I'm currently working on a few character ideas and a (at least) short fic that will likely include an updated version of a snippet I posted a few years back, and wanted to check on the in-universe development of certain real-world materials.

The idea I had was that my self-insert, being Australian, would be able to stay more or less planet side during the early days and take the time to work on his handwavium projects properly. This would lead to him building a spaceship proper in late 2011, early to mid 2012.

The idea I had for his ship and possibly a droid come from Star Wars The Old Republic, which came out December 2011. I had to wonder, given the state of affairs regarding sci-fi in the US at the time, would that game have been abandoned, or is it possible that it still came out, either in spite of anti-fen complainers, or maybe even using it for extra publicity?

My usual source for trailers and other interesting videos turned up a bonanza for me today -- hold on to your seats and check out the following.




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

In every subculture, there're darker elements...

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Gunbunny_Chicago92
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
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Cyber Freaks.

Creepers happen, I get it. Everytime I've gone to a con, there's always been someone who hasn't learned the concept of personal space. It comes with the territory I know how to deal with them.

But this one takes the biscuit.

So, to set the scene, I'm there selling on my stand and I have a good business going for the day. I've sold a few plasma guns and taken a few orders for custom work. Minnie's just finished off another pleased customer and I'm trying to get the books in order for the Patrol while the rest of the hall bustles by, when he appears.

I think the first warning is that knockoff t-shirt he had on. There's only one reason members of that fan-club want anything to do with me and most of 'em are fairly decent like, but he just gives me the wrong impression, straight off the bat.

This one doesn't even look at my eyes, he just zooms in on my arm – like, completely.

“Oh wow, that's one of Peter's earliest, isn't it?”

And I'm thinking, now that's a goddamn first. I'm more amused than annoyed, so I just say 'well yeah', then ask him if he's interested in getting any custom work done.

What happened next just caught me completely offguard. He reaches over the table and grabs my arm, almost like he's trying to pull it off?

“How much for the this?”

The next thing I know, he's on the floor with blood trailing from his nose while I'm standing with a pain in my knuckles. He just gets this painful look in his face like a scalded brat who's been told he can't play with his toys for being naughty and just goes off on a screamer.

“That thing's a collectable! One of our Lady's works from before she was even a Lady. Why would anyone even want to live with something that old?”

No shit, there I was, he actually said that.

I've been groped and grabbed and you-name it, but this is the first time someone's actually tried to buy me. Not a piece of hardware, but a piece of me. I probably shouldn't have drawn my Gunzerker on him on the Convention floor, but I had no idea what he'd do to get what he wanted and he already had a hand in his pocket.

I shot him straight in the head before he could stand up, then called for Con-Sec.

This isn't come goddamned fashion accessory, like so many chrome-fiends these days. I mean, fuck. I had a car-lift drop on me years ago. I remember what it felt like to have my arm and pelvis crushed and pinched off by three tons of metal. I remember lying there for hours trying to reach for the phone in my pocket and how much that hurt. I remember feeling pathetic in a wheelchair, and taking the offer on a long-shot of being able to walk and work again, back when such things really were a longshot. I remember the pain of surgery and healing, and learning to walk again with a leg that felt completely empty and alien. And then he comes along and tries to buy that off me like it's some kind of object, a collectable.

I get it, you can't fire off a gun on the Convention floor without getting asked to leave, but maybe someone could understand. Shooting that asshole cost me my biggest weekend of the year.

Of course, my partner knew him as a collector of old cyberware – and as one of the people who'd bought some of her wreckage that'd been stolen from the tunnel after the Motorcon accident. It's just the dark side of the cyber subculture, she tells me, without too much concern. Of course, they only really bother the people who actually need prosthetics, rather than the full conversions because, hey, why bother antagonising someone who can actually rip your arms off.

Look, I'm not into the cyberculture stuff, even if my partner is. I don't really want to be either, but I really don't know how often stuff like that happens to others. But how can anyone sane be a collector of people parts?

That's just fucked up. And of all the things that've happened to me at cons, that's the only one that's ever made me actually draw a gun on someone.

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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

This should describe it pretty well:

http://allthetropes.orain.org/wiki/League_For_Gamers

If you guys are interested, please join. It's in beta now, but it's quickly growing, and it's where gamers from all walks of life can chill around the water cooler and be friends.

So, distracted by shiny objects. The main one is Champions Online, again, where I've made a lolsome and fun to play character... The Amazing ICE CREAM MAN!



I didn't save his bio to a text file to cut and paste here, but basically one of the setting's magic villains (Lo Pan) stole an ice cream cart rather than pay for a lemon sherbet and discarded it after taking his prize, but the residual magic animated the rest into a magical ice cream construct which has now taken to being a superhero to avenge all crimes against tasty treats.

Ice Cream Man is, naturally, a Glacier AT with tank/ranged ice powers, and on the same account (@velocirapture2go) as my other favorites, Velocirapture (Unleashed/dual blades blender on two legs fluffed as speedster) and Sturgeon General (Radiant/ranged healer with decent DPS when no one's hurtin')
--
"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

"Almost Home" by Mariah Careyhttp://www.youtube.com/v/TwrWFOluAo8&version=3 ... tube_gdata
"Find Your Way Back" by Jefferson Starshiphttp://www.youtube.com/v/Dj4gqJzlIvc&version=3 ... tube_gdata
and this one is more of a stretch, but even if not a gate song , perhaps someone else can come up with a different idea."Last Ride of the Day" by Nightwishhttp://www.youtube.com/v/ukDEYRXoH2g&version=3 ... tube_gdata
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

Elton John's classic "Your Song" a similar effect to "I play for You" in that it provides the next song's powers to someone other than Doug
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

So, Codewalker and the people at Titan Network have put together a program that essentially turns your CoH I24 Beta client into a chat program.  Knowing the RP aspect of the Legendary, I thought there might be some small interest.  It's called Paragon Chat.  First three bullet points from their FAQ:

What is Paragon Chat?
Paragon Chat is a software program that turns your City of Heroes client into an interactive chat and socialization platform. It allows you to design costumes, see and meet with other players in a shared virtual space, communicate through text chat as well as animated emotes, and manage a list of friends that you frequently interact with and wish to be able to see your online status.
What is Paragon Chat not?
It is not a game. It does not feature combat, power mechanics, accumulation of experience, leveling, inventory, auctions, etc.
Do I need to have City of Heroes already installed?
Yes. You'll need the Issue 24 Beta client. As the game was Free-to-Play before closure and beta access was not consistently a VIP perk, anyone who downloaded it in 2012 should have a legal copy.

Full FAQ is here.
You seem to need a Titan Network login to access their chat server.  Current version is 0.97e beta.  Patch notes and Download link found here.

An essay by Cmdr. Hadfield, used as a preface to the new printing of the book and reprinted in the Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/boo ... e25414257/
--
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

So, the NASA spacecraft New Horizons is set to visit Pluto in well... 28 hours.  I'm excited.  After all, we're already getting science from pictures like this:

Actually, it's browner than that, more of a tan color, but the color instrument isn't included in that photo.  It'll be a super-fast flyby, but we'll be getting data for months.  Anyway, I'm just looking forward to learning about everyone's favorite trans-Neptunian object.
-- ∇×V