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Stupid dialog, free to a ...
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Shock! |
Posted by: classicdrogn - 06-03-2006, 12:35 AM - Forum: Other People's Fanfiction
- Replies (7)
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Much to my suprise, it seems no one has siezed n the seemingly-obvious reversal of a common aphorism to make a revelutionary slogan that is "Fight the hand that beats you!" Hence, I donate it for the use of the writer maniacs here, wherever it may seem apropos.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
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"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
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I scream, you scream, we all scream for IST cream. |
Posted by: Rev Dark - 06-02-2006, 09:33 PM - Forum: Other People's Fanfiction
- Replies (15)
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Authors note only one of these flavours is not can actual Japanese Ice-Cream flavour. Can you guess which one? I dont really have an ending for this it is just a fragment.
Thibor could feel the wall against his back. He pressed into it, feeling every pit and imperfection in the paint. His eyes remained focused on the door.
Well Major. We always knew it could come to this eventually. Cammy said with a shaky, forced calm. I didnt think it would be under these circumstances; but if I do not get a chance to say it
Will not die. Thibor grated. Is bad situation. Is going to take every last ounce of strength. Every nerve. Every fiber. Is going to be fought with tooth, and nail and tongue; but will not die!
Speak for youself Major. Simon said, taking cover behind Cammys desk; his long legs bending almost to his chin. Im hoping for a quick and relatively painless death. I dont think Ill get one. But I can always hope.
Look chaps. Cammy said. There is an air vent over there. I deeply regret the necessity, but I am going to squeeze through the grating and leave you both to your ill-deserved fate. Cheers.
Is not happening. Thibors hand closed on Cammys wrist. She tried to pull away, but Thibors hand expanded, fur and claws ripping through the skin. His other hand grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against his chest.
Thibor! Cammy squirmed in the werewolfs powerful grip. Look this is hardly dignified.
And crawling through air vent is dignified? Thibor grinned. Besides. Is too late!
Im back! Naoko burst into Cammys office, a cooler dangling from one arm.
How was your family? Cammy asked through a banana grin as she tried to wiggle out of Thibors grasp. Everyone is well I take it?
Theyre great! Naoko said dropping the cooler on Cammys desk. Mom just got a new design contract, and Dad is standing at the crossroads of hell.
Cammy nodded. Naokos parents were lovely people. Her mother was an architect who specialized in environmentally sustainable office tower designs. Her father was an actor who was currently working on a remake of the Lone Wolf and Cub films. They were progressive, educated and wildly supportive of their daughters chosen career. In fact they were as ideal a family as could be hoped for; except for one thing; the care package that they always sent home with their daughter.
Simon! Naoko leaned over the desk. What are you doing down there.
I dropped my wallet. Simon rose, his long frame unfolding.
Has volunteered to buy us all dinner. Thibor said. Is finding fabulous Indian food place; is serving food so hot that is making whole skull into tandoori oven.
Sounds great! Naokos eyes gleamed. Maybe later. Right now it is time for ice-cream! You can start your excuses now.
I just havent been working out as much as I normally do. Cammy said, a drop of sweat on her brow. I fear I would not be able to fit into my uniform if I indulge.
I am becoming a transvestite. Simon announced. And if I eat too much ice-cream I wont be able to fit into Lieutenant Colonel Hoyles uniform.
Am not planning to become transvestite. Thibor said. Am planning to try and get into Cammys uniform; but cannot have any ice cream because am planning to lick own crotch later and is not wanting bad taste in mouth before starting.
Thibor! Cammy said. That is inappropriate.
If is volunteering alternate crotch, then compromise is certainly possible. Thibor grinned, collecting an elbow in the midriff.
Better than last time. Naoko said. Sorry Cammy, I checked, eyewitnesses spotted you in the gym this morning doing an estimate 300 sit ups. Simon, nice try; but IST uniforms are unisex and incredibly stretchy, it would still fit. Thibor Ick.. just ick!
Naoko. Cammy said reasonably. Do we really have to do this every time you go visit your parents? Why dont you just tell them that you really dont like Japanese specialty ice cream.
I cant. Naoko said, hanging her head slight. Back when I was training for the Olympics gymnastics team, Dad and Mom would always meet me after practice and wed go out for ice cream. It was their way of showing how proud they were of me. So now, because we cant get together very often, they always send it home with me. It is really important to them, so I cant just throw it out; and I cant eat it all myself. So, can you all please help me
Very well. I shall go first. Cammy disengaged from Thibor and flipped the top off the cooler. She was rewarded by a slight whoosh and tendrils of vapor, evidence of the dry ice that kept everything frozen on the long journey from Kyoto to London.
