  
 
The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction. Below is a transcript of Rameses, written by Stephen Bond. Rameses was originally released as part of the 2000 IF Competition, where it took thirteenth place. It was also nominated for several Xyzzy Awards: Best Use of Medium, Best NPCs, Best Individual PC, Best Story, Best Writing, and Best Game. It ultimately took home a Xyzzy for Best Individual PC. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting Baf's Guide. WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page. |
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| Playtime! | ||||
| Toyshop and Floyditorium | ||||
| Bulging toychests make this a child's (or child-at-heart's) dream. Play all day, play all night. A small booth has been erected and is staffed by a friendly robot. The sign over it says, "INFOKOM GAMEZ 5 cents". A small notice on the door reads, "PLEASE RETURN TOYS TO THIS ROOM WHEN YOU'RE DONE WITH THEM." | ||||
| You can see: green button, banana machine, faucets, toy catalogue, a crystal ball, cuddly walrus, clicker, cloak, tic-tac-toe, thermometer, yellow button, waldo whisper object, checkers board, Werewolf rules, bunny burger, signaling device, Mike Tyson, IF Programmer Barbie, IF FLOYD'S DOWN, TELL JOTA -- OR ELSE HE WON'T KNOW, Gak, Autohugger, Photocopier, basketball, midterm monster, frobozz magic dispenser, fun shiny toy, madlibs, orange, jukebox, FREE DONUTS machine, long-stemmed red rose, dfan's quest, miniature ifMUD, Pun Police Whistle, orange door, monkey guru, mind chess, the 'hey there, playerfish!' cube, apple, a zorkmid, storyharp, ClubFloyd Suggestions, save button, specimen jar, soda reading 'Don't drink me!', Gene Ray, jellybean | ||||
| Players: Waldo, Floyd, Jaybird, Fyrion, Jacqueline | ||||
| Visible Exits: northeast (to the Lounge) | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "quit" | ||||
| Floyd says (to Jacqueline), "Floyd isn't playing any game right now." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "Ah, good." | ||||
| Floyd says (to Jacqueline), "Floyd doesn't know that trick." | ||||
| yandexx arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Fang asks, "When's it happening tonight?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Eep. I meant to holler at ten minutes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But now it's nine!" | ||||
| Fyrion says, "Eight on my PC, but that's me." | ||||
| Jacqueline hollers, "ClubFloyd at the top of the hour! (Eight minutes or so.)" | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, it just flipped on my clock, too." | |||
| Fyrion says, "Eh, it happens." | ||||
| Jota arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| Fang arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Bert arrives, ready to play with the toys. | ||||
| Nitku arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Jota has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| DavidW arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | ||||
| DavidW says, "Did we check that both games are on Floyd? I didn't." | ||||
| AlexP arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "btw, It's good to have you back!" | |||
| inky arrives, full of fun and funk. | Fyrion exclaims, "It wouldn't be Club Floyd without you, Jacqueline!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Thanks, everyone." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Thanks especially to David for taking the helm while I was away for so long." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay... here we go..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load rameses" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I am standing on the platform of a railway station - it's miserable, Floyd | it's damp, and all the seats are taken by stuck-up grannies and biddies Floyd | and ghastly yacht-clubbers. While waiting for the train, which is Floyd | taking ages, I peer over to the opposite platform, and notice a Floyd | familiar figure. I can't believe it! It's Daniel! After all these Floyd | years! But he hasn't noticed me yet. Barely able to conceal the joy in Floyd | my voice, I step over to the edge of the platform and shout "Daniel Floyd | Maguire! What the FUCK are you doing here?" And he notices me and Floyd | shouts "Alex Moran, would you ever shut the FUCK up, you cross-eyed Floyd | WANKER!" And I reply "Go FUCK yourself, ASSHOLE!" and he replies "Suck Floyd | me off, you BENT BASTARD!". And the two of us run up and down the Floyd | platforms, joyously shouting abuse at each other across three lines of Floyd | track. And all the stuck-up grannies and biddies and ghastly Floyd | yacht-clubbers waiting at the station stare at us as if we are mad. But Floyd | we carry on, running up and down, screaming profanities, and let the Floyd | rest of the world GO FUCK ITSELF! Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | RAMESES Floyd | A Tale of Heroes Floyd | Copyright (c) 2000 by Stephen Bond. Floyd | First time players should type ABOUT. Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 000905 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10 Floyd | Floyd | Dormitory Room (on my bunkbed) Floyd | I wake up. Floyd | Floyd | With horror I realise that I'll have to spend another day in St. Enda's Floyd | college. A familiar fact I have to face each morning - but four years Floyd | here have not made it any easier to face. St. Enda's - how I have come Floyd | to despise this place. A decrepit old red-brick shagpile which has Floyd | become the focal point of this filthy little town in the arse-end of Floyd | nowhere. The cheapest boarding school in the country, probably, but Floyd | also surely the most pompous and inflated. A haven for the worst kind Floyd | of social climbers, parvenus, thick, ignorant farmers' sons... Floyd | Floyd | With horror I also realise that I am an asshole. Another familiar fact, Floyd | and the last seventeen years have given me little reason to doubt it. I Floyd | could happily pick apart my faults all day - I'm too short, too shy, Floyd | indecisive, and uncharismatic. And I've got terrible posture. Floyd | Floyd | The dormitory is a small, frequently claustrophobic room that somehow Floyd | fits four bunkbeds, which are stacked up on opposite walls. There is a Floyd | sink in one corner and an old wardrobe in another. The doorway leads Floyd | east. A solitary window allows a cold light into the room. Floyd | Floyd | On Wayne's bunkbed is Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | On Paddy's bunkbed is Paddy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Wayne long ago abandoned any personality of his own to become a Floyd | miserable lapdog of Gordon, a sort of feeble court jester, constantly Floyd | making up jokes and thinking of new ways to entertain his master. Floyd | Gordon rewards this behaviour by ignoring Wayne anytime his rugby pals Floyd | are around. Wayne seems to accept this treatment, as if it were part of Floyd | the natural order of things, hoping that one day Gordon will accept him Floyd | into his clique on an equal footing. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne is an asshole, in other words. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I've played this one before, so I'll just watch." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | I am Rameses Alexander Moran. With a name like this, you probably think Floyd | my parents have a sense of humour, but they don't. I'm too short, too Floyd | shy, indecisive, and uncharismatic. And I've got terrible posture. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x paddy" | ||||
Floyd | Paddy is fat, and has the timidity and docility of a young deer. A very Floyd | fat young deer, admittedly. Floyd | Floyd | He's also an asshole. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh - it's just that I Floyd | call everyone else an asshole, and if I didn't call Paddy an asshole, Floyd | you might think I liked him or something. Which I don't. You see, Paddy Floyd | is a terrible bore. He never says anything that hasn't been said about Floyd | ten times already by other people. His friends are all timid, boring, Floyd | fat people like him, and when they get together they talk in timid, Floyd | quiet, frightened voices about really boring things. Paddy and his Floyd | friends are harmless, really. They're just not the kind of people I Floyd | want to hang around with. Floyd | Floyd | At the moment, Paddy is asleep, snoring quietly. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I am carrying nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Dormitory Room (on my bunkbed) Floyd | The dormitory is a small, frequently claustrophobic room that somehow Floyd | fits four bunkbeds, which are stacked up on opposite walls. There is a Floyd | sink in one corner and an old wardrobe in another. The doorway leads Floyd | east. A solitary window allows a cold light into the room. Floyd | Floyd | On Wayne's bunkbed is Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | On Paddy's bunkbed is Paddy. Floyd | Floyd | Gordon struts into the room, fresh and dripping from the shower. He is Floyd | wearing nothing apart from a towel which is wrapped loosely around his Floyd | waist. Very loosely around his waist. As he walks in, the towel falls Floyd | off. He tries to make out it was an accident, but it obviously wasn't. Floyd | He just did it so we could all admire the enormous size of his cock. Floyd | Floyd | It happens too often for it to have been an accident. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x cock" | ||||
Floyd | (my dick) Floyd | It's still there. Floyd | Floyd | Gordon walks over to the sink. He pretends to root in his medicine bag Floyd | for something, but I can see he's really admiring himself in the Floyd | mirror. God, that bastard spends so much time looking at his own Floyd | reflection, admiring his face, and his chest, and his muscles, and his Floyd | dick. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Gordon is an asshole. He is without doubt the most vain, pompous, Floyd | self-obsessed asshole I have ever met. God, that guy is in love with Floyd | himself. He absolutely adores every inch of his own body. He has to Floyd | surround himself continually with an entourage of fawning admirers. Floyd | Floyd | And this year, he became a member of the St. Enda's under-18 rugby Floyd | team. So, if there was ever any doubt about it, he is now officially an Floyd | asshole. Floyd | Floyd | Gordon turns around and faces the room. Floyd | "Come on now lads, wake yourselves up, come on now," he says in a thick Floyd | country accent. He doesn't usually have a thick country accent. He's Floyd | just making fun of Declan the Seminarian. You'll meet Declan later. Floyd | Floyd | Gordon is greeted by groaning, some of it from me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | The sink is where we spit all our slooshed-out toothpaste each morning. Floyd | It's covered in limescale, and the plumbing underneath is exposed. Both Floyd | hot and cold taps produce a weak, tepid stream of water, but at least Floyd | they don't drip all night. Above the sink is a mirror. Floyd | Floyd | "Ah, I see Mr Alex Moran is already awake," says Gordon in his normal Floyd | voice, which is deep and terribly pompous. "And what about Mr Wayne Floyd | Treacy?" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "This is so far reminding me a great deal of Catcher in the Rye." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x mirror" | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I played that. It's not as good." | |||
Floyd | I can't see myself in the mirror from my bed. I can, however, see a Floyd | most uninteresting part of the side wall. Floyd | Floyd | "And what about Mr Wayne Treacy?" says Gordon again, raising his voice. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne stirs in his bed. "Fuck off, Gordon," he says, affectionately. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fyrion asks, "There was an IF version?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "get up" | ||||
Floyd | But I don't want to get out of bed. It's a cold day outside, and it's Floyd | nice and warm here. Floyd | Floyd | "And finally to Mr Patrick Mulroney." Gordon really treats everyone Floyd | else like a moron. "Is he awake? No, still sleeping like a log." Floyd | Floyd | "Sleeping like a pig, more like," says Wayne. "And he was snoring like Floyd | a pig, too, fucking keeping me awake all night. Hey, Podge," he shouts, Floyd | hitting the bunk above him, "wake up, ya fat bastard." Floyd | Floyd | Paddy awakes with a startled whimper, and then begins stupidly blinking Floyd | his large, bovine eyes. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yes, but very very poorly done." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Huh. I didn't realize there was one." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "sleep" | ||||
Floyd | Tempting as it is, I really shouldn't go back to sleep. I might stay in Floyd | bed for a while though. Floyd | Floyd | "You know, Podge, you really need to lose a bit of weight. I'm speaking Floyd | as a friend here, honestly," Wayne says with mock seriousness. "I'm Floyd | also speaking out of concern for my own safety. If you get any fatter, Floyd | the bunk won't be able to support your weight, and you'll fall down on Floyd | top of me. And I wouldn't like that to happen. And then you'd have Floyd | nowhere to sleep either, would ya?" Floyd | Floyd | "He'd have to sleep next to you then, Wayne," says Gordon. He is Floyd | smoothing shaving cream all over his face. He tends to spend way too Floyd | long doing this, caressing his sleek jawline again and again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emily arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | ||||
| Fyrion waves to Emily. | Emily says, "I think it wasn't meant completely seriously" | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x bunks" | ||||
Floyd | There are four bunkbeds in the room, two against each wall. My bunk is Floyd | under Gordon's on one side, and Wayne's bunk is under Paddy's on the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | "Fuck off. I'm not a fucking queer. And I don't sleep with farmyard Floyd | animals like Podge here either." Floyd | Floyd | Wayne is making a reference to the fact that Paddy's parents are Floyd | farmers. Gordon's father, as my father made me find out, is a doctor. I Floyd | never found out what Wayne's parents did. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "you just have to do >CATCH RYE" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask gordon about gordon" | ||||
Floyd | In this story, to talk to somebody, use 'talk to'. Floyd | Floyd | Declan walks into the room. He is the seminarian who is supposed to Floyd | look after us. "Come on lads, wake yourselves up, come on now," he says Floyd | in a thick country accent. Floyd | Floyd | "You're too late, as usual," says Gordon, "We're already awake." He is Floyd | still bollock-naked. His dong is swinging like a pendulum. Floyd | Floyd | "I see," says Declan. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x declan" | ||||
Floyd | As well as being a boarding school, St. Enda's is a training college Floyd | for priests. Years ago, there were loads of seminarians in the college. Floyd | Now there are only two. The seminarians are supposed to look after the Floyd | boarders, which in reality amounts to waking us up in the morning and Floyd | putting out the lights at night. Floyd | Floyd | Declan the Seminarian is an asshole. He tries to be too friendly with Floyd | the boarders, and is unaware of how stupid we all think he is. "I'm on Floyd | your side," he says to us, "if you want anything sorted out, I'm your Floyd | man." He often goes round the back of the school to be with all the Floyd | smokers, and tries to talk with them about girls, sport, pop music - Floyd | subjects with which he is hopelessly out of touch. Everyone treats him Floyd | like shit. Floyd | Floyd | "I had to do your job for you again. You're pretty useless around here, Floyd | aren't you Declan." Floyd | Floyd | "I suppose I am," says Declan with a vapid smile. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I've never read the book, so it was difficult to know what to do. But the coding was really buggy." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Gordon, why don't you do us all a favour and shut the fuck up?" Floyd | (2) "For fuck's sake Gordon I'm trying to get some sleep here!" Floyd | (3) "Hello everybody, look at me, I'm Gordon, I'm a big ponce!" Floyd | (4) "Ooooh, displaying your wares to Declan now are we? I bet he's Floyd | impressed!" Floyd | (5) "Wow, Gordon, you're so cool." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "5" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | He probably wouldn't realise I was being sarcastic if I said that. He Floyd | has very little sense of irony. Floyd | Floyd | "I was already awake, because fat-boy was snoring his arse off all Floyd | night," says Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, that's terrible!" Declan doesn't even try to defend Paddy - he's Floyd | too anxious to be friends with everyone for that. "So how are you this Floyd | morning, Gordon? Still smoking away on the fags?" he says, remembering Floyd | that Gordon smokes. Floyd | Floyd | "Still smoking away," says Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | > | Marvin says, "I've only read half the book, and I can't think how you'd make it into IF." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to declan" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "You're going to let Wayne away with that? You pathetic asshole." Floyd | (2) "You're licking up to Gordon too? Oh give me a break." Floyd | (3) "Fuck off, Declan." Floyd | (4) "Declan, how are the first years coming along? Still 'malleable' at Floyd | that age, eh?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Marvin says, "Unless you could use commands like >WANDER AROUND ANY-GODDAMN-WHERE AND DO BASICALLY NO-GODDAMN-THING." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Isn't that disgraceful! How can he have any respect for himself after Floyd | letting Wayne get away with that? How can he expect us to have any Floyd | respect for him? He's just a morally spineless shit. Floyd | Floyd | I'm actually too livid to say anything. Floyd | Floyd | "And what are you smoking now?" Floyd | Floyd | "Pure Columbian marijuana." Gordon is such a smug bastard. "No, only Floyd | joking. Actually, I've decided to give them up." Floyd | Floyd | > | Marvin says, "Maybe I should try to finish it one day." | |||
| Fang says, "There does not appear to be a great deal of interactivity in this game" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Fang), "There isn't." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Wait, so far we haven't said anything we wanted to say." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "You've noticed." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, what Fang said. Timing." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Gordon, why don't you do us all a favour and shut the fuck up?" Floyd | (2) "For fuck's sake Gordon I'm trying to get some sleep here!" Floyd | (3) "Hello everybody, look at me, I'm Gordon, I'm a big ponce!" Floyd | (4) "Ooooh, displaying your wares to Declan now are we? I bet he's Floyd | impressed!" Floyd | (5) "Wow, Gordon, you're so cool." Floyd | (6) "Oh hahaha Gordon, excuse my while I shit myself laughing." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | DavidW says, "I think there's a response to ABOUT, but perhaps save it for later." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "6" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Can you really imagine me saying that? And the look on everyone's face Floyd | after I said it? No. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, is that right? Well, if you've any old packets that you don't want Floyd | any more, you know who to give them to, ha ha..." Floyd | Floyd | "Well, if you'd be willing to pay me..." Floyd | Floyd | Declan then goes into an exaggerated display of nervous laughter at Floyd | Gordon's feeble joke. When he is finished, he just stands there, Floyd | looking around the room with an idiotic grin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Marvin arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| yandexx says, "yea..." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "feel repressed" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "xyzzy" | ||||
Floyd | A hollow voice rings out - no wait, that's probably Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | There is an awkward silence for a few moments. The only sound is the Floyd | scraping of Gordon's razor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to declan" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "You're licking up to Gordon too? Oh give me a break." Floyd | (2) "Fuck off, Declan." Floyd | (3) "Declan, how are the first years coming along? Still 'malleable' at Floyd | that age, eh?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says, "I mean, the writing is good, for values of good that equal 'knowing how horrible school boys can be to one another and portraying that in a realistic way'" | |||
| Marvin says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I'd love to say that, but I'd probably get expelled. Floyd | Floyd | "Well.... I better be off, then," says Declan. Floyd | Floyd | "See ya..." says Gordon. "What a tosser," he says after Declan has Floyd | gone. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I guess I do see why maga likes this game and recommends it. It does feel like it could be more interactive, but then, the character has decent, believable reasons for not saying the things we're suggesting he say." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x wardrobe" | ||||
Floyd | The wardrobe is old and dishevelled, and looks like it only stays Floyd | together because it's leaning against the wall. It's where everybody Floyd | keeps their clothes, medicines, toothbrushes, aftershave etc. I'm a bit Floyd | touchy about keeping all my stuff with everyone else's, but there Floyd | really isn't anywhere else to put things. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne gets up. He is evidently bored with teasing Paddy, so he turns to Floyd | Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | "All set for tonight then, Gordo?" he asks. Gordo. That really pisses Floyd | me off. Floyd | Floyd | "Yup," says Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | 'Tonight' - why does that word suddenly make me feel uneasy? Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "But well, it's the author's fault for providing us with such options" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "What's happening tonight then?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Before I can ask it, Wayne answers the question: Floyd | Floyd | "We're off down the Junction with the lads to pick up a few slappers," Floyd | says Wayne. Presumably he's talking to me. "Then, it's back to Baz's Floyd | place for the night. He's got three crates in, and we are going to get Floyd | pissed out of our skulls." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| AlexP has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Jacqueline says, "Wow, that sounds wonderful." | |||
| DavidW asks, "hm. 'slappers' means...?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "British for sluts, according to maga." | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Are you talking to me?" Floyd | (2) "And why should I care about any of this?" Floyd | (3) "Where's the Junction?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | DavidW says, "oh." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Though less strong than slut, I guess." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I always hear Wayne and Gordon and assorted other losers talking about Floyd | the Junction and I've always wanted to know where it is. I've come to Floyd | associate its name with drinking.. loud music... horrible girls... all Floyd | that sordid side of adolescence. Anyway, what about tonight? What am I Floyd | trying to remember? Floyd | Floyd | "Three crates?" says Gordon. "I must admit I'm tempted..." Floyd | Floyd | "You mean you're not coming?" cries Wayne in distress. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "'Women of no class.'" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "'With a connotation of silliness.'" | ||||
| Emily asks, "bimbo?" | ||||
| olethros says, "less? seems like 'slapper' is called thus due to a sexual connotation" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Gives a new meaning to 'slapdash'." | ||||
| Alex says (to olethros), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that less is [ LINK ] So deal with it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It is nice to have a walking British slang dictionary in my home." | ||||
| olethros says, "c.f. 'fap fap fap'" | ||||
| Fyrion says, "LOL" | ||||
| DavidW says (to olethros), "Thank you, Mike's Left Hand." | ||||
| olethros says, "hey, SL was great" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Aw Wayne, you poor thing. Your hero deserting you, is he?" Floyd | (2) "Well that's what happens when you count on Gordon." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says, "I have a feeling we will say NEITHER of these things." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Yeah - poor Wayne. But tonight... what's happening tonight? Floyd | Floyd | "No, I'm afraid not," says Gordon. "I have got to meet a girl tonight. Floyd | " Floyd | Floyd | "Well... can't you bring her as well?" Floyd | Floyd | Tonight... I'm sure there's something I'm supposed to remember.. about Floyd | tonight... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "remember" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Well, there's our problem, then." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Aw Wayne, you poor thing. Your hero deserting you, is he?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Haha! I'm delighted for the wanker. But tonight... Floyd | Floyd | "No. The sort of women I associate with are far too sophisticated for Floyd | that sort of thing." Floyd | Floyd | "Why, what is she - a fucking princess?" Wayne is so upset that he Floyd | risks insulting his idol. Floyd | Floyd | "No. She's Peter Bates's sister." One of Gordon's rugby pals. "She's Floyd | rich, she's gorgeous, and she's got a pair of tits that could knock out Floyd | your eyeballs at fifty paces. And tonight, she's all mine." Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks, "Sigh, can we actually say a word?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x my mouth" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "there's your problem" | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "scream" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "shout" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to shout? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Fang), "Well, we don't have prehensile eyestalks." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "touch mouth" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to paddy" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Are you okay now, Paddy?" Floyd | (2) "Stopped crying there, fat-boy?" Floyd | (3) "Hey Paddy, why don't we leave these two love-birds here and go Floyd | take a shower, eh?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "mmmfh mfffh mmmgh" | ||||
Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says, "3SD." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I'm not saying that. That would be just plain weird. Floyd | Floyd | "Where are you going with her?" asks Wayne. He seems to have calmed Floyd | down a bit by now. Floyd | Floyd | "First, we're going to the Vegas Club. She's eighteen so she can get me Floyd | in. Then, well, she's got a free house tonight, so, you never know, we Floyd | could be going back there for a bit of... ahem..." Floyd | Floyd | Then fuck! It all comes back to me. Tonight. Ferdia. The 'girls'. Floyd | Ferdia. Fucking Ferdia. Why did I agree to all this? Why did I agree to Floyd | going out tonight? Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yeah" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "haha" | ||||
| Taleslinger arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | The large sash window looks out at a rusty drainpipe on the back of Floyd | some other building in the college. Over the years I have built up an Floyd | intense hatred of this grimy, ugly drainpipe. Why do I have to look at Floyd | this thing every day? Why can't I look out at some sun-drenched green Floyd | fields, or a mountain range, or the sea? Why this pointless fucking Floyd | drainpipe? Floyd | Floyd | "Will you listen to the stud of St. Enda's?" says Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, it just comes so naturally to me, you know...?" swaggers Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | I'll be going out tonight! Out on the town! Drinking, dancing... Floyd | Girls... God knows what. Fucking hell. Fuck! I don't think I can face Floyd | it, but I can't turn back, either. FUCK!!! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Well, since we can't remember, I guess we just try to do something it won't let us do and then the character will naturally tell us about Ferdia..." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bed" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, my bunkbed, Gordon's bunkbed, Wayne's bunkbed or Floyd | Paddy's bunkbed? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "my bunkbed" | ||||
Floyd | My bunkbed is the one place in St. Enda's that I like. Sure, it's not Floyd | the last word in luxury - a basic steel frame, a noisy-springed Floyd | mattress - and also it has the misfortune of being under Gordon's bed - Floyd | but at least it's warm and kept fairly clean. And it's fair to say that Floyd | all the good times I've had in St. Enda's have been in this bed - Floyd | dreaming my romantic dreams about love, adventure, having friends... Floyd | Floyd | "Just think about it," says Wayne, "I'll be getting pissed tonight, Floyd | Gordon'll be getting laid, and the two lads will be in here, studying Floyd | away, having a really quiet time..." Floyd | Floyd | FUCK!! FUCK!! FUCK!! Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Wow, first person." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes. The first person bit is done quite well, actually." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | yandexx exclaims, "I didn't even notice that!" | |||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "I'm going out tonight as well!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | "I'm going out tonight as well!" Floyd | Floyd | I said that! That just blurted out of me! Floyd | Floyd | "Really?" says Wayne. "Who's the lucky fella?" Floyd | Floyd | "It's a girl actually, Wayne. We're not all like you." Pretty Floyd | bog-standard banter, I know. Floyd | Floyd | "What's her name?" asks Gordon. "I might know her." He's putting his Floyd | clothes on now, thank God. Floyd | Floyd | "There can't be a girl in the town that our Gordo doesn't know - by now Floyd | anyway!" chimes Wayne. Ugh. Floyd | Floyd | "I don't know her name yet. Ferdia knows her." Ferdia is my 'best Floyd | friend'. You'll meet him soon. "Ferdia is coming as well, with another Floyd | girl he knows." This is all true, but I don't think I'm sounding very Floyd | convincing. Floyd | Floyd | "Are you sure Ferdia is telling the truth about these girls?" says Floyd | Wayne. "I think it's all part of his secret plan to get you on your own Floyd | and have his way with you..." Floyd | Floyd | "Where are you going with them?" says Gordon, ignoring him. Floyd | Floyd | "I don't know that yet either. I'm meeting Ferdia in the dining hall Floyd | this morning..." Floyd | Floyd | "I dunno, it all sounds very dodgy to me," says Wayne. "But you never Floyd | know. Hah - would ya believe it? Alex is going out with a girl. What Floyd | next? Pigs might fly. Fat-boy might fly! Come on, Podge, flap your Floyd | wings! Flap your flabby wings, fat-boy!" Floyd | Floyd | . . . | Jacqueline applauds us for actually speaking! | |||
| Fang says, "Oh dear god, we spoke" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "0" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "press any key" | Jacqueline asks (of Fang), "Why? You're sorry we spoke?" | |||
| Fang says, "er" | ||||
| yandexx asks, "Now what?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | Jacqueline says, "Oh, I see. We've crashed." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), """" | ||||
| Bert pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | And so on. But I can't listen to them anymore. All I can think about is Floyd | tonight. I'm a bit nervous about meeting these girls. I know I'm Floyd | seventeen and all, but, to tell the truth, I haven't ever been out with Floyd | a girl before. I haven't even spoken to a girl for so long. What will I Floyd | say? What will I do? I know I'm going to make an absolute asshole of Floyd | myself. Floyd | Floyd | Girls frighten the shit out of me, to be honest. Floyd | Floyd | I remember when I was fourteen, when we all went back to school after Floyd | the summer holidays, and everyone was suddenly talking about girls. And Floyd | not in the way we'd usually snigger - everyone was now talking about Floyd | them in a serious way. Girls they kissed, girls they fancied, meeting Floyd | girls in discos. And I remember feeling bewildered, nauseated - I Floyd | really didn't want any of this to be happening. It's not that I was Floyd | jealous of anyone - I wasn't - I just didn't even want them to be Floyd | interested in that sort of thing. Floyd | Floyd | It was like being suddenly thrust into an uncertain, dangerous world - Floyd | a world of aftershave, hairiness and croaking voices, a world of Floyd | constant worrying, a world of acne, Adidas and Calvin Klein. And I Floyd | didn't want any of it. I wanted to be twelve again, when I was innocent Floyd | and free, and happy. I wanted to be twelve again and be with Daniel, Floyd | and we'd roam through forests and climb rocks and explore the Floyd | countryside, and everything would be full of mystery and magic. And Floyd | we'd sneak into a hay-barn and tell each other stories and he'd teach Floyd | me bad language. And we'd shout out swear-words at the top of our Floyd | voices, where no-one would hear us. "Go fuck yourself, asshole!" he'd Floyd | say, and I'd say "Fuck you, you bent bastard!" and we'd go on like Floyd | that, shouting for ages, and we could say anything we wanted, and do Floyd | anything we wanted, and we didn't worry about a single thing in the Floyd | whole fucking world. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | Jacqueline says, "He's still online, though." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh - I missed that we were supposed to press a key." | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I go down to the dining hall for breakfast, and sit at a table on my Floyd | own. Floyd | Floyd | Dining Hall (on the chair) Floyd | The dining hall is in one of the newer buildings of St. Enda's College. Floyd | It's a functional, spartan room, full of windows which make it appear Floyd | larger than it really is. The whole place seems to have a permanent Floyd | smell of mashed potato. The rows of tables and chairs are always Floyd | half-empty at this time in the morning. Floyd | Floyd | On the table is my breakfast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says (to Jacq), "I was curious about whether we can say nothing" | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x breakfast" | ||||
Floyd | St. Enda's has little to offer in the way of breakfasts. We have a Floyd | choice of either soggy cornflakes, soggy muesli or soggy toast. I chose Floyd | the soggy toast. I also have some orange juice. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "taste juice" | ||||
Floyd | I take a sip. It's not nice. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Ah. Good point." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x toast" | ||||
Floyd | Two limp slices of underdone toast, smeared in some oily slop that Floyd | passes for butter. They don't offer us real butter at St. Enda's - only Floyd | some crappy butter-substitute that disintegrates into its constituent Floyd | ingredients (one of which appears to be crude petroleum) as soon as you Floyd | spread it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "