Bob, you'd mentioned in another thread that you liked "One Night in Bangkok" but couldn't think of a power for it. I moved threads because that one had moved on and I wouldn't want to backtrample.
Why not just pull out all the stops? Make it a major area change a la Pinball Wizard. Doug takes the role of the American - goes totally rational, unaffected by mind-altering powers, and able to control one team's worth of enormous chess piece simulacra. They have a great deal of power, but limited speed, and he can only move one at a time - and then only in specific, limited, chesslike ways. Mostly, they're useful for blocking things (figure the pawns as slightly over one story tallk, and rather broad, and working up from there.) and crushing things that can't move quickly enough to get out of the way.
On the other side, everyone else in the area gets Opened, for want of a better word, and channels any spirits/godlings/whatever of sex/arousal/attraction/etc that may be in the area. They still have control over their own actions, and their long-term goalsets don't really change, but there is a distinct personality overlay, and their imediate desires will certainly feel some impact. They also get a set of superpower appropriate to the godling in question, and can mentally communicate with them if they wish. At the end of the song, the chess peices derez, and the spirits go home - unless, of course, both the spirit and the person find that they like the experience, in which case there is nothing stopping them from continuing it.
The power and effectiveness with which doug can wield the chess peices are directly proportionate to the number of people who are hit with the side effect.
It's got a number of potential uses. The Chess pieces are really quite powerful, to the point that, given a reasonable number of channelers, they could crush tanks into ineffectiveness. They are also nigh invulnerable and having large pieces of very hard cover that go where you tell them to is often a nice thing. If you have a pack of firendly norms under threat in your immediate vicinity, giving them each a lease-with-option-to-buy pack of low-level superpowers could be quite useful from a tactical standpoint, especially with the attributes of divine endurance, prowess, and (for the males) strength being fairly prevalent.
On the downside, well... that should be pretty obvious... particularly given the sorts of people and spirits/godlings who are most likely to both buy into the idea and convince each other to buy into the idea.
"Odious personal habit: Occasionally creates supervillains."

Several times in the past few days I've seen the construct "SUBJECT wasn't ADJECTIVE1, let alone ADJECTIVE2," and while that's a handy phrasing there's something about it that keeps bugging me, to whit:
The way I've always used it is with the more extreme adjective or verb last: "The joke wasn't funny, let alone hilarious."
The way I've seen it used is the other way around: "The joke wasn't hilarious, let alone funny."
Now, as far as I can see, this makes no sense, but that could just be a matter of habitual interpretation... what do you mob say?
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