Thanks Cammy. Naoko produced a small bag of plastic spoons. What did you get?
I am uncertain. I think it might be green tea. Cammy popped the top off of the container, revealing a green, slightly granular looking ice cream. She dipped a spoon in and scooped out a sample. No. It is not green tea; and is rather horrible.
Char grilled seaweed. Naoko read off the side of the container as Cammy passed it over. She took a spoonful, winced visibly, and passed the container to Simon. Well, at least it is high in iron.
Is words describing how wrong this is. Thibor stated, emptying the container. But am not allowed to use them in polite conversation.
Ello, Ello, Ello, Wots all this them? Colonel Byrd stood in the door frame, a wide, pseudo-grin stretched across his features.
Were sampling some ice cream Colonel. Cammy said with a straight face. You are certainly welcome to join us.
Tah. Byrd snagged a spoon and container, snapping the top off with a flick of his thumb. The ice cream was a dull gray. He scooped up a mouthful and moved it from cheek to cheek, contemplating the taste and texture. Just what flavour is it then?
Charcoal. Naoko said.
Dont taste a bit like er. Byrd tossed the container to Thibor. Dyou agree there Major?
Would not know. Thibor said with a forced calm; aware of Cammys gaze falling on him. Interesting.
Interesting? Cammy tried some, her features screwing up slightly at the taste. Major, I appreciate your restraint, but I am unsure how you can label the contents of that container interesting.
Is matter of scale. Thibor said. Is land that features, blowing yourself up on TV, universal school-girl fetish, and Hello-Kitty vibrate... weddings. Is all strange. Charcoal flavoured ice cream just rates interesting. Is not truly bizarre enough to get into top ten.
Ugh! Naoko nearly spat up the mouthful she had just tried. No way! Squid guts!
Better than charcoal. Thibor tried it and passed it along. He accepted another container from Cammy. Squid ink?
Oh bloody hell! Salt flavour. Byrd reached for another container. Best have some of the curry flavor. All we need is fishnchipsGuinness flavor and it will be a lads night out.
The Guinness is over by Simon. Cammy covered her mouth as she giggled. Oh, Thibor! Do try this one. Dracula Cool Garlic Mint flavor. Oh my. This is simply horrible.
It cannot be worse that this one. Simon countered. Hot spring water, with the smell and taste of sulfur.
Miso Soup Ramen! Naoko dug out the artfully cut kamaboko and flicked it at Simon.
I can top it. Simon deftly flicked a bit of plum back at Naoko. Pickled plum and shiso flavor.
Finland ice, with extra xylitol. For the exquisite taste of visit to dentist. Cammy said.
Pit Viper. Naoko looked pained as she swallowed the mouthful. Ick. They say it is supposed to be an aphrodisiac.
Best ask Bitterbuck to confirm that. Byrd chortled.
Colonel! Naoko went red, her freckles vanishing momentarily.
Well its either ask Bitterbuck or the Hello Kitty Vibrator. Byrd shrugged. An I doubt the Vibrator says anything other than I love you, lets all be friends and go explore the cave together.
It is albatross flavor! Cammy said, providing a distracted before Naoko exploded. It is bloody sea-bird, bloody flavor!
Better than lemon collagen. Thibor managed around a particularly chewy mouthful.
Last one. Soy sauce. Simon passed on the container.
Well, this as been truly horrible, thank you Second Lieutenant Yoshida. Byrd patted Naoko on the head, causing her knees to buckle slightly. Carry on then.
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Short Stagger: "A Day in the Life" |
Posted by: robkelk - 06-02-2006, 12:48 AM - Forum: General DW Chatter
- Replies (18)
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One of the rules that almost every creative-writing class emphasizes is that you don't stop writing when you hit a brick wall - you just write something else.
So, here's something else, using as its premise a thought that's been nagging at the back of my brain ever since I watched the anime... While it doesn't say so anywhere in the story, it's set between DW III and DW IV.
Bob, if this passes muster, let me know; I'll send you a copy with all the HTML markup already in.
DRUNKARD'S STAGGER: A DAY IN THE LIFE
By Rob Kelk
Based on the Drunkard's Walk fanfic cycle
(created by Robert M. Schroeck)
and Princess Nine
(created by Kensei Date)
This story contains spoilers for the end of Princess Nine.
"Don't cry,
Look up at the sky,
You can see the future
Between the gray clouds."
-- translated from Princess Nine, by SHOUYOU
I don't know why I was surprised. The song that got me to this world was Take Me Out to the Ball Game -- I should have expected to land on an Earth where baseball was the big sport. I don't know whether they even play baseball in Japan back home, but they love it here ...
Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. My name's Doug Sangnoir, I'm a professional good guy, and I've spent most of the last five years wandering from alternate world to alternate world, trying to find my way home.
I've been on this Earth for nearly two weeks. From my point of view, it's a quiet world. I've heard vauge rumors about people with metahuman abilities (like me), but I haven't seen any evidence of any native to this world. The Japanese aren't borderline-xenophobic here, the way they are back home. There aren't any armed conflicts worse than minor border skirmishes going on. (Korea is split down the middle, and the Arabs and Jews don't like each other, but nobody's called out even the light artillery over either of those problems.) There's no sign of any illicit conspiracies, criminal or otherwise. And there's isn't any hint of a company that could become another GENOM.
It's boring.
Maybe that's why baseball is so popular here -- it's a distraction from the banality of everyday life. Or maybe it's because there's a team from an all-girls school trying to get to Koshien, the Japanese-high-school equivalent of the World Series, this year. From the newspaper stories, it looks like they're the first girls' team to even be allowed to try (which was my first hint that they don't have full gender equality here yet).
I decided to take an afternoon off and see them play last week. They're good -- their pitcher's a "natural", and most of the others are almost that good. Many of them would be in line for professional contracts in some of the worlds I had visited; here, I doubt they'll be able to use their gifts anywhere outside of a school yard unless they're very lucky.
I have a ticket for their next game. The girls are playing the team from their brother school -- a team that's said to be as good as they are, and by all reports has the best batter in the high-school league. This ought to be good.
* * *
We lost. We aren't going to Koshien this year.
And it's my fault.
I know what I have to do.
Nobody will miss me, anyway.
* * *
Shame about the girls not winning this afternoon, but they did a pretty good job considering how badly some of them were off their game for the first eight innings.
I did some historical research after the game -- the more I can find out about other worlds' versions of Japan, the more likely we'll figure out why the Japanese back home are so insular and racist. (Maybe there's something in my subconscious that aims me at so many worlds' Japans, just so I can get this information. I'm not going to complain about it.) But it's only because I stayed at the library until they closed that I was motoring across the Rainbow Bridge at the right time.
About halfway across the bridge, I noticed a pedestrian -- a teenaged girl, from the height and hair. It wasn't until I was even with her that I realized she was climbing the guardrail.
I didn't know what honor code the locals lived by, and I didn't care. Even if she was acting in accordance with local laws and customs, I couldn't let her kill herself. I stopped my bike as quickly as I could safely, turned around (luckily, there wasn't any other traffic that evening), and headed back to the girl. But I doubt she'd trust a stranger ... unless I tweaked the situation with my metatalent.
(Earlier, I mentioned that I have metahuman abilities. The important one in this case is my ability to get powerful or subtle effects from music. I carry a large music collection with me, in a voice-activated computer built into my helmet.)
There were any number of things I could have done, some of which would have been more effective in the short term, but the long-term effects of the one I chose would be better all around -- if it worked. If it didn't, well, I could always switch songs to The Chain and grab her before she hit the water, and worry about the long term after saving her life. "" I told my helmet in English, ". Play song.>"
""
It didn't take very long to get back to where the girl was about to jump off the bridge. I turned my bike back around so I was pointing the right way for traffic, and turned on the parking lights. "Excuse me, miss," I yelled to her in Japanese as I pulled a local map out of the bike's pannier, "could you help me find the U.S. Embassy on this map?"
"I'm a bit busy, sir ..." she answered in a quiet voice without turning around.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but I don't think you'd be able to help me if I wait for you to finish what you're doing. Please?"
She sighed, swung her weight back, and jumped back, off the railing and onto the sidewalk. Then she turned around to look at me. She was a pretty girl in her mid-teens -- she'll be a heartbreaker when she grows up. If she grows up. I had a nagging feeling that I'd seen her somewhere before ... but that wasn't important just then. She walked over and looked at the map that I offered, and we spent about a minute figuring out how to get from here to there.
We spent an hour talking about her.
The song's effects had worn off long before we reached Cafe Kawasumi, the first place we could find to get coffee, but she didn't seem to notice. We walked in, placed our orders, and sat at a table near the door (so she could leave whenever she wanted).
