What's new in the Update section:

• linked Ricky's profile
• Made Maybechild and Otter's profiles and linked them
• Made/revised Morthrandur's profile, and linked it
• Had Ares post so that his character profile could go up and be linked
• Had MZZT post so that his character profile could go up and be linked
• put characters where they should be as of the end of Tuesday, October 03.

I'd still like to update Gebiyl's and Young's profiles, and also Qhobeg's, as they're all probably going to be big players in this storyarc.

TLTE (where are you? :(): Do you want me to revise Thand's profile, now that we've had the big plot-revealing stuff in the last storyarc? If so, do you still want me to leave anything that could be known to unknown?

Any of you who visit the Discussion board probably have already seen this, but for those who haven't, you should check this out:

http://forums.massassi.net/vb3/showthread.php?t=44013

The site they talk about is the sort of spirit that needs to be in NeS more, IMO at least.

So I have a rather evil idea for the storyarc in NeShattered. Let's just say it involves a countdown... (expect to see it in action in my next post).

re NeStwisted, if you guys don't want to take it anywhere, that's cool. It's a completely seperate realm, just uses the same people. I had an idea and knew it couldn't be done with the current NeS threads. But if you want, feel free to go somewhere.

Think of it as a completely seperate story.

I just made a couple big NeS posts. And now to tell you my evil plan -- that wedding date isn't just a random date for the story -- it's the deadline for all of us writers! Depending on where we are with the storyarc by December 25th, three general outcomes may happen:

1) We write like we've never written before, and bring this storyarc to its full completion before December 25th. The heroes stop Evil Geb's wedding plans, save Young, and all goes well. Yay! Happy ending! Sure, there'll be obstacles, but it'll be normal "we saw the heroes winning a mile away" sort of conflicts.

2) We're writing the end more or less as December 25th rolls around. The wedding goes just before the heroes can stop it, and Young and Evil Geb get it on. Young gets pregnant, but there's all sorts of confusion and worrying and the kid, when born, goes into hiding Luke and Leia-style. Really, this is a mesh between 1 and 3.

3) The heroes aren't even close to stopping the wedding by December 25th. As Ford correctly guessed on #teapot, "evil geb turns young evil, by marriage and the fate of NeS is sealed. evil geb and youngs child will become the greatest enemy NeS has ever seen, greater even than the EeP, which, since it is living in S. Geb, will also be a part of the child."

So yeah, evil idea now set in motion, BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. Some stuff to keep in mind for the posts to come:

• I intend to have Young start to be influenced by Evil Geb's ways, considering the ways of villainy. Sort of a hostage complex.
• Keep in mind the relationship problems between Geb and Maybechild and also TLTE and Losien. Geb and Maybe are awkward friends (Geb's emo-ness is triggered by his rejection from Maybe back before NeSquared started) and Losien stormed off to join Greenpeace because she was upset with TLTE and the others not acting like real heroes.
• I'm probably going to do my part in getting Geb un-emo, via talking to TLTE, Ariana, and possibly other characters.
• They're at a bar. The Otter's a big drunk, but doesn't want to be a drunk anymore. Does he succeed in not getting a drink? Does anyone try to stop him (like Qhobeg or Sugarless) if he does?
• For those who don't know, the "lone gunslinger" is likely Roland from Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. Why he's interested in the NeS heroes is unknown. If all he does is return Sugarless's wallet back or something, that's fine. I had no plans for him.

It took me longer than ever before, but I did it. I wrote the Very Important Post. Now, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I can return to regular posting.

Hey, just so everyone knows, I opened NeS up as a temporary bar fight thread (something I've been wanting to do anyway). Hopefully it'll shamelessly rake in some posts. We'll let it go for maybe a week or something, we'll see. See the announcement I made on the General Discussion board here:

http://forums.massassi.net/vb3/showthread.php?t=44160

Also, TLTE -- you may noticed that I pulled you and Amal away from the fight. If you want to "hide the kid" (by not mentioning him) and join the fray, that's fine. If, by some bizzare chance, someone actually attacks the kid, please roll with it somehow. Thanks

Because I'm weird, here's a list of random people I got to post for the barfight so far (note the people bracketed in equal signs are former writers, but they're likely not returning to regular writing, so I put them in the list):

• Vincent Valentine
• =maevie=
• Detty
• Zecks
• Steven
• 7 (landfish)
• =DrkJedi82 (Jim7)=
• =KyleKatarn7=
• Martyn
• happydud
• genk
• mollybee

If I could get maybe one more random person (preferably that hasn't been a former writer), I think I'd be happy to settle the barfight to a close. Hopefully some of the other writers like Ari and sugarless will post before the barfight finishes. Whatever the case, I figure after another 4-ish days or so, TLTE or someone can wrap it up and move the story elsewhere. Perhaps, like Sarn and Voodoo, the main characters could actually (*gasp*) sleep for the night! We'll see.

The first note is for anyone. The second note is mostly for TLTE, but other people might be aware too.

1) By 12PM/noon on Friday EST (I'm being arbitrary here), I'm all good for anyone moving the story along elsewhere. I had hoped to get some people, writers and random alike, to post for the barfight, but if I can't get them to write by then, who knows how long it'll take. The barfight has served my purposes well enough anyway, and if any new people (like perhaps happydud) wish to continue, I'll add their character to the update section and all. I'll remove the barfight link in my signature once I think the story's actually moved on - otherwise, it may still attract some late stragglers.

As for how the barfight might actually END, here's a few possible ideas:

• It technically doesn't. The hero-types slink away under the cover of chaos.
• TLTE, the gunslinger, and/or someone else decides to "end it" and gets everyone well enough away with gunfire, or the like. The hero-types talk, stay the night, wake up and move on.
• Same, but a little less violent, such as Sarn sneezing everyone away, or Qhobeg and Subaru luring them away (since they resemble Geb and Young).

2) NeShattered is technically on page 3 now (actually approaching page 4). On the first page, it was mentioned that the Potential's HQ was only reachable on page 3 (see here.) My intention was to "clean up" NeShattered again, compacting the storyarc (plus more perhaps) all into the second page, like I did with the first. However, if you really want some use out of the Potential's HQ in this storyarc, I can leave it as-is. I think, however, it would make better as material for the next storyarc that involves NeS. Also, I'm considering running that Story Arcade/Darth Vice idea sooner than later (even if I don't complete the actual Story Arcade game like I had intended). Not necessarily the next storyarc, mind you, but close enough for me to lay down some vague foreshadowing... if you want, we can carry this conversation over to PM, TLTE.

Looks like I'll need to push this storyarc s'more...

On another note, I might finally have something to work with on the Forgotten Character formerly known as Twin Suns. I'll keep you all updated on that later.

On another note, Tracer wrote up a rough draft for a NeS radio bit. I'll probably be talking to TLTE about revising, or maybe if Tracer likes it, I'll put the draft here for everyone else to revise. We'll see.

EDIT: Tracer should be posting it sometime next weekend. Meanwhile, I've posted a cast of characters and some audition lines!

http://forums.massassi.net/vb3/showthread.php?t=43481&page=2#post755737

DO TELL MY GOOD MAN!

Please?

Kirby: Next week, you should see something. It'll involve a Flash project I'm doing.

Also, hope you all liked my recent B.U.M.P.'s ^_^

Also also, Majir's post really reminded me of segments of DS9. Shiny.

Yep, definitely going for a DS9-y kinda vibe with that one. Maybe it's that I just watched the entire series cover to cover, but mostly it was just something to accomplish my shorts-kicking.

That's a lot...

Well, not in one sitting. That's like 85 hours worth of material. That would hurt. :p

I finally updated/organized Young's, Qhobeg's and Gebiyl (Evil Geb)'s profiles, which is good as they're likely gonna be big players in this storyarc. Thand's really should be updated at some point too...

Maybe I'll write myself an actual storypost next, EGADS! We'll see.

Majir (and West Wind): Shiny. After it's all done, I might have to go back and re-read it all. Also, before anybody else brings it up, I'd suggest we not worry about Voodoo until after it's done. It'll be interesting to find out what the machine does and what Thand's role is in all this...

In regards to my last post -- it struck me as I re-read some earlier bits of NeShattered to write a post like this. If anyone's wondering (probably not, but hey), the Thingy of his couldn't be used to enter NeS proper before, just as (in theory), the Thingy^2 couldn't be used to take the heroes to a place they've never been before. Now that he has been in NeS proper, he might be able to transport himself there via his Thingy, which, yes, means that the heroes may have this as a means of escape after the storyarc. That is, of course, if they find out about it, get his key, figure out his password and figure out/replicate his voice activation. Might be just easier to deal with Jim Seven...

Mostly, this post just serves to show Young getting attached to Evil Geb, and to remind myself and others about some character-stuff with Evil Geb. Namely, that he's a villain "for the sake of the story" and has a "good" side and that he's harboring the EeP and the Darkfoil and being cursed by the convinience store of the damned (though that might be helpful for him here in NeShattered). Maybe some other stuff too. Doing these sort of character sketches can be helpful stuff.

After we finish, I had thought about getting everyone's permission, compiling all the relevant posts together into one large document, editing for consistency, and throwing it back to the community as a big eBook. I've always wanted to write a book or something, but NeS is what taught me how to actually sit down and deliver content in challenging situations. This arc got so far out of hand that I think it would be fun to read it by itself. Like I said, I'd need everyone's permission (e.g. Geb, Sarn, SM, Voodoo and anyone else who wrote in the arc) to copy their work off Massassi and put into the big document and to fool with it to make everything read consistently, and I'd also need someone to help me compile a small amount of material by way of explaining who some of the characters are and where they are and what they're doing so someone who had never heard of NeS could jump right in and start reading. After the arc took off it was carrying its own weight, so I'd just need that little help with an introduction.

Majir: That'll be quite an epic task - even for just one storyarc. Tracer can tell you that I'l sure. Clarification though: by eBook, what do you mean? Specifically, I suppose, I'm wondering if this is the sort of thing where you get money, but I'm curious about format and 'distrubution' and all that too. If there's no money involved and people are credited, I don't think I'd personally have a problem with it.

In any case, if you do work on this thing, I'll certainly help with the sort of stuff you seem to want help with.

As Wikipedia puts it, "An e-book ... sometimes called an electronic book, is an electronic (or digital) equivalent of a conventional printed book. The term has occasionally been used ambiguously to refer to ... an individual work in a digital format." In this case, I'm referring to the thought that I would turn it into a PDF with proper typography and stuff. I wouldn't dream of trying to make money off of someone else's work, but it's just not cool to take someone's work and fuss with it without their permission either. As for distribution, I have 15gb of monthly bandwidth that I never use, and I wouldn't care what happened to it once it got out. In all probability, few people are going to read it who didn't somehow participate in NeS; a lot of this is pure vanity on my part because I'm so happy with the story and I want to be able to have one little icon to click on and read the whole thing offline.

Gotcha. Cool. Well, you have my permission with Geb and such.

First though, the storyarc's gotta be finished.

It's fun, but it takes *forever*.

I thought I should add that the main difficulty are meanwhiles. Posts are often written with the assumption that an interval of time has passed since the previous one, so I've had to go back and make up ways to connect them in the NeS radio script (so we're not constantly jumping all over the place).

E-Book? :-/

He's just rewriting stuff into a PDF format and hosting it on his space. It's not like this is going to be the big break for NeS popularity in the literary community or something. Then again, he is asking for permission... but please, let's not rush things. Let him finish his storyarc first

Wow. It's been a long time. I've been really busy with work and real life and everything. So, I might start posting again and i might just write my character out of the story completely, i don't know. So, in a condensed Cliff's Notes fashion, what is going on with NeS now?

[QUOTE=Sok Munkey]Wow. It's been a long time. I've been really busy with work and real life and everything. So, I might start posting again and i might just write my character out of the story completely, i don't know. So, in a condensed Cliff's Notes fashion, what is going on with NeS now?[/QUOTE]

Funny that -- I sort of had your character eaten by a giant sand worm... ;>.>

The current storyarc (which you can always find on the second half of the first post of this thread) is that evil Geb has kidnapped Young in hopes of marrying her in unholy matrimony in his home thread, NeShattered. A bunch of hero-types are gonna try to stop that from happening. They got until Christmas. They're currently in a bar/inn-place, where there's a big barfight with dozens of random people. If you wanna use Sok Munkey again, it IS the NeS -- there's no reason why he couldn't have lived being eaten by a giant sand worm... Otherwise, the barfight would be the ideal place for a new character to jump in.

permission granted with Voodoo and such

That was really cool you guys.

Good work, WW/Majir. After part 3, there's gonna be some things that'll need to be discussed.

Since I'm way behind on my previous stuff, I'll just let you all know -- my simple idea was simply that The Forgotten Character/Twin Suns would be visiting Thand. That's really all I had story-wise. Hopefully I'll post more about it sooner than later.

In case it wasn't clear, the comic-gimmick I threw in at the end was simply that Evil Geb tried throwing a wrench in the hero-type's efforts by having their voices dubbed ala cartoon outtakes, youtube videos, or Mystery Science Theater 3000, but had his plan backfire as it did the same to him. Future writers certainly don't have to carry the gimmick over into their next post, as it can be a bit difficult to write for without the visuals there to guide you. I simply wanted to throw it in there at least for my own post.

NEW NOTE: I included the characters actual dialogue in spoiler tags. Hopefully, the scene will make a little more sense now. I also hinted more that the waitress is, in fact, Ricky, and goes by the name "Red" as a waitress. It's a good Denny's waitress name, and it's also part of the writer's actual screenname.

In any case, we seemed to have been in a rut at the bar, so I wrote us out of it and just went writing with no concern with what would happen, just as it should be really. Hopefully you all will do the same soon. It's a big city -- lots of crap could happen for no real good reason.

NEW NOTE: I also have a rather radical idea about story-formatting, which I may talk about introducing, depending on if West Wind and Majir follow up on Thand's plotting or not. I'll bring it up when I talk about their storyarc as a whole when they finish it. So finish it soon, West Wind and Majir!

My last post I'm not sure if I went the right way with it. I'm thinking by introducing the character Drat. It's not really going to be a new charcter but one of our characters in disguise trying to fool Evil Geb into thinking someone is trying to outdo him. Maybe so he will get distracted and our heroes can possibly start to close in on him to try to rescue the princess. What do you guys think of this post? How can we move on from here? Who should Drat really be? I don't want to have him steal Evil Geb's thunder thats why I think adding a new character might be a bad idea. I am a new writer, feedback would be awesome. 8 D

I'll be crankin' my NeS-weaving brain on possibilities for this stuff. I'm sure something will crop up.

A'ight, got two of my three new lovely lady-writers postin', now we just need one from the third...

Could use Drat to re-introduce Sok Munkey.

*shrug*

And Majiir, you have permission from me to use anything I've written in your eBook thing. Just throw my screenname in there for credit somewhere so I'll be famous.

Or Antestarr, whichever gets their hands on the opportunity first I suppose.

