Now here's a fanfic I'd like to see. ^_^

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

"I want that robot back here, McGinnis. NOW."

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I can imagine Max meeting Roger now.

"Schway suit. but those eyebrows... I don't know."

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

The problem here is that, though I've seen all but one episode of The Big O (and will be seeing that one tonight), I've only seen maybe five episodes of Batman Beyond, plus Return of the Joker. Which means I get the premise and the central characters pretty well, but I'm weak on supporting cast.

Well, that's one problem. The other is that I don't want another project right now, because I already can't keep up with the ones I have.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Max is spunky pink-haired African-American sidekick to Terry. Were there a Neon Genesis Batman Beyond, she'd be your Asuka. Bruce tolerates her rather grudgingly; Terry involves her in his exploits quite a bit.

This is in contrast to Dana, Terry's willowy dark-haired girlfriend, whom he treats like crap and frequently stands up on dates. ;)

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

Ah.

>This is in contrast to Dana, Terry's willowy dark-haired girlfriend,
>whom he treats like crap and frequently stands up on dates. ;)

Being a super-hero is hell on relationships. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Did see 'Daemonseed' last night...heh...cool as he is I just don't see Alfred driving a motorcycle through multiple brick walls. ;) I fell off the couch at that point...

"Did I say something wrong?" "No sir, nothing more than usual."

Save, of course, the Batman/Predator crossover comic I have buried somewhere (which was suprisingly good) that has a panel of Alfred showing up to reinforce Bruce with an obnoxiously huge hunting musket.

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Don't be so sure - after all, Alfred was once an agent of Her Majesty's Government. :)

>Save, of course, the Batman/Predator crossover comic I have buried
>somewhere (which was suprisingly good) that has a panel of Alfred
>showing up to reinforce Bruce with an obnoxiously huge hunting musket.

In "Missing Cat" there's a terrific scene involving Norman very calmly wielding a GIGANTIC MACHINEGUN to fend off an aircraft that's attacking the roof of Roger's building. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Yeah, but would he end up with the girl in the jump seat while he was at it? He never quite struck me as the 00- type. :)

>In "Missing Cat" there's a terrific scene involving Norman very calmly
>wielding a GIGANTIC MACHINEGUN to fend off an aircraft that's
>attacking the roof of Roger's building. :)

I keep hearing you guys talk about that, and I keep seeing a glimpse of it (or something like it) in the end credits. Looks like fun. He's certainly a better butler than the one over at the Stingray place...

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

We know relatively little of Alfred Pennyworth's life before he found himself Dr. Thomas Wayne's manservant - who knows? Perhaps butlering is his retirement from a Life of Adventure and Astonishing Promiscuity. :)

>>In "Missing Cat" there's a terrific scene involving Norman very calmly
>>wielding a GIGANTIC MACHINEGUN to fend off an aircraft that's
>>attacking the roof of Roger's building. :)
>
>I keep hearing you guys talk about that, and I keep seeing a glimpse
>of it (or something like it) in the end credits. Looks like fun.
>He's certainly a better butler than the one over at the Stingray
>place...

And at the same time he's a little creepy, just because he's so damn calm about everything. Roger could be charging off to fight the Devil himself for the fate of all humanity, and all Norman would do is ask if that meant supper wouldn't be at the usual time. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Did you ever stop to wonder why exactly they were peeling that many potatoes in 'Daemonseed'? I just suddenly realized there were like five bushels of the things on that table, and it never gets explained. How odd.

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Perhaps Big O is powered by vodka. (Or Norman, for that matter. That might explain his slightly surreal unflappability. :)

--G.
["What's that watermelon doing there?" "I'll tell you later."]
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Hell with vodka. Ever seen one of those Potato-Powered Clock Kits?

"I do say, Master Roger, it seems that the zinc electrode has gotten dislodged from the backup potato, more's the pity."

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

I would just like to state, for the record, that you just broke me real good, right here in the ops room.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I would like to state, for the record, that I have a bruise on my head and a broken chair as the result of this one. I started whooping, and leaned back in my chair, which broke, and I hit my head.

You can't actually BUY comedy like this anymore, people....

