Oh, I didn't realize you're a veteran. I haven't got caught up yet!

No problem, I appreciate the consideration!!

Although now that I think of it I always say I've been writing for the NeS for a year... which I've been saying for the past few years. I was away from the NeS for about a year or so but I've been writing for it since 2008 (according to my Massassi join date; I only joined to write for the NeS). But really I do appreciate the thought as, considering I've read the whole thing, I would consider you to be easily within the top five NeS-Writers ever. So kudos, and cheers.

The whole Voodoo thing isn't really important a feature to continue if not needed. I just thought it ought to be a point brought up as we have a return of the toasters. I also wasn't 100% certain if Cadpill was still inside Voodoo or not... I think he is, right?

As far as I know, Cadpill is indeed still in Voodoo.

If anyone was wondering what happened to me, my final practice teaching placement started on Sept. 24 pretty unexpectedly (I had like 1 day of notice) so I'm currently suffering through that. It's over this Friday though, so I'll be back to writing soon.

If you weren't wondering then I'm telling you anyway because everything is ALL ABOUT ME.

Good luck, Tracer!

As far as the setup I recently did in my last two posts, it's mostly just to a) give Tsolo some screentime (via various non-physical confrontations for the characters) and b) use the main villain, Michael, as an excuse to do a bunch of memories in a row without needing to attach the memory to an actual 'post' (I'll be doing a few of those in hopefully a couple days). All I have "planned" is the first step in 'breaking' Losien (of which the plan is actually an idea stolen from Antestarr), and I'm actually quite concerned that I may end up building this up to a less-than-impressive mini-climax for Losien. We'll see.

Alright, I've more or less done my slew-of-posts. I had thought until recently to go up to page 40, and then I was reminded that pages 35-40 actually have some potentially good material you all might have had interest in going over yourself. Regardless, like Michael, I'm beat from the current slew, and will be going back to the normal pace. 15 remaining memories of pages should extend the remaining stuff we got with Tsolo's part and the final confrontation with Michael himself anyway. I still got to edit the summary post for the new page as it stands, and otherwise, go nuts.

Apologies if I messed up the continuity by mucking about with Al Ciao's name, everyone. And apologies to Al Ciao the Writer for mucking about with your character but I felt it would be funny, hope I haven't stepped on anyone's toes.

I also reverted the scene for everyone, save Losien, to keep the comedy up whilst set against that drama. I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure what's happening there. Are the figures meant to be all the people she's let down or wronged or something? I'm also not entirely sure if it's quite time to 'break' the character, she's only just starting to feel like our main character; but up to you guys. I don't know where to go with that scene right now.

The whole "Rosebud" thing will come to a conclusion, I imagine, at the end of this story arc if no one else finishes it first. I know myself what I'd like to do with it, but we'll see.

If you did mess up the continuity with Al Ciao's first name, I'm not aware of it, and it seems to tie in with the mini-story you got going. Rosebud Alexander Emp (some number) and Rosebud Apple...Emp? This is something I imagine Al himself would have to voice.

I have to say I don't like that you essentially negated a large chunk of my previous post, and not understanding what was happening I don't feel justifies it. To answer your unasked question, what had happened is that Michael felt Darkside ran his/her course of usefulness and decided to give Tsolo a chance while Michael stepped in and viewed the memories at his own pace with the Holy Hand Remote. The figures, when first introduced (p)ages ago were left with little explanation, only indicated that they were servants of Tsolo. I attempted to suggest that the figures were forgotten characters that Tsolo had already made 'lost' or whatever it could be called when 'wiped' from the story. I suppose they could be people Losien let down or wronged, though really, though, even if they are, they still serve just as faceless minions essentially.

You jumped the gun there with thoughts as far as 'breaking' Losien. First off, there's nothing to say that Tsolo has to succeed at his task (though I personally feel the best resolution for most conflicts by default is "they succeed at some price" to make things meaningful). At the moment, I actually think it's rather likely that, where Geb essentially broke when confronted with his Potential, Losien would manage to overcome when confronted with something similar (Tsolo). Even if Tsolo were to succeed, though, I don't think it would diminish her character -- even a traditional "wins all the time" main character isn't necessarily made less main-character-y when in a moment of weakness (Luke, Frodo, and to some extent, even Neo are all examples of main characters "breaking" in some fashion at the end, and yet I don't think anyone walks away thinking "oh, they're not main character material anymore"). The other idea was that the other characters would be far easier to manipulate or what have you (I actually was intending on probably having Otter "break" from Tsolo by being reminded of all the double-parking he did) which leads to my next point -- the setup wasn't necessarily meant to be all dramatic, even for Losien. It's true that, overall, I had hoped to give Tsolo one more chance to be shown as a credible antagonist before possibly giving him a respectable defeat, and that didn't mean there couldn't be comedy to have.

It's fine that you didn't have anything at the time to go with the setup for Losien and Tsolo, and even if you felt having the others isolated to be targeted by Tsolo, I feel it was handled poorly (I felt some heavy mental whiplash reading the change in events), if for no other reason than you seem to have forgotten (pun not intended) about Michael, who was right there flipping through memories with his remote. We are all aiming to "yes and" each other, even if we think it could have been done better another way. The NeS is generally comedic, yes, AND it doesn't always have to be -- we certainly shouldn't be forcing things to be that way just because things seem to be getting unexpectedly dramatic. And because I wish to try and follow my own advice, I will be doing my best to "yes and" what I feel was a negation of my previous post. I'm glad you at least kept Losien in her situation.

As with Apple and Rosebud, I would love to add stuff with that, and I'm afraid I got nothing at the moment, so I'm leaving that in your (and others') hands.

Apologies if you felt I ignored your stuff, it really wasn't my intention to do so. In fact, I felt I kept up with the aim of the post, which was my main intention. The idea I had was that there was going to be a major confrontation between Tsolo and Losien and that was happening apart from everyone else - as it seems she was deliberately isolated, even from the cape and sword. I continued with Tsolo's job to delay the heroes and thus I put up this ruse where he is acting as vicar - I felt I made it clear that he was (somehow) acting on two fronts shown through his grin and the mention of his spread-wide wings concealing everything behind him; possibly just where Losien is in some metaphysical fashion (or is that double-metaphysical as she's already in a metaphysical state??).



Hey, I have no intention of standing in the way of whatever breaking anyone intends to do and I'll obviously run with it. In actuality I even thought of making the example of Luke Skywalker; every hero needs to have their ultimate low point but that's usually much further into their hero-ship. But Losien hasn't felt like our Main hero for long enough for her to have her low point just yet. For example we all know that Luke's darkest and lowest points come in the second movie, long after he's been established as our hero. If there were no low points, we'd find our protagonists boring and a major factor in narrative is the hero's journey, ie their development as a character. So low points are needed but breaking her now just seems premature to me when it's been a struggle to accept and adapt her to being our primary lead.



Um, I think you might have made the mistake this time around? So far as I can tell from our previous writings in Memory Lane land whenever you skip a page you move onto that page, so Michael would now be several pages ahead of the heroes; not right next to them. Hence why the heroes were initially chasing KnowSoul? And as Michael was memory-hopping, I felt that was others' (particularly yours) territory until the memory stuff was over. It's rare I have much time to make lots of posts, as you probably noticed, these days, let alone read through old pages.

