Quote:I think she was
afraid that if I knew how it worked, my subconscious might change
how it worked, just to spite her.

Quote:God's Toothpick was still in its holster

Spoiler

The
prologue

Quote:I
flipped up the mollyguard that protected the "Mode Select" switch
and poked it firmly with the tip of my forefinger

Quote:with its anti-theft systems set to "Fucking ouch!"

Quote:I stopped short and thought about that for a moment. Someone had
deliberately blown up the school?

Cool. I'd always wanted to do that when I was a kid.

Quote:"That never worked when Hexe crashed at our shared flat," I
muttered. "She just woke up grouchy."

Quote:"It's
god-stuff. It's probably half-sentient and wanted out for a reason."

Quote:"Brilliant, just brilliant. The end of the world -- again -- and
no bloody beer..."

Quote:Illudium Q-36

Quote:"Who does this kind of thing?" I asked, brandishing the newspaper
at Eimi's optical pickup. "I mean, the guy's not been dead long
enough for anyone to take his will in for probate, let alone
begin disposing of his estate."

Eimi nodded slowly. "It's almost as though his death had been a
foregone conclusion from the start."

Quote:"'Executor' is the more commonly-used term," the lawyer explained
cheerfully.

Quote:Doc's eyes followed the human with eight -- eight! -- Celestial
Marks on him as he hurried off, a lightly-loaded plastic shopping
bag swinging energetically from one hand. He let out a breath.
From his brief scan, he'd gotten the distinct impression that
some of those Marks, maybe all of them, had been on a hair-trigger.
If he'd approached that young man with anything close
to hostile intent, there was no telling what might have occurred.
He silently gave thanks for his academic nature before segueing
into a vague dread of what would happen the first time that young
man met any of Sunnydale's more powerful -- and more inimical --
nonhuman inhabitants.

Quote:"I should also add that a
little over four years ago there was a noticeable drop in vampire
activity for some reason. And whatever it was, it stuck around --
the death rate now is about half what it was in, say, 1995."

Quote: It had been cast or sculpted with an elaborate bas-relief design centered around that old classic, the pentagram-and-goat's-head. Surrounding and interpenetrating the design were hundreds of rune-like characters from no alphabet that I recognized.

... ...

Unsnapping the buckles on my jacket flap, I reached for the indelible marker and the six smooth, round pebbles that I had tucked into my inside breast pocket.

drogan niteflier Wrote:Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be Important somewhere down the line?

Star Ranger4 Wrote:

Quote:God's Toothpick was still in its holster

SNERK!!! Just so... Doug. This is, I assume, the wazziz that we see 'bust through' the wards in DW5, and I assume again in

Spoiler

The prologue

?

Quote:SNERK!!! Just so... Doug. This is, I assume, the wazziz that we see 'bust through' the wards in DW5, and I assume again in
Spoiler [-]
The prologue

Quote:Which I assume is just one step short of burn em all and let Hexe sort em out?

Quote:Your superior craftsmanship shows again in how this one sentace manages to perfectly convey all that is Spike at least as it relates to his interactions with the Scoobeys, et all...

Quote:But not used in Vampyre Central because of the obvious connotations, of course.

Quote:This being the statistical evidence of when Buffy was first 'awakened' and the Scoobey's activites since.

Quote:He was startled at the ease with which it came together –- almost as if his missing four brothers were in fact there, lending their power.

Quote:(Everywhere I find this style, I should note, it's universally acknowledged to be stereotypically Japanese. This made — and still makes — absolutely no sense to me, because the faces rendered in it rarely if ever look Asian. And needless to say, it bore no resemblance whatsoever to any Japanese commercial art with which I was familiar from Homeline. If you ask me, it looks more like some offshoot of Disney's style than anything even remotely Japanese. But that's neither here nor there.)

Quote:"I should know better than to give you ideas. Does this mean I have to address you as 'High Programmer' now when you wear a white shirt?"

Quote:"Eimi" and "Noah Scott" and any representations thereof are copyright by and trademarks of Robert Kelk.

Quote:I assume you put this in because you actually know the history of that art style.

Quote:And are used with permission.

Bob Schroeck Wrote:I direct you to the Concordance.

Quote:Magic 8-ball shake says 'not only yes, but very yes'

robkelk Wrote:

Quote:He was startled at the ease with which it came together –- almost as if his missing four brothers were in fact there, lending their power.

You've got me thinking of the finale to first-season Sailor Moon here...