Just a few minutes ago I got dumped from Virtue -- and as far as I can tell from both trying to log back in and from trying to reach the COH website to see the server status, it looks like the first night of Halloween just crashed everything at NCSoft all the way down to the calculator in the third assistant accounting clerk's bottom drawer.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I've been thinking (oh no!) on and off for a while about how we love advancing the "now" in Fenspace at the expense of actually finishing any of our stories. Yes, I'm just as guilty of that as the rest of the Collective... but I'd like to change things a bit.

We've got more than a few unfinished and untold stories - the first landings on Mars and Ganymede, the "launches" of Starbase 1, New Yavin, Stellvia, Prometheus Forge, ... heck, every space station out there, the building of the Lunar cities and Crystal Cities, the Boskone War, the SOS-Con that started off the Boskone War, the attack on Serenity-Con, Legend of Galactic Girls - heck, there are still a few major characters that don't have their origin stories completed yet. (looks at self, Bob, Cobalt, KJ, and RL-Mal) Sure, we know from FenWiki articles what happened with many of these, but we haven't actually sat down and written the stories. I can, should, and eventually will do something about Noah's, Leda's, and Noah's angels' origin stories, the launch of Stellvia, and Legend of Galactic Girls (the latter first), but that doesn't take very much out of the "unwritten" pile.

Thus, to encourage going back and filling in some of the holes we've ignored so far, I propose freezing the "now" of Fenspace at October 10, 2014 - the day (a) StellviaCorp declares independence from Earth and (b) Helen Scott is born. (These are two easy-to-identify events that make it relatively easy to indicate in-story whether a work is canon or Infinities.) I do not propose abandoning The South Is Rising, Someone Get A Hammer, but I'd like to see that as the only Infinities story we work on for a while.

This would not be a permanent freeze - just a measure for a few months until we get some of the backlog cleared.

If we do this, it'll encourage people to go back and tell some of the stories that we only allude to in the FenWiki. It'd also make it a bit easier for some of the wayward members of the Collective to return if they don't need to learn a decade's worth of in-story history that happened while they were away. However, it would also put a crimp in some folks' creativity if we say "please don't write a story set after September 2014," and that's a very important consideration. So...

Thoughts, everyone?
--
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

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11593005]Stone Age door unearthed by archaeologists in Zurich

Hmmmmm... Hey, Blackaeronaut, I think I found the other end of that door your Fenspace characters found/made!
--
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

New costume pack, to be available on Nov 3rd.

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3xlzf0CIo

I was heading out of the Vanguard base last evening, when I saw THIS -
It's the wrestler Zangief from Street Fighter! Damn near letter perfect too! How'd he do the chest hair? Chest emblem - one of the "Lion" ones, I think, all colored in.


I followed the guy over to the tailor to get that screenshot, then he changed to another costume (to edit I suppose) -


Itza MARIO!! ^_^
The only nitpick I have is that, since it's CoH you really can't do the whole "super-deformed" body style.
So I guess this is the EPIC HEROIC UBER PLUMBER MARIO!!! from the same universe as Gurren Lagaan! (Or something like that. ^_^ )
(Oh and in case you're wondering, that's Kara Skye all but completely hidden behind the guy, there.)

If you haven't seen the anime Squid Girl yet, I recommend it.  Admittedly, all I've seen so far is the first episode, which is all that is up for public viewing on Crunchyroll at the moment. (linky)
Our main character, the titular Squid Girl, has come from the depths of the ocean to subjugate the human race, to prevent them from destroying the ocean.  The first step, conquer the local beachfront restaurant for use as a base, using her amazing squid powers.  I don't want to say more, to avoid any spoilers, but I wish I could give her a hug.  I felt so bad for her, especially after [REDACTED].
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

Skysaber posted on the Yahoo Groups CaerAzkaban site last night and admitted to being Perfect Lionheart:

Quote:Indeed. Although I suspect you've seen me. You just haven't recognized me, as when the hate mail crowd got too bad I just changed my name.
I've been posting under the alias Perfect Lionheart.

