Yes, I'm serious.
No, I'm *NOT* joking.
Just logged into it myself, greets you with "Welcome to the Issue 9 Open Beta!"
Time to hit the Copy Tool!
Global: @Jimmy Amp
"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers

February 29, 2012

"Are you sure you want to do this, Ramona?"

The woman in question turned to face the man who had addressed her. "I'm sure, Jake. Look at her - she wants to fly. I know it. Besides, aren't you at all curious whether your drive unit will work?"

"I guess... but Hans and I only put that together to soak up the last of the goop! We never thought you'd actually use it!"

Ramona grinned. "You should know me better than that by now, Jake. Let's get this birdie in the air, and prove my grandpa was right to believe in the design."

Three years earlier

"Have you heard? They're terraforming Venus!"

"No kidding? Cool..."

"What, isn't ruining Mars enough for them?"

"And what's that supposed to mean, Hans Bachmann?" The only woman at the table glared at the taller of her two companions.

"I'm just saying those people are already turning one unique world into a copy of ours. Why let them do the same to another unique world?"

"Well, if you don't like it, why not do something about it?"

"Ramona, are you crazy?"

"No, Jake, I'm not crazy. I just want Hans to stop harping about the fact that some brave people are opening up new places for humanity to colonize; places that we won't have to take away from people who already live there, I might add."

Hans glared at her. Finally, he asked, "If you like what they're doing so much, why aren't you out there with them, Ms. Ramona Jackson?"

Ramona thought for a moment. "Tell you what - you and Jake help me build something that'll fly into space, and I'll go join them. Deal?"

"Deal. You won't do it, I'm sure."

February 29, 2012

"So, is Hans off sulking somewhere because I'm actually keeping my end of the bargain?"

Jake shook his head. "He doesn't want to see you crash."

"I'm not going to crash! Don't you trust the plane that the three of us built?"

"I trust it. I don't trust the goop. And I don't like that personality in the plane's computer."

"That's okay - she doesn't like you, either. You know she's only a vegetarian because you're a cattle rancher..."

Three months earlier

Ramona grunted as she reached for the dangling computer cable. "One more, and ..." She plugged it into the back of the laptop Hans had welded in place beside the seat. "... Done!"

The computer switched itself on. "Hello," it said in a pleasant contralo. "I'm Avril; who are you?"

"Um... er... I'm Ramona..."

"Hi, Ramona! Are you my pilot?"

"I... I guess so..."

Just then, Jake poked his head into the cockpit. "How are you doing in here, 'Mona?"

"Jake Turnar, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Hey, you! Don't call my pilot 'Mona'! That's not her name!"

Jake's jaw dropped. "What the hell?"

A feminine face appeared on the laptop's screen. "And don't swear!"

February 29, 2012

Ramona put her foot on the lowest rung of the boarding ladder. "But it doesn't matter whether Avril likes you or not, Jake. I'm the one going into space. And even if you don't trust the engine you and Hans built, I do."

By the time she was in the cockpit, he was gone.

Three days earlier

"That's it - it's installed. And I'm washing my hands of the whole matter. You should have tried harder to convince Ramona to stay here."

"You know her better than that, Hans. Once she sets her mind to something, she goes through with it."

Hans shook his head as he gestured around with one hand. "And whose idea was it to build one of these? There's no room for a passenger, let alone any cargo!"

"Hers. It's what she wanted, after all. So..."

"So?"

"So, what are we going to call this thing?"

"The aircraft?"

"My name is Avril," interrupted the cockpit speaker.

Jake groaned. "Not the plane, Hans... the engine."

Hans thought for a moment. "We built it, so we'll name it after ourselves."

"That sounds good to me," interrupted Ramona as she squeezed in between the two men. "But it's not an engine - it's a drive. No," she reconsidered, "it's an overdrive."

"Oh, hi, Mona." There was a crackle of static over the ship's speaker, and Jake quickly corrected himself. "Er, Ramona. So, it's the Ba... No. Absolutely not. They won't care that the spelling is different - we'll get sued!"

"Only if they find out," answered Ramona with a grin.

February 29, 2012

Ramona settled into the pilot's seat. "How are your systems, Avril?"

Avril's face appeared on the monitor. "I think the drive needs some music to work properly."

"What are you waiting for, girl? Play it!"

"Which song?"

"You know which song."

The speakers in the back of the plane came to life. "You wake up in the morning, from the alarm clock's warning, take the 8:15 into the city..." And the engines came to life.

Ramona finished the pre-flight checklist, strapped in, put her helmet on, and switched on the radio. "Wetaskiwin Tower, this is experimental aircraft CF-105-Z requesting clearance to taxi and takeoff."

"105-Zulu, this is Tower. You're clear to taxi and takeoff, Ramona. Good luck, and don't forget to call."

"Thank you, Tower. And I'll let you know when I've found a place on Mars, Mom."

Two minutes later, Canada saw the first Arrow flyover in over five decades, as it headed for stranger skies...

Got a prediction? Something to say about an episode? Even just word of a fresh sub?
It goes here.
And, speaking of fresh subs...
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

I have discovered a client side modification that exchanges one of the chest emblems for the United Nations logo.
Here's a few example pics of how it would look and how large the emblem is.





It's not a large file at all. If you want, I can email it to you. Or you can download it and the instructions for adding it to your City of Heroes Data folder from here:
Electro's Mods Yahoo Group #4
Just do the normal join up and download from the files area.-Logan
-----------------
The only good Marvel is CAPTAIN MARVEL!
SHAZAM!!
-----------------

sora wo aogi hoshi yo michite
tobi tatsu no ashita eno brilliant road
kokoro no aosa ono te ne daite go far away
urayamu koto ni narete shimattara
hokoreru jibun ga tou zakatteku
mie nai tsubasa de habataku no fly higher
yume wo egaku no wa "hito" ni umareta kara
sora wo aogi hoshi yo michite
tobi tatsu no ashita eno brilliant road
kokoro no aosa kono te ni daite
anata to nara yowai jibun wo sarake dashi te hashiri daseru no
mirai yo douka mugen ni tsuzuke go far away
dareka no shita rail ni toraware
fuman wo noberu jinsei wa ira nai
honno wazuka na ikioi de let us go
toushin dai no eyes mitsume aeta toki ni
tabi dachi wa itsu datte kodoku
semete sono te wo nigiri shime te
ureino egao kokoro wo sasuyo
atashi ga ite anata ga iru kono hi wo zutto wasure nai darou
namida wa mune no naka de nagasu no go far away
mie nai tsubasa de habataku no fly higher
yume wo egaku no wa "hito" ni umareta kara
sora wo aogi hoshi yo michite
tobi tatsu no ashita eno brilliant road
kokoro no aosa kono te ni daite
anata to nara yowai jibun wo sarake dashi te hashiri daseru no
mirai yo douka mugen ni tsuzuke go far away
tabi dachi wa itsu datte kodoku
semete sono te wo nigiri shime te
ureino egao kokoro wo sasuyo
atashi ga ite anata ga iru kono hi wo zutto wasure nai darou
namida wa mune no naka de nagasu no go far away

Brilliant Road to Tomorrow, by angela, lyrics by atsuko, music by KATSU, from the album voice of the sky, 2003. Plaing time 4:48

As much as the repeated "go far away" lyric hints at this being a Gate song (those who recognize it will know to where ), I think that would waste the song's potential. The repeated singing about "kokoro" puts this in the running as one of the "instill confidence" songs that Bob is looking for for DW VI. (A few lines of the song are darkly ironic for the Evangelion setting, but Doug wouldn't know that...)