In conclusion, I really am sorry if you felt I ignored your material. I honestly didn't and kept with the main themes that came from your writing, which I felt was ultimately to stall the heroes and do whatever with Losien. I kind of assumed that The Illusionist is probably still on-board with the villains and is conjuring the illusion on behalf of Tsolo and his plan to keep them all busy rather than fighting back and pushing through. And it keeps them away from his confrontation with Losien.

To clarify, I didn't feel ignored (as you did make it clear in your posts that you were addressing that there was the post I made previously); I felt you dismissed stuff (apart from Losien, that is, which I was very grateful for). I mostly felt this way because the transition was so jarring from Tsolo isolating everyone to them no longer being isolated and not having a response to it outside of "I think we may have been plothole'd" (which admittedly helped me feel less mad at the time). You clarified some things yourself just now, so it's all cool. Really, it was still pretty cool even before -- it helps that you've generally done pretty awesome things. As for Losien, it's true that it's a lot sooner than traditional for her to face something so potentially "breaking" -- Geb himself had the equivalent of Luke's span before he confronted his Potential. Like I said, though, at this point, I actually foresee the situation resulting in Losien coming out on top and showing she can kick ass, making it (hopefully) the equivalent of the trench run in A New Hope. We'll see.

As for Michael, it's true that he (and Knowsoul before) had technically been "ahead" of the heroes as far as viewing memories. However, up until now (in theory anyway within the story), Michael and Knowsoul were still going at a somewhat slow pace - the equivalent of rewatching a movie. With the remote, Michael can now "fast forward" and the like, giving him more theoretical control. Of course, from a writer's point of view, it's just an excuse to make a bunch of memory posts in a row. So...technically, Michael probably should have skipped a page that he probably already saw recently, and I did say (in the workshop) that they might necessarily go in strict order (we did, after all, start at the end of NeSquared, and I think we've jumped a little once or twice around after).

While I certainly don't expect anyone to feel they need to make posts with memories at this point, as I know the concept in general is something I concocted and know has grown tiring for everyone, it's still disconcerting to me that Michael either just disappeared from the scene or nobody notices Michael just standing to the side, flipping through memories with the Holy Hand Remote.

Hopefully I'll get around to updating the summary post sooner than later, though I could use some help with it if anyone wants to offer, hah!

..........

It's all my fault.

Geb, on FB I told Britt to write wacky things! It's not his fault that I am the master of the world and everyone listens to me.

Seriously, though, I'm not mad about the Rosebud thing. I laughed my head off at that! ...it also helps that it increases his chances of being the daddy, muahahahahaha.

My goal right now is to write a post, and then write a summary that Geb can put at the top of the page...probably in that order. We'll see how far I get XD

In the meantime, Britt, I vastly enjoyed your posts. Hilarious as always, plus you reintroduced the London battle, AND Iriana Emp (by giving her a connection to some of the other characters), as well rendering that hilarious "wedding" which ties in so well as an illusion to block the isolation of Losien. Of course, it doesn't isolate the other heroes, but let's see what *I* can conjure up. Muahahahahahahahahaha-- *cough* *ahem* Er.

As far as the top of the page summary goes, Geb, here's how I would think of doing it. The Main Plot and the first two Sub Plots (Gambling with Their Souls and Who's the Daddy) suffice as they are. You *may* wish to add to the Main Plot summary that Michael's got the Holy Hand Remote to view memories, and that currently Tsolo is to break Losion and/or the other heroes.

I would DELETE the Secondary Plot (Haunted House of Heroes) AND Further Sub-Plots (Hero Force One).

In place of the Secondary Plot (Haunted Hall of Heroes), I would put the following:

SECONDARY PLOT: War in London

A war between Heaven and Hell has broken out above London. Seraphim, member of Hero Force One, renounced heaven despite orders from her superior Serapharch, and subdued her former boss. Heaven retaliated by sending their hosts to London, where the Hovercarrier of Hero Force One is stationed. Acidspitter, former member of Hero Force One, current Devil of Hell (aka Canada), and estranged boyfriend of Seraphim, unleashed his demonic hordes to defend his lover and old team.

Although currently only Hero Force One, Al Ciao's teenage daughter Iriana Emp, and inactive NeS heroes MZZT and Geb are in London, more NeS heroes are soon to converge upon the battlefield, coming from the Haunted House of Heroes where Young has just given birth to Evil Geb's child Chance.

[quote=Haunted Hall of Heroes Cast, Soon Coming to London] Antestarr - An inactive NeS hero, former NeScholar, former apprentice to Master Thand, master of weapons and the invention thereof. He lay dying on his deathbed in the HHoH - due to the severe physical stresses of overusing his Hyper-Time Modulator - until his ex-lover Nyneve turned him into an immortal, newly-young, vampire-like NeSferatu.

Krig the Viking - Berserker Viking, berserker lawyer, berserker chaser of butterflies...well, you get the idea. Surprisingly competent, seemingly be accident, but perhaps there is more to him than has always seemed. Was recently killed by the former NeS heroine Voodoo Snowflakes (or at least, an alternate future version of her; it's unclear), at which point he was taken to Valhalla. He has recently returned to life and the HHoH. Former king of Switzerland; his father Krog has taken over in his absence.

Subaru - Antestarr's current romantic interest. Friend to the mageling Cool Matty and his wife Mimiru, who are inactive NeS heroes. She has blue hair and has discovered some blue-glowing telekinetic and healing powers, which she can focus into swords. Has just learned that Antestarr is a NeSferatu.

Evil Geb - Shattered Geb, Gebiyl, Evil G...these are all aliases of the same man, though he is partial to the latter. He is Gebohq from an alternate future a thousand years from now, which became its own alternate reality, known as the Shattered NeS, or sometimes NeShattered. Once the ruler, he was deposed and came to the primary plane of the NeSiverse. He wields a dark NeS sword, counterpart to the one Geb once wielded and Losien now wields. Husband to Young and father to her new baby.

Emperor Pi - The secret Chinese Emperor who lives in a floating palace above China. He has a great many concubines who have given him many children, one of which is Rachel Pi. However nobody is certain which concubine is Rachel's mother as they have no many children. He is old, likes things quiet and drinks tea.[/quote]

[quote=NeS Heroes already in London]Gebohq - Former main character, elder brother of current Main Character Losien. Characterized by a juxtaposion of laziness and cowardice with compassion and a strong sense of right and wrong.

MZZT - The tech expert for the NeS heroes. Has invented the Thingy(TM) (a painful teleportation portal) and the NeS hero watches.

Iriana Emp - Al Ciao's estranged daughter, and of the deceased Atlantean princess Alole. She just turned 16 and was emancipated, receiving a locket from her father, as well as a briefcase chock full of Canadian soul tokens - which have just cubed in value, thanks to Acidspitter, making her probably the richest Londoner in history. Not technically an NeS hero, simply a bystander in recent events.
Note: The source of ancient Atlantis' prosperity and fame, its banana cream Oreo knockoffs, were Twice-Forgotten by Michael McLongname; and therefore history has been re-remembered such that Atlantis is a little-known village that sank into the ocean 12,000 years ago.[/quote]

[quote=Hero Force One]Seraphim - Once an angel of light, she is now considered fallen. She still wears a clingy, dress of transparent light that barely - barely - conceals her most intimate spots. Capable of superstrength, flight, and various angelicky powers of healing and so forth, her primary trait seems to be her penchant for massive property damage.

Acidspitter - Real name Louis, Surname unrevealed. A 19 year old man in punkish attire - chains, leather, purple mohawk, his name tells you everything you need to know about his power set. Initially attracted to Seraphim because her angelic body wouldn't dissolve if he gave her tongue, he corrupted her even as she tamed him. Then he became an incubus, and their relationship got strained before the big fight. He is currently the moody ruler of Hell, "Mister Nine", but has managed to make Hell the richest country in the world once again.

Other Members of Hero Force One - The Morpheus-lookalike dual-katana-wielding magician, Dr. R. Deep. His apprentice, the teenager Magick Snowflakes. Judge, the British telekinetic woman whose most impressive power is her cleavage. Qhobeg, one of the seemingly endless number of Gebohq clones. The Company Kid, the wererat Benjamin Mahir, old pal of The Otter, who doesn't believe in the story and generally wants to be left alone.[/quote]


-----------------------

I'll let you dig up links to Geb and MZZT's character sheets yourself

Also, I know that by the top of the page, the Haunted Hall of Heroes cast hasn't actually come to London, but since that's the very first thing they do on this page, I felt it'd be appropriate to go ahead and put it up there, so people don't look for a summary and see one that's effectively immediately outdated.

OOPS! I think that seems to be the real problem right there. I didn't realise that they were all meant to be separated from each other, not just Losien. My bad.

I did Losien stuff. I decided the mysterious figures could actually be shades of the heroes and they come forth to chide Losien or tell her how she failed each of them or what they think of her or whatever. So we're having her Empire Strikes Back moment early after all.

So I've been super-bad in posting on NeS lately, in part because I've been focusing on my forum game, Terminal Testament. For now, I'm going to make a B.U.M.P.!

I just want to point out that I know my last post was pretty naff, I was buggered for ideas

I'm going to try and work this Geb and Couchman angle for a while. My idea is eventually for Otter to study law under professors Geb and Couchman with hilarious consequences. Also I might try to work in some type of Christmas thing, but nothing too big.

Britt: No worries! I liked it! And it's not like I'm burning up the post count lately.

Tracer: Awesome!

I think I improved with my latest batch of posts. I figured you, at least, Al wouldn't have been happy with the destruction of the HFO Carrier so I saved it and brought in Nick, a character I know you like.

Isn't Couchman another person on the Massassi Forums? I've seen him around. He tends to show up and sit back, relax and watch people arguing so far as I can tell :P. Is it okay to use him?

I'm guessing we're closing in on the end of the story arc? Geb, are you going to do the honours again of plowing through the last of the memories?

Good stuff, and I thank everybody for posting during this week in particular because of the charity marathon I talked about in my one post.

Couchman is, in fact, another Massassian. I actually never paid attention to what his personality has been like, and while I can't speak for Tracer, if I had to guess, I'd think he'd be all for other people writing for the Couchman character. Even if he wasn't, well, this is the NeS...

It would appear this story-arc is drawing to a close, yes, and I really should be plowing through the rest of the memories, though I'd be super-grateful if anyone else does any as well. I'll see what I can do for either later tonight and/or tomorrow.

Also, I'm glad Al and Britt wrapped up the Losien part. I confess that I made a set-up that I wasn't able to follow through with in the way I had hoped. The only thing I had even thought of was that Losien would discover that she (and Geb) would discover that their grandfather on their mother's mother side would be Bastur, the King in Yellow After Labor Day, to be both a parody on the Cthulhu mythos (the idea was actually tossed my way by Antestarr) and a nod to Geb's original 'alien' nature. It was intended to be a setup to eventually have other 'memories' of Losien's past, or her future with TLTE, to generally test her in a fashion similar to what Geb went through with his Potential. However, Britt did a large part of that prior to the Shadow Losien part, and some of the sentiment was already covered with Geb applying for his new job, so it's good that you guys got things out of the way. The history with Bastur will either just be saved for another time or left a mystery to Losien and Geb indefinitely.

And last, I'm going to count each of your posts as $5 each for donating to the charity marathon, Britt. I didn't answer before because I didn't want to risk you breaking the bank, so to speak.

Do whatever you want with whomever you want. The real Couchman hasn't posted in a while but he did inspire the character. I'm intending to write him as kind of stupid (but not a lot) and kind of obnoxious (but not a lot). And he cares very much about his couches. A bit like Otter, but not as much of a jerk (especially towards women). I'm not much of a writer but I think I work best when the characters sort of naturally reveal themselves through the story, as opposed to creating a detailed biography and backstory first so I don't have a whole lot to say about the Couchman character yet because I haven't written it.

I've been keeping track of my ideas in a text document lately, so I have some rough ideas for Geb, Otter, Irania, and Couchman (and a bunch of Couchman jokes :)) but I may or may not end up using them...last time I sat down to write that Christmas post came out of nowhere so who knows.

I have no idea what this is, or what Yellow Labour Day is... or whatever?



Awww, how cruel do you think I am!!?

I honestly wouldn't have posted anywhere near so much if I had known, I really assumed that it was per person.



For the most part you're completely right. Characters should naturally develop and reveal more and more about themselves as they're used and written for. Each Writer often brings his or her own new characteristic to a character. But at the same time it's always best to have some bare bones of a character down else the character will be ininteresting (ie Amal). Couchman, to be fair, just from his name sounds like he has at least one rather unusual and interesting characteristic that will make him fun to write for. But yeah, most characters' best qualities come out much later than their initial roles would have allowed - good example of this is Rachel and how much more developed she is now rather her earliest scenes.

Just a thought anyway. Hope you were okay with me using the Tracer character btw, I know he's barely used. I'm having difficulty remembering much about him tbh. I do vaguely recall he might have had a moment when he was a kind of "The Matrix"/Detective character written from the 1st person, but I could be getting mixed up there.

It's a few references/jokes rolled into one.

The primary reference is to Hastur, the King in Yellow. It's one of the Lovecraftian horrors akin to Cthulhu.

The name change to Bastur is a spin on the word "*******" - used mostly here just for the similarity in sound rather than any sort of particular meaning.

Last, "in yellow after Labor Day" is the fashion faux-pas that one isn't supposed to wear yellow clothes after Labor Day (EDIT: Al reminded me that the primary color for this scenario is white, and while I think yellow is also considered a 'summer color' I confess that this particular joke really doesn't work). Being an unspeakable horror, however, he does what no mortal can conceive.

@ Geb:

@ Tracer: Oooooh, can't wait to see what you do with Iriana! Britt started bringing out very stuck up princess traits, and you're going in that same direction; I love it!

@ Britt: Eh, you can destroy the HF1 Hovercarrier if you like, it's not a big deal lol. But thanks for the consideration. I need to do some postage for the war myself lol. >.>

...

Well this joke would have alienated at least a quarter (that is to say me :awesome:) of the current writers because I really have no idea what you're talking about. I understand it all but I still don't know what you're talking about. Hahaha. I know Lovecraft, obviously, but I'd never heard of Hastur or the book he's from. Nor do we really celebrate Labour Day. Nor do we have this 'faux-pas' about yellow clothes during Labour Day.

You know, I've found that I can more easily accept crazy cultural differences between myself and Chinese, Korean, Russian or otherwise than I can between other English-origin countries like the US and Australia. Hahaha :neckbeard:. I think it's because Australia and the US don't seem "foreign" enough to have so many differences :awesome:. But yeah, at least I understand the joke even if I don't get the joke. So run with it if you want to. So long as most people would get the joke it should be fine :P.

Btw, I loved your latest post with Tracer. SO funny!

Holy cow, a posting frenzy! And it's great! I don't mean that as just "yay more posts" either, I mean that as in it's good story content and very entertaining! Interestingly enough, Britt, you selected at least some memories that I intended to use myself (I had/have some cued up to page 42 at this point).

And as for the whole Bastur thing, it's why I generally try to do my best not to rely on a joke/reference for my material -- ideally, if I had written it before, it could have stood on its own as just "freaky alien-god guy" and only make a nod that the parodies/etc. were intentional and not, like, fan-fictional or something.

You know, if the whole Losien villain group thing continues long enough, you could eventually get some kind of face off between Losien and Gebohq. Now that would be exciting.

Just a thought anyway, haha.

Hope you appreciated that final tie-in for Voodoo/Cadpill. It explains why he was milling around guarding that portal all that time ago -- and why he killed Krig back then.

I thought Al would like the Highemperor/Soriel memory too, haha.

As a mention about the memories at this point, I think I just quoted in the first real mention of the EeP, right? I think this is where we would be building towards the climax, right?

It's entirely possi-cool (yes, I just went meshing possible & cool together), and it'd be interesting to see how some of the other characters (Amal, TLTE, Al, Rachel, etc.) would continue to react.

Admittedly, I'm a bit lost on the tie-in, though perhaps a few re-reads might help. Props for tie-ins!

I also confess that I feel bad not trying more to work with the 'new' and mysteriously-interacting memories that you've brought up before. I'll have to see if I can do at least something before the end of this story-arc.

Yes, that's around it's first real mention (the first post to mention the EeP at all I think is when Highemp sees the NeS's grave which says 'killed in one post by the Ever-ending Plot"). If you're speaking about the climax of NeSquared, yes, there's build-up without a doubt to the characters having to face the EeP's 'infection' of the NeS. If you're speaking of this story-arc on its own, it's not out of the question that it might play some significant role, though at this point, I can't think of one.

Also, within the context of the story, it would seem Michael is projecting his fears onto the Illusionist: he's claiming that the EeP, Darkside, and Tsolo have less worth of Ultimate Villain role than himself when they've all had at least equal, if not more, story-arcs dedicated to them, strong goals of their own (end the story, feed on souls by turning them evil, and weed out forgotten characters respectively all driven by their own identity), and all with relatively little 'personality' to them. Meanwhile, Michael, essentially 'just human', is the opposite, with very personal connections to Losien and TLTE and yet little identity of his own to drive any goals for himself (what would he be without them?) and somewhat less screen-time than the others. Michael desperately struggles, if even just on a subconscious level, against the one identity trait he does seem to have -- that he's forgettable on his own merit. What a tragic guy, and definitely a good fit as the Avatar of Loss (which, having embraced the role, isn't helping his futile inner struggle). In any case, the Illusionist should really consider being his therapist, since there's probably a good reason why there are no therapists in fiction...

Of course, from a writer's point of view, what Michael is saying isn't just projection; he's essentially giving exposition as to why he's a 'better' antagonist than the others, to which I agree. As far as I'm concerned, the EeP "died" at the end of the original NeS thread, and this thread just has its lingering spirit (manifested in the nightmares of NeS and passed on physically as the 'disease' infecting the NeS and potentially in spirit within Chance, which we'd only know waaaay down the road from now). Funny enough, Michael doesn't consider TLTE as an option for Ultimate Villain despite that it's presumably TLTE's true identity...

Also, if I had to guess, I'd say Losien's primary drive for 'acting evil' is a strong desire for respect and a current difficulty in handling confidence that she didn't used to before. It's the sort of thing I can relate to in any case.

If Amal is really stepping up as Main Character, it'll be interesting to see how he handles the mantle. It seems there's a Dark Knight sort of pattern emerging with "dying as the hero or living long enough to become the villain" with Geb and Los already having 'failed' to uphold the mantle. Presumably, the mantle is only needed within the context of the story more out of convention in defending the NeS against its 'Ultimate Villain' and less needed as the actual driving force of the narrative(s)...

...I think I'm rambling now, so I'll stop for now. I'll be attempting to post soon, and I intend to work with Antestarr to write a post before the 15th (I made a deal with him that I hope he'll uphold).

Voodoo came back a couple of pages ago defending the mysterious portal time-space tear thing and killed Krig. That was about the time that The Illusionist kidnapped TLTE and what led to them all going to Olympus. Most of the time thing was stamped out by Al when we talked about the things we weren't so interested/confused about. But the whole portal bit would still stand.

The tie-in specifically relates to the memory I chose (to be honest I think most people skip over, or skim read, the memories unless they're new :S). Twisted Spasm arrives and tells the heroes he's a Time Cop -- so then back to the present Sran Cadpill reveals he's an honorary Time Cop, thus the reveal as to why he/she was defending the time-tear and went so far as to kill Krig!



I think me and Al have done quite a few of them earlier in the memory story arc, however even I've slacked on making new memories and have been using previous material simply to get us through the pages. Of course I've been using a lot of the older posts to reflect things in the present, such as the Time Cop and the Vikingers all showing up again to mention more recent examples. So don't worry about it!



Honestly a lot of it was meant to be Michael "whinging". He always struck me as a bit of an "emo" so he's having something of a temper tantrum. I do think Michael is one of the better villains, simply because he's a character rather than some kind of entity or force -- it simply makes him more interesting. However this was by no means my projections or thoughts about the story or characters. I like DarkSide and the EeP very much. I do think the EeP is a bit like flogging a dead horse by this point, and the more it's used the more watered down it feels. However it's still a potent symbol of the NeS and kind of the Anti-NeS. DarkSide is one of the two most "classic" villains of the NeS, the second being Ares, from the earliest days of the story that are still prominent and recurring characters. I actually think Krig's comic pages really helped make them iconic because we've always had a physical representation of them.

Tsolo, to be honest, was fairly dull but that's probably because it seemed there were too many similarities between his role and other functions or characters in the NeS. I think the most interesting period for Tsolo, right when he suddenly became interesting (yet also the moment everyone forgot about him) was when he came up against Kern and TwinSuns in the whole Forgotten Saga.

KnowSoul I didn't take to and he was, yet again, another "force" of the NeS and wasn't interesting at all. It was also yet another "merged villains" situation which is so overdone it's become boring. "How can we make these villains even more scary/awesome!?" But really I always felt DarkSide was awesome enough, just underplayed! To be fair, even when I separated them I had, and still have, every intention of bringing KnowSoul back towards the end of the arc as some kind of comeuppance for Michael and to be the final boss, or something, for the heroes. But that's all in the realm of "possibilities" as with everything for NeS -- I really thought someone else might have brought KnowSoul back by now.

I personally have always viewed TLTE as the Ultimate Villain for NeS2. The entire series seems to be geared towards it one way or the other -- it is interesting that Michael doesn't regard TLTE, however he's focused on the idea that he and TLTE have switched roles. He'll now be thinking of TLTE as being in purely "goody goody" mode.

Just my thoughts on that anyway. I was just trying to give Michael a bit of room to vent and also thought it'd be funny for him to have a therapist. It's true there's never a therapist in any fiction because if there were, like The Illusionist said, maybe all the villains would stop trying to murder people!



Whoa, you know I never actually noticed that. It's a good idea. As for Amal rising up, it seemed to come hand-in-hand with TLTE being the big bad that Amal was destined to be the big good. Having said that I think there was also the possibility that he would become the big bad too! So it's all speculation I guess.

I would also just like to reference back to the old thread I made for the Chinese students' characters as I'd like to think about who of them will become characters. I don't know if Tracer would like to go and cast a vote on two he likes, I guess there's still time? Either way I would like to consider the winning characters and how they might be worked in -- mostly I'm thinking about it because I know there was the Chinese dragon character you liked, Geb, and that might somehow fit with Emperor Pi's arrival. I think it looks like Frank won amongst the juniors hands down.

About Sran, got it. For some reason, I thought there was more to it.

Regarding Michael, I can't say I ever thought Michael to be 'emo' - at least any moreso than anyone else acting as the Avatar of Loss with the sort of personal history that he has. Then again, the audience will only put up with so much of a character's problems...

I'd also like to clarify that the only reason I 'made' Knowsoul was to address what I felt was some issues:
1) That both Darkside and Tsolo did essentially the same thing (harvest souls).
2) That both Darkside and Tsolo were not interesting enough on their own (to your point, Britt, from strictly a thread point of view, Darkside only had consistent use throughout the original thread going for him as consistently just the "bad guy" and hardly showed up in NeSquared).
3) That both could use a "final" blaze-of-glory sort of story (Darkside had more or less one at the end of the original thread, then was unceremoniously brought back in during the one JM story-arc).

In hindsight, were I to retell this current story-arc, the two would just have 'worked together' and we'd find out that they've been manipulated to do so by Michael, who would want to eliminate/take over Tsolo's role and have Darkside work for him (one of the few established things being that Darkside will often 'work' for another villain). As it is, though, NeS is about the moment, and things are looking fine as they are, and I think having the two become Knowsoul at the end at this point would be awkward (especially since Tsolo seems to have exploded). Of course, if that happens anyway, I'll be sure to take the challenge and attempt to accept and add, improvise and collaborate, and not negate. I'm repeating myself though, probably because I keep forgetting my own thoughts, hah. Just skimming some workshop posts make me realize I'm saying the same stuff as if I never thought of it before.

As for TLTE, I'm trying what I can to keep an eye on him. NeS has a lot of parts that can get difficult for me to give what I feel is needed attention towards as a writer and potential reader.

Further note on Losien: I based that observation in part on her actions at the end of page 50 as well, which I imagine will come up at the end of this story-arc.

As for the Chinese student character contest, I intend to make that my primary focal point for the next story-arc.

To respond to the recent posts, a few things:

1) I'm not sure what prompted the "needing a replacement for God" though I'll ramble on my thoughts about that later. In any case, I'd suspect that Jim's nomination for the 'position of God" ends up being some petty ploy that he'll then immediately relinquish out of boredom, laziness, etc.
2) Previous rulers of hell being twice-forgotten (still find that term questionable) - I can only presume discovering the previously-forgotten rulers will be significant. My thought naturally goes to the Chinese student contest winner that was all about making contracts, as he could very easily have been a previous ruler that did something which encouraged him to become forcibly Forgotten.
3) I'm glad you seem to be trying to tie the loose end regarding the deal with Hell and the contracts, Britt! If I'm able to, I'll try and help out there too. It's one of those things I personally hope to just resolve and move on, in part because of what I'll ramble on about next.

The rambling!

First, on a minor technical note, I believe Mt. Olympus is the home of the GODS, not the home of any mortal's afterlife. Just as Hell is the catch-all for mortals who have done something "bad" prior to the afterlife (which in NeS is most everyone), Heaven is the catch-all for those who remained "good" prior to the afterlife, where they "live happily ever after" and all that. It's already been established that the "WriterGod" (the identity of which has been some confusion, from the Juedo-Christian God in NeS to the equivalent to the Writers to other things) resides on the mountain as well. Point being, it should have been old news to the characters at this point.

Regarding contention with Christians as far as implying the Juedo-Christian God is fictitious, there's a number of responses to that:

1) He is. So is Mark Hamill and Alex Trebek and Will Shatner. Regardless of whether they exist non-fictionally or not, if they're written into NeS, they become fictional characters, with little intent for 'factual accuracy' regarding them. NeS is a story-world where its laws are dictated by story conventions and perception, laws which are only kept in check by "reality" and "disbelief" (setting tangent aside for later... I hope I don't keep falling into tangent after tangent!)

2) Regardless of our intent, our audience isn't (or at least shouldn't) catered to a particular demographic. At minimum, writers should not be afraid of offending sensibilities in this manner in significant part because of point 1. Yes, I realize that a story should not try to "appeal to everyone" (to which my response is simply that our demographic can't/shan't be restricted tightly by age, gender, creed, nationality, etc. when possible and naturally restricts itself by its character), and yes, there's a balance in sharing responsibility between the reader (who shouldn't expect a writer to cater to all their preferences) and the writer (who shouldn't expect to disregard reader preferences without alienating and driving their reader away). By responsibility, I draw in part from here and by character I draw in part from here and other qualities analyzed.

3) The NeS is not about its gods or talking inanimate objects or aliens from outer space; it's about its flawed and self-centered humans. See Classism and Aliens in NeS here and the relevant trope here.

Which leads me to conclude that it'd be easiest (and arguably best) if these sort of things are just avoided. I'm still figuring out how this war on Heaven and Hell could affect the likes of those in London and Oxford like Antestarr and Geb and those with particularly strong ties to Hell like Al.

Tangent:

The NeS is a story-world that encompasses a scale of fiction, from 'fantasy' to 'reality'

On the one end, NeS is, in some ways, heavier on the side of "fantasy" than most fiction. It's governed and subjective to perception and belief, where all myths can be true to absurdity and gods hang out together, only requiring that at least the audience will make the effort to accept the claims made.

On the other end, in other ways, the NeS is (or should be) heavier on the side of "reality" than other non-"straight" fiction. It's governed in this case specifically on disbelief, which isn't just a case of a failure to suspend said disbelief. It's where purpose and questions are left unknown such as if there's an afterlife or a guiding force, where mundane limits are enforced such as the need for food and shelter, and unique to the NeS, where the 'writers' reside. It is like the Ever-ending Plot in that "reality' can kill the story, whether because the slice of life of a character would be too boring or unwanted (and thus the death of a character) or because real life ultimately holds precedence over fiction in the lives of the Writers and audience (and thus the death of a character), and 'reality' is like the EeP also in that it is a necessary evil.

Keep in mind that, with this definition, Truth in Television would be 'reality' to some degree and reality is unrealistic would be 'fantasy'. And, of course, Tropes are Just Tools with their uses.

I'm going to stop now before I ramble myself into pointlessness and self-indulgence.

Nice post, Al. Short and to the point, solid jokes, and a good way of addressing the fact that I spelled Iriana's name wrong.

Nope! It was quite simple but it was a hole that really needed to be filled. The looming question of "why the hell would he/she even do that?"



I do believe Michael has an emo streak to him. Straight from the moment of him turning evil he's been "oh woe is me. My best friend made me this way and the love of my life rejected me. Etc". His actions are very much determined by his overly emotional response to being forgotten and, moreso, spurned by TLTE and Losien.

As for KnowSoul, you're right we've talked about it frequently. If I had a chance to redo it myself, I wouldn't have separated them so flippantly simply so I wouldn't have upset other writers at the time. Wasn't my intention. And while DarkSide hasn't always been the greatest villain in every story arc, he's frequently been there even if only for a cameo or a name drop.



Mostly I just want to make some considerations now so that it will be easier to give these characters a natural placement into the story. Such as the Chinese dragon - if chosen - would naturally come into play somehow through Emperor Pi. As an example. It's just something I wanted to consider now, in advance.



I don't know about need, at least as Writers, but I've rarely done things because things were needed. In character "need" is justified if a placement is open. On a whim I decided why can't "heaven" mimic NeS Hell and also have a changeable lord. Mostly it was inspired simply by the numbers being banded about regarding the devils and I was aware that 7 was meant to be God. Hence Jim 7. When I originally decided to throw God in there I wasn't sure who he would be, it was only afterward did I think of the numbering.



I have a sneaking suspicion that Al simply put "twice forgotten" because there are no "official" characters set in these roles and Writers can pick up the mantle or not (twice-forgotten in this instance is merely a convenient in-world plot device/cover.) But your idea for the contracts guy in this role is certainly a very good one.



Well it seemed to be a question looming and needed to be resolved. To be honest after reading the original I think it was resolved because she left the contracts with Al after he told her where to find Geb's body. (Hence the referencing to missing paperwork) However it was alluded to since that the gamble was still in play so I played with it a little. At least we're now aware of the current circumstances regarding the bet.



Well Valhalla was also the same and I'm pretty sure there was a Hades and afterlives in Egyptian religion and probably every religion out there. If anything Mount Olympus is more of an exception. As for Heaven specifically and where the souls are going, I'll be honest I had the intention of placing a "ooooh Heaven is a Place on Earth" gag in there and, like Hell, give Heaven a place on Earth. Probably somewhere no one has heard of... like Bertwick.



Honestly I never liked the "WriterGod" because I was never sure who he actually was. The Writer's God, ie the "real" God? Or is he a Writer, but we already have the "Writers" so who is this guy? Is he the God as a character in the story, then why's he the "Writer" God? Regardless if the devil is the antithesis of God then vice versa ought to be in play but Jim7/Al Ciao/Acidspitter are characters and are not comparable to WriterGod. Ergo God, if he would be involved, is much better suited as an actual character. Like Jim7.



Well I tried to imply that through Athena's "Am I mythological" line. God, in the NeS, is a character as much as any other character involved.



This is like reading a contract...



Whilst I understand your point, I'd like to point out that on the basis of what the NeS is actually about then I don't think this argument stands up. Any Writer can decide to do whatever he/she likes and use whatever character they like and include that character into the main cast of characters if they so choose.

Ares was the first main villain of the NeS and there have been dozens of main characters that were not human, including Galvatron in the beginning and Antestarr (who is now NeSferatu) in the latest pages. And yes they're practically "human", I don't see why something like an "alien" couldn't qualify alongside robots and vampies. And there's Fred to cover the inanimate talking objects.

As for its gods, I believe Marvel proved a point by using Thor as a character for their comic books. The "old gods" are much more akin to superheroes and were just as flawed and incredibly self-centered as any human you'll ever meet.

I'm not trying to refute the claim to the "struggling" characters part, but really "superior forces" or some such might have been a better choice of words and I feel it would be unfair to tell people the kinds of characters they can or cannot write into the story.



There's probably a billion ways in which a Heaven/Hell war could affect any, every, single character and it's down to the writers to choose their preferred effects. I often find it doesn't matter what the plot is it's how you, as the writer, use it. We have literally just seen a major change in the current character situation in the war as written by Al. Antestarr, and presumably Subaru, just sided with the angels. Not only does this pit them against Hero Force One side characters, and Hell's side characters, it could very well pit them against their fellow NeS Heroes (at least Krig is busy smashing angels with his viking friends and Emperor Pi -- along with Voodoo/Sran in another area. Now the other heroes with Antestarr need to choose their allegiance). Of course he also just burst into flames, so perhaps not. We'll see. But really having a Heaven and Hell divide is probably a good thing for the characters because now may be the time to figure out "good" and "evil"? As you said, good souls go to heaven and bad ones go to Hell -- so who should win? And who should the heroes truly support? Etc.



I'm pretty sure all of the Writers are aware of this one :rolleyes:.

Too late.



Thanks! Yeah, you've been misspelling it since 2004, and old habits die hard. I'll be honest, it does bother me a bit (which is ridiculous, cuz I shouldn't be bothered at all by such a silly little thing), but not much, so I decided to make a joke out of it. Thanks for not being offended!



It's like you read my mind! How can this be?



Brilliant! Dew eet! :cylon:



I have to agree lol. Geb, you often overthink things. However, I support your right to overthink things, as the NeS is your baby, and has been for... is it 13 and a half years now? OMG the NeS is a teenager now! It probably also helps that you wrote an essay on it.

In conclusion, I think I've often seen Geb and Britt clash a bit (just a bit) about the "writing philosophy" of the NeS. It's rather a boring clash, as you two are far too agreeable and mature. I'm gonna throw some codfish and cardboard lightning bolts in there. Let the Fight of the Century of the Week begin!

I was going to make that joke initially - thanks for making it for me.

Yup, it's what I do. It's self-indulgence, and it also helps organize my thoughts on what I think is important, what I think works, yadda-yadda, and I do it in large part so that I can get potential feedback from the rest of you to see what sounds right and what could use re-evaluation. I think it's good that you all find it silly, because you should. And yes, the NeS is growing up. I'd like to hope it's not just 'my baby' though - that ended up resulting in bad things I don't care to repeat.[/quote]

That's because Britt has good things to say, and I hope he keeps doing it! Hell, even if he has bad things to say, at least we're holding a conversation about it.

Funny enough, I'd say that Britt probably has the 'writing philosophy' of the NeS down better. My resistance to it sometimes mostly stems from a couple things I don't want to fall into:
1) Serious self-indulgence. I don't want us to end up just writing 'for ourselves' (or worse, for oneself).
2) Not aiming to be professional*** (yes, I'll be rambling into a contract-esque diatribe on this in all likelihood, forgive me)

So yes, Britt, thanks for that. And I mostly come off as agreeable because when I disagree and feel the same after a discussion, my internal answer is typically "well, I need to do a better job of tackling the issue so they see I was right all along" and not "I need to tackle them and pummel them directly" -- it has its ups and downs.

I'm glad the "Michael has little identity of his own" observation seems to match up in this case.

To tack on a final minor thought, the only thing I'm really attached to for whatever reason still is the name. For some reason, I like it, and it may have been better suited for another character. Not sure.

Right-o, and good thinking.

"Need" may have been too strong. Good to know, though, thanks!

You read Al well. And glad you think so!

And there was much rejoicing (yey).

True, so more accurately, it'd be Heaven/Valhella/etc. and Hell/Hades/etc. all of which would probably be lumped in one "afterlife" deal. My initial thought was that Hell was a bureaucratic nightmare, though that's also been reflected on Earth, so really, from a NeS stand-point, it wouldn't be too out of line if even Heaven/etc. had some mix-ups.

As for a place on Earth, I have no idea where Bertwick is, and it sounds funny, lol! I could potentially see that as a "program" shift, though really, the only reason Hell has Canada is because the one demon-guy was voted into their Parliament Something to keep in mind.

Exactly the confusion I was talking about before. Personally, I see the two:
1) What characters like Geb (a Christian) would believe as the 'real God' - the "Writer of writers". Like anything else in the 'real world', this is left an unknown, up to question, blah blah blah that ultimately has little relevance to the NeS.
2) The character of "God" (the Juedo-Christian one) that actually interacts in the story.