Neither of us said anything for a minute. Finally, she whispered, "Thank you, sir."
"For the coffee? Think nothing of it," I answered with a smile.
"No," she replied. "For stopping me from throwing myself off the bridge."
Ah. She didn't really want to kill herself ... which puzzled me all the more. "If you don't mind, why were you going to jump, miss -- What is your name?"
"Azuma Yuki."
Where had I heard that name before ... oh, yes. "The baseball player?" She nodded. "I saw you play today. Oh, where are my manners? My name's Sangnoir Doug. Pleased to meet you, Azuma-san."
"Pleased to meet you, Sangnoir-san."
Formalities (belated as they were) out of the way, I steered the conversation back to Miss Azuma. "You're a very good outfielder, Azuma-san. Do you plan to make a career out of playing baseball?"
She flinched slightly, then looked at her lap.
"Why not?" I asked.
If I hadn't heard her speak normally on the bridge, I'd be wondering whether she could speak above a whisper. "I shouldn't do anything to stand out."
Oh, dear. It looked like this was another case of "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down", with the girl's psyche getting hammered at the same time.
The coffee arrived just then. We both waited until the waitress left before continuing.
I asked leading questions; Yuki replied in the shortest phrases possible. To summarize what she said, it was an extreme case of the nail that stuck out getting hammered down. She was MVP on her junior-high softball team, but the other girls on the squad (I hesitate to call them her "teammates") punished her for being better than they were. They pushed Yuki away so hard, and the adults in her life did such a good job of ignoring what was going on, that she tried to kill herself.
This is where Yuki's story gets a bit odd. She claimed that she was stopped from trying a second time to suicide by Fifi, an alien from the planet Yukara, 18 light-years from Earth. Back home, the Warriors (the organization that I belong to) didn't know of any planet by that name, or any habitable planet at that distance from Earth, so this part of her story might be a delusion that Yuki constructed to cope with what was happening to her. But this wasn't my home universe, so Yuki might have been telling the unvarnished truth.
Fifi became Yuki's only friend (poor girl) through the rest of junior high, and helped her by telling her things that she needed to know. This continued through most of Yuki's first year of senior-high school. Fifi would tell Yuki things about the baseball games she was playing, or in one case something about one of her teammates (Yuki didn't say what, and I didn't pry). Yuki would act on what Fifi told her, and things would turn out well.
(At that point, I wondered whether she was a precog who had worked her metatalent into her delusion. Assuming it was a delusion; I couldn't ignore the possibility that Fifi was real, and a precog.
But I thought it more important to listen to her story than to take the time to examine her under magesight. Besides, the other people in the cafe would have thought I was leering at her if I did that, and neither of us needed that kind of reputation.
So I'll never know.
Anyway.)
About a week ago, Fifi left Yuki. (One way or the other.) Her current teammates -- I have no hesitation calling them that -- rallied around Yuki, kept her from retreating into despair, and got her started on the road to recovery. The fact that they were winning game after game helped to re-build Yuki's self-esteem, too.
Then came the game that they had lost this afternoon. It had gone into extra innings, the other team's star batter came to bat, and he hit one over the fence -- just above Yuki's glove.
She was looking at her lap again. "If I had worked harder, maybe I could have caught the ball. It's my fault we lost."
I shook my head. "I was there, remember? Azuma-san, you climbed the wall to try to grab that ball! There was nothing else you could have done to catch it."
She looked up. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "I'm positive. And it wasn't your fault that you lost. Half your team were playing below par; if any one of them was on their game today, you could have won."
I didn't expect that comment to get Yuki to show emotion, but it did. "It's not Ryo-san's fault we lost! Or Izumi-san's. Or ..." Then the anger flowed out of her as quickly as it had arrived. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be sorry for having emotions, Azuma-san, or for standing up for your friends. Those are good things." I took a sip of my coffee. "It wasn't any one person's fault that you lost today. Something was going on -- I don't know what, and I don't care what -- but something kept your team from playing at its best. It's nobody's fault, or it's everybody's fault, but it isn't your fault."
A ghost of a smile danced on her face. She's cute when she smiles. "Thank you, Sangnoir-san."
"You're welcome. There is something you, all of you, should do because of your loss, but killing yourselves isn't it."
She looked surprised. "Oh?"
"Yes. What you should be doing is getting ready for next year. You came this far this year -- with a bit more work, you can go even farther. But that means you all need to practice, practice, practice."
Yuki sighed at my comment. "You sound like you're a baseball coach."
"No, just somebody who enjoys watching a good game. Do you want more coffee?"
She stood up. "Thank you, but no. I should be getting back to my teammates. They might be worried about me." She started toward the door, then turned back. "Will you come see us play again, Sangnoir-san?"
I shook my head. "Probably not, Azuma-san. I doubt I'll still be in Japan for your next game. But I wish you luck."
Then she walked out of my life, and into her own.
* * *
Yes, we lost. We aren't going to Koshien this year.
But there's always next year ...
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Credits and Acknowledgements
"Douglas Q. Sangnoir," "Looney Toons", "The Loon" and any representations thereof are copyright by and trademarks of Robert M. Schroeck, and are used with his permission.
"The Warriors", "Warriors' World", "Warriors International" and "Warriors Alpha" are all jointly-held trademarks of The Warriors Group.
The Drunkard's Walk fanfic cycle was created by Robert M. Schroeck, and is used with his permission.
Princess Nine was created by Kensei Date. The Princess Nine anime was written by Hiro Maruyama, directed by Tomomi Mochizuki, and copyright (C) 1998 Kensei Date / Phoenix / NEP21.
Lyrics from Princess Nine (performed by Miki Nagasawa and Mami Kingetsu) were originally written in Japanese by SHOUYOU and copyright (C) 1998 Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. The English translation, uncredited in the North American CD liner notes, is copyright (C) Animetrax LLC.
Lyrics from Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (performed by The Animals) were written by B.Benjamin/S.Marcus/C.Cadwell. The copyright holder is unknown to me.
All excerpted lyrics are used under provisions of copyright laws and international copyright treaties which permit quoting of limited selections of text in other works.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Concordance
And there's isn't any hint of a company that could become another GENOM.
After the events of Drunkard's Walk II, this is something that Doug would be on the lookout for in any late-20th- or early-21st-century alternate Japan he visits.
Cafe Kawasumi
A nod to Ayako Kawasumi, the voice actress who originally played Yuki Azuma.
(Edit for formatting.)
-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
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Utility songs |
Posted by: CattyNebulart - 06-01-2006, 11:50 PM - Forum: The Game Everyone Loves To Play
- Replies (3)
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I was re-reading DW2 and something struck me, Doug worries about getting tools to fix his motorcyle, and I am surprised that no-one has suggested (to my knowlegde at least) any song that creates tools, since you are often enough caught without the right tools for the job on hand even if they do exist in that particular universe. So does anyone have any suggestions? I was looking at a few songs but none of them where quite right.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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I Seem to Remember |
Posted by: Valles - 06-01-2006, 08:48 AM - Forum: The Game Everyone Loves To Play
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That this song's come up before, somewhere, but I just thought of an absolutely perfect power for it.
I was a highwayman. Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive.
I was a sailor. I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide.
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still.
I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around..I'll always be around..and around and around and
around and around
I fly a starship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again...
I was a highwayman. Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive.
The song is Highwayman, of course, and mostly seems to be credited to Jimmy Cash, though I'll admit that I haven't got a clue.
What does it do? Well... it kills him. Then it reincarnates him.
Note, please, that I didn't say 'ressurect'.
Powerful? Certainly. Useful? At specific points.
Something Doug would be eager to test? Heck, no!
Ja, -n
===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"
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Need some copyright info... |
Posted by: robkelk - 06-01-2006, 12:57 AM - Forum: General DW Chatter
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Writing a Drunkard's Stagger has one non-obvious problem: when I use music from the radio or suggestions from the group, I have to end off paragraphs in the credits with the phrase "Copyright holder unknown to me." I don't like doing that...
I've tracked down copyright information for a few songs on the Internet, but the "information wants to be free" mentality means this information isn't usually provided. (Spot the logical fallacy in play here.) In some cases, I managed to track down the performers' websites, but came up empty-handed.
Then I realized: If anybody has copyright information for music, then so do the regulars here. Who can help me with these songs?
(I've slipped in a few songs that I'm not using, and not listed a few that I am using, just to preserve a bit of mystery...)
"76 Trombones", performer unknown, from the soundtrack to "The Music Man"
"99 Red Balloons", sung by Gabriela "Nena" Kerner, written by Kevin McAlea.
"Break On Through (To The Other Side)", by The Doors.
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", performed by The Animals, written by B.Benjamin/S.Marcus/C.Cadwell.
"Friends of Mr. Cairo", by Jon and Vangelis.
"Herculean Bellboy", by Young and Sexy. (This piece hasn't been discussed yet. I'm seeing it as a "Nodwick" song, one way or another...)
"I Am the Slime", by Frank Zappa.
"I Will Follow Him", by The Chiffons(?)
[Edit: No, actually by Peggy March. Bob and I both had this one wrong... It was released in 1963 by RCA-Victor, but I don't know whether they, she, or someone else holds the copyright.]
"I'll Play For You", by Seals and Crofts.
"Knock on Wood", written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper.
"Montage", performer unknown, from the "Team America" soundtrack.
Edit: Copyright 2004 Paramount Pictures
"Nemo", by Nightwish.
"Over the Top", sung by Miki Matsubara, from the "Dirty Pair: Project E.D.E.N." soundtrack.
"Raining Again", by Moby.
"Rubber Band Man", performed by The Spinners, written by Linda Creed and Thom Bell.
"She's So Cold", by the Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
"Stalin's Organs", by GWAR.
"These Dreams", performed by Heart, written by Martin Page.
"Working My Way Back To You", by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
"You May Be Right", by Billy Joel.
-Rob Kelk
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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
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because I've just seen X3, and needed to get this out |
Posted by: Rieverre - 05-29-2006, 10:08 PM - Forum: Other People's Fanfiction
- Replies (8)
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X3 ... well, it was a pretty good movie, but if I start bitching about it here I'll never stop.
Instead, a short ficlet set sometime around the second movie, with a character I've wanted to bring out for a while now.
Actually, I'm writing - or trying to write, at least - an original story with a chara who's been based off of this guy as the centerpiece.
In my defense, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Happens around the time of X2 or so.
Demonbane Ltd.
presents
Just a hack.
a ficlet in the X-Men movieverse.
disc: Marvelverse, in any of its incarnation, is not mine. If it were, I'd have kept it less convulted.
---
I hop out of the bus, drop to the ground, and roll.
It's not exactly my chosen mode of exiting that means of public transportation, but it works in a pinch. Especially when some moron is getting his kicks in by throwing cars around.
I try not to let this sort of thing get me down. Not that it's par for the course, not really, but it's also nothing all that special.
Oh, the girl who just went through the parked SUV and made quite an impression on the concrete wall of the ...
I peek around the hood. Ah, bank. Gotcha.
... building it was standing next to? You'll laugh, she calls herself 'Impact'.
Real name? Oh, come now, you didn't expect me to actually tell you, did you?
Anyway, she's alright. She's had ... maybe not worse, but comparable. Walked away without much trouble. She's what you'd call a mutant, though some prefer meta-human. Freak is an all-time favorite as well, but they never say it to her face.
No, not because she's cute. That doesn't quite work all the time. She's short. Red-haired. Green eyed. Has freckles. Couldn't be more Irish if she painted herself green and started threading clovers through her hair.
Me? I'm just a bystander. Really. Would these eyes lie to you?
Hmm ... yeah, alright, so they would.
My card says 'Ethan Thane, Thane Consulting'. Appropriately ominous, I suppose.
I'm in antiques.
Funny thing is, I don't really fancy history all that much. You could say I learned through osmosis.
Oh, she's up again.
I duck down low and half crouch, half crawl behind the sedan that had been tossed our way a moment ago, and is now leaning against a bent streetlight.
Imp just grabbed a chunk of concrete the size of her fist - meaning not very large - and tossed it back at the moron.
Yeah, I call her Imp. She hates it. She calls me worse things.
No, there is no sexual tension. Trust me on this. She's just a good friend.
Well, you could ask why there is no sexual tension, but I wouldn't tell you. If I did, I'd have to kill you.
Mr. Moron - what, you expect me to actually call him by whatever moniker he's gotten himself when he's doing something as blatantly stupid as tossing around automobiles in front of a shopping center on a busy day? - just got hit by a chunk of concrete traveling at slightly better than Mach One. She's getting good at that.
What? Right. Imp's power, ability, whatever, is something that somebody with far too much time on their hands once called 'para-psionic' ... like those peeps who can move stuff with their minds, only not. Not _what_, exactly, is a tricky question.
The answer boils down to her being able to control the kinetic energy of objects, including her own body, among other related things.
When she hit that wall, she spread the 'impact' energy over a wide enough area that she didn't go through the wall, and nearly nullified her own body's kinetic energy and inertia.
See what I meant when I said she didn't get hurt?
Anyway, Mr. Moron is reeling ... which is weird, since, oh, the chunk of concrete should have gone clear through his chest at that speed, flesh and bone or not.
What, you think Imp's overdoing it?
Right.
The sedan I'm hiding behind is leaking. The road under it is already stained red. I think there's someone still alive in there, but they won't be for long.
I'm not a doctor, you see. Even one of those wouldn't be much good here. First aid I can do. Pulling people out of cars doing sardine-can impressions and healing with a touch is about as beyond me as it is beyond me to not trail off on tangents during monologues.
Am I being blase about this? Perhaps. Or I'm just jaded.
Dead people don't really impress me much.
It dates back to a colorful childhood.
No. I didn't grow up on the streets. I wasn't an
orphan. My parents didn't abuse me. I didn't get ... well, okay, I may have gotten into a few fights here and there, but that's pretty much par for the course for everyone, isn't it?
My father was an archaeologist ... again, no. He did not have an old hat, and neither did he own a bull whip.
And save me the trauma of remembering the cat-o-nine-tails I found when I was going through my folks' bedroom. Oh. Too late.
Ahem.
Yeah, omitting that incident, it was a good life.
We traveled a lot, and I did like going on digs with my father. It wasn't really the history, it was more the fact that we were going to strange and exotic places and meeting strange and exotic people.
No, my mother was not, in fact, a covert operative of a government agency who'd lost her memories and upon regaining them was being hunted by every agent in the country and had to kill them all because she didn't want to be silenced.
Get. A. Life.
She used to be a biology teacher. Sadly, yet another occupational choice that didn't appeal to me whatsoever. I've never flunked a biology test in my life, though, so it must count for something ...
... although considering the fact that, by anyone's standards, I've pretty much cheated my way through school ... well, take that as you will.
So, yeah, we traveled a lot.
You're probably wondering what it's got to do with me
not being bothered by the blood, the screams, the ... you get the idea.
I'm getting to that ...
... though first, I'm ducking the return fire.
Looks like Moron's up again. Sweet merciful Mary on a pogo stick, they make them tough on this side of the pond.
Or they're importing Russian supersoldiers.
One of those two.
No, I'm not religious. I just tend to swear by it a lot.
I continue the interrupted trek, ducking random incoming debris that Our Boy Imbecile is throwing around in an attempt to make Imp become one with the pavement. To
little effect.
Kinetic energy. May seem trite, no?
'Can take a pounding and throw shit real fast sort of gal, huh? What's so special about that?'
Well, sweet-cheeks, she can make herself inertialess and make every twitch of the toes catapult her from zero to sixty in a second. And beyond.
Right now, she's bounding around like a demented, leather-jacketed, hiking-booted grasshopper.
I have a love/hate relationship with the movie 'Sixth Sense'.
Random thought?
Not really.
See, I can sympathize with the kid.
That's right, I'm 'meta' myself. Mutant. Whatever.
And no, I do not see dead people.
At least, not only those.
I'm wearing gloves right now. I usually do. Cotton, not very thick, let the skin breathe and all, and make life a whole lot easier for yours truly.
Back when I was a kid, my parents thought I had an eating disorder. Then they thought that there was something wrong with my stomach. Then ... well, it took until I was three, but things seemed to settle down.
You see, getting impressions of what the exact moment of death of what I was currently eating looked like may have been an educational experience, but it was one I sure as hell could have done without, thankyouverymuch.
I think I was three when I stopped that, though I still got impressions whenever I touched something, and I tended not to be a very tactile child when it came to playing with other kids my age.
Going to dig sites ... well, touch an old sword. Walk over an area where executions were held. That sort of thing.
They call it psychometry. Every person leaves some sort of impression, call it a psychic trail, on whatever it is they're touching. I can apparently tap into those.
And more. But that was something I found out later.
Ouch. That had to hurt.
Imp just pushed off a fifth story window, plowed though an airborne Mini - damn shame too, it was the classic model - and planted a set of brass knuckles right on Moron's jaw.
Damn, that should have taken off the head, judging by the amount of force she was using. The big lug reeled, but that's about it.
I was almost there.
Anyway, I pretty much grew up with history. And soon learned to shut up about some things that people see as historic fact, but which really aren't.
I'll tell you this though, Jean d'Arc made plate-mail look good.
My family, by the way, is not dead. They were not murdered by terrorists - we missed getting fragged by a bomb once though, which I didn't think was very cool, even at the time it happened, much to the puzzlement of my classmates from there and then - or burglars, or shot down in the streets.
Dad's gotten a lecturing spot at Oxford, mom's writing articles for a womens' mag ... oh, the tragedy of that. It pains me so.
Shyeaaaah.
Me? I did a quick tour, got a degree in archeology - which I basically cheated my way through, really - and at the tender age of 21 win most of my bread with identifying and proofing antiques.
Most.
Oh. Great. They're down to hammering one-another in-close.
Heh. Guy's still not going down, but he isn't hurting Imp any either. He hasn't caught on yet, it looks like. Well, so much the better.
Imp isn't actually feeling more than a few light slaps from what he's doing to her. Still, he isn't slowing down any, so it's a fair bet that he can do this for a while longer than she can.
I met Imp a while ago. Has to be ... more than four years now, actually. I'd gotten into college early, and you can preach to me about dishonesty as much as you want, mates. Imprinting and assimilating psychic impressions isn't quite as hard as it sounds, meaning that I do actually know all the material. Unfair? Yeah, maybe.
I may lie, I may cheat, I may steal, and maybe on occasion kill, but it's all for a good cause.
Self preservation.
Or I'm just lazy. One of the two.
Imp once dubbed me 'Hack'. It fits. It stuck.
She bumped into me. Well, no. Actually, she trashed her bike, did a limp flip through the air, and crashed helmet-first into my stomach.
Amazingly, it didn't hurt.
Either of us.
One thing led to another, and ...
Shit. Moron's caught on, ripped a sheet of aluminum plating from a van's side, and is trying to use that to cut her.
I give a shout to get his attention.
He tries to swat me with it.
My strength isn't enhanced. Neither is anything else.
I _have_, on the other hand, been wearing a prayer-bead band around my left wrist for the past six years. It's somewhere between four to four hundred and fifty years old. Belonged, originally, to a shaolin monk.
I stole it.
Deal.
It was of better use to me than it was in that pawn shop, though what it was doing there I have no idea. By now, I wear it more out of habit than need. The impressions are pretty much hardwired into my brain and muscle memory.
I hop up, brace my gloved palm on the sheet of aluminum, and vault over the top.
Then I plant both feet on the Moron's shoulders and balance like that.
How?
I fucking know kung-fu, ya?
And yeah, my head's a pretty messed up place. Some things got there by themselves, some things didn't.
Most, though, I pulled, prodded, and put there on my own.
To telepaths, I'm a walking, talking, ticking bomb in a people suit.
They call me 'Nightmare'.
I use my teeth to pull off my left glove, slap the palm of that hand into the middle of his forehead as he's raising his own hands to slap me off from my perch, and give him a taste of the things I pulled from the old dagger most people believed belonged to a cult of some sort, but which I know was the personal favorite toy of one Torquemada.
Then I'm on the ground, a little disoriented - this sort of crap always takes a bit out of me - and Imp's there, and lugging me away.
Yeah, not smart, being around this mess when the cops finally show.
Or the government goons.
Whatever the hell the President of this Stateside Asylum is doing with the current 'anti-mutant' policy he's got going doesn't have him very high on my list of favorite people.
Still, we've got a job, so we've pretty much obliged to stay here and do our frigging best, no?
It's Imp's job, to tell you the truth. I'm mostly just along for the ride, though there's a big fat commission for this sort of thing that she pays me too. Hey, friendships come and go, but money is forever.
I think I said that out loud, because she just slapped the back of my head. Well, at least the stars are going away now, and I can more or less walk.
A few weeks ago this girl, who'd been on a trip overseas at the time, disappears.
Normal case, it seems like, right?
Well, disappearance was Stateside. Only lead was her backpack, found by the local coppers and feds.
Imp, thanks in part to me, and in part to her own skills, has more than a bit of a reputation for finding things that aren't easy to find, and people who've gone under.
Missing Girl's family's pretty well off.
So, here we are.
We got here, talked to some people, looked over the pack.
Should have expected this, really. Girl's as normal as Imp or myself.
Meaning an extra angle, and a somewhat more narrowed down field for our search.
Then, when we were on the way to get our rental car and start some serious work, this idiot with a chip on his shoulder shows up and starts tossing things around, squishing people left and right.
Karma's a bitch.
What can you do, though?
Well, it doesn't look like we're going to be bored on this job. If we get out of it alive, that is.
But hey, I think we can hack it.
That was fun.
ETA: to fix formatting.
-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
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