This is a partial copy of a email message I sent to a friend who had told me of recent intrusive and silly farming regulation.
I don't try to collect examples of a disturbing trend
notice that all the examples came from my occupation or my hobby. (farming and Electrica Engineering.)
If this is what I see in just two small segments of our economy and society what other orwellian trends am I missing in the rest of society?
.
------------------------------------------------------
Below was taken from a letter to a friend.
I've seen this before there has been a blitz of government sponsored articles in farm magazines "claiming" how important it is for every food animal to be registered. (again they claim it will protect us from
Mad cow.) Oddly the law will also apply to fish, chickens and crops that could never have mad cow.
When pressed on these points they drag out vague words about terrorist.
We get "MANDATORY" surveys each year that claim we must tell EXACTLY how many acres of each crop we have planted and exactly how much yield they had.
These surveys are focused and geared toward helping the major corperations and somehow this information is in the hands of major corporations like DOW and MASANTO get the results months before they are "publicly" posted for the public to use.
Isn't it "odd" how well informed the tame speculators for these corporations are and how easy it is to undercut the uninformed farmers trying to make decisions about selling their crops on an "open" and "fair" market.
They(who ever they is?) are taking our privacy and freedom one state at a time with each state working in a different areas.
In Arkansas they require that you register every source of agricultural water and claim it's to find point source contaminates or pollutants of underground water, but that excuse or so called reason only works for wells. Yet wordings of the rule (I hesitate to call a rule put in place by government employees and never voted on by the public a law.) allows them to interpret the meaning as requiring you to registers your ponds and any diversions of local surface steams as well. (regularly getting water with 5 gallon buckets from the local stream is considered a diversion.)
I think it's Michigan that is trying to pass a requirement that all license plates contain a GPS receiver and a way for the highway department interrogate it and collect the information it has
captured.
The highway department is claiming they need it because cars have become so fuel efficient that most cars don't burn enough gas to pay for the state hiway's upkeep.
Why don't they raise the gas tax?
Missouri tracks every cell phone in the state claiming it's used to determine road traffic loads, but the software isn't limited to only recording the cell phones that are actually on state highways and each cell phone number is linked with it's position.
Walmart, the government and two or three other major corporations have under written the development of RFIDs or Radio Frequency Identification devices that can never be shut down and have megabytes of internal memory and yet have the nerve to claim it's just to stop shoplifting.
I might add they want these transmitters/recording devices embedded in all products they sell especially your clothing and deeply buried in the heels of all shoes.
I have seen corporate specifications for a GPS chip that can be installed in all electronic devices. They claim it is to meet patent and copyright laws by selectively turning off your consumer electronics in geographic locations where they are not allowed to operate.
YES!!!! soon they can turn off your camera or any other electronics at sports events, rock concerts, movies, around the rich, around political figures
or political and military situations they don't want the public to see.
Another part of the chips specifications is a RAM memory and a communication proticols related to RFIDS that allows the downloading of all locations the device has visited.
Soon the police will be able to ask your equipment where you have been without your knowledge or permission.

Walmart and all other large chain stores have long had the capability of collecting and associating a video with all checkout business transactions.
There are persistent rumours that they now routinely collect and sell "strange" transactions to the government. I believe the current definition of "strange" is any sale that is made with cash.
All modern Printers, photocopiers, fax machines and soon all digital cameras embed a binary pattern in each image they make that contains the devices unique registration number that can be traced back to
your purchase of the product. They claim this is to prevent counterfeit money... So why do they see the need to embed the binary pattern identifier in every digital camera even the low grade pocket
cameras?
Remember from now own every dictator or repressive government canl now know who printed those flyers or has taken those pictures.
And it's all thanks to laws and policies set in the United States.
howard melton
God bless

[Just the start of one, posting what I have before I dash to work.]
"Lady, gimme your purse!" the Hellion shouted at his victim. His two companions laughed behind him.
"Don't hurt me!" she wailed. She really should have known better than to step into the alley, but her chewing gum had lost its flavor. Since her attackers had moved all the garbage cans, her only choice had been to step into the alley to deposit the sticky mass in a proper receptacle.
The Hellion frowned as he pulled on the purse. Why did it always take forever to snag purses in Atlas Park? Was there some sort of citizen training course in an obscure martial art to retain purses and wallets until a cape showed up?
A cloud passed over head, dimming the sunlight in the alley. The Hellion would normally have ignored it as normal, but the shadow grew deeper. Almost alive, tendrils of darkness caught at his feet.
"It's gotta be a mask!" he shouted, letting go of the purse. The victim fell on her butt and quickly scrambled away. His companions pulled out their weapons and drew a bead on the form emerging from the shadows.
The hero was short, slender, and feminine. She raised a bow and launched six arrows in one shot before he could register her costume. He was flabbergasted as he and his companions were pinned to the wall by their clothes. The harmless looking schoolgirl he could now identify as QB Kitsune strode up and began to read from a card in her hand.
"B-by the powers vested in h-heroes by the Citizen Crimefighter act of 1938, you are all under arrest," she stated. "You have the right to remain silent . . ."
''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

I was letting my radio hang out at the local country station, and both of these hit me in pretty quick succession as songs with some potential.

"I Ain't As Good As I Once Was" by Toby Keith
She said 'I've seen you in here before'
I said 'I've been here a time or two'
She said 'Hello, my name is Bobby Jo
Meet my twin sister Betty Lou
And we're both feeling kinda wild tonight
And you're the only cowboy in this place
And if you're up for a rodeo
We'll put a big Texas smile on your face'
I said 'Girls,'
[CHORUS:]
I ain't as good as I once was
I got a few years on me now
But there was a time back in my prime
When I could really lay it down
And if you need some love tonight
Then I might have just enough
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
I still hang out with my best friend Dave
I've known him since we were kids at school
Last night he had a few shots
Got in a tight spot hustlin' a game of pool
With a couple of readneck boys
One great big bad biker man
I heard David yell across the room
'Hey buddy, how 'bout a helping hand.'
I said 'Dave,'
[CHORUS:]
I ain't as good as I once was
My how the years have flown
But there was a time back in my prime
When I could really hold my own
But if you wanna fight tonight
Guess thouse boys dont look all that tough
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
I used to be Hell on wheels
Back when I was younger man
Now my body says 'You can't do this boy'
But my pride says 'Oh, yes you can.'
I ain't as good as I once was
Thats just the cold hard truth
I still throw a few back, talk a little smack
When I'm feelin' bullet proof
So don't double dog dare me now
'Cause I'd have to call your bluff
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
Maybe not be good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was

The rhyme structure is a bit mangled, mostly by trying to rhyme "was" with itself, but I like it for a power song anyway. For the duration of the song, it gives Doug as much speed, strength, stamina, and durability as he wants or needs, absolutely free. At the end of the song, he pays for it all. You do not want to play around with this song and duration enhancers. There's also one of those little side-effects. Playing this song makes Doug feel *pumped* - and even though he *knows* what it'll be like after the crash, in the heat of the moment he finds it difficult to care.

"If Bubba Can Dance" by Shenandoah

Well he saw it on TV and ordered that video
He learned every step at home and never told me so
When I saw him out there the very first time I knew
Well if Bubba can dance I can too
Chorus
Yeah now Bubba can scoot, Bubba can slide
Bubba can two-step, Bubba can glide
I never though he had the nerve, he never said a word
Well everybody in the place stand back and give me some room
Cause if Bubba can dance I can too
Well I've been watching all night and I'm working my courage up
Hey that dude's on the floor and he's doin' all the latest stuff
Well if he's brave enough then I know what I gotta do
Hey if Bubba can dance, I can too
chorus
Well if Bubba can dance I can too (repeat, then solo)
Doug begins dancing. Shortly thereafter, everyone around him begins to dance, not through some compulsion, but out of a deep and abiding unwillingness to let Doug show them up by dancing when they're too chicken to do it themselves, or to let him claim superiority over them in dancing ability without at least putting up a fight for it. This functions regardless of the degree of rationalization necessary to get there. It is trivial, at that point, for any of the subjects (including doug) to turn the whole thing into a dance-off with any of the other subjects (including Doug). Actually, having this *not* happen, if only on an implied level, pretty much requires *everyone* involved deliberately avoiding it. It also imparts (to Doug) a basic understanding of all of the more popular local dances for the duration.

