The final scene of the chapter is giving me some problems, but I'm hoping to have it thrashed into acceptable shape by the end of the week still. If not then, then by Monday. I am still shooting for a November 7 release; I won't push that date back unless my muse gets really truculent.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Here are some random not very usefull powers and the odd songs that might bring them. I am afraid, that I have been given this way too much thought.
"Wouldn't it be good" by Nic Kershaw
Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes, even if it was for just one day
Bodyswap. Traded places with someone for 24-hours. Subject has to be willing or at least jealous enough to wish to be in Doug's place on some level.
"Weather With You" by Crowded House
Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you
localized weather control. A bubble of air surrounds Doug that will stay the same temperatur, humidity and so on no matter where he goes. Walk out a house and stay room temperatur even in hottest summer or coldest winter. Might also work for short space-walks without a spacesuit.
"Invisible Man" by Queen
Incredible how you can see right through me
I'm the invisible man I'm the invisible man
It's criminal how I can see right through you
Invisibility and X-Ray visions. Not paticularly usefull when he already has non-corp and other powers.

"Kung-Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Hand-combat boost Area effect. Everyone around Doug suddenly gains advanced martial-arts abilities for the duration of the song. Useless for Doug himself, as he already is quite good at hand to hand combat. Could turn a group of innocent bystanders or noncombatants into people who can take care of themselves while he goes after the main problem. It would only be usefull when he can't get them out, the enemy is not to powerfull and not human enough to be also boosted by the song. Might also be usefull if he was forced to fight alongside some powerfull but untrained allies (like say Sailor-Senshi).
"Wind of Change" by the Scorpions
A rain of coins, silly. Ignoring the actual meaning of the lyrics and concentraiting on the title-phrase, the power creates a small shower of random coins that will disappear after the end of the song. Not paticularly usefull for anything other than a quick diversion or scamming automated vendors.

Edited to actually turn on the ezCodes I used everywhere. That will teach me to ignore the preview option.

I'm sorry, I can't help myself. I'm waaaaay to much a Rush fan to resist. I can see all sorts of fun powers with these. The last one is the title track to my own little megacrossover.

"Presto"
If I could wave my magic wand...
I am made from the dust of the stars
And the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
Like a stranger coming out of the rain
The evening plane rises up from the runway
Over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
And wonder what you're doing tonight
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd make everything all right
I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I had a dream of a winter garden
A midnight rendezvous
Silver, blue and frozen silence
What a fool I was for you
I had a dream of the open water
I was swimming away out to sea
So deep I could never touch bottom
What a fool I used to be
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic
Though my memory has a second sight
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
When I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me
I'm just improvising
My illusion of careless flight
Can't you see
My temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me
I'm just sympathizing
My illusions a harmless flight
Can't you see
My temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light

"Marathon"
Its not how fast you can go
The force goes into the flow
If you pick up the beat
You can forget about the heat
More than just survival
More than just a flash
More than just a dotted line
More than just a dash
Its a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race
More than just blind ambition
More than just simple greed
More than just a finish line
Must feed this burning need --
In the long run...
From first to last
The peak is never passed
Something always fires the light
That gets in your eyes
One moments high
And glory rolls on by
Like a streak of lightning
That flashes and fades
In the summer sky
Your meters may overload
You can rest at the side of the road
You can miss a stride
But nobody gets a free ride
More than high performance
More than just a spark
More than just the bottom line
Or a lucky shot in the dark --
In the long run...
You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you dont burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance --
First youve got to last...