I think, given the history I recall, "WriterGod" is #2, and would probably be better off refered to as YHWH or just 'God' or 'Big Daddy' or run with whatever joke names we want, and just how Jim Seven more or less had replaced Satan, so too could a unique character 'replace God' as the guy/gal who ran the business of Heaven, so to speak.

Right, I got that. That just seemed to address a different route (the whole "how can you say which faith is right" sort of stick), which is fine.

My bad. My attempt at less-contract-y wording -- writers and readers should try not to be dicks to each other.

You're very right on this point, and I often speak in what I consider the "ideal" versus the actual practices. For instance, it's ideal to be a good writer in the technical-traditional sense when writing for NeS to aid in readability and entertainment value. It is not at all the actual practice in many cases, and it's by no means required. So when I say "this is what the NeS is about" I mean what I see the spirit of it, which of course is my own stance and others can and should voice their own.

You brought up in at least one fashion what I purposely omitted and shouldn't have - how one defines "human" in this case. Obviously, a character doesn't have to be physically human to "be human" and there's plenty of stories where something physically non-human is written far more human than the actual humans themselves. When I talk about the NeS having classism and all that, that's just how I see the 'world' of NeS runs, not necessarily a personal belief that physical humans are really the only characters we'd care about most. I do personally believe though that the more non-human elements a character has (physically, emotionally, whatever), the more difficult it will be for a writer to present that character in a way a reader can identify and care about. I certainly don't mean to suggest that writers should be restricted to what kind of characters they can write about, and I do caution any writer who write a Highemperor over an Al (and I'm using that example apart from the issues of powerplaying - apologies to Al for any unintentional spotlighting).

Good! These are the sort of things I hope to read and write about!

As I said before, I do self-indulge in just laying down things I think are useful. That particular ramble was because I feel a major untapped NeS-antagonistic force is "reality" or "real-life" -- something already touched upon by Posters, whom as characters worship 'reality' and as 'real people' worship the story. It's also just some world-building in how I see NeS story-conventions working, where 'grounded' characters could potentially have the "puff of logic" ability... /shrug/

RAMBLE ON PROFESSIONAL!
First off, let me attempt to make one thing clear - the NeS is not a professional work. One does not need to be a professional.

Professional: trained, serious, requiring work and diligence over play
Amateur: untrained, casual, playful and passion over work

The NeS is an amateur endeavor for amateurs. I consider the strength of the internet medium to be in its inclusive 'public' space that fosters brilliant amateur efforts in craft and community. My dream for the NeS is to be inclusive, to foster brilliant amateur collaborations, to fuse the elements of story and games that I like so much into something unique.

So what the hell do I mean when I say we should aim to be professional?

Essentially, I mean that we should aim to improve. As a writer, this should be a project to encourage ourselves to train various skills, from the technical-traditional to improvisation and collaboration and so on. As writers, we should be 'serious' in the same way that we get serious when we want to play our best in a game of chess or Mario Kart. And when we work with other writers who don't write as well or fail to collaborate the way we'd hope, we do our best to make them look good. When trying out for an improvised acting troupe, I've been told that they, moreso than raw acting or wit, will look for those who can adapt, collaborate, and make a partner who is improvising BADLY look good. As I see it, that's a "professional improviser" as they are serious about making their craft good as opposed to their own part or their own fun.

To be clear, NeS is for amateurs in actual practice, and for the ideal, it's for the particular sort of professional mentioned that wants to include other amateurs.

I'd also like to say that this spiel isn't aimed at anyone except maybe myself. As far as I'm concerned, I am not a professional yet, and if I uphold my own ideals, I probably never quite will be. Insert the "always a student at heart" and "being wise because you know you're not wise" and such things.

----------------

As for my last post, by the way, I've dabbled with the idea that the NeS may have an antagonistc force of 'revisionists' though it's not something I feel is appropriate to really delve into at this moment. For now, like with "real life"/"reality", I feel it's fine enough just to have that drop. It's there mostly just to have fun as an option to use the script Tracer and others made up for that story-arc if desired.

Actually, I know what bothers me about Jim Seven being the new 'God' now! In Hell, the ruler of Hell is appointed by who is the most evil person in there at the time, and if there's the whole reflexive thing going, I'd say the ruler of Heaven would have a similar "the most good person" though the one key difference (to incorporate what's already been established) is that they also need to be 'voted in' by at least some of the angels, if not some similar democratic-ish process and obvious agreement by the person taking the role instead of having it foisted upon them. Again, I can see Jim Seven somehow gaining the position, however briefly, to fulfill some personal petty objective (access to the go-kart track in heaven, "I got it on my resume now, suck it Morgan Freeman" sort of thing, etc.) and then shirk/laze about elsewhere like he normally does. That's just me, and the situation may also find itself developing in a different direction.

To be honest I've never viewed it as disagreements, but rather varying views upon the same subject that, when discussed, lead to more unified consideration. ... hahaha. But really, I think it's just talking about something and looking at something from a new perspective, not disagreements.

As someone who ran (and will run again in the near future) a forum similar to the NeS in some ways, I know what it's like to view your 'project' and how valuable it can be to get others viewpoints upon the same subject. Afterall, not everyone sees things the way you might. And I know Geb appreciates that - I've often asked for his views on my own forum too.

I do sometimes think that Geb has become a little more conservative over the years, however the more I think on it the more I think perhaps it's simply due to the period in which I joined the NeS. I always remember being really uncomfortable with the whole thing (I'd never written for others' characters or just joined in the middle of such a sprawling story - and being an actual writer, plans are everything!) and Geb's advice was basically "don't worry about it just write whatever comes to you" and since then that's what I've always done. Unfortunately I think this may sometimes step on a few toes as I blunder in and write without thinking, but that's a quality I value about the NeS. I can just write without concern and we can continue on with it. It is also good to know that I can always read others' posts and find myself constantly surprised, and therefore, interested. But I joined when it was "destroy the NeS". So literally I could do no wrong! So when my first character entered, Soriel, he killed everybody! And that was fine. Obviously now I would shy away from that (probably ... maybe ;)) but I still have that spirit within me and that's mostly what drives me. I take a great amount of thrill of writing something and being able to just think "fuq it - write whatever comes".



To be fair, it's a good point. The name is a very good one - both due to the connotations of the verbal meaning of the name (which could be both know soul - as in know your soul - or no soul). Really I would have gone with a character that makes you look at your own soul in some way, perhaps akin to what we had DarkSide do by unveiling characters' dark sides.



Well I wasn't planning on jumping in on the place on earth part just yet, but obviously if someone else wants to run with that then feel free! It really was just to balance things out with Hell - it's been such a prominent part of the NeS and a long-running joke so I figured why not give Heaven the same entertaining treatment?



Honestly, I wasn't complaining. More of an observation, I took no offence and meant none in return!



I'm pretty sure Al would take pride in being an example to us all, :neckbeard:;).

And I did figure that you thought this way, I just felt I should make a point of it. Although even then I would always accept and deal with people that wanted to play Highemperor-esque characters. I would always encourage a writer to improve his/her character to, at least, have some kind of believability to their omni-powered character, as I'm sure Al can attest to. But I first started to Role-Play back on the NCD where you would find characters that make Highemperor seem like a "wet fart", to be crude. And I always accepted them into my stories regardless. So while I had my criticisms of Highemperor, I never particularly minded him that much.



