500 Words On Two Movies

500 Words On Two Movies — Blue Ink Alchemy

I missed yesterday's review for several reasons. So let me break down the double-feature I did today in about 500 words. Including those last 20. Consider this a flash review. Robocop (2014) My initial reaction? "Meh." It wasn't terrible, by any stretch, but I wasn't blown away by it. I liked some of the things they did with the concept, to be sure. There were moments that really brought home the horror of what happened to Murphy and what was done to him after. A great deal of time is spent on Murphy's recovery, family, and impact on the future society. However, a lot of the film feels overly long and drawn out. As fun as it is to see Samuel L. Jackson channelling Bill O'Rielly, a few of his bits are a little long in the tooth. The same goes for several scenes of the Murphy family. On it's own, the movie feels a touch padded and slow. In comparison to the original 1987 film, this new version feels a great deal like it's missing the point. RoboCop's ultra-violence, quick cuts to vapid press coverage, and corporate interplay all contributed to its undercurrent of social satire. I understand that remakes involve changes, and not all of the changes were bad, but some left me with major unanswered questions. Why was Lewis gender-changed to male? Why was this story laid out so deliberately and linearly, when flashbacks of Murphy's emergent memories could have been a far more effective storytelling tool? Why was the only blood we really saw in the film coming from a kill at the end that means the victim will not be brought to justice? It's another case where a revision of an established character could have turned out a lot better than it did, but at least it wasn't as shameless as any of the previous RoboCop sequels, nor was it quite as dour or plodding as Man of Steel. The LEGO Movie I just got a haircut today, and the young lady doing me that service told me she had herself seen The LEGO Movie recently. She had expected the theatre to be full of kids - not all of the adults she found! From the sound of things, she really enjoyed seeing it. I told you that story because I really have nothing to say about The LEGO Movie that has not already been said in a thousand other places. The universal sentiment is that this film is pretty terrific, and I have no reason or desire to disagree! This is especially good for families. It's fun, inventive, creative, and you'll notice things on your second viewing you didn't see the first time. After seeing it again, I don't think the message is quite as strong as in Wreck-It Ralph. Then again, Wreck-It Ralph doesn't have the goddamn Batman. Honestly, the two films pretty much stand shoulder to shoulder. I'd recommend either very strongly to either parents with kids, or folks just wanting a great time at the movies.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

500 Words On Netrunner

500 Words On Netrunner — Blue Ink Alchemy

Art by Alexandra Douglass I find myself wondering: is this going to be a thing? I don't mean Netrunner, that is most definitely a thing. It's a thing I've fallen in love with all over again. I can't remember why I stopped playing the new iteration of Richard Garfield's cyberpunk asymmetrical card game of bluffs and gambles and deception and tactical thinking. I think it was due to a lack of local players. I don't know. I'm actually wondering if this 500-words-on-a-Friday thing I've done twice in a row now is going to be a thing. "Friday 500"? In lieu of full-length reviews? Time seems to be at a premium these days. I have things I'm planning for, work schedules to plow through, and other projects I'm trying to line up to get knocked down, but time always seems to slip through my fingers. I'm going to try and get back on track in a few ways in the next couple weeks so I'm not completely out of sorts when big changes start happening. Anyway, back to Netrunner. What's changed since the last time I rambled about it? Quite a bit. I mean, not mechanically - it's the same game of one player establishing large monolithic constructs full of juicy information (or deadly traps) while the other player pokes said constructs to extract the information and generally undermine all of those carefully laid plans. And it's still pretty damn fantastic. But now I've started going down the rabbit hole of Data Packs. Let me explain. Instead of randomized booster packs, Fantasy Flight releases 60-card 'Data Packs' on a regular schedule. There are 'cycles' of packs, all related thematically, with six packs per cycle that release each month for six months. Between cycles are larger expansions that focus on two identities - one Corp, one Runner. The interesting thing about these expansions is that each of them contains 3 copies of every card. You normally only have to buy one Data Pack to get the card you want, and you're certain to have enough to put into your next deck. It saves money in the long run and keeps the playing field nice and level. It also appeals to the part of my brain that loves putting decks together. The Core Set does not have the same distribution of cards, which is unfortunate, but I think another $30 for a second Core Set is a better investment than spending that much on a single card in Magic: the Gathering's somewhat cutthroat second-hand market. How good is this game? Quinns won't shut up about it. His friend Leigh loves it. Communities and subreddits remain abuzz about it. The competitive scene is going strong. This game is so good that my long-suffering wife, with a rather well-documented history of disliking games like Magic, plays it, and doesn't hate it. She's even gone so far as to buy me a copy of Neuromancer to help maintain my dystopian cyberpunk-y mood. It's a good game, and you should definitely play it.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Tabletalk: Strategies in Twilight Imperium

Tabletalk: Strategies in Twilight Imperium — Blue Ink Alchemy

The Strategy Cards, as compared to an ordinary Reference Paw. The galaxy is a dangerous place, Your Excellency, and it is always changing. With the Lazax Empire gone and so many leaders vying for power, the situation is as mutable as the stars themselves as they wheel in their courses. If you mean to prevail, you need to draw back from the tactical view and see the galaxy as a whole. You need to plan around and ahead of your opponents. You need the right strategy. Last week, we discussed the very basics of Twilight Imperium, in the form of Tactical and Transfer actions. But I also mentioned these large, trapezoidal cards that determine the order of play in a given round. These are Strategy cards, and they have a pretty large part to play as the game progresses. As previously discussed, you can activate your Strategy card when it's your turn instead of taking a Tactical action or using an appropriate Action Card. It does not have to be the first thing you do in the round. It is also worth noting that you cannot pass your turn until after you've activated your Strategy for the round. I'm going to go over the broad categories of each Strategy, and then highlight some specifics from the expansions. Note that most of these cards have primary and secondary abilities. While the primary ability usually applies entirely to the player using the Strategy, other players can use the Secondary ability, in clockwise order from the active player, usually by spending a Command Counter from their Strategy Allocation area. What follows is a breakdown of all 8 Strategies, what they do, and how you can benefit from taking the card in question.

1 - Initiative/Leadership

In most circumstances, the biggest benefit to taking this Strategy card is that it allows you to go first in the round. In the base game, Initiative lets you claim the Speaker token, which means you also go first when choosing the Strategy next round. It also saves you Command Counters when executing secondary abilities on other player's Strategy cards. Leadership, on the other hand, grants its user new Command Counters. The secondary ability lets all players spend Influence to pick up more, including the active player.

2 - Diplomacy

There are times when words are more powerful than weapons. Diplomacy allows the player to ease some of the pressure they may be feeling from their opponents in a direct fashion that does not involve combat. The basic game lets the player force a peace between themselves an opponent for a round, and allows the other players to refresh previously exhausted systems. The expansion's Diplomacy II instead allows the active player to establish a Demilitarized Zone for a round, marking a system so that NONE of their opponents can activate it. The card also allows for the peaceful annexation of an unoccupied system.

3 - Political/Assembly

Ah, politics. A process simultaneously more civilized and more vicious than warfare itself. In Twilight Imperium, there is a deck of Political Cards filled with agendas from bans on weapons research to dispensation of resources to another player. The basic Political Strategy lets the primary player manipulate the deck after they resolve the top card, as well as providing Action Cards and Command Counters. Assembly, on the other hand, offers the active player the choice of taking the Speaker token for themselves while naming another player to resolve an agenda, or resolving one of their own agendas while naming someone else as Speaker. This is also where players can refresh planets when using Assembly. And then, there's the option for Political Intrigue, which I will go into next week.

4 - Logistics/Production

Since the role of the Logistics card (providing Command Counters) is taken by the Leadership card in the expansion, we have Production instead. The active player gets to produce units at one of their space docks without activating the system. The secondary ability is similar, but limits production capacity. It's a very straightforward Strategy.

5 - Trade

The base game of Twilight Imperium and each of its expansions all have different versions of this Strategy. In all three of them, players negotiate to exchange Trade Agreements, and collect Trade Goods from those agreements to supplement their resources. The base game is a bit harsh in that players using that card's secondary ability must spend one of their precious Command Counters to get the goods. Shattered Empire does way with that portion of the card, and seems rather friendlier. Shards of the Throne includes Mercenaries in its Trade Strategy, and I'll give a primer on who they are and how they work next week.

6 - Warfare

War in Twilight Imperium is all about Tactical Actions, moving your fleets and armies into position for the perfect strike. The basic Strategy card lets you take back one of your Command Counters used for a Tactical Action, allowing you to use it again elsewhere, while secondary players can move some of their smaller ships. Shattered Empire instead introduces us to the High Alert token, a far more visible way to get your point across. Placing a system on High Alert means all ships in that system get bonuses to movement and space combat. The token can move with the fleet at the player's option, or it can remain there as a deterrent for any potential invaders. Secondarily, the improved Warfare Strategy lets players move ships, regardless of class but limited in number, without activating their destinations.

7 - Technology

This Strategy Card is how players expand the technological repertoire of their burgeoning empire. The card in Shattered Empire lets the primary player do so more quickly, while the secondary ability is cheaper for the other players. There is a simplified tech tree I'll make available to you, courtesy of someone over at Board Game Geek. You may find it useful for planning purposes.

8 - Imperial/Bureaucracy

Twilight Imperium is won by its Objective Cards. Some of them are Public Objectives anyone can claim if they meet the requirements, while others are Preliminary or Secret Objectives specific to the individual player. The Imperial strategy lets the active player reveal one of the Public Objectives, then grants them free Victory Points, while the secondary abilities allow for the production of units. Bureaucracy, on the other hand, grants no free Victory Points but instead lets the active player manipulate the Public Objectives, and lets them score one if they can, something not normally possible before the end of the round. This allows for more flexible and, arguably, more fair play, while keeping up the pace of the game. Which is important when the game takes up your entire day. With this knowledge, you are now prepared to play most of the game! All that remains is to break down some more specifics. Next Week: Getting The Most Out Of Your Minions - Leaders, Representatives, and Mercenaries

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Assembling Good Characters

Assembling Good Characters — Blue Ink Alchemy

I've now seen The LEGO Movie twice, and I loved it just as much the second time around, if not more. The composition and action are clever and inventive, the aesthetic is charming, the humor is genuinely funny, and the theme is something I can jam on. But a thought occurred to me that I was not expecting: There isn't a single character I don't like. The primary audience for the movie is going to be youngsters. As much as it's written at a level that parents can both grok the themes and laugh at the humor, it's basically a kid's movie. It would be terrifyingly easy for the writers to keep the heroes and villains simple, if not one-dimensional, to make sure there's no ambiguity or confusion on the part of the young audience. However, the writers of The LEGO Movie demonstrate a level of skill and an abundance of trust in their audience. The characters in their movie are nuanced and deeper that you might think. Emmett, our hero, has no real power or even imagination to speak of. What I like about his starting position and presentation is that you don't have to be born with some sort of special power or destiny to do the right thing or to be heroic. This comes to fruition in the end when he's talking to Lord Business about what it means to be special (or The Special if you want to get technical). Speaking of Lord Business, it's been a long time since I've sat in a family movie and realized that the antagonist is really only villainous in presentation. Sure, his methods for going about what he wants are pretty diabolical, especially in the visuals, but in the end, Business just wants things to be ordered and organized. This is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. He is driven to get what he wants to an extreme, and that extreme leads to some real scorched-earth moments, but the amplification of this desire for order comes from a place where such desire might seem terrifying. I won't say more because I still want to avoid spoilers (you really should go see this movie if you haven't already), but suffice it to say that what the writers do with the main villain really struck a chord with me. I mentioned that the message in The LEGO Movie isn't quite as strongly delivered as that from Wreck-It Ralph, but I'm not going to be too hard on a movie this inventive telling kids to be themselves. Again, Emmett is encouraged to cultivate what is special about himself. So too is Wyldstyle. What impressed me the second time around is how much the girl whose name sounds like a DJ's handle is struggling with her own identity. She's tied so much of her desires and ambitions into the quest that Emmett stumbles into that she seems to wrestle with who she is as opposed to who she wants to be. It's subtle, but the desire for definition of identity touches her as much it does any of the other characters. Last but not least I want to talk about Bad Cop. In addition to just loving hearing Liam Neeson voice this character (and Good Cop... and Dad Cop...), this is another character that easily could have been one-note: the primary hench-villain. The switching between Good Cop and Bad Cop could have just been an inventive little gimmick in a movie full of them. And yet here, again, we have a character who struggles to define who they are and who they want to be. At one point, Bad Cop says a line (again, spoilers) that indicates he's painfully aware of the better nature he could be following. He's in a position where he has orders to follow, prides himself in results, and does not give up in pursuit of a quarry, and yet as an officer of law, he wants to do the right thing, not necessarily just what he's told. Again, for what's ostensibly a kid's movie, this is pretty deep and interesting stuff. I could talk about this for a while, about how Benny's identity is perhaps the most one-note of them all yet he manages complexity of his own, or how Princess Unikitty's brave-face facade reflects those of kids trying to pretend everything is fine when things are anything but fine, but I think I've made my point. The LEGO Movie is not just a two-hour sales pitch for plastic building blocks; it is a story about finding what's special about one's self and completely embracing it, because that's how we make the best of ourselves for our own benefit and that of the world. For a family picture, one that could have skated by on pop culture references and physical humor, it's obvious to me that this tale of LEGOs and characters and realms and spaceships was very carefully assembled.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Walk That Mile

Walk That Mile — Blue Ink Alchemy

I'm looking back over my characters, both old and new. The ones I've just met definitely need to be fleshed out properly. Older ones that I already know could benefit from some tweaks here and there. But for all characters created in fiction, not unlike people I encounter in real life, walking a mile in their shoes yields incredible benefits. It can be difficult to get inside the mind of another person. Their background, upbringing, experiences and personality are unique to them, and create a very different reference point from which they approach life. Yet we are encouraged to 'walk a mile in their shoes', to imagine them as complexly as we imagine ourselves, in order to achieve some measure of understanding and, in so doing, make the world a better place to in which to live. Since writers are, for the most part, writing about people, it benefits the writer to walk that mile in their character's shoes. In some cases, this is actually more difficult than walking the mile in the aforementioned person's shoes. We can understand (to an extent) things like playing football or doing other people's taxes or fighting depression or falling in love. It's a little more difficult to wrap our minds around walking in space or riding a horse in pursuit of a dragon or surviving in a dystopian city of cybernetic nightmares. The focus, I think, should not be on the specifics of the experiences, but the emotions and thoughts involved. What scares the character? What motivates them to do what they do? What are their dreams? Who do they love, admire, despise, pity? What drove them to the choices they've made so far, and what will push them to make the choices that change your story? It can be difficult, but you definitely should walk that mile.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Flash Fiction: When I Change Your Mind

Flash Fiction: When I Change Your Mind — Blue Ink Alchemy

Chuck's Random Song Challenge had me shuffle my music, and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "When I Change Your Mind" came up first. I decided to try my hand at some Netrunner fiction while smacking this challenge around. Please enjoy!

---

When he wheeled himself over to his rig and pulled out the lead, he questioned again if he had a legitimate shot at changing things. The world was big, and getting bigger. The Corps were getting their tendrils into more and more aspects of daily life, and the masses were buying into the fiction that everything was awesome more and more every day. Runners, like him, were definitely in the minority, and everybody ran for different reasons. Anarchs ran to tear down the system, and Criminals ran to make money. Shapers, like him, ran because they could. In his case, he ran because he had to. He had a mind to change. Seamus (or as he called himself in Runner circles, 'R0bR0y') gently prodded his scalp with his fingers, the lead in his hand. The access port was down near the base of his skull, the terminal of the spinal drive that interfaced with his nervous system. The bank of towers and monitor systems in front of him would, theoretically, protect him from any Corp backlash from his run. It was theory, at this point, because like most Shapers, he'd built the thing himself. So for all he knew, the moment he jacked in, it would fry the rest of his body, leaving it as limp and useless as his legs. He slipped the lead into the port. He leaned back into his wheelchair and closed his eyes. Sirens sounded far away in the city, and closer, he heard throbbing beats of music, the clatter of pans as someone frantically made dinner, shouting, laughter, cursing, lovemaking. He held on to that memory of the real, the tangible, the living. Then, Seamus flicked the old-fashioned toggle switch in the center of the rig. His senses immediately were overwhelmed by an ocean of static. Like the rising tide, the data pulled him under. For a long, timeless moment, he was spinning away from everything, his mind lost in the bits, absorbed into the ones and zeros until Seamus ceased being his own individual self and he was one with the vast expanse of untamed information. And then, R0bR0y rezzed on the outskirts of the local Haas-Bioroid branch and their monolithic servers. Each rose like a featureless black titan against the backdrop of sickly green cascades of numbers. Their surfaces reflected the data, encased in layers of thick, slippery Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics – the famous ICE Corps used to protect their servers. Walking on the legs his avatar had rezzed, R0bR0y moved from server to server, peering at their ID tags. The remote servers were mostly obscure, but a tip he'd brought with him told him the one in the center contained current cybernetic trial records. He took a deep breath (unnecessary here but old habits die hard), dropped into the stance of an Olympic sprinter, and bolted towards the server. The initial layer cracked and shattered the moment he hit it. It was like the layer of frozen water on top of a deep snowbank. The sound raised the alarm. The first real ICE R0bR0y encountered took shape before him. A faceless thing, its limbs too long to truly be considered human, weapons sprouting from its forearms and shoulders. The label on its chest read "VIKTOR." R0bR0y reached behind him, to where a highlander would wear his scabbard. The blade came into his hands, glowing white-hot, bits dripping from its edge. Despite its appearance as a sentry, this ICE was a code gate, awaiting the proper passcode to disable its damaging subroutines. Instead of trying those infinite combinations, though, the Runner gave a howling battle-cry and charged. The blade, dubbed 'Gordian' by its creators, seared through the body of the bioroid before it could take proper aim. It collapsed into a bloodless pile of broken bits, and R0bR0y charged forward. Out of the darkness of the next layer came a figure in a long coat, adjusting its hunter's cap and lighting a pipe. It looked up at R0bR0y with a curious expression. "Now, who are you and what business do you have here, I wonder? Oh, don't bother speaking, I can deduce the answers soon enough." Despite his digital nature, R0bR0y felt nauseous, and he tasted peanut butter. A trace! He reached behind him, into the programs installed back on the rig, and produced a glowing lotus in his hand. The Sherlock sentry cocked its head to one side, the trace momentarily forgotten. R0bR0y triggered the self-modifying code, and from the lotus burst a human-sized spider, a black-bodied arachnid with glowing red eyes and long, spindly legs. It pounced at Sherlock, the Sentry backing away to fight it off as R0bR0y sprinted past. The server was close enough to touch. "HALT." R0bR0y skidded to a stop, a third figure now barring the way. It was tall and wide-shouldered, bearing an imposing sword and a helm tipped with horns. "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THIS REALM. YOU CANNOT PASS." Heimdall. He'd heard of this ICE. Like Viktor, it was not the sentry at it seemed. It was a barrier, and a hard one to break at that. Fortunately, R0bR0y was not without friends, and one of them had loaned him something for this task. He snapped his fingers, and a lithe, somewhat ethereal woman faded into view beside him. She took one look at Heimdall, and a confident smirk slowly blossomed on her blood-red lips. "Ooo," she cooed, sauntering towards the barrier. "You're in trouble, now." With a grin, R0bR0y ran past the pair and into the server itself. He found the file he was looking for, edited the lines, and looked over his shoulder at the distant, faded point of light from where he'd begun. Seamus snapped awake. The rig's fans began to wind down as he gingerly pulled the lead free. The sensation of walking, of running, slowly faded as he breathed, letting the real world return to his senses. And then, the phone rang.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Flash Fiction: When I Change Your Mind

Flash Fiction: When I Change Your Mind — Blue Ink Alchemy

Chuck's Random Song Challenge had me shuffle my music, and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "When I Change Your Mind" came up first. I decided to try my hand at some Netrunner fiction while smacking this challenge around. Please enjoy!

---

When he wheeled himself over to his rig and pulled out the lead, he questioned again if he had a legitimate shot at changing things. The world was big, and getting bigger. The Corps were getting their tendrils into more and more aspects of daily life, and the masses were buying into the fiction that everything was awesome more and more every day. Runners, like him, were definitely in the minority, and everybody ran for different reasons. Anarchs ran to tear down the system, and Criminals ran to make money. Shapers, like him, ran because they could. In his case, he ran because he had to. He had a mind to change. Seamus (or as he called himself in Runner circles, 'R0bR0y') gently prodded his scalp with his fingers, the lead in his hand. The access port was down near the base of his skull, the terminal of the spinal drive that interfaced with his nervous system. The bank of towers and monitor systems in front of him would, theoretically, protect him from any Corp backlash from his run. It was theory, at this point, because like most Shapers, he'd built the thing himself. So for all he knew, the moment he jacked in, it would fry the rest of his body, leaving it as limp and useless as his legs. He slipped the lead into the port. He leaned back into his wheelchair and closed his eyes. Sirens sounded far away in the city, and closer, he heard throbbing beats of music, the clatter of pans as someone frantically made dinner, shouting, laughter, cursing, lovemaking. He held on to that memory of the real, the tangible, the living. Then, Seamus flicked the old-fashioned toggle switch in the center of the rig. His senses immediately were overwhelmed by an ocean of static. Like the rising tide, the data pulled him under. For a long, timeless moment, he was spinning away from everything, his mind lost in the bits, absorbed into the ones and zeros until Seamus ceased being his own individual self and he was one with the vast expanse of untamed information. And then, R0bR0y rezzed on the outskirts of the local Haas-Bioroid branch and their monolithic servers. Each rose like a featureless black titan against the backdrop of sickly green cascades of numbers. Their surfaces reflected the data, encased in layers of thick, slippery Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics – the famous ICE Corps used to protect their servers. Walking on the legs his avatar had rezzed, R0bR0y moved from server to server, peering at their ID tags. The remote servers were mostly obscure, but a tip he'd brought with him told him the one in the center contained current cybernetic trial records. He took a deep breath (unnecessary here but old habits die hard), dropped into the stance of an Olympic sprinter, and bolted towards the server. The initial layer cracked and shattered the moment he hit it. It was like the layer of frozen water on top of a deep snowbank. The sound raised the alarm. The first real ICE R0bR0y encountered took shape before him. A faceless thing, its limbs too long to truly be considered human, weapons sprouting from its forearms and shoulders. The label on its chest read "VIKTOR." R0bR0y reached behind him, to where a highlander would wear his scabbard. The blade came into his hands, glowing white-hot, bits dripping from its edge. Despite its appearance as a sentry, this ICE was a code gate, awaiting the proper passcode to disable its damaging subroutines. Instead of trying those infinite combinations, though, the Runner gave a howling battle-cry and charged. The blade, dubbed 'Gordian' by its creators, seared through the body of the bioroid before it could take proper aim. It collapsed into a bloodless pile of broken bits, and R0bR0y charged forward. Out of the darkness of the next layer came a figure in a long coat, adjusting its hunter's cap and lighting a pipe. It looked up at R0bR0y with a curious expression. "Now, who are you and what business do you have here, I wonder? Oh, don't bother speaking, I can deduce the answers soon enough." Despite his digital nature, R0bR0y felt nauseous, and he tasted peanut butter. A trace! He reached behind him, into the programs installed back on the rig, and produced a glowing lotus in his hand. The Sherlock sentry cocked its head to one side, the trace momentarily forgotten. R0bR0y triggered the self-modifying code, and from the lotus burst a human-sized spider, a black-bodied arachnid with glowing red eyes and long, spindly legs. It pounced at Sherlock, the Sentry backing away to fight it off as R0bR0y sprinted past. The server was close enough to touch. "HALT." R0bR0y skidded to a stop, a third figure now barring the way. It was tall and wide-shouldered, bearing an imposing sword and a helm tipped with horns. "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THIS REALM. YOU CANNOT PASS." Heimdall. He'd heard of this ICE. Like Viktor, it was not the sentry at it seemed. It was a barrier, and a hard one to break at that. Fortunately, R0bR0y was not without friends, and one of them had loaned him something for this task. He snapped his fingers, and a lithe, somewhat ethereal woman faded into view beside him. She took one look at Heimdall, and a confident smirk slowly blossomed on her blood-red lips. "Ooo," she cooed, sauntering towards the barrier. "You're in trouble, now." With a grin, R0bR0y ran past the pair and into the server itself. He found the file he was looking for, edited the lines, and looked over his shoulder at the distant, faded point of light from where he'd begun. Seamus snapped awake. The rig's fans began to wind down as he gingerly pulled the lead free. The sensation of walking, of running, slowly faded as he breathed, letting the real world return to his senses. And then, the phone rang.

---

Blue Ink Alchemy

Flash Fiction: When I Change Your Mind

Flash Fiction: When I Change Your Mind — Blue Ink Alchemy

Chuck's Random Song Challenge had me shuffle my music, and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "When I Change Your Mind" came up first. I decided to try my hand at some Netrunner fiction while smacking this challenge around. Please enjoy!

---

When he wheeled himself over to his rig and pulled out the lead, he questioned again if he had a legitimate shot at changing things. The world was big, and getting bigger. The Corps were getting their tendrils into more and more aspects of daily life, and the masses were buying into the fiction that everything was awesome more and more every day. Runners, like him, were definitely in the minority, and everybody ran for different reasons. Anarchs ran to tear down the system, and Criminals ran to make money. Shapers, like him, ran because they could. In his case, he ran because he had to. He had a mind to change. Seamus (or as he called himself in Runner circles, 'R0bR0y') gently prodded his scalp with his fingers, the lead in his hand. The access port was down near the base of his skull, the terminal of the spinal drive that interfaced with his nervous system. The bank of towers and monitor systems in front of him would, theoretically, protect him from any Corp backlash from his run. It was theory, at this point, because like most Shapers, he'd built the thing himself. So for all he knew, the moment he jacked in, it would fry the rest of his body, leaving it as limp and useless as his legs. He slipped the lead into the port. He leaned back into his wheelchair and closed his eyes. Sirens sounded far away in the city, and closer, he heard throbbing beats of music, the clatter of pans as someone frantically made dinner, shouting, laughter, cursing, lovemaking. He held on to that memory of the real, the tangible, the living. Then, Seamus flicked the old-fashioned toggle switch in the center of the rig. His senses immediately were overwhelmed by an ocean of static. Like the rising tide, the data pulled him under. For a long, timeless moment, he was spinning away from everything, his mind lost in the bits, absorbed into the ones and zeros until Seamus ceased being his own individual self and he was one with the vast expanse of untamed information. And then, R0bR0y rezzed on the outskirts of the local Haas-Bioroid branch and their monolithic servers. Each rose like a featureless black titan against the backdrop of sickly green cascades of numbers. Their surfaces reflected the data, encased in layers of thick, slippery Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics – the famous ICE Corps used to protect their servers. Walking on the legs his avatar had rezzed, R0bR0y moved from server to server, peering at their ID tags. The remote servers were mostly obscure, but a tip he'd brought with him told him the one in the center contained current cybernetic trial records. He took a deep breath (unnecessary here but old habits die hard), dropped into the stance of an Olympic sprinter, and bolted towards the server. The initial layer cracked and shattered the moment he hit it. It was like the layer of frozen water on top of a deep snowbank. The sound raised the alarm. The first real ICE R0bR0y encountered took shape before him. A faceless thing, its limbs too long to truly be considered human, weapons sprouting from its forearms and shoulders. The label on its chest read "VIKTOR." R0bR0y reached behind him, to where a highlander would wear his scabbard. The blade came into his hands, glowing white-hot, bits dripping from its edge. Despite its appearance as a sentry, this ICE was a code gate, awaiting the proper passcode to disable its damaging subroutines. Instead of trying those infinite combinations, though, the Runner gave a howling battle-cry and charged. The blade, dubbed 'Gordian' by its creators, seared through the body of the bioroid before it could take proper aim. It collapsed into a bloodless pile of broken bits, and R0bR0y charged forward. Out of the darkness of the next layer came a figure in a long coat, adjusting its hunter's cap and lighting a pipe. It looked up at R0bR0y with a curious expression. "Now, who are you and what business do you have here, I wonder? Oh, don't bother speaking, I can deduce the answers soon enough." Despite his digital nature, R0bR0y felt nauseous, and he tasted peanut butter. A trace! He reached behind him, into the programs installed back on the rig, and produced a glowing lotus in his hand. The Sherlock sentry cocked its head to one side, the trace momentarily forgotten. R0bR0y triggered the self-modifying code, and from the lotus burst a human-sized spider, a black-bodied arachnid with glowing red eyes and long, spindly legs. It pounced at Sherlock, the Sentry backing away to fight it off as R0bR0y sprinted past. The server was close enough to touch. "HALT." R0bR0y skidded to a stop, a third figure now barring the way. It was tall and wide-shouldered, bearing an imposing sword and a helm tipped with horns. "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THIS REALM. YOU CANNOT PASS." Heimdall. He'd heard of this ICE. Like Viktor, it was not the sentry at it seemed. It was a barrier, and a hard one to break at that. Fortunately, R0bR0y was not without friends, and one of them had loaned him something for this task. He snapped his fingers, and a lithe, somewhat ethereal woman faded into view beside him. She took one look at Heimdall, and a confident smirk slowly blossomed on her blood-red lips. "Ooo," she cooed, sauntering towards the barrier. "You're in trouble, now." With a grin, R0bR0y ran past the pair and into the server itself. He found the file he was looking for, edited the lines, and looked over his shoulder at the distant, faded point of light from where he'd begun. Seamus snapped awake. The rig's fans began to wind down as he gingerly pulled the lead free. The sensation of walking, of running, slowly faded as he breathed, letting the real world return to his senses. And then, the phone rang.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

500 Words On Two Movies

500 Words On Two Movies — Blue Ink Alchemy

I missed yesterday's review for several reasons. So let me break down the double-feature I did today in about 500 words. Including those last 20. Consider this a flash review. Robocop (2014) My initial reaction? "Meh." It wasn't terrible, by any stretch, but I wasn't blown away by it. I liked some of the things they did with the concept, to be sure. There were moments that really brought home the horror of what happened to Murphy and what was done to him after. A great deal of time is spent on Murphy's recovery, family, and impact on the future society. However, a lot of the film feels overly long and drawn out. As fun as it is to see Samuel L. Jackson channelling Bill O'Rielly, a few of his bits are a little long in the tooth. The same goes for several scenes of the Murphy family. On it's own, the movie feels a touch padded and slow. In comparison to the original 1987 film, this new version feels a great deal like it's missing the point. RoboCop's ultra-violence, quick cuts to vapid press coverage, and corporate interplay all contributed to its undercurrent of social satire. I understand that remakes involve changes, and not all of the changes were bad, but some left me with major unanswered questions. Why was Lewis gender-changed to male? Why was this story laid out so deliberately and linearly, when flashbacks of Murphy's emergent memories could have been a far more effective storytelling tool? Why was the only blood we really saw in the film coming from a kill at the end that means the victim will not be brought to justice? It's another case where a revision of an established character could have turned out a lot better than it did, but at least it wasn't as shameless as any of the previous RoboCop sequels, nor was it quite as dour or plodding as Man of Steel. The LEGO Movie I just got a haircut today, and the young lady doing me that service told me she had herself seen The LEGO Movie recently. She had expected the theatre to be full of kids - not all of the adults she found! From the sound of things, she really enjoyed seeing it. I told you that story because I really have nothing to say about The LEGO Movie that has not already been said in a thousand other places. The universal sentiment is that this film is pretty terrific, and I have no reason or desire to disagree! This is especially good for families. It's fun, inventive, creative, and you'll notice things on your second viewing you didn't see the first time. After seeing it again, I don't think the message is quite as strong as in Wreck-It Ralph. Then again, Wreck-It Ralph doesn't have the goddamn Batman. Honestly, the two films pretty much stand shoulder to shoulder. I'd recommend either very strongly to either parents with kids, or folks just wanting a great time at the movies.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Tabletalk: Tactical Actions in Twilight Imperium

Tabletalk: Tactical Actions in Twilight Imperium — Blue Ink Alchemy

Greetings, Your Excellency! You have been chosen to lead your people towards victory on the galactic stage. The Lazax Empire has been overthrown, and Mecatol Rex is yours for the taking. Perhaps. You must command vast armies, immense spacecraft, ambassadors, trade envoys, and the very industries of the planets of the former empire to defeat your noble rivals or, at the very least, beat them to the punch. Fortunately for you, I am here to help you. I am your humble tutor, and this is Twilight Imperium. Twilight Imperium is an expansive board game, for between 3 and 8 players, that is best described as a space opera in a box. Each player assumes control of one of the races who were formerly a part of, or interested in usurping, the Lazax Empire. From your home system, in one of the galaxy's corners, you will head out to achieve objectives, gather resources, build your forces, and defeat the other players. The first player to a designated amount of victory points is the winner! If you want to sit down with your friends and create your own science-fiction epic, vying for power and making backdoor deals to achieve your aims, this is the game for you. Just... put aside a day for it. Yes, an entire day. Maybe more than one if you have 8 players. But we'll get back to the timeline later; let's talk about how you play. For this tutorial, we will use the Federation of Sol. Each player, including you, will get one of these command cards. It's a reference sheet, a repository for the various counters you'll need, and a description of your race, its background, and its mentality. When the galaxy is mapped out, which is a mini-game in and of itself, one player will start the game with this, the Speaker token, indicating that they kick off the start of a round of Twilight Imperium: the Strategy Phase. Starting with the Speaker, each player chooses one of these eight overarching Strategies. I'll go over them in detail in a future session, but all you need to know for now, is that the Strategy cards determine the order of play for the round. So, if you choose Initiative (or Leadership, if you're playing with the expansions, which you should), you will go first in the round, even if you are not the Speaker. But regardless of where you are in the turn order... what do you do when it's your turn? Strategy Cards, as compared to an ordinary Reference Paw. The answer is simple: one of four things. You can execute a Tactical action, Transfer forces between friendly systems, pull the trigger on your Strategy, play an Action card that designates you can play it 'As an Action', or you can pass. The round is over when all players have passed, and a new one begins. But let's go back to that Tactical action, which is the beating heart of Twilight Imperium, the thing that keeps the game moving and slowly paints the galactic canvas, one brush-stroke of starlight at a time. These are a few systems that could appear in your galaxy. Let's say you have forces at Jord, your home system, and you want to move them to the Tiamat/Hercalore system. That takes a Tactical action. Take one of your Command tokens from the Command Pool area on your command card, and place it on your target system.   This is called 'activating' the system. You move your space forces first, possibly into a hail of defensive fire from Planetary Defense installations, and dealing with any combat in space. Then, you may move your forces from your fleet onto the planet, possibly with bombardment, and even more defensive fire, and engage in invasion combat. Once that's done, you get any new planet cards you've acquired (face-down, so you can't use them this round), your turn is over, and play proceeds. That's a hostile system movement; how about if you have a friendly system to move to? Or build from?   It's similar to hostile movement. You activate the system, move in your fleet and forces, and then, if you've controlled the system since last round, you can build a space dock there. If you already have a space dock, you can build other units here, up to a limit imposed by the industrial capacity of the planet the dock orbits.   To build, you have to exhaust (turn face down) systems with resources equal to the cost of whatever you're building. In this example, we're going to build two Cruisers at Jord. To pay for these Cruisers, each costing 2 resources, we first activate the system our Space Dock is in, and then exhaust Jord by turning it face-down. If Tiamat or Hercalor were ready, we could use them to build more ships or forces, but since we just got them this round, we can only exhaust Jord. You can also do this as part of a Transfer action. Transfer actions are almost identical, but allow you to rearrange forces between two friendly systems, and build in one of them, but it consumes two of your command counters. And you need to keep that in mind, because you do not get these counters back. Not directly, anyway. This implementation of tactical actions is part of what makes Twilight Imperium so brilliant. Downtime for the individual player is minimized. And even when it isn't your turn, you're going to want to see what your opponents are doing. Even if they're light-years away from you, they might be building a fleet you'll want to try and dilute, or guide your allies... if you have any... into attacking. You're going to want to think two to three actions ahead, and time your movements as best you can, to obfuscate your true intent for as long as possible. For Twilight Imperium is much more than a game of moving plastic pieces and rolling dice. Next Week: Strategies and You - What's With The Trapezoids?

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Tabletalk: Tactical Actions in Twilight Imperium

Tabletalk: Tactical Actions in Twilight Imperium — Blue Ink Alchemy

Greetings, Your Excellency! You have been chosen to lead your people towards victory on the galactic stage. The Lazax Empire has been overthrown, and Mercatol Rex is yours for the taking. Perhaps. You must command vast armies, immense spacecraft, ambassadors, trade envoys, and the very industries of the planets of the former empire to defeat your noble rivals or, at the very least, beat them to the punch. Fortunately for you, I am here to help you. I am your humble tutor, and this is Twilight Imperium. Twilight Imperium is an expansive board game, for between 3 and 8 players, that is best described as a space opera in a box. Each player assumes control of one of the races who were formerly a part of, or interested in usurping, the Lazax Empire. From your home system, in one of the galaxy's corners, you will head out to achieve objectives, gather resources, build your forces, and defeat the other players. The first player to a designated amount of victory points is the winner! If you want to sit down with your friends and create your own science-fiction epic, vying for power and making backdoor deals to achieve your aims, this is the game for you. Just... put aside a day for it. Yes, an entire day. Maybe more than one if you have 8 players. But we'll get back to the timeline later; let's talk about how you play. For this tutorial, we will use the Federation of Sol. Each player, including you, will get one of these command cards. It's a reference sheet, a repository for the various counters you'll need, and a description of your race, its background, and its mentality. When the galaxy is mapped out, which is a mini-game in and of itself, one player will start the game with this, the Speaker token, indicating that they kick off the start of a round of Twilight Imperium: the Strategy Phase. Starting with the Speaker, each player chooses one of these eight overarching Strategies. I'll go over them in detail in a future session, but all you need to know for now, is that the Strategy cards determine the order of play for the round. So, if you choose Initiative (or Leadership, if you're playing with the expansions, which you should), you will go first in the round, even if you are not the Speaker. But regardless of where you are in the turn order... what do you do when it's your turn? Strategy Cards, as compared to an ordinary Reference Paw. The answer is simple: one of four things. You can execute a Tactical action, Transfer forces between friendly systems, pull the trigger on your Strategy, play an Action card that designates you can play it 'As an Action', or you can pass. The round is over when all players have passed, and a new one begins. But let's go back to that Tactical action, which is the beating heart of Twilight Imperium, the thing that keeps the game moving and slowly paints the galactic canvas, one brush-stroke of starlight at a time. These are a few systems that could appear in your galaxy. Let's say you have forces at Jord, your home system, and you want to move them to the Tiamat/Hercalore system. That takes a Tactical action. Take one of your Command tokens from the Command Pool area on your command card, and place it on your target system.   This is called 'activating' the system. You move your space forces first, possibly into a hail of defensive fire from Planetary Defense installations, and dealing with any combat in space. Then, you may move your forces from your fleet onto the planet, possibly with bombardment, and even more defensive fire, and engage in invasion combat. Once that's done, you get any new planet cards you've acquired (face-down, so you can't use them this round), your turn is over, and play proceeds. That's a hostile system movement; how about if you have a friendly system to move to? Or build from?   It's similar to hostile movement. You activate the system, move in your fleet and forces, and then, if you've controlled the system since last round, you can build a space dock there. If you already have a space dock, you can build other units here, up to a limit imposed by the industrial capacity of the planet the dock orbits.   To build, you have to exhaust (turn face down) systems with resources equal to the cost of whatever you're building. In this example, we're going to build two Cruisers at Jord. To pay for these Cruisers, each costing 2 resources, we first activate the system our Space Dock is in, and then exhaust Jord by turning it face-down. If Tiamat or Hercalor were ready, we could use them to build more ships or forces, but since we just got them this round, we can only exhaust Jord. You can also do this as part of a Transfer action. Transfer actions are almost identical, but allow you to rearrange forces between two friendly systems, and build in one of them, but it consumes two of your command counters. And you need to keep that in mind, because you do not get these counters back. Not directly, anyway. This implementation of tactical actions is part of what makes Twilight Imperium so brilliant. Downtime for the individual player is minimized. And even when it isn't your turn, you're going to want to see what your opponents are doing. Even if they're light-years away from you, they might be building a fleet you'll want to try and dilute, or guide your allies... if you have any... into attacking. You're going to want to think two to three actions ahead, and time your movements as best you can, to obfuscate your true intent for as long as possible. For Twilight Imperium is much more than a game of moving plastic pieces and rolling dice. Next Week: Strategies and You - What's With The Trapezoids?

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Let's Watch the Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer!

Let's Watch the Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer! — Blue Ink Alchemy

Normally this is my Writer Report slot, but one of the movies I've been the most excited about in a long time finally got a full-length trailer last night, and as much as I'm sure other, bigger sites are doing write-ups of it, I want to get my own two cents out there because people should see this when it comes out. So, in case you missed it on Jimmy Kimmel last night, or if you just want to watch it again, here's the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTZ2Tp9yXyM&w=550] Breaking it down: In General: This is really encouraging. Guardians is Marvel's gutsiest move to date. None of these characters or worlds are anywhere near as well-known as The Avengers are these days, and the House of Ideas have a bit of an uphill battle getting butts in the seats. This trailer is a masterful move. It introduces the characters (we'll get to them), gives us a bit of the alien worlds and cultures we'll be dealing with, and hooks us with familiar music, promises of action, and tastes of the film's comedy. Speaking of which... Tone: Some folks may be upset that Marvel tends to lean towards the comedic side of things, from Tony Stark's constant wise-cracking to some of Loki's less genocidal antics. However, anybody who's read Guardians in the last few years, be it written by Dan Abnett or Brian Michael Bendis, will tell you that the tone set by the trailer matches the tone of the books exactly. Despite the grave threats they face protecting Earth and other worlds from on a daily basis, the Guardians never take their work or themselves too seriously, especially... Star-Lord: As the human character of the group, Peter Quill's the audience surrogate and access point for the weird and wonderful cosmic world we're going to be seeing. Again, the tone of the character feels pretty spot-on. The characters who don't know him (Korath, the Nova Corps, etc) have a really hard time taking him seriously, which is kind of perfect. It already feels like a refreshing change from the dire, dour tone of other super-powered being films (looking at you, Man of Steel). This guy isn't seen as a savior or a Chosen One, he's seen as a nuisance, moreso than any of the other Guardians. The comic nerd part of my brain is uncertain some of the interesting minutiae will be seen in the film, as his race is listed as Terran meaning they don't notice or want to discuss his half-breed nature, and I'm not sure we see his trademark Element Gun... and then he yawns while standing in line-up and I forget what I was worried about because I'm grinning again. Drax the Destroyer: Bautista is perfect for this. Between The Man with the Iron Fists and Riddick, I can tell you that the guy is really good at commanding the screen just with his imposing physical presence. Drax is a lot like that: He doesn't necessarily need to say anything to make you back away slowly covering your genitals. The shots we have of him in the line-up and under Nova Corps scrutiny look like someone who just wants to rip something, anything, apart, but he's behaving himself because he's saving that rage for someone who's really asking for it. The detail in his red accents, seen in motion, are actually a really nice touch to the character. Gamora: I have no doubt whatsoever that Zoe Saldana can pull off playing the deadliest woman in the universe. Pretty much everything I've seen her in has displayed her confidence and ability to disappear into her character. Gamora is the kind of person who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it, and I don't think we're going to have any trouble seeing her as an equal to Drax when it comes to physically throwing down. We don't get as much of her action as we do a tasteful shot of her back, but Gamora's always been equal parts ass-kicking, genius and sex appeal. Her little smile during her intro seals the deal. Rocket Raccoon: I'm actually glad Rocket didn't say a word. I hope Marvel conserves as much of this guy's attitude and dialog as possible so audiences really fall in love with him on opening day. The mere concept alone should be enough to sell people: He's a four-foot humanoid raccoon that likes big guns and bigger explosions. The fact that he's constantly cracking wise is and should be just a bonus. Groot: Again, less is more when it comes to Groot. His somewhat curious expression and the reactions of the Novas were pretty much perfect. This presentation can and should make people interested in what he can do. Audiences aren't used to seeing something as strange as a walking tree-person, at least outside of Lord of the Rings, and his inclusion on the team should really round things out. Nebula: Most people know Karen Gillen as Amy Pond from Doctor Who. It may come as a shock to them to see her playing Nebula, a very nasty character from Marvel's cosmic side. I won't speculate on the role she'll play in this film, save to say she might also be after that orb Peter's seen trying to grab in the beginning of the trailer. Oh, and remember the big purple dude grinning at the end of The Avengers? That's Thanos. Nebula's his daughter. And he's the guy Drax is mad at. Just putting that out there. The Kree: We only see Ronan the Accuser for a brief moment, manhandling Drax, and from the start of the trailer we see the great Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer. I'm excited to see the scope of the Marvel Universe open up to include new races and groups, and the Kree look suitably intense, the more human-like but no less threatening counterpart to the Skrulls/Chitauri. The Nova Corps: On top of a main antagonist and a new alien presence, we have what amounts to a space police force. Rather than overcomplicating things, they're a great touch. The Guardians tend to be seen more as troublemakers than saviors, and it makes sense that a neutral party would come into play to keep things from going too crazy. As an aside, the practical costumes of the Nova Corps look a great deal better than anything the similar group on the DC side, the Green Lantern Corps, wore in their movie. Plus John C. Reilly, who is always excellent in supporting roles, is Rhomann Dey, one of the most famous Novas ever. The Song: This is the cherry on top of everything. It's catchy. It's the sort of Earth tune Peter would carry in his Walkman - yes, that's a Sony Walkman from the 80s. It's funny. And if you're anything like me, it does, in fact, get you hooked on a feeling. Overall: Guardians of the Galaxy has always been Marvel's answer to Farscape or Firefly. It's a story about a far-flung group of misfits working together to go after nastiness pro-actively. The diverse characters, the outlandish locations, and the sheer oddity of deep space are a heady cocktail in and of themselves, and if this trailer is anything to go by, a hefty dash of sincere humor and splashes of frenetic, visceral action have been added. I, for one, can't wait for August. I try not to get too optimistic about films before they come out, but for what it's worth, I think this is going to be a fantastic time at the movies.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

State of the Blog

State of the Blog — Blue Ink Alchemy

Well, this has been an interesting couple of weeks. I'd been meaning to migrate Blue Ink Alchemy over to a different host for some time, but the final straw came when the blog went down inexplicably earlier this month, and when I contacted my host, they basically said "This was your fault" and provided a minuscule report on my login information. Thanks for that, guys, but then how do you explain how your own site was down for the count at the exact same time? So yeah. Blue Ink Alchemy is now hosted by the fine folks over at Site5. While I was waiting for GoDaddy to give up the domain so I can hold everything in one place, I thought about the structure of the blog and how I want to proceed going forward. I think I'm doing to stay with a schedule of posting every weekday, and most things will stay the same - Flash Fiction on Mondays, Writer Report on Wednesdays to keep me honest, reviews every Friday, and so on. Thursdays have always been difficult for me. I know I want to talk about gaming, but previous posts have felt a bit unfocused and sometimes meander. So I'm going to nail it down and say that Thursdays are all about tabletop gaming. My board game collection continues to grow, and I've recently gotten hooked again by the tense and cerebral gameplay of Netrunner. So let's have some discussion, after-action reports, Let's Plays, and looks ahead to how the collection will proceed! I'm thinking Tabletalk Thursdays may keep with the alliteration I've got going on, but it might also be too trite. Either way, it's good to be back. I missed you guys.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Flash Fiction: His

Flash Fiction: His — Blue Ink Alchemy

For the Terribleminds Flash Fiction challenge, "Twisted Love".

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His was a good life. Charlie left his desk at his office promptly at 5 PM. His secretary was certain to take all incoming calls from this point, regardless of the status of his cases. His accountant was already up to speed on everything, his accounts in order and better than ever, and nothing else really mattered. The end of another good day. He drove his BMW down his streets just the way he liked. He drove as fast as he wanted, and never bothered to use the turn signal. Why should he? It was his road, this was his sedan, and nothing was going to stop him. The poor jerks in their poor coupes and poor pickups were just jealous. They'd be even more jealous if they knew about his hot wife in his big house at the end of his lane. It wasn't perfect, though. Not yet. His big house wasn't quite the way he wanted it. Someone would have to carry on his legacy, inherit his greatness and his history, and tonight was the night he was going to make that happen. His friends would be hitting his town without him, with all apologies to the lovely ladies they'd be seeing at his bar. But his family, as he told them, was more important. He pulled into his driveway, parked his car, grabbed his briefcase, straightened his tie as he walked up his walk, and entered his house. Charlie's cheerful words died in his mouth when he saw her standing there. She stood with a pair of suitcases from his matching luggage set. She was dressed for travel, in smart and form-fitting jeans under a white blouse with a dark jacket over it all. Her hair was back in a ponytail to show off his earrings, and she toyed with his wedding ring as he struggled to speak. The struggle was even worse when she said three words he did not understand. "Come again?" That was what he managed to say. "I said, I'm leaving you." "Ronnie, what's wrong? What's going on?" "What's wrong?" Veronica's blue eyes seemed to flash under the light of his chandelier. "What's wrong? I should be asking you, since you're home so early. What's the matter? They run out of whores for you to fuck down in the city?" Charlie held up his hands. "I don't know what you've heard..." She shook her head. "Don't bother. It's not like I don't get it. You're rich, Charlie. And that was fun for a while. But that's all there is to you. You think you can buy your way into whatever you want." He blinked. "You want to leave because I'm rich?" "No. I am leaving you, and it's because you're a selfish, possessive, whore-mongering asshole. You know, I don't think I would have minded you fucking around if you had bothered to tell me. Hell, it might even have been fun. But no, you had to run around behind my back with your little friends and do this to me." "Ronnie, baby, I can stop..." "Shut up. Just shut up." She threw an envelope at his feet. "Those are test results, Charlie. I went to the doctor because I've been in pain for days. Not that you've noticed. It's chlamydia. Chlamydia, Charlie. Who knows how long I've had it? Now the doctor isn't even sure I'll be able to have kids; we won't know until after this has been treated." "We can fix it..." "No. There's no 'we' anymore, Charlie. I'm leaving. I already talked to David Wescott, at your firm, about the divorce. It's a strong case but we can settle amicably if you cooperate." Charlie loved her. Even standing there, furious at him, he loved her dearly. He couldn't imagine his life without her. She was his wife. His wife. His wife. As long as she was in his house, she was his, there was no question about that. So, he reached behind him and locked the door. "What are you doing, Charlie?" "You can't leave. You're mine." Her jaw tightened. "You can't keep me here, Charlie." "You can't leave." Maybe she hadn't heard him. "You're mine." "You don't own me, you sick bastard." She pulled off the full-karat diamond ring and threw it at him. "You don't own people." "You ungrateful bitch!" Charlie crossed the distance between them in two of his long strides and grabbed her shoulders in his hands. "You are my wife! This is my life and you are a part of it! Always have been, always will be, and nothing you say or do can change that! It's my life! My rules!" "Let go of me!" He was going to tell her that he would call his doctor, and with his insurance, they'd be clean in no time, and then his wife would give him his children and start his family and then she wouldn't leave for anything because his wife would love his children too much to take them away from him. He was going to say that, but Veronica's knee came up hard into his balls, and he collapsed onto his floor. Through the searing pain and the tears, he looked up to see her fumbling at the door locks. He managed to get his feet moving, his hands pushing his body up off of the floor, and he practically rammed her, slamming her against his front door. He was down again, but so was she, and he was able to grab hold of her ankle. "Let go, Charlie!" "Never." She kicked him. A sharp heel laid open his face, and he screamed. His hand went to his face and she scrambled to her feet. He reached behind him, grabbing his briefcase, and he threw it at her as she tried to flee. It caught her in the small of the back and she went down again. She managed to stand as he sat up, getting his feet under him. "It's my house!" He looked around for something to grab, something to defend his home, keep it as it should be. "You can't leave!" She didn't respond. He reached over to his umbrella stand, picking up one of his long golf umbrellas. He gripped it in both hands as he stood. When Veronica came around the corner, he was going to tell his wife that he loved her and he couldn't bear to see her go. That was before he saw his gun in her hands. "Ronnie, put the gun down." "No, Charlie." She was wiping tears from her face with her free hand, a bruise blossoming on her cheek where she'd hit the floor. "Please move." "That's my Colt, those are my pearl inlays you're holding, now put it down!" "Charlie, you have a weapon and you've struck me, this is self-defense, now please move." "God dammit, woman, this is my house and you are my wife and -" She shot him. The sound was deafening in his front hall. His ears rang as he collapsed, pain blossoming in his leg, blood staining his pin-striped suit slacks. He grabbed the wound and howled. He barely noticed when she stepped over him, his suitcases in her hands, the sound of a taxi outside on his driveway. His blood didn't stop coming out of his leg, his hands were sticky, and he looked up at his chandelier, and he prayed to his god. Please don't let me die, I'll give her anything she wants, just please please don't let me die. The ambulance arrived at his door just as it was getting dark. He found out later that Veronica had dialed 911 from the cab, after calling her lawyer of course. He was told this when he woke up in the hospital, handcuffed to the bed, with two police detectives asking about his wound and her injuries. His morphine drip made him happy to answer their questions, his heart-rending tale of betrayal and love and loss certain to move them to tears. Neither one of them moved, or showed any emotion. Tough crowd. Someone had been listening, though, as Charlie did not die. He was alive, and fully conscious, when Dave Wescott, whom Charlie thought was his friend, told him that Veronica's case was rock solid and it would be easier for everybody if Charlie just settled out of court. At that point, Charlie was too exhausted from physical therapy to argue. He came home to a house that would soon not be his. He put the keys of his car down on his table and walked into his study. He opened his desk and looked down at his gun. It was his. It was all his. And a voice inside his head told him it should stay that way forever.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Ultimate Werewolf by Email

Ultimate Werewolf by Email — Blue Ink Alchemy

This past weekend I got to play Ultimate Werewolf with a large group. It was incredibly fun, and a thought occurred. Why does the fun have to stop because the event did? This is a game of hidden roles. Most players are Villagers, but some of them are Werewolves, prowling by night to feed. Every day, the Villagers awaken to find another of their number brutally murdered, and pick one from among them to hang for the heinous crimes. The Villagers win if they kill all the Werewolves, but all the Werewolves have to do is survive until there aren't enough Villagers to kill them off... If this sounds interesting to you, take a look at this primer on all of the roles, and join this Google group. We'll put games together from those who join, and conduct all of the game's business via email. Be prepared for some harrowing nights and hectic, fear-fueled days... Welcome to Ultimate Werewolf by email.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

Ultimate Werewolf by Email

Ultimate Werewolf by Email — Blue Ink Alchemy

This past weekend I got to play Ultimate Werewolf with a large group. It was incredibly fun, and a thought occurred. Why does the fun have to stop because the event did? This is a game of hidden roles. Most players are Villagers, but some of them are Werewolves, prowling by night to feed. Every day, the Villagers awaken to find another of their number brutally murdered, and pick one from among them to hang for the heinous crimes. The Villagers win if they kill all the Werewolves, but all the Werewolves have to do is survive until there aren't enough Villagers to kill them off... If this sounds interesting to you, take a look at this primer on all of the roles, and join this Google group. We'll put games together from those who join, and conduct all of the game's business via email. Be prepared for some harrowing nights and hectic, fear-fueled days... Welcome to Ultimate Werewolf by email.

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Blue Ink Alchemy