Katzaniel

The Story Thread This is a good place to include a warning. Like I said to Yui in asking whether it needed to be placed in the Scarlet Pen, this story will include swears, at the least, and may also include violence, drugs, sex, et cetera, et cetera. The third post already deals closely with a very heavy issue and I expect that this and other topics will not be shied away from. So, read at your own risk. That having been said, I am getting really excited about this story because it deals with very real situations and very real people, and I expect that despite having no ninjas (sorry, Tam) it will be very interesting. Any and all comments are welcome, in this thread please.

Okay, but then there must be some IC story for you to tell, involving both our characters, right? Oh wait, you'd have met Horace through the Hallowe'en Werewolf, right? I guess either way I'm in, with Horace.

I'll go with Sal, that makes 3 complete teams. (Unless she doesn't want me...)

And if so, how much longer will they remain clad?

A horrible thought occurs to me! If one of the Pen crew actually does take over the world, how shall we identify our own? Ah yes, we shall all need to wear our Pen T-Shirts on Armaggedon, just in case.

Flinches I'd never name a child Amanda, but that's only because of all the mean Amandas I've met. Nor Chantal, but that's one specific story. Ooh, Olivia. That's nice. And Samantha. Others (these come from my own personal baby-name-idea-list, but I can share ) are Mynah, Vanessa, Eleanor, Paige, Jade and Elisabelle. This last was borne of someone I knew named Elizabeth who had a heavy accent, and would probably be better off shortened to Lizzy for all practical purposes.

Katz shuffles into the room and drops a card onto the table. I figured I had no choice but to make an appearance at this one. Oh, hi Sal! Grinning, wondering if she's going to catch Sal on messenger any time soon, Katz shuffles out again. (PS. Tam, ya know I luvs ya. Have a good one.)

Can old scantily clad pirates retire at all?

Lots of shows there. Also, I found this Article on the Shopping Aspect of Vegas that might interest you. PS. Congratulations.

Without having read all of what Zariah found, I want to contribute this advice: Punctuate poetry like a regular sentence (use your sense of "there should be a pause here, a longer one here" as a guideline) until such a time as you might reach a point where you feel that you understand how to do that properly, and don't want to any more. What I mean by that is that you shouldn't neglect punctuation "because you can" but because you know how to use it and neglect it out of personal choice. (Or neglect it only in certain pieces. Or don't neglect it at all. Or....)

Yeah, I'll be an NPC if I ever get a chance to catch up and post! Life has taken me away again... Edit: PS, maybe I can have a stake in the show then. But either way, there'll have to be a good reason I wasn't around until now.

Note: The harder you try, the harder it is to read. When one instead lets the sentence flow by, even before understanding the previous word, the next words put it into immediate context. Thank goodness I figured that out after only two sentences.

Is it too late to sign up as another official NPC? So that I wouldn't have to post every phase (or even every few) but could still be involved? I'm thinking the lead actor that is a) a ratings grabber, so no one would want to hurt him, and in dire straights financially, so that no one would ever suspect him of sabatoge. Let me know.

Can we include words that were just garbled around in English? Like my favourite, "conformulist". If that's not allowed, you can just ignore me.

Wow, that's incredible. Great flow, good theme. .. How many of these do you write and not post?

Sweetcherrie! Venefyxatu! Black! Aw, who am I kidding, we all knew it was time. Ozy: It couldn't have been too bad. The translator I found was actually able to put it back to "Promote, now!" Also, individually the words were: ADVANCE, FURTHER, HELP ON, PROMOTE, PUSH, PUSH FORWARD, PUT FORWARD, PREFER, CARRY FORWARD, BOOST, FACILITATE, RATTLE NOW, NOWADAYS, PRESENTLY, PRESENT: AT PRESENT Peredhil (& copycats ): I don't say this often, but: LOL! That was great. Elephants!

Katzaniel wanders in, looking for the toothbrush she uses to amuse herself sometimes while in cat form. She gets distracted and forgets about that, however, when she sees the newest full member. Yay for Zariah!

* grins wickedly * What's so hard about this? PS. 'Twas Yahoo that led me there. Edit: I should probably warn about semi-mature content such as a nude (but kind of cartoonish) picture and frank discussion of the difference between men and women which, y'know, has to be at least a semi-mature rating.

What amazing coincidence that I stumbled across this while this game was running. ASCII Version of first scenes from Star Wars: New Hope It lasts up to about where they pretend Chewie is a prisoner. It's pretty neat. Enjoy.

This just made my day. That is, "Me is thankful, sir."

Um, Falcon, no you didn't. You voted girl, because yesterday when I voted it was 10:10 and now it's 10:11 for the females Must have been a mis-click. PS. Are we going to see more of you, Sal, after the birth? Pleeease?

Thanks, guys. I do so love feedback. Wyv, I know what you mean about Virtual Reality having no real point, but don't see a way to change that without losing what I like so much about it. So, although I appreciate the constructive criticism, I have decided to leave it be. Without further ado, The Fool Aardvark-esque Short Story I watched through the security camera as Aster snuck down the corridor. I could barely keep from laughing aloud at the way that he stole a glance this way and that, avoiding the large decoy cameras I had placed. He thought I didn't know he was there. It was all so amusing: Aster using the classic come-in-from-the-roof technique and setting off the secret alarm, stealing into the main hallway via the insanely large vent system I had installed and unknowingly coating himself with Neex, the drowsiness chemical my scientists had concocted. Finally, he was about to burst in on me, unaware that the 'guards' he had dispatched were all just newcomers, none of them my trusted and skilled servants. Aster quickly disposed of another four initiates and paused before the door to the master chamber, sidling in from the side and picking the lock. Seriously, did he really think it would be that simple? How much of an idiot did he think I was? The so-called hero suddenly supressed a yawn and this time I did laugh. Soon he would be falling asleep and he would be captured without my real guards even having to do a thing. I stood up and walked to the center of the room, nodding in the direction of my hidden army. I heard the command that was passed on through my head guard and smiled. They were ready for any trouble that Aster might have in mind. Finally the lock clicked and the noble fool himself peeked into the room. "Come in, boy," I sneered as Aster whirled around to discover four guns pointing at him, forcing him to come forward. The black-clad men herded him in and closed the door, taking their stations on either side of it. Aster closed his eyes and wobbled slightly, obviously feeling the strengthening effect of the chemical coating his skin and clothes. I tossed a pair of handcuffs at him, enjoying the way he reached up belatedly and missed. "Put those on yourself in the next ten seconds and you won't get shot," I told him, and one of the guards nudged the cuffs back to Aster with his foot while another levelled his gun. There was a gunshot and a thud, and suddenly the first guard was on the floor, reeling from the impact of Aster's throw, while the second sported a red and bleeding hole in his forehead. I started forward, confused. Aster, still moving with the momentum of his attack, was on me in an instant, grappling my hands to my side and appearing very much awake. Two more gunshots put the other two guards on the floor, and this time I was able to tell that they came from the hidden recess where the rest of my gunmen were supposed to be waiting. I cursed as realization dawned. Aster had not been so much of a fumbler after all. I struggled, but his hold was strong. "Just kill me now," I spat, not wanting the disgrace of the gloating explanation that was inexorably on its way. I would have spared him that, even killed him in his sleep, but heroes were never so thoughtful. "I will not kill you," he said, his voice taking on a nobility that I had seen as foolishness before. "No man is unredeemable, no man earns death by another's hands." Of course it was still foolishness, especially considering the countless guards that had already met death through Aster's hands, but with my life at stake it had a different quality, too. "You would have taken over the world, but I believe that you would have done it thinking you were doing a different sort of good." I nodded. I had never been a vengeful type, and though I craved power I had not intended to let the world suffer in my care. Aster's death was a necessary evil, as were the others who would have undermined me. Power was hard to come by, but I had been well on my way. Suddenly I was curious how all my plans had been foreseen and undermined. I didn't say a word, though, as Aster was obviously getting there himself. He rambled on about God's love and so forth, and I thought about what measures he would take to prevent me from returning to power, if he was not going to kill me. "Jesus saved me," Aster confided to me. "I once believed that the world was unsavable, that nothing was worthwhile if it didn't benefit me." And then he leaned close to my ear and whispered something that made me realize he was absolutely right. That there must be a God, after all, and that these events had been meant from the very start to unfold in this way. If he spoke the truth, Aster was my brother, whom I had long believed dead. "Oh God," I whispered, suddenly valuing life, all life, as I had never done since my childhood. What a fool I had become. "Don't be such a fool," came suddenly a harsh voice from the recess. "No one that evil believes in God, no one that evil can be redeemed. Do you want to be tracked down and killed as soon as we leave here? I thought you had a better plan that this!" The last thing I saw before blacking out was the gaping hole in my chest; the last thing I heard, the death knell of a bullet escaping its sheath. Fool, indeed.

You would want "echoed". Also, the "wood" you used (just trying to be helpful, BTW, tell me I'm annoying instead) is the material that comes from trees. You meant "would have been bad". Cheers, Katz PS. Kill those wolves! Yeeeaaaaaaarrrrgh!

Guido rang the doorbell, singing to himself. Tonight would be a nice treat from his usual duties. A terrific crash met his ears, then the sound of Horace scrambling to get to the door. "Coming, Guido, dear!" Dear? he had time to wonder before the door opened and he saw his date for the first time in person. She had a pretty face, a surprised look, and... her jaw was dropping. What did that mean? "You're.... a... guinea pig?" muttered the demoness. Guido had only an instant to react - he thought he'd left this sort of thing behind when the Boss had brought them to the Pen - when a voice inside his head said, "By God, Horace, how could you have not known that??" This was somewhat along the line of his own thoughts, but it wasn't his own thought. What was going on here? "What is dat?" he mumbled, scratching his head. "A guinea pig," repeated Horace, lost, as usual, in her own world. "Just me," said the voice in the same confusing mind-to-mind manner. "I do apologize, but I can't seem to communicate in any other way while on Earth." "Eart'? Say, jus' where are you, anyways?" "A giant guinea pig!" insisted Horace. She still looked pretty with the surprised expression, but the density was getting tiring. "I, uh, wouldn't like to come out while Horace is holding that briefcase," claimed Gabriel, getting an idea. He couldn't lie, but technically it was the truth. "Why don't you get her to set it down? Just take it from her. She's dangerous with that thing." Guido knitted his brows. This was certainly a strange date. Whose voice was this, and why was the briefcase dangerous? Finally, Horace registered the conversation that had been going on. "No!" she nearly shrieked. "Forget Gabriel! He's a liar! You can never trust those archa... uh... I mean lawyers?" Guido was getting confused and annoyed. Whatever the voice was saying, whatever Horace was trying to say, they should come outright and say it, not dance around the issue like this. "Look, is youse telling me that youse has the Archangel Gabriel in dat t'ing?" The boss wouldn't like to hear about that sort of thing. "No!" "And da voice's answer?" "No," said Gabriel dejectedly. Technically, Guido had asked what Horace had been trying to say, and Horace had been trying to lie. The devil with his lies had it easy. "But she -" "Den dat's dat," stated Guido firmly. "Let's get on wit it." "Oh, come in!" cried Horace, rapidly coming to terms with the nicely dressed guinea pig on her doorstep. "I cooked us dinner!" Guido stepped into the house.

OOC: Master P is too polite to tell me how badly I'm butchering Guido's accent, so bear with it. Anyway, part one... Gabriel's ears were filled with a cacophany of clanking, and he could not help but reflect on the aptitude of the word 'cacophany'. Stuck in Horace's suitcase as he had been for the last few years, sound had suddenly gained the utmost importance. Nevertheless, the clanging eminating from what seemed like all around was not helping him to identify what was going on. Not wanting to admit even this small defeat to the demon who had captured him, it took a while before he finally called out to her. "Horace, honey," he said mockingly. "What exactly are you doing?" "Don't call me that!" she said, panic entering her voice. "Guido might not like that." "Who is Gui... oh." Suddenly Gabriel recalled the Bachelorette Auction thing for which Horace had signed up, and that her winner was a giant guinea pig by the name of Guido. "My date," she answered needlessly, beginning the banging noises again. "Okay, sure. Then what are you doing right now?" "Cooking!" she called cheerfully. Horace had an uncanny knack sometimes for being good at the most unexpected things, but Gabriel groaned inwardly. He wondered who would get the money back if this Guido fellow became sick and died immediately after the dinner. And the dischordant sounds continued. Gabriel decided to hold his hands over his ears until it was done, though it didn't help very much. Still he heard what he could now identify as pots being dropped, liquids boiling over, food being stirred entirely too sponaneously. It was already dark in the small room that was somehow inside of the suitcase, but he closed his eyes anyway. Guido was in for some treat.