now, I may not have watched FMA, just read the manga, but this still rocks. Verily.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EtVQEIDg0Q
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

Why is it when any other country in the world suffers a terrorist attack, the right-wingers in the USA are all sympathetic and 'see, it's not just us' and the like...
But when Canada actually *stops* an attack before it occurs we're a haven and breeding ground for terrorists?--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

Quote:

---

Chimaera, by Bad Religion
you took a time bomb,
and a case of crackers,
and you made a maelstrom of organic debris,
then you took a work bench,
and a rusty anvil,
and you polished them for everyone to see,
you have created an unhealthy monster,
but you're nowhere but nowhere to be found,
so I guess I'll just cope with my provisions,
from now until the day they lay me down
you took a baboon,
and made him perfect,
you took a lion,
and stripped him of his pride,
then you took a million more varieties,
a scalpel and a sartory,
and you stitched up a horrible surprise,
you have created an unsocial monster,
and you're searched for all over the globe,

and most believe that things would sure be better,
if you'd come down here and tell us what you know
who is to blame for this?
someone tell me please,
his handiwork is flawed,
and it's there for all to see,
mutations, aberrations and blatant anomalies,
they multiply and give rise to this...monstrosity,
you took the most abundant smallest bits of matter,
and you instilled them with affinity,
and then you stratified accumulations,
weeded out bad variations,
and blended up your unique recipe,
you have created a powerful monster,
with direction and purpose all its own,
and if you were here,
would things be any different?
or are you just a mosaic of thoughts alone?

---

...I've incremented the byte count on Chapter 3. Since you asked so nicely on the FFML. -- Bob
---------
I loot faster. -- Peggy Schroeck, D&D game, in response to a crisis situation that arises while she's searching the bodies of four recent opponents.

... but it is a mite annoying. I've lumped "Incarna: Empress' New Robes" into a single file and was commencing some editsu on it because I wanted something mindless and relaxing to do. Whereupon I caught myself thinking 'this is decent, but I could think of a few ways in which it could be so much better' at least about the story flow, which, when I look at it now, sometimes just isn't there.
I've caught myself noticing just how awkward some of it is, and it reminded me of a while ago.
Hence, the decision.
"Empress' New Robes" is going in for a rewrite. Some things will be reused ... hell, I can safely say that most of them will, because I'm not stupid enough to scrap 266 kilobytes worth of perfectly good, if disjointed, text.
I'm not promising a lesser amount of Deus Ex Machina moments - that's pretty much impossible, given the premise - but I'd like to think that I have a better idea how to approach this beast here and now than I did back when Otome was incomplete and it was merely a fun jammage writing job. And what still remains to be written for the project doesn't really change with this reworking. It's just that I hope to make the setup so much better. Or just easier to write. Either. Both. ^_^.
*chuckles* Curiously, Change Dusk is kind of in the same situation, but somehow manages to make it work to its advantage. Heh. Maybe because Nate's had more going into that than I did. I think he's generally got a better grasp of the ... scope ... of a story than I do, anyway.
Also, I've decided on a theme song for this project, just because it fits so damn well.
Chimaera, by Bad Religion
you took a time bomb,
and a case of crackers,
and you made a maelstrom of organic debris,
then you took a work bench,
and a rusty anvil,
and you polished them for everyone to see,
you have created an unhealthy monster,
but you're nowhere but nowhere to be found,
so I guess I'll just cope with my provisions,
from now until the day they lay me down
you took a baboon,
and made him perfect,
you took a lion,
and stripped him of his pride,
then you took a million more varieties,
a scalpel and a sartory,
and you stitched up a horrible surprise,
you have created an unsocial monster,
and you're searched for all over the globe,
and most believe that things would sure be better,
if you'd come down here and tell us what you know
who is to blame for this?
someone tell me please,
his handiwork is flawed,
and it's there for all to see,
mutations, aberrations and blatant anomalies,
they multiply and give rise to this...monstrosity,
you took the most abundant smallest bits of matter,
and you instilled them with affinity,
and then you stratified accumulations,
weeded out bad variations,
and blended up your unique recipe,
you have created a powerful monster,
with direction and purpose all its own,
and if you were here,
would things be any different?
or are you just a mosaic of thoughts alone?

I hereby propose to make it the patron song of crossovers and fusions everywhere.

-Griever
oddly chipper despite the occurance
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

Finally got around to updating a bunch of things:
Top page revised.
Shayne's "IST Holy See World" and Rob's "A Day In The Life" now available.
Assorted little tweaks and fixes, both things I've found and stuff sent to me.-- Bob
---------
I loot faster. -- Peggy Schroeck, D&D game, in response to a crisis situation that arises while she's searching the bodies of four recent opponents.

An innocent comment over on the FFML has triggered the most traffic the list has seen in years. At this moment, the ultimate fate and focus of the FFML are being discussed and some long-hidden heads are lifting and making their opinions known... The volume of mail was so large I spent all my early-morning online time clearing out my inbox of FFML discussion.
I'm curious whether this will result in actual change in the FFML, or if the status quo will reassert itself.-- Bob
---------
I loot faster. -- Peggy Schroeck, D&D game, in response to a crisis situation that arises while she's searching the bodies of four recent opponents.

