Bill Martin has posted the New Year's Challenges for this year. (Edit: here's the thread.)
I'm copying them here in case anyone else wants to play (as an omake entry, since the challenges are now revealed), and so I have them for easy reference. My story will be posted later in this thread, once it's written...
First, re-introducing my three-character "Team Lovely But Dangerous":
* Yomiko Readman, R.O.D. the TV (one month after end of series)
* Chisame Hasegawa, Negima manga (current continuity - chapter 198)
* Sakura Kinomoto, Card Captor Sakura (one month after end of second movie)

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Easy Challenge - This year, the planners behind last year's New Year Con have beefed up security, but at the expense of the entertainment budget. The troupe they planned to bring in for the debut of the LAAM (the Live-Action Anime Musical) was more than they could afford, and since it's been hyped that it will be the first LAAM at NYC, you and your teammates have been requested to fill in. You may choose to do any anime that isn't already a musical (which is the majority of them).

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Medium Challenge - You have recieved a summons to a group meeting of all the challenge entrants. The meeting shall take place in Colorado, and will consist of a whitewater rafting trip. You can choose to summon your team beforehand for the travel there, or you can wait and summon your team once there. Due to the quantum mechanics of the summon device, your success or failure will not affect or be affected by other challenge entrants failures or successes. As you and your team journey down the river, you hear an explosion, and once you and your team reach where the rocks have blocked the river, you'll journey over a waterfall where...
You and your three teammates, on a routine New Year's Challenge, get caught by the greatest time window ever known. Hastened by the rapids, it'll transport you over a thousand feet below, to the Land of the Lost (lost, lost lost), to the Land of the Lost (lost, lost lost).
You'll be living in the Rick, Will, and Holly Marshall era of the Land of the Lost in terms of foes, terrain, and puzzles to solve, but with the modern understanding of dinosaurs (a la Jurassic Park). You'll enter just after the moons have aligned, so unless you've got great puzzle solvers on your team, you're going to have to wait it out 3 years for the time-travel pylon to get you out of there. You will not be in the Land of the Lost with the Marshalls, the Porters, or any other challenge entrant.

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Hard Challenge - On New Year's Day, a meteor crashed to earth. This is not out of the ordinary, however what was on it is. Some interstellar spores came down with it, and these spores are highly contagious. Infected sentient lifeforms first show a glowing red hue over their entire body as a sign of infection. Next, comes an overwhelming urge to attack and maim others, but not kill them, and shows no sign of preference for the victim to be infected or uninfected. Upon uninfected individuals coming into contact with an infected individual, infection is almost instantaneous. Infected individuals retain their speech and reasoning capabilities, and have shown abilities to wait for the right time to rush a barricade. The spores themselves are extremely resistant to heat, radiation, and pressure as they've survived a star going supernova to send the meteor our direction. Alloys similar to electrum can contain the spores and shield individuals. You and your team will find out about the crash, and the crazy happenings within 12-24 hours of the event, and it will be up to you to deal with it. Partial wins to those who can contain contamination so that a cure may eventually be found. Full wins will go to those who can, after containment is done, can figure out a way to cure the infected souls.

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It doesn't need Flash or Shockwave or anything like that - it's plain text and JavaScript. And you can save the page and play the game off-line, too!
Pac-txt: Pac-Man meets Zork
The only question, of course, is "why?"
-Rob Kelk
"Actually, my goal is to write neat stories. The money just makes it possible for me to write them faster and then buy neat toys."
Ryk E. Spoor, 7 November 2007
--
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

Alright after three months of writers block and Real Life interference I've managed to hammer out a few characters and I wanted to post something at least, so here they are. Please note that these are all rough drafts and things are subject to change (especially the ability names), but I figure its a good idea to get some feedback and make sure I haven't
screwed up to much. Also all these characters are as of SOS-con

Alexander "Alex" Stevens
Age:16 (27)
Height:5'
Weight:99lbs.
Hairlatinum/Silver
Eyes:Grey

Notable Mundane Attributes
Mad Tinkerer:The Harukaze's self proclaimed "part-time Mad Scientist",Alex's primary hobby (aside from watching anime) is working with handwavium.He also has some mechanical expertise.
When Dad told me to "get a job" I don't think he had this in mind rimary shareholder in Stevens & Wynn Interplanetary Freight Transport (S.W.I.F.T.), defacto owner of the Harukaze.
Okay, let's do it this way...Decent leadership and organizational skills.