Ah, yes; English... Here's the uncredited translation from the US edition of the CD:
Look up to the star-filled sky
Take off to the brilliant road that leads to tomorrow
Embrace the heart of blue in my arms, go far away
If I get used to envying others
Those parts of myself that I am proud of will recede from me
I will fly higher with my invisible wings
Because I was born as a human, I have a dream
Looking up to the star-filled sky
Take off to the brilliant road that leads to tomorrow
Embrace the heart of blue in my arms
If I am with you I can run and expose my weakness
Please let an infinite future be continued, go far away
I don't want a life of complaints because I am imprisoned
by the rails someone laid
With a little power; let us go
The moment we rivet each other with our life-sized eyes
The departure is always lonesome
At least, I squeeze your hand
Your troubled smile stings my heart
I'm here and you're here, I'll neer forget this day
Tears are meant to show only in the heart; go far away
I will fly higher with my invisible wings
Because I was born as a human, I have a dream
Looking up to the star-filled sky
Take off to the brilliant road that leads to tomorrow
Embrace the heart of blue in my arms
If I am with you I can run and expose my weakness
Please let an infinite future be continued, go far away
The departure is always lonesome
At least, I squeeze your hand
Your troubled smile stings my heart
I'm here and you're here, I'll neer forget this day
Tears are meant to show only in the heart; go far away

-Rob Kelk
--
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

This thread is for quotes that *aren't* in any written works - for those scrips and scraps that you figure someone else might use but you never will - or just bits that you find entertaining. Feel free to poach.
--------------
"If you have a Destined Savior - one hero about whom the fate of the world revolves, don't let him or her be horribly traumatized as a child. It will give the forces arrayed against the poor waif one more thing to attack with. It will leave them suffering and whimpering when they should be saving the world. Worse yet, it will lead to the creation of scads and scads of Horriby Emo Fanfic, and no one wants that."
----
"Sometimes, I lie awake at night and rederive forgotten bits of physics in my head."
"Sometimes, I lie awake at night and try to figure out what orders to give to my faithful gerbil worshippers this week, and what miracles to perform on their behalf."
----
"Why is he doing that?"
"Because he thinks it makes him look cool."
"It *does* make him look cool."
"Shut up! Don't encourage him."
----
He was smiling that smile - you know, the gambler's smile. The one that says "Someone's about to get taken for a whole lotta money, and I don't *think* it's me."
----
Getting in contact with a highly skilled, black market cyberdoc: 1,200 nuyen
three square inches of doublethick nanoweave, precisely placed: 15,000 nuyen
general medical fees associated with the process: 7,000 nuyen
that moment when the vampire realizes that your carotid arteries are armor-plated: priceless.
----
It's true. When the little green man warns you that you really ought to stop harrassing him and go away now, he *might* be bluffing.
----
"Dude! I couldn't deal out ranged damage if my life depended on it!"

"Y'know...that's just not a good sign."
----
Mr. Simpson had a problem. He had a little girl, who he loved with all his heart, who was as precious to him as his own life, and he knew - he *knew* that some day she would grow up. She would grow up to be beautiful. He was sure of it. She would grow up to be stunningly beautiful and ferociously intelligent and classy and charming and all of the boys would want her. They would want her. Those dirty little boys with their dirty little hands and their dirty little minds would want her, and some of them might even be brave enough to ask her out. She might say yes. Those little dirtbags didn't deserve his daughter! He had to keep her safe. He had to. They were going to ask her. He couldn't stop them, unless he killed them all himself, and he realized that killing off the slightly under 50% of the world population that consisted of Males Who Were Not Him was probably a little beyond him. In any case, it was an uncertain solution. He might miss one or two. Uncertainty meant imperfection, and for his daughter, everything must be perfect. He'd simply have to make sure that she never said yes. That's all. Still...how was he to do that? He had to think. Think!

So the other day I get this idea - it hurt, it really did. When I shared this idea, people wanted to see how it would look. So, here she is. Sexist Male Fantasy.

Yeah, I worked this into a standalone short-short, as I mentioned I might in the other thread. Enjoy.

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
-----------------
The only good Marvel is CAPTAIN MARVEL!
SHAZAM!!
-----------------