With the completion of the Numina TF thanks to the gracious assistance of Terry, Atlantea and Sweno; Emet is now full and ready to smash the Crystal Titan. This will probably have to be a 7 Eastern thing becasue some wiseass here decided it would be a good idea to have exams on Saturday so I'll be needing a few hours of sleep on Friday. Wiki article is [url=http://cityofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Eden_Trial-->Here
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

This short fic is something that has been bouncing around in my head for a while now. Mainly it was due to wondering what having super-powers would do to the
rest of a persons life, when they aren't showing the villian of the week the error of their ways.

-----------------------------

Gamma Emission:

Unintended Side-effects

If someone told me I would be punching freakshow in the jimmies while dressed like a streetwalker six months ago, I would have them sent to the psych ward. Now
I just hope that I don't get fined for indecent exposure in another six months.

I came to Paragon City because they needed nurses, and the pay wasn't anything to scoff at either.

Sure I knew there where risks, but you follow procedures and make sure to wear protective gear and you'll be fine. At least that was the plan. The army has
a saying about plans and enemy contact that is fits the ER just as well.

Ideally each heros powers, gear, and whatnot is kept on file. That way when they are teleported in we know if they should be sent to the mages on level 3, the
surgeons on level 4, or the mechanics on level 5. More often then not it doesn't matter what floor someone is sent to, someone from another floor is called
in to take a look at things. Mutants fighting Circle of thorns, Battlesuited normals being hit with an energy ray of some sort, the lines end up blurring real
fast. And we just try to keep them alive and get them back on their feet.

I don't know how many times I ripped my gloves reaching into some jagged metal hole in someone's side, or how many times strangely glowing goo was
spattered on my clothes. Sure, we are supposed to go through decontamination before changing levels if there is anything on us that we can't name. But with
the recent Rikti aggression there are times when I don't have 4 minutes to spare.

It doesn't really matter what the cause of was any more, just that it happened. I got exposed to one too many weird combinations of chemicals, spells, and
otherworldly energies. The end result of which is that I can beat the xray machine when it comes to millirad output.

The first few days I was a mess, convicted that I had somehow gotten exposed to enough radiation that I became 'hot' enough to trigger the sensors in
the mech lab. I calmed down three days later when I was a) still alive, and b) not suffering any of the classical symptoms of radiation sickness.

Over the past few months I have learned to control my abilities. On a good day I can keep my output below the dosage you get from handling a smoke alarm.
I'm not going to mention the bad days. The more calm and collected I can be, the less I emit.

But the ER is hardly a calm and collected place. It was strongly 'suggested' that find another avenue of employment. Hero Corps was quick to offer
alternative income. Some people may criticize them for being mercenary or profiting from a bad situation, but all I know is that they helped me get back on my
feet.

New housing (installing lead shielding in my old apartment wasn't an option); a new job (bombarding people with high energy particles for fun and profit);
and, most importantly, I feel like I am helping people people again (the doctors always did say preventive care is best).

But life isn't all roses now that spend my days (and sometimes my nights as well) introducing various malcontents to my particular take on high energy
physics.

Sure I can modulate the type of radiation I put out. Everything from low power doses that stimulate healing, to heavy particle bombardment that leaves the
person wondering which way is up. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm still outputting radiation of one form or another. And it does have a
cumulative affect on anything near me for long periods of time. More specifically anything I'm wearing. Depending on how hard I have to work, a shirt can
last three to five incidents before it starts to put out more radiation that I do when relaxed. Pants tend to last a week. Gloves and shoes can hold out for
two too three weeks. I spend most of my time fighting evils of one kind or another, but what do I worry about when I get home? If I have enough saved up to pay
for clothing this month.

When I first started out it was long pants, t-shirt, sweater, heavy boots, jacket.

Now it's short skirts, cutoff t-shirts, converses, and a long jacket that more often than not gets left at the door. The less cloth there is to absorb
radiation, the longer it lasts. Any distractions this may cause are purely unintentional.

The only thing worse than my clothing situation is my dating prospects. My current style of dress may get me plenty of inquiries at the bar, but those quickly
dry up once they learn what happens when I get 'excited'. As much as people laugh at my jokes about 'healing energies' and 'ensuring the
next generation of mutants' on missions, I have yet to meet a guy willing to expose his family jewels my tender mercies. The only guy I can think of that
wouldn't mind would be Positron, but there is no way that I'd date someone who seems to get that much enjoyment out of sending new heroes on a
glorified scavenger hunt.

I'm starting to wonder if I'll have to switch sides to get any.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

link1

more:



better one for link2

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/hancock/

It's out, if you pre-ordered it from Right Stuf. For anybody who hasn't seen the fansubs, the show's sort-of like Azumanga Daioh with innunendo and an otaku lead character. This is about http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalo ... 8559/4/0/0]the Bandai Entertainment DVD, not the series.

There are four episodes on the first DVD. (Which is a shame, because the show really starts getting interesting in episode 5, IMHO.)

The songs on the dub track are the original Japanese songs, by the Japanese seiyuu. Ah, well. Probably for the best...

The dub voices are competent - not grating, but not noteworthy. No obvious bobbles in what I heard of the first disc's performances, but I didn't listen to all of the episodes' dubs. Akira's dub voice is sufficiently "bipolar" for my tastes. Wendee Lee plays Konata, so it's possible we might get the "Konata adores Haruhi's-and-her-own voice actress" jokes localized. Amazingly, they left the Japanese honorfics in the dub.

Translation notes (including a few I didn't see listed in the show's http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclo ... hp?id=7222]animenewsnetwork.com encyclopedia entry) are in a four-page insert, not on the DVD itself. Good for buyers, not so good for those watching via Netflix or similiar services.

The deluxe box is similiar in construction and quality to the Haruhi deluxe box. Besides the DVD, it has two CD-singles (the opening theme and the Konata image disc), an XL-size t-shirt with a silkscreen of the girls' winter uniform, and a "screen wipe" (whatever that is) with a picture of a choco-cornet printed on it.

Okay, I lied - one comment about the series. There's a decidedly-not-http://eyevocal.ottawa-anime.org/beingupfront/]Upfront bit in episode 4, at about time index 1:20:45-1:21:15. So now we know: The opposite of "http://www.moonie.ca/glenap/goofy/talent.html]talent" is "valuable".
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Mulan's "Be a Man"..oh the hilarity!
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

'The Enemy' (Godsmack)

Hey Mister backstabbin' son of a bitch

you're livin' in a world that'll soon be dyin'

and I know everybody knows you try to be like me

but even at your best as a man you couldn't equal half of me.

I am realizing that everybody's lost their simple ways

and now that it's here I see it all so clearly

I've come face to face with the enemy, the enemy.

You, your another shit talkin' punk to me.

You're a living inspiration for what I never wanna be,

and I see you've been blinded by what you believe

And now back up and sit down, shut up and act like you need to be.

I am realizing that everybody's lost their simple ways

and now that it's here I see it all so clearly,

I've come face to face with the enemy, the enemy.

come to me, come to me

the enemy come to me, come to me

So predicting you're the reason why I lie

simple decision took me too much time to fly

Oh, checkmate!

I am realizing that everybody's lost their simple ways

and now that it's here I see it all so clearly,

I've come face to face with the enemy, the enemy

come to me

POWER: allows Doug to create a simulcrum of any opponent/enemy he has faced (defeated?). The number of simulcrums he can create depends on their power
levels. He can modify their abilities somewhat (replacing bullets with paintballs for example)

These simulcrums are useful for training sessions (or when Doug really wants to hit something)

**********************

'Rumors' (Timex Social Club)

How do rumors get started, they're started by the jealous people and

They get mad seein' somethin' they had and sombody else is holdin'

Tell me that temptation is very hard to resist

But these wicked women, ooh, they just persist

Maybe you think it's cute, but girl, I'm not impressed

I tell you one time only with my business please don't mess

Look at all these rumors surroundin' me every day

I just need some time, some time to get away from

From all these rumors, I can't take it no more

My best friend said there's one out now about me and the girl next door

Hear the one about Tina, some say she's much too loose

That came straight from a guy who claims he's tastin' her juice

Hear the one about Michael, some say he must be gay

I try to argue, but they said if he was straight he wouldn't move that way

Hear the one about Susan, some say she's just a tease

In a camisole she's six feet tall, she'll knock you to you knees

Will you look at all these rumors surroundin' me every day

I just need some time, some time to get away from

From all these rumors, I can't take it no more

My best friend said there's one out now about me and the girl next door

I can't go no place without somebody pointin' a finger

I can't show my face â'cause when it comes to rumors I'm a dead ringer

It seems from rumors I just can't get away

I bet there'll even be rumors floatin' around on Judgment Day

I'll think I'll write my congressman and tell him to pass a bill

For the next time they catch somebody startin' rumors, shoot to kill

Will you look at all these rumors surroundin' me every day

I just need some time, some time to get away from

From all these rumors, I can't take it no more

My best friend said there's one out now about me and the girl next door

What's mine is mine, I ain't got time for rumors in my life

I'm a man who thinks, not a man who drinks, so please let me live my life

What's mine is mine, I ain't got time for rumors in my life

I'm a man who thinks, not a man who drinks, so please let me live my life

What's mine is mine, I ain't got time for rumors in my life

I'm a man who thinks, not a man who drinks, so please let me live my life

Will you look at all these rumors surroundin' me every day

I just need some time, some time to get away from

From all these rumors, I can't take it no more

My best friend said there's one out now about me and the girl next door

Look at all these rumors surroundin' me every day

I just need some time, some time to get away from

From all these rumors, I can't take it no more

My best friend said there's one out now about me and the girl next door

Stop (Stop) spreadin' those rumors around

Stop (Stop) spreadin' the lies

Stop (Stop) spreadin' those rumors around

Stop (Stop) spreadin' the lies

Stop (Stop) spreadin' those rumors around

Stop (Stop) spreadin' the lies

Stop (Stop) spreadin' those rumors around

Stop (Stop) spreadin' the lies

Stop (Stop) spreadin' those rumors around

Stop (Stop) spreadin' the lies

POWER: Doug gains the knowledge of a large amount of rumors running around the city/area he currently occupies, some of which may provide him with important
information. Of course, many of them are useless (Did cheerleader A get a boobjob? Is Mr B having an affair with Mrs C, ect) and they range from accurate, to
semiaccurate, to false, to tabloid fodder.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

Awhile back I came across a Stargate fic where Sam decided to take advantage of the Asgard database and enlisted Daniel's help to do it (Or the other way
around can't remember). It was done behind everyone's back. I've been pulling hair trying to find it again after I got in the mood to reread it.

Anyone know which fic I'm talking about?

I finally got a copy of the last Ah My Goddess DVD yesterday (they were late coming to Canada). In one episode on the disc, Peorth hands a cellphone to Belldandy and says something along the lines of "just concentrate on the person you want to talk to"; the scene shifts to Keiichi sitting beside a pay phone, which rings.

My first thought was "When did Jean start putting attunements into artifacts? And how'd Peorth get one?"
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Sluggy Freelance is in the middle (nearing the end) of another Harry Potter spoof. I suspect Bob has something bigger than http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080425]this planned for "the power the Dark Lord knows not" when Doug shows up at Hogwarts, but it's still appropriate...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

I've decided that I've put enough weird biomodded ideas out there at this point that I should write up a catalog of what the Jason offers to his
clients. While I can go through most of my posts to winnow out items that I've mentioned, I thought I'd put a call out for ideas. Are there things
you'd LIKE to see me offer? Things that you'd have asked me to make for you in the past? If so, let me know. I'd love to get ideas for the Jason to
tinker with, and even going over some of my older things might give me new stuff to play with (New this Christmas! Christmas trees with their own blinking
lights! Aren't bioluminescent organisms FUN?) Feel free to go wild - the gods know the Jason loves to play.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jason grinned as he saved the files he'd been working on, then pulled two battered notebooks from a drawer. "Paying work done for the day. Time to
have some fun." He looked between the two notebooks, hmming softly. "What'll I work on tonight....the wompom? Or the Shmoo?"