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

>>I would just like to state, for the record, that you just broke me
>>real good, right here in the ops room.
>
>I would like to state, for the record, that I have a bruise on my head
>and a broken chair as the result of this one. I started whooping, and
>leaned back in my chair, which broke, and I hit my head.

You win. (Did you lose your superpowers?)

--G.
http://www.eyrie-productions.com/derek/Anecdotes/movie-seat.html
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Property damage! whee!

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

Ah, the true goal of all comedy. Property damage and physical injury. (My sinuses just haven't been the same since I shot spaghetti through them.)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

I snarfed a pickle slice once. And you thought Coca-Cola was painful. You have no idea ....

Quote of the moment:

"Tragedy is when I get a hangnail. Comedy is when you fall through an open manhole and die." -- Mel Brooks

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to the IRS (an organization of fine black comedy) as Aaron F. Johnson,
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

At first this sparked a semi-intense search for materials on the web to make a fake "Absolut O" ad, but I broke myself upon searching for "The Big O" on Yahoo and turning up a web page for "Big O Dodge" somewhere in South Carolina and instantly having the mental image of the really terrible local tv commercial that would result with any one of the core cast of the show. (Amongst other thing the one police officer with the veins and the cheek hair (did I mention I suck at names?) doing a 'Crazy Eddie' "Everything on the lot must GO!" spot.)

Then I read Ard's potato-battery post, and...crap, I give up. Aren't I supposed to be working or something?

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Amazingly, your sig may answer your own question. Given that Roger is the ultra-rich type, it may be a charity/soup-kitchen thing.

Other theories:

Dorothy. She joins Roger for dinner in the same ep, so I assume that she eats. That implies that she has a sort of fuel cell that extracts energy from organic material like you and I do (quite useful if you can't count on being plugged into a wall). As an android, she may well require more kilowatt-hours than you or I require calories.

As a third theory, apply the above principal to Big O.

They're making hula hoops out of potatoes?

>Dorothy. She joins Roger for dinner in the same ep, so I assume that
>she eats. That implies that she has a sort of fuel cell that extracts
>energy from organic material like you and I do (quite useful if you
>can't count on being plugged into a wall). As an android, she may
>well require more kilowatt-hours than you or I require calories.

But she mentions in the same episode about not needing it when offered some coffee or somesuch. Now, applying the potato-battery theory to Dorothy might be interesting, except I can't figure out where she'd put them...

Ahh, nevermind that, on second thought.

>As a third theory, apply the above principal to Big O.

"I'm worried, Master Smith. All my readings point to something big on the horizon."

"What do you mean, big?"

"Well, let's say this potato represents the normal amount of potato-based energy in the Paradigm City area. Based on this morning's reading, it would be a potato thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds."

"That's a big potato."

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

In Act 3, it's shown that, though she shows up for meals and goes through the motions, she doesn't actually consume anything. She's just there for form's sake. It really bugs Roger early in the series - that scene is one of the first times he insensitively chides her for what he sees as her mindlessly mimicking human behavior.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Three hundred pounds of bacon cheddar chive mashed potatoes. Served by themselves or used to top one thousand, three hundred and eighty six shepherd's pies.

-Michael. Work's been getting the better of me lately...
Napalm. It sticks to ignorance.

Norman obviously paid the extra Character Points for "unfazable"--twice. If GURPS republishes its main rules, they could easily put his face in next to the advantage.

'obnoxiously huge'... ah, the only type of weapon one should ever use;)

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Speak softly, and carry a tac nuke"

If brute force doesn't work...

You're not using enough!

(no, I don't remember where this quote came from, but I'm tempted to say it was either a WH40K game, or a Mekton Z game...)

>If brute force doesn't work...
>
>You're not using enough!
>
>(no, I don't remember where this quote came from, but I'm tempted to
>say it was either a WH40K game, or a Mekton Z game...)

"I thought you were a DIPLOMAT!"
"I am! That's why I didn't use the SHARP end."

--two PCs in a Planescape campaign, two seconds after said diplomat's dagger-pommel-whipping of a passerby incited a riot that ended with the Lady of Pain making a guest appearance.

