Lolsearching random crap, I was quite surprised to find that despite living in a bathtub and having a buncha suggestively shaped tentacles, there's no Rule 34 to be found on the nBSG Cylon type called Hybrids, the ones who run the Basestars. Sure, they're loopier than an air show, but when has that stopped the internet? Clearly I must have missed something, for as we all know,

NO EXCEPTIONS!
--
"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

I was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force in the 80's where one of the more colorful workers named Marv used to say 'I've been beaten like a red-headed stepchild. Marv came from the northen alabama area and it was a popular saying in his day. I got to saying that every once a while.
Fast forward to today. I was at wargaming tourney at Ft. Knox and getting my glutinues maximus handed to me. I said said "I am being beaten like a red headed stepchild". Everyone looked at me funny. Turns out they never heard of that saying. And this is the south. What ever happened to those good ole collequiallism's?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

All be it a little... squishier XD
http://sakkysa.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5s00q9
There is no coincidence, only necessity....
- Clow Reed

It was a Potterfic, where the Dursleys were actually some sort of magical constructs designed to be as odious as possible as advanced training for house elves, and Harry somehow got stuck in the trainee position by mistake. I remember it was pretty short - it's not exactly a deep concept - but can't even come up with a phrase to search by. Anyone remember some more identifying features?
--
"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

Sedition Wars—Personal Impressions

Well, we got our sets and this is what I’ve gathered from them so far . . ..

#1.  Man, these maps are dark.  They must not have been reviewed properly before they were printed.  Or, the proofs they got back weren’t indicative of the final product.  Still playable, though you do have to look close at some areas to see if that’s an open path or a wall.

#2.  This isn’t a Fantasy Flight game.  The counters are . . . poor.  They did try to do a good job, and, it looks like this may have been a result of the rush to get them re-printed.  They rip easily when punching them out, but, there’s nothing special about the counters, so they’re perfectly usable.

#3.  Not all the cards are the same size nor the same texture.  Nor even the same printing.  Okay, that looks more like some are printed to be flipped vertically and some horizontally . . . haven’t found any other discrepancies, but we’re looking close.

#4.  Great googly moogly, that’s a lot of figures.  I got a “Keep Firing” set so, that’s three copies of the game and all the extra shwag.  We’re looking at over 300 figures from that (and our GITD set) alone with about 100 more coming in the future.  MonkeyFist is only about 1/3 through assembly what we already have.

#5.  A lot (if not all) of the figures are requiring tooling.  Either extensive pinning or heating and twisting to fit correctly (in some cases, both).  Not really a problem, but, a little annoying.  The plastic is stubborn and cools quickly so I only have a few seconds to get it aligned correctly before I have to re-heat it.

#6.  The instructions are . . . odd.  Sure, they make sense when you first read them, but, once you try to play the game, you spend a lot of time re-reading the manual.  They’re poorly-organized, though they seem well-organized at first glance.  And some rules seem to be missing.  To make matters worse, there is a standing “Awaiting FAQ” thread at their forums that are only about 1% answered as of today (and the thread has been up since the 17th).

#7.  The rules need to be more clear.  In some cases a game-changing rule interpretation requires you to be intimately familiar with how each of the rules are written to catch subtle variations in phrasing.

#8.  The balance is off.  Even after taking some of the rules that had to be re-interpreted and the resulting “softening” of some of the units, the prices and abilities of the units don’t mesh. 

#9.  Heh!  Cylons vs The Borg!  AWESOME!

All-in-all, even with what I’ve said above, the game is good.  We’re in the pay-to-play Beta phase, and, I hope, we’ll get new copies of the rule books when they go back in and re-write them (it’s desperately needed at this point).  I hope they do this as the game shouldn’t be released to the general public with its rules in this state.  You can tell there’s a great game here, it’s just covered by a bunch of mud.

This came to me during a slow moment at work today.

Quote:Severus Snape was more than slightly bored. He was also, although he would never admit it later, more than slightly buzzed from the wine he'd had at the leaving feast that year. 'Thank Merlin,' he told himself, 'that precious bitch Umbridge is gone at last.'

Of course, he had more reasons to worry than a mere Ministry toady. Dumbledore's and the Dark Lord's demands on his time had been growing steadily worse over the past year as the conflict between them heated up. After the battle at the Ministry, fortunately, things had settled back to a simmer, though he was certain that things would heat up the moment the Potter brat was exposed again. 

That the owl delivering the Howler chose that moment to arrive could only be laid in the hands of destiny.

"Really, Severus," it chided him in an all-too-familiar nasal whine. "It's been a month, the newsletter's all laid out and ready to go, all we need is your nomination. Would you PLEASE write back tonight and let us know? The Malfoy lad would do, decent grades, excellent connections... but really, anyone you care to name. It's all automatic at this point, just write the name on this parchment and everything will go into motion."

The aggravating whine of the voice contrasting with the rather mellow mood he'd just been starting to enjoy was somewhat... grating. So perhaps Severus Snape can be excused what he did next.

