If you believe everything has a reason
If you believe that what you've seen will unfold
If you believe that everybody needs to shake it loose
That everyone will rock and everybody will roll, yeah

If you believe everyone is the future
If you believe that nothing ever goes wrong
If you believe that deep down inside you're falling apart
Know that everybody's weak and everyone can be strong

Yeah, believe in me
Believe in me
Believe in me
Believe in me

Say what you want
And take the best of me and everyone else
Oh, yeah
Say what you want
It's all the same to me
Look out for yourself

Believe in me
Believe in me
Believe in me
Believe in me
Believe in me
Believe in me

Say what you want
(Say what you want)
Ah, ah, la la la la

- Sloan, Believe In Me

I can almost hear long-timers asking "didn't you already give Doug this mind-control power?" Not really - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood makes people think the best of him. This song gets people to trust him. There's a difference...
--
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

The following showed up on the FFML a couple nights ago in what amounted to an anonymous posting thanks to what appears to be a massive mailglitch caused
(or maybe not) by the sender's attempt to send an HTML-formatted message. I managed to extract it, but I haven't had time since then to even read my
mail, let alone respond to it. I appreciated it greatly, though; unfortunately I have no idea (yet) who actually sent it, so I'm just going to post it
here and give my very public thanks for the kind words. (And when life finally gives me a chance to get back to my email, I will send a more detailed response
via the FFML.)

Quote: With all the talk about Drunkard's Walk V going around, I decided to


take a peek at the whole series. Naturally, I started at the very


beginning, DW2.

Read it. Now.



Why are you still here? You're wasting valuable time that could be


spent reading DW2.



OK, I guess you want to know why I consider it one of the top ten best


anime fanfiction works. Here's the short list

6. Lisa Vanette. I never thought any one could write her as


anything other than background noise. DW2 proved me wrong.

5. The overall characterization of Looney. Throughout the whole


series Loony is portrayed NOT as a "Superhuman" but as a


"superHUMAN." He makes mistakes, he stumbles both mentally and


morally. Then he gets up, dusts himself off and tries again.

4. The way he manages to go into Looney Toon's history without ever


actually going into it. This guy can turn a phrase so well that he


can give us an entire flashback scene without ever having to WRITE the durn


thing.

3. The endless psychological twists and turns. Nobody is


completely in the right and nobody is completely in the wrong.


Throughout the series, you start to realize that every viewpoint you're


treated to is at some point, justified. Sure what Madigan's actions


are wrong, anybody would know that, but by the time she's done it


all, you can't help but feel sorry for her.

2. The idea that someone could consider the Knight Sabers' mission as


wrong and possibly evil. Don't laugh, don't scoff. Looney


Toon's harangue at Sylia is very compelling. Which could explain why


the Knight Sabers' take it so personally. A big subplot is Nene is


wondering whether or not she's evil and Rob Schroeck pulls it off


beautifully.

1. The Plot Twist at the end proves once and for all that Robert M.


Schroeck is actually a pen name for M. Night Shyamalan. Saying any


more would be spoiling it.

Get a ballista on eBay, right now. And here I was bidding on a Rolex last
night when I could have tried for this.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Ride, Captain, Ride (Blues Image)

Seventy-three men sailed up from the San Francisco Bay
Rolled off of their ship, and here's what they had to say
"We're callin' everyone to ride along to another shore
We can laugh our lives away and be free once more"

But no one heard them callin', no one came at all
'Cause they were too busy watchin' those old raindrops fall
As a storm was blowin' out on the peaceful sea
Seventy-three men sailed off to history

Ride, captain ride upon your mystery ship
Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip
Ride captain ride upon your mystery ship
On your way to a world that others might have missed

(Repeat first two verses)

(Chorus)

Ride, captain ride upon your mystery ship
Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip

Power: Gatesong
********************
"Who says you can't go home?" Bon Jovi

I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place
I was looking for something I couldn't replace
I was running away from the only thing I've ever known
Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold
I been there, done thatand I ain't lookin' back on the seeds I've sown,
Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone
Who says you can't go home

[Chorus]
Who says you can't go home
There's only one place they call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone, who says you can't go home
Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact
There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, its alright

I went as far as I could, I tried to find a new face
There isn't one of these lines that I would erase
I lived a million miles of memories on that road
With every step I take I know that I'm not alone
You take the home from the boy, but not the boy from his home
These are my streets, the only life I've ever known,
who says you can't go home

[Chorus]

I been there, done thatand I ain't looking that
It's been a long long road
Feels like I never left, that's how the story goes

It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you go
If it's a million miles aways or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go,
who says you can't go home

[Chorus]

It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, its alright
Who says you can't go home [x2]

Power: Gatesong
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

Hey Bob,

I am planning the Halloween issue for the next tales of the Legendary.

As I have not been able to create Eva's costume successfully yet; I was going to take the opportunity to throw her into the mix in civilian/halloween mode.

Any preferences for costume?

This was essentially a work in progress/concept thingamajig, that I wrote up to get the imagery out of my head. Spud thought it was rather good, and told me to
post it, so I shall.

Music recommended for listening here.

****

Since we're feeling so unused to time

In our comfort zone

[Sylvie looks out over the Skyway streets from an apartment balcony, Linna watching her from inside with a slight smile on her face at Sylvie's content
expression]

Reminds me of the second time

That I followed you home

[Sylvie's memories flash back to dropping exhausted, barely out of her armor, onto Linna's couch after one of their early encounters, Linna pulling a
blanket over Sylvie before going to bed herself]

We're running out of alibis

On the second of May

[Nene cocks her head slightly, saying something with an impish expression, getting a radiant blush from Linna and a slightly better hidden result from Sylvie,
to her obvious amusement]

Reminds me of the summer time

On this winter day

[Sylvie leaning out on the balcony thinks back, images of Priss and Anri both floating through her mind, as she looks back in at where Linna's taken to
reading a book.]

See you at the bitter end

See you at the bitter end

[Armor up sequence for both as a buzzer near the armor storage goes off]

Every step we take that's synchronized

[Nanite tentacles hold a Jumpbot in place as Swift effortlessly turns from her first target and swings around to bisect the machine at the waist, tossing a
thumbs up at Nano]

Every broken bone

[Both are sent flying by a Troll's foot stomp, hitting nearby walls almost in unison]

Reminds me of the second time

That I followed you home

[Memories again, of the two meeting for the first time in armor, Swift a nervous figure remarkably holding her blade steady despite it, leading Nano out of the
facility the darker colored Sabre'd found her in.]

You shower me with lullabies

As you're walking away

[Sylvie smiles privately at the feeling as Linna slips into bed behind her, intertwining her hand with Linna's.]

Reminds me that it's killing time

[The two are in armor, heading towards a group of Sabres.]

On....this....fate...ful...

day.




[Street Sabre stands up and slowly turns as they approach, giving Nano a clear look at a helm and armor that she suddenly remembers. Time draws slower as
Swift looks at her partner askance.]




See you at the bitter end




[Inside Nano's helmet, Sylvie's eyes are visibly wide, as small HUD logos flicker across them]




See you at the bitter end




[Images flash through her mind. An escape from combat boomers. Stealing the disc. The DD Battlemover facing an unknown ADP suit]




See you at the bitter end




[The DD's cockpit slowly opens, as a Motoslave jumps into the air, supporting another Saber's attack. It explodes in missile fire, before a
Saber...not just a Saber...but Priss...fires a railgun round, spearing Sylvie through the chest.]




See you at the bitter end




[Sylvie's eyes tighten, as her fists clench and then Nano launches herself at Priss.]
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

(Yuku made a royal hash of the formatting in this post when I edited it... the entire post is re-posted below, the way it should have looked. Edit:

Well, almost the way it should have looked, there's still a few random line breaks that shouldn't be there. -RobK)
--
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

A Dresden Files fen who goes by the name David Ripley.

He primed a batch of Wavium using copies of the novels, DVDs of the TV series, and the comics miniseries. Then he waved various items resulting in:

- a hockey stick/staff that can create/control windgusts

- a drumstick/blasting rod that shoots blasts of fire (mostly slapstick. The blasts pack a punch and feel hot, but actual damage is limited to scorching of
inanimate materials and a bad sunburn to flesh)

- A silver pentacle that he can make glow like a lantern

- A bracelet that might stop bullets (he hasn't been willing to test it yet)

Additionally, when he went to wave his car he accidentally grabbed the Dresden strain of wavium instead of the standard batch he had set aside for the job.
After he finished coating his car, he went to bed and woke up to discover his 4 door sedan had morphed into an old VW Beetle.

Blue Beetle quirks

- 'faster going downhill': The Beetle is slower than would be expected from it's size (top speed of 0.07c). It can reach higher speeds (0.09c)
when going 'downhill' into a gravity well.

- 'I'm not dead yet!': the Beetle seems to be constantly on the verge of dying. Unpleasant sounds from the engine, puddles of miscellanious fluids
forming within a hour of being parked, ect.

- 'roomier than you'd expect': It seems a somewhat larger on the inside that the outside, a liitle more space behind the seats and you can cram a
bit more into the trunk than would seem possible.

David makes a living as a Private Investigator based out of B.5 (I'm thinking of having him partnered with a Noir/detective story fen).

Not sure how he should get along with Potterites

suggestions? comments?
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

Think you'll like this.

This is the first private vehicle to reach orbit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To-XOPgaGsQ

(Do watch in High Quality mode.)

I don't like being worn,
That's all I've been since I was born,
A toenail cuts like a knife,
It's a sad sock's life

I don't wanna be stuffed in a drawer
Or stuck in somebody's shoe any more
I don't want a sweaty foot in me
I just want to be free, free, free.

Just let me run with the wild hose,
Where pens and pencils and the car keys go,
I want to dance at the free sock hop
I want to be a gypsy sock
I want to be a gypsy sock

I don't want to be part of a pair,
Or in the wash with all that underwear
Or tickled by somebody's toes,
Or made to walk where socks don't like to go

Like hanging from a line by my heel
Or getting darned, I hate the way that feels
Or getting stretched across a knobby knee
I just want to be free, free, free

I'll run with the wild hose,
Where pens and pencils and the car keys go,
I want to dance at the free sock hop
I want to be a gypsy sock
I want to be a gypsy sock

Gypsy sock, gypsy sock, I want to be a Gypsy sock.

Someday soon I'll take my chance
And I'll hide inside a pair of pants
When they open up the dryer door
I'll escape across the laundry floor

Then I'll be out on the street
Not attached to a pair of feet
Free as the nose that blows
I will be free to go

Where I'll run with the wild hose,
Where pens and pencils and the car keys go,
I'll dance at the free sock hop
I will be a gypsy sock
I will be a gypsy sock
I will be-e-e a gypsy sock

-- James Gordon, Gypsy Sock, from the album http://www.sentex.net/~gormorse/cdsfk.html]Songs For Kids

Transforms Doug into a sock, for the duration of the song.

"Why?" Hasn't Doug always wondered where lost socks go? Now's his chance to find out!

(Yes, it's an even more useless transformation than Disco Duck...)
--
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