No, not a comic about certain Alan Moore properties.

A fan comic about Alan Moore.

As a
Japanese schoolgirl.

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

Epsilon

I didn't bat an eyelash at this. There is something wrong with me.

So I'm pretty healthy usually. For a guy my age, my only ongoing problems really are being somewhat overweight and I have the beginnings of a cataract in
my left eye. No big deal.

I just have this one thing that occasionally kicks me in the rear. For some unknown reason, completely at random, seemingly not connected to anything specific
like food allergies or environment. I mean - we've never been able to isolate ANY cause for it - I will have an anaphylactic shock attack. You know - the
kind of reaction that a person allergic to bee stings has when stung? The kind that can kill you? Not pretty.

The first one was in 1995 or so. I've had 4 or 5 others since then, seemingly spaced about a year and a half to two years apart. To the point that I'd
taken the precaution of getting a prescription for an Epinephrine auto-injector and having it in the house or the car just in case. The last one happened over
4 years ago, and I was hoping whatever it was was going to leave me the hell alone.

No such luck. Had another attack this morning. Realized what was beginning to happen, grabbed my coat, got the epipen, jabbed myself in the thigh with it, and
drove myself to the nearest emergency room. (seeing as how I hadn't had to use the Epipen in so long, it was actually past it's expiration date by a
couple of years, I found out later. But it did it's job well enough, surprisingly.) They hit me with some more epinephrine and steroids and I almost felt silly for even going as good as I was feeling within an hour. But I knew better. I might've fought it off myself
with oral anti-histimines, or maybe not. But I wasn't willing to take a chance, because this was ramping up to be a full blown attack, I could tell, not
just a case of hives or something. Shortness of breath, swelling in the face and hands, the whole deal.

*Sigh* Merry Christmas, and here's the emergency room hospital bill...

When I get a another job and have enough money to look into this, I'm thinking of getting the full investigative treatment and find out WHAT THE HELL
causes this!

Here ya go. Crossposting just the stuff relevant to City of Heroes.





For commentary see the thread over in main.

The blonde swordswoman collapsed onto her bed, exhausted. Words came back to her that hadn't made sense at the time. Power-intensive. Future
adjustments. Short combat life. The scientists had cloaked it in technical jargon, but the meaning was that she was flawed. If a fight lasted over an
hour, she would be utterly exhausted and unable to do anything with the demands of her armor on her own internal reserves. Obviously, they'd intended to
repair the flaw eventually, but there hadn't been time before she had led that disastrous escape attempt.

All of which meant that after one night on patrol, Sovereign felt herself lucky to have remembered the button that sent her armor to the armory racks in Riot
Base before she fell into bed. A broken piece of furniture would've completed her poor day. But even as she dozed off, there was only one hope in the young
looking woman's mind.

Please....please don't let me dream.

***

"So this is what they said you're supposed to use?" Rider asked, looking along the length of the hard, cold blade from behind her glasses,
throwing a tail of long violet hair over her shoulder absently. "It certainly seems to suit you."

"I'm glad this one does," Sovereign noted, turning it this way and that, feeling the weight resting comfortably in her hand. "The first
sword they gave me was some sort of large scimitar. It just didn't feel right at all, and they ran me through a few dozen other types before trying this
one."

The sky blue haired woman by the wall chuckled, getting confused looks from the two. "That could have been hilarious," Breaker noted. "Imagine
the codename if you'd actually been best suited to a saber or something. Saber Scimitar?" she sniggered. "You might get hit by friendly fire if
we ever shortened it because then we'd all be calling you Saber."

"Callin' who huwuzzah?" a dark haired figure noted, sitting up in bed behind Breaker, as Ruby blinked blearily at them all.
"Huh....s'Sove....Sove...name's t'long. Shoulda called you saybah or somethin', usin' swords. S'easier," she noted, before
rolling over and hiding her head under the covers, away from the awful burning light that was intruding on her attempts to sleep because of incosiderate
friends who should realize any sane person shouldn't be awake before ten or maybe even twelve on days they didn't have morning training.

"Say bah?" Sovereign blinked, getting a shrug from Rider and another amused snicker from Breaker.

"She has a point. Sovereign is so many extra syllables....Saber won't do, though. Something we can claim is just a random
name...Saber....Saybar....Saybiir....Seibiir....Seiber....Seiba...." she mused, before stopping as another purple haired girl, this one a bit shorter than
Rider and with less mature of a figure, entered the room before giving her a puzzled look.

"What're you doing, Breaker?" she wondered, getting a grin from the older woman.

"Trying to think up something less wordy than Sovereign's old name."

"...well, that last one actually sounded like a name," Violet considered thoughtfully.

"Seiba?" Rider said, pursing her lips in thought.

"Yeah. I like it. It's cute," Violet smiled.

"I have a name," Sovereign frowned. "I don't need to sound 'cute'."

"Oh, but you're already cute. Everyone knows it," Breaker grinned, getting an absent nod from Rider as Sovereign felt color rising to her cheeks.

"She is right," the tall woman noted. "At least, if I understand the definition correctly from how some of the personnel on base use
it. By that definition, she's not quite as cute as Archer, but close. Probably at least as much as Violet," she said finally with an unconscious nod
as she reasoned through to the conclusion, missing Violet's own slight blush.

"I still do not need to sound 'cute'," Sovereign protested.

***

"So now they won't stop calling me it when we're away from the guards," Sovereign grumbled.

Duo simply shrugged as she shucked the helmet off her heavy armor, while Ruby gave her a smile that Sovereign had learned meant trouble as she took off her
own.

"I don't know, they have a point. You certainly are cute. Maybe not adorable, like Archer, but cute," she grinned.

"I'm supposed to be the leader. I need to be authoritative. Inspiring. Intimidating, even. Not 'cute'," she said with another scowl.

Ruby grinned, playing with the strand of hair that almost always seemed to come loose of Sovereign's braid after she tied it back before suiting up.
"Well, besides that, it's a good name. It's one we gave you, not something like the numbers they call us....I like it," she said, leaning
against her.

Sovereign blinked, about to make another rebuttal before the last three words stopped her. "....I suppose you're right....if it just stays between our
group."

"Of course," Ruby smiled as she put her arm around Sovereign's shoulder and they stepped into the elevator behind Duo. "After all,
nobody's going to tattle."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

So I saw it in 3D today. I'll avoid spoilers and simply leave it at:

It is absolutely beautiful. A little tear-jerky at points, predictable at others, surprising at none. But definitely exiting and gorgeous. So go watch and have
fun.

I'll probably see it again (not in 3D for comparison)

It was also my first experience with 3D via polarized glasses. It worked surprisingly well once I stopped moving my head* and didn't focus on the edge of
the screen. My only complaint is that they turned up the 'depth of field' far too high during some of the command room scenes.

* your brain is wired to expect some parallax when looking at 3D and you shift your head. When this fails to happen it can ruin the sense of immersion as the
brain tries to figure out what is wrong.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

So... you will see by the timestamp on this email that it's 2 AM here. We just got back to our hotel from Kat and Joe's place, courtesy of
Scott's 4-wheel-drive pickup truck (in which he picked us up from our hotel this afternoon in the middle of the blizzard). The storm is well and truly
over here (tho' I hear Massachusetts is about to get hit hard), but before it passed it dumped something like 18 inches (40+ cm) of snow in this area. Our
car was completely buried (and still is), which is why we got the pick-up from Scott. It was so bad that it took said 4-wheel-drive vehicle a good 40
minutes-plus to get out of their driveway. So here we are, drinking hot beverages before we crash for the night (and sleep well into the morning), imagining
how much worse it could have been, or how much later.

So, anyone else have any stories of today's weather fun to share?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

The following is a literary representation of the first music video made by the core members of the Blue Blazers, who later became known as the Hong Kong Cavaliers, shortly before the Banzai Insitute's official involvement in Operation Great Justice. This video was released in viral format onto the Internet, both Fen and Dane, on May 1, 2012, one week before SOS-Con. The song, "Calling All Angels," has been called the official anthem of the Blue Blazers, inspiring the members to "Do Some Good" as band keyboardist and vocalist Blackstone likes to say. A variant Blue Blazer emblem was created by BBI Dragon, coordinator of the NorCal Blue Blazer chapters, with angel wings rather than the original, more angular style. This emblem is worn from time to time when Blue Blazers are engaged in charity work or often just because they like to remind the world that they're there to help.
---------------------
"Calling All Angels"
Hong Kong Cavaliers
Just Here For The Food
2012
(Original Song copyright 2003, Columbia Records. Written by Charlie Colin, Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford, and Scott Underwood)

