LNH20: A Drop of Blood

Yuki Kuran yukikurancross1 at gmail.com
Sun Mar 18 15:06:53 PDT 2012


On Mar 15, 12:11 pm, Andrew Perron <pwer... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Oooooh, awesome!  So... what do you call this?
>
> On Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:51:43 +0000 (UTC), Adrian J. McClure wrote:
> > Doc Nostalgia looked out at him from across the conference table.
> > "Motion denied! Not only did she take a life--"
>
> > "In self-defense," said Kid Enthusiastic. "By that standard you'd have
> > to throw out everyone who used to work for Pla.net.ary investiations,
> > except me."
>
> > "He's right," said Fearless Leader, a note of regret in his voice. He
> > idly touched the dial on the side of his ray gun. He'd never had to
> > set it on "kill" for as long as the LNH had been around, but the
> > setting was still there if he needed it.
>
> I really like the idea that the world is getting less grim-and-gritty as we
> move away from The Killfile.
>
> > "I don't mean a vampire. She's something even worse than that--a Mary
> > Sue!"
>
> GASP!  Them's fighting words!
>
> > Kid Enthusiastic leaned forward and glared at Fearless Leader. "No she
> > isn't. She's an anime-inspired character. People have weird eyes in
> > anime all the time, and 'Emily Aria Kyjoi' is a perfectly normal name
> > compared to 'Allelujah Haptism.' And--and yeah, 'Kyjoi' isn't really
> > Japanese, but anime always gives foreign characters names like
> > 'Quillsh Wammy.'
>
> It's a good point!
>
> > And it doesn¢t matter if she--how we're connected,
> > because this setting's only been around for a few months--"
>
> > "Wait, what did you just say?" said Fearless Leader.
>
> > "Never mind! I have no idea!'
>
> This is my new official policy for how Kid E-20's fourth-wall-breaking
> works. XD
>
> > The point is--" He jabbed a finger at Doc
> > Nostalgia, who flinched. "You're the biggest Gary Stu of them all!
> > You're the last survivor of your species, you're considered one of the
> > greatest heroes in the world, you used to be practically omnipotent,
> > you have that weird blue-black hair and you'll never be thrown off the
> > team and you'll always have a leadership position no matter how much
> > of a big mean jerk you are!"
>
> DOUBLE GASP!
>
> > "You wouldn't know. You can't feel anything." Fearless Leader gasped,
> > and Kid Enthusiastic immediately regretted it. "Oh crap, Felix, I'm
> > sorry. I don't know what came over me."
>
> Hmmmmm.  This is the only bit that really feels out of character to me; I
> don't think he's the kind of person who would lash out with insults, even
> when in the funkiest funk. (Which reminds me, I really do need to write Kid
> Enthusiastic Unlimited, to show how he *is* in the funkiest funk.) (And the
> "Doc N is a Gary Stu" thing doesn't count as insulting, just defensive of
> Emme. Is different.)
>
> > "I guess so." He walked out of the room, and January Frost followed
> > him. "I'm sorry, Kid Enthusiastic. I regret that she couldn't join the
> > LNH, but there are other ways I can help her, and other people who can
> > come to her aid if necessary."
>
> > "Yeah, I know. I just wish she could have found somewhere to belong."
>
> > "I myself longed to find the same thing for much of my life. It took
> > me quite some time, but perhaps I did. "
>
> Mmmmmmm. *nods*
>
> > So he was going to spend the rest of the
> > day wrestling with some ornery cyborg arms. Still, at least he could
> > be alone--
>
> > "Hi Kid!" said Professor Penumbra. Kid Enthusiastic almost jumped out
> > of his shoes.
>
> Heh heh heh heh.
>
> > "You OK? You look like you're feeling a little Claremonty."
>
> *snerk*
>
> > "Eh, I dunno." Kid Enthusiastic did his best to smile, the way he
> > almost always did, but he'd never been very good at faking it. "I'm
> > all right."
>
> Now *this* rings very true.
>
> > "It's a girl, isn't it?" He smiled gently. Kid Enthusiastic winced.
> > "Oh. It's Emme."
>
> As does this. <3
>
> > "Close enough. There was this guy... He was an old friend of mine from
> > the net before my adventuring days, and one day after I hadn't talked
> > to him in years he calls me out of the blue and tells me he's a
> > vampire and he needs my help to cure him. I helped him deal with a
> > couple of his enemies and spent some time looking for a cure. It
> > turned out we made a pretty good team, and we got pretty close." He
> > smiled ruefully. "But then one day he let himself get to hungry, broke
> > into my house after a fight and drank all the blood from my cat. We
> > had a fight, and I never saw him again."
>
> In~teresting.
>
> > "This wasn't the right environment for her. And you weren't the right
> > guy. It happens sometimes. The thing is, when I was younger I felt
> > lonely a lot of the time because I didn't have anywhere to belong or
> > anyone to belong to. I wanted someone to love me and help take my pain
> > away. But now I know that when you love someone, whether it's
> > friendship or romance or somewhere in between, you've still got your
> > own pain and you've got theirs too. It's like a wise man once said: no
> > two people are not on fire. If you really love someone and try to bear
> > their pain, sometimes that actually makes you stronger and sometimes
> > it doesn't. And that's not your fault or theirs or anyone else's,
> > that's just life."
>
> A strong thematic statement!
>
> > "But I don't know who else there would be for her. Or me. I mean, we
> > can't get any older. Then again, I guess that means we can't, uh, go
> > anywhere either. You know, I, uh..." He started blushing. "Generally I
> > feel pretty good about the fact that I'll never have anything to do
> > with, uh, that whole sex thing. It makes my life a lot simpler."
>
> I had a vague idea that he'd actually gotten aged up at one point and tried
> it (similar to how the Thing keeps getting turned human), but thinking
> about it, I prefer this way.
>
> > As if
> > on cue, Pantra walked by, muttering under her breath. Probably it was
> > because of a certain young ninja. Or because Fearless Leader had told
> > her again that she couldn't eat Cranium. Or... well, there were any
> > number of reasons Pantra could be angry, but Ultimate Mercenary was
> > certainly one of them.
>
> <3<
>
> > "But, well, I'm curious about everything, so
> > sometimes I feel a little sad I'll never know what that's like,
> > outside of those really creepy fanfics."
>
> > "Kid, you're kind of putting me in the Weird Zone right now."
>
> XD
>
> > "And I'm never going to have kids either, not even in an alternate
> > future story. Sometimes I feel a little sad about that too. But don't
> > tell anyone."
>
> Technically, he already has a kid!  Tori!
>
> > "I won't. And listen. You've got a family, and it's us. It's a total
> > cliche, I know, but it's still true.
>
> Awwwwww!
>
> > Note: I asked Lalo whether Professor Penumbra, like Weirdness Magnet
> > before him, was bisexual and he said he wasn't sure. As a result, I
> > wound up leaving his relationship with the guy who could very well be
> > Sparkly-Disturbed-Sexy-Vampire Man ambiguous. It makes sense if
> > Professor Penumbra is bisexual because part of his concept is that
> > he's a liminal figure, who crosses boundaries and defies easy
> > categorization. His origin mentions that he his mixed-race background
> > and sense of not fitting in drew him into the geek world and BBSes,
> > and "he was involved in every single one." He's both scientist and
> > mage. It's also expressed in his name. But by the same token it makes
> > sense that he'd sometimes wind up in relationships that are confusing
> > and hard to categorize, so I think this works.
>
> I just want to say, you're *really* good at using pre-established
> characters.  Dag, yo.
>
> Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, also, sent this along to Yuki, who
> liked it quite a bit!

yo. *smiles*


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