'Wavium Abilities
Don't call me Tessa:Alex's premature biomod has resulted in him (now her) being a dead ringer for Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa.
Anime Body:Alex's new body is in perfect health (asthma,myopia,and other physical defects have been eliminated) but looks as much Like Tessa as possible (short
of looking like a reject from Who Framed Roger Rabbit), and does its best to stay that way (refuses to put on excess fat,hair grows back within days if cut,heals without scarring Ect.). It is also extremely tough (though she's nowhere near bulletproof).
Wizard...but not the Hogwarts kind:Alex's ability to store and process information as well as his reflex speed have been greatly enhanced. Also, parts of alex's brain and nervous system have been altered to function similar to a wireless capable internal cyberdeck.

Quirks
Game BalanceAlex must eat twice as much food as someone her size normally would or her internal cyberdeck doesn't function.
Binary Trance:When communicating with electronic devices Alex is only peripherally aware of her surroundings, Though not so much that she's unable to notice things happening directly in front of her or respond (distractedly) to conversation.Additionally,when connected with machines binary code appears to scroll across her iris' (though the effect is only noticeable up close).
Whispers in the dark:Alex can here electronic signals being broadcast nearby as unintelligible whispers,normally this is barely noticeable backround noise but in places with lots of signals it can occasionally give her headaches.
Why is my voice so High?Alex is still dealing with unintended gender switch and its consequences.
I'm not a kid,Dangit!: Dislikes being mistaken for a kid (for obvious reasons).
Must...Have...Anime!:Obsessed with collecting anime
and anime-related merchandise.
Momentary Dramatics:has a tendency to overly dramatic gestures and moments of drama.
Abstinence:Alex never drinks alcohol.

Faction:Generalist (focused on anime and manga) with ties to the senshi.
Preferred Transport:The Harukaze.

Erik Hill
Age:28
Height:5'11"
Weight:193lbs.
Hair:Brown
Eyes:Hazel

Notable Mundane Atributes
Chief Engineer:Erik has a degree in engineering and so is the default chief engineer.
Walking Mecha Database:Erik has a near encyclopedic knowledge of fictional mecha.
Not Quite Mad Engineer:while not as passionate about it as Alex,Erik does have several 'wavium projects he works on,as well as working with Alex on team projects.

'Wavium Abilities
None

Quirks
Mechaphile:Erik is obsessed with mecha (especially Giant Robots).
Work in Progress:Erik is building a giant robot...and has been for over a year (he keeps scrapping the design and starting over).
Don't Touch!Erik doesn't like anyone messing with his (incomplete) robot,Period.

Faction:Gearhead, of the macross/robotech persuasion.

William Gray
Age:38
Height:6'10"
Weight:283lbs.
Hair: Dirty Blond
Eyes:Gold

Notable Mundane Attributes
Jack of All Trades...:Will always seems to have a skill or experience relevant to the current situation (but see Quirks).
Green Thumb:Will has a real talent for working with plants and has a small garden on the Harukaze.
Music soothes the savage beast:Will has a fairly extensive and eclectic music collection which he listens to often.
Gamer:Will enjoys playing most games,anything from tabletop to console, and is a reasonably skilled player.

'Wavium Abilities
BIG Kitty:Will's biomod has apparently turned him into a Kilrathi, with all the attendant physical benefits.
Fighting Insinct:His biomod mod has also given Will an instintive knowledge of how to fight in his new form, though he is still integrating this into his own modest combat skills.

Quirks
Carnivore:Will requires significant amounts of meat in his diet.
Competitive Instinct:Along with an instinctive ability to fight Will has also gained an instinctive desire to test himself in physical competition.
Predator:Being,essentially,a seven foot tall anthropomorphic tiger,Will has a tendency to intimidate people,at least at first.
Big and Tall doesn't quite cut it:Because of his size and build,Will has difficulty finding off the shelf clothing that fits properly.
...Master of None:While possessing many skills,Will has more than basic proficiency in only a few.

Faction:Generalist.

Well that's it for now,I'm not really happy with some of the wording but at least I got it out.

Best wishes to everyone!

-- Bob
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I intend to be a freak for the rest of my life, and I shall baffle you with cabbages and rhinoceroses in the kitchen and incessant quotations from Now We Are Six through the mouthpiece of Lord Snooty's giant poisoned electric head. So theeeeeere....

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Gentlemen, it has long been my conviction that all citizens should provide services for which their talents best suit them in support of those who have been called to duty. In the case of politicians such as yourselves, that would be target practice.
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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

From the Tagline on Vulpine Fury's E-mail:
----- Vulpine Fury's Puppetworks --------
Bleeding Edge 'Wavium Animatronics since 2011
2004 Atlas Park Drive, Kandor City, Luna
The man known as Vulpine Fury [occasionaly called Eljay by close friends from pre-Diaspora] was one of the folks who got tarred with the "terrorist" brush early on during the US 'Wavium crisis. He lost his job, his home, and an extensive pop culture collection to overzealous investigators from Homeland (in)Security. With a waved Dodge Neon and the clothes on his back his only possessions, he worked simple labor and service jobs during the founding of Kandor City.
Assisting these folks, he discovered his niche for working the wave: Puppetry and Telepresence. He's been able to work up simply amazing android bodies, but he's never been able to create an AI sentience.
His shop is on a fairly bustling street in Kandor, and visitors get a strong sense of whimsy from what's on display, and the Helpstaff.
Folks who were fortunate enough to experience Jim Henson's studio while the great puppeteer was alive find similarities in VF's decor: Traditional puppets in unusual materials, startlingly lifelike animatronics staring glassily, and the four-foot tall anthropomorphic fox telepresence VF uses as his public face in his shop.
His highest profile puppets have been the Motoko Kusanagi telepresence rig from KandorCon and the head of Dee's android body. His general skill at overcoming the "Uncanny Valley" has led folks to believe that VF was biomodded into a Muppetlike form from his shopkeep telepresence. This could not be further from the truth.
VF is a pretty straightforward stereotypical Elder Fanboy, unmodded as yet. Thick around the middle, receding hairline, ancient t-shirt from THAT Con, affable and friendly, yet also very hermitlike.
His puppets' signature quirks include the fact that he cannot awaken an AI in his animatronics, no matter how complex.
Vulpine Fury's telepresence system involves bike helmets and medical EEG leads, producing a neural induction interface with FTL messaging to the computer running the puppet's animatronics.
On either side of his shop are an old-fashioned diner and a well-stocked book store. Across the street is a park-like area filled with Statuary and the most expensive lawn known to humanity at the time of its installation.
As of the start of OGJ, his current project had been his latest doomed-to-failure "Gepetto Attempt." That is, he was attempting to awaken an Android AI.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

A Gentlemen's Duel (slightly NSFW)
Code Guardian
some interesting videos (and some very very VERY nsfw videos) on Stage6..
call it.. DivxTube?Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

Just finished watching. Was a little dicey but a win is a win!
Brady played awesome!
Wheeee!!

She is. Really. I just got V27 of the Dark Horse translation, and on Page 6 is a panel of Angry Belldandy. Not merely irritated, or upset, but truly, icily, *angry,* enough to make Skuld, Urd, and Peorth all gulp and step back. I think this one would even faze Paradox's Full Manifestation. Let's all be glad Doug never managed to upset her like this....

and VG Cats is on the spot...

well, not really. Slashdot is a good place to go for new Jack Thomspon information, though. And 'ol Jack is ringing in the new year by doing his thing, this time he's accusing the department of defense of being deep in collusion with the video games industry..
'cause everyone knows we NEED MORE FUCKING PYLONS IN IRAQ, JACK.
It is my belief that this 'person' is completely irrational, and should be stopped.
Anyway, here's the VG Cats starting page for "Jack Thompson's A Christmas Carol"Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979