Katzaniel

"Well, that was nice," said Horace to Gabriel. She was standing just inside the door, having arrived in the middle of Thomas' performance. Gabriel, unseen inside the briefcase, rolled his eyes at Horace's utter oblivion. She stepped inside. Her dark hair was done up in a pony-tail, and her small horns were just visible through it. She wore a fashionable red dress, the picking out of which was a story all its own, because Gabriel had decided he wanted her in something really nice for this, and Horace had a hit-or-miss sense of fashion. The briefcase seemed really out of place for her clothes and the event, but even Pennites who did not know the story of it knew that Horace never went anywhere without the thing. Their real surprise of the evening would be when Gabriel started his mind-speech. "Oh, what cute animals!" cried Horace, seeing Mynx. "I wonder what they are?"

Hmm, Valdar, that's an idea, but in my opinion seeing I-III before any of the others would bring a number of surprises that are worth not being surprised at "Vader's his father" and "Leia's his sister". Think about it: Seeing these for the first time not knowing Anikan will turn, not knowing there will be two children, not knowing precisely who will survive and who will not. Seeing even Episode IV gives all of that away. With all respect, Rune, I disagree... I think I want my kids to see I-III before IV-VI. I do agree with you about Anikan's actor, though. What you said was exactly the way I tried to describe him to Tam... either really good or really bad. I mean, would it hurt him to smile occasionally? Sure, Ani's character is kind of the person who wouldn't smile when he's happy, but it makes it hard to believe that Amadelia fell in love with him and all that. I didn't like the stone-faced acting. And now that I've seen the movie.. I wanted to say the plot was really neat: there are some surprises despite knowing who's alive at the end; it was really cool to watch the politics, a little romance, the inner battles and of course the physical battles all within one film. I didn't like the way Anikan acted his "normal" scenes but he did do "tormented" really well, and the other actors all gave good performances as well. I've heard some say that Yoda's CG wasn't any good in these three, but it didn't even look like CG to me, which is the mark of good CG. I think my biggest beef with the movie was that nearly all the great lines were in the trailer, so in addition to knowing the outcome I knew much of the dialogue, but I can certainly forgive the movie that because it was just so worth seeing. Then again I thought II did a good job when I watched it a second time (when I was willing to forgive it not being made in the late 70's, early 80's) so if you honest-to-goodness did not like that, I can see you still not liking this one. (Not to say that only those people might not like it, I can't possibly predict everyone's tastes, or that those who didn't like it have bad taste in any way. Just different from mine. ) Also, there is yet more fuel for the contention (for which proper credit should be given to BPO) that R2D2 has actually studied Jedi arts.

1. a Pen member - Rune 2. animal - spotted crocodile 3. Verb that signifies moving - roller blade 4. a Pen member - Arwen 5. animal (plural) - albino hamsters 6. verb - fall 7. place - the Tower 8. an event - Wyvern working without an ulterior motive 9. verb - write 10. verb - pat 11. noun - pat of butter 12. verb - butter 13. adjective - slash* 14. noun - eyebrow * slash is the new cool Well, maybe! Edit: Pfft, I switched 2 and 5 twice, or something...

I've heard talk about a poetry contest coming up soon, Gabriel thought into Horace's mind. And I've decided I'd like to participate. "You? Poetry?" asked the demoness, nearly dropping her briefcase in surprise. Hey, stop shaking me around so much, Gabriel muttered, long used to life in a briefcase at this point. And yes, poetry. I mean, why not? As long as you can't find the underworld, as long as you're living in this writing place, why shouldn't we join in sometimes? Horace shrugged, forgetting as always that her captive could not see her. "Just don't expect me to help you out."

That's hilarious. Tam and I were watching Episode IV only last night, and when Obi Wan convinces Luke to start learning the force, I commented that it would just be hilarious if Luke fell to the Dark Side as well. Why Obi Wan would be so sure that Luke would be a better Jedi after he'd been so sure about Annikan and turned out wrong, I don't know... Mira: What's wrong with rocks? Very comfortable!

Susie was excited. The third Star Wars movie was coming, and she was going with her boyfriend and two of his friends. She hadn't paid attention to the minor details of the fourth, fifth or sixth, but that didn't mean she wasn't a fan. The first had been neat, the second had even contained romance, and she had been steadfastly ignoring any spoilers for the last few years. Then she happened across a "No spoilers" discussion on the internet. Hmm, this person had liked it.. a disturbing moment, though. Maybe that was just some male nudity!! Someone else who was reconsidering watching it. Good, a convert. And... oh God, no, no!! The bolded words burned themselves into her head. Noooooooo! Who could do such a thing??? It's possible, you know.

Erg... still trying to get rid of the apprehension, the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach that this gave me. Can't wait to see what it looks like in a more refined format... though I suspect this might actually be the best format for it. When I realized you were showing the contents of two message windows simultaneously, I expected to soon be confused, but actually it continued to make sense. Anyway... ergle... *clicks Add Reply*

Johnny had a much lighter step when he approached the next morning's challenge. Brianna had succumbed to a few choice items going missing from her collection, and then he and Zak had simply voted off Stacey. That much had pretty much been assured since they had gotten rid of Jack. What he was so happy about was that Jessica might forgive him. It occurred to him that if they got together, she would probably end up spending more than half of the money, but he only laughed about it. This one endeavor alone was enough to secure him his father's inheritance, and Jessica deserved the best that money could buy. Zak was pretty happy, too. This show had turned out to be a lot of fun, and he was contemplating the ways that he could put the money to use. He'd be able to afford that incredible new board at Surfer Plus, for one thing. After that, well.. he simply wouldn't have to worry as much about money anymore. And maybe a Ferrari. Nancy went through her speech for the cameras, then paused and quietly warned them not to look like they'd already won. Both sobered up immediately; it certainly wouldn't be good if it came to light that they had cheated. The last challenge was to do the longest chin-up. They both laughed aloud when they saw that the two bars were still colour-coded. Good old bright blue and orange. Zak grabbed the orange one, thinking of the orange stripe down the surfing board he planned to buy. Johnny heaved himself up on the other. The two men were both very physically fit, so the competition went on for some time. After a few hours, though, Johnny decided to let Zak have the win. He already had everything he'd wanted from this - the money, Jessica, and as heir to his father's riches, he would be famous soon enough. Taking care to make it look real, he let his exhaustion win briefly over his determination. He slipped, grabbed the bar again, kept going. Wouldn't do to fall without ever having faltered. Zak glanced at Johnny; after making sure the cameras had caught the moment and were satisfied, focussing on Zak now, Johnny winked. Zak grinned. They hung there for another dozen minutes, both sweating but neither overly strained. Then Johnny let himself slip again, pretended to try to hold on, and fell to the sand. Instantly the cameras were all on Zak. It was a good thing, because Johnny was already thinking of the impending plane-ride with Jessica, and grinning like a fool. Nancy started into the victory speech for Zak's benefit, and the audience of course. And, when it aired on televisions across the country, so too did money exchange hands over water coolers everywhere. RLTV got a tonne of publicity and money from the idea, the man whose idea it had been was promoted, and everyone was happy. Oh, didn't I mention the other contestants? Jack filed a lawsuit on behalf of the other participants, which settled out of court. He shared the results with the other players, and it barely even cut into the station's profit. Actually, some contend that the lawsuit's publicity caused even more viewers for the next version of the show...

Um.. that was slightly abrupt. Can't we at least finish the practise round before you take over?

What makes you think we travelled anywhere?

Seems to me that if we want audio, it would be only as an augmentation, entirely optional, or else you will probably lose participants due to that, and I rather suspect that isn't the ideal situation, given that it wasn't even part of the original idea. On another note, can we start working on these, or are we given a topic or something when we begin? As far as I understand, it would have to have been written specifically for this, but it doesn't matter if we plan ahead, right?

The players are all still glowing from their scavenger hunt successes when Nancy walks into the area of the huts. As one, they recall their impending duty of voting the next person off. The five players follow Nancy in silence to the torchlit encampment, considering their options. Only minutes later, Zak is standing at the makeshift desk. "I'm voting for Jack," he says, holding up his card to the camera. "He didn't help make the shelters at all." Next is Jack himself. He belches and holds up a card with Johnny's name. "Same as last night," he asserts. "I have now seen both Johnny and Zak, and they are conspiring against the rest of us. I only hope that the others believed me about it." When he leaves, Stacey is shown. She, too, show's Johnny's name before dropping the paper into the vase. Johnny comes up. "Time to get rid of the couch potato," he says, dropping in his vote. As per usual with these shows, the camera skips Brianna's votes, cutting straight to Nancy. She tallies up the votes, then begins in her best suspenseful tone. "Two of the contestants have voted for Johnny," she says, looking him in the eye. "But three of you ... have decided ... they'd rather be rid ... of Jack." Jack, surprised, stands up. "But it's rigged!" he shouts. The cameramen quickly grab him and hold him still. "It's not rigged," they insist, but the footage is never seen by the viewers. Brianna looks at him, wondering if perhaps he hadn't been lying. "Tonight, you may continue to work on the scavenger hunt," drones Nancy, turning to the one camera still running. "In the morning, the one of you with the least findings will be off the show, and in the evening the last vote will take place. The last two contestants will then face off in a challenge to determine the winner." Jack is taken away, looking very angry, and Stacey eyes Brianna, trying to figure out what the chances are, now. OOC: Game over. Venefyxatu/Jack was the Seer, and the two wolves (Patrick/Johnny and Gryphon/Zak) overpower the remaining villagers and win. IC, that would probably mean that they steal some items from Stacey or Brianna and then combine to vote the other off. Since the signup for the next game hasn't started yet, I may as well allow the opportunity for some more RP'd posts before posting the IC ending. (Double OOC: I suspect that rather than Brianna not believing Jack, as it appears in this post, that Zariah simply didn't get Venefyxatu's PM in time to change her vote. And yes, in only 2 nights the Seer did manage to find both wolves. So... take that as you will.)

The man who answered was the one who had looked at her with an air of superiority as she had left, earlier. The one she'd vowed to watch. Grasshopper was surprised at that, a little, and surprised at his answer... which was what surprised her even more. Why shouldn't he have had tea with his mother? "And what did you do lil' lady, since you popped the question?" By the time Jade realized he had her a question, he was already smugly declaring that she wasn't going to answer. Of course I'm willing to share, she thought irately. I knew we'd get around to that sometime, just not right away. Grasshopper watched the exchange between Hrath and Jadros, wondering what she had missed between them. "Still, what DID you do anyway?" "I don't know anyone around here," she answered, trying to sound as casual as possible. She didn't want him to know that his manner unnerved her, if only a little. "So I went to catch the latest news at the Red Yeti."

Some of you may recall my Quill Quest, and I have tried to update it at various points with varying success. The initial idea is still largely correct (creating a quick-reference list of the main characters by member name) but changes have been made. First, some people have already written their own. This isn't bad.. it's great! The initial idea was that there be a list, and it's obviously too much for one person to do everyone, so for all those that have contributed to the final list by writing their own, thank you. I'll concentrate on those that haven't. Secondly, I'd been trying to meet with everyone on IRC or MSN or whatever, and that works all right for those that hang out on chat lines and messengers, but it also means that I'm wasting time on both our ends because I don't know ahead of time who is going to be online at any point, so I don't have time to read descriptions beforehand and ask only the unanswered questions. For many characters, I should be able to write this without even interviewing. Which leads to the third, the new way to sign up. Instead of organizing by rank, I want people to "sign up" by posting in the Piazza. (This is the only way that I can think of for me to post something and each person still be able to edit their own). The main things to know about the Piazza are that each character has their own thread, different information about each character (like History, Physical Appearance, et cetera) has its own post, and titles have the ~ on either side. If you want to be a part of this: If you already have a description in the Piazza, including a Brief Description, do nothing. You're done. If you already have a character description in the Piazza, but no Brief Description, please make a mostly-blank post, with just the words "Reserved for Brief Description" or some such. I'll read over the description and create a Brief Description when I have the time. If you have a description in the Greenroom, please transfer it over to the Piazza, with one (again, mostly blank) post at the top for the Brief Description, and then the rest. It'd be great if you have the time to separate it out to those different sections (History, Physical Appearance, et cetera), but it's not absolutely necessary. (The main point is that this forum is more easily searchable than the Greenroom, publicly accessible, and pretty much updates itself. The different segments in different posts make the searching more flexible.) If you have no character description yet, but have time to write one, go ahead! Don't forget the almost-blank post. If you have no character description and no time to write one, but enough time to spare me about an hour sometime to interview you, this is still good enough. Create a topic with a single almost-blank post in it, add me to your messenger-of-choice, and wait for me to be online at the same time as you. You can find me on... MSN - Parmeisan Yahoo - Parmeisan AIM - Katzaniel IRC (#thepen) - Katzaniel, Katz, QQKatz ICQ - Parmeisan (242-574-084) although I frequent those less and less frequently as you go down the list. Katz PS. The Initial Announcement is here, and when all is said and done I will probably ask a mod to combine the topics, but for now, what's said here is really just confusing. Also, there are things I posted in the Piazza itself that are so wrong/misleading I will probably go delete them now (if I didn't already, I vaguely remember that I may have). PPS. I have yet to decide where I will post the list of finished characters, possibly right in this thread... anyway, the current "finished" list is this: Pennite Character Degenero Angelus Degenero Angelus Vlad Vlad Gwaihir Gwaihir PPPS. If you're Orlan, I'm done yours but I need a place to post it. Edit: Bad links!

Ah, so filling it with rhymes and alliterations is probably a good strategy. Thanks for the explanations, both of you (though Rev, it might help more people if you just posted that whole PM into this thread) and I do believe I'll try this out. Sign me up for Audience member and Slam Poet competitor... though I suspect you might do better to allow more than 10 competitors...

Rhyming. Repetition. Clever use of different meanings of "direction" and "lost". I do know what you mean, Zariah. But poetry can take many forms, and this poem certainly has some merit of its own, despite the fact that you would prefer to see it in a different, "inspired" form. Maybe when your Muse comes back, you can rework it. (Or maybe with a little help from the various Pen poets, you can rework it now )

It turned out Haste would be shared by Jade and Merlyn. Grasshopper was happy about that, as he seemed a good horse. She checked his hooves, knowing it was probably unnecessary, and mounted him, listening to the voices around her but carefully scanning the horizon. Just as Captain Gerald was dismissing the escort, Merlyn appeared. Jade announced his arrival and watched as he presented his excuse, which did not seem to be very good. If it's such a long hike, why did he make it? And why not sooner, if it's so necessary? she wondered, but kept her peace. Soon, everything was ready and they moved on. Deciding that a long silent journey would be the least enjoyable option, Grasshopper began the conversation. "So, what did everyone else do with their last day?"

Yeah... what is a poetry slam? Is this similar to what they do in that movie, 8 Mile, as in insulting each other with poetry?

Have you ever tried reading this topic backward?

Day phase. Competing Venefyxatu - Jack D. Nillebergh Couch Potato Extraordinaire Patrick Durham - Johnny Straw Jr. 27 - Charming but lazy Gryphon - Zak Doyle Surfer Dude Lady Celes Crusader - Stacy Chaplin 25 - Afro-American New-Yorker mother of one Zariah - Brianna Michelle Taylor 23 - horse rancher and administrative associate Out of the Game Gnarlitch - Dan First Wolf Kill, Innocent Villager Dragonqueen - Pansy Johnston First Lynching, Innocent Villager Mynx - Jessica Casey Second Wolf Kill, Baner

The rock wall was a large, molded replica of the real thing, but was just as hard, if slightly less dangerous, to climb. There were long dangling ropes hanging a metre apart along the wall, and they were all different colours again. Already knowing the basic idea of what they had to do, the participants all sat restlessly listening to Nancy explain it for the television audience. Their attention was mostly on the irregular vertical surface that they would soon have to scale. The contestants ran a pretty close race, again. Jessica ended up last, though she kept insisting that the list itself had been too hard to remove, no one else lingered so long just trying to unstick it... But Nancy took one look at Jessica's slender arms and declared that she ought to work out a little more, then it might have been easier. While Jessica dejectedly went away with Nancy to the crew's cabin (where she would finally be able to make good use of electricity again), the remaining contestants looked at their lists... A live centipede. The largest possible leaf. Seaweed. A clear grain of sand. A pinecone. A coin. (Of 20 possible coins hidden around the island). A sock. (10 possible). A chocolate bar. (4 possible). And other similar items... OOC: Mynx/Jessica was your Baner! As per usual, feel free to continue RPing. The rest of you... feel free to make up new items to find. Some things will be hidden around the island, others are just there already. And... don't forget to vote, 'cause the phase is Day!