There's a pretty good Potterfic writer who goes by IP82, who's one of the people that have put together a group to sponsor a post-HBP fic contest for this summer, with actual cash przes, which they are simply calling "Horcrux." While I immediately knew I couldn't be arsed to come up with an entry, thinking about why lead me to two realizations:
1. Voldemort is a Liche. Powerful undead and undying wizard, soul stuck in phylacteries, the works. This isn't the important bit.
2. The important bit is, while she lucked onto an intrigiung setting, JKR isn't very good... maybe 3.5/10 where I count 5/10 as an average paperback that I'll want to keep. HPS is meh, COS a bit better, Azkaban okay but still not a reread, GoF the only one I DID reread, OotP I skipped from Harry's first Occlumency lesson to saving Artur to NEWTs, and that was good, but the other half of the book was too whiny and repetetive to do more than skim a few lines per page. HBP... it would have been more satisfying if the only continuations of the series were the fan writing, because the sixth book puts the canon squarely in Ranma 1/2 territory where even the median level of the Pit of Voles makes canon look bad.
What does all this mean? It means for a post-GoF fic, the possibilities are wide pen, practically anything can be done and any character can be either revealed as a scoundrel or revered as a champion. The fact that this allows for lots of HP/DM slash with Snape as semi-incestuous father figure is simply the price that one must pay for options.
Post OotP, you pretty much have to choose between a Dumbledore who is good and one who is competent, but hey, even the best of us have our failings, and while it might be nice fort Harry to have Sirius around most of the prank-war segments in fics that his presence encourages just piss me off, and a dramatic personality change in Harry is easy to blame on the loss.
The problem with a post HBP fic, is that the greasy git's actions can still be explained away to have him come out a good guy, not just one or two but practically the entire cast of characters have been acting like total morons in terms of actually doing anything about the current state of conflict or preparing to, and the quest for seven plot points is so DAMN overused its not even as good as "pathetic."
I mean, I would rather read about a quest for seven cereal box tops that get sent in for Mecha-Shen-Long... and as IP82 (see, it's related!) pointed out in one of his authors' notes, a Dark Lord who wanted immortality should make one phylactery, (I'm sticking to the word out of real myth, now that I've remembered it) enclose it in a rock, and throw it in the ocean, not putz around with flashy historical trinkets that the good guys can research and easily find in a pile of other stuff due to their distinctiveness. Granted, that breaks the convention that Evil means Stupid, and with the quality of opposition you can't have smart bad guys or they'll win, but that's not a positive factor. So to put it bluntly..
JKR? You fail it!
- CD freely admits to being opinionated and obstinate, but is williong to hear differing opinions with the understanding tat his own is unlikely to changeSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

You know, those ones where everyone's just a normal person. For example, in Buffyverse the vamps are humans, there's no Slayers, or Witches, or Werewolves. Or in any DC universe, the ones where the JLA are all normal non-powered people who just happen to know each other.
Really, I don't get them. At that point, where you've completely changed the world and the characters that much, isn't it just original fiction? I mean, in a lot of them I've skimmed I could easily replace all the names with random ones pulled from my Spam filter and it'd be a decent OF.
Could someone explain this genre to me? What's the attraction?
Note: This was posted to my LJ, but I realized from the lack of response if I really want to see a discussion on this I need to put it in the right community, aka here.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

I've always heard still waters run deep
And every smile can hide a frown
And you're no exception, I feel it in you
It makes me love you more, it makes me love you more
I hear you talk in your sleep
The words you won't speak
When you're not dreaming,
I hear the secrets you keep
the fears that run deep
That you're still concealing from me
But somehow I see
What you want revealed,
What you want revealed
I've always heard there's more than meets the eye
And I can't take my eyes off you
Ooh, and that connection that binds me to you
It tells me what you are, it tells me who you are
I hear you talk in your sleep
The words you won't speak
When you're not dreaming,
I hear the secrets you keep
the fears that run deep
That you're still concealing from me
But somehow I see
What you want revealed,
What you want revealed,
Ooh, I hear you talk in your sleep
The words you won't speak
When you're not dreaming,
I hear the secrets you keep
the fears that run deep
That you're still concealing from me
But somehow I see
What you want revealed,
What you want revealed

What You Want Revealed, by Tal Bachman.

It's amazing how many "not yet released" songs get played on the CBC. This one was on the 22 July 2006 episode of the show Fuse (which I recorded); Tal Bachman (She's So High) was asked to sing something from his upcoming album, and this is what he chose. His father Randy (of The Guess Who and BTO) played backup guitar for the song. (Yes, they have different musical styles - that's the whole point to Fuse. Tal returned the favour by playing backup guitar when Randy sang White Collar Worker - er, Taking Care of Business.)

