Quinch

@Seamore Sandwich, @Quinch, @SugarfootWillie, @Blitz Boom [Ponyville]

This was annoying, and getting worse. Vivid getting decapitated was... problematic, especially since whatever had thrown her in a tizzy in the first place was, unfortunately, real.

Crazy people were so much easier to deal with.

He set the sensors to full blast, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever it was that was seemingly eating the locals alive. Radar, sonar, lidar, imrec, sound analysis, motion sensors, x-ray... the display practically exploded in his face with information, more than he could actually chew. "Adolf," he muttered, "filter for nonvisibles." His request was met by a momentary green checkmark in the sea of symbols floating in front of his eyes that were already starting to give him a headache. As much as he could delegate to the AI in his head, he would still need to read all the outputs to make sense of them.

The winds were causing a pandemonium among the ponies, but none of it seemed particularly dangerous - more intent on keeping everyone contained than anything, and even if he could get some of them out, he considered that what they were keeping hemmed in wasn't he could see. He put the idea of evac on backburner, even if he could - for all its size, the suit was mostly empty space.

He looked up at the creature standing on top of the rooftop, shouting riddles as usual.

"I've got plenty of anger, buddy!", he shouted back, closing his fists. "You got anything to take it out on?"

@@Blitz Boom, so what of the whole Forgotten One aspect of the situation is visible to everyone who can't see the spirit realm?

Porco Rosso, by Studio Ghibli. It's a nice, nostalgic little story with just a dash of fairy tale and an overall lack of villains - just different people with different views {and also one hilarious narcissist}.

I still watch it - it might be a delay, since I need to wait for good versions to come out on the Internet {no Family channel in his household}, but I still love watching the show. I've actually taken to rewatching it from the first season - it still surprises me just how high-pitched Applejack's voice was back then.

Try to be nice every day. It's okay if you can't always do it, though.

Hi everyone. Sorry, I've asked this on an earlier occasion as well but...

I have no flippin' idea what's going on anymore.

{though that's more of a my failing than anyone's}

@@Blitz Boom, even if temporary, that kinda got grisly in a hurry.

I completely understand mate. And I hope that things will soon happen to make it more riveting to you. I hate to think some of the RP'ers are feeling lft out, or tied down ^^ Let us hope things will speed up a bit soon.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm anything but bored. It's actually a delicate balance between not steamrolling other posters, stealing the spotlight, staying true to the character and trying to arrange circumstances that develop them in the right direction... sometimes it's just better to pass a turn, as it were.

{of course, I might be overthinking this whole thing, but I'm fine with that}

Sorry it took me so long to respond, everyone, I just couldn't think of a single thing to really contribute to the situation {and this isn't much of a contribution as it is}. Rather than keep holding up other posters for days on end, feel free to not wait for me if need be - I check the thread frequently, and post whenever I can.

@@Seamore Sandwich,@@Blitz Boom, @ [Vivid, Andante, Forgotten One]

Quinch almost flinched as Andante delivered his poem, then ran off. He was a little relieved, almost - the pony definitely seemed determined, but -

"I don't understand what you're sayiiiinnnnggg!!", he shouted after him. But at least he seemed to have a plan, and given the tone, it wasn't just to run away. Which... he was less certain about.

He looked back at the situation, seeing Vivid unleash her shadow claws again. Good. They didn't phase him, and as a bonus, they did help clear out the bystanders. It was frustrating, though - until the thing materialized, there was nothing he could d-

-clong-

He didn't budge as the pony ran into him, mud spraying everywhere. He looked down at him, panicked and messy. He probably didn't deserve this.

"Tell me what you know about this, if you do," he said. "Then get to safety."

Marzipan, by an easy stretch.

Seven years of music school.

Does it count, though, if the work involved was something you didn't have a say in?

@@Seamore Sandwich,@@Blitz Boom [Vivid Loss, Ghost]

Potential soul eater.

Soul eater. Soul.... eater.

Great.

Not to mention that, as far as he could tell, everything happening here was strange. The environment, the populace, hell, even the laws of physics. But, someone had work to do, by the looks of it, and he was hoping it wouldn't be him again.

He followed along.

Doing the Doc Quarterfield task force in City of Heroes. It was an artifact of the game's early design when the developers expected task forces to be a supergroup-oriented thing that would span several days, before the game solidified into a random teammate heaven. As a result, this late-game string of missions averaged about six to eight hours to complete.

Most people did it just for the bragging rights.

@@Seamore Sandwich @@Blitz Boom,

Well, we can chalk it up to differences in technology - I figure I might as well let him go half-blind in this situation. In the CoHiverse, spirits are pretty much entirely supernatural, so I figured I might as well run with that idea. He may be prepared and outfitted, but I don't want Quinch to be too versatile.

Also, this seems to be Vivid and possibly Andante's rodeo, so he's keeping his distance until he thinks he can actually do more good than harm.

@@SugarfootWillie @@Blitz Boom [Andante, Vivid Loss]

It didn't take him long to catch up to Vivid, not to mention she hadn't really gone far. The weird thing - or at least annoying one - was that she appeared to be speaking to no-one. He was eavesdropping. Naturally. In both directions. By now, it felt rude not to.

He didn't really have much of a clue who or what she was talking to, though. Nothing came up on radar, lidar, gravity detector, EM scanner or any of the usuals. Even with the seemingly impressive array of sensors, stealth - technological, magical or otherwise - was easy to buy in Paragon, and preparedness aside, he never managed to develop that innate knack for seeing things coming, a shortcoming that sent him to the hospital almost more often than anything else.

He slowed down to a trot, then stopped a short distance away, turning slightly to confirm that the poetry pony was behind him. So, Vivid. Either talking to herself, or talking to someone who was talking back. He thought for a second. Or both, he conceded. Oh, and there was still the possibility that it was a trick of some sort, but he wasn't megalomaniacal enough to still be convinced everything revolved around him.

Clive Barker's Undying

I beg to differ - Undying started off awesome, but then it just sort of tapered off into a slogging morass and just kept going down. I would love a proper remake, though.

Also, there's Spec Ops: The Line. It's not a fun game {or at least it shouldn't be}, but it is very different from other shooters I've played. Which truthfully aren't many of, mainly because by and large, your point does stand.

@@Blitz Boom {Zhu, Vivid Loss}

"I could speak in riddles for days on end, delaying what could be and preventing what should not past, but to what end would such an action take things, other than perhaps to shores were no waves should fall? No, there will be a time for that as there is for most other things, but that time is not now."

The statement - statements - were met with a wide-shouldered shrug. "As far as I can tell, you're still speaking in riddles. Which is fine by me, honestly," he added. It was true, riddles were annoying, but at least it wasn't poetry, which usually meandered far and wide to the point where it crossed half the world and, if he was lucky, didn't forget where it was going in the first place. Which was slightly less fine what the fact that it seemed that, after Vivid, this weird - not that that particular trait mattered any in these circumstances - person seemed likewise intent on keeping him from reaching the town, only this time instead of trying to stop him with shadow magic, this one seemed to delay him with word puzzles. Which, truthfully, wasn't really a sign of hostility, but it was one data point away from becoming a pattern. Still, it left him plenty of room to go around it, so that much at least was easy to try.

"But, if I'm understanding you correctly, mean that the time isn't now. And until it rolls around, I kind of need to talk to some people about getting to my cesspit of a dimension. Hopefully we can talk later if y-"

"Something is coming. Something evil."

He stopped, mid-sentence, his brain parsing what he'd just heard. In normal circumstances, it would have gone straight past his ears, down to his brain and he'd be up and moving before Vivid finished. Instead, by the time the penny dropped and he looked towards where she was - a few seconds ago, at least - he realized that she already took off running.

"OH COME ON!!"

@@SugarfootWillie {Andante}

He shot the tan pony a glare, once again made entirely pointless by the opaque visor on his head.

"Does this mean 'we should follow her'? Because I'm hearing a 'we should follow her'."

And with that, he took off running after Vivid, heavy footsteps thudding against the grass and trailing a stream of muttering about really not wanting to have to anyone else today.

I choose neither. Kind or vicious, villain or royal, I would not wish to replace myself with anyone.

Bioshock's story is nonexistent. The history of Rapture from its start to your arrival is hilariously predictable and even the Would You Kindly reveal is wasted entirely by virtue of it being entirely unconnected. HaHA, all this time you have actually been programmed into doing my bidding! Um, all this time I've been slogging through this game just to see what all the hubbub is about, and turns out this is it? Ych.

Also, Fallout 2 is trash. The plot is copypasted from the first one with a find/replace of the macguffin and right out of the gate the dialogue turns into a rousing game of Guess the Pop Culture Reference. There's bigger guns and meaner enemies, and companion NPCs have some personality to them, but that's where the improvements end.

Frontier: First Encounters {i.e. Elite 3}. Despite being buggy as hell in the original, the open space exploration and adventuring, combined with actual {if shortish} story arcs drew me in for weeks. Now, though, it just seems... clumsy.

@everyone too

Sorry for not posting much, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed - too much going on in too many places by too many people. Can someone give me a rundown where we're at right now - what's happening with everyone and where?

Anachronox.

Gameplay is very reminiscent of Final Fantasy 7, but the atmosphere switches on a dime from gloomy to intense to hilarious.

@@Blitz Boom

[just outside Ponyville]

Quinch shrugged at Zhu. "Far as I can tell, you're talking in riddles anyway. Which is fine in and of itself, honestly, but I think I've already wasted enough time by accident, I don't really feel like I need to do it on purpose too. Now, by the sound of it, you and Vivid," he nodded at her, "have some things to discuss. I don't mind waiting, though, if you two need to take your time, since if the past five minutes were anything to judge by, it might be worth sticking together just to keep each other out of trouble."

@@Blitz Boom,

[Just outside Ponyville]

Quinch shrugged at Zhu.He couldn't make out what exactly he was - assuming it was a he. He also began to assume Vivid was actually a she, rather than an it - given the assemblage of so-called ponies around him, there was a variety of implied gender characteristics, as unreliable a way of guessing as that was. "The way you put it, it would seem that 'they' doesn't include 'you'." He looked up at the little flying horse flying around his head, resisting the impulse to swat it away. "And in my experience, myths are usually based on some form of truth. Accurate or distorted, though, that's more of a chance thing."

He turned his head around, trying to track the thing orbiting its head, casting around for a response. What were their expectations? What were the myths? Last thing he needed was to be put on trial for some imaginary - or real - offenses of his species.

But so far... a little friendliness, even if it was forced, seemed to work well.

"I... guess I am?" he said. "I'm definitely a human, or at least that's what we're called when I'm from. Your humans might not be my humans, so I guess that depends on what a human is to you?" He wasn't sure if that explanation would go over the kid's head, but it was the best one he could think of. Besides, assuming it was young, and not just small, but really, he's never seen anyone past pubescence use the words "hey mister" unironically, there was probably a parent around to explain. And if not, he'd just need to use smaller sentences.