The video opens with Blackstone
walking through a stark inner city neighborhood. It is overcast and
gray. The coat that he’s wearing is battered and does little to
shelter him from the wind. He has both hands shoved in his pockets.
He sings to the world:

I
need a sign to let me know you're here
All of these lines are
being crossed over the atmosphere

Blackstone
looks up into a clear cold sky, as a single jet liner flies high
overhead, crossing through several other jet trails.

I
need to know that things are gonna look up
'Cause I feel us
drowning in a sea spilled from a cup

He
passes several lonely and forlorn looking people on the nearly empty
street. They do not look at him, but past or through him with numb
expressions. He pauses to look down at the Styrofoam cup that has
fallen halfway out of the hand of an unconscious homeless man,
spilling alcohol across the street.

When
there is no place safe and no safe place to put my head
When you
feel the world shake from the words that are said

Blackstone’s
attention is drawn to a window over the homeless man’s head, where
a couple, in their mid-twenties, are screaming at each other through
a window. The woman holds a baby on one shoulder and gestures angrily
at the man. The man wears a business shirt with a nametag pinned to
the pocket and a loosened tie. He looks tired, but is shouting just
as fiercely. Both of their faces are angry, and the baby is red-faced
and screaming. With a miserable expression, Blackstone turns away
from them and turns his face to the sky, singing:

And
I'm calling all angels
I'm calling all you angels

A
hand reaches out and catches him on the shoulder. Turning, he sees
Buckaroo Banzai, who smiles in a supportive fashion. He sings:

I
won't give up if you don’t give up

Buckaroo
gestures, and the camera swings up to an old fire escape. Nezumi is
perched on the edge of the second floor platform.
She sings:

I
won't give up if you don’t give up

Nezumi
jumps from the fire escape, but is caught by J., who has stepped from
the alley. J. has his guitar swung behind him, and he smiles as he
catches Nez. They both sing:

I
won't give up if you don’t give up

Both
Nezumi and J. point to the alleyway, where Chaos has stepped out. He
grins, and they all sing:

I
won't give up if you don’t give up

Blackstone
turns ands looks at Buckaroo, who nods. He looks around and sees that
the streets are filled with people, all of whom are lost in their own
troubles. His expression changes, from personal misery to resolve. He
sings:

I
need a sign to let me know you're here
'Cause my TV set just keeps
it all from being clear

As
he sings, Blackstone walks, with Nezumi, J., and Chaos falling in
step. They pass a long store window where multiple images of
politicians speaking out against the ‘Wavium Diaspora shift to the
ills of the world. As the group passes, the newscasters watch them,
interest on their faces. The images behind the newscasters flicker
and shift to the Banzai Institute logo.

I
want a reason for the way things have to be
I need a hand to help
build up some kind of hope inside of me

Blackstone
stops at the unconscious man on the sidewalk. With only a moment of
hesitation, he reaches down and pulls the man up. The man blinks, as
if awakening from a dream and falls into step with the four Blazers.
Nezumi knocks on the window of the arguing couple and waves them
outside. They step out onto the street as the Blue Blazers walk past
and follow them. Blackstone turns to look at them and at the people
on the street, singing to them, with the other Blazers in chorus:

And
I'm calling all angels
I'm calling all you angels

The
Blazers round a corner and suddenly the bleak scene dissolves into a
bright, bustling neighborhood. Everywhere there are people helping
other people. Several step past the Blazers to the group that have
followed them, and all of them are wearing armbands, jackets,
ballcaps, or other clothing with the Banzai Institute logo. They wear
open, cheerful expressions, are of varying ethnicities, and are
clearly offering succor and help. As the Blazers step through the
crowd, Blackstone sings to the crowd:

When
children have to play inside so they don't disappear

The
Blazers pass a group helping fingerprint small children and pass out
child safety kits with the help of local police. Others hand out
flyers explaining Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts.

And
private eyes solve marriage lies ‘cause we don't talk for years

A
small group of men and women, obviously couples, can be seen through
a window, seated in a round table fashion. A middle-aged man, dressed
conservatively except for the Banzai Institute armband, appears to be
leading the discussion. A sign on the window proclaims the building
to be the offices of the Banzai Institute, with a smaller sign that
reads, “Group and Couples Counseling – Free.”

And
football teams are kissing Queens
and losing sight of having
dreams

Blackstone
shakes hands in passing with several sports stars, who are visiting
with young athletes. The stars are all wearing Banzai Institute
shirts, albeit in their team colors rather than the standard blue and
white. On the back of the shirts is the logo “Buckaroo’s Team of
Excellence – Building Better Dreams.” At least one of the stars
is formerly known as a tabloid favorite who has turned his image and
life around.

In
a world that what we want is only what we want until it's ours

The
group comes through the crowd to an intersection, singing as they
turn and face the crowd that they have just passed through. The whole
crowd, from the homeless man that Blackstone helped, to the athletes,
are all wearing Blue Blazer insignia and singing along, as the team
faces the people they have helped.

And
I'm calling all angels
I'm calling all you angels 

World
Watch One rolls into the camera view behind the group, and the door
swings open. Buckaroo is at the wheel, and he tosses something to
Blackstone. Blackstone shakes it open, revealing it to be a peacoat
of dark wool, with the Banzai Institute emblem on the breast. He
shrugs out of the ratty old coat that he’s been wearing, slides on
the new coat, and catches the fedora that Buckaroo has tossed him. He
seats it on his head, still singing, and points out across the crowd. The crowd sings back to him, responding to his call with their promise.


And
I'm calling all angels (I won't give up, if you don't give up.)
I'm calling all you angels (I won't give up, if you don't give up.)

Calling
all you angels (I won't give up, if you don't give up.) [Repeat
till fade]

The
camera swings across the crowd of receptive Blue Blazers, as the
group sings the final refrain. Each member of the group climbs
aboard, with Nezumi first, followed by J., then Chaos, and finally
Blackstone. Blackstone pauses and stares directly at the camera. He
points at the viewer as he mouths, “Calling all you angels” a
final time, with an emphasis on “you.” Then he smiles, tips his
hat, and turns into the bus. The door swings closed, and, as the
video ends, pulls away, with the camera turning to watch the crowd
watch the bus leave. The image fades, leaving the words, "I won't give up, if you don't give up."

Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

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

G'day folks!

Well, some people already know this news that I'm about to post, but I figure everyone should be appraised of the situation. Plus it's cathartic in
some ways, I suppose. (^_^)

Anyhow, as of November 27th, 2009, I have been unemployed. I walked in to work at 7:30 AM, my usual start time, and I was ambushed by my boss, who normally
doesn't make an appearance before 9:00 AM if she can help it. That was my first clue that something was in the wind. She pulled me into the VP of
Finance's office (the I.T. department reports to him), and she started on about how it was "obvious I wasn't a member of the team" and how
they needed somebody who was a better "fit" for the company, blah blah blah. Anyhow, I was handed the termination letter, and then the VP walked me
back to the front door. Didn't even get a chance to clean out my desk or anything. (This wasn't a big issue though - for the last three years I
haven't kept anything personal at my desk because I had absolute zero trust in management, and my boss in particular. She has a habit of dragging people
off into side rooms and threatening them if things aren't going according to how she feels they should be going.)

Once I got to the front door was when I lost it, and the anger and frustration with my (now former) boss boiled over. I told the VP in no uncertain terms what
I thought of both my ex-boss, and the way she was handling things. I then left, voicing a couple of imprecations loudly enough as I crossed the parking lot
that I'm told they did hear me inside the building. (^_^)

So I drove home, more than a bit furious at how this had been handled. One one level, I can't say I'm surprised - my ex-boss has always been a
self-serving, two-faced, duplicitous bitch who acts friendly and then undercuts you when you're not looking. She also doesn't like being contradicted,
and she carries grudges when she is - I'm fairly certain those last two points were what led to this abrupt backstab and dumping over the side. This has
also, unfortunately, been the pattern of the senior management at that company: terminate abruptly with no explanation, and without even a pretense of allowing
the outgoing person even a shred of dignity or respect. (That's what makes part of the company's supposed 'values' list so laughable - although
the upper management preaches about respecting your co-workers, they have repeatedly demonstrated no respect for anyone or anything except their own agendas.
But I digress...)

Once I got home, I made three phone calls. The first was to my friend and co-worker, Mark - I let him know what I had been planning to work on that day, and
also told him about the issues I'd been working on and what some of the outstanding issues were that I had been dealing with. The second call was to the VP
of Finance to reassure him that I'd made it home intact - he'd been concerned about letting me drive, given the towering fury I'd been in when
we'd parted company. The third call was to the HR manager of the company - I valued her judgement, and despite what the situation at work had always been
like, we'd had some pretty in-depth discussions about what was going on there.

It was at this point that a strange metamorphosis occurred - I went from being disgruntled and pissed-off to the almost polar opposite. I was suddenly SO happy
to not have to go in to work at that snake pit anymore, it was crazy. That particular feeling lasted for the next three days - which is a probable indication
of how depressed I'd gotten at having to work there. And my mood shift was noticed by several people over the next few days - I had several people tell me
I looked very relaxed and sounded better than I had in a long time. Go figure. (^_^)

I then typed up a farewell email to my former co-workers (the ones that I liked and got along really well with, anyway) and emailed it to them. I got a large
number of responses back, which was nice.

What I found out later through my sources was that the news of my abrupt termination did *not* go over well with the rest of the company. My ex-boss was
apparently taken aback by some of the reactions, and at how widespread the reaction was - apparently she hadn't figured I was on good relations with the
rest of the company. Several people were apparently vocal and critical about it within earshot of her, and the HR manager had to deal with inquiries all day
that were generally along the lines of "What the #$% is going on?!". There was even something of a minor revolt down in the shipping department over
it. Doesn't mean much in the long term, I suppose, but it's nice to know that people cared. And the fact that my ex-boss wound up with egg on her face
also has appeal. >:]

As a side note, morale at the office has been crap for most of the year because of some events remarkably similar to my firing. As I was one of the
longer-serving employees there (8 years), you can guess what morale is now like.

Earlier I said that I'd been fired on November the 27th. On Friday, November 28th, my ex-boss announced that my replacement would be starting on Monday,
November 30th. She didn't even wait for the blood to dry on the decks, and that certainly didn't go over without comment either.

(I had suspected something was up for some time after observing some curious and unexplained behaviour on her part. On a subconcious level, I guess I
didn't care anymore. )

So, for the last three weeks I've been working at getting my head back on straight and trying to get un-depressed. That's why I haven't been online
very much on COH....staying offline and reading, watching DVDs, eating, sleeping, teaching karate, visting friends and family, and working out has been my
therapy for the last while. (^_^)

I'll be getting back at the job searching in the new year, but first I have to figure out what exactly it is that I'd like to do. I'm primarily
qualified for tech support stuff, but after 8 years at my former place (13 years total in I.T.), I'm not sure I want to go back to that. Which, of course,
raises the question of what else would I be qualified to get into, and would would I really like to be doing. Given the mental 'damage' I'm still
undoing from the last few years, that's not as easy to define as it sounds. =/

So that's the scoop from this end of things. I'm hoping to get back at some writing now that I'm not labouring under the mental pall that my
previous job had cast over me. I'll keep folks posted.

Later!

Bert V.V.

aka SkyKnight/Mechadeuce

(P.S. - One thing I had to do in the last three weeks was rebuild my computer after a hard drive crash. I recovered around 95% of my files from backup, but for
some reason, I can't get my email to restore. So anybody that has emailed me in the last three years, please resend because I've lost your email
addresses. Sorry about that!! ^^; )

FTC sues Intel over chip dominance

Yep, that's right. No, don't take it the wrong way - it's not because Intel's product is too good. It's because of their anti-competitive
practices. Things like designing software that doesn't run as effectively on competitor's hardware, coercing PC companies to not install
competitor's products (i.e.:AMD) into their machines. (Hell, I bet they even got them to make sure that only Intel rigs were the top performers.)

Now, while I think this is all jim-crackin'-dandy and all, I feel they should go after the companies that allowed themselves to be coerced, as the right
thing to to would have been to scream to the high heavens instead of just giving in.

Peg and I are off on a long weekend of holiday travel starting today, so you probably won't see much (or anything) from me until the beginning of next
week.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.