Enough about the song - moving to the power... If Doug plays the song just before turning in for the night, he'll know upon waking the next day whatever the closest other sleeper is keeping secret, even if that sleeper is under a psi-lock, geas, or other compulsion to not reveal the information. It won't get information from an amnesiaic, though; the sleeper has to know the secret(s).
It's a love song, so there's that pesky side-effect of infatuation. Just like all the other love songs that grant him powers, the infatuation isn't permanent. However, since the song takes an entire night to work, the infatuation will last for an equivalently long time.
(I don't see Doug playing this one very often. It's something he might use on a Servant Factor victim, but not on a shipwrecked teenager...)

-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

I was flicking through the main DW page, when the random quote machine at the top pumped this out:

Eight gods there are I call my own:
Maiden, Warrior, Mother, and Crone,
Moments' Guardian, the Sun and her Bride
And the Witch who soars at lightning's side.

I can pretty much figure out seven of those referenced, but the problem is one of the gods in my mind could realistally fill two positions.

Hum... OK, maybe I have all eight. If anybody wants me to put down my guess for the gods mentioned I will, but you might want a go at it too.

Poor old Dougie Boy; he hates gods normally, but he seems destined to be stuck around a bunch of them for a long time. (Especially since he doesn't age[1] outside his normal[2] universe.)

[1] : Not since the end of DW2 at any rate. Any idea if this will last after Doug gets home?
[2] : OK, maybe I should have used native. No way is the Warriors World universe normal. It has Doug in it for crying out loud.

Did you know Beirut was called the Paris of the Middle East, once?

I happened to be by Parliament Hill this morning. I'd planned to take some photos in order to toss at some international friends of mine, but as it turned out, there was more to photograph than I anticipated.

There was a protest against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. There were, I'd estimate, about 300-400 people there. Some carried Canadian flags, some the flags of Lebanon.

I saw one or two Palestinian flags as well.

People (even Canadians) might not be aware of the fact that Canada actually has a special relationship with Lebanon. In the mid-1970s, during the civil war there, Canada was one of the few countries to adopt special immigration measures to assist Lebanese fleeing the conflict. Later, in 1989, Canada set up an office in Cyprus to help with family reunification and refugee applications. The net result is that Lebanese immigration to Canada exploded; they are easily the largest group of Arab immigrants in Canada, with over a quarter-million living here as of 2002.

This goes both ways. Aside from Sri Lanka, there are more Canadian citizens currently in Lebanon than any other country; estimates range from 40,000 to 50,000, twice as many as the US or France. So it's been quite a concern here since the current conflict exploded.

The protest was peaceful, and bordered a pavilion trying to raise awareness of breast cancer. The people were largely friendly; stirring Lebanese music was played. But they're angry, too, no doubt about that. A speaker up near the Parliament Buildings with a microphone repeatedly called out "Stephen Harper, take a stand! Canadian's blood is on your hands."

I've been following this situation pretty closely in the news. I'm not really making this post to argue for one side or the other. Some issues and crises', I find, are easy to take a firm moral stance on. Some are not. I find this one of the latter. It's easy to understand the plight of the Lebanese civilians who are being harmed or killed by Israeli attacks. It is easy to understand the situation of Israel, who have a chance to cripple Hezbollah permanently. In twenty or thirty years, when it's obvious what the effect of this was, it will be simple to decide what was the right thing to believe. Now, not so much. My girlfriend is Jewish; I watched a woman carrying photos of a niece killed in an Israeli attack. I don't feel like condemning either, nor carrying a sign supporting either country or cause (nor do I necessarily feel either represents a "cause"). This, much like the tragedies in Africa, is a situation that makes one feel sick to one's stomach, but for which there is no clear-cut solution, or even position to take. That is, for me. Clearly, many feel differently.

It's easy to forget, for those of us in the First World, just how incredibly lucky we are to be there. I've been to the Third World, but I still forget that fact sometimes too.

As I said, this isn't really to argue a point. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. But for right now, watching this simply made me thoughtful. Perhaps some of you might find these pictures make you thoughtful too, or that they're just interesting. If not, that's of course fine as well.
Stay safe out there. And remember how lucky you are.