I was listening to a Queen CD which included the song 'Flash', and had an idea for a ship's quirk:
The exhaust looks like something out of a B-rate 50's movie (sparks for example), or maybe when the drive is engaged the ship appears to hang from a string.__________________
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. - George Carlin.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

Very successful and fun TF tonight. Despite going in with no Defenders or healing, we had no problems, mainly because we kicked Clockworks to pieces so DAMN FAST that we hardly ever had any problems. A few individual defeats here and there, but no team wipes. TF went very quickly.
Task Force Vortex members all stayed throughout the entire run, with no one dropping out due to time constraints or disconnections. Very smooth. (I was concerned for myself on that last note because a Thunderstorm whipped up here in Dallas while we were playing.)
Task Force Vortex was -
Bella Fuego
Cyberman 8
Frenetic Sublimation
Marcus Mac Hine
Seelepanzer
Sir Vile
I was a shutterbug during the latter missions, particularly during the fight with Babbage and Clockwork King. I have a ton of screenshots that I'm going through. I'll but a few into this post on an edit. Then follow up with more posts. If anyone else from the TF or friends has any screenshots I urge you to post them.

^ From Left to Right: Marcus Mac Hine, Sir Vile, Synapse, Seelepanzer, Bella Fuego, Cyberman 8, Frenetic Sublimation.
Again - all shots taken at 1080x768. Full size pics emailed on request.
-Logan
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The only good Marvel is CAPTAIN MARVEL!
SHAZAM!!
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Yes, I've been a busy little developer these last couple days. This link will take you to a prototype page for the Fenspace archive. It has the rotating banners discussed in another thread (and I'll be adding more, don't you worry). The menu is functional although it doesn't link to any other Fenspace pages yet -- it's also just an eval, which is why the company that makes it forces itself into the first entry. I'm still looking for something that does just what I want it to, and this may not be it -- it's just a placeholder for the moment.
Anyway, there's enough there for folks to get an idea of what I had in mind, and to kibitz on the design. So... go look, and come back to kibitz.

-- Bob
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The Internet Is For Norns.

Pursuant to my Writers Guide project...

Folks, these two ships are reasonably important to Fenspace, but arent yet in the Ship Registry. Would the creators be kind enough to fill in the blanks, fix
whatever I got wrong, and post them to the Registry, please?

A multi-part serial of unknown length, breadth, or depth.
To be crude, it was the money that got her out of her home.
Hassan Wu looked down at the hand-delivered letter once again, then at the Hermes Universal Deliveryman, a short fellow that looked to be in his late twenties, dressed in green and brown with an animation patch running on his breast pocket. He waited expectantly as she reader through the letter again.
"Dear Dr. Wu," it began, "I represent an agglomoration of interests that would greatly appreciate both your presence and your unique services on a project that must, unfortunately, be kept unknown to you. A token of our esteem has been deposited in your public account already. If you would agree to meet with us, a meeting that is some distance away from your home, our appreciation would be further manifested concretely. Yet if after this meeting you wish to part ways with us, please be assured that it would be an amicable parting if regrettable on our parts. Please take as much time as you like in deciding, but indicate your acceptance of our admittedly unorthodox proposition with the HUD representative Jimmy Hawkins. To demonstrate that our hopefully future negotiations will not have a single taint of coercion, we have instructed Mr. Hawkins to engage the Baley Security Services on your behalf. Thank you." And it was signed, John Raven, Modern State Planning Commission.
"Mr. Hawkins?" she said.
"Yes, Doctor?" answered Jimmy Hawkins, perking up as she looked him in the eye.
"Please come in and wait a few moments as I . . . please wait." Hassan moved aside from the threshold as Hawkins came in and smiled at her. She guided him to the couch, the white silk upholstery giving slightly under his weight. "Would you like something to drink as you wait?"
"No, Doctor, thank you." Hawkins smiled once again, nodding in polite appreciation as he began to twiddle his thumbs. "Take all the time you want."
"Very well." Hassan left her guest, almost unconsciously actuating her personal security system to its setting for a guest of unknown hostility. Survelliance was kept on a passive level, merely watching to see if his kinesthetics indicated any heightened adrenaline, adrenaline that would come before a robbery or assassination attempt. Hassan looked back at her guest, the first one that she'd had in weeks, and regretted what having to kill him would do to the upholstery. She first contacted her public banker and checked to see if any deposits had been made. There had been, and after hearing just how much it was, she couldn't help but be flattered at how much esteem they held for her, or at least for her skills. She thanked her banker then moved onto finding out what she could about the Modern State Planning Commission and John Raven. Modern State, as it was known, began as an architectural and engineering firm, designing everything from houses to space habitats. In the process of designing these places to live, whatever the scale, they slowly incorporated ideological research and advocacy, or a think tank in the old argot, to their business. She wasn't an expert in sociology, so she wasn't sure what exactly their aims and beliefs were. Looking over some of their literature, she was surprised to find that they had designed the new odeon on the Island.
As for John Raven, less was known. He was the head of the Modern State, though the literature didn't list whether he was an architect or not. There were no pictures of him, which was not exactly surprising. What was shocking, even disturbing, was that there were no rumors or gossip at all about him. Fen culture was not known for its taciturnity. That there was nothing about him beyond what the official records and literature said about him spoke of his subtle power.
She sat, turning off her computer screen, and thought. There were a great many reasons why she shouldn't go, the potential danger, the lengths that John Raven and his associates were willing to go to get her to wherever it was they wanted her to go, the influence of John Raven himself. There was also the fact that she truly didn't want to leave her home. The new tourist season was beginning soon, with all its pageantry and excitement, and she didn't want to miss it. She also didn't want to miss any of the comforts of home.
Yet, in the end, it was the money that got her out of her home.

Has anyone read Birds of a Feather by Solid Shark? I coulda sworn someone recc'd it a while back, but I can't find the post now. I'm fifteen chapters in and I gotta wonder if the entire fic is gonna slavishly follow the original plot, except now anything cool that Kira did is either done by DiFalco or only done because DiFalco helped Kira out. Does it get better?
--
"There are crazed martial artists out there looking to improve their skills and find inner peace through exterior violence!"
--
If you become a monster to put down a monster you've still got a monster running around at the end of the day and have as such not really solved the whole monster problem at all. 

This is some of the funniest CoH parody stuff I've heard in awhile. You all have to check this out:

Stan & Lou
Global: @Jimmy Amp
"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers

The fact that Rank 2 in the group remains "Commander" when everything else has that "myth" theme going has been rankling me for a long time. I finally came up with a possible solution, which I'm throwing up here for people to comment on.
The current structure is:
* Legend
* Commander
* Myth
* Tall Tale
* Rumor
I'd like to offer the new term "Chimera", which besides its immediate mythological and biosciences meanings can also mean something generically mythical/fictional.
We can either rename "commander" to "chimera", or, if people think that doesn't rank right in the metaphoric scale, we can rename "Myth" to "Chimera" and turn "Commander" into "Myth".
Thoughts, opinions?

-- Bob
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The Internet Is For Norns.

I've finally gotten around to fleshing out that prototype site for the Legendary. It's nowhere near complete yet, but it's got a bit more than it did when last I directed people to it. It's under construction, of course, and it will get better as time goes on.
www.eclipse.net/~rms/legendary

-- Bob
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The Internet Is For Norns.

From the 1967 Movie "Doctor Doolittle"
Talk to the Animals
If we could talk to the animals, just imagine it
Chatting to a chimp in chimpanzee
Imagine talking to a tiger, chatting to a cheetah
What a neat achievement that would be.
If we could talk to the animals, learn their languages
Maybe take an animal degree.
We'd study elephant and eagle, buffalo and beagle,
Alligator, guinea pig, and flea.
We would converse in polar bear and python,
And we could curse in fluent kangaroo.
If people asked us, can you speak in rhinoceros,
We'd say, "Of courserous, can't you?"
If we could talk to the animals, learn their languages
Think of all the things we could discuss
If we could walk with the animals, talk with the animals,
Grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals,
And they could squeak and squawk and speak and talk to us.

Doug okayed this one a year or two back...if he ever decides to talk to Pen-Pen in the EVA step (with Asuka, Shinji and Misato watching)...this would be great!
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell