it ''seems'' like a good thing...

How is Lucy's mind gonna differ from others', and what will it mean? Mysterious!

Typo: "was string into seemingly nothing" > "was staring into seemingly nothing"

@Kettlekorn - LOL! ... I thought it was Rose's, until I saw your name in the notification...

... Wonder what the mail would be saying... 'Cause it's just soo weird! ... Ah, well, a good joke, at least!

Malady wrote: @Kettlekorn - LOL! ... I thought it was Rose's, until I saw your name in the notification...

... Wonder what the mail would be saying... 'Cause it's just soo weird! ... Ah, well, a good joke, at least!

"Greetings!

I am Prince Abdul Wassuf of Nigeria and I have a business proposition for you."

In my best Queen of England voice: " We are not amused".

Rose Bunny wrote: In my best Queen of England voice: " We are not amused".

Th Return of Clippy would have been scarier, but Millenials and triggers.

What can I say? I saw the entry on Push in the wiki, and the speculation that it was supposed to be Shove but that Diane had made a mistake, and decided I needed to try and square that circle.

@Rose - Woah... That impact! Good to see the Sims guys getting better at Psych!

Renata... Renata... Where have I seen that before...

@Schol-R-LEA: A bit of siblng rivalry can go a long way!

It's not quite as cruel as taking an already-paranoid kid, whose life for the past few years has depended on him not being identified, and making him a viral meme on the WU internet.


Since I'm lazy, it sets up a holiday scene or two; helps justify expanding a RL 2007 anti-bullying initiative, and maybe adopting a variation of Australia's “Provoking a Paranormal Berserker” law (Given the collateral damage when Lady Hydra took down the Twelve Jurors, it might not be a hard sell in Copenhagen.)

Malady wrote:
Renata... Renata... Where have I seen that before...

It's Lake!

November 5th is Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes Night or Fireworks Night, in the UK.

Basically, because some Catholic guy got caught trying to hide a bunch of gunpowder on November fifth, that some Catholic friends of his wanted to use to blow up the UK's Protestant King and his Parliament of the time, so they could put a new Catholic King on the throne instead. They all got hanged, but we remember the thing by creating a big fire, making effigies of both Fawkes and the Pope (mostly out of out clothes and newspapers), and watching them burn on the big fire. You've probably heard of Guy Fawkes, he's supposed to be represented on the mask used by "V for Vendetta" and that mask's adoption by Anonymous.

Or we used to celebrate it that way. I haven't seen any Guys being burned in the last few years. Now it seems we just have the big fire and a fireworks display.
So in the WU, it makes sense that a mutant who can create fireworks would get hired to do the display instead. Have you ever been hit by a fireworks waste particle? It doesn't hurt bad, but it comes as an exceptional surprise.

Aww! It's a sweet scene! Except for the sad parts about her discrimination, but it ends on a happy note!

OH! I just realized why not more Exemplars are doing intelligence work! Heracles and Galahad Syndromes encourage them otherwise!

Intelligence work as in "Spy-kids intrigue" and James Bond stuff?

or Intelligence work as in, stuff that uses your brain, like accounting?
Because I don't really see why those two Syndromes would discourage accounting? It's basically just maths and book-keeping, if my layman's idea is correct about it...
IDK, I'm not an accountant.

The Brainy stuff.

Hercules Syndromes makes them physical and impulsive, while Galahad Syndrome makes them pick a cause and stick at it?

... Brainy work usually involves a lot of staying still and thinking, which Exemplars usually would find boring?

Sorta ADHD in some representation?

I dunno, I could be wrong. I'm expecting a world where Exemplars go into a lot of Science to have more differences from our world than it does, but, my assumptiins are likely wrong, and there's disincentives, mainly anti-mutantism that lowers the success of mutant based businesses...

Lol if there's a group of mutants working to change things, but... not... going the SMI2LE route! Might that be what the Brainy Exemplars are doing?? ... ... How many Exemplars go the Mad Science Route?

Gee, take a lucky guess as to which set of "Extra History" videos I was just watching...

@Domo

Why am I projecting the Heather in your scene is Heather Goodkind?

It would be perfect if Heather was also somehow hiding that she was a mutant.

I also humbly request an utterly non-canon brawl between mutant Heather Goodkind and Tansy and Jadis.

Katssun wrote: @Domo

Why am I projecting the Heather in your scene is Heather Goodkind?

It would be perfect if Heather was also somehow hiding that she was a mutant.

I also humbly request an utterly non-canon brawl between mutant Heather Goodkind and Tansy and Jadis.

No clue why you'd do that. Heather Goodkind isn't in Canada.
And I'll let you do that, I've got so many projects up in the air right now it's fun and exciting but leaves no room for extra stuff.

Domoviye wrote: And I'll let you do that, I've got so many projects up in the air right now it's fun and exciting but leaves no room for extra stuff.

Challenge Accepted!

Ironically, the "like," as punctuation and ending every sentence with a question mark is why Penny is one of my favourite characters to create dialogue for, even if this is the first time I've actually had her speak on material I've posted.

Domoviye wrote: No clue why you'd do that. Heather Goodkind isn't in Canada.

Right! Obviously this is Heather MacNeil!

(Better known by her married name, though presumably they never met in this world...)

Schwartzchild is hilarious!

@Rose! ... She's awake! Yay! ... But there's a lot more healing to do... And Donnie's been unseen for 3 weeks... ...

Most shocking line: "Even the most cruel and vicious bullies and Ultra-violents had shown worry and compassion."

Well Mal... given what happened. She was crucified... and then as if that wasn't enough, they didn't kill her, they even did things to prevent her from healing. Like capping her dismembered legs, inserting a block in her chest... that's some sadistic level stuff.

What? no... What?

Just because she wasn't injected, that doesn't mean there weren't other delivery methods possible. The items used on her could have been coated in it, for example.

Mmm... True, it's just that injects are the most common delivery method of things... But they had access to her insides, for even more direct delivery...

And not impossible that the evidence dissolved so that they won't find any remanants and stuff...

So, she's a lower regen level right now...



... Who will find Donnie first, I wonder... Metro, or Lucy, or will Donnie return, as a threat... Ohh... Lucy fighting Donnie... Nooo... ... Or something else?? ... That Doctor Dricks...

Mal, you are missing the obvious... she was impaled with several items, they were probably coated with the regen-retardant.

Kettlekorn wrote:

Warning: Spoiler! [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

I wonder how much longer it's going to take take them to realize that she never had regen to begin with.

Malady wrote: Most shocking line: "Even the most cruel and vicious bullies and Ultra-violents had shown worry and compassion."

Many of the known bullies are former victims who don't realize that even though their former abusers can no longer harm them they can still be hurt badly.

Now imagine asking someone like Metro for the low-down on what they saw when they found the body: "Here. Let me jack in to the monitor there, and I can walk you through it." followed by a clinical description of injuries and local conditions. Of course, the narrator is also observing your reactions, to see if somewhere down the line you might become a problem to be eliminated.

Generator, of course, strikes me as the next most likely to do that.

@Rose - She's out! ... And missing her brother... I hope they meet again soon...

Maybe with Bio-Dev help, she can be Regen-7 again, but her brother is more important...

Has he been gone for a month now? That's a long, long time... ... Mobile makes it check deets...

... Yep, about a month. ... How patient is Devisor's Boss?? Or has something happened at the facility?? ... Mysteries, mysteries...

@Rose - How about "Discards"? ... I forget why they called themselves the Rejects, though...

Malady wrote: @Rose - How about "Discards"? ... I forget why they called themselves the Rejects, though...

They are going with Dregs, and it's used in irony, since most of them feel like they got some sort of bad break, either in the power aspect, or in life.

For the most part... Backslide doesn't have that "My power caused X, which is crappy" or "Life keeps punching me in the face" element... that we know of.

But essentially it's a shared feeling of not being "the lucky ones"...

Very interesting Domo. Makes me wonder, does she have some sort of active power, like a backwards glamour? Instead of people liking her, It makes people hate her?

Rose Bunny wrote: Very interesting Domo. Makes me wonder, does she have some sort of active power, like a backwards glamour? Instead of people liking her, It makes people hate her?

Calla was at that the one a baseline. She is just extremely unfortunate.

And I loved Henri. A true dumbass who rightly earned his Darwin Award.

^ So why the hate from the super?? Her appearance brings up bad memories? ... Mysterious. ... Gotta refresh on her previous appearance.

...

@Rose: :Rofl: ... And here I thought he Darwin Awarded through a non-human transform or something.

Rose Bunny wrote: But essentially it's a shared feeling of not being "the lucky ones"...

I have to wonder where Metro would fit on that Sliding Scale of Lucky Ones, from "Sign Me Up!" (e.g., Chaka) to "Once the poison takes effect, take me straight to the crematorium, so you can bury my liberally-salted ashes in an unmarked grave on consecrated land" (A directive that's far more common in the Dunwich area than "Living Wills", even among the high school kids.)

Malady wrote: ^ So why the hate from the super?? Her appearance brings up bad memories? ... Mysterious. ... Gotta refresh on her previous appearance.

I have three shorts that have Sabawaelnu mentioned, appearing or being the main character. whateleyacademy.net/index.php/forum/sear...ldforums=1&catids=15

Domoviye wrote:

Malady wrote: ^ So why the hate from the super?? Her appearance brings up bad memories? ... Mysterious. ... Gotta refresh on her previous appearance.

I have three shorts that have Sabawaelnu mentioned, appearing or being the main character. whateleyacademy.net/index.php/forum/sear...ldforums=1&catids=15

Is it Heracles Syndrome?

Or a touch of the Mutant-Supremacist attitude towards baselines?

Either way, chewy.

Harsh, but still chewy.

@Rose - So, signals from spies can go off campus... piggybacking on the WARS signal, or something, perhaps.

And so, the intended recipient is somewhere where the WARS signal gets to?

Detective Metro!

Malady wrote: @Rose - So, signals from spies can go off campus... piggybacking on the WARS signal, or something, perhaps.

And so, the intended recipient is somewhere where the WARS signal gets to?

Detective Metro!

Nope. Cellular telephone traffic, which is also modulated RF energy, gets in and out just fine, because the campus is not even remotely enclosed in a Faraday cage let alone TEMPEST shielded as a whole. Also, Whateley Security occasionally relays police radio traffic from mobile units off-campus.

WARS only broadcasts at 10W, from a location in the White Mountains. Even if mountains and hills weren't pretty good at attenuating a radio signal, the station would still only have a 2-4 mile range. That signal is not going to be reaching Vermont except under special atmospheric conditions allowing the broadcast to bounce just right, OR they've adopted live-streaming over the internet.

From the Wiki:

... For a starter, a talisman was created by Circe and embedded into the microphone that would keep the DJs from accidentally mixing code and real names to allow someone to put together who a person really was. This worked automatically without the DJ having to use the dump button. DJs could speak freely, without fear of a slip of the tongue.

Further, Gizmo put together a device that would allow DJs to speak freely, addressing local items and landmarks, but out the W.A.R.S. feed would go replacement names for the local items, such as Berlin, that would keep the school from being traced. In fact, these names change every fifty miles or so, so that trying to trace the school through them, or trying to figure out what they avoid, would be practically impossible.

A devise that is able to detect place names, and spoof the outbound frequency-modulated signal from the point of origin such that the place names are changed every 50 miles without jamming the broadcast entirely? I'm not buying it, even from WoG.

Mkiay, well I messed that one up... I'll kill it and hrm...

Nullo, while on the whole I agree that there wouldn't be such a Faraday cage spell over the campus... some of your arguments aren't particularly convincing.

The cellphone one, for instance, fails utterly because there is canon evidence that there are cell towers inside the campus. More than one, in fact. These towers can be connected by landline/fibre-optic cable to the telcos outside, with no need for an RF signal.

Furthermore, if the goal was just to avoid WARS being picked up off-campus, the shielding enchantment could be over a relatively narrow band.

As for the devise... well, doing impossible things is pretty much the definition of a devise.

The biggest question is why an experienced magician would ask a random muggle that he doesn't know personally what the two sorceresses were up to, when he could just sit there, watch, and analyze the spellcasting.

Whether the muggle doesn't really know what's going on (degraded signal from noise, interference, or jamming) or is b.s.-ing (man in the middle attack) in essence he'd be relying on an unsecured relay for the information he needed, when he has the sensors to capture the relevant data at the source and has the analysis suite to convert that data to information.

That doesn't make it an exercise in pointlessness, because comparing the two sets of records obtained might have value in looking for a point at which transmissions are being compromised or for internal and mutual inconsistencies that may highlight analysis bias and/or errors.

I dunno, she's a gadgeteer... could have been talking about the technological portion, but anyhow... if you have ideas for making it viable... you know where my inboxs is.

@Katssun - Ohh! A enhanced art ability power! Cool! ... Not really useful for combat, unless there's Required Secondary Powers, but still cool!

...

@Domoviye - That's a great scene! ... Sad for Ellie, but great scene!

Malady wrote: @Katssun - Ohh! A enhanced art ability power! Cool! ... Not really useful for combat, unless there's Required Secondary Powers, but still cool!

I get the impression that Adriana is That Damned Good at mathematics and visualization, to the point that curve-fitting a complex fractal equation to a scribble is trivial for her. Her project for Imp may have been to project the intersection of a higher-dimensional graph into three spatial dimensions in her head before drawing six perspectives, two for each spatial axis.

One doesn't often think of draftsmanship, cartography, scientific visualization as Art, but Imp IS a trained artist. I think she'd be down with what Adriana's capable of, combat applications or not.

null0trooper wrote:

Malady wrote: @Katssun - Ohh! A enhanced art ability power! Cool! ... Not really useful for combat, unless there's Required Secondary Powers, but still cool!

I get the impression that Adriana is That Damned Good at mathematics and visualization, to the point that curve-fitting a complex fractal equation to a scribble is trivial for her. Her project for Imp may have been to project the intersection of a higher-dimensional graph into three spatial dimensions in her head before drawing six perspectives, two for each spatial axis.

One doesn't often think of draftsmanship, cartography, scientific visualization as Art, but Imp IS a trained artist. I think she'd be down with what Adriana's capable of, combat applications or not.

With the right training it would work as a strategic ability.

There was a variant of chess described by David Gerrold, in the first book of the Chtorr Series.

The first change was from a flat 2D board, to a cylindrical board, where the sides wrapped around. That was then adapted to a 3d spherical board. Then a number of variant pieces were added, with a different range of movement patterns, and areas of attack.

The next change that was made, was that of perspective. Instead of focusing on the individual pieces, the players would focus upon the area of effect, as in the range of spaces that the piece could move to, and could attack.

This gives a very different approach towards strategy in the game.

One school of chess strategy describes a chess game as a balance between the number of pieces, and, the Tempi that they have. (Tempi is the concept of "room to maneuver".) So you have the interplay between having enough pieces to be able to follow a strategy for winning, vs. the tendency of the pieces to get in each others way in start-game/ability to block in the endgame.

This gives a very good way of creating models of force projection within a 3-dimensional space.

Teaching Adriana to express her talent in ways that did not involve ink on paper, but in terms of physical movement, ( and this is not as much of a stretch as you would think, as she has to use her limbs to hold the brushes/pens...), and you would have the basis for an excellently analytical, AND intuitive, Devisor-trait-based martial art.

Ito would find her an interesting student, as once she has moved past the point of studying the physical training, and moved to the point of trained reflex, she would then have to find that point-of-balance between being lost in the Devisor-flow, and, being able to defend herself physically.

Bardue would teach her how to take a single glance at a battlefield, and, know what the combatants were planning to do.

And that's without the Mystic Arts faculty having to teach her mental shielding, and discrimination, so that she doesn't end up creating paintings that make your eyes bleed, or that you can use to walk between worlds...

Chewy Chewy Chewy.

The point was that she's actually bad at math, but inherently understands scale, perspective, and projection. She draws fractals freehand.

It's all visual for her. Imp correctly guessed that she might be good at drafting.

She's an exemplar, so she can just memorize the books, but that doesn't mean she actually understands it. It's like how Morgana is sensitive enough to see magic as she draws the runes, but is "colorblind" and can't manage in regular classes so they're having Caitlin teach her and other struggling students.

Maybe Adriana will have better luck in geometry.

Katssun wrote: The point was that she's actually bad at math, but inherently understands scale, perspective, and projection. She draws fractals freehand.

It's all visual for her. Imp correctly guessed that she might be good at drafting.

She's an exemplar, so she can just memorize the books, but that doesn't mean she actually understands it.

Maybe she'll have better luck in geometry.

Evidently, she will have to get math the hard way. If she can memorize the books then eventually she hopefully will be able to do the problems when they are in real life rather than canned...

Katssun wrote: Maybe Adriana will have better luck in geometry.

If she can be shown how to visualize statistical operations as different ways to describe sizes/shapes/movements of a collection of objects, Adrianna's ability is still massively useful.

Malady wrote: ...

@Domoviye - That's a great scene! ... Sad for Ellie, but great scene!

Warning: Spoiler! [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

The manifested girl immediately threw herself on the closet guy, rubbing her breasts in his face, and moaning something too quietly to be heard from their side of Crystal Hall. "Shit! Juliette!"

My first thought was "They named her manifestations?" ... Then I was corrected.

The girl jerked and fell to the ground much to the boys disappointment.

Lol at the boys. ... Soo glad that Ellie doesn't have Pain Share.

Marigold right in her bony chest.

The skeletal like girl

Thought she was the skeleton girl of the micros far into the past. I was wrong, but cool though!


...

Ah. Not all are from the Lending Library? ... It seems most are new... Always nice to see!

Pretty much every character in the flash fic was made on the spur of the minute. I knew I wanted a speedster but beyond that it was just a case of what made the most sense to the story. I may use them in some more stories but we'll see what happens.

ShadowedSin Good story. And I can tell you that letting out some of your pain in writing is very effective. Although it can lead your writing to very dark places.
Can't wait to see the next part.

Does Terry Pratchett exist in the WU?

In the Discworld narrative universe, the D'Regs were a group of mountain tribes in the Klatchian empire, who were reknowned for being some of the fiercest fighters, and best warriors in the empire.

They were also some of the most troublesome bandits and revolutionaries, but that is entirely another story...

Mister D wrote: Does Terry Pratchett exist in the WU?

In the Discworld narrative universe, the D'Regs were a group of mountain tribes in the Klatchian empire, who were reknowned for being some of the fiercest fighters, and best warriors in the empire.

They were also some of the most troublesome bandits and revolutionaries, but that is entirely another story...

perhaps, but in this case, they were bemoaning their lot in life, having to deal with traumatic life experiences and powers that tended to cause them physical or emotional pain... as summed up in the second meaning. yes, we have "Team low self-esteem".

dregs |dreɡz|
pl.noun
the remnants of a liquid left in a container, together with any sediment or grounds: coffee dregs.
• the most worthless part or parts of something: the dregs of society.

Rose, have someone get them access to the old TV series "Misfits of Science" to watch, could inspire them.

Dreamer wrote: Rose, have someone get them access to the old TV series "Misfits of Science" to watch, could inspire them.

Ah yes, back when Courtney Cox was a cute little thing

in my best Haley Joel Osment voice: "I see old people"

Careful Rose, them's could be considered fighting words amongst some people. ^_^

For those who also don't see the Pun in Sarah's morning:

I hope nobody needs that, because any joke you have to explain....


Edit: Also, you Americans with your meal sizes. By the Goddess how do you people eat that much?

If you're basing that on the portions served by our restaurants, keep in mind that those aren't representative of what we normally eat when left to our own devices. When a restaurant gives us those huge plates of food, typically we either eat what we need and then bring home the leftovers for later, or we split a smaller number of meals among a larger group of people. Or we just go ahead and gorge, and then skip the next meal or generally eat less the rest of the day (that's what I usually do, since it's less hassle than carrying around leftovers). If we know ahead of time that we'll be eating out, we might even prepare for that by skipping or reducing an earlier meal, especially if we know the place has good food and we want to be able to enjoy it all while it's fresh.

Many eateries -- the more affordable ones -- here in Brazil also tend to the oversized. Not the real fine ones where Ayla would go, which are a bit more reasonable in size (albeit not in price); and certainly not the pretentious bulimic-TV-star-attracting "three pieces of celery, a coin-sized steak and a thimbleful of rice pilaf artistically placed in a non-circular plate".
I believe that the thinking goes, most of the cost is not raw material, but labor and overhead (rent and such); so it's best to err on the side of too much food than on too little. As mentioned, large portions can be split or the leftovers taken home; the customer can hardly feel cheated. But finishing the meal and being left hungry... that means a customer who feels cheated and is going to badmouth the place.
But this is mostly the dinner trade; the lunch trade down here is about 90% dominated by self-service buffets, in most of which you pay by the weight of your meal.

Thanks!

The second part was a bit just story fluff as I thought about the circustances the MC is facing.

For reference, a normal sized meal to me is two Eggo waffles with maple syrup, two slices of bacon, and a glass of milk. A bowl of mac 'n cheese mixed with veggies, and a glass of milk. A hotdog, some onion rings, and a glass of milk. Stuff like that. I'm fairly sedentary and thin person, though, so those meals are probably a bit on the small side. Then again, I also don't drink much of anything besides milk and water, so that might mean that I actually eat slightly more food per Calorie of exertion than average.

In college I did eat stereotypically huge breakfasts on a daily basis, thanks to the dining hall and my unlimited meal plan. On a good day, that meant two waffles (or equivalent amounts of French toast or pancake), a measly portion of crappy bacon or sausage, a big scoop of scrambled eggs, a scoop of oatmeal with a spoonful of brown sugar, some pieces of various melons, some strawberries, some grapes, a big scoop of vanilla yogurt, a little pastry, a big glass of milk, and a banana for the road. But I was burning a lot of energy back then, and I was skipping lunch a lot (maybe a third of the time?) due to inconvenience, so it all balanced out in the end.

Heh. I almost didn't get it. It's been a while since we saw the Keeblers.

Thanks Kettle, I'm glad someone got it.

@Rose - That commercial was such a non-sequitur. But, there's a Julie in your stories...

However, the "cotton or nothing at all" makes me think "Sidhe Allergies!" and the Canon Julie that turned into a tree elf.

@Rose - Woah. Months. Woah.

Hmm... What's Lucy gonna ask for, I wonder? ... Drow-ing would be totally unexpected.

Yes Mal, it's Julie Robinson. Kayda's ex. 100% cotton, or nothing at all... because when she teleports, anything that isn't plant material gets left behind.
I suppose she could wear Hemp-based clothes, or certain linens.

and yeah, at least 2 months Mal, if that happened in Early September, this is somewhere in November-ish.

@Rose - OMG! Such nicely written horror!

WMG: This isn't gonna kill her. It's a programmed transformation sequence. ... Or it's made to destroy all evidence of the experiment or something.

Malady wrote: WMG: This isn't gonna kill her. It's a programmed transformation sequence. ... Or it's made to destroy all evidence of the experiment or something.

It should. Donnie's no longer supplying some key compound (out of thousands of possibilities) necessary for Lucy to survive. Or, using more familiar mechanics, given that he was a high-regen mutant, then he was doing for Lucy what Jade did for Alhaji.

There are still ways for Lucy to continue to exist: Jobe's Drow serum might overwrite the knocked-out gene(s), lycanthropy, vampirism, the soul-transfer part of the Animan process (As long as you have an unoccupied, viable body around, there are a number of ways to handle that). One could even get creative, and bind her soul to a mannequin, suit of armor, doll, whatever, until a new body is ready.

Well that got depressing and sad. The poor father.

^ Agreed.

You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

What about Donny growing to human sized and a host clone chest bursting out of him. :/

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

What about Donny growing to human sized and a host clone chest bursting out of him. :/

Nope

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

What about Donny growing to human sized and a host clone chest bursting out of him. :/

Nope

Donny making a new version of her out of silly putty?

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

What about Donny growing to human sized and a host clone chest bursting out of him. :/

Nope

Donny making a new version of her out of silly putty?

Hmmmm.... Nope

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

What about Donny growing to human sized and a host clone chest bursting out of him. :/

Nope

Donny making a new version of her out of silly putty?

Hmmmm.... Nope

Everyone knows that mashed potatoes make the best improvised sculptures!

null0trooper wrote: Everyone knows that mashed potatoes make the best improvised sculptures!

Particularly if you are trying to sculpt Devils Tower .

Honestly, Rose, you weren't meant to take the suicide part of Sarah's story as a challenge for feels-generating or something...

Especially since I wrote myself into a corner with that. And y'know, the death of the character usually stops their story.
...
Usually.

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

NJM1564 wrote: You forgot to include Donny regrowing her around him. Complete with a backed up copy of her mind.

That's not happening.

What about Donny growing to human sized and a host clone chest bursting out of him. :/

Nope

Donny making a new version of her out of silly putty?

Hmmmm.... Nope

Donny comes back the next day with souvenirs from tahiti and a inflatable host doll?

NJM1564 wrote: Donny comes back the next day with souvenirs from tahiti and a inflatable host doll?

Mmmm, Tahiti: it's a magical place.

NJM1564 wrote:
Donny comes back the next day with souvenirs from tahiti and a inflatable host doll?

You know, you guys are making me consider keeping her dead...

unless I was going to all along.

I'm not going to speculate on strange ways you might bring her back. All I'm going to say is that you depressed me because the character was one that I was - not relating, I guess because I don't have things bursting out of my chest - but her awkwardness, feeling a little different, wanting to be accepted. Overall, Lucy is a character that I was starting to care about. Then you did Domoviye-class things to her and - wow, that was depressing.

And don't you DARE have her step out of a shower or wake up saying "I just had the strangest dream"!

[quote="elrodw" post=49672 Overall, Lucy is a character that I was starting to care about. Then you did Domoviye-class things to her and - wow, that was depressing.

And don't you DARE have her step out of a shower or wake up saying "I just had the strangest dream"![/quote]
I wasn't planning on signing in or commenting, I was just taking a break between writing, but this line made me burst out laughing and feeling incredibly sad at the same time.

I'd bet that if Rose Bunny writes the back-story to how we got to this point, it will offer up even more Domoviye-class horror.

It was said that a good writer has contingencies for everything.



But I'm not a good writer.

But... if anyone wants to know where I'm going with this, send me a message, and I'll let you know... though if you look back at the Lucy stuff, you -might- be able to figure it out.

To writers have contingencies. I'd think it depends on if you plan your stories or if you free write it out. I doa mix of both and I can tell you that often do not know how a book or even a chapter will end.

On another note, I put up part 3 of a certain angry Tgirl's experience with an annoying spirit.

@ShadowedSin - How this plays into the larger Sidhe narratives is gonna be interesting, if you've connected things that way... Otherwise, just wondering "Where is this going?"

@null0trooper - Funny bait-and-switch reveal at the end! And cool ice-skating!

@Dom - LOL! 10 Angst! ... Sorta expected a twist like that. Things seemed to be going too well. Funny though!

@Schol-R-Lea - Ah. The good old "mutants exhibit enhanced versions of baseline stuff" idea again! Nice ending, with bringing things down to a practical place, with a funny shift!

@Rose - So, Donnie Research has created Mutant Hunting Beasts? Interesting... ... Lucy's body could have been smuggled out? How well was her body guarded, etc? Well, I prefer to be surprised, so have fun writing!

... Sooo gotta sleep! Goodnight all!

elrodw wrote: And don't you DARE have her step out of a shower or wake up saying "I just had the strangest dream"!

Any of the other 9 methods is acceptable, then?

www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/mwgertz/www/p...n_ways_tasha_yar.txt

Domoviye wrote:

elrodw wrote: Then you did Domoviye-class things to her and - wow, that was depressing.

I wasn't planning on signing in or commenting, I was just taking a break between writing, but this line made me burst out laughing and feeling incredibly sad at the same time.

Is it an honour that other people consider your name a class of depressingness in the events of fictional characters? ^_^ X_X ^_^

I know I've made mention of having thoughts of "Is this too horrible to do to a character? Nah, Domoviye's done worse" when I'm writing at 3am and being horrible...

@Kaitha - Woah. A mutant that's got a lot of mutant solidarity! That's rare from a protagonist?

... That ending. WTF. ... Is that a Pixie, or an Absinthe? And either has nasty consequences? Unless they've got mages running defenses?

Do they wanna make Absinthes, or do they just want the effect? 'Cause trying to replicate magic... Not good?

Interesting bit with the diabetes medicine!

Response to Malady's post:


@Bek:
Loving all of these micro-scenes with the Harrows. Especially how Viv keeps setting it all up and is the one doing the worst in terms of take-home.

Especially loving the "I'm a SUB-CONTRACTOR" line. The boy is thinking ahead. ^_^

At this point, I think Viv should just call quits and keep Iron Ox's harness. Unless she manages to find a way to sell it back to the guy... Still betting if she pulls out a big capper, it will be because she accounted for her siblings' interferences (Current score: Jessie 2, JD 1, Viv 0).

Bek, I'm collecting those. You really should make them official as something like "Harrow Comedy Capers".

I am keeping them, and when the story arc is complete, they will be collectively posted as 'THE MARK OF MISS SCARLET!'

Rose Bunny, I figured out my reference for you mercilessly and brutally killing Lucy. Her death had ALMOST as much impact on me a the first time I saw Star Trek III (The Search for a Plot) when Enterprise was destroyed in a fireball. And I'm a long-time Trekkie, so you understand how that particular scene struck me - the loss of someone (or thing) that we'd grown to care about.

Lucy was endearing in the same was as the Enterprise.

You did good. And bad.

Heh.

"Earth must be fed."

I am on my tablet, out of town this weekend, but I have plans concerning Lucy's former teammates, as well as the end of Eire.

Prototype for bad t-shirt art.

I need to read Eire eventually. It's on my list.

I plan on compiling all the mini-scenes about a certain snarky fae type into a what if story, eventually.

Slightly Galahad, very quirky, and horribly effective.

Love the knife twist/salt-rub at the end.

It's not a very big hint, but I've written about Gracia before, from someone else's perspective. There's a reason she wasn't about to use her main energizer ability in the coffee shop.

elrodw wrote: Rose Bunny, I figured out my reference for you mercilessly and brutally killing Lucy. Her death had ALMOST as much impact on me a the first time I saw Star Trek III (The Search for a Plot) when Enterprise was destroyed in a fireball. And I'm a long-time Trekkie, so you understand how that particular scene struck me - the loss of someone (or thing) that we'd grown to care about.

Lucy was endearing in the same was as the Enterprise.

You did good. And bad.

Maybe Lucy is the Enterprise... or Maybe she is Spock.

Finally part 5 is done

Not very "micro" , but I decided that I needed to shift gears after trying to write a combat final.

About that... I have been noticing that this "micro scenes" thread has been becoming the repository for rather large stories, instead of the snippets of nonsense that used to be the staple of it. Really, people, if it's a multipart story, with each part flirting with the maximum post limit, it's worthy of its own thread...

Sir Lee wrote: About that... I have been noticing that this "micro scenes" thread has been becoming the repository for rather large stories, instead of the snippets of nonsense that used to be the staple of it.

Like the first several pages of "Learning to Hunt" and "What's New Pussycat"?

Sir Lee wrote: Really, people, if it's a multipart story, with each part flirting with the maximum post limit, it's worthy of its own thread...

As a reader, that only works well if the pieces are developing in a continuous order or if the entire story is already written, because the author can't go back and insert posts after the fact once things get out of order.

Would you be happier as a reader if I started an entire new thread with a five-minute discussion (even clocking in at 1.8k words)? Or does a one-off piece of fluff referencing winter break appearing before RW winter break make more sense here?

null0trooper wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: About that... I have been noticing that this "micro scenes" thread has been becoming the repository for rather large stories, instead of the snippets of nonsense that used to be the staple of it.

Like the first several pages of "Learning to Hunt" and "What's New Pussycat"?

To be fair, the “microscenes” for those where not written by the Author of those stories, but rather forum members trying to encourage and influence the Author to wrote those stories

(Also, they were originally posted in the Danny thread, and reposted to the microscenes thread to kick start it).

Sir Lee wrote: About that... I have been noticing that this "micro scenes" thread has been becoming the repository for rather large stories, instead of the snippets of nonsense that used to be the staple of it. Really, people, if it's a multipart story, with each part flirting with the maximum post limit, it's worthy of its own thread...

Guilty as charged. But in my case, it started accidentally... a one-off joke character that unexpectedly turned into a character people liked. From there I was stuck with a dilemma do I copy and re-paste everything into it's own story, and have people not read it because the first few chapters are reposts? I think I have an idea now that will work. And thus I shouldn't do it nearly so much.

Well, I think the forum software is good enough to allow you to stick all those chapters in a series of spoiler boxes, all in the first post, even though the size may be enormous? ... Or just link back to the Micros Thread? Or some other solution?

Edit the Micros posts to have a link back at the end, to the main story thread / index if you're going that route?? ... Just throwing out ideas.

null0trooper wrote: Would you be happier as a reader if I started an entire new thread with a five-minute discussion (even clocking in at 1.8k words)? Or does a one-off piece of fluff referencing winter break appearing before RW winter break make more sense here?

A thread just for that one scene would be silly, but since you're writing lots and lots of Metro micro-scenes, perhaps a dedicated Metro-Scenes thread is warranted.

null0trooper wrote: As a reader, that only works well if the pieces are developing in a continuous order or if the entire story is already written, because the author can't go back and insert posts after the fact once things get out of order.

And that's somehow different from posting them out of order in the Micro-Scenes thread?

When I work on my novels the scene length can last as long as twelve thousand words, and that is because I write each scene as a PoV (or a series of PoV linked scenes). Being new to Whately am still slowly catching up with everything (taking a break cuz i need my femslash heavy fix).

I posted my lengthy scenes in Micro because I wanted to see how people would react to my writing. I wanted to know if the character, Scald-Crow, would be worth further investment in writing. Once I get some time I plan to compile the smaller bits into a more lengthy story with its own thread.

null0trooper wrote: Would you be happier as a reader if I started an entire new thread with a five-minute discussion (even clocking in at 1.8k words)? Or does a one-off piece of fluff referencing winter break appearing before RW winter break make more sense here?

It's not about making me or anybody in particular "happy." I don't have a problem with long stories showing up here... so far.

It's about you, as an author, considering if maybe your creation has outgrown the mess of disjointed, disposable, snippets (and I meant this in the nicest way, since I'm responsible for more than a few of those disjointed, disposable snippets) that this thread was created to house (mostly so we don't create new threads for one-time thoughts). At some point, it gained a life of its own, and now it deserves its own thread so it can flourish.

Now, I grant that the Micro-Scenes thread may attract a larger initial readership than starting a new thread. But eventually, if everybody does that, it becomes untenable. I might be a loyal follower of Bugs Bunny's stories, but if I have to waddle through all of Daffy Duck's, which are kind of OK in my book, Foghorn Leghorn's, which are sorta boring but tolerable, Wiley E. Coyote's, which I find a bit too violent and disturbing for my taste, and Sylvester's, which frankly squicks me, I might not bother anymore. That's why separate threads and subfora were invented in the first place.

Regarding Rose Bunny's question about reposting in a new thread... maybe there's another option. I say maybe because I don't really know how much work would it be, who exactly would have to do it (other than it would be one of the admins) and what could be done to make it easier for the admin to do it. But apparently the forum software allows for the possibility of moving individual messages to another thread. If it's a lot of work, consider this suggestion preemptively withdrawn.

It's almost like the goal would be to use the micro-scenes thread for micro-scenes - one-shot SHORT stories, and have a separate thread for the stores which more closely remember the old movie serials (which I've seen, so I've dated myself) - a short scene or two or three that are part of a longer story that occupies many 'episodes'. There might also be a call for "not-so-micro-scenes" stories which are bigger than a certain size but not full-length IF tales and not broken into serials.

Sir Lee wrote:

null0trooper wrote: Would you be happier as a reader if I started an entire new thread with a five-minute discussion (even clocking in at 1.8k words)? Or does a one-off piece of fluff referencing winter break appearing before RW winter break make more sense here?

It's not about making me or anybody in particular "happy." I don't have a problem with long stories showing up here... so far.

Why not worry if you're unhappy? You've as much right to hope for something entertaining as I would, or one of the many folks who read the forum without logging in under an ID. Moreover, if stories featuring the characters are becoming widely irritating, there's no point in making a separate archive thread to dump them until a more formally organized story reaches that point with those characters.

Sir Lee wrote: It's about you, as an author, considering if maybe your creation has outgrown the mess of disjointed, disposable, snippets (and I meant this in the nicest way, since I'm responsible for more than a few of those disjointed, disposable snippets) that this thread was created to house (mostly so we don't create new threads for one-time thoughts). At some point, it gained a life of its own, and now it deserves its own thread so it can flourish.

The holiday stories are just that: disposable thoughts that don't have a story to hang onto yet, from a writer who's been switching residences (260 miles apart) every couple of weeks since a storm went by in September. There's maybe a potential place to put them, assuming there's interest in exploring more about Kris and Abby, and assuming they make sense as a team. But then again, maybe not.