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

::snarf::

owie...

anyway, that's almost as bad as the Weren<sp?> diplomat in an Alternity campaign who evicerated a pair of marines with his bare claws. Needless to say, we didn't let HIM do the talking anymore;)

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

>If brute force doesn't work...
>
>You're not using enough!

This makes me think of a BattleTech game I once witnessed...

Was at a gaming store where they held various RP and BT stuff at night with a friend who was in their BTech league. He was running an objective raid on another player, attacking bases or a bridge or something like that. So, he had his main force charge down the feild, and an artillery support mech that he kept at the back of the board. Now, the artillery mech was an Urbanmech, little 30ton thing I think, that he had stripped out and filled all the crits with Arrow4 artillery and ammo.

After a few initiatives of random artillery harrassment, the other player raced one of his mech up to the Urbanmech and just laid into it, full bore. He didn't make too many good rolls, but he did hit a leg. And since the mech was bare bones, there wasn't much armor to be had, so he got a few crits as well.

The legs, of course, was where my friend had stashed most of the Arrow4 ammo.

He stopped counting total damage points when they exceeded the total number of crits on the mech. I believe the scientific term is 'destruction of available mass'. I always had the semi-amusing image of the fusion engine core floating in mid air for a few moments while the magnetic bottle dissapated before going nova, road runner style.

The guys that played there liked to work in a little role playing to the BT games, and I think they skipped an initiative while everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the sudden flash and receding glow from the other end of the board. We had other people playing games nearby stop and come over to see what had us laughing so hard. It was a late game that night. :)

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

(Of course, we did have a problem with some of the players going a bit overboard with medium lasers. Ewww.)

Patrick Chester

Heh. I also remember the same friend getting 'Mechwarrior2' and the Ghost Bear expansion pack for his pc, and the two of us giggling like idiots while building a 100 ton Behemoth with as many flamers as we could pack into the thing. Then, of course, we set them up to group fire all at once and went up against, I dunno, a Firemoth or something stupid like that.

We fired once, the Firemoth immediatly just blew up, we shut down and promptly exploded ourselves from overheating.

The pc game never quite had the same tactical flair the board game did, but it was a fun carnage tool.

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Our Mech lance ended up in a battle against some pirates making a raid. A lance of Panthers, which started closing in while my character's Dervish and another player's Valkyrie started firing LRMs at them.

Then the Valkyrie's LRMs got six hits on one Panther. Five missiles hit one of the arms. The sixth hit the center torso and got a critical hit. Ref rolls to see where the critical hit was and it hit... the SRM magazine. Referee just removes the counter from the board.

Some guys have all the luck.

Patrick Chester
"...could you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?"

Playing once with yet the same guy again where we just assembled our own groups of mechs based on total combat value and then just see who's left standing at the end (or not, if you count the one game where the last running mech on the board was minus a leg and pulled off a kill shot from a prone position).

He had some annoying little mech that just wouldn't die, and after gunning for it for about 3 rounds I finally was just like, "Screw this, my pilot want's this damn thing dead." I proceeded to just designate in the middle of a firefight to get better rolls on this one mech.

Which was on top of a cliff. Which I was standing at the bottom of. It was a 30 ton mech, and I was running a heavy hitting 50 ton chassis. Figured it'd be no big deal, I blow him away, end of round. Of course, I take out a leg. No engine hits for me. And, of course, he falls.

Off the cliff.

On top of me.

Only with the resulting damage from the fall does he *then* go nova. I still haven't lived that one down.

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Yipe.

Nothing says 'I love you' like a gauss cannon shell in the back.

I suppose building a heavy mech with nothing but machine guns (aka, The Walking CIWS) is too mundane for this crowd. :)

------------------------------
"You're a louse, Roger Smith."
------------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

>Nothing says 'I love you' like a gauss cannon shell in the back.

Unless it's the flaming wreckage of a Phoenix Hawk Land-Air 'Mech obliterating your lancemate's Shadow Hawk at Mach 3, followed by its very angry ex-pilot blowing your Warhammer's cockpit hatch with a demo charge and barbecuing your brains with her Sunbeam, then pitching your smoking corpse over the side and proceeding to whale the holy living Christ out of your other surviving lancemate with your former 'Mech.

Ah, I loved that session. Sure, it marked the end of Convertible Bastard Number One, but it was also the beginning of the Hijack Express years, and it firmly established Vanessa Amelia Marks as a character to be feared, on and off the battlefield. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Ok, does having the plastic patio chair that I sit at lose all structural integrity and pitch me backwards onto the floor from laughter count?

Ow. Heheh. Ow.

>Ah, I loved that session. Sure, it marked the end of Convertible
>Bastard Number One, but it was also the beginning of the Hijack
>Express years, and it firmly established Vanessa Amelia Marks as a
>character to be feared, on and off the battlefield. :)

"Lee Harvey! You are a madman! When you stole that cow? And your friend tried to make it with the cow? I wanna party with you."

Makes me feel good that more people game like the people I gamed with from time to time. Never thought I'd find that kind of insanity anywhere else. :)

------------------------------
"You're a louse, Roger Smith."
------------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Insanity? That was this one guy I gamed with. We were playing Alternity, and got captured by some Concord Marines for gun running. Well, as they take us back to their ship, he announces, quite loudly, that he simply MUST piss RIGHT NOW. So, one of the marines takes pity on him and leads him down a small alley. This fellow proceeds to relieve himself, directly onto the marine's boots.

He was 100 yards away and out of sight before the marine even got finished his liteny of cursing.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Adamantium Balls, my friends, adamantium balls"

Got finished his liteny of cursing? Because somebody set up him the piss?

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

I just want you to know that I made the mistake of sipping coffee while reading this post.

Ow. Pain. Burning.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

Actually, my problem with Big O is the utter lack of explication for many of the nifty happenings in the series. The last ep is particularly bad about this.

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

Hey, I like it - it is just Queen's Flash Gordon theme played a bit faster and with new lyrics. :-)

(According to Gryph that is exactly the effect the creator wanted - in some interview he apparently said he told the composer he wanted the theme to be like the theme to Flash Gordon.)

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I know. So now I can't get the damned song out of my head. O_O;;

<"BIG-O! BIG-OOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!">

(I know, it's my fault. I need to stop downloading things Martin Rose mentions.)

Patrick Chester
"...could you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?"

I love it. I can't wait for my copy of the single to arrive so that I can have three minutes and forty-odd seconds of it.

--G.
we have came to team - BIG O!
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

'we have came to team'? Must be from the same translation people as 'all your base are belong to us'

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Somebody set up us the bomb"

Give me back my sweater or I'll play the guitar.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

I'm not sure if I ought to make a crack about lousy muscial talent, or quote a song <I know the song's name is 'Undone' but I forget who played it>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Ah well, I talk to much anywa"

'Undone - The Sweater Song' by Weezer.

------------------------------
"You're a louse, Roger Smith."
------------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

"And if you want to destroy my sweater
Just hold this thread as I walk away."

Actually, I was quoting a bizarre (even by my "Pink Flamingoes"/"Caligula" standards) Flash animation here. There's four lines in there in which the author of the video listened to Japanese lyrics and wrote down what he heard in English. It came out something like:

There's a hobo in my room
It's Princess Leia
Give me back my sweater
Or I'll play the guitar

I am quoting from memory... I try not to watch that animation more than once a week or so. It's like watching a Japanese version of Teletubbies, but without the gay purple dude.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

Teletubbies, the entertainment equivalent of a frontal lobotomy.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Why, in my day, we had Sesame Street and liked it! Damn young whipper snappers"

Found it! (I think.)

http://www.genkiland.net/BigO/mp3/Big-O_OP_-_BIG-O!.mp3

Static-Pulse
http://www.darkbeast.com
http://levelx.cjb.net

Yes, that looks like it. Or at least I downloaded my copy from Genkiland.

I must admit, though, that it isn't quite as scary as the Daytona USA opening theme. "DAY-TOOOOOOOON-AAAAAAAAAA!"

http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-10-04

Patrick Chester
"...could you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?"