It's missing a few bits and pieces, but here's what I got for Mick.  I still need to work out certain dates, but the summary under his history should help in narrowing that down a bit.  Now I just need to find that one post that had the list of Regencies of the Sliver Millennium.
{{infinities}}
{{Infobox Character
|name          = R. Mikhail Langley-Rhodes
|image         =
|image_size    =
|caption       =
|birth_name    =
|birth_date    =
|birth_place   =
|death_date    =
|death_place   =
|body_discovered =
|death_cause   =
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|residence     = [[36 Atalante], [[Main Belt]
|nationality   = [[Fenspace Convention]
|ethnicity     = American
|citizenship   = Convention
|other_names   = Mick
|known_for     = Balls-out Awesome Sucessor to his Old Man.
|education     =
|alma_mater    =
|employer      =
|occupation    =
|years_active  =
|home_town     = [[36 Atalante], [[Main Belt]
|title         =
|salary        =
|networth      =
|branch        = [[The Roughriders]
|serviceyears  =
|rank          = OF-10
|unit          =
|commands      = Red Wing, 1st Veritech Squadron, Sol System Group; 1st Veritech Squadron, Sol System Group; Sky Marshall, Roughriders; CinC, Roughriders.
|height        = 5'7"
|weight        = 165 lbs.
|term          =
|predecessor   = [[Mayonaka Langley-Rhodes]
|successor     = [[Andrew 'Ender' Langley-Rhodes]
|party         =
|opponents     =
|boards        =
|religion      =
|spouse        =
|partner       = Unknown
|children      = Unknown
|parents       =
|relations     =
|callsign      =
|awards        = Knight Commander of the Order of Endymion the Protector
|mission       =
|insignia      =
|signature     =
|website       =
|footnotes     =
}}
''Primary Writer: [[User:BlackAeronaut|BlackAeronaut]''
Also known as the Red Haired Fury, and Benjamin's Red Second. Just don't ever call him a red-headed step-child. He takes that personally.
== Physical Attributes ==
* Age: 25 (apparent effective ???)
* Height: 5'8"
* Weight: 165lbs.
* Build: Athletic
* Hair: Red, shoulder length, wavy
* Eyes: Blue
* Other Notes: Take his father's looks, give him his mother's coloration, and their combined style and flamboyance.
== Handwavium ==
Like his Mother, Mikhail is actually an infomorph born as an infant bio-android. As such, he doesn't have anything so much as quirks, but abilities instead.
* ''Mechanical Man'': he is able to integrate himself into machinery to gain access and control. This makes him very effective at a range of tasks from piloting to computer hacking.
* ''Not Really Ranma'': but you might think so to see him fight. He is a martial arts prodigy, mastering in Shaolin Kung-Fu, Shatoken Karate, Kenjutsu, Jujitsu, Metalicto and Panzer Kunst just to name a few, and he mixes and matches however he sees fit in a style that he calls Anything Goes.
== Persona ==
In a nutshell, Mikhail is a fighter and a showboat. If Domon Kashu were to be born amongst the Fen, it would be as this person. He likes to make loud proclamations in the middle of battle, call his shots, and cause chaos among the enemy ranks in general.
In person, Mikhail is your friendly neighborhood cool-guy. He always wears a devil-may-care grin, as though he were about to start some trouble, however he is generally a good people person. He can always be counted on to lend a hand, and he is generally multi-talented. Granted, in his own way he's showing off, but at least he's being constructive about it.
In Diplomacy he takes his Father's mindset, with his personal spin being how foolish people are to get into a fight over something stupidly petty, such as territory or trade agreements. If it were a matter of piracy, slavery, or outright murder, then he could see why, and he always makes it a point to make a dramatic speech about how a good fight should be saved for either sport or for self-defense.
As a leader, he is is Father, two-fold. He is loud, but not Haruhi-loud. He is charisma incarnate. His voice is known for cutting through noise like a tangible thing and forcing itself to be heard.
In love and as a friend, he is all about making grand gestures. To Mikhail, it is not what you say, it is what you do. Here, he oddly reverts into the strong and silent type, offering friendly smiles, gestures of encouragement and camaraderie, and a playful wink and nudge.
== History ==
When Mikhail was born Benjamin asked Gina to choose a special name for his son because he was born on the same day as his dearly departed grandfather, a man that Benjamin admired despite his shortcomings because he had lived through such a difficult time in American history.