----- ----- -----

The next morning, Draco Malfoy paused in his enjoyment of his breakfast to open the parchment the owl delivered. The words 'Slytherin Herald' were visible at the top, in black ink lined with green and silver. He settled in to read, enjoying the tales of his predecessors in that great and glorious student House.

Several minutes later, his jaw dropped. He tried to speak. He failed, several times, before managing to spit out the simple utterance, "WHAT?"

All eyes at the table, and several more from the rest of the Great Hall, turned to see what had so shocked the 'Prince' of Slytherin. None were looking to see the ghost of a smile that briefly paused on the face of Severus Snape.

No, all eyes were on the "Slytherin Student of the Year" award, on the third page of the newsletter. The photograph of two students flying away on broomsticks, while a fuming Ministry Toady stood in the middle of a swamped hallway, was instantly recognizable. There was little need to read the caption, though it was repeated by several who were close enough to do so.

"For the best display of cunning and ambition, and the most amusing prank played in the history of Hogwarts, the title of Slytherin Student of the Year is awarded to Fred and George Weasley."

Since we needed a new thread-

http://m.fanfiction.net/s/8753582/7

In the streets of Bruxelles, the band of five perfectly normal human children were doing perfectly normal things like casually stealing laundry, picking pockets, and picking up dog excrement and throwing it at passing carriages. The latter activity proved so amusing that actually-real-human children joined in, and in the resulting chaos the disguised Minions got bored and wandered off.

(Not quite exactly quoted, my memory isn't that good.)
--
"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

I have a few phrases bubbling up in my head, and I'm wondering what a fanfic or original fic with that title would be like.
Feel free to suggest your own, but for now, here are the ones that bubbled up:

• Normative Vacuum
• Vampire Watermelons
• Theories of International Relations and Superheroes
• Hammercraft
• Non-Indicative Title
• Jumping Jack Flash
• Rainbow Dash Goes Totally Crazy And Just Wales On Everybody
• Exactly What It Says On The Tin
• And That's All I've Got For Now

Just what the subject says, and I'm soliciting recommendations.  Never having to shop for an after-market stereo before, I don't know what's good, what's not, and all that. 
I don't have a big budget for this --  maybe US$150 tops -- so I'm looking for a decent-quality CD player/radio that'll fit a Saturn dash without too much trouble.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

'Inner Ninja' by Classified

I read the rules before I broke 'em
I broke the chains before they choked me out
Now I pay close attention
Really learn the code
I learned to read the map before I hit the road
Hey yo, I know you never heard this before
But I'd rather lose a fight than miss the war
And I ain't wishing competition or fishin' for it
I'm just living in the system, conditions are poor
I've been lost in the rhythm and misinformed
Too many late nights hittin' the liquor store
Too many bad decisions, half assed attempts
No sweat, no fear, no blood, no tears
I go hard and I ain't makin' up no excuse
I'm overdue, I don't do what I'm supposed to do
Cause you can think about it man, we're supposed to lose
It ain't all picture perfect, ocean views
No, I was a first class rookie,
Takin' out bullies in my all black hoodie
Man of mystery, you know the history
Get it or forget it, cause poof, I'm outta here
I read the rules before I broke 'em
I broke the chains before they choked me out
And I pay close attention
Really learn the code
I learned to read the map before I hit the road
Nobody's gonna see me comin'
Nobody's gonna hear a sound
No matter how hard they tryin'
No stoppin' me since I've found
My inner ninja [x4]
Hey yo, I've been high and I've been real low
I've been beaten and broken but I healed though
So many ups and downs, roughed up & clowned
We all got problems, but we deal though
I'm tryin' to do better now, find my inner peace
Learn my art form, and find my energy
When my backs on the wall, I don't freeze up
Nah, I find my inner strength and I re-up
Here we go, I know I've never been the smartest or wisest
But I realize what it takes
Never dwell in the dark cause the sun always rises
But gotta make it to the next day
It's a feeling that you get in your lungs when you run
Like you're runnin' outta air and your breath won't come
And you (uh) wheezin', gotta keep it movin'
Find that extra (uhn) and push your way through it
I've had bad habits but I dropped em
I've had opponents but I knocked them out
I climbed the highest mountains
I Swum the coldest seas
There ain't a thing I've faced thats been too much for me
Nobody's gonna see me comin'
Nobody's gonna hear a sound
No matter how hard they tryin'
Nobody's gonna bring me down
Nobody's gonna see me comin'
Nobody's gonna hear a sound
No matter how hard they tryin'
No stoppin' me since I've found
My inner ninja [x4]
I've had bad habits but I dropped em
I've had opponents but I knocked them out
I climbed the highest mountains
I Swum the coldest seas
There ain't a thing I've faced thats been too much for me
Power: Target(s) temporarily gain traditional Ninja powers/abilities (speed, stealth, combat skills, ect)
Alternatively it could be used as a motivational song for step 6.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin