Lauren CW

After work she hurried home. She skipped the elevator, taking the stairs two by two. At the stairwell exit she finally slowed, creaking the door just a crack to peek down the hallway. Empty. She exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and entered her apartment. Music from her downstairs neighbors bled through the floor, a frequent sign that Erica was having one of her small parties. Sadie decided it might be a good idea to be not in her apartment that night. She crossed her bedroom straight to the nightstand, and removed a 9 millimetre Walther. It was short enough to conceal and draw with ease. She racked the slide, loading a round into the chamber. In the bathroom, she stashed the pistol underneath her towel and showered, paying special attention to her hair. Afterward, Sadie set about fixing her hair with a pair of scissors. Once she was satisfied, she slapped together a quick avocado and cream cheese bagel and gulped down a yogurt cup. A glance at the stove told her it was just after 5pm. She tucked her pistol in the back of her freshly donned jeans, and removed a bottle of vodka from her liquor cabinet. Sadie grabbed her leather jacket and left her apartment for the second time that day. As she approached the door to Erica's apartment, the music grew louder. After nearly a minute, she gave up on knocking and opened the door.

Give up NAO. That game is seriously terrifying. I couldn't get more than an hour into it. When you look at monsters, you lose sanity. In order to evade them, you have to hide and put out your light. Sitting in a corner in the dark, you also lose sanity. And you NEVER get a weapon. I picked up a broom and carried it with me the whole first section, in the hopes that if something popped up I could swing my mouse down really fast and hit it with the broom. Then I got to that first section change and my broom was GONE. Also stay out of water.

A minute later, she leaned back against the locked door to Helter Skelter. Sadie's heart was pounding in her chest. She wiped the cold sweat from her brow and exhaled long and slow. Her hyperventillating began to ease up and she snapped into action. Immediately after dropping the would-be robber, she had wiped down the gun with a napkin, ignoring the astonished looks of the patrons. Liz was already on the phone with the police. Her coffee-cup, muffin wrapper, newspaper, napkins she had used... All of them she threw into a small metal wastebin and lit them on fire with her cigarette lighter. "W-we just had an attempted robbery down here at Jitterfix Java. Y-yes, on 42nd street. The man is unconscious-" At this point, Sadie had slammed down the reciever using a rag. "You subdued him. Not me. I was never here. When he showed you his gun you threw the coffee in his face and slammed his head into the counter." Sadie's emerald eyes locked first onto Liz's, then appraised the other customers. Her face was a silent plea begging them to go along with her story. But she was out of time. Inside the record store, she flipped her shirt inside out. Grabbing a pair of scissors from behind the counter, Sadie began cutting away at her skirt, removing the frills. Her stockings, she rolled all the way down to her shoes. For a finishing touch, she grabbed a jar of polish and went to the restroom. One quick snip and her ponytail was a memory. She wetted down her hair. Next, a liberal application of the polish to her hair and she spiked it in the back. Sadie could hear the sirens wailing as the police arrived. A glance in the mirror showed her transformation complete; Sadie now had (mostly) black hair that looked like a highschool teen's first home-made dye job, a simple short skirt and a plain black t-shirt. That should be enough for her to check out the scene from a distance without being recognized. She grabbed a cigarette from her leather jacket which she had left behind the counter and exited through the front door, the bored expression from earlier that morning returning. Outside, Sadie lit her cigarette and crossed the street, looking down the block. The police pulled the unconscious man out to their vehicle. They questioned first Liz, then the customers just outside the door of the coffee shop. After a few minutes of this, the police drove away with their captive, and more importantly, without any signs of a search for Sadie. She stubbed out her cigarette and stepped back inside the record store. Her pulse had finally slowed back down to acceptable levels, and she went back to the restroom to wash as much of the polish out of her hair as she could. She flipped her shirt back around and pulled up her stockings, and lamented the loss of a good skirt the rest of her day at work. Okay, kids! This story now has a working title. It's called Tidal Generators and Paper Cuts. Any slacking this week has been due to my writing computer's monitor and mouse simultaneously giving out, getting stranded in this heat when my friend's radiator blew up, and an interview. And now, back to your regularly scheduled adventures with Sadie! What will she do next, kids?! Note: In an effort to not go insane, I'm going to update every OTHER day instead of daily.

Oh my... That is wonderful! I would definitely hang that in a frame in my bathroom, where guests can read it while they sit on the toilet. That is supposed to say more about my sense of humour than your writing though. At first the Early Modern English bit threw me off, but I couldn't find any mistakes in it. Well done!

I am not sure I'll be able to update today either (I promise I'm not abandoning it!!!), I'm doing some research. I am also trying to lay out background world information in my head, such as how advanced I need technology to be to write a story in this time-period. I'm trying to use somewhere between late PL5 and EARLY PL6 as a reference. Click to reveal.. PL 5: INFORMATION AGE The Industrial Age relied on chemical power, but in the Information Age, computer technology and electronics rule supreme. Satellite information systems and the Internet connect the globe digitally. This Progress Level also sees the introduction of fission power and weapons reducing the importance of fossil fuels. The automobile replaces the locomotive as the common form of travel. The first steps toward space travel involve massive chemical rockets, unmanned probes and satellites, and short-term manned missions. The technology of the era allows greater citizen participation in government. The emergence of international alliances begins to dissolve borders between nations. Corporations gather power and begin to threaten government authority. Technology has a greater effect on individual lifestyles than on society as a whole. Most weapons at this time are refined versions of Industrial Age equipment. Rifles, machine guns, and heavy howitzers are still used by the world’s soldiers. Computerized targeting systems and guided weapons make warfare much more precise and efficient. Strategic weapons, tested but never used, exhibit the species’ power to exterminate itself in minutes. Humanity experienced its Information Age as anxious years full of minor crises. The tension gradually alleviates through the age, and as the era ends new superpowers form. PL 6: FUSION AGE The development of fusion power provides an efficient, nonexpendable energy source that almost obliterates the need for chemical fuel sources. Advanced space exploration and colonization become possible. Computers become even more accessible, reliable, and powerful, leading to the development of virtual systems and widespread access to the global Internet. Slowly, society experiences another revolution as individual nations are replaced by world powers. Megacorporations number among these new superpowers as the line between the national citizen and corporate employee is rendered indistinct. Armed with the means to eradicate the entire species, the world powers keep conflicts to the level of skirmishing and posturing, and integration of the Information Age’s improvements proceed peacefully. Scientific advanced in genetic engineering lead to artificial evolution and the first government- and corporate-sanctioned attempts to genetically manipulate human beings. Early results are encouraging, with the manifestation of positive and negative mutations in the species toward the end of the age. Scientists also perfect cloning technology, and the first human clones are created. In the later years of this age, the first crude applications of gravity induction technology appear, in the form of civilian and military vehicles that can move through the air without using physical propulsion or consumption of fuel. Chemical-powered explosives and firearms remain the weapons of choice; fusion technology can’t be effectively miniaturized for personal combat. Nevertheless, advanced chemistry and superconducting technology change the materials and capabilities of many weapons. True spaceships become possible, propelled by powerful fusion drives, but still require a reaction mass to traverse space. The age sees the tenuous settlement of other planets and asteroids within the same star system.

Is anyone else interested in this? No one else is posting anything, and I feel like I'm just bumping a dead thread. Since I am updating mine elsewhere as well, I would rather not do that.

When her order was up, Sadie walked to the counter to pick up her Latte. "Thanks... Liz." She said with an awkward pause, making a show of reading the nametag. Sadie gave another smile and left a generous tip, returning to her table latte in hand. She began to set in to her muffin, washing down bites with what was a surprisingly good coffee. About halfway through her meal, another customer walked in the door and up to the counter. He was about 5'11" and wore a baggy grey hooded sweatshirt. A scraggly beard and sunglasses covered most of his face, but he looked to be in his late 20's. Something about his movement and appearance set off an instinctual warning cry in Sadie's head, and she kept the main focus of her attention on him through her peripheral vision. He handed a note to Liz and adjusted his sweatshirt, standing so his body was blocking the view of most of the counter. She paled visibly and nervously opened the cash register, withdrawing the money within. Sadie mentally sighed, set down her newspaper and muffin and grabbed her latte, removing the lid. She stood slowly and quietly and walked over to the counter. It was clearly a robbery, and she guessed that the gun was tucked in to the front of his pants covered by the sweatshirt. That was good. It meant he couldn't grab it right away. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think usually these transactions go the other way around. You hand her the money and she gives you a coffee." He turned and started to lift his sweatshirt, but she proved quicker. Reflexes from a lifetime ago before "Sadie" existed snapped into play. She splashed him in the face with her hot latte, angling it up under his shades, and dropped the cup at the same time her knee shot into his groin. He yelled in agony and groped blindly for his gun. Again, she proved quicker. With her free hand she reached in and drew his gun and ejecting the clip onto the floor with one fluid movement. She checked the chamber by racking the slide back, but nothing flew out. Reversing her grip on the pistol, she gave him a crack on the head with it, dropping him like a sack of rocks. The entire exchange happened in under 3 seconds.

That's disgusting. It's like being the director of Harry Potter and saying you didn't like the part where Snape kills Dumbledore so you just leave that out. Well, it's half like that, given that part is a major plot factor whereas Tom Bombadil is more of a Middle-Earth Lore bit. But still!

They had three extended cut Lord of the Rings and somehow still forgot Tom Bombadil entirely. If they forget ANYTHING from the Hobbit, with 3 movies, I will be forced to hunt down Peter Jackson and tar and feather him, chasing him out of the movie-making business for good. End communication.

Holy crap. It happened to me. It listed the Miscellaneous: Northern Isles stuff as all unread, but everything else is listed as read for me now, despite there being at least like 4 posts in the image thread that I had not seen.

Despite being one of only 3 record stores on planet, it was a fairly slow day. Only 8 customers came in in the first 4 hours, so she felt justified in closing the shop to take a half hour lunch. Sadie stepped outside, locking the door and flipping the sign back to "Closed" and lit another smoke, considering where to go. There was a pasta shop a few blocks to the north, but it was a bit of a walk and she did not want to have to wait for her lunch. Not only was she starting to get hungry, but she also didn't want to leave the store closed for so long. So she decided to head over to the new coffee shop between the store and her apartment. The sign above the entrance read Jitterfix, and promised to give you reason to wake up in the morning. She stubbed out her cigarette and stepped inside, her eyes casually sweeping the store. There were 3 customers inside scattered amongst the tables, and two stands in front of the counter with assorted beans from off-world. Sadie stepped up to the counter, giving the pretty brunette at the register a smile before looking through the glass screen and selecting a particularly tasty looking coffeecake crumble muffin and ordering a latte. After paying the $4.65 with a 5-note, she took a seat near the counter where she had a clear view of the door and the other customers. She snatched up a newspaper from a stack near the straws, sugars, creamers, lids, and assorted other things one could use to ruin a good black coffee, and began to pretend to read it. Meanwhile, she eavesdropped on the couple nearby who were talking about "Blah blah blah vacation blah blah blah kids..." Boring. She snuck a glance at the brunette, who's nametag so helpfully labelled "Liz", who was now making her latte, and decided she would have to start coming here more often.

Even after 20 years, some people still used the landing containers in which the first colonists arrived instead of the buildings whose construction had begun after the terraforming project was deemed successful. They looked like large cargo shipping containers with collapsible steel ramps on either side. The containers had their own generators build into the backs of them, which were initially used to power their pressure systems, oxygen recyclers, and water mixers, among more basic things such as lighting and any electrical appliances housed within. Her boss, Mr. Dickson, used 2 of these containers connected together with the inner walls removed to house his record store, Helter Skelter. She walked the two blocks down the street in her usual early morning daze to the store, passing by a new coffee shop she had been meaning to try out. The girl paid no mind to the rovers driving down the dusty dirt "road" as she fished in her jacket pocket for her phone and cigarettes, hoping. 0755. Yes, that was enough time for a quick smoke before opening the store for the day. She lit up, blocking out everything in the world but herself and her cigarette and the slight breeze from the passing rovers. Afterward, she withdrew her keys from her pocket and opened up the door, turning the sign hanging in the window from "Closed" to "Open" and flipping on the lights. She crossed the room to the counter and reached behind it for a nametag that read "Sadie" and pinned it to her breast with an eyeroll. It took her 5 minutes of perusing the shelves and boxes on tables full of records to find one that suited her, placed it on the deck, and lowered the needle. The soothing twang of Johnny Cash's guitar filled her chest as she settled in behind the counter with a book and a bored expression for the day.

I might be able to dig up a few excercises from my writing classes in college. Most of them didn't have very specific prompts though.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzz- Her alarm stopped when one of her eyes slowly crept open and a lazy arm snaked out from under the covers to put her hand on her mobile. She spent another 5 minutes mentally preparing herself for her morning routine, determining whether she was going to eat breakfast after her shower or skip the eggs and toast in favour of spending a little extra time in the bathroom making herself pretty. Reviewing her plans for the day, she decided that she could afford the breakfast. It wasn't like she planned on seeing anyone that she knew, other than the few brief moments when her coworker begun his shift at the record store and hers ended. So she slowly reached her legs out from under her comforter allowing the sudden cold to help shock her awake. After stretching like a cat for a moment, she meandered towards the bathroom slowly stepping out of her panties and tossing them in the clothes hamper by the door. Her shower took the same 10 minutes as always, and when she stepped out she took a moment to towel-dry her fairly short blonde hair. Back in her bedroom, she pulled out of the dresser the outfit she had planned to wear during her shower; Thigh high striped black and white stockings, a frilly black and purple short skirt, and a black t-shirt featuring a cartoon skeleton wielding a knife chasing a terrified child. The girl nodded in satisfaction at the sight of the outfit laid out on her bed, then got dressed after slipping into a fresh set of underwear. She crossed her bedroom into her kitchen, glancing in dismay at the stack of dishes that was mounting in the sink. It wasn't that she was lazy, but living alone didn't dirty nearly enough dishes at a time to run a full load in the dishwasher. 'After I get back, I'll run the dishes regardless...' she resolved. The girl stooped to pull a pan out of the drawer underneath the stove, flipped on the burner, and filled the pan with 2 eggs from the fridge. She let them cook while she put some whole-wheat bread in the toaster, found her purple tennis-shoes, and put a shock of her blonde hair in a ponytail now that it was mostly dried. Another 10 minutes and she had finished her breakfast. The girl returned to the bathroom one last time to brush her teeth, and then gathered her phone, wallet, and keys from her wooden nightstand. She then donned her leather jacket hanging next to the door, checked to make sure her lights were all flipped off and locked the door as she left.

Here we have number 19, Slowbrowen. The mystery has been solved. Do I get a prize for finding it first?

Never thought a topic about Dinosaurs would make me laugh so hard. Feel like a total badass because Dinosaurs are awesome therefor talking about them makes you awesome, yes.

@Trent, using something else to welcome people would break longstanding tradition. It would be like performing winter wrap-up in Ponyville using magic.

Originally Posted By: Jerakeen Not to worry, the proprieties had already been observed.

6 posts in before the traditional welcome. Slarty even welcomed him WITHOUT it. I don't know if that's a testament to the quality of his post distracting people, or y'all are just slipping...

I only know 1 brony IRL. And I live in WASHINGTON. What is this. The rest of my friends refuse to watch it unless they are on halucinogens. But I would be very interested in a study like that.

Silly Trenton, everypony is best pony. Followed closely by OctyScratch. @Sylae: Seconded. This is now a pony thread.

IN all manner of my use of the boards, over 8 years, this has never once happened to me, on Firefox, IE, Chrome, Mozilla etc...

That's why I didn't post here... Oh fuuu-

Favourite Comic: Sin City. Favourite Musician/Band: The Killers/Cake/Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Favourite Prose Writer: Tough one... Probably Michael Crichton. Favourite Poet: Jeffrey McDaniels Favourite Playwright: I actually honestly really like every Shakespeare I have seen. Can't say that about any others. Favourite Filmmaker: Tarantino/Rodriguez. Favourite Philosopher: Philosoraptor. Or Jesus. Other Category: Steven Moffat. Everyone else's answers make me feel like an uncultured swine.

Questionable Content. Followed by Girl Genius.