Weird Al Yancovic's "Everything you know is wrong"
I was driving on the freeway in the fast lane
With a rabid wolverine in my underwear
When suddenly a guy behind me in the back seat
Popped right up and cupped his hands across my eyes
I guessed, "Is it Uncle Frank or Cousin Louie?"
"Is it Bob or Joe or Walter?"
"Could it be Bill or Jim or Ed or Bernie or Steve?"
I probably would have kept on guessing
But about that time we crashed into the truck
And as I'm laying bleeding there on the asphalt
Finally I recognize the face of my hibachi dealer
Who takes off his prosthetic lips and tells me
Everything you know is wrong
Black is white, up is down and short is long
And everything you thought was just so
Important doesn't matter
Everything you know is wrong
Just forget the words and sing along
All you need to understand is
Everything you know is wrong
I was walkin' to the kitchen for some Golden Grahams
When I accidentally stepped into an alternate dimension
And soon I was abducted by some aliens from space
Who kinda looked like Jamie Farr
They sucked out my internal organs
And they took some polaroids
And said I was a darn good sport
And as a way of saying thank you
They offered to transport me back to
Any point in history that I would care to go
And so I had them send me back to last Thursday night
So I could pay my phone bill on time
Just then the floating disembodied head of
Colonel Sanders started yelling
Everything you know is wrong
Black is white, up is down and short is long
And everything you thought was just so
Important doesn't matter
Everything you know is wrong
Just forget the words and sing along
All you need to understand is
Everything you know is wrong
I was just about to mail a letter to my evil twin
When I got a nasty papercut
And, well, to make a long story short
It got infected and I died
So now I'm up in heaven with St. Peter
By the pearly gates
And it's obvious he doesn't like
The Nehru jacket that I'm wearing
He tells me "We've got a dress code, ya know"
Well, he lets me into heaven anyway
But I get the room next to the noisy ice machine
For all eternity
And every day he runs by screaming
Everything you know is wrong
Black is white, up is down and short is long
And everything you used to think was so important
Doesn't really matter anymore
Because the simple fact remains that
Everything you know is wrong
Just forget the words and sing along
All you need to understand is
Everything you know is wrong
Everything you know is wrong
This song could give Doug the equivalent of the GURPS "Illuminated" advantage, useful to spot cover-ups and conspiracies, altought he would probably believe that the song just makes him paranoid. Or maybe the song does makes him paranoid, who can tell?

"Change the World" by Eric Clapton
If I could reach the stars I'd pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart so you could see the truth
That this love I have inside is everything it seems
But for now I find it's only in my dreams
CHORUS:
That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You will think my love was really something good
Baby if I could change the world
If I could be king even for a day
I'd take you as my queen I'd have it no other way
And our love will rule in this kingdom we have made
Till then I'd be a fool wishin' for the day
CHORUS:
That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You will think my love was really something good
Baby if I could change the world
Baby if I could change the world
- GUITAR SOLO -
CHORUS:
That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You will think my love was really something good
Baby if I could change the world
Baby if I could change the world
Baby if I could change the world

When this song is used it allows Doug to "Change the World" in the same manner as Corwin and his family walked the shadow world's in Zelazny's Amber series. Minute changes add up, over time, to move a person from world to world.
The biggest limitations I see are the length of the song and how often Doug can use it. It could take a very long time for him to get where he wants to go.
Doug might be able to "force" the changes faster but, if possible, it would cause him to experience a "hell ride" just as in the novels.

been a long road to follow
been there and gone tomorrow
without saying goodbye to yesterday
are the memories i hold still valid?
or have the tears deluded them?
maybe this time tomorrow
the rain will cease to follow
and the mist will fade into one more today
something somewhere out there keeps calling
am i going home?
will i hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?
zero gravity what's it like?
am i alone?
is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet
still the road keeps on telling me to go on
something is pulling me
i feel the gravity of it all

gravity, performed by Maaya Sakamoto, lyrics by troy, music by Yoko Kanno, from the album Nikopachi, copyright (c) 2003 Victor Entertainment Inc., Japan.
(One can buy the album here.)

Yes, it's supposed to be in all lower-case.
Yes, it's a Kanno/Sakamoto song that's in English.
Yes, it's yet another possible gate song ("been a long road to follow / ... / still the road keeps on telling me to go on")... but I'm thinking it's either to reach the Sailor Moon Step ("will i hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?"), or to leave a Step that brings Doug to despair ("are the memories i hold still valid?").
Edit: Come to think of it, this would be a good one for Doug to use to leave the Sailor Moon Step - "will i hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?" and "are the memories i hold still valid?" are both good lines for leaving that world, if canon holds and Doug's memories go the way of everyone else's...

-Rob Kelk
--
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