"Scars"
I've stood upon my mountaintop
And shouted at the sky
Walked above the pavement
With my sense amplified
I get this feeling...
All my nerves are naked wires
Tender to the touch
Sometimes super sensitive
But who can care too much?
I get this feeling...
Scars of pleasure
Scars of pain
Atmospheric changes
Make them sensitive again
Each emotional injury
Leaves behind its mark
Sometimes they come tumbling out
Like shadows in the dark
I get this feeling...
When I think about all I have seen
And all I'll never see
When I think about the people
Who have opened up to me
I get this feeling...
Snow falls deep around my house
And holds the winter light
I've heard the lions hunting
In the Serengeti night
I get this feeling...
Forests turned to factories
And river, sea, and sky
Hungry child in the desert
And the flies that cloud her eyes
I get this feeling...
Pleasure leaves a fingerprint
As surely as mortal pain
In memories they resonate
And echo back again...
Scars of pleasure
Scars of pain
Atmospheric changes
Make them sensitive again
"Mission"
Hold your fire,
Keep it burning bright.
Hold the flame
'Til the dream ignites.
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream... with a mission.
I hear their passionate music,
Read the words that touch my heart.
I gaze at their feverish pictures,
The secrets that set them apart.
When I feel the powerful visions
Their fire has made alive,
I wish I had that instinct,
I wish I had that drive.
Spirits fly on dangerous missions,
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions,
Consumed in a single desire.
In the grip of a nameless possession,
Slave to the drive of obsession.
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream... with a mission...
I watch their images flicker
Bringing light to a lifeless screen.
I walk through their beautiful buildings
And I wish I had their dreams.
But dreams don't need to have motion
To keep their spark alive.
Obsession has to have action,
Pride turns on the drive.
Spirits fly on dangerous missions,
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions,
Consumed in a single desire.
In the grip of a nameless possession,
Slave to the drive of obsession.
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream... with a mission...
It's cold comfort
To the ones without it.
To know how they struggled,
How they suffered about it.
If their lives were exotic and strange,
They would likely have gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain,
Maybe something a little more sane.
We each pay a fabulous price
For our visions of paradise,
But a spirit with a vision
Is a dream... with a mission...
A spirit with a vision is a dream...
"Turn the Page"
Nothing can survive in a vacuum,
No one can exist all alone.
We pretend things only happen to strangers,
We've all got problems of our own.
It's enough to learn to share our pleasures,
We can't soothe pain with sympathy.
All that we can do is be reminded,
We shake our heads at the tragedy.
Every day we're standing in a time capsule
Racing down a river from the past.
Every day we're standing in a wind tunnel
Facing down the future coming fast.
It's just the age.
It's just a stage.
We disengage.
We turn the page...
Looking at the long-range forecast
Catching all the names in the news.
Checking out the state of the nation,
Learning the environmental blues.
Truth is after all a moving target,
Hairs to split and pieces that don't fit.
How can anybody be enlightened?
Truth is after all so poorly lit.
Every day we're standing in a time capsule
Racing down a river from the past.
It's just the age.
It's just a stage.
We disengage.
We turn the page.
We turn the...
It's just the age.
It's just a stage.
We disengage.
We turn the page.
Every day we're standing in a time capsule.
We disengage.
We turn the page.
Racing down a river from the past.
Every day we're standing in a wind tunnel.
It's just a stage.
We disengage.
We turn the page.
Facing down the future coming fast.
Every day we're standing in a time capsule.
It's just a stage.
We disengage.
We turn the page.
Racing down a river from the past.
Every day we're standing in a wind tunnel.
It's just a stage.
We disengage.
We turn the page...--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
www.yggdrasil.org

"...and that's all the APD's been able to find out," Lisafinished lamely as they strolled through one of the plazassurrounding GENOM Tower. It was easily the warmest day in weeks,with the bright sun bringing the ambient temperature far enoughabove freezing that the seemingly-eternal slush was turning intoquickly-moving meltwater. Still, just because it was abovefreezing didn't mean she couldn't snuggle; she had wrappedherself around Doug's arm and leaned her head against hisshoulder. He'd eaten her chocolates as his dessert, carefully,deliberately, and pronounced them exquisite; the heady feelingthat gave her almost outweighed her embarassment at having failedhim in finding out anything from Daley.Thinking about how little she had to offer him in the way ofleads, she grimaced privately. While even the lack ofinformation might mean something useful to Doug, it still didn'tmake her feel any better about coming back to him with,essentially, nothing."Hm." She risked a glance up at him. She still couldn't quite get used to the change in his appearance. Even though he hadn't changed the color of his hair or the mustache -- which after nearly two weeks probably wasn't fake any more -- he had shed the vaguely disreputable air he'd possessed when they'd met in Eriko's a few nights earlier. Instead, even though he was dressed casually for a GENOM employee, he radiated an aura that said, "I'm a respectable young executive." Knowing he couldn't be using his powers to do it, Lisa was forced to conclude it really was just a matter of how he carried and presented himself. That kind of skill would be *very* useful to an investigative reporter, and she made a mental note to see where and how she might be able to learn it."I think your contact's right, Lisa," Doug said, shaking her outof her distraction. "It's likely GENOM. I should probably sayanother GENOM faction -- the whole corp is rife with littlepowerplays and rivalries between divisions and departments." Hechuckled. "Hell. I half-expect to hear any day now that arunning gun-battle has broken out between the fifteenth- andsixteenth-floor janitorial staffs over who gets the really *good*soap."Lisa laughed in spite of herself. "You know it'd be easy toclean up afterwards," she offered with a grin.He laughed, too, the first time he'd done so in her presence in awhile. "Which is good, because there'd be no one left with theproper skills for the job."
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I just uploaded a revised copy of the concordance to the website. Mostly this just fixes dead links I found over the weekend along with some grammar/spelling errors. But there is also new material on the "Ode to Joy" and live action Sailor Moon.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I just uploaded a revised copy of the concordance to my website. Mostly this just fixes dead links I found over the weekend along with some grammar/spelling errors. But there is also new material on the "Ode to Joy" and live action Sailor Moon.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I can't remember if any mention of this made it into DW2, but I know there are references in the fragments of the other Steps that exist. During the vampire invasion of Warriors' World, Shadowwalker was caught by the foe and almost turned; a hastily-improvised ritual cast by Dwimanor (and Hexe, I think; it's so long ago now I can't remember for sure) managed to halt the conversion and leave her balanced on an uneasy cusp between vampire and human. She lived the best part of a year like that, only able to eat raw meat and mildly vulnerable to light. Needless to say, we wanted her cured.
It took Dwim and Doug several months to work up a full High Magick/theurgic ritual, which they performed at Stonehenge on Midsummer's Eve. It was, fortunately, successful, although Shadowwalker came out of it slightly altered. (Not for the worse, mind you. Oh, and the "markers" or favors Doug sometimes notes that he owes several gods are mainly for their participation in the theurgic part of the ritual.)
Anyway, while Dwim performed a very structured and complex ritual, Doug stood by, external senses locked out, playing this song and forcing it for all that he was worth:

It's a strange aberration, this brainstorm of youth
Though it's lost in translation from fancy to truth
It's hopelessly human, both inside and out
A joyous occasion, there's no reason to doubt
It's easy somehow, what once was elusive
Is calling me now
I am waiting, I am patiently
Doing nothing, in a reverie
Climbing higher, seeing everything
Interacting, slowly spiralling
I am giving, while I'm watching the
Life I'm living, precious energy
Escalating, what was once just a game,
It's never the same, no one's to blame
It's a strange situation, there's no cause for alarm
All these hot licks and rhetoric, surely do you no harm
They're hopelessly human, both inside and out
A joyous occasion, there's no reason to doubt
When each word is read, would you know the difference
If nothing was said?
All is rhythm, all is unity
I am laughing, as it's meant to be
Just amusing, I am using the
Word was given, making harmony
Moving slowly, dancing aimlessly
Endless circle, turning fearlessly
Resurrected, falling down again
Introspective, I'm just stating my view
Now you can choose, what do you feel,
Is it for real this time?
-- Kansas, Hopelessly Human
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

This bloody road remains a mystery
This sudden darkness fills the air
What are we waiting for?
Won't anybody help us?
What are we waiting for?
We can't afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy
It's a do or die situation
We will be Invincible
This shattered dream you cannot justify
We're gonna scream until we're satisified
What are we running for?
We've got the right to be angry
What are we running for?
When there's no where we can run to anymore
We can't afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy
It's a do or die situation
We will be Invincible
And with the power of conviction
There is no sacrifice
It's a do or die situation
We will be Invincible
Won't anybody help us?
What are we running for?
When there's no where, no where we can run to anymore
We can't afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy
It's a do or die situation
We will be Invincible
And with the power of conviction
There is no sacrifice
It's a do or die situation
We will be Invincible
-- Pat Benatar, Invincible
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Not sure if this would have any bearing on Doug or not, but it was too amusing to keep to myself. I just heard a remake of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" - _in German_. And apparently there's a whole CD (15 tracks IIRC) of the stuff floating around out there somewhere. Now I know DOug doesn't speak German, but I have to wonder if his metagift would pick up on the fact that it's a familiar song, just in a different language. That could make for some interesting (and potentially disastrous) side effects if his tuneplug didn't filter it out properly...
Offsides
Drunkard's Walk Forum Moderator and Prereader At Large

There are new versions of every chapter of Drunkard's Walk II. Do not feel obligated to download these unless you're really detail oriented; mainly I went back and made sure that Doug is using metric units everywhere except in idiomatic phrases -- I was a couple chapters in before I realized initially that he ought to speak in metric, and never got around to revising the earlier chapters. I've also changed or added the link to the discussion forum in the earlier chapters, fixed the throwaway Sony reference that conflicted with later citations, and updated some of the citations in the credits here and there where I've come across information since the relevant chapters were released.
I've also updated the Concordance -- a couple new entries, and I revised the entry for the "Brag of the College Applicant" to include a link to the biography page of its author.
I think that's everything...

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.