ON MY NEW POST: By "super-active" I mean like, every other day. I'm not really looking for many, if any, characters to jump on board -- this is mostly my chance to do stuff with Qhobeg and Otter, delving into random mini-senarios and the like. I also have something in mind for Ariana when she meets up again with Geb, Qhobeg and the like. All I'm gonna say is that if you have a character tag along, I expect you to write SOMETHING every-other day, because that'll be my intention. Either way, I still hope the rest of the peoples will be doin' their own thing as they journey to Evil Geb's Palace 'o' Power to stop the wedding -- I'll certainly keep writing for those parts too.

NEARLY finished exams..

I was wondering why you had been so quiet as of late... now I know

A suggestion:

A sidekick would work much better than a blackberry to portray emo.

To Sarn's suggestion: it's meant to be a common portable access to the web, not a reflection on Geb's emo-ness. It's technically Otter's possession, so yeah. *shrug* I really don't know anything about portable means of accessing internet anyway.

So on the side, I've been thinking about a couple things: a sort of NeS Tarot card deck, and titles/positions/what-have-you for the Protectors of the Plotfractal.

OK, first my disclaimer. By "NeS Tarot card deck" I don't mean some occult means of predicting the future of NeS. I don't believe in that nonsense, and if I did, I have no intention of dabbling in unknown and dark powers to do so. I do however, believe in a much more base and literal use of the Tarot card deck -- as a means of telling a story. The archetypal symbols and the order of the chance they're drawn out is a pretty good excersise of building narratives, where the order of general thoughts help brainstorm for ideas on specifics. I've found that most of the symbols easily carry over into a NeS theme, so it didn't take much to convert ideas. In no particular order (or gone through an editing process), here's what I came up with (and in some cases, their original equivilant in parenthesis):

• The Wielder/NeSorcerer (The Juggler/The Magician)
• The Last True Evil
• The Powerplayer
• The Arena
• The Dreamstate
• The Left Hand of NeS
• The Right Hand of NeS
• The Protector of the Plotfractal - Death
• The Protector of the Plotfractal - War
• The Protector of the Plotfractal - The Devil
• The Protector of the Plotfractal - Pestilence
• The Protector of the Plotfractal - Famine
• 1337
• The 8th Dimension
• The Shattered Mirror/NeShattered
• The Protagonist
• The Antagonist
• The Foil
• The Fool
• Death
• Taxes
• The Hermit/Thand
• The Darkside
• The Potential
• Lovers
• minor cards (ace-10, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Queen King)
• suits for minor cards (swords, wands, cups, coins)

Some of these overlap each other too much, and some elements of a story that I'd like to be in such a theoretical deck haven't been thought up yet (at least with an NeS equivilant). Feel free to make your own suggestions about any of this.

Partially because of the above, and partially because I'd like to rework in some characters as possible new Protectors of the Plotfractal, I was thinking of ideas that drive a story. These guys are there to create chaos, to make Plot broken and yet work for the NeS (the spiral fractal), to keep both Good and Evil in check, and right off the bat, I came up with four that started with "c" and sounded really good, so I went ahead and went down a list of strong nouns/verbs/ideas and came up with the following (somewhat edited, from strongest to whatever.)

• challange/conflict
• change
• choice
• chance
• chain
• contrast
• charge
• call
• craft
• color
• channel
• char(acter)
• center
• cross
• circle/curve
• counter
• chisel
• cloak
• chase
• condition
• cause
• cue

I want to have at least 5, and probably 10 at most (5 was the original number of Protectors and works well with the 5 senses, which are the basis of concrete description in a story, but we could have 10, 5 for each "Hand" since there was only one Hand before). Ideally, I'd like each to be a different element of chaos/story, something not too specific but not too general/vague either. Something strong and action-bound and such. Again, please comment on anything you think of in regards to this.

Holy cow, I posted on the story thread. I think that's one of the signs of the coming apocalypse. You though Y2K was bad, just wait for Y2K7!

Anyway, more entertainment to come hopefully tomorrow...