I think maybe an alternative word would be better placed, just so that there's no confusion in meaning. Either way the sentiment of improving oneself is a good one and one that I believe happens naturally to writers the more they write. I studied writing at university and I'm a teacher of English at a university so I would say I'm a "professional" technically, but when you write for the NeS you don't write as you would "professionally" - to be honest I don't think it would work very well for the NeS if I did that. However I can always improve, not just in writing but in the particular kind of writing that the NeS requires, whether in themes or spirit.


----------------



An interesting idea that seems slightly similar to Discworld's Auditors of Reality. Having said that I think it might also be a little too similar to the already existent plot device of being "twice-forgotten" by Michael. Perhaps, and I speak only as a possibility, if Michael somehow survives this arc he could, in some way, become connected with these revisionists and his 'power' could be used to make these revisions? Though I guess it would work, writing-wise, in much the same way as we currently are doing with twice-forgotten memories, writing them in quotes as periods of history. So I don't know. Let's just see for now.



Well that's easily answered. From the words of Archangel Michael in my introductory post of Jim 7 it's clear that there usually would be some kind of vote (I actually imagined it to be like the voting of the pope where the archangels would go and sit somewhere until they finally chose someone new). But they couldn't decide on who should be next. Now I always write "by-the-seat-of-my-pants", as you know, however I do also research things when I get an idea in my head just to make sure I'm not about to make a fool of myself. Hence I looked up the "God is 7" thing, etc. I also looked up angels to use and one of them is Archangel Samael who seems to be God's "favourite b4stard". Samael is basically the evil arm of God who constantly does bad things and so I put it in that Samael has somehow managed to get around the situation and appointed Jim 7 himself without consent of anyone else. If Jim 7 is replaced soon, I wouldn't exactly be offended and there's plenty of in-world cause for something to happen whereby Jim doesn't get to keep his title. Still I think the shock factor was good.

Just a sudden thought that I completely forgot to mention;

I left Nyneve saying something about lawyers to stand for her case against Hell. I did this just in case you wanted some path for the lawyer sub-plot that might tie it in, if loosely, to the main storyline. Just thought I'd leave that avenue open to you guys. Also I noticed that The Next True Evil was given a job in Hell by Al Ciao, hence why he's the secretary.

My latest post went the way it did because it seemed like a perfect symmetry. Two royal rulers, each a tea lover.

On the other hand, Pi is theoretically sworn to Krig now, so Krig will have authority over Switzerland, China, and Armenia. All hail the Empire of Krig!

Since, ideally, all of the memories that have been posted in this story-arc will have been relevant in some manner to the end of this story-arc, I'm going to track the memories in order here. The list includes the link as titled by the page the memory refers to and a short description of the memory and/or reactions by present-day characters. Question marks are because the page number isn't mentioned and I was too lazy to figure it out. Present-day events likely inform significance of memories as well, though this is simply for reference of when memories are noted.

page 1 - summary of Geb and Galv fighting Ares, memory Geb seems to potentially notice present group
page 1 - summary of encounter with Darkside, present Thand warns group about interacting with memory despite inability to alter
(NeSquared) - brief summary of Mia and her crushing Al
page 2 and 3 - summary mention of Geb fighting Arbiter, entrance of Antestarr and Twin Suns
page 3 - mention of Rabbit Walkers, one steps on present-Al with no real harm done
pages 4-6 - summary of sub-locations 7-11 and the bar, mention of Semievil, Otter, Maybechild, Miss Fire, and Geb's porn collection, as well as a few random action scenes
page 6 - summary mention of Stonehenge and battle with Farr (no mention of TotallyEvil). Also mentions Krig.
page 7 - memory-Krig notes that he's bored, edging as a response to present-day events
page 7 - memory Otter sends (what is identified later as) High Imp to Canada, triggering it to become Hell. present-day Otter influences memory to make himself look better
(page 7) - a 'new' memory of Losien watching Geb on TV from home in admiration, mother deters her from thinking of going
page 7? - various snips of past-heroes obtaining the Sporkus Malorkus
page 7? - past-heroes discover that men holding the Sporkus turn into pigs, is actually the Porkus Malorkus
page 7? - 9 - more effects of the Porkus, past-heroes off to Disneyworld to fight TotallyEvil, who apparently keeps living
(past) - a new memory involving Semievil, TotallyEvil, and Dr. Evil
page 9? - Krig and Sem eat Yoadification cheese and chased by Morris, Losien is introduced, falls for Joe, and sex up in laudromat
(around page 10) - not actually seen as a memory, but 'one-word' posts are used as a time-honored convention, which had originally been used somepoint around page 12, give or take a few pages
(past/page 10ish) - a new memory of Highemp with Iriana Emp, and a Twice-Forgotten memory involving the heroes with Thand confronting Darkside
page 11 - Krig dances with Swedish Bikini Squad and the other heroes are informed their PPV ratings skyrocketed
"page 58" - a new memory of Highemp finding himself confronted with Morthrandur in a foreign place. "58" likely refers to page 8 of NeSquared, which may be shortly before Highemp's return in NeSquared
page 12? - past-Losien claims to have no soul, which present-Losien also claims, having only been last truly happy when she was 9, BUMPs are mentioned, and past-Losien has a date with past-Otter

((WORK IN PROGRESS - NeS2 page 34 done. 35-39 to go...))

I'm just going to make new posts so it's not one huge block. It should also be noted that not all the memories need to ultimately tie only into the lost soul of NeS, as some are tied already with current events. There's always the possibility that the lost soul of NeS is something arbitrary as well, or can't be found, or whatever. So long as our theoretical reader doesn't feel the 'journey' was for nothing, it probably doesn't matter.

"page 84" - Al makes up memories where Rachel and Losien fight over him. "84" in this case is 34 of NeSquared.
"The Great Conclave" - as seen by present-day Maeve and Otter, High Imp meets with various NeS powers. Likely a recent past.
page 12 - "They" is mentioned, and past-heroes are trapped in TV on History Channel
page 13 - past-heroes find themselves in SW: A New Hope, Geb runs into a mirror, breaking it, and passes bad luck to Krig
(NeS2 page 35) - a Twice-Forgotten memory of Losien talking with Michael
page 13 - past-Geb mentions that the DMV will likely revoke his license, Los surmises it as the reason Geb doesn't drive now
(page 13) - a new memory with Ante and Nyneve developing a romance, avoiding a rhino stampede, and Soriel, vaguely influenced by present-day heroes
page 14 - the past-heroes attempt to obtain the Holy Hand Remote, and Highemp is (formally) introduced
(shortly before the Memory Lane storyarc) - Mia and Al have a moment, Al says Rosebud
(page 14) - a Twice-Forgotten post mentions Krig and Sem picking their noses and Highemp questioning the scene
page 14 - Burby and Randy are mentioned, Randy is on a crash-course
page 14 - the past-heroes attempt to get the HHR again, a new/forgotten memory involving Soriel, Thand, and Apple appears
page 14 - the previous scene is recounted as a D&D-style session
page 14 - past-heroes are now in a Twilight Zone episode, Darkside tries to control Krig's mind, and new memories appear with Highemp, Mia, Arnie, and Apple
(Atlantis/Conclave) - an anointing of NeSorcerer of past and present is then forgotten, and in the Conclave, Thand talks with High Imp about his pact-making

(onto page 36...)