As a fraternal twin, Mikhail has always stood by his younger-by-five-minutes sister, Kyoko. His childhood was, despite a rigorous education from his parents and extended family, more or less carefree. When he was twelve he had a bachelor's degrees spanning several fields of engineering, including biomechanics. Even so, he never really was the brain that his twin sister was and has always had far more interest in the Martial Arts, which he was encouraged to pursue by his parents.
By the time he was fourteen he started training on Veritech fighters, primarily because of their ability to transform and go hand-to-hand against other mechs such as Gundams. He proved to be a virtuoso at the controls of a Valkyrie and it has been his mainstay ever since. At the age of eighteen he had graduated from Veritech School to join the rank and file of the Roughriders. He sky rocketed through the early part of his career, thanks in part to the expansion of the Roughriders both within and without the Sol System and also due to the retirement of the First Generation Roughriders. (Certain members, however, such as the Big Three – Benjamin, Gina, and Jess – would retain their positions for many decades.) Within months he was a Wing Commander, and the year after that he was promoted to Squadron Leader. By the time he was twenty-five he was designated the new Sky Marshal of the Roughriders – the operational commander of all Roughriders aerospace combat elements, and the relief of the aging Bronwyn Ffoulks.
Mikhail spent many decades happy in this position, essentially the right-hand man of his Father, and he continued to do so under his older sister, Mayonaka Langley-Rhodes, once Benjamin designated her as his successor (the way he saw it is that the CinC doesn't get to have as much fun as the Sky Marshal). His next promotion would not come until Mayonaka's own retirement, where he was chosen to succeed her as the Roughriders CinC.
His time as the CinC was, initially, not an easy one. As Mayonaka had retired to assume Regency over the Silver Millennium Empire, she had entrusted him to lead the Roughriders in support of her efforts to stabilize a volatile Faction. There were many joint Roughrider/SAMIE operations during this time period that brought the SME to the brink of, and back from all-out civil war, and in many cases it was only because of the combined force of Mikhail's charisma and Mayonaka's sheer foreboding presence.
In the end, the Empire was stabilized and True Successor to the Throne came of age, assuming her regal responsibilities in what became a renaissance-period for the SME. Mikhail was glad for the passing of this tumultuous period and began to shift the Roughriders' focus towards 'peaceful peacekeeping'. In broad terms, this meant more resources being allocated to the HARDES Branch of the Roughriders, something for which his sister, Kyoko, was grateful for.
In time, Mikhail decided that he had enough of command and decided to retire, turning his position over to his more well-suited younger brother, Andrew 'Ender' Langley-Rhodes. Mikhail, as well as his Mother, Father, and elder sister, would all play pivotal roles in what was the one true civil war of the Silver Millennium Empire: the Rise and Fall of the Britanian Empire.
Afterwards, Mikhail would make a name for himself as a troubleshooter roving the multi-verse, under the auspices of whatever interdimensional authority whose jurisdiction he was working in. It is rumored that he did have a wife and and children, but they were not in our own home-universe and are unknown at this time.
Like his sister, Mayonaka, he has vowed that when he feels he is ready, he is going to follow his parents footsteps through The Door in hopes of seeing them again.
{{Roughriders}}

After eight years of faithful service, my NEC flatscreen has finally died and I bought a new, widescreen ViewSonic. It's very pretty, but when I first tried to run CoX, I tried to set the resolution in the game to match the max resolution for the screen (what I had the desktop on). It turns out that my poor graphics card can't handle this, so I end up with the display going black. I can set the resolution for Windows to something lower, but when I try to get into CoX, it crashes the display again (with an message "Out of Range"). Is there a way to reset the CoX resolution without going into the game?
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

...any place I might be able to find a copy of Microsoft Office 2003?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.