Reiterating, the votes were 2 for Pansy/dragonqueen and 1 for Johnny/Patrick. Night phase... Happy hunting. Competing Mynx - Jessica Casey 24 - Beauty Princess Venefyxatu - Jack D. Nillebergh Couch Potato Extraordinaire Patrick Durham - Johnny Straw Jr. 27 - Charming but lazy Gryphon - Zak Doyle Surfer Dude Lady Celes Crusader - Stacy Chaplin 25 - Afro-American New-Yorker mother of one Zariah - Brianna Michelle Taylor 23 - horse rancher and administrative associate Out of the Game Gnarlitch - Dan First Wolf Kill, Innocent Villager Dragonqueen - Pansy Johnston First Lynching, Innocent Villager

OOC: Sorry, gotta post now. Also, I'm going to inflate the votes IC, saying that it's 4 vs 3, because not everyone voted, and in-character everyone is supposed to vote. Note that the actual numbers were 2 vs 1. (There is no problem with not voting, mind. Just that I'm making it look like everyone did.) IC: Two nights after their arrival, Nancy reappeared in front of the contestants, mic in hand. The present cameramen swivelled to face her; the others appeared out of nowhere. "Come," she said, and started walking. They all followed. Glances were exchanged, as everyone knew what must be coming: The first vote. Nancy led them up a steep incline and then into a paved area, torches lit all around, with a large wooden statue staring menacingly down. "Oh good," said Jessica, "Finally somewhere I can stand without getting my dress dirty." They were told to sit, and given the spiel. The cameras recorded their faces. Jack belched, a sound and image that did not make it past the editting team. "One of you must leave the island this night," Nancy monotoned for the benefit of the viewers. One or two of the participants laughed, another thing that the television audience never saw. "You must decide for yourselves who you deem to be the largest liability, either for yourself or the group." One or two people looked at Jessica at this point. "The number of votes for each contestant will be revealed; in the case of a tie, an immediate tie-breaking challenge will be played out." She paused, letting the words fall heavily. "Write a name on the piece of paper provided and drop it in that black vase. From left to right, now... Commence." When the cameras moved away from Nancy, she made a face and sighed, apparently worn out from all that seriousness. One by one, the participants moved up to the small desk set up with pencil and a pile of small papers. They each wrote a name, held it up to the camera, and dropped it into the vase. Some gave a small speech explaining their reasons, but the other participants could not hear any of the words. When Stacey got there, she wisely pocketed some of the paper, noting that it would be useful for starting a fire. When it was done, Nancy emptied the vase and counted the votes. "3 of you voted for Mr. Johnny Straw, Junior," she said. "But 4 of you.... have decided that the one to go.... is Ms. Pansy Johnston. Thank you for your time, Ms. Johnston, and we hope you enjoyed being a part of this show. Come with me, now. Thank you." Pansy closed her eyes and looked down for a moment, obviously disappointed. "At least I won't have to put up with that Jessica any longer," she muttered. Viewers across the continent sympathized with those words, and a moment of silence was observed for Pansy. Then the cameras snapped off. "Now that you've all settled in, there will be voting every evening and a challenge in the morning. Tomorrow you will begin a scavenger hunt; the challenge will be to retrieve your list of items from the top of a rock-climbing wall." Nancy paused, then went on, "Oh, and the same as you are not allowed near the cabins, this area is also off-limits," Nancy said quickly, while Jessica sighed. She'd been thinking of making Johnny move their tent onto the pavement up here. "Be off now. Have a good night. And Pansy, come with me... we'll fix you up with clean clothes and a nice dinner." OOC: You have voted off an innocent villager. Remaining players: 2 wolves, 1 seer, 1 baner, 2 villagers. Phase: Night.

OOC: Venefyxatu, voting in this game is by PM to me; in keeping with Reality games like this, only the final number of votes to each player will be revealed. (See OOC thread for further comments on that). I'll be posting the results in about 2 hours.

You've nicely summed up some of the stuff that goes on. I was thinking for this first day, at least, that there'd probably be a lot of RP around setting up a camp. Also, I guess that the cameramen would give you on-the-spot interviews at any moment they happen to see you alone, not just in the evenings, so if you feel like giving a monologue to the camera at any point it would not be inappropriate. I suspect there'd be a lot of talk with each other about who did what during the challenge, and I guess I could have some sort of scavenger hunt challenge to give you something else to do. Yeah, how's that... today, the characters are going to have enough on their hands finding a good place for a camp and setting it up... figuring out how you're going to get food... agreeing on responsibilities like fishing/cooking/hunting/firebuilding... (lots of gossip fodder there, I suspect). Next day phase I'll introduce a scavenger hunt to give you something else to do. Note: I'd been planning on having challenges each morning to get rid of the wolf-kill and votes each evening to handle the lynchings, but I realized that I couldn't possibly handle bringing all of your characters to the next morning, so I had to rush the first challenge. IC, say that you did this first challenge immediately so that you could concentrate all night and all day tomorrow on setting up and getting to know each other. After that, I'll go back to my original plan (for however long that lasts).