DM Salsa Presents: The Rise of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master AdamWarnock

... I completely lost everything you said after extra cheese. That said, I could use a lightened mood - today we had staff morning tea. People brought in lamingtons*, tarts, chips and salsa, pies, crusty bread, biscuits... and I couldn't eat anything because of the new braces. Well, I managed a bit of lamington. But it's agony watching your co-workers scoff down pies and cheesecakes when you're sitting there with Heinz Big Red Tomato Soup.

* For those who don't know (I'm guessing everyone but Danyel, since they're an Aussie thing), lamingtons are squares of sponge cake covered in chocolate sauce and dessicated coconut. Sometimes, the squares are cut in half with jam and cream in the middle. They're soft and moist and deeeeeeeeeelicious.

Also, someone had to strike up a conversation with me about movies that make you cry, so now I'm feeling a little fragile. Spill the beans, lads - what does it for you? I have a too-long list, though Seven Pounds kills me every. gorram. time.

[wince] Once again, Ronnie, you have my sympathies... though I think lamingtons are actually a Pommy thing that got exported out from the UK to both sides of the Tasman. (Honestly: you’ll be trying to claim the pavlova as an Aussie confection next! :P)

When you say ‘lost’: is the link bad, did the post disappear after that sentence, or did I simply lapse into incomprehensibility (again)? What do I need to fix, and how? That fic is just too damned funny not to tout it to the world. :D

And as for movies etc. that make me cry? No movies are springing to mind at the moment — though I do get misty every time I re-watch the scene in Ghost in the Shell: Second Gig where the Tachikomas pull their Heroic Sacrifice.

Oh, and that video of the CGI kiwi who wants to fly just once. I saw it through on the late-night news once and swore ‘never again’, because it just bums me out for days whenever I see it. ;-; (And yet I still have it in my Youtube bookmarks, complete with Gary Jules’ Mad World as a soundtrack. :wails:)

Pommie, Aussie, either way, they're delicious. I have a pommie dad - he's from Yorkshre, and apparently the accent only comes out when he's drunk. (My aunt told me that six years ago, and I've been trying to get him drunk ever since, because Yorkshire accents are awesome).

Oh my god. That kiwi video. I think that killed some small part of me. A friend of mine decided to show me that without warning me what it was - just "OMG hey this is really well done and you should watch it!" *bites lip and trembles slightly*

Hey, here's more... The montage from Pixar's Up! is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking things I've ever seen. And since the first Toy Story film came out when I was six, I'm not ashamed to say I bawled like a baby at the end of Toy Story 3...

An an American male, I feel obliged to proclaim that I don't cry at movies.

That said, I've gotten close a few times. Pixar's Up springs to mind. There are a few others that are eluding me. Not many, but they exist.

PS: THE TECHNO QUEEN is awesome!

I have depression/anxiety, so I bawl. Here's a list of movies that made me cry, just off the top of my head.

And yes, if anyone asks, I will gladly explain exactly why each and every one of those is soul-destroying.

Argh, Pavanna, missed this before - when I say 'lost', I meant as in 'I have no damn clue what you're talking about'. It's like when people start talking about Game of Thrones - I'm just like "whuh?" Just my own ignorance, nothing more.

Pixar's Up, The Lego Movie for multiple reasons, Serenity (Damn you Joss! Did you have to kill [redacted],) The Guardian, amd I'm sure there's more.

So to off set the downer, what movies do you have the most fun watching?

For me, Just about any Pixar, Wreck-It Ralph, The Lego Movie, Most Action films, and The Star Wars Original Trilogy, although it's fun to poke holes in the new one.

Oh man, in Serenity is that the first <redacted> or the second <redacted>? The second one hit me more - I don't think I cried, but I may have gone into a shock a little.

Damnit Adam, Wreck-It Ralph made my cry list! D= "I am bad, and that's good. I will never be good, but that's not bad" AAAAAAAAAAARGH *breaks down sobbing*

I love the Terminator films - 1 and 2. The T-1000 still creeps me the hell out - definitely one of my favourite movie villains. Anything with Aaahnold is usually a go for me. Various Disney cartoons. Really, really terrible B-grade horror films - SyFy originals are the best, especially with a bottle of Jack.

My favourite film of all time is The Princess Bride, because Inigo and Fezzik have the best relationship ever. My boyfriend came over to watch it with me when I had my braces put on, because he knew I was feeling miserable, self-conscious, sore, and ugly. (He's a keeper.) But damn, that movie is fantastic.

One of my favorites at all time is Tom Cruise's Last Samurai. I'm not sure why. It's been criticized as a little formulaic and a little "white man savior", but I adore it. Olivius is partly based off characters in that film (I emphasize partly).

Princess Bride is awesome. So is most anything from Pixar. :)

@Olivius and Ronnie: How could I have forgotten that one?!

@Ronnie: Oh yeah, there are parts that make me tear up, but it's a fun watch and it had me feeling nostalgic for Crash Team Racing. Kinda wish there was a Sugar Rush game in real life, some of the puns in that game were pretty good.

I am going wthe message board of equivelent of the two minute rule here..and not really getting involved in the conversation ....unless specifically asked...

less chance of looking like a bigger idot than I already tend to be.

Gideon, Pixar are amazing. I love how they make "kids' movies" that people of all ages can enjoy. When I saw Toy Story 3 in the cinema, the whole room was full of not kids, but twentysomethings. I saw a lot of couples among them, which I thought was just awesome.

Adam, oh yeah. Wreck-It Ralph was a brilliant, hilarious movie, full of great jokes. And Zangief! Oh man, I loved that scene. It's just... Damn, at that one gorram moment, ninjas start chopping onions right under my nose.

Awww, come on Noro. Spill the beans. :p

what are you guys discussing anyway.

Best movies ever (for you) and which movies jerk tears from your ducts.

The more I read TECHNO QUEEN the more I get the impression that it's referencing or happening in a world that is established in another series or something. I'm enjoying it, but its using words that I'm having to infer additional meanings for and referencing characters with little to no exposition on who they are or what they do.

It's a fan-fic on the (long and intricate) web-novel Worm (warning: TV Tropes link!). Since I haven't read it myself, I'll ask you to bear with me, as the following quick-reference is mostly second-hand and inferential:

Worm is set in the city of Brockton Bay on an alternate Earth called 'Earth Bet' (as in Hebrew for 'B') where super-powered individuals are fairly common. They're formally known as 'parahumans' and casually as 'capes', and there are a number of factions running around (we'll get to that in a moment). Parahumans have 'Shards' (I'll skip the full details for now) that grant them their powers, which generally emerge in (and are shaped by) horribly traumatic events called Triggers.

The central character is Taylor Hebert, a friendless 15-year-old high school student who is horribly, viciously bullied by a pack of three other girls including her former best friend. During their worst attack, Taylor Triggers. Nature of attack spoilered for being despicable, disgusting, and just flat gross:

In canon, Taylor Hebert gained the parahuman power to control insects of all kinds. There's a national organisation of parahuman heroes called the Protectorate (a bit like DC's Justice League, I think) that runs the PRT (their local response-teams) and the Wards, an internship programme for high-school-age capes (similar to the Teen Titans). Being a fundamentally decent person, Taylor (I believe) considers joining the local Wards... right up until she realises that the Ward 'Shadow Stalker' is actually Sophia Hess, the leader of the bullies who tortured her. After that, she adopts the (vigilante) identity of Skitter... and things proceed to get out of hand. And worse... and worse... and worse.

In THE TECHNO QUEEN!!!, her reaction to all the bullying, and her Trigger outfitting her as a 'Tinker' (a parahuman with powers to do MAD SCIENCE!), is to reclaim control of her life by becoming a Large Ham Harmless Villain, like the Rogue's Gallery in the 1960s Batman TV show.

Other quick notes:
- Endbringers: think Spawn of Rovagug, only without the bashful charm. For instance, Leviathan can create and control water on a truly colossal scale (repeated Leviathan attacks are why on a good day, a large chunk of Brockton Bay looks like the rebuilding after a tsunami).
- E88: Empire 88, a Neo-Nazi(!) gang/crime-organisation that runs a lot of Brockton Bay. Until TTQ and her henchmen get E88's primary backer locked up when they 'botch' a hostage-taking at his corporate HQ.
- Undersiders: a group of teenaged parahuman vigilantes/kind-of-criminals working for a parahuman called Coil. In TTQ, Taylor puts Coil out of action, yoinks all his bank-accounts, and hires the Undersiders as her new sidekicks the... erm... oh, I know, the DASTARDLY TECHIES! (Yeah, that's it!)
- Wards: local Junior Crime-Fighters who handle bad-guys their own age. In TTQ, the Ward Clockblocker starts playing along with Taylor's theatrics and becomes her (mutual) crush/'arch-nemesis'.
- PRT: Crimefighting rapid-response team, the A-grade team to the Wards' farm-league. Brockton Bay's PRT includes Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Dragon, and several others.
- Slaughterhouse 9: a troupe of parahumans who roam the country entertaining themselves with murder and mayhem. Imagine the Heath Ledger Joker and the Killing Joke Joker teaming up with seven other Rogues and taking their act on the road. One of them, Bonesaw, turned Taylor's childhood hero, the Ward 'Mouse Protector', into Murder Rat (another member of S9).

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of stuff, but I think that's a big-enough wall o' text for now. :-S

That filled in some gaps, some I inferred from the first ten. Thanks. :)

That sounds... bizarre? o_O

Ohhhhhhhhhh my god. I just got home after a twelve hour gig. Fifteen bands. Dyssidia, Vanishing Point, Se Bon Ki Ra, LORD, Gorlapse... Holy crap. Even though I had earplugs in all day, my head won't stop ringing. My back aches from being shouldered around, my shoulders ache from carrying my camera bag, my eyes are stinging, my feet are sore from standing on them all day, and my biceps are sore room repeatedly lifting my DSLR.

And holy cow, was it ever worth it...

Good job Horatio's still putting the fast talk on Aldern, because I need a sleep in!

Sorry, folks. Inner ear infection. I'll catch back up in a couple of days. Bot me if need be.

Will catch up tonight. Sorry forgoing off the air so to speak.

@Thirzin: Ouch, hope that clears up.

Ye gods, man. That's unpleasant. Take care of yourself.

Please don't make me fail a Sense Motive again.

It's demoralizing as you lower the DC and my results continue to fall as well.

Please.

Not until you know what is going on with noro

Le sigh.

Can you set it at DC1?

*pokes game with a 10-foot pole*

Hello? Guys? It's been a while, and we're never this quiet... :p

Clear!

Punches Horatio

No punchy! I have the flu! I'll cough all over you! :p

Poke with stick then

*pouts*

*pouts*

I'm here, I'm here!

I've checked the thread a few times waiting for the others to check in. I'm sure I can drop a post to keep our discussions alive.

I'm sorry you're not feeling well Ronster. :(

I've just sort of been sitting on my hands waiting for Salsa to respond. I know it's not productive, but I have a hard time keeping track of multiple conversations that my character is participating in. I suppose I should jump in some where.

Noro - I laughed. I can kinda see that happening at some point. Though I'll have you know I'm not bedridden - I passed out on the couch after my boss sent me home >.>

Asuriel - Ronster? That's a new one. I've had Ronnie, Ron, Ronald, El Ronza, V-Ron-Ron, Von, Vonnie, and Ronzatron, but Ronster? Can't say I've heard that before.

Saroune - tch, and I've been trying to keep Aldern occupied for you again and everything! :p

Have I missed something you wrote about Saroune? Sorryyyyyyy. I would have responded if I caught it!

I hope Salsa can catch up tonight. :)
I am also regretting not saying at the beginning that we should get XP for unprompted RP. :P

Salsa? Where you be, mighty GM?

I hope Mr Salsa-man is doing okay. =[

Sorry, major project deadline and the site is fairly massive. I'm having to move a lot of stuff by hand and that means the last thing I think about is getting on and posting. over 60 posts to read and I don't know when I'll get to it.

Sorry to hear, Salsa. =( If it's any consolation, it's just been us bouncing off each other, and can probably be skimmed over ^^'

I don't think anything important has happened IC yet, we're just shooting the stuff back and forth.

I mean, Noro hasn't even punched Horatio in all this time (though it almost came to be).

Almost. Tell you what, he dodged a bullet there.

hello all, just want to update people

I checked the wife into a psychiatric hospital specializing in eating disorders. this weekend is rather hectic and the past several weeks have bee extremely stressful.

in any event things are settling down for a bit and I was wondering if you guys would mind if say I dm'd a side adventure here until Salsa is ready. it would not get any xp or treasure but it would keep us active enough to stay with the game.

it may include noro but I am not sure. lets see if there is interest or not...

Asuriel I still owe you a response sorry, I am being lazy with that. but the response may tie into the side adventure so I am holding off for a bit.

I am quite interested in a side adventure, and very sorry to hear about the wife. I've been part way down that road before, and you're a good sort for doing the right thing.

I agree with Thirzin on all counts. I've only witnessed the in-hospital side of that. My profession as an interpreter leads me to all kinds of places, including the insides of those places. Good for you. I hope she returns to you soon all healthy and happy.

As for the side adventure, sure, as long as Salsa agrees. How long would this adventure be, do you imagine?

I'm down for a side adventure.

ok, I got to put something together but it shouldn't take long and will take place in sandpoint.

Ed - I've been down that road as well. I wish your family the best of luck and if you need to chat about it, I'm here. It's tough, but the right path to recovery.

I'm always up for everything, count me in for maximum exposure :)

Don't worry about the reply, do what you need to take care. I'm just killing time until Salsa frees up some.

Damn, Ed. That sounds all kinds of rough. I've never been there, so I can't pretend to know what it's like, but you and your wife have my well wishes. Sounds like you've taken the biggest step to recovery, so I hope it all gets easier for you both from here.

I'm also up for a side-trek, providing the almighty Salsa approves it.

:( Sympathies and best wishes, Ed.

That said, I have no objection to a side-quest.

Another week down... I sure hope this isn't going to die again =(