User talk:Doom Vroom

Welcome! I'll respond to every comment that I see, if I miss you then it isn't because I'm ignoring you, but that I didn't see it. Please be kind and respectful to the other users that post on this page.

Archive 1 Greetings Archive 7 Batman

Archive 2 Besmirched Archive 8 Collector's Comics

Archive 3 Japanese Archive 9

Archive 4 Murica Archive 10

Archive 5 Endless 80

Archive 6 Cryptic Message

I Couldn't Take It Anymore
I had to archive it! Hope you don't mind. I don't know what the system is you've got going on up there, so I'll let you add the link in. Here's the new one - Archive 10

Anyway, glad to hear things are improving on your end. I still completely understand needing a break though. I've been trying to step away from the wiki when I'm not in the best mood or feeling like shit, so I agree it's best sometimes. Just don't be a stranger. Have a good one, my friend.

Jay Ten (talk) 14:01, August 5, 2016 (UTC)


 * Just take a look at how I do mine. I have a separate page for archives, allowing for a single link on my talk page. You just have to create the page. Let me know if you decide to do that and need any help.


 * Jay Ten (talk) 22:56, August 5, 2016 (UTC)

RE: Anime and Remakes
I plan to return to those stories later, but I won't try and force it for now. If it feels natural then I'll jump on them again. It's strange because all my stories other excluding my first one were ones that came to me unexpectedly. Half the time, I'm in the middle of writing another story when this happens.

If it really is a one-man army creating the game, then that only enhances the amaze factor. I agree on the money aspect. Sure, funding can bring in a large crowd to help organize the creation of a game more effectively but sometimes those Indie developers just have more imagination and less profit in mind. It's almost like they have more passion and this create a better experience. You have to respect it - I certainly do anyways.

I looked up gameplay for Starbound and it actually looks pretty interesting. Its another one of those games I wonder how I didn't know about it. Might give it a go when I have the time, which seems like less and less these days :/

Vngel W (talk) 19:22, August 5, 2016 (UTC)


 * I completely understand if you can't continue it immediately. Things do come up outside of the site and the story will always be there when you're ready. I'm sorry to hear your going through depression. That's never an easy thing to overcome. I've had my lapses with it and I can definitely say they were very harsh periods in my life. Here's to you getting through safely and speedily. Well you did mention were pretty much over with it so...here's to you getting through it completely then.


 * Yes I have see it actually. I want to see it again, but I'll wait for the price to go down before I buy it. I love it when movies or projects in general improvise and end up flourishing. It kind of reminds me of situations where people will conduct presentations and do a good job but mention afterwards that they forgot to talk about certain points. Nobody would ever know the difference except them - similar to that Deadpool scene you mentioned. I didn't know their budget ran out and yes, it was awesome scene still.


 * On Steam you say....hmmmm....


 * BTW, you get a chance to see Suicide Squad? If so, what are your thoughts on it?


 * Vngel W (talk) 00:59, August 15, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "It's 11:00. Do You Know Where Your Doom Is?" Message
Lol I was just about to send a search party out for you and people were going to write Creepypastas about how you disappeared and never came back. So today, I'm planning on uploading a new Haunting Hour review and I already got the next Haunting Hour review done for the other Friday! Yay! I've also been working on my Pokemon story and my Haunting Hour pasta.

I've gotten 2 and 1/4 paragraphs in for chapter 13 of the Haunting Hour pasta. Yay... I hope to work on it more later and I've added a couple of things to the story.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   21:18, August 5, 2016 (UTC)

Busy Bee
Wow, you've been busy! That's okay; I understand. I've been working on a couple things myself. Good luck with the application!

After I've finished what I've been working on I'll have to post a) a picture of Master Skull and b) the first meeting between Advantage and Nonentity. I hadn't thought much about Advantage being in public, but that's something to consider. There are times he's working one job or another (whether it's something like painting or spraying for insects or it's his mercenary/vigilante activities), but what about just popping to the store for some tea or something? Hmm. For the record, he doesn't wear one all the time, but he'll wear one as much as possible. I've made plans for the graphic novel in which they meet and form a partnership, and one of the parts is the future Nonentity revealing his laughing gas use. He prefaces it with, "This is funny," causing Gas Man to wait with bated breath. Sure enough, he does find it funny because there this guy is unsettled by gas masks (protective masks), and yet he's using a different kind of gas mask (an anesthetic mask). Sometime later I plan to have a scene in which Lawrence gets riled about something and goes to the tank. He's talking while breathing the gas, and suddenly bursts out laughing. Yulaw jokingly asks, "So, when did it hit?"

Thanks! I also have a part planned (in the issue right after the graphic novel) in which Lawrence, after working on names, declares, "I've got it!" Yulaw looks up from his computer work; Lawrence sits with his mouth open, ready to speak, and then ends up saying, "No." He goes back to the drawing board and Yulaw goes back to whatever he was working on.

She's doing well, but she's frustrated by one of her doctors right now (We all are). One doctor told her to bring something so she (the doctor) could get something from another doctor. We popped by the office one day and my aunt hand-delivered the information to the receptionist. Mom didn't hear back from the other doctor, so she called that office and was told that they never received whatever it was from the first office. Then she called the first office and they said they didn't know where it was (despite my aunt hand-delivering it). Shortly afterward, while all three of us were out, the doctor's office called wanting Mom to deal with some forms, and when Mom called back, they were out of office. ~sigh~ I told Luigi that it could be worse, but I swear, God made chocolate for times like this. Raidra (talk) 05:14, August 6, 2016 (UTC)

The sad thing is I didn't pull that out of thin air; there are really people who do that. I do think I'm the first person to have characters addicted to nerve gas perfume, but more on that later. The weird thing is Master Skull also abuses nitrous oxide (one of the few drugs that will affect him). Originally I was going to post an ordinary picture of Master Skull, but then I thought, "Instead of just posting a picture, why don't I post that scene in which Ultra Kate and Karate Kate confronted him and he was high?" One of Master Skull's powers is non-slowing thought, meaning he can think quickly and clearly even when drugged or ill. However, you wouldn't know it from this scene. :-D

Since I had some time, I also typed up that introduction scene.

''Yulaw peered through the window in the cabin door to see a man sitting on a couch. His jacket lay on the seat beside him, and his face was obscured by a script he was reading. Seeing the chance for a prank, Yulaw swiftly donned one of his protective masks and casually entered the cabin.''

''The occupant had been studying the script, but now he moved it to the left a couple inches so he could see who had entered. Then his right eye grew wide with alarm as he saw the masked man. “What-What’s going on!?” asked the Brit.''

“I’m your cabin mate for this trip.” He set down his bags.

''“Oh.” The alarm faded from his face. “You keep scaring people like that, mate, and someone’s going to put some bullets into you.” He covered his face with the script again and lowered his head slightly. “I don’t know what you heard about me, but I keep a clean place. There’s no need for that thing.”''

''Yulaw chuckled. “So, how do you like the mask?”''

''“Those things are evil. Only the threat of poisonous agents justifies wearing them.”''

“Hmph.”

''“The thing is they’ve become symbolic of a lot of things to a lot of people. Maybe it’s the symbolism that fills me with dread.”''

“It sounds to me like it’s the reality that does that.”

''“You may be right. What about you? You like the symbolism, then?”''

“You could say that.”

''“I apologize if I seemed rude by being so frank earlier. I should note that I’ll wear those masks if my line of work calls for it.”''

“Your line of work?”

''“Mmm-hmm.” He reached to his side and fetched a theatrical mask that had been lying behind his jacket. He set down the script with his left hand, allowing a brief glimpse of his face, before raising the mask to his face with the right. He donned the mask and noted, “Maybe we’re not that different.”''

There is one thing I should note. In the Karaverse, Lawrence Sande is as big a name as Michael Douglas or Denzel Washington. A little later, when they unmask, Yulaw recognizes Lawrence and immediately becomes star-struck. I have more comments about Yulaw in public and the development stage of Dreadnought Masquerade, but they can wait til next time.

I hate to hear that. I thought the other day that I hate to hear physicians whine, "Why don't people trust the medical profession anymore?!" because I think, "Have you seen some of the people in the medical profession!?" Thank you, and likewise. Raidra (talk) 00:42, August 8, 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm going to skip the comics talk for the moment because I have good news. Mom went to the foot doctor this afternoon and he liked the looks of it so well that he said she doesn’t need to see him anymore unless there’s a problem.  He told her she’s been taking good care of the area. :-D  I hope your dad gets a good report too. Raidra (talk) 00:22, August 10, 2016 (UTC)

Yeah, there are some things that sound completely made up, and then you’re shocked to discover they’re real. I heard somewhere that it’s mostly people in the medical profession who abuse laughing gas, which explains some things. One of The White Tigress’s foes is a villainess named Mimi Stradler, an amoral perfume maker who is involved with one of the city’s mobs. She makes and sells nerve gas perfume, and since she’s immune to poison herself, she can spray the perfume on herself to poison people discreetly. I remembered that she made an appearance in WT#40 (the Death House issue), so you can revisit that and see her in action. I complied a list of her nerve gas perfumes (because of course I did! ;-)), so I made a brief run-down for you. Sheer Pleasure is the one that Master Skull gets addicted to. It’s a perfume experiment gone wrong.  Mimi offers Master Skull a free sample when he comes to visit her lab and he’s immediately hooked on it.  Mimi realizes there’s an issue with the perfume after several test subjects, as well as her own husband, become addicted.  She decides not to sell it to the public, instead making it one of her secret weapons.  Master Skull becomes so hooked that all he wants to do all day is sit around sniffing the bottle of perfume.  I plan a scene in which he notes, “I could do this all day,” and his worried servant replies, “You have, master.”  This perfume takes Master Skull out of commission for a while, showing just how powerful it is.
 * Death- This nerve gas perfume is highly fatal. If someone survives, their sclera will temporarily turn blood red.
 * Panther- This nerve gas perfume causes the delusion that the subject is a panther.
 * Scorpion- This nerve gas perfume causes intense pain. It does not have to be inhaled to take effect, merely sprayed on the subject.
 * Whooping Cough- This nerve gas perfume causes uncontrollable coughing fits.
 * Wolf- This nerve gas perfume causes the delusion that the subject is a wolf.
 * Hysteria- This nerve gas perfume causes uncontrollable fits of laughter leading to unconsciousness.
 * Suffocation- This nerve gas perfume causes asphyxiation.
 * Weeping Flood- This nerve gas perfume causes the eyes to water uncontrollably.
 * Reverse Eden- This nerve gas perfume causes the subject to lose the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong. It must be both inhaled and absorbed through the skin in order to take effect.
 * Sweet Remedy- This perfume is the antidote/vaccine to Mimi Stradler’s nerve gas perfumes.
 * Mosquito Mist- This nerve gas perfume causes fever when inhaled and intense itching when sprayed on the skin.
 * Sheer Pleasure- This nerve gas perfume induces a state of euphoria. It is highly addictive and just inhaling its scent is enough to cause a relapse.
 * Sincere Yearning- This nerve gas perfume causes the subject to enter a state of dreamy intoxication.

I thought of having a scene in which Lawrence describes working on a movie in which his character took laughing gas. He told the director, “I know for a fact that people can react in different ways. Do you want me to relax into unconsciousness, act giddy, burst out laughing, what?” The director, knowing Lawrence researched his roles, thought nothing of it and replied, “Whatever you think is best for the scene.”  Nobody caught on to his secret. I thought of something while typing this. I don’t normally do this, but I think I’ll write a screenplay for the issue (It was going to be in screenplay form anyway since Lawrence is an actor, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a first draft). That way you don’t have to be content with me describing a few scenes while waiting for the actual issue. Hopefully I’ll have it posted soon.

Those worthless schmucks! It’s times like this when you wish Specter and Gerard Ripley really existed so they could handle them.

Attached? What, like with masking tape or something? I swear, some things just sound like jokes, don’t they? Years ago scientists did research on vampire bat saliva to try to create an anti-stroke medication. This actually makes sense because vampire bat saliva contains anticoagulants and strokes are caused by poor blood flow, but most people aren’t going to know that, so comedian John Henson was speculating that the scientists had just decided to start experimenting with random animal secretions. In any case, it sounds like you have a captive audience.

Heckler: Boo! You stink! Raidra (talk) 00:23, August 11, 2016 (UTC)
 * I also have a line of her normal perfumes, including one that doubles as a breath spray. The thing is I came up with most of those years before I made Mimi because I decided to spoof the perfume industry.  A lot of them have odd names like Yes of the Scent, Oh...Wow, and Ode de Dewdrop.


 * It's coming along, so I should have the first part up soon.


 * Awesome! :-D Their suffering would have been nice, but it doesn't pay the bills, so that's that. I don't remember how the bat saliva experiments turned out, come to think of it.  I just remember that they were doing it.


 * That made me think of an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? in which Jeff Davis played Christopher Walken as a stand-up comedian.


