... I was rooting for Sentinel Prime.

... and on top of all the other reasons, Bay should be defenestrated for cutting away from Optimus in his moment of sorrow so he could focus on the squishies' romance side plot again.

It's just another unworthy installment (By the Matrix, may it be the last) in a series of movies not worthy of bearing their titles.

- CD
--
"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

http://www.manosinhd.com/?page_id=277]This is just awesome. A SomethingAwful forum goon bought a shitload of old movie reels cheap on eBay, and tucked among them was the original workprint for Manos: The Hands of Fate. The link has frame samples from the original 16mm film, and the difference between that and the one we've all seen on MST3K is amazing. Yeah, sure, every frame still looks like someone's last known photograph, but now they look like better last known photographs.

Said goon is now looking into acquiring a high-quality film scanner and releasing an HD copy of Manos on an unwitting public. This project is slowly drawing attention from all over the web, and it looks like it might be something truly special when all's said and done. If you have any inappropriate love for Manos, MST3K or just film in general, go check this out.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

Starting a new thread because the original one is close to the limit & too full of outdated stuff besides.

And while we're at it, I want to start this thread off with an apology.

I'm sorry, guys. I blew it. I didn't expect South Is Rising to grab everybody's imaginations the way it did, and as a result I didn't have a single damn thing planned or outlined beyond "hilarity ensues," which is not the way to go when writing a large collaborative work like this. As a result, things got muddled and it ground to a halt in confusion. All of this is my fault, and I'm sorry.

Quote:Prologue: Reasons
Everywhere
Then until Now

Excerpt from "The Tough Guide to the Sea of Time" by Anonymous (Internet distribution, Gernsback-2, 2019)

"‘Everything happens for a reason.'

That's what we're taught, and for a broad enough definition of ‘reason,' it even happens to be true. Cause and effect are one of the basic mechanisms of the grand infinite multiverse. Some of us are taught that there are Prime Movers out there responsible for things happening. And that's also true to an extent: none of the Prime Movers exist outside the multiverse, they all spring from that same explosion (or implosion, or jes' happened) or matter and energy that makes up stars, planets and little mortal things like us. It doesn't change the fact that these Prime Movers are out there, incredibly old and powerful, working their will on the fabric of the cosmos.

The dirty little secret is that every last one of those Prime Movers are also titanic assholes. The theologians might prefer the term ‘ineffable,' and claim it's not our place to know their plan. But let's face it, folks; they're assholes.

If you're reading this, then you or someone you know has been the victim of one group of Prime Movers. For the sake of clarity we're going to call them the Alien Space Bats. These Space Bats are vast and incomprehensible, and they like to play with branches of the multiverse, rearranging them as they see fit. We don't know why they do it; the best guess is that it's something resembling a schoolyard argument... "

~***~

Excerpt from "Provisional Scout Report, worldline 06-2890-5849/R2" by Maico Tange, IWSS (2022)

"History: The worldline's history runs on a close parallel to Homeline up to the invention of parachronics. From there we see minor divergences paralleling many Q6 echoes (see worldline 06-20001107-001/R4 for an example) that diverge from Homeline post-parachronics. The major divergence arrives in 2006 with the discovery/invention of the substance handwavium, which might as well be magic. (Note to Paralabs: check for mana content of samples provided.) Nobody I've talked to has been able to tell me where handwavium came from; it seems to have sprung ex nihilo out of the ground one morning.

The interesting part here is that in the four years since, handwavium has created a division in society. On one hand, most of the indigenous population continues to live the same way most do in worldlines without magic, superscience or other paranatural events - enforced, to be honest, by panicky governments fearful of a handwavium-based "grey goo" disaster (ref. worldline 03-1786-1234/Z1). On the other hand, those that have access to handwavium are building a new society of some sort away from Earth, in the greater solar system. According to rumor some of these people (calling themselves "Fen," after old science-fiction fandom) have even taken trips outside the solar system - and returned.

Observations: Handwavium is (theoretically) carefully segregated from life on Earth, so the best way to observe changes in the worldline would be to join the Fen and their culture. To do that I've built a reasonable shell identity as a freelance reporter, and I expect to be in place to investigate Fen activities within the next month..."

~***~

Excerpt from "New Scientist" magazine, 4 August 2016

"LOOKING THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Fen engineers are working on a sensor net designed to look for interdimensional visitors. According to Fenspace rumor, our universe was graced by visitors from another some three years ago. (...)

Engineers from the Stellvia Corporation have been hard at work creating a detection system intended to trace the exotic particle burst that - supposedly - extradimensionals give off when they enter our universe. Nothing is known about the network's particulars as of yet, but it's expected to work like a long-baseline interferometer, with detection stations strung out along a baseline of several hundred thousand kilometers.

According to sources from Stellvia, the network is in the test phase and will be considered active some time next year."

"Walk with me, Mami-san," Doug said quietly, and she couldn't
think of a way to say "no" that wasn't also an immediate 
admission of guilt.  Not trusting her voice to not squeak in a
completely embarassing and incriminating way, she simply nodded
and followed at his side as he turned and walked -- slowly, for
him -- toward the great lawn that separated Welcome House from 
its front gates.

They crossed the grass in silence, and Mami glanced sidelong at
Doug as they did, realizing almost for the first time how very 
large and strong he was and how very small and weak *she* was.
If he planned to hurt her...  she shook her head suddenly and
violently, garnering an inquiring look from him that she ignored.
*That's not going to happen,* she told herself firmly.

"Mami-san?"

She kept walking for two or three meters after this before
realizing that Doug had stopped.  She turned around and trotted
reluctantly back to where he stood.  "Okay," she said softly,
"what's this all about?"

Doug raised an eyebrow at her, then lifted his head and looked
about before nodding curtly.  "Okay.  We're as alone as we can 
get without actually leaving the grounds.  No one can overhear
us here, and no one can sneak up on us without us noticing -- 
right, Chikage?" he raised his voice to the open air.  "And we
can be seen from the House."  He smiled.  "In fact, I'm pretty
sure we're being watched by at least a couple of the other girls
right now."

"That's all well and good," she said, realizing he was trying to
alleviate the fears she had not even spoken aloud.  "But why?"

"Well," he said, nodding.  "I wanted to give you a little privacy
when I asked you -- who are you really, and why are you here?"

Mami's heart stopped and her breath caught, but she was pretty
sure she didn't give anything away.  "I don't know what you're 
talking about.  I'm here for Big Brother, just like..."

"Don't bullshit me, Mami."  She blinked at the sudden change in
his tone and language, even though his posture and gaze never
wavered.  "You're nothing like the other girls.  You don't have 
that fawning worship of Wataru that they do.  Where everyone else 
is always out and about, interacting with each other, you tend to 
hide in your room."

"Just because I don't..." she began, but he didn't let her 
finish.

"You exchange encrypted emails -- holding rather obscure 
messages that read like a private code -- with an anonymous
account on a public mail server in Tokyo, usually on a daily
basis."

She gaped at him.  "How the hell did you know..."  She gasped and
clapped her hands over her mouth, but he didn't seem to notice.

"And the clincher."  From his pocket he drew a small device that
looked very similar to a cell phone.  As Mami lowered her hands
and studied it curiously, he flipped it open to reveal a keypad
and a tiny screen covered with flowing geometric designs.  He
stabbed a finger that looked entirely too big for the task at
the keyboard and the screen went white.  "Command?" a smooth,
female voice that sounded little older than her said.

Doug looked at her, quirked one corner of his mouth up into a
half-smile, and turned the device such that it appeared to be
pointed at her.  "DNA scan subject designate 'Minakami Mami'; 
compare to archived scan for subject designate 'Minakami 
Wataru'."

"Complying," the gadget replied, followed by a wavering tone that
sounded like a sound effect from a science fiction anime.  Mami
tensed her muscles to flee, but when she felt nothing stayed 
frozen in place.  

After a moment, the tone stopped.  "Scan complete," the device
chirped, with what Mami would swear was almost a giggle in its
electronic voice.  "Comparing."  *This can't be real,* Mami
thought as she tried to come up with something -- anything --
she should do.  *No one has anything like a...*

"Comparison complete," the gadget chirped again, interrupting her
chain of thought.  "Cosanguinity coefficient: zero."

*Oh, *crap*,* Mami thought, and got ready to run anyway.

"Elaborate," Doug said with another raised eyebrow. 

"After eliminating the common human genome, and allowing for the
standard rate of random accidental matches, insufficient 
chromosomal similarity exists to posit a relationship between 
the subjects closer than sixth cousins, once removed."  There it
was again!  Mami could swear the stupid electronic thing was 
*amused*.  "Further:  mitochondrial DNA shows no connection
between maternal lines more recent than two centuries, 
extrapolated."

"Scan off," Doug said, then flipped the device closed and slipped
it back into a pocket.  He then fixed her with a look that 
managed to be stern, even severe, without being threatening.  
"Let's start this again, Mami.  Who are you, and why are you
here?"  She tensed again, and a vague disappointment settled into
the mix on his face.  "And don't bother running.  I'm both faster
and stronger than you, and you won't get more than a couple
meters."

Feeling like she wanted to cry, Mami collapsed to the ground in
a sloppy seiza, and began to explain.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Something strange is going on, the Black Friday thread's gone backwards to last week with date/times of this week for the last postage. Other threads affected I've yet to see.

New costume pack is out.

We finally got the Gun slinger pack, so I went and took Neph to icon to see what's what.

Neph: . . . Your not making me go out there.
Me: come on.
Neph: No.
Me: I'll Tell light you watch My Little Pony.
Neph: ... I hate you so much



As you can see, the pack continues the trend of Women don't get much (heck, when I selected the gunslinger costume form the option list, there was no skirt or anything, defaulted to bottoms with skin), while I have yet to grab a screen shot of the guys stuff, it's okay.

What really impressed me is see that hair bow on the back? that's in head details 1, not fixed to the Gun slinger female hair (which is some rather nice French curls). 
Also, the bustle on the back (a belt option) has a little Widow style butt cape and a rather nice Bow.

All in all, a nice 400 points spent.

now if you excuse me, I have to run before Neph lynches me

Just something I cooked up after recent events.



"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of mobs?"
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

Right Stuf's started their "http://www.rightstuf.com/rssite/main/ne ... To=Archive]Twelve Days of Savings" sale...

Day 1: sixteen items, including Spice and Wolf Novel Bundle, Ah! My Goddess TV series 1 DVD Bundle, R.O.D. the Blu-Ray, and Ghost Sweeper Mikami DVD Bundle
--
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

Stan Lee Dreams Up New Heroes For The Web
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Basehull:             custom
Length:               35 m
Width:                22,54 m
Weight:               75,332 kg
Drive Type:           reactionless drives
Drive Rating:         Max Velocity 0.05c
Armament:             4x M61 Vulcan Gattling cannon, retractable
                      1x 20 cell Vertical Launch System
Primary Manufacturer: TBD
Owner:                Space Patrol Section 6
Faction:              interfactional
Purpose:              FESWAT unit delivery and support
Primary Crew:         pilot, comm officer, weapon systems officer, intel officer
                      one FESWAT unit (12 people) + gear
Nr. Launched:         4 (officially)
Operational Status:   Active
Shortly after the foundation of Space Partol, the Agent in charge of Section 6, 'Nanoha', requested four purpose build vessels or the delivery and support of FESWAT units and even provided the basic plans for such a vessel. Based on the 1966 Star Clipper concept the design was quickly finalized. Four Starclippers where build and delivered to Section 6 over the next two years.
Protected by reinforced battlesteel, force shields and a passive stealth system, the Starclipper is able to deliver a 12 man FESWAT unit and their gear to the operational area, support them with intelligence and fire support and extract them safely. Part of their sensory equipment, in this case the surplus Russian phased radar arrays, can be used in an offensive role to destroy delicate electronics in the target area or similar tasks.
They are also equipped with an extensive first aid station and FESWAT members or detainees can be medically treated. A small block of four cells for detainees also exists in the back of the craft.
The Starclippers are noted to be among the 'hardest to kill' vessels in Fenspace. Up until now (2015) only one Starclipper was removed from a fight, but only due to being extensively damaged. It was later recovered and repaired.
Known Units:
FESWAT Martin Riggs (FESWAT Unit 1)
FESWAT Roger Murtaugh (FESWAT Unit 2)
FESWAT Alexander James Murphy (FESWAT Unit 3)
FESWAT John McClane (FESWAT Unit 4)
The not existing Section 9 of Space Partol is not operating a not existing fifth and sixth Starclipper for ops that don't happen.
Class Quirks:
Like a Cockroach: Starclippers are very hard to destroy. Not to mention that its very hard to even damage them.
I want mine with sauerkraut: A crewmember has to throw a frozen hotdog into the beam of the phased radar array to be able to use it in an offensive role.
Like Sardines: Even through the passenger compartment of a Starclipper is rather roomy, every FESWAT member will feel like it is too small, not to mention rather uncomfortable.
Not on my watch!: No one who lands in the first aid station of a Starclipper has died up to date, even of the most grievous injuries. Up to date there was also no need for an emergency biomod on a Starclipper.
Trivia:
Two Starclippers have come under heavy fire during the assault on the Hell-Hole in Space, but have not been damaged.
--------------------
Just an idle thought...