It’s Complicated: Log for playtest 4, pregen and scenes 1-3

I’m going to test out this neat page-break thing, because it is a doozy. I’m also going to attempt to mix the OOC chatter into the IC flow (we use separate chat channels for the two), with cunning use of bold for IC. I’ve deleted a lot of the tangential chatter, but left in an amusing practical jokes. Playtesters: can’t live with ’em, can’t shoot them in the head, or else how would you find out where your game breaks?

Character and Gamegen

[19:22] <Merope> what was I thinking about that would be neat with Complicated
[19:22] <Merope> oh yeah!
[19:22] <dissolvegirl> yeah?
[19:22] <Merope> I wanted to do like, a bunch of honest-to-God cape and tights superheroes
[19:22] <dissolvegirl> …
[19:22] <Merope> but like, that had been in the bsuiness for a while
[19:22] <dissolvegirl> That’s totally rad
[19:23] <dissolvegirl> Like The Tick?!
[19:23] <Merope> sure
[19:23] <Merope> so like, we can totally be campy, but there can be a darker edge too
[19:23] <dissolvegirl> I love it
[19:23] <Merope> Watchmen-like.
[19:31] <Scurve> I wouldn’t really say Watchmen has a “darker edge”
[19:31] <Scurve> The /whole damn thing/ is dark, period.
[19:31] <Scurve> Anyways.
[19:31] <Scurve> Count me interested.
[19:34] <Merope> well yeah
[19:34] <Merope> it’s dark
[19:34] <Merope> what I meant was like
[19:34] <Scurve> Even when they go back to the golden days, it’s dark!
[19:34] <Merope> I want soemthing that has the ability to be watchmen like but doens’t have to be
[19:34] <Scurve> Right.
[19:34] <Merope> mostly I just want for there to be capes and tights
[19:34] <Scurve> Well, if DG will let me play…
[19:34] <Merope> I don’t wannt be all gim and gritty in the no-capes way.
[19:34] <Scurve> That Keats super idea sounds AWESOME.
[19:37] <dissolvegirl> Also JR, of course you can play 😀
[19:37] <Scurve> That’s irresponsible.
[19:37] <dissolvegirl> Also, can someone log both channels and email me the logs? Someone on The Forge wants a transcript.
[19:37] <Scurve> I can log.
[19:48] <dissolvegirl> Okay, you guys have seen the new sheet, right?
[19:48] <Scurve> Nope!
[19:49] <dissolvegirl> We’re going to do two things differently. (Yes you have, JR, you designed it)
[19:49] <The Quiz> new sheet?
[19:49] <dissolvegirl> https://dissolutegames.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/sheet2_small.jpg
[19:50] <dissolvegirl> -New thing the first: since this is a superhero game, we’re going to start with Oddities instead of Dysfunctions.
[19:50] <The Fane> Do they switch places on the sheet, or are we just working backwards?
[19:50] <dissolvegirl> -New thing the second: for the first round of play, you are not required to touch or cross another player.
[19:50] <dissolvegirl> We’re working backwards.
[19:50] <The Fane> Groovy.
[19:51] <The Fane> That’s something for the book, I guess. What determines when to declare Oddities first, and what determines when to declare Dysfunctions first.
[19:51] <dissolvegirl> However, remember! You STILL cannot declare a relationship with another character unless you cross or touch them.
[19:53] <dissolvegirl> JR, I think I’m going to make it group’s call whether to start on Oddity or Dysfunction. It depends on how this test goes.
[19:53] * Merope is now known as Commodore Commendable
[19:53] <dissolvegirl> Ron said he didn’t think it mattered which you started with, and I want to see if he’s right.
[19:53] <Commodore Commendable> i think he might be, dg, but, let’s see
[19:53] <The Fane> Well, I was just saying, a list of types of situations in which it might work better to go a certain way first.
[19:54] <dissolvegirl> Oooh, that may be a good call, JR.
[19:54] <Commodore Commendable> I also um, don’t want the silliness of this name to tilt the game too far in the direction fo humour at the expense of darker stuff
[19:54] * dissolvegirl is now known as Echo
[19:54] <The Fane> Not like: If conditions a and c are met, you MUST use Dysfunctions first.
[19:54] <The Quiz> okay, are we going to let our powers be oddities and/or dysfunctions? or will they not be so much?
[19:54] <Commodore Commendable> powers are totally odiities
[19:54] <Commodore Commendable> and dysfunctiosn result from them
[19:54] * DaveC has joined #indie_ooc
[19:54] <Commodore Commendable> it’s like heroes
[19:54] <Echo> Powers can be Oddities, but every Oddity does not have to be a power
[19:54] <The Fane> But like: “Stories in which the character’s emphasis tends to be on their oddity (like supers stories, or horror stories), it might be best if Oddity is declared first.
[19:54] <Echo> Like, you can still have Oddities like “loves to knit”
[19:54] <The Fane> Or something along those lines.
[19:55] <Echo> Dave, are you joining us? 😀
[19:55] <DaveC> I think so
[19:55] <The Quiz> my question is: does every power have to be an oddity?
[19:55] <Commodore Commendable> and indeed, as you oddities accumulate, non-power oddities may become more likely
[19:55] <Echo> I think so, yes.
[19:55] <DaveC> against my better judgement 🙂
[19:55] <Echo> Yay Dave!
[19:56] <Echo> We’re playing with two important changes: we’re starting with a declared Oddity instead of a Dysfunction, and for the first round of play, you do not have to touch or cross anyone if you don’t want to.
[19:56] <Commodore Commendable> I mean the whole reason I wanted to do this is like, a rich vien of superhero comics already exists about heroes who are dysfunctional because of their powers
[19:57] <Echo> Right, Tom. 😀
[19:57] <The Fane> Then you’ve got like Batman, where it goes backwards.
[19:57] <Commodore Commendable> ooh, good point
[19:58] <Commodore Commendable> although you could be like, oddity “parents killed by giggling madman” dysfunction “his whol schtick”
[19:58] <Echo> Okay, so.
[19:58] * DaveC is now known as The
[19:58] <The Fane> Which is another thought: What if each player decided whether they wanted to declare Oddity or Dysfunction first?
[19:58] <Echo> We are a JLA-type group, right?
[19:58] <The Quiz> my Oddity is clearly my power: “Everything you haven’t thought of yet.” More specifically, to work like The Quiz, it’s everything you haven’t thought of and spoken aloud.
[19:58] <The Fane> I dunno. What power level are we?
[19:58] * The is now known as The Flame of Justice
[19:58] <Echo> JR, I really think evertyone needs to start on the same line
[19:58] <Commodore Commendable> the idea is that we WERE, at least, a JLA type group
[19:58] <The Fane> Cosmic, global, or, um, whatever.
[19:59] <Echo> *everyone
[19:59] <Commodore Commendable> we may now be… less so.
[19:59] <Echo> Well, not same line, same type of trait
[19:59] <The Fane> Heh
[19:59] <Echo> Okay.
[19:59] <Commodore Commendable> group cohesiveness is not what it was back in the Golden Age
[19:59] <Echo> And what is the premise for the game?
[19:59] <Commodore Commendable> etc.
[19:59] <Commodore Commendable> well, two ideas
[19:59] <Commodore Commendable> the more generic one is we just have a reunion
[19:59] <Echo> IE, in the assassin game, the assassins were on strike. In the spooky game, everyone was spending the night in a haunted house for inheritance
[19:59] <Commodore Commendable> the second one is that some new cosmic threat has threatened the globe!
[20:00] <Commodore Commendable> and now the Concordance of Jurisprudence must reform to comabt it!
[20:00] <Echo> How about we find out about a new cosmic threat DURING a reunion?
[20:00] <The Flame of Justice> the yearly picnic?
[20:00] <The Quiz> hee
[20:00] <Commodore Commendable> what WAS our super team’s name?
[20:00] <Echo> I was thinking like
[20:00] <The Fane> I’d rather find out about the reunion while fighting a threat.
[20:00] <The Fane> “Oh, that thing already?” *PUNCH*
[20:01] <Echo> A rented-out “ballroom” in a holiday inn express
[20:01] <The Fane> “Man, I hate those things. Hey, duck.”
[20:01] <Commodore Commendable> well, sure
[20:01] <The Fane> 😛
[20:01] <Commodore Commendable> you could totally do that a scene
[20:01] <The Fane> Eh.
[20:01] <The Fane> At the price of in media res.
[20:01] <The Fane> I was just fartin’ around.
[20:01] <Commodore Commendable> but the sitch is still like, there’s a reunion, and there’s a cosic threat. we cna find out about those things in whatever order suits
[20:01] <The Quiz> mmm, in media res
[20:01] <The Quiz> that’s my hero name
[20:01] <Echo> Okay. Everyone pick a color!
[20:01] * The Quiz is now known as In Media Res
[20:02] <In Media Res> fuschia
[20:02] <Commodore Commendable> hahaha
[20:02] <Commodore Commendable> I was TOTALLY going to say fuschia
[20:02] <The Flame of Justice> orange
[20:02] <Commodore Commendable> ok, um… avocado
[20:02] <The Fane> burnt sienna.
[20:02] <The Fane> sepia.
[20:03] <The Fane> Wasn’t there an Indian red?
[20:03] <Commodore Commendable> khaki. with yellow stripes
[20:03] <Echo> I’ll turn violet, violet.
[20:03] <The Fane> Out of respect for your sanity, I’ll go with blue today.
[20:03] <Commodore Commendable> seriously, avocado. like, a dark green
[20:03] <The Fane> Oh, you mean the outer avocado.
[20:03] <The Fane> I was thinking the inner.
[20:04] <Commodore Commendable> oh
[20:04] <Commodore Commendable> actaully, yeah
[20:04] <Commodore Commendable> that’s a better colour
[20:04] <In Media Res> why are we picking colors, anyway?
[20:04] <Commodore Commendable> http://www.parbury.com.au/panelart/large_wilsonart_pages/wilsonart_large_avacado.asp?nm=Avocado
[20:05] * In Media Res is seeing how well this game can be explained and learned without having the text, and only having someone else explain it to you
[20:05] <The Fane> Color-coded map.
[20:05] <The Fane> Easier to read! And DG likes colors, methinks.
[20:05] <Commodore Commendable> she might not after this
[20:06] <The Fane> Yes, we should’ve asked for burnt sienna, burgundy, maroon, and fuschia.
[20:06] <In Media Res> can I change my mind and go with indigo?
[20:06] <The Fane> Heh.
[20:07] * The Flame of Justice thinks she should have provided us with a limited set
[20:07] <Commodore Commendable> eau-de-nil
[20:07] <The Fane> 16-bit color, guys! SIXTEEN BIT.
[20:07] <In Media Res> she should have asked for precise hex codes
[20:08] <In Media Res> hey, indigo is part of the original 4-bit color scheme (at least, white + 7 rainbow colors = 4 bits, I think)
[20:08] <The Fane> cyan, magenta, etc.
[20:08] <In Media Res> I want my color to be F#
[20:09] <kafkaesque> BLUE!
[20:09] <Commodore Commendable> so like
[20:09] <Commodore Commendable> one of my favourite bits on Whose Line Is It Anyway was always the superheroes bit
[20:09] <The Fane> [20:03] <The Fane> Out of respect for your sanity, I’ll go with blue today.
[20:09] <Echo> I went with everyone’s original color choices– fuschia, avocado, dark blue, violet, orange
[20:09] <The Fane> Heh.
[20:10] <The Flame of Justice> yay
[20:10] <The Fane> We were all debating it and she was already gone making the map.
[20:10] <Commodore Commendable> did you give me outer avocado or inner avocado?
[20:10] <Commodore Commendable> 🙂
[20:10] <Echo> Inner
[20:10] <Commodore Commendable> yay!
[20:10] <Echo> My computer is chugging, I had to close some stuff
[20:10] <The Flame of Justice> hah
[20:10] <Commodore Commendable> (I don’t really care 🙂 )
[20:11] <Echo> Okay. Mr. (Ms.?) Media, DECLARE YOUR ODDITY!

 

The joke

[20:11] <Commodore Commendable> although I’m now appealed by the idea that he had to get his costume in avocado becasuse the costume person was all out of primary colours
[20:11] <Echo> ..As soon as I reboot
[20:11] <The Flame of Justice> we are in indie_nar for this right?
[20:12] <In Media Res> my oddity is clearly my power, which is: “All powers nobody has thought up yet.” (For simplicity, like with the Quiz, you also have to say the power aloud. And it only works until you leave.)
[20:12] <The Fane> Basically, Media, you’ll declare your Oddity – a thing about you that is strange, in this context probably your superpower – and a number between 1 and 10.
[20:12] <The Fane> That’s a most excellent power.
[20:12] <In Media Res> Given that there’s probably few things stranger than this power, I’ll put it at a 9?
[20:12] <The Fane> Cheese grater rain! Go!
[20:12] <The Fane> The number does not relate to the oddness of the power.
[20:13] <The Fane> The number determines your place on the map, which determines how you relate to others.
[20:13] * Echo has quit IRC (Connection reset by peer )
[20:13] <In Media Res> ah. I’m remembering early discussions, where the number had some relation to how odd you thought your power was.
[20:13] <In Media Res> I also am now remembering talking her out of that
[20:13] <Commodore Commendable> quick, everyone conspire to sabotage the playtest while she’s gone!
[20:13] <The Fane> Your Oddity relates only to your Dysfunction; that is, your Oddity is an inner strangeness, and the Dysfunction is the outward manifestation of that strangeness.
[20:13] <The Fane> We could all switch nicks, C.
[20:13] <Commodore Commendable> let’s all pick SILLY NAMES
[20:13] <The Flame of Justice> we should all switch characters
[20:13] <The Flame of Justice> damn
[20:14] * In Media Res is now known as Teh Fane
[20:14] * The Fane is now known as In Media Res
[20:14] * Commodore Commendable is now known as The Fane
[20:14] <Teh Fane> we also should all be slightly mispelled
[20:14] * The Fane is now known as The Fayne
[20:14] * In Media Res is now known as In Medea Res
[20:14] * The Flame of Justice is now known as The Frame of Justice
[20:14] * Teh Fane is now known as Commodore Comestible
[20:14] * The Frame of Justice is now known as The Frame of Justin
[20:15] * The Fayne is now known as The Fan
[20:15] <Commodore Comestible> okay, we’re good
[20:15] * The Fan laughs and laughs and laughs
[20:15] * Echo has joined #indie_ooc
[20:15] <Commodore Comestible> wb, dg
[20:15] <In Medea Res> So that’s the outward manifestation of your Oddity.
[20:15] <Echo> Thanks!
[20:15] <In Medea Res> The number is unrelated.
[20:15] <Echo> So, what’s your Oddity, Media?
[20:16] <Commodore Comestible> <In Media Res> my oddity is clearly my power, which is: “All powers nobody has thought up yet.” (For simplicity, like with the Quiz, you also have to say the power aloud. And it only works until you leave.)
[20:16] <Echo> Er, commodore
[20:16] <In Medea Res> Still gonna go with “All powers nobody has thought up yet.”
[20:16] <Echo> k
[20:16] <Echo> I could’ve sworn Medea was on top before; oh well
[20:17] <Echo> We’ll place you third, Medea; Commodore, your power is..?
[20:17] * The Fan can’t stop laughing
[20:17] * The Frame of Justin snickers
[20:18] * In Medea Res shakes his head with shame.
[20:18] <Echo> I get the feeling I should hate you all.
[20:18] <The Frame of Justin> hah
[20:18] <Commodore Comestible> okay, I have to change back now, so I can stop laughing
[20:18] * Commodore Comestible is now known as In Media Res
[20:18] <Echo> Is this little “Screw with Elizabeth because she has poor memory” thing going in the log?
[20:18] * The Fan is now known as Commodore Commendable
[20:18] * The Frame of Justin is now known as The Flame of Justice
[20:18] <In Medea Res> You betcha.
[20:18] <In Media Res> although I’ve halfway fallen in love with Commodore Comestible as a name
[20:18] * In Medea Res is now known as The Fane
[20:18] <Commodore Commendable> we all swapped names and then made the names silly
[20:19] <Commodore Commendable> we’re sorry, Elizabeth
[20:19] <Commodore Commendable> we still wuv u
[20:20] <Commodore Commendable> it was my fault, I encouraged them
[20:20] <Commodore Commendable> 🙂
[20:21] <Echo> No worries guys, I can take a joke 🙂

Back to gamegen

[20:21] <Echo> Okay, so what position is your Oddity in, Media
[20:21] <In Media Res> 9
[20:22] <In Media Res> I picked it under the working assumption that higher numbers = more odd, although I have since been told that I did manage to successfully talk yourself out of that, oh so very long ago. still, I will keep the number.
[20:23] <Echo> Commodore?
[20:23] <In Media Res> I’m also laughing at the mental picture of “in the middle of medea”
[20:23] <Commodore Commendable> ok, um
[20:25] <Commodore Commendable> my oddity is that I have super-smell
[20:25] <Commodore Commendable> as in, I have a an incredibly acute sense of smell
[20:25] <Echo> right
[20:25] <Echo> And position?
[20:25] <Commodore Commendable> 1, I think
[20:27] <The Fane> The oddities are the outer ring, right?
[20:27] <Echo> Right, the outer ring
[20:27] <The Fane> Dysfunction = diameter.
[20:27] <Echo> I’m going with “Can perfectly mimic any sound” and putting it in #6
[20:29] <Echo> Fane? Oddity and position?
[20:29] <The Fane> 3
[20:29] <In Media Res> Fane, first you declare your power, then you state the number
[20:30] <Echo> Well, either way, as long as he declares both
[20:30] <The Fane> But based on the name, I want my big thing to be “a fane /In some untrodden region of my mind” (Ode to Psyche, ll. 50-51).
[20:30] <The Fane> basically, I can teleport.
[20:30] <Echo> okay.
[20:30] <The Fane> To places I’ve been or into the temple that lives in my mind.
[20:31] <The Fane> Temple = Fane.
[20:31] <Echo> And Flame?
[20:31] <The Flame of Justice> I can control fire
[20:32] <Echo> What spot?
[20:32] <The Flame of Justice> 5?
[20:32] <In Media Res> and char’s hero, “Kafkaesque”, will have a power of “giant cockroach”
[20:32] <kafkaesque> hahahaha
[20:32] <kafkaesque> that’s kind of awesome
[20:33] <In Media Res> maybe just “cockroach powers” which we can define later, but must include ‘ability to survive nuclear holocaust’
[20:34] <kafkaesque> i can turn into ANY size cockroach
[20:34] <Commodore Commendable> “is a giant cockroach” is the best oddity ever
[20:34] <The Flame of Justice> ooh foreshadowing
[20:34] <kafkaesque> hahaha
[20:34] * kafkaesque is now known as Kafkaesque
[20:34] <Echo> http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/9104/play1pp2.jpg
[20:35] <Kafkaesque> can i be orange like the nuclear holocaust
[20:35] <Echo> hahaha char, are you playing?
[20:35] <Commodore Commendable> fraid not, we alreayd have an orange
[20:35] <The Flame of Justice> I’m orange
[20:35] <Commodore Commendable> flame of justice bagged that
[20:35] <Kafkaesque> aw okay
[20:35] <Echo> She can be RED like ALERT LIGHTS
[20:35] <The Fane> Ach! I just realized that Commodore Commendable was Mese and not Char.
[20:35] <Commodore Commendable> surely black is the natural colour for a cockroach
[20:35] * The Fane facepalms again.
[20:35] <In Media Res> you should be indigo
[20:35] <Kafkaesque> brown, red or black!
[20:35] <Echo> Let’s go with red, easiest to differentiate
[20:36] <Commodore Commendable> so um
[20:36] <Commodore Commendable> this will be a little strange if we start sharing oddities 🙂
[20:37] <Kafkaesque> not if RADIATION is involved
[20:37] <Commodore Commendable> COSMIC RAYS
[20:37] <The Flame of Justice> power switching
[20:37] <Echo> And what’s your power, and what position, char?
[20:37] <In Media Res> no no, it will still be strange. marratively justified, perhaps, but still strange.
[20:37] <Kafkaesque> cockroach powers, 4

First turn

[20:38] <Echo> http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2803/play1wj4.jpg

[20:39] <Echo> Okay! Media, choose your Dysfunction and make your move
[20:39] <In Media Res> alright, this will require a bit of explanation. remember, never read the game.
[20:39] <Echo> Oh right! Okay. Actually, I’d like someone else to explain it if they could
[20:39] <Echo> I want to see how it works if the author is not the one explaining things
[20:39] <The Fane> Well, who’s first?
[20:39] <In Media Res> also, and this might be selfishness on my part, but I like the idea that the last person to choose an oddity is the first to choose a dysfunction, and on the way back up the line
[20:39] <Echo> I’ll correct if someone gets something wrong
[20:40] <The Flame of Justice> I didn’t want to go first
[20:40] <Commodore Commendable> that makes a certain degree of sense, media
[20:40] <Echo> Media makes his line first, and then Commodore makes the first scene, traditionally
[20:40] <The Fane> I think Kafkaesque goes first, IIRC.
[20:40] <The Fane> Or not.
[20:40] <The Fane> Well, I got far.
[20:40] <The Flame of Justice> oh yeah
[20:41] <In Media Res> okay, so, I pick a dysfunction of some sort, and then a scene is framed involving it
[20:41] <The Fane> Well, a dysfunction (outward manifestation of your oddity) and choose a number.
[20:41] <Commodore Commendable> not quite
[20:41] <The Fane> You’re first, so you don’t share a dysfunction with someone else.
[20:41] <Commodore Commendable> you pick a dysfunction related to the oddity
[20:41] <Commodore Commendable> like
[20:41] <The Fane> They might choose to share one with you.
[20:42] <Commodore Commendable> because yuou are odd in THIS way, you are dysfunctional in THAT way
[20:42] <The Fane> And if someone intersects with your line, then they declare, in the following scene, how they relate to you.
[20:42] <Commodore Commendable> yep
[20:42] <Echo> For this game, let’s start with a little scene demonstrating the oddity/dysfunction of the first player
[20:42] <The Fane> Whereas if someone later shares a dysfunction with you, the following scene should be spent discovering that you have a commonality.
[20:42] <Echo> Since we’re testing the relationship stuff as being optional
[20:43] <The Fane> Nkay.
[20:43] <Commodore Commendable> but for now, just state the dysfunction and pick a number 1-10
[20:44] <In Media Res> Because my powers are ever-changing… I am dysfunctional…
[20:44] * In Media Res thinks
[20:45] <The Fane> Would a superhero’s weakness be a dysfunction?
[20:45] <Commodore Commendable> I think um
[20:45] <In Media Res> I wear my iPod constantly, drowning out the words of anyone that might want to talk to me, so I can keep my powers.
[20:45] <In Media Res> there we go
[20:45] <Commodore Commendable> dysfunctions are supposed to to be social
[20:45] <Echo> If you want your weakness to be outward and social, sure
[20:45] <The Fane> Nkay, it has to be outward social. Gotcha.
[20:45] <In Media Res> I think mine’s social.
[20:45] <Echo> What position, Media?
[20:46] <In Media Res> 2
[20:47] <Echo> Okay! Now you get to frame your scene, and decide who you want in it.
[20:47] <The Fane> Oh, we’re starting with a scene already. Cool.
[20:47] <Echo> Anyone not in your scene can play NPCs.
[20:48] <In Media Res> ‘get to’. ha ha
[20:48] <In Media Res> well, I think clearly, I’m in the scene with the other founder of our supergroup, Commodore Commendable
[20:48] <The Fane> And it’s Tax Time!
[20:48] <Echo> http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/674/play2sf0.jpg
[20:49] <Echo> Okay! So set it up. 🙂
[20:49] <The Fane> You don’t have to accept my Tax thing. I am doing my inevitable interrupting.
[20:50] <Kafkaesque> tax?
[20:50] <Kafkaesque> oh
[20:53] <In Media Res> I took the Tax suggestion, but in a different way than you intended
[20:55] <In Media Res> I really hope that, at some point, her former teammate doesn’t say something like “It’s good that you made me hear you” and thus negates that ability. *hint hint*

[20:49] *
[20:52] Media looks across the table at her companion, and takes another sip of her latte. She is dressed in her street clothes from her day job – as an auditor for the IRS. Her posture suggests that she is relaxed and comfortable, but her face shows a different picture – that of a woman waiting to run away at any moment.
[20:52] “So, the reunion is next week,” she says. “You going?”
[20:53] * Commodore Commendable sniffs the air, and makes a face. “Of course. I mean, I have to be, really. It’s the done thing.”
[20:54] “I say, could you turn that down? You must be going deaf with that blaring in your ears all the time.”
[20:55] “What?” Media sighs. She considers turning the headphones down, and makes a face. She doesn’t want to be caught unprepared. Nobody’s thought of it yet, so she snaps her fingers – and gives herself the ability to hear her former teammate. “Say again?”
[20:56] “Come to think of it, can’t you just give yourself the ability to hear me… oh.”
[20:57] * Commodore Commendable sighs.

[20:56] <In Media Res> but not immediately

[20:56] <Commodore Commendable> oops
[20:56] <Commodore Commendable> hahaha
[20:56] <Echo> The idea, especially with the one-sided relationship mechanic, is that every scene is about the person whose turn it is
[20:56] <In Media Res> hee
[20:56] <Commodore Commendable> I totally didn’t read this channel!
[20:56] <Commodore Commendable> I just really though that the commodore is probably always doing that
[20:56] <In Media Res> yeah, I was expecting that too

[20:57] * In Media Res glares at the Commodore. “Goddamnit, you Commie,” she says, using the nickname that he could never shake in the press. “You’ve got to stop doing that.” She rolls her eyes and takes out ONE earbud. The other one still blares in her ear.
[21:03] * Commodore Commendable looks pained at the old name.
[21:04] “Sorry, old girl, I just always forget, you know.”
[21:06] She grabs some chocolate covered coffee beans from a bag and pops them in her mouth. “I’d blame it on your age, but you were like that when we were kids.” She grins. “How IS retirement treating you?”
[21:09] * Commodore Commendable chuckles. “People like us never really retire, old girl. There’s always some new danger around the corner. Old enemies…. or new ones.”
[21:10] “It makes one wish one had a sixth sense for danger.”

[20:58] <In Media Res> I think we’ve been around since the Red Scares in the 50s. but I could be wrong.
[20:58] <The Fane> Heh.
[20:58] <Echo> Hee.
[20:59] <In Media Res> we being at least commie and me. dunno about the rest of you
[20:59] * The Fane wants to have a flashback HUAC interview now.
[20:59] <In Media Res> I have in my hands proof that you, Media, can fly.
[20:59] <In Media Res> “Um, not anymore.”
[20:59] <In Media Res> “Prove it!”
[21:00] <Kafkaesque> “my special power is not-flying.”
[21:00] <Kafkaesque> “Not flying? I’ve never heard that one before… hey where’d you go?”
[21:03] <In Media Res> I’m totally picturing, btw, Media as a young lass. She doesn’t age (or at least, doesn’t when nobody is looking)
[21:04] <The Flame of Justice> or when nobody mentions it
[21:04] <The Flame of Justice> “wow it’s like you have the power to never age”
[21:05] <In Media Res> heh
[21:08] <Kafkaesque> i see we’re retired!
[21:08] <In Media Res> or at least, commodore is
[21:08] <In Media Res> I’m picturing we’re founding members, and thus the oldest

[21:10] “Don’t go saying that,” she says. “It might come true.” She darts her head around the coffee shop, half-expecting some old, or new, enemy to show up immediately.
[21:14] “Hah! No, none of that here, old girl. Unless they’re invisible or something.”
[21:15] “Damnit!” She looks around, trying every variation on ‘look invisible’ she can imagine. “Okay, we’re safe. Now SHUT UP about it.” She shakes her head. “Back to the reunion. Are you bringing anyone?”
[21:16] * Commodore Commendable looks pained again. “Oh, no, I shouldn’t think so.” He coughs. “Just me. And hopefully, all of our little team.” He smiles at her.
[21:17] * Commodore Commendable , while smiling, nudges his coffee with his elbow and it spills in his lap.
[21:18] “Oh damn! And everything shows up on avocado, too.” He dabs himself, miserably, and gives his companion an appraising look. “Say, you couldn’t magically clean away the stain, could you?”
[21:19] * In Media Res snorts, gives him a look of total exasperation, then puts the iPod headphone back in.
[21:19] ***

[21:10] <In Media Res> you know, I’m about thinking that the iPod is not her dysfunction after all
[21:10] <In Media Res> I’m thinking what I narrated just now is her actual dysfunction
[21:11] <In Media Res> a superstition about things being said in general
[21:11] <Echo> That works
[21:12] <In Media Res> and perhaps a suggestion in there too: dysfunctions are not /settled/ until the end of the first scene
[21:13] <Echo> Yeah, one of the guys at the Forge suggested that too
[21:13] <In Media Res> well, now I’m illustrating a situation wherein it makes sense
[21:17] <In Media Res> are we working towards a goal, in this scene? a mechanical event, perhaps?
[21:18] <Echo> The only goal in these scenes is to reveal your Oddity and Dysfunction
[21:18] <Echo> So scenes tend to be short, like on TV
[21:18] <In Media Res> then let’s end it with the lap spill
[21:18] <Echo> Later scenes have more to navigate
[21:18] <Echo> Okay! Scene

Scene 2

[21:18] <Echo> Commodore, what’s your Dysfunction and where do you want to put it
[21:19] <Commodore Commendable> ok, my dysfunction is that I can’t get too close too anyone (I find their odour overwhelming)
[21:19] <Echo> What spot?
[21:20] <Commodore Commendable> 5, at random
[21:20] <Echo> Okay! Frame your scene?
[21:21] <Commodore Commendable> hee, ok
[21:21] <Echo> http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/2550/play3ev3.jpg
[21:21] <In Media Res> have we changed my dysfunction to superstitious about words?
[21:21] <In Media Res> yay
[21:21] <Commodore Commendable> well, let’s have the whole cast, and we can start the reunion now
[21:21] <Commodore Commendable> it’ll give me a chance to fail at shaking everyone’s hand
[21:21] <Commodore Commendable> and probably run screaming from kafkaesque
[21:21] <Echo> ha
[21:22] <Echo> Okay, set it up!

[21:23] The banner hangs a little limply across the room, but the red poster paint came out very smartly, all things considered. Not bad for $5.99 and a few hours work, even if the smell did remind him of the time they had to face Urine Man.
[21:25] * Kafkaesque conceals himself in the shadows beneath the banquet table, such as it is. Crumbs, at least, are not scarce.
[21:26] * Echo is sitting on a tall stool in the front of the room with a guitar, doing flawless covers of songs by sad girls with guitars. It was cheaper than hiring a DJ.
[21:27] The banner reads “Welcome Confederacy of Jursiprudence!!”
[21:29] * Echo finishes her song and goes to get some punch. “Commodore! Good to see you!” Echo moves in for a hug, stops, steps back, and extends a hand for him to shake. “Sorry, um, I’m wearing purfume.”
[21:29] * The Flame of Justice looks like someone who wants to be anywhere else. He crinkles his nose “Why am I reminded of Urine Man?”
[21:29] * Commodore Commendable gasps for air “I.. .noticed.”
[21:29] * Echo winces. “I.. forgot?”

[21:23] <The Fane> Man.
[21:23] <The Fane> THAT’S an archnemesis.
[21:24] <Commodore Commendable> he was a man
[21:24] <Commodore Commendable> composed of URINE
[21:24] <The Fane> And ammoniacal laughter.
[21:24] <Commodore Commendable> oh gods
[21:24] <The Fane> Your super-hearing may pick up a rim shot in the distance.
[21:24] <Echo> hahahaha
[21:24] <Commodore Commendable> now you’re reminding me of when we had to take down the Punster
[21:24] <Echo> HAHHAHA
[21:25] <Kafkaesque> hahaha
[21:25] <The Fane> Man
[21:25] <The Fane> We don’t even need a threat
[21:25] <The Fane> This could be all flashbacks.
[21:25] <In Media Res> if so, we need a huac meeting
[21:25] <The Fane> Talking to the new guys about that time we put MechaCarthy into orbit.
[21:25] <Commodore Commendable> ok, so I think this ould be like “the Confederacy of Abstract Noun”
[21:25] <In Media Res> mechacarthy
[21:25] * In Media Res laughs
[21:26] <Kafkaesque> hahaha
[21:27] <Kafkaesque> hahaha sad girls with guitars
[21:27] <Echo> hahaha
[21:27] <Echo> Picture Fred from Angel only with emo glasses
[21:28] <The Fane> I’m assuming intentional typo.
[21:28] <Commodore Commendable> absolloutely
[21:28] <Commodore Commendable> also intentional extra exclamation mark
[21:28] <Commodore Commendable> I imagine he was like
[21:28] <Commodore Commendable> “no, three would look to silly”
[21:29] <The Fane> Heh.
[21:30] <Echo> hahaha Fane
[21:31] <The Fane> By the end of the night.
[21:31] <The Fane> Hopefully there are young Jurisprudence members here?
[21:31] <The Fane> I will have used the line “wanna go back to my place?”

[21:30] * The Fane pops into existence near the buffet, already arched greedily over some deviled eggs.
[21:30] He coughs in an embarrased manner as he draws back. “Um, yes Flames, it is a little pungent. Bargain, though. I still have twenty cans left in the back of my van.”
[21:30] * The Flame of Justice frowns “Good. I thought I had burned my sense of smell out again.”
[21:31] “So! How about some party games, fellows!”
[21:31] “I brought Scrabble!”
[21:32] * Commodore Commendable beams at the assembly.
[21:32] * The Fane approaches. “Fun! I’ll play on one condition.”
[21:32] * Kafkaesque sticks out one of his arms and scrabbles around on the table, grabs a pretzel, and his appendage disappears back under the tablecloth.
[21:32] “Hey, Media– why don’t you take the power of cheating at games?” She flashes a grin.
[21:32] ((cut my last line since Echo stole my thunder))
[21:34] * The Fane walks up, “Hey, compatriots,” he says perkily. Then he looks down, frowns, and pops out of existence.
[21:35] * The Fane pops back into existence almost immediately after in the same spot, now with his fly up.
[21:35] * The Flame of Justice thinks about setting the banner on fire, but figures the smell would only get worse.
[21:35] “Agreed, then? I’ll go get the tiles!”
[21:36] ***

[21:32] <Commodore Commendable> ABILITY TO REMEMBER WORDS
[21:32] <Echo> hahahaha
[21:33] <The Fane> Echo, you have to learn the power of the setup.
[21:33] <Echo> Stealing thunder is MY superpower
[21:33] <Echo> Not Echo’s, mine.
[21:33] <In Media Res> I think that WAS the setup
[21:33] <In Media Res> you set it up, Echo took it
[21:33] <Commodore Commendable> yeah
[21:34] <Commodore Commendable> I think it would be funny if the fane just like, stood there in character, his thunder stolen
[21:34] <Commodore Commendable> don’t cut the line 🙂
[21:34] <Echo> Not purposely, but yeah. I should read while I type 🙂
[21:34] <Commodore Commendable> anyways, um
[21:34] <In Media Res> that would be an amusing power though – the ability to edit your lines, after you say them
[21:34] <Commodore Commendable> I am done with what I wanted to achieve with the scene, so let’s keep the train moving
[21:35] <Echo> Okay, scene
[21:35] <Commodore Commendable> scene!
[21:36] <The Fane> More of a cut, maybe?
[21:36] <Commodore Commendable> yup
[21:36] <Commodore Commendable> it’s like
[21:36] <The Fane> Right.
[21:36] <Commodore Commendable> the next scene could be immediately after or whatev
[21:36] <Commodore Commendable> just, mechaincally speaking, get to the next person’s dysfunc

Scene 3

[21:36] <Echo> I’m thinking new scene will be dinner– after the scrabble game
[21:37] <Echo> Echo’s dysfunction is that she’s shy– because she has no voice of her own, she’s painfully aware that whatever voice she’s speaking with is not her
[21:38] <Echo> I’m also crossing Media and hitting box 6
[21:38] <Commodore Commendable> remind me, what was the rule we were using about the first time through?
[21:38] <Echo> You don’t have to cross or touch if you don’t want to
[21:39] <Commodore Commendable> I did that entirely inadvertently
[21:39] <Kafkaesque> can you link the board again
[21:39] <Echo> http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7919/play4ur2.jpg
[21:40] <The Fane> Is anyone here other than us PCs?
[21:40] <Commodore Commendable> I love this little vibe we have going on where it’s all so sad and pitiful
[21:40] <Commodore Commendable> we shuld be like, in one of our mom’s basements.
[21:40] <Echo> hahaha
[21:40] <Echo> Okay, so, dinner.
[21:40] <The Fane> Nah, we’ve got /some/ money. Holiday Inn works.
[21:41] <Commodore Commendable> we only have money so long as no-one mentions it
[21:41] <The Fane> So, /is/ there anyone here other than us PCs?
[21:42] <Echo> Do you want there to be?
[21:42] <Echo> There’s no GM
[21:42] <Commodore Commendable> go ahead and narrate a sidekick or whatever if you want
[21:42] <The Fane> Younger team members, I assumed.
[21:42] <The Fane> Not just like, class of ’87.
[21:42] <Commodore Commendable> I’d probably have had one. Noteworthy Boy or something
[21:43] <Commodore Commendable> who is probably now in his thirties and a stockbroker.
[21:44] <The Flame of Justice> he had the power to point important things out
[21:44] <In Media Res> noteworthy boy? I just audited him.
[21:44] <Commodore Commendable> that’s pretty much what they do anyway
[21:44] <In Media Res> it works well in stock trading
[21:44] <Commodore Commendable> all “watch out, Radioactive Man”
[21:44] <In Media Res> “hey, that’s an important stock!”
[21:48] <Echo> hahahaha

[21:41] The formerly-formidable league of superheroes sits at a rented round table with a paper tablecloth, eating reheated chicken cordon bleu and reminiscing about their past exploits.
[21:44] * Echo clears her throat uncomfortably. “So um, what’s the Urine Man deal? I think that was a couple months before I joined.” She blushes bright red.
[21:45] * The Fane is in the background, talking to a younger member. “Look, all I’m saying is that ‘drest’ is a word! It should’ve counted!”
[21:45] “I try not to recall it, really. I had to buy an entirely new uniform.”
[21:46] “Oh, my.”
[21:46] * The Flame of Justice coughs “The smell was bad. Especially when he was scared.”
[21:46] * The Fane catches up to the conversation. “Urine Man? That was before my time.”
[21:46] * The Fane looks embarassed.
[21:46] * Commodore Commendable nods at Flames. “Yes, he was rather yellow.”
[21:47] * Echo flashes a reassuring smile to Fane, starts to laugh at the Commodore’s joke, and stops in delicate coughing.
[21:48] * The Flame of Justice shudders “He still was better than that idiot, Pantsless Man.”
[21:48] * Commodore Commendable looks about in suprise. “Oh, did I say something funny?” His lips move for a bit. “Oh yes! I see. Hahaha, how devilish of me!”
[21:48] “I always felt bad about Pantsless Man. If we’d accepted his application, he might not have held Akron hostage.”
[21:48] “Oh, please. I was trapped in a dungeon for three months with the ConquistaDoor.”
[21:49] * Echo smiles, content to listen, and looks obviously relieved.
[21:50] “Oh yes, he was tiresome fellow. I saw him the other day, you know, buying groceries. A bit creaky round the hinges, but otherwise in fine fettle.”
[21:50] “You were amazing, with Pantless Man,” she offers awkwardly and quietly to Media. “It was really inspirational.”
[21:51] * The Fane rolls his eyes. “Fettle. Drest doesn’t count, but fettle…” he murmurs.
[21:52] “Still,” she says. “I could have done better. I should have done better.” A tear rolls from her cheek, unbidden.
[21:52] * Echo squeezes her shoulder comfortingly.

[21:49] <The Fane> Damn.
[21:49] <The Fane> You’re verging on Giles-level Britishness.
[21:50] <The Fane> Do the little glass-clinking sound 😀
[21:51] <Commodore Commendable> making up ludicrosuly lame supervillians is endless fun
[21:51] <Echo> She wants to be Media when she grows up!
[21:51] <Commodore Commendable> “You were amazing, with Pantless Man,”
[21:51] <Echo> Media can respond and we can close to Char’s scene
[21:51] <Commodore Commendable> I BET SHE WAS
[21:51] <Echo> hahaha
[21:51] <Commodore Commendable> NUDGE NUDGE WINK WINK
[21:51] <Echo> THAT’S WHAT HE SAID
[21:52] <Kafkaesque> can we skip me? I’m not sure I’m up to thinking of a scene
[21:52] <Echo> hahaha
[21:52] <The Fane> Sub(DOI-OI-OI-OI-OING)tle.
[21:52] <Echo> Fane is winning me over with his Scrabble grumping
[21:53] <The Fane> Kafka, you skipping?
[21:53] <Commodore Commendable> so what’s the echo/media relationship being declared as?
[21:53] <The Fane> Oh, forgot about that.
[21:53] <Echo> <Echo> She wants to be Media when she grows up!
[21:53] <The Fane> Ah.
[21:53] <Commodore Commendable> awww
[21:53] <Echo> Next scene!
[21:54] <Commodore Commendable> wonderful! next scene!