 * That's one sweet ride! It sounds like they have some cool stuff, though that brutal Falcone scene sounds like one of those "WHOA, WHOA, WHAT!?" moments.  I just thought of a moment I saw on The Cleveland Show.  Donna was hanging out with some old friends when this creep started hitting on them.  One asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" and the other replied, "Mmm-hmm! On three!"  They counted to three so they could act in tandem, but it turned out that while Donna thought the friend meant throwing a drink in the guy's face, the friend was actually thinking of stabbing him in the hand.  Yikes.  Anyway, do you remember that episode of B:TAS about The Sewer King and his army of child slaves?  That one showed the Batmobile with two cool features- a dumpster disguise, and some kind of hypnotic screen that lulled the boy Batman rescued to sleep.  A lot of people hate that episode, and while I respect people's opinions, I think it's a shame because there was some neat stuff in that one.  I think I've talked about it before. Raidra (talk) 00:35, August 13, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Movin' Right Along!" Message
So I've added some things to the Haunting Hour pasta: (Once they got her on the couch, Kristy's mother took a close look at her. She noticed that Kristy's eyes had a faint purple colouring around them.) I'm not sure what sleep deprivation after one day looks like but I'm pretty sure that you'd still have purple around your eyes.

I've been posting stories on the Planet Dolan reddit more frequently. Surprisingly, I have quite a few stories that relate to the topics they've been putting out. Here are a couple of examples:

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/PlanetDolan/comments/4wrxd1/someone_was_at_my_window/ (Topic: Scary Home Alone Stories)

2. https://www.reddit.com/r/PlanetDolan/comments/4s86nx/whats_the_scariest_thing_you_ever_experienced_as/?sort=new (My post: ''When I was little, I was swimming at the in-ground pool at my grandmother's house. At the time, I wore a swim floatie that I'd wear like a backpack and it looked like a big blue ice cube. My grandmother had this big round swim tube and the center was covered up so I could sit in it without falling into the pool through the center. It was my favorite out of all the pool toys she had and I'd usually take off my swim floatie when I sat in it. When I was swimming in the pool, I saw my brother using the tube and I swam over to where he was, took off my floatie and proceeded to climb in. When I got on top of my brother, there was a bit of a struggle until the tube capsized and both my brother and I fell into the pool. My brother got out quickly but me... not so much. When I opened my eyes, I soon discovered that I was sinking to the bottom and eventually my dad jumped in to save me. I don't remember much after that but what I do know is that had my dad not jumped in the pool that day, I may not be here to tell you this story.'')

They talk about the reddit at the end of their videos and since I'm a big fan of their videos, I'd be as giddy as a schoolgirl if they included one of my stories in their videos. Maybe Hellbent or Nixium or one of those other guys will narrate a video chock full of stories relating to the topics I talked about earlier in the message.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   02:10, August 9, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Teenage Sleep Deprivation" Message
You're not going to believe this but the internet just pulled a Cry Baby Lane and uploaded yet another lost Nickelodeon film. It's called The Electric Piper and it's basically the story of The Pied Piper except it's a musical and it takes place in the 1960's. If you're interested in watching it sometime, here's the link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlcxrS5Gljc&feature=youtu.be

For my Haunting Hour pasta, I'm trying to avoid using certain colours such as red and black since they're really cliche and overused colours. I think the undereye parts when a person is sleep deprived are some sort of dark purple colour. I've gone without sleep at times and that's the colour I usually see when I do that.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   04:03, August 14, 2016 (UTC)

Screenplay pending
I wasn't able to do much writing today since I've felt anemic lately, but I do have something for you until I'm finished with the first part of that screenplay. Since the subject of drug abuse in my comics was raised recently, here's a list I'd compiled of Known Addictions and Self-Destructive Behaviors in the Karaverse. This list does not include vampirism, the blood-lust experienced by werebeasts, fits of anger or impulsiveness, general mental illness, or obsessions such as the lust for power.
 * Alcohol- Crackerjack, Master Skull (wine), Supplier, Arrogance, Mechanicrat, other characters
 * Amphetamines- Mofo
 * Blood- The Gum-Chewing Vampiress, Izanagi
 * Cocaine- Sadira, Mofo
 * Dangerous behavior in the name of acting- Nonentity
 * Eating disorders- Arrogance, Mayella Muimdac
 * Extreme training methods- Rampant
 * Gambling- Black Betsy, Renegade
 * Heroin- Blue Thunderbolt, Sadira, other characters
 * Jackalin (This is a fictional drug that turns people into were-jackals)- Tabaqui, Rampant
 * Killing- The Boa †
 * Methamphetamine- Sadira
 * Morphine- Mofo
 * Muscle relaxants- Duke the Grifter
 * Nicotine- The Gum-Chewing Vampiress (cigarettes), Princess Blue Legs (cigarettes), Hyena Harry (cigars), Diabolito (cigars), Joseph Marcello (cigars), Viper Extreme (cigarettes), Highball † (chewing tobacco) [Highball was a python. This villainess was giving her pet python chewing tobacco. Yeah], Stagger Lee (cigarettes), Stevie Shoutington (cigarettes), other characters
 * Nitrous oxide (laughing gas)- Master Skull, Nonentity
 * Over-the-counter drugs- B-Metal
 * Painkillers- Blue Thunderbolt, Dusk † (meperidine, better known as Demerol), Duke the Grifter, Damien Sunn (propoxyphene, better known as Darvon)
 * Self-mutilation- Grief, Twiggy Pop, The Boa †, Renegade, Mayella Muimdac
 * Sheer Pleasure (nerve gas perfume)- Master Skull, Lars, other characters
 * Steroids and performance-enhancing drugs- Rampant, Foam, Subject
 * Television- Receiver †, Fanatic (soap operas)
 * Unspecified drugs- Goblin Robin (implied to be hallucinogens), Twiggy Pop, Rico
 * Vomiting- Super Creature
 * Werewolfism- Wildwood Raidra (talk) 00:21, August 15, 2016 (UTC)

Search_Party.exe Has Been Launched


Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   22:29, August 16, 2016 (UTC)

Development Stage, part one
For your consideration, here's part one of the screenplay or script for Development Stage, my graphic novel in which Yulaw Kiang/The Gas Man/Advantage and Lawrence Sande/Nonentity meet. The title refers to the first stage of film production. This doesn't have everything a real screenplay would have because I felt saying, "Show Yulaw packing his bags," etc. dragged things down.

(Both laugh) (Yulaw sits in thought. There’s obviously something heavy on his mind.) (Yulaw enters the cabin. Lawrence has finished his meal, leaving an empty plate on the counter, and is once again studying the script.  He looks up to see Yulaw looking flushed, and he realizes this is serious)
 * Narration- Yulaw Kiang packed his bags in preparation for his trip. In addition to clothes, toiletries, valuables, and diversions, he had a number of protective masks.  He had two in his suitcase, one in his backpack, and, as usual, two tucked into hidden sections of the inside of his jacket.  This was in addition to the paper model in his carpetbag.  Making sure he had everything, he left an impressive tip for the hotel cleaning staff, grabbed his bags, left the room, and checked out of the hotel.
 * Narration- Yulaw, the criminal known as “The Gas Man”, took a cab to the train station. Having completed his latest mission, he decided to take a vacation.  He liked long train rides, provided the quarters were good.  There was something thrilling and relaxing about them.  Within days he’d be on the western coast of Europe, and from there he’d decide where to go before returning to Taiwan.
 * Narration- Yulaw purchased his ticket and boarded the train. The worker looked at his ticket.
 * Worker- You’ll have a cabin mate. He checked in earlier.
 * Yulaw- Such things happen. I’ve shared rooms before.
 * Narration- Yulaw wanted to look around the train, but that would have to wait. It would be easier to stop by the cabin and drop off his luggage first.  Then he’d see what kind of person his roommate was before he’d take a tour of the train.  He followed the signs and found his assigned cabin.  Peering through the window in the cabin door, he saw a man sitting on a couch. The man’s jacket lay on the seat beside him, and his face was obscured by a script he was reading. Seeing the chance for a prank, Yulaw swiftly donned one of his protective masks and casually entered the cabin.
 * The occupant had been studying the script, but now he moved it to the left a couple inches so he could see who had entered. Then his right eye grew wide with alarm as he saw the masked man.
 * Brit- What-What’s going on!?
 * Yulaw- I’m your cabin mate for this trip. (He sets down his bags)
 * Brit- Oh. (The alarm fades from his face) You keep scaring people like that, mate, and someone’s going to put some bullets into you. (He covers his face with the script again and lowers his head slightly) I don’t know what you heard about me, but I keep a clean place. There’s no need for that thing.
 * Yulaw- (chuckles) So, how do you like the mask?
 * Brit- Those things are evil. Only the threat of poisonous agents justifies wearing them.
 * Yulaw- Hmph.
 * Brit- The thing is they’ve become symbolic of a lot of things to a lot of people. Maybe it’s the symbolism that fills me with dread.
 * Yulaw- It sounds to me like it’s the reality that does that.
 * Brit- You may be right. What about you? You like the symbolism, then?
 * Yulaw- You could say that.
 * Brit- I apologize if I seemed rude by being so frank earlier. I should note that I’ll wear those masks if my line of work calls for it.
 * Yulaw- Your line of work?
 * Brit- Mmm-hmm. (He reaches to his side and fetches a theatrical mask that had been lying behind his jacket. He sets down the script with his left hand, allowing a brief glimpse of his face, before raising the mask to his face with the right.  He dons the mask) Maybe we’re not that different.
 * Yulaw (chuckles in surprise and amusement) Maybe we aren’t at that. (He sits down) An actor, hm? That explains the script. (Beat) You know, your voice sounds familiar.  I may have seen something you’ve been in.
 * Brit- It’s possible. If that’s the case then I hope I did a good job.  Let’s introduce ourselves, shall we?
 * Yulaw- Sure.
 * Narration- They removed their masks. Yulaw looked at his cabin mate and nearly gasped audibly.  His distinctive face, with its jutting cheekbones and the shadows under the eyes, was now visible.  That, combined with the distinctive sandy blond hair and that voice, made his identity obvious, but he announced it anyway.
 * Lawrence- I am Lawrence Sande.
 * Narration- Yulaw was star-struck. This was the actor praised and spoke of in the same breath with the likes of Peter O’Toole, Richard Harris, Al Pacino, and Michael Douglas.  It was said that he could do almost any genre- drama, comedy, slice of life, science-fiction, action, romance, historical, sport, thriller, etc.  He admitted that he had a pretty good singing voice, but he wasn’t Caruso or Robeson- a humble declaration that only added to his likeability.  He had been humble enough to do a few commercials & television roles, but his home was on the stage and the big screen.  People spoke of how his very presence could enliven a play or film, and at the same time they spoke of his humility, his warmth, and his approachability.  He was one of the brightest yet most personable of stars, and here he was sitting close to him with a friendly smile.
 * Yulaw- Wow. (chuckles)
 * Lawrence- (extends hand) And you are?
 * Yulaw (arises and joins Lawrence to complete handshake)- Yulaw Kiang, from the Republic of China, what you call Taiwan. Don’t say “Chinese Taipei”, though.  I don’t like that.
 * Lawrence- I can’t blame you. I wouldn’t like it if someone called my country “Roman Britannia” or something like that.
 * Narration- Yulaw chuckled. Lawrence’s handshake was weak, and he continued to grasp Yulaw’s hand after the initial handshake was completed.
 * Yulaw- (impressed) You know how the Chinese shake hands.
 * Lawrence- I’ve picked up a lot of things. If you don’t mind me saying, you speak good English.
 * Yulaw- Thank you. I travel a lot, so, you know.
 * Lawrence- What kind of work do you do?
 * Yulaw- (releases hand, feeling awkward about his mercenary activities) Well, I’m what you call a jack-of-all-trades. I do things like paint houses, spray for insects, and the like.  I do odd jobs in various places.
 * Lawrence- That’s good. (He glances at Yulaw’s discarded mask. He looks at it while not looking at it, pondering something that just came to mind) Does Taiwan have military conscription?
 * Yulaw- Hm? Oh.  Yes, males 19-36 who are able are required to serve somehow. (He feels that he can share his story) When I was fifteen, I started to become nervous because I knew I’d have to enter.  I did a lot of research and I… I was able to find comfort.  I volunteered for service after I turned eighteen.  I was okay, because I found comfort.  I was able to feel… secure… protected.
 * Narration- Yulaw felt like he had just shared something deep. Lawrence nodded to indicate that he understood.
 * Lawrence- Would you like to talk about your service?
 * Yulaw- No. I’m proud to have served in the ROC Army, but no, I don’t want to brag. (Beat) However, I have something if you’d like to see.
 * Lawrence- Sure.
 * Narration- Yulaw fetched his carpetbag and opened it. Lawrence arose to meet him.  Yulaw took out a small case & a folder and carefully handed them to Lawrence.  The case had a few medals & decorations and the folder had some commendations & certificates written in simplified Chinese.
 * Yulaw- I like to help new recruits and those about to enter the service. I got these for that, and for good conduct.
 * Lawrence- (Examines the contents of the case and folder, then carefully hands them back to Yulaw) They’re nice. That’s a good thing you’re doing.
 * Yulaw- Thank you. (He’s honored, but almost blushing because of the praise) I just want to help others since I know how it feels to be… nervous. (He returns the case and folder to the carpetbag and closes it)
 * Lawrence- I must say, I believe that it’s best to be humble about one’s achievements. In my view the best kind of servicemen and women are those who don’t brag about what they’ve done.
 * Yulaw- Thank you. I think so too. (Beat)  I’m not the only one here who doesn’t like to brag, am I?
 * Lawrence- (chuckles) I appreciate every award and accolade I get, but I don’t want to be one of those actors. ‘I’ve won awards! I’m famous! I’m better than you!’ Getting praise and awards should cause a person to be humble and grateful, not arrogant.
 * Yulaw- Doesn’t it seem sometimes that the more arrogant the person, the less they have to be arrogant about?
 * Lawrence- I think so.
 * Yulaw- It’s weird that an award-winning actor… you know…
 * Lawrence- …would be in this situation? Would be in a cabin where he could end up with a mask-wearing prankster for the duration of the trip?
 * Yulaw- Yes.
 * Lawrence- Well, that can happen when you use an alias, and you tell people to be quiet about your presence. Most of the workers haven’t seen me yet, so I think most people don’t know I’m aboard.
 * Yulaw- The fellow who told me where to go sure didn’t know it. Well, now that I know who you are, I can tell you what I saw you in.  I saw Blossoms of Spring in a theater back home.
 * Lawrence- Ah, yes, that was a popular one overseas. I hope they did an accurate job with the dubbing.
 * Yulaw- They kept the voices and added captions. I can tell you for a fact that they did a good job.
 * Lawrence- (relieved) That’s good. I hate when a market changes the dialogue and meaning of the film.
 * Yulaw- I do too. As for what you said earlier, yes, you did do a good job.  You did a great job, especially that scene on the bench.
 * Lawrence- (smiles) Thank you. I’m glad to hear that.  Crystale Stone & I enjoyed doing that one.
 * Yulaw- Wasn’t there a famous quote about you by one of your female co-stars?
 * Lawrence- Yes. It was my friend, the magnificent Dorothea Back, who said it.  She noted that I was heterosexual, but so devoted to my roles that I was asexual.  She added that I was the most gentlemanly heterosexual asexual one could ever meet.
 * Yulaw- I’m married to my work too. I’d have to find a… special kind of girl.
 * Lawrence- (half-jokingly) Someone who can put up with you?
 * Yulaw- Exactly. Oh, I thought of another quote about you.  A critic was talking about your acting style, or styles.
 * Lawrence- Yes, I know the one. “Lawrence Sande has stated that he has mastered both the mechanical-external and psychological-internal styles of acting, that he can use whichever one is most appropriate for the performance, and that he can easily switch between styles.”  That’s the one, right?
 * Yulaw- Yes. Go ahead and finish it.
 * Lawrence- “This claim would seem to be bragging, but Lawrence Sande does not brag. Having seen him perform, I can confirm that this claim is not bragging, because it’s not bragging if it’s true.”  I was honored that he said that.
 * Narration- Before either of them could say another word, there was a knock at the door.
 * Ticket-puncher- I need to punch your tickets.
 * Lawrence- Come in.
 * Narration- The ticket-puncher entered. He punched Yulaw’s ticket before going to punch Lawrence’s.  Within seconds he recognized the actor.  Lawrence spoke cordially to the star-struck worker.  After a short conversation, the ticket-puncher asked Lawrence about the cabin situation.  Yulaw knew what he was really asking- whether he wanted him removed from the cabin.  However, Lawrence replied that everything was going well.  After a few more pleasantries, the ticket-puncher left to resume his duties.
 * Yulaw- Thank you for that.
 * Lawrence- No trouble at all.
 * Lawrence- That bloke bother you, mate?
 * Yulaw- Yes, but never mind that. I thought of something.  I’ve heard stories about you sometimes being… extreme in getting ready for parts.
 * Lawrence- Most of those are true. My philosophy is that I myself am nothing; it’s the role that’s important.  I sometimes go a little extreme, as you say, in preparing for the role because of that.  For instance, it’s true that I starved myself during the making of Enervated.  I thought it would make for the most effective performance in that case.
 * Yulaw- What did you have?
 * Lawrence- Two cups of tea with honey and a few apple slices with peanut butter each day, and some greens or tuna on crackers every other day.
 * Yulaw- Wow… you’re really serious… That’s why they give you the awards.
 * Lawrence- Thank you for that.
 * Yulaw- No trouble at all.
 * Narration- In “Othello”, William Shakespeare used the expression “The wine she drinks is made of grapes” to connote that a high figure was just like anyone else. So it was the case with Lawrence Sande.  For a couple hours he conversed with Yulaw about his career and roles, answering questions and giving insights, interrupted only by the ticket-puncher occasionally paying them visits.  His speech was sometimes flowery, but he made sure that Yulaw understood his meaning.  There were sad moments,…
 * Lawrence- We were all shocked to hear the news, and it became deathly solemn on the set. We pressed on, and let me tell you, it’s hard to act like there’s not a tragedy unfolding in the outside world.  That was a difficult experience for all of us.
 * Narration- …funny moments,…
 * Lawrence- …so I asked, ‘Well, if you insist on dubbing the singing, why don’t you get some fellow who doesn’t sound like me? Make it obvious.’  He thought that was great, so that’s what they did.  They got a Jamaican fellow named Isaac Heston, a deep-voiced bloke, to do the singing.  There were crew members laughing their heads off when they saw the footage of his voice coming from my mouth.  If you ever see the film, Heston is the fellow milling about in the marketplace in the flower cart scene.  There are actually a few people in the world unaware that’s not my real singing voice.  Don’t ask me how.
 * Narration- …and candid moments.
 * Lawrence- I knew upon reading the script that it would be a bomb, but I thought, ‘This will get more attention than a thousand press releases,’ and I was right.
 * Narration- He didn’t make it all about himself, however. He got Yulaw to open up about himself as well.  Yulaw was hesitant at first, but once he started on his childhood, the words flowed easily.  Lawrence found it interesting how Yulaw and his brothers had earned pocket money by selling oranges and orange rinds to local shopkeepers for use in candy and medicine, and he was amused that they also had contests in which people wagered on how many seeds an orange wedge had.  They spoke of their hobbies too.  Lawrence, while not having an overabundance of spare time, enjoyed watching classic movies, collecting movie posters, listening to comedy albums, and reading.  Yulaw enjoyed collecting masks, playing on the computer, and writing.  He lamented that so many young people in Asia were becoming addicted to video games.  He noted that video games should be just another plaything, not an obsession that caused players to turn their backs on traditional amusements, education, and even family ties.  Lawrence agreed that it was a shame.
 * Eventually Yulaw’s stomach growled loudly.
 * Yulaw-   It’s time to visit the dining car. (rises)
 * Lawrence- I’m having meals delivered to the room.
 * Yulaw- Well, I wanted to look around. (jokingly) If you steal my things, I’m calling the tabloids.
 * Lawrence- (smiles) Don’t worry about it.
 * Yulaw- (starts to open door) I’ll keep my mouth closed.
 * Lawrence- (realizes Yulaw’s meaning) Thank you, mate. I appreciate that.  We’ll both have stories to tell later, won’t we?
 * Yulaw- That’s a fact. (exits cabin)
 * Narration- Yulaw still felt exhilarated as he ate his meal. When he got home he could tell his friends & relatives that he had shared a cabin with the star of Blossoms in Spring, and that he was humble, cool, and friendly like the reports said.  The star was open and candid, speaking to Yulaw like they’d known each other their whole lives.  Imagine a simple businessman like him sharing a cabin with such as elevated personality.
 * Narration- Yulaw took a lengthy tour of the train, as he always liked to do when he was able. By the time he got back to the hallway leading to his cabin, however, he had started to feel ill.  His face felt wrong and became flushed, and tenseness radiated throughout his shoulders and gut.  He knew that it was his nerves.  His protective masks were his source of power and security, and he felt uncomfortable if he had to go for an extended period without wearing one.  The anxiety over this combined with the excitement over meeting and talking with Lawrence was starting to overwhelm him.
 * Lawrence- (concerned) Are you all right?
 * Yulaw- I just need to splash my face.
 * Lawrence- I’ll be reading this, so if you need to lay down and rest…
 * Yulaw- Thank you. You’re a real peach, as they say. (He starts toward washroom, but then stops and turns to Lawrence) You’ve met some strange people, haven’t you?
 * Lawrence- (realizing that Yulaw is seeking assurance) Yes, quite a few, and most of them were nice people.
 * Yulaw- (relieved) That’s good to hear.
 * Narration- Yulaw went to the washroom, splashed cool water on his face, and carefully dried it. He re-entered the cabin and, although he had his choice of masks, he went to where he had left the protective mask he had worn when he first entered.  He donned it and soon the familiar waves of security and comfort were radiating through his brain and into his nerves.  He lay down and closed his eyes to rest.  Lawrence observed him to see that he was okay and then continued to look at the script.  That was quite an obsession his cabin mate had, though he had no right to judge.  He kept studying the script as though nothing unusual were happening. Raidra (talk) 00:33, August 17, 2016 (UTC)
 * I understand that you've got a lot on your plate right now. Congratulations on the high score! :-D I'm glad you finished the story too.  I hope it goes well.  As for the break, you have to do what's best for you.  I hope you like the screenplay so far!  Believe me, I know about taking a long time to compose a response!  Sometimes it seems like I'm just staring at the screen going, "Duhhh..."


 * Well, the thing about The Gum-Chewing Vampiress is she was originally The Chain-Smoking Vampiress. It was after she quit smoking, reformed, and joined the heroes that she became The Gum-Chewing Vampiress.  I plan to have a scene in which her doctor tells her she needs to quit smoking.  She tells him, "That shouldn't be a problem. I've already quit blood," and he replies, "I'm afraid quitting smoking is even harder than quitting blood."  Interestingly, both Receiver and The Chain-Smoking Vampiress were both on my creepiest characters list - Vampiress for her powers and Receiver because of his mental problems. Raidra (talk) 00:28, August 21, 2016 (UTC)
 * Oh, I hadn't even thought about that jacket giving that impression! I know it's not permanent, which I'm thankful for. :-D I've seen the last half of that episode, and the sad thing is that jacket got destroyed by acid rain.  It just pitted and then dissolved completely.  It has to be a bummer to get a dream job, have to leave it to go back to your bad old job, and then have your parting gift from the dream job ruined by the pollution caused by the old job.  That episode had a really sweet ending, though.


 * I'm glad you like it so far! I don't think I mentioned the setting, so I'm glad it was a nice surprise.  I was originally going to call it Strangers on a Train (after the Hitchcock film), but that was unoriginal (as well as too blatant, even for me).  "Tickets, please." "Come on; we know we haven't crossed a border again so soon." "Do you need anything?" "No, thank you." I have thought about having the news of Lawrence's presence get out, but don't worry, he'll know it wasn't Yulaw's doing.


 * Don't worry about making jokes. One interesting thing is they both eventually reformed and joined the heroes.  Just because someone has problems, or had a bad start, doesn't mean they can't do good in the world.  In The Gum-Chewing Vampiress's case I treat blood addiction like heroin addiction while in the case of Izanagi (who's based on a kappa) I treat it like alcoholism.  Here's an excerpt from Izanagi's entry- "At one point, he became addicted to blood.  Susano and Ki-tsune found out about this when they saw him on the Niloseptan version of COPS [Nilorsept is their home planet].  They had an intervention for him and helped him overcome his habit." So, yeah, that happened. Raidra (talk) 00:29, August 22, 2016 (UTC)

Luckily I was able to find a clip of that scene and the sweet ending- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2mS3uDqQL4. You gotta love how blase the guard is. Mom says that when my older brother was little he was fascinated by garbage trucks. He'd sit on a paint can and watch for the truck to come, and one Christmas he got a toy trash truck (which we still have). Here's when you know your trash truck obsession has gone too far- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kRLu59xAOc.

I should have a character joke that when it comes to adapting British sitcoms, space aliens do a better job than American television producers do (I know COPS isn't British or a sitcom; it's just that the topic of bad American adaptations is something I was discussing with someone earlier). Thanks, I'm glad to hear it. Raidra (talk) 01:44, August 23, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Doom: The Musical" Message
What a coincidence! Raidra and I were JUST talking about that. I stopped catching new episodes of the anime ever since the Diamond and Pearl series. I guess at that point, I just got bored waiting for Ash to win a league from a region you can visit in the main series (Sorry Orange Islands... You don't count). There's a Pokemon rom hack that's based on part of the anime. It's called Pokemon: Ash Grey and I recommend playing it as it's quite faithful to the anime.

The Electric Piper was a lost film for a very long time, like it had been lost for more than a decade. The Pied Piper story itself has been around since the 1300's and I'd imagine there are at least several plays about it that were created over the course of time.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   09:30, August 23, 2016 (UTC)

The Trash Pack
In that case you'd temporarily be assigned the less strenuous job of carrying around a furry green monster. That same website has a section on international grouches. From the little I've seen, my favorites are Moishe Oofnik (because I just love the idea of a Jewish Grouch for some reason) and Gugu  (because frankly I love how it looks like they didn't even try). One time on TruTv's World's Dumbest Drivers, a crook stole a garbage truck and led police on a chase. He drove right to edge of a pond or lake before stopping. One of the commentators for that episode was IndyCar driver and Dancing with the Stars champion Helio Castroneves, who offered, “Maybe he thought that once he got it to the water, it would somehow turn into a boat, like (mimics exciting music), ‘It’s a boat!’”

~laughs~ I should actually word it that way. ~laughs~ We'd know for sure if he had a gondolier pole on his person. I dunno; that sounded funnier in my head. I Googled "garbage boat" and came across these pictures-. Good for you, whoever you are! These are people who try, meaning they're not the people who made Gugu.
 * Human- How is it that your planet has done a better job of adapting Fawlty Towers than Americans?
 * Space alien- Unlike TV producers, we analyze everything really well until we understand. We don't skip the analyzing to pretend we already understand. Raidra (talk) 01:08, August 24, 2016 (UTC)

That's okay. Let me know if you remember it. Raidra (talk) 00:45, August 25, 2016 (UTC)
 * “You are found guilty of theft of a city vehicle, fleeing from police, and water pollution. You are hereby sentenced to fashion a boat from your couch and clean the lake garbage until it’s all gone.” Of course, it wouldn’t be so bad if the truck were empty.  There was an episode of The A-Team in which they were striking back against a gang of corrupt businessmen that was terrorizing a neighborhood (if I recall correctly), and Hannibal told Face to get them a garbage truck.  He went to the trouble of getting one only for Hannibal to look and complain, “It’s empty.”  Face wasn’t happy with this, and when Hannibal said something about what they needed, he griped, “Oh, so you want a specific kind of garbage!”  Murdock announced that he knew what the captain wanted, so he and B.A. went to get it.  I don’t remember where else they went, but they hit restaurant row (This is where I learned that slang term, which I use in real-life) and collected the stinking food trash from the dumpsters.  Then they sent the gang a message by dumping the load of foul garbage into their meeting room.  Sometimes the A-Team was a bunch of bad mamma-jammas, and other times they were just immature. ;-)


 * It happens to the best of us. Late one night I thought, "Oh, this is a great poem! The words are flowing!" but I made the mistake of not writing it down, so I didn't remember it in the morning.  Doh!  While you see if lightning strikes twice, let me run a morbid but hopefully mind-blowing idea by you.  Some time ago I thought of saying Specter's wife died as a result of a medical mistake (If you don't remember it, it was July 12 & 14 on this section- ).  Well, I had another thought- what if Specter's wife had a case of sepsis that caused her to die of pneumonia?  What if Specter trying to kill The Flying Fox by gas wasn't just because it was a quick and effective method?  What if were also a way of honoring Flying Fox by giving him a death similar to the one his beloved wife had suffered?  For the record, I plan to have a scene in which a villainess threatens to gas Specter to death, and he just chuckles and replies, "That's just how I'd want to go."


 * That's a morbid way to end a post, so here's this- http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/94558536747/g-g-the-book-g-g-on-facebook-g-g-on-twitter. Raidra (talk) 00:43, August 26, 2016 (UTC)
 * How are things? How's your dad doing? Raidra (talk) 01:02, August 29, 2016 (UTC)

"Why'd you get this truck? This truck is garbage!" "What, is that not what you wanted?"

I'm sorry to hear that. I know what it's like to try to contact people and then have them not respond, as if you don't exist. If you get the RV then I'd like to see pictures. Did I ever tell you about the toy Winnebago my brother had? In any case, I hope your dad's appointment goes well.

Here's some sad news- Gene Wilder passed away last night. In honor, here's a quote from Blazing Saddles. "I must've killed more people than Cecil B. DeMille." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_B._DeMille) Raidra (talk) 01:29, August 30, 2016 (UTC)
 * That could be because both his third wife (Gilda Radner) and his frequent comedy partner (Richard Pryor) died years ago. The way I heard it, his family said he kept his disease a secret because he knew how many children loved Willy Wonka, and he didn’t want them to hear, “Oh, Willy Wonka’s sick, etc.”  That’s a classy thing to do.  We’ll miss you, Waco Kid.  Incidentally, when Lauren Becall died I asked, “Is it wrong that I didn’t know she was still alive until just a couple months ago?”  I caught the end of an episode of Family Guy while flipping through the channels, saw her name in the end credits, and thought, “She’s still alive?”  David Letterman once joked that while Oprah frequently made People magazine's "Most Beautiful People" list, he frequently made Modern Maturity's "Celebrities We Thought Were Dead" list.


 * In addition to the toy garbage truck, my brother also had a toy Winnebago and a toy ambulance. I played with them when I was little too.  I was equal opportunity, playing with dolls, action figures, toy cars, building blocks, toy foodstuffs, etc.  I loved to play with my dollhouse, and one of my favorite things to do was have a velociraptor chase the family through the house.  I always was different.  Anyway, he (my brother, not the toy velociraptor) called the Winnebago a “Winneabago”, so that’s what we call it too.  There was a commercial for an episode of 2 Broke Girls in which they had to clean a hoarder’s apartment, and sitting on a stack of clothes was a toy Winnebago just like ours.  I called to Mom, “Hey, look, it’s a Winneabago!”  It had a door and a roof that opened and I used to put my figures in it.  One Christmas I also got a Barbie camper.  One feature was a grill that doubled as a make-up table, so make sure you ask for that feature if you go RV shopping. ;-)  The Barbie camper is in the storehouse in our back yard, and the trash truck and ambulance are up here too.  We brought the Winneabago to my brother’s house a few years ago so his son could play with it too.  One day we came down and my nephew had his dinosaurs in it.  The legacy lives on!  I don’t know if he took it to college or not.  It’s most likely still at my brother’s house, so I may borrow it back.  I made a basic drawing of the inside in case I wanted to have it in my comics.  I plan to draw the inside of the ambulance sometime too. Raidra (talk) 00:30, August 31, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Orange Islands" Message
I think Ash also won the Battle Frontier and was even offered to become a Frontier Brain as well. Other than that, I can't recall any other time where Ash won a league. I guess having him not win all the time would reduce the chances of him coming off as a Marty Stu or just a boring character. I also didn't care for the Orange Islands series. I mean Tracy was just kind of boring character and no one can compare to Brock! He has wisdom that is unmatched by any other of Ash's male traveling companions! (Plays the Jelly Donut clip) He also has the ability to see, even when his eyes are closed, showing us that anyone can overcome any type of adversity if they're clever enough! Brock! A man who was ahead of his time! xD

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   22:04, August 25, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Gotta Trace em All!" Message
You know I gotta say, based on design alone, I'd say that Brock is both black and Asian. So wouldn't replacing him with a white guy with less personality seem even more racist? I don't know. If you're going to replace a character with another character, can you at least make them interesting? I'm sorry but I find Tracy to be rather bland and boring. You know, say what you will about Ash, Brock, and Misty but at least they all have something that makes fun, entertaining, and/or memorable. Tracy on the other hand doesn't. I mean aside from the fact that he draws and maybe a couple of his Pokemon, I don't remember much about this character.

I'm also nearing completion on the first episode of my Pokemon series. Here's what I've got for the ending part: (Sometime later, Emily slowly opened her eyes as she quietly groaned. As her eyes were opening, she noticed there was a Mareep standing right in front of her. Its wool was a light purple colour and it looked as though it was lightly covered in glitter. When she noticed the Mareep, Emily yelped and swiftly rose to her feet and held her hands up again her face as her whole body began to stiffen. She stood there for a few moments as the Mareep tilted its head and let out a soft, high pitched bleat. Emily then covered her eyes with one of her hands and cautiously moved her index finger on her other hand closer to Mareep until it touched the area between its eyes. Emily quickly moved her hand away and when Emily separated her fingers several moments later,  she noticed that the Mareep stood still and continued to stare at her. She poked Mareep's forehead a couple more times and much to her surprise, the Mareep still didn't move.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief and began to relax. "Um... Hello." She stuttered as she shuffled closer to the Mareep. It bleated happily and rubbed up against her. Emily then let out a small chuckle and hugged the Mareep. When she hugged it however, she felt a mild jolt of electricity stinging her and jumped back. The Mareep then begun to laugh and Emily giggled sheepishly along with it. A few minutes had passed and the two had started to quiet down. "You know what, bud?" said Emily, "I've never seen anything like you before but you're alright!" The Mareep's face lit up and it immediately stood up on its hind legs. It then clapped its blue hooves together and bleated loudly.

"Oh!" Emily shouted, "I almost forgot. I'm going to the Nidoran region to find my dad and you now what? I think you'd be a great companion. So... what do you say, buddy?" The Mareep bleated even louder as it ran around in small circles. Emily laughed and opened up her backpack. She rummaged through it for a few moments until she pulled out a Pokeball. Emily pushed the button in the middle and the Pokeball grew to the size of a baseball. "Hey bud!" Emily called out, "If you're going to travel with me, you might as do it in style, right?" The Mareep had stopped in its tracks and laid eyes on the Pokeball. However, all colour had drained from its face and began to shake. It stood motionless and bleated quietly as it stared at the ball. Emily walked over to the Mareep and began to gently stroke its wool. "Oh I see." Emily whispered, "You'd rather walk alongside me than be in a ball, right? Well don't worry buddy! I'll make sure that nobody puts you in a Pokeball!" Emily pushed the button on the ball again and it had shrunk to the size of a golf ball. She tossed the ball back in the bag and promptly zipped it up.

Emily strolled over to the bag and picked it up. "Alright buddy! I think it's time we get this show on the road! Onwards to the Lake of Rage!" Emily happily shouted. She and the Mareep dashed up the grassy path as fast as they could. "Wait a minute, Emily!" I chuckled loudly. "Arceus? Is that you?" Emily cried out. "No!" I laughed, "I'm just the underpaid narrator. By the way, aren't you forgetting something?" Emily scratched her head and stared at the ground for a brief moment. "No. I think we've got everything covered." Emily replied. "Aren't you going to name that Mareep?" I asked calmly. She gasped for a brief moment as if a lightbulb just went off in her head. "Oh is that what its called? Wow! Thanks narrator!" Emily replied enthusiastically. "Well now that I think of it, I guess I'll name it... Eddy."

"Um... okay. Seems kind of weird for a Pokemon like Maree--" Emily let out a soft, "huh?" as she stood completely still. "I mean uh... Wow! That's a great name there, Emily!" I said excitedly. The Mareep bleated happily as she petted its wool. "Well buddy, what you think of the name...Eddy?" The Mareep smiled and bleated contently. "Alright! From now on, it's just you and me, Eddy! Now let's head on over to the Lake of Rage!" Emily shouted. The pair immediately bolted down the grassy path as they both grinned ear to ear.)

I want the episode to end with the narrator being like "And so begins an epic tale...what will our heroes encounter in the journey? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!" But I don't want to start the sentence with "and". I'm trying to figure out how to end the episode like this. In the meantime, I can work on my Haunting Hour pasta.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   00:54, September 1, 2016 (UTC)

My Little Velociraptor
There was only one velociraptor, so come to think if it, it probably just wanted to make friends. I can picture it now- the family and their new velociraptor friend sitting around the breakfast table, eating and laughing. At one point I considered getting another family. They'd live in the attic, like some kind of boarding house. I had an order form, but I never did anything with it. The dollhouse came with a little catalog (a fold-out about four inches tall) with accessories you could buy (pets, a load of groceries, etc.). I looked forward to buying them someday; shoot, I still might. The store Hobby Lobby sells dollhouse accessories, from books to appliances to stuffed animals. I even checked out a book one time about making dollhouses miniatures. It noted that dollhouse families needed a lot of food, whether it was regular meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) or special occasions (Thanksgiving dinner, etc.). There was no word on whether leaving food on the dollhouse porch would attract velociraptors, however.

Today I read a book called Robbers!: true stories of the world’s most notorious thieves by Andreas Schroeder. There was a chapter on Willie Sutton (1901-1980). He was a skilled bank robber and a fascinating character. In 1969 he even convinced a court to reduce his sentence from life to time served. The book notes, “Ingenuity and psychology instead of brute force. Surprise and audacity instead of violence. These were the hallmarks of Sutton’s style.” It’s also said that he carried a gun, but never loaded it because somebody could get hurt. There’s a story that a reporter asked him why he robbed banks and he replied, “Because that’s where the money is!” There’s even something called Sutton’s law which says that when diagnosing a problem, you should consider the most obvious explanations first (For instance, if a patient comes in complaining of chest pain, you should check their heart and lungs first instead of running all sorts of exotic tests). However, he never said that; what he did say was, “Go where the money is… and go there often!” He was addicted to robbing banks (though thankfully he never robbed one again after his release from prison). Here’s the book’s description of what got things started. “Willie Sutton was raised in a rough part of Brooklyn. His father was a blacksmith and his mother was very religious. No one in the Sutton family had ever been in trouble with the police. When Willie was a kid, his father was hit by a delivery truck that broke his collarbone. The driver was drunk, so his father hired an attorney and sued. The Sutton family expected to be well compensated for his pain, suffering, and medical bills. But before trial the attorney inexplicably settled with the insurance company for just a few hundred dollars. He convinced the family that they were lucky to get even that much. They later discovered that the attorney had been on the insurance company’s payroll- a common arrangement in those days. Willie wanted to become a criminal lawyer, to defend people like his father against insurance companies. But a legal education was expensive, and Willie found himself working for pennies as a messenger boy in a bank. As he described it in his memoir, the poor customers would come in early in the morning to deposit their nickels and dimes. Then, about 11:00 AM, the bank president would drive up. ‘Nodding at everybody without looking at anybody- it just infuriated me,’ as Willie later remembered it. Willie began taking revenge by stealing rolls of postage stamps from his employer, but he soon progressed to much bigger thefts.” So he was wronged and felt bitter, started stealing, and found he got a thrill out of it. You may recall that I said that my character Specter had two major tragedies in his life. One was something that happened in his youth and the other was the loss of his wife and unborn daughter in adulthood. So far I only have a vague notion of what the first tragedy was, but ironically I was thinking something along the lines of what happened to Sutton (His family was wronged and the authority figures failed them).

Sutton often wore uniforms and disguises, but I don't know whether or not he ever impersonated a garbage man. There is a story, however, about one of his prison escapes. “Once, Sutton and two other prisoners, wearing stolen guard uniforms, took a pair of ladders and simply marched across the prison yard to the wall. When searchlights hit them, Sutton just hollered, ‘It’s okay!’ And no one bothered them after that!” It’s this guy’s world; we just live in it. Raidra (talk) 02:11, September 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * I just wanted to give you an update. Mom went to the podiatrist today and he said everything looks good. :-D  I hope things are going well in your family too. Raidra (talk) 00:35, September 3, 2016 (UTC)
 * There's just something I find fascinating about dollhouses. Of course, I seem to like small versions of things and giant versions of things.  I've been to a restaurant which has a clock made to look like a giant wristwatch, so I always joke, "There's what they bought at the giant's garage sale."  You should definitely take a tour of Hobby Lobby sometime (Monday-Saturday since they're closed on Sunday).  They have a lot of neat stuff.


 * Since I have the book until Tuesday, here's another excerpt. "Sutton rented a room in the theater district under the name of Waverly School of Drama. He sent out a request on letterhead to costume rental companies saying that the school was putting on a play and wanted to rent a policeman's uniform. They all replied, eager to do business. All the Waverly School of Drama had to do was send their actors in for a fitting. When Sutton got to the costume house, he couldn't believe his eyes. There were twenty-three different police uniforms alone!"  It added that one time, when Sutton posed as a policeman, a passing police chief saw him and berated him for having a loose button on his uniform.  Sutton felt bad, as though he were a real policeman, and started apologizing and saying it wouldn't happen again.


 * Thanks! You can imagine how happy and relieved we are. :-D Well, they say no news is good news. Raidra (talk) 01:09, September 5, 2016 (UTC)
 * Have a good Labor Day! Raidra (talk) 01:56, September 5, 2016 (UTC)

Ouch! Hopefully it won't be as bad as it seems. Yeah, I don't like phone transactions. At Sinclair Community College I had to do phone registry before the beginning of each quarter. "You have selected...ART 1...9...7. If this is correct, press 1. If not-"

I did, thank you, though it was uneventful. Lounging as much as you can is what the holiday is about, though, right? ;-)

I'll put the swingset and the see-saw in the living room! There are no rules here! Please follow all safety rules! As for Hobby Lobby, you could always browse their website.

Yesterday I checked out a book called The Titanic Awards- Celebrating the Worst of Travel by Doug Lansky. It mentioned two people who drove their vehicle into a body of water (one a lake and one a river) because of their GPS. In the first instance, the road had been closed a year prior when the area was flooded to make an artificial lake serving as a water reservoir; I don't know the story with the river driver. These drivers were either stubborn or dense (or both) to keep driving when they saw they were heading straight for the water, but the incidents made me think, "Maybe that's what happened with the garbage truck thief." Maybe he had what he thought were directions for a good getaway route, and then they turned out not to be accurate. Raidra (talk) 00:36, September 8, 2016 (UTC)

This isn't important at all, but I had an idea today. Naruto, from the manga and anime of the same name, has a toad-shaped wallet that he calls Gama-chan. Gerard Ripley, my iguana man gangster, is a Naruto fan (Look at how many of the weapons in his arsenal were inspired by the series), so I thought, "Why don't I give him a Gama-chan wallet?" Can't you just imagine this intimidating figure reaching into his coat and pulling out this thing? By the way, this is an item you can buy in real life. In fact, I may put it on my Christmas list. Raidra (talk) 01:38, September 10, 2016 (UTC)
 * I thought you might be interested in this- http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Raidra/Batman_versus_the_Ugly_Horde. Raidra (talk) 00:09, September 13, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Sheep Puns" Message
I'm so glad you got back to me. It was getting kind of lonely for a bit. Anyway, I came up with two different speeches for the narrator to say at the end of the episode:

Speech 1: (From that day on, the pair had sparked a powerful friendship with one another. What will our heroes encounter on their way to the Lake of Rage? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!)

Speech 2: (This is just the start of Emily and Eddy's epic journey, sure to be filled with all sorts of peril and hilarity! But what awaits our heroes at the Lake of Rage? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!)

I'm not sure which speech would work better. Raidra told me that she's leaning towards the first one. Though I would like to get more insight into this before I add any one of the speeches. If you'd like, I can link you to the Johto Quest episode to make deciding easier. In other news, the Johto Quest website is almost complete! I'm only editing the site on desktop because to put it in short, editing the site on a mobile device suuuuuuuucks! If you edit on mobile, you're going to have a bad time. So... much... laaaaaaggg!!!!

I'm currently studying the Johto region and characters from the anime such as Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny who might make an appearance in the Johto Quest series. The latter could possibly make in appearance in the third or fourth episode. The third episode will have Emily arriving in Mahogany Town and the forth episode may focus on Emily battling with Morty in a gym battle and may also have Morty help Emily overcome her fear of the Houndour that bit her in episode two.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   23:42, September 3, 2016 (UTC)

No worries!
Hey brother,

No worries, take your time with the review, I'll be looking forward to it.

Best,

K. Banning Kellum (talk) 00:52, September 4, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "If Your Phone Can't Internet, (Insert South Park You're Going To Have a Bad Time Meme Here)" Message
Okay. I think I feel that the first choice may be the best of the bunch. I'll post the episode on my wiki (http://haileysawyer.wikia.com/wiki/HaileySawyer_Wikia) before I post it on the Johto Quest website. I think this is a good idea since it can be used as like a "Test Screening" sort of deal so I can know what I can keep, what needs to be added, removed, expanded upon, and whatnot before I upload it onto the site.

As for Houndour, I have an idea as to why I chose it to be the second Pokemon Emily encounters. You see, Emily follows the Arceus religion and this religion has a special book called The Good Book of Arceus, which is a collection of stories that can be used to teach children various life lessons. One of these stories involves a boy who would often boast about how he could survive in the wild without the accomponiment of a Pokemon and would only use what nature has to offer. So one day, someone comes up to him and tells him to put his money where his mouth is and actually survive in the wild under the conditions he set. He does this and after a short while, he finds that he is starving despite eating berries and whatnot, lonely, and cold. He tries to crawl back to the village upon realizing what a mistake doing this was and on his way there, a pack of Houndour rip him to shreads and devour him since he didn't have the energy to get away quick enough. The moral of this story is basically something along the lines of "Don't talk the talk unless you can walk the walk." In episode two, Emily will talk to Eddy about her father at the beginning (i.e how he was once mistaken for a Machoke by some trainers given his appearence, etc) and talk about the Houndour story when they reach a cabin at the Lake of Rage when Emily wakes up from a nightmare about turning into a Houndour to the guy who let them stay there for the night.

Last night, something happened to me that scared me shitless. So last night, I was trying to sleep so I could be rested for my first day of being in this job training program. However, I was feeling nauseous and I kept spitting into my bedroom trashcan, the toilet, and even the kitchen sink since I thought it would help my nausea. But eventually, I started to feel dizzy and it seemed like I was out of breath as I kept panting slowly and quietly. I also felt very tired and I thought I was going to throw up and there were a few times during the night where I almost vomited. I didn't really want to vomit because I'm afraid I won't be able to breath and if I vomit for too long, I might pass out or worse. I did have a lot to eat that day which would explain the nausea but I don't understand what caused the other symptoms. I'm just glad I'm okay now and last night I had pretzels (which have been in the cupboard for awhile) and a type of pasta noodle I never had (the noodles came from a box and were cooked at home) so just as a precaution, I'm going to avoid eating those foods for now. Have you ever heard of something like this happening to someone?

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?  00:39, September 8, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "The Spitting Image of Nausea" Message
The funny thing about the spitting is I had at least two water bottles in my room and I drank at least one of them. I thought spitting would help since I thought it was like vomiting except you can actually breath while you're doing it. Like I said, I'm scared of vomiting. There is a possibility that I could've been sick from all the food I ate that day but there have been times where I ate a lot and never felt dizzy or found it hard to breathe. Could I have had a mild or moderate case of food poisoning?

This might sound like a stupid question but what do you mean by "story" now? Do you mean the Houndour story from The Good Book of Arceus? Or the first episode of Pokemon: Johto Quest?

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   03:09, September 11, 2016 (UTC)

Touching base
How's it going? Raidra (talk) 00:45, September 17, 2016 (UTC)
 * It's a little late, but I found out today is Batman Day, so have a good one! ~draws cape over face~


 * I'm almost done with the second part of the Development Stage screenplay. Hopefully I'll have it up tomorrow. Raidra (talk) 00:38, September 18, 2016 (UTC)

Development Stage, part two
Here's the rest of the screen play. (The two share a chuckle. Then Yulaw becomes thoughtful.) (He freezes, cold with the realization of what he’s done. Lawrence, holding his glass, has a slight smile on his face.  Yulaw sighs) (Lawrence goes to the window of the door and closes the curtain so no one can look into the cabin. He goes to where his luggage is stored, removes a small gas tank from a bag, walks over to where he and Yulaw were sitting, sets the tank on the floor, and sits back down.  The tank is blue and white with a valve and a hose with an attached breathing mask.) (The two share a laugh over how ironic it is.) (The two share another laugh. As they finish there’s a knock at the door.) (Female fan giggles, thrilled at the kind words from the great actor, and leaves)
 * Narration- The next day was busier as word had gotten out about Lawrence’s presence. Thankfully he understood that it wasn’t Yulaw who’d blabbed.  He knew eventually that a worker would tell, so he appreciated the privacy he had gotten.  From time to time workers or passengers came to the door.  Lawrence was cordial- chatting, signing books & papers slipped to him through the window of the door, shaking hands, and using tact when dealing with the more self-serving visitors.  He was appreciative of his fans, and he noted to Yulaw that he loathed celebrities who didn’t appreciate theirs.  He was humble and gracious, answering questions and appreciating any praise he received.
 * Lawrence, a teetotaler, had had an ample supply of ginger ale delivered, which he and Yulaw imbibed. Between visits from workers & fans they conversed some and conducted business some.  Lawrence sometimes had flowery speech, but he made sure Yulaw grasped the meaning of what he was saying.  Yulaw donned his paper model of a protective mask at times while lounging, but he did so out of Lawrence’s direct line of sight so he wouldn’t creep him out too much.  Lawrence could tell there was something on his mind, and he made a guess as to what it was.  During one conversation he began steering toward a certain topic.
 * Lawrence- I read that during the making of The Godfather, James Caan met with a real gang leader to get into the role. Some agents started tracking him thinking he was a rising member in the gang.
 * Yulaw- So…would you ever do that? Hang around with a criminal, I mean.
 * Lawrence- It would be an interesting experience. Whether or not I did would depend on who it was, and what they’d done.  Crime is a problem, but there are different types of criminals.  Some are cruel & greedy and enjoy hurting people; others are just trying to get by in the world.  Some even have noble reasons for what they do.
 * Yulaw- I agree. A criminal may not be such a terrible guy. (He clears his throat and drains his glass)
 * Lawrence- I wouldn’t mind hanging around with some blokes. (pours himself some ginger ale) Of course, I wouldn’t associate with someone who cheats and robs people, or a violent thief. I wouldn’t associate with a terrorist who destroys lives and property.  I certainly wouldn’t associate with those vile enough to take pictures of naked girls without their consent, or even-
 * Yulaw- It’s not like that! It’s nothing like-
 * Lawrence- I’m relieved to know it’s none of those things. I’ll tell you what- you share a secret and I’ll share one too.
 * Yulaw- (looks curious, wondering what the secret could be) All right. I don’t do… vile things.  I don’t kill people, and I usually don’t rob them.  I certainly don’t cheat or mug them.  I don’t abuse animals, or kill them against the law.  I don’t smuggle things, sell drugs, or burn down buildings.  You already know I have a certain… obsession.  The work I do feeds that.  There are the normal jobs, like the painting and spraying for pests, and there are the special jobs.  Someone will contact me and say, “I’m in such-and-such a place and I need your services. There’s someone I need brought to me.”  Sometimes I’ll be able to go to the person and say, “You-know-who wants to see you,” and give them a ride.  Other times I have to make sure they come along quietly.
 * Lawrence- (realizes what Yulaw is implying) Are you saying, then, that you gas people unconscious and kidnap them?
 * Yulaw- That is it. I check out my clients carefully first, though.  I don’t work for crooks who are going to kill, torture, or abuse those brought to them.  I make sure I don’t.  The guy says, “This other crook owes me money, so bring him here so I can let him know I’m serious.”  I bring him, he’s bound & threatened, and then he’s knocked out & released.  The guy says, “This guy wronged me, or his friends did, so bring him here.”  They hold him for a while, but they don’t abuse him.  I make sure of that.  I make sure I don’t work for thugs.  I’ve even called the police on people.
 * Lawrence- I believe you.
 * Yulaw- Thank you. I give warning first, a card saying, “You need to contact You-know-who or else,” so they have a chance to work things out nicely.  It’s always adults- never children or even teenagers.  I won’t lie to you.  I feel a sense of power when I do it. (smiles at the thought) When I stand over them, watching them lose strength and pass out, I feel a sense of power. (The smile fades) That’s all, though.  I don’t do vile, wrong things, or allow anyone else to do them.  If they have trouble, I give them oxygen so they’ll be okay, and I don’t go about gassing random people.  It’s not always kidnapping.  Sometimes people hire me to sabotage a rival’s business, or to retrieve something from their house or business, or to intimidate them.
 * Lawrence- Like when we first met?
 * Yulaw- Yes.
 * Lawrence- (stares into glass thoughtfully as he absorbs all this, then gives a friendly smile) If you’re going to associate with a kidnapper, it should be an honest one who avoids causing harm.
 * Yulaw- (sighs in relief and smiles) I know it might not be the most fun experience you’ve ever had, but you’re welcome to tag along anytime you like.
 * Lawrence- I’ll keep that in mind. Have you ever thought about being a vigilante?
 * Yulaw- I like to think that I’ve done that at times. (Beat) What about you?
 * Lawrence- Not seriously, but there is an excitement with the thought. So, how do you feel?
 * Yulaw- Better than I did. A weight is off of me.
 * Lawrence- That’s good. As promised, I’ll share my secret now. (Beat) This is funny. (Yulaw waits with bated breath)  Sometimes I have stress that needs to be relieved, or occasionally I get injured on-set.  I don’t want to start gulping down drinks or pills, or smoking marijuana, anything like that, and so there’s something else I do.
 * Yulaw- (thoughtfully) I’ve seen tanks about like this before. They were taller though, and they…were at the dentist’s office… (He has realization) Wait, is this…
 * Lawrence- It’s what they call gas and air- a mixture of 50% nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, and 50% oxygen.
 * Yulaw- (absorbing what Lawrence has just revealed) You mean you’re disturbed by gas masks, by protective masks, and yet you’re basically using a kind of gas mask to breathe in that stuff? (starts laughing) You’re right; that is funny!
 * Lawrence- I did a film called Wooden Birds, and there was a scene in which my character had dental surgery and had to be given laughing gas. I asked the director, Neal Retton, ‘I know for a fact that people can react in different ways. Do you want me to relax into unconsciousness, act giddy, burst out laughing, what?’  He knew that I researched my roles, so he thought nothing of it and replied, ‘Whatever you think is best for the scene.’ So when I did the scene I relaxed and then burst into a giggling fit at the end.  Neal told me he thought I did the scene well.
 * Yulaw- Nobody thought anything of it?
 * Lawrence- No, nobody caught on to my secret.
 * Female fan- (from other side of door) Mr. Sande?
 * Lawrence- Yes?
 * Female fan- Could you speak with me for a few minutes? I follow you in all the magazines.
 * Yulaw- (speaking as though he had authority) Would be possible for you to come back later, ma’am? Mr. Sande is trying to relax right now, but he’ll be happy to speak with you later.
 * Female fan- Oh… (still hopeful) of course. What time?
 * Lawrence- How does four o’clock strike you?
 * Female fan- That sounds great! I’ll see you then!
 * Lawrence- (sincerely) I do appreciate that, m’lady. Like my associate said, I’ll be happy to speak with you then.  I treasure fans like you.
 * Lawrence- She seems like a nice girl. I appreciate you speaking up so I could have some more time, though.  Maybe I should bring you to all my events.
 * Yulaw- Thank you. I was happy to do it.
 * Lawrence- (after reflecting) I also appreciate something else you did, or rather, didn’t do.
 * Yulaw- Hm?
 * Lawrence- I told you I had stress and you didn’t make some hateful remark like, ‘What stress could you have!? You pampered actors don’t know what stress is!’
 * Yulaw- I’m not ignorant. Sure, there are stars who whine about nothing, but there are ordinary people who do that too, so, you know.  Anyone who doesn’t think stars have problems hasn’t heard those reports about actors and singers getting stalked, or getting death threats, or having family fights.  Stars can get stressed out… or get alarmed when some stranger comes in with a mask.
 * Lawrence- (chuckles) You bloody rascal. Still, what you say is true, and I’m glad you understand that.  Thank you.
 * Yulaw- Thank you back.
 * Lawrence- Two of my idols, the great Peter O’Toole and the great Richard Harris, had problems with alcohol. Harris had drug troubles as well.  I dedicated my performance in the play “The Dry-Out Room” to him.  Harris was in a film called This Sporting Life, widely considered to be one of the greatest British films.  There’s a scene early on in which he had to have six teeth removed because of an injury.
 * Yulaw- Ouch! What kind of sport was he playing?
 * Lawrence- Rugby.
 * Yulaw- That’s a violent one, all right.
 * Lawrence- He had to have gas for the surgery. The dentist put the mask on him and he sunk into unconsciousness.
 * Yulaw- That had an effect on you?
 * Lawrence- I imagine it did. Don’t get me wrong; I didn’t just up and decide to do something just because I saw it in a movie.  This was years before I started using it, and I did my research first.
 * Yulaw- When did you start?
 * Lawrence- It was towards the end of filming my second movie.
 * Yulaw- It’s been a while then.
 * Lawrence- Mmm-hmm. I’d talk more about that, but I’d feel like I was making excuses.
 * Yulaw- That’s fine. I won’t be nosy about that.
 * Lawrence- (raises glass) I appreciate that, mate.
 * Yulaw- Now, all I know is its use in dentistry and the scene in Lethal Weapon 4. (beat) Does that sound…
 * Lawrence- Stereotypical? I don’t think so.
 * Yulaw- All right. How about you educate me?
 * Lawrence- You’re not thinking of starting on it, are you?
 * Yulaw- No. I don’t go around experimenting or anything.  I’m just curious. (Beat) I have very few vices.
 * Lawrence- Aside from gassing people and pranking cabin mates, eh? All right, then.  Nitrous oxide is colourless, non-toxic, and non-flammable.  It has a faint, slightly sweet odour and taste.  It’s sometimes scented as well.
 * Yulaw- I take it what’s in this tank is not scented, then?
 * Lawrence- Right. I’m fine with just the regular stuff.
 * Yulaw- (jokes dryly) It’s nice to see a star who’s not picky.
 * Lawrence- (smiles) No high-end gas and air for me, no sir! This isn’t addictive as things like alcohol, and in fact it’s been used to treat addictions and withdrawal, but it can still be habit-forming.  It’s safer, but not harmless.  For starters, you should never use it while standing.  It can cause short-term decreases in mental performance and coordination, similar to alcohol intoxication.  If you use it while standing, you could lose your balance, fall, and break your nose, or break some teeth out of your bloody head.
 * Yulaw- (winces) That would be something if you fell and had to have teeth fixed because you were inhaling gas from a dentist’s office. (He pours himself some more ginger ale)
 * Lawrence- Such things happen. It retains its potency when exhaled, posing a risk in poorly ventilated areas.  While it’s considered non-toxic, long-term use can cause vitamin B12 deficiency and associated problems.  I don’t use it nearly often enough to have that problem, but I sometimes take injections just to be safe.  Most importantly, you need oxygen or you could faint, have a heart attack, or even suffocate to death.  That’s why they started having the tanks with the oxygen mixed in. (leans over and rests finger on the top of the valve) You see this valve?
 * Yulaw- Yes.
 * Lawrence- This is called a demand valve, and it makes it safer, especially for self-administration. If you start to pass out, you become unable to hold the valve.
 * Yulaw- So that stops the flow of gas?
 * Lawrence- Exactly.
 * Yulaw- Clever. I’m glad they created something like that.
 * Lawrence- Needless to say, I am too. Things that prevent deaths like this tank and valve are great inventions.  Nitrous is very fast-acting and wears off very quickly.  The intoxication generally lasts 1-5 minutes.
 * Yulaw- That’s why it can become habit-forming?
 * Lawrence- Exactly right again. It causes loss of pain- obviously- and generally relieves anxiety.  It can make one feel calm, euphoric, or relaxed.  Those under its influence don’t want to be bothered by external demands, but then again, isn’t that true of everybody sometimes?
 * Yulaw- (raises glass) That’s exactly right. Sometimes you just don’t want to be bothered.
 * Lawrence- Before the intoxication sets in there’s a head rush and facial flushing. It can induce dizziness or lightheadedness, and some people experience light nausea or dry throat.  It can cause sound distortion, such as ringing or buzzing in the ears or volume distortion.  Sometimes the vision may blur, pulse, or become brighter, and some people even have slight hallucinations.  It can create an unreal feeling, like you’re detached from yourself, and increase suggestibility and imagination.  Some even report, ahem, sexual feelings.  The intoxication may not last long, but coming out of it is easy.
 * (He takes his glass of ginger ale and takes a draught.) I know you don’t just want to hear an oral report, though; you’d also like to hear my personal experience.  About half a minute after I start inhaling I feel the head rush followed by warmth and tingling in my face.  It’s like the blood goes to my head and slowly flows back out again.  I start to feel lightheaded and get a ringing in the ears, but that doesn’t bother me.  People can react in different ways, like I said, but people like me are how it got the nickname laughing gas.  I always burst into guffaws when it hits.  I just can’t help it; this giddy, elated feeling just wells up inside me, like steam in a teakettle.  The stress and pain I felt prior just dissolve.  After my laughing fit I become relaxed, as though I’m about to drift off.  As the intoxication starts to wear off the blood flows out of my head more steadily, or so it feels, and I come down softly, like I’m sinking onto a bed of straw.  I stay in a relaxed and blissful mood for a while afterward.  I don’t intend to do this forever; it’s just what I’m doing now.
 * Yulaw- I can understand that. (Beat) So, how do you feel?
 * Lawrence- Like a weight is off me.
 * Yulaw- Good. Thank you for trusting me with this.
 * Lawrence- You trusted me first.
 * Yulaw- Well… (jokingly) If you’re going to associate with a gas-huffing actor…
 * Lawrence- (playfully) Oh, stop!
 * Narration- The fan came back at a little before four o’clock. Lawrence thanked her again for her understanding and the two engaged in a lengthy conversation.  The meeting ended with Lawrence handing her a personalized autographed photo through the window and wishing her well.  For a moment she was speechless, frozen with excitement and gratitude.  Then she thanked him and wished him well too, and dashed back to her cabin.  Lawrence beamed as he watched her depart.
 * Yulaw- You made that girl’s trip, mate.
 * Lawrence- It was my pleasure.
 * Narration- The cabin mates continued to bond over the course of the trip. Both of them had control over their emotions.  They were the kind who rarely lost their cool and were skilled at hiding any anxiety they felt.  As the hours passed and they became closer to their destinations, however, a feeling of sadness grew.  They both felt it, and felt that the other one also felt it.  At one point, during the second to last day of the trip, the topic of friendship arose.
 * Lawrence- Having friends is one of life’s joys. They can give you many happy times.
 * Yulaw- I’ve heard of something called a “boon companion”- someone who gets together with someone to have fun and adventure.
 * Lawrence- Yes, those are good to have. They can make you feel like a carefree child again.  Of course, you also need people who will be there when times aren’t fun.
 * Yulaw- Well, there’s no reason a boon companion can’t also be a confident, uh… a pal and a…
 * Lawrence- Confidante.
 * Yulaw- That’s it.
 * Lawrence- That’s a very good point. It’s a beautiful thing to have people you can trust.  Friends who will be there in good and bad times are like diamonds.
 * Yulaw- They’re a blessing, all right. You pray to G-d for friends like that.
 * Lawrence- That’s exactly right.
 * Yulaw- I’m close to my friends. One has so few allies in life.
 * Lawrence- Indeed.
 * Narration- The two had already discovered that Lawrence’s stop was before Yulaw’s. He would stay at his destination long enough to rest and then charter a flight home to England.  He asked Yulaw what his plans were and Yulaw replied that he was going to see where things led.  He had a good amount of money on him, so he had options.  This seemed to please Lawrence.  That evening Lawrence wrote down various notes and filled out various papers, apparently conducting some important business.
 * Late the next morning the train reached Lawrence’s stop. He made sure he had everything packed that he needed to, and a couple workers came by to help with his luggage.
 * Lawrence- (leaves envelope on the table and steps over to Yulaw) Here’s where I take my leave. (The two engage in another Chinese handshake) Might I say, it’s been a pleasure travelling with you.
 * Yulaw- The same here. It’s been great. (jokingly) You can let people know I never put anything in any soda you had.
 * Lawrence- (chuckles) I never suspected you would. Take care, mate.
 * Yulaw- You too. (releases handshake) Have a good one. Oh, and you were right- you do keep a clean place.
 * Lawrence- I do what I can.
 * Narration- Lawrence and the workers exited the cabin to depart the train, leaving Yulaw alone. Yulaw closed the curtain, sat still for a while, and then donned one of his protective masks.  It felt like the aftermath of a party.  He’d had a great time, but now he was alone.  He lounged in silent thought for a while.  After reflecting he thought about the envelope left on the table.  Lawrence had left it deliberately, so this was obviously something he wanted Yulaw to have.  Yulaw removed his mask, fetched the envelope, opened it, and began to examine its contents.  It was the papers that Lawrence had been working on the previous evening.  He read the assembled notes, and then read them again- two, three, four times- to make sure he was understanding what he was reading correctly.  His hands trembled, and when the trembling fit ended he leaned back in the chair to absorb all of it.  He now knew what he was going to do.
 * That evening Yulaw reached his stop. He converted part of his money to francs and another parts to pounds sterling, took a cab to a hotel, checked in, and called his relatives back in Taiwan.  He emailed them pictures to prove that he had indeed shared the ride with the renowned Lawrence Sande.  They were amazed and excited for him.  He told them about how cordial and personable Lawrence was, and he didn’t breathe a word about Lawrence’s secret.
 * He stayed at the hotel for a couple days, then checked out and took a cab to a small, private airfield. He gave the man there a stack of francs and the note from Lawrence telling him to let Yulaw charter a private flight to England.  The man immediately agreed and soon Yulaw was on a small plane.  It wasn’t the most luxurious of rides, but Yulaw didn’t have to go through any annoying screening processes.  He was even able to don a mask during the trip, Lawrence’s note explaining that he was odd and mischievous, but he wasn’t going to make any trouble.
 * After arriving at an airfield in England, Yulaw showed a man there another note that Lawrence had written. The man quickly arranged a ride for Yulaw.  He stopped at a nearby hotel, marked on a provided map, long enough to check himself and most of his luggage in and then continued to a private address.  The estate was not as large or grandiose as some English manors, but it was still stately.  High cast iron gates and fencing surrounded a good-sized, well-kept garden, an impressive brick and stone house with three stories, and a multi-car garage.  Yulaw was about to press an intercom button, but before he could a well-dressed, middle-aged woman exited the house.  Seeing Yulaw, she came to the gate.
 * Housekeeper- Are you Yulaw Kiang?
 * Yulaw- (somewhat surprised) Yes, ma’am. Here, I have proof. (He sets down his carpetbag and retrieves his ID and a note from Lawrence) He told you about me?
 * Housekeeper- (smiles) He said you might come to visit. (hands ID and note back to Yulaw after reviewing them) I’ll get the door.
 * Yulaw put away the ID & note, thanked the driver, paid his fare, and picked up his carpetbag. The housekeeper opened the gate so Yulaw could enter and then led him down the path to the door.  After she unlocked it, Yulaw thanked her and gave her his well-wishes.
 * He went through the foyer and came to a nook decorated with movie posters. There was a chair in addition to a simple yet proud awards case displaying various trophies and certificates.  Yulaw spent some time admiring the collection.  He noticed that a few of them had writing that wasn’t English.  Lawrence Sande truly was an international star.  *He heard music playing from another room and followed the sound.  He arrived at a den in which a man was sitting and reading a book.  Yulaw smiled and then spoke to get his attention.
 * Yulaw- From what I’ve seen so far, this is a nice place you’ve got here.
 * Lawrence- (smiles) Thank you, mate. (He goes to Yulaw to engage in a Chinese handshake) I’m glad you could make it.
 * Yulaw- Thank you for inviting me, my friend. Raidra (talk) 00:02, September 19, 2016 (UTC)

That's good! Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know. Good luck and I'll be here when you come back! :-) Here's an update before you go. Mom went to the foot doctor last week.  She has a friction blister on her right big toe, but they say it shouldn’t be an issue.  She went to another doctor and got some medicine for it.  It’s already looking better, so that’s a relief.  She also picked up her special shoes last week, so things are going well. :-D Raidra (talk) 00:12, September 20, 2016 (UTC)
 * That’s fine. I hope you like it.  Good luck with the shoes. :-D Raidra (talk) 00:09, September 24, 2016 (UTC)

Aw, don't worry about it! Notice he's not saying it's right; he's just saying he's not as bad as other criminal hirelings. He'd never cross most of the lines he's drawn because he has a moral code just like the heroes do. However, if someone's really bugging him, he might just gas them unconscious and not give any justification for it; it would be understood why he did it. I can imagine Dreadnought Masquerade coming across a rival actor that's really terrible to his fans, and Lawrence giving Yulaw the go-ahead to intimidate him because the guy's a jerk that needs to be taken down a peg. I have a scene planned in which some guy is at a meeting with several members of Basilisk and acts like a total jerk. Vacon (Remember him?) warns him to knock it off, and when the guy keeps being hateful and starts taunting him ("What are you going to do about it?!"), Vacon draws a tranquilizer pistol and shoots him with a dart. This is followed by another member drawing or writing on the unconscious jerk's face. Anyway, could you imagine if there were a Death at a Funeral-type situation and Yulaw kidnapped the wrong person? "Who's that?" "This isn't the guy you wanted brought?" "No." "Oh. Okay, I'll take this guy back and make the exchange. I'll be back shortly!"

I did further research on laughing gas so it would sound like I knew what I was talking about, so I'm glad that showed. The thing about Dreadnought Masquerade is they're two flawed people, but they're not bad people, shown by them eventually joining the heroes. You're certainly welcome, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :-D Anti-Heroes: Friendship is Magic! Raidra (talk) 01:14, September 25, 2016 (UTC)

Back/Mistake
That's okay! I'm glad you're back!

I'm glad things are going better (Sometimes things can weigh you down) and that your dad's insoles are helping. Hopefully his recovery will continue to go well. There's not really anything to report on Mom. We've been doing pretty well. My nephew, as you could guess, has already started college. I'm almost done with the final part of the draft for the latest installment of the Houseguest series, and I'm almost done reviewing Banning's Tobit series too. I'm looking through a book on Japanese castles right now. I say "looking through" because I had been reading it, but there was so much jargon I thought, "Forget this, I'm just going to look through the pictures." Raidra (talk) 16:04, October 5, 2016 (UTC)
 * What's worse is when there's a glossary, but it doesn't explain much of anything. If you expect everyone to know everything already, and the glossary isn't useful, then why have the freakin' glossary in the first place?!  What's even worse is when you run into a snooty fan (of a show, book series, whatever) and they get angry at you for asking legitimate questions in an attempt to learn more about the show, book, whatever. What is that going to do other than turn people away from whatever it is they're a fan of? Raidra (talk) 00:18, October 8, 2016 (UTC)
 * The last part has been posted! Feel free to take your time. Raidra (talk) 00:55, October 8, 2016 (UTC)
 * Exactly! I can't say it any better than you did.
 * Bruce Campbell is awesome, and that is a cool story. He's absolutely right.  Plus, there are liars out there, scum who start spreading lies if their so-called hero doesn't give them a freebie for them to sell.  I once read through a thread talking about rude people at comic book/science-fiction conventions, and there were numerous stories of greedy people bringing boxes of things for people to sign.  Someone wondered why the writers/artists would oblige them and sign all these things, and someone else replied something to the effect of, "Probably because it's better to oblige than to be known as 'that guy who wouldn't sign a few comics'. People like that tend to exaggerate.  The box full of comics becomes 'just a few more than average,' and pretty soon you're a horrible monster who chewed out a ten-year-old who wanted just one little comic signed by his hero."  Another user replied that when he became famous, he'd sign autographs, but unfortunately, a gibbon with the DTs would write better than he could.  I have my own autograph signing story, but that's for another time.  I have a Gabriel Iglesias routine too. Raidra (talk) 00:45, October 11, 2016 (UTC)

Yo!
What's up?

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   00:12, October 9, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Finally Solved this Puzzle!" Message
Well I'm glad to hear that you're doing much better. To be honest, I think taking a break was a smart decision. I mean, we all need a break for certain things from time to time, am I right?

As for my Johto Quest series, I uploaded the first episode onto the Johto Quest site. If you want to read it, I can get the link for you. For my Haunting Hour reviews, I just finished reviewing the sixth episode of the third season and I'm working on my next review. I've also been working on my Haunting Hour pasta, though I've mostly been making corrections to the grammar and whatnot.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   04:59, October 13, 2016 (UTC)

The Signing
Wow, that's awesome! That was really cool of Moore. Speaking of how you can't believe everything you hear about celebrities, I think there was some rumor that Alan Moore wasn't allowed to enter the United States. What the what? I don't know how or why that one got started, but it's definitely false.

I decided to go ahead and share my story. I chronicled the incident as part of a manuscript. I've made some annotations to that (especially since I hadn't gone into detail as to the rude behavior).

The Signing

Let me start by explaining that there are two reasons ex-players usually charge money for autographs. First of all, that’s part of their livelihood. We’re all trying to make a living. I for one would prefer ex-players to get money from signing autographs rather than stealing cars or engaging in pyramid schemes, but maybe I’m strange. [The businesses who hold those events make money too] Two, there have been numerous instances of people obtaining free autographs and then selling the signed item for as much money as they could get for it. Most of the stories I’ve heard involve not athletes, but comic book artists. There’s a story in which someone claiming to be a fan approached a famous artist (I don’t remember who) and asked for a quick sketch. The artist obliged and sketched a small troll. He found out later that the man claiming to be a fan had sold the drawing for a good amount of money. Some fans who regularly attend comic book or science fiction conventions have reported that a lot of artists used to do free sketches at said conventions, but started charging after seeing the sketches pop up for sale on the Internet the day after they’re drawn. I read in a sports collectibles magazine that a lot of ex-players started charging the moment they got into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and it’s probably for that reason.

I was visiting some sports stores in the Dayton Mall one day in March 2011 trying to find a Brett Favre shirt. Cardboard Heroes told me that they didn’t have any shirts, but they did have a figurine and a poster, and that all their NFL gear was 50% off at the moment. Since the poster was too big for my wall, I got the figurine. As the cashier was ringing up my total and verifying my information for the check I’d given him, I looked at the little table behind me and noticed it had Pete Rose pictures and other items. I then noticed a flyer proclaiming that he’d be there signing autographs on April 2. Items such as balls and flats (posters, pictures, and the like) were $60 and items such as bats and jerseys were $100.

I turned back to the cashier and light-heartedly told him, “You want to talk about beyond my price range!” As an afterthought, I added, “Do you have a flyer or anything that I could take?”

He immediately handed me a small piece of paper with the information on it. I thanked him and stuck it into my purse. His action was not only an act of thoughtfulness, but of cleverness. He probably thought, “This girl’s a Rose fan. She’ll scrape together enough money for an autograph.”

It wasn’t too long after that visit that I made up my mind to go if I could. Since my savings account is still considered a minor account, I have to ask Mom’s permission to get any money from it (which I’ll admit is probably for the best). I nervously broached the subject with her the next time she went to the bank, then waited to see what would happen.

She got some money out of her account, then told the teller, “My daughter has some business too.”

“Y-You’re letting me do it!?”

She told me that I didn’t ask for much, and that I’d be mowing a lot of grass that summer. [I held up my end of the bargain] I collected my money and gave her a kiss when we went to the car.

When the day came, Mom called Cardboard Heroes so we’d know what to expect. They said that while the signing was from 5:00-7:30 that evening, the line would start about 2:00 that afternoon. Because of this, I packed a lunch as well as some things to read in case I got bored. The item I brought to get signed was my copy of Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball [a book Pete wrote in 1978]. At first I thought of getting the inside cover signed, but then I thought it might be better to get the signature on a certain page. The page I’m referring to has a picture of Pete signing an autograph and the caption, “Signing autographs is an honor and a compliment.” You can see why I thought getting a signature on that page would be appropriate. After I put on the “Induct 14” button I had made a couple years ago, dabbed on some of my rose-scented perfume (which was probably more to satisfy my sense of irony than anything else), and donned my white “PETE: The Exhibit” ballcap that my brother Sam had gotten me for Christmas, we set out for the mall.

As I approached Cardboard Heroes, I saw a few people standing outside. The first guy in the line was wearing a Pete Rose jersey. I thought, “It looks like I’m at the right place! When I get out, I’ll get in line behind them.” I told the cashier I was there to get a ticket for the Pete Rose signing. When she asked me what I was planning to get signed, I showed her the book. She told me that would be $64.20. I hadn’t thought about the sales tax, so I had to excuse myself, get five dollars from Mom, and then come back. After I got my ticket, I got in line behind a couple I think were mother and son. We chatted a little. We were sixth, seventh, and eighth in line, so I jokingly boasted that we were in the top ten. There was a woman right behind me at one point, but I guess she got tired of waiting because before too long I noticed that she wasn’t there anymore. Instead a man and his young son now stood directly behind me. It was uncanny how much the boy, whose name was Logan, resembled my nephew Alex (Sam and Michelle’s son).

After I got in line, Mom told me where she’d be and said, “Promise me that no matter how bad anyone gets, you’ll be cool.” Shortly after the two behind me arrived, a woman on the other side of the dividing line tested that. She inexplicably stopped and demandingly asked the three of us if they were really charging sixty dollars for an autograph.

“Plus tax,” I replied.

She called Pete a name [She called him a crook] and began making hateful comments and slinging accusations. It was like she thought Pete was charging money to insult her personally.

I thought, “Lady, you’re playing a dangerous game! Do you know why these people are here to see Pete Rose? Because they’re Pete Rose fanatics! If you keep up, they’re going to clobber you!” [I didn't mean the last part for real before we're not a violent bunch. It's just that insulting any athlete in front of their fans runs a risk] I and the aforementioned man at the front of the line were both sporting Pete gear, so a person would have to be an absolute fool not to realize how we felt about the man. Also, Cardboard Heroes had said ahead of time, both in the store and on the website, what the price was. They didn’t spring it on anybody by any means.

I tried to reason with her, explaining, “Ex-players make part of their livelihood by charging for autographs, ma’am.” However, it’s impossible to reason with jerks who decide to create their own reality. She slung another accusation, one that contradicted other things I’d heard and seen.

“That’s not the way I’ve heard it,” I replied. [She claimed that some guy in the store met Pete in the parking lot and refused to give him an autograph. There are some things that smell fishy about this claim. One, ESPN once covered a Cincinnati Reds game he attended and showed him signing autographs for someone. The ESPN reporters even pointed this out. That shows he does sign autographs outside the shows. Second, Pete had another autograph signing in another city earlier that day. While we were waiting in line, he was in another city entirely, so how could he be in the parking lot refusing an autograph? Third, what guy in the store? When I came in to buy my ticket for the event, there didn't appear to be any customers. I only saw workers, and none of them would have insulted a scheduled autograph signer because that would steer away potential customers. If anything, they'd talk up the athlete. I know those last two things aren't proof, but other things about her seemed off. She claimed she just wanted an autograph for her grandson. People who make up stories to besmirch someone often paint themselves as a victim and pull the child card. She passed by again later and the guy with her was too old to be a grandchild. It was a Saturday, so if you cared so much about getting this grandson an autograph, why didn't you bring him to the event with you so it would be a more memorable experience? Her tone and demeanor seemed untrustworthy too. When I contradicted her she wanted using that outraged tone people use when they don't have any support, so they'll just say whatever they can to try and make themselves look good. I know I'm probably biased, but the more I thought about her, the fishier it seemed.]

Thankfully, she left with that. I guess she didn’t like people who don’t automatically believe and agree with any hateful rumors and claims that they hear. By the way, do you know what a sixty-dollar autographed Pete Rose baseball is? It’s a steal, that’s what it is. It’s an absolute steal. Normally a baseball signed by Pete will run you at least a hundred dollars. Between paying $60 to see the man sign it for you in person and paying at least $100 plus shipping and handling to some guy on the Internet who might be selling you a phony, or who might end up taking your money and not sending you anything at all, which one sounds like the better option to you? Later I thought about those people who sell autographed items for big money and started to question what the real reason was for her being so upset about them charging.

After she was well out of earshot, I turned to the two behind me and declared, “That woman was a jerk, I’m sorry.”

The man, who seemed to be a little hard-of-hearing, asked, “What’s that?”

“That woman was a jerk, I’m sorry.” He agreed and I added, “What kind of a person insults someone in front of people they know are fans of that person!?”

“That’s rude,” he agreed.

“It’s hateful and mean. So matter how much I didn’t like a player, I’d never insult him in front of someone who was a fan.”

After I stated that I knew Pete wasn’t perfect, the man told me he also thought that people had been unfair to Pete. He declared that there were basketball players who had done horrible things, but weren’t punished, were still allowed to play, and were even given bonuses. He added, “You’d think he’d gotten banned from America!”

“You’d think he killed someone in a bar fight!” I agreed.

“As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He had a problem, that’s all.” [Pete's gambling led him to betting on his own games, which led to his banishment from Major League Baseball]

We talked about that for a little. I said I’d rather pay sixty dollars to see someone who admitted that he’d made a mistake than talk to a self-righteous jerk for free. I told him about Mom making me promise I’d be cool because “She knows I don’t suffer jerks and fools gladly.” She was sitting in a lounge area a few stores down the way. I pointed her out. With a friendly grin, he told me that he could vouch for the fact that I’d played it cool.

The three of us talked for most of the waiting period. The man, whose name I discovered was Danny, had an interesting history. First off, he had seen Pete before. He said he used to see Pete and his first wife at the track [presumably the dog track], that he had seen his children (at least Fawn and Petey, I don’t know about Tyler and Kara) [Pete's second daughter happens to have the same first name that I do], and that some place in or near where he lived was where Pete had gotten into trouble for gambling. He also had a brother who was now a pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox. In addition, he had served during the Vietnam War. He and another man in his unit were sent to Vietnam. It turned out that those orders were a mistake, but it took three months for the matter to get straightened out. Finally, when it was time for them to leave Vietnam, they were told that they didn’t have a passenger plane, there was just a mail carrier with no seats. He understandably said that they were ready to get out of there, they didn’t care how. They spent the rest of their tour “in every European country there was.” I told him about my late father, who had served in the Korean War. Mom and I didn’t know about the commendations he had gotten until she looked through his files after his death.

Danny, Logan, and I had a lot in common. For instance, we all liked Aaron Harang [Harang pitched for the Reds for a few seasons]. They had brought a folding cloth chair with them. At about three o’clock Logan unfolded it and sat in it. At one point, he mentioned wanting to try to get autographs from Reds players. I happened to have a sheet of paper with Great American Ball Park information on it, so I took it out, lent him some paper and a pen, and let him jot down the information about where the autograph zones are and when fans are allowed to seek autographs. A few minutes later, he went to the Auntie Anne’s (a soft pretzel place) a few stores down to get the two of them some lunch. I’d brought my own lunch, as I mentioned earlier, but I was too keyed up to eat anything. I just took a drink from my bottle of water from time to time.

I had sat down on the floor when I got out the autograph zone information. Danny gestured to the empty chair and asked me, “Would you like to sit down?”

At first I said, “No, that’s okay,” but when he insisted I arose, told him, “Thank you, sir,” and took the seat. When Logan returned, I let him have the seat again and said, “I was just keeping it warm for you.”

Danny and Logan were really nice. The three of us engaged in conversation and took turns sharing the chair. At one point, Mom came over and told them that it was nice of them to share the chair with me. As kind as that was, there was another kind act that Danny did for me. I hadn’t brought a camera because I didn’t know if they’d be allowed. However, Danny had thought to ask the store ahead of time, and both he and Logan had cameras of some sort. They were discussing when would be a good time to get a picture.

I offered, “You could get one when he signs my book.”

Danny liked that idea, and he asked, “How about I send you a picture?” I eagerly agreed, and he said that he’d do that if it were all right with Mom.

Time passes quickly when you’re in good company, and soon it was almost five o’clock. I’m usually nervous around people anyway, so I’d joked earlier that my hands would be trembling by the time I got to Pete. I held out my hand, “Am I shaking yet?”

“Yeah, a little,” replied Logan.

The windows of Cardboard Heroes are heavily decorated with shirts and banners, so it’s hard to see through them and into the store. The woman in front of me peered through an opening and told us, “I see him! He’s wearing a royal blue shirt and cap.”

I snickered at the thought of Pete wearing royal blue. I jokingly thought, “Pete Rose wearing Dodger blue!” [The Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers were big rivals in the 1970s. Pete was also part of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies team that won the World Series by beating the Kansas City Royals]

Danny observed, “I’d say he came through a back door. There’s no way they’re going to have a big baseball player come through this way.”

I noted, “Yeah, because there are lunatics around.” I thought of adding, “Like me,” but that kind of joke doesn’t go over well unless you’ve been friends with someone for a long time.

Logan added, “Or people say mean things, like that lady.”

Shortly afterward, the seven people in front of us went inside. We followed them and I told Danny and Logan, “I hope they know where they’re going, because I sure don’t!”

The inside of Cardboard Heroes is as cluttered as the windows with all the shirt racks and other displays. I looked between one and saw a figure pass by – a figure I recognized from television and newsprint.

I turned to Danny and Logan and announced, “I saw him!” Then I noted, “‘I saw him!’  I say that like it’s a Bigfoot sighting or something!”

My pulse raced as I approached the table where he was signing. A man collected my ticket. I waited for the couple in front of me to get their item signed. Once they had left, I nervously asked, “Is it my turn?”

“Yes,” the ticket-taker replied.

I came to Pete, opened the book to the page, and slid it over to him. I had donned sunglasses prior to entering the store, but I still didn’t make eye contact because I knew that if I did, my nerves would kick in even more and I’d freeze, or black out, or who knows what. [Don't look! You'll turn to stone!] Instead I watched his hand as he wrote his signature across the page. [That's when it kicked in that this was really happening]

I took the book from him. He was still holding the pen so I didn’t try to shake his hand. I merely told him, “It’s great to meet you.”

“Have a nice day,” he responded.

“You too, sir.” [As I waited in line I pondered whether I should call him "sir" when I thanked him. I decided that no, that would be too formal, but I wound up doing it anyway. You never know how you're going to react in situations like that until they happen]

I walked over to where a worker was standing. The worker gave me a card which I noticed later was a certificate of authenticity. I waited for Danny and Logan and we walked out together with our items. I was on cloud nine, not to mention proud of myself for not passing out.

Mom was outside the entrance waiting for me. She had walked over when we started going in because she wanted to make sure I got help if I passed out or anything. I showed her, Danny, and Logan the page with the signature. I had mentioned that I was thinking of getting the page signed. I think they were amused that I’d actually done it. Danny asked her about the pictures, she agreed, and I handed over a copy of my address. We exchanged well-wishes and Mom and I went to the food court to eat and unwind. I came to see Pete, but I also met two other guys I’ll always remember. Raidra (talk) 01:45, October 14, 2016 (UTC)
 * By the way, here's another reason not to believe everything you hear about someone- Donald Trump falsely claimed that Pete Rose endorsed him via an autographed baseball. Yeah. It was the time of the Ohio primaries, and Gov. John Kasich was favored to win. Someone in Trump's camp tweeted a picture of what they purported to be a Pete Rose autographed baseball with a supporting message.  Pete's camp replied that Pete had not endorsed any candidate or sent Trump any ball, and there was no record of them selling a ball to Trump either. ~plays "Zonk!" music from Let's Make a Deal~ Furthermore, Pete Rose does not talk about politics (I jokingly noted that the only time Pete mentions a politician is when he talks about when Ronald Reagan gave him congratulatory calls for beating the National League hits record and the Major League hits record).  Also, if an athlete wanted to support a candidate, they'd make an announcement, like LeBron James recently endorsing Hillary Clinton.  For the record, the pathetic stunt didn't work- Kasich beat Trump handily in the Ohio primaries. Raidra (talk) 00:19, October 16, 2016 (UTC)

Reply to "Seventh Generation Skipping" Message
Well it sucks to hear that you'll be skipping she seventh generation of Pokemon because I think it's doing quite a bit to change up the formula. One on the main reasons I want to get a generation seven Pokemon game is because of Popplio. Next to Spheal, it's one of the cutest seal Pokemon ever made.

I've just finished up working on another Haunting Hour review, though it won't be uploaded until this Friday. Speaking of the Haunting Hour, I'm having this guy called Dr. Frank look at my Haunting Hour pasta. I sent him chapters 1 - 7 and I'm currently waiting to hear back from him.

Heeere's Hailey!  Wanna Talk?   04:48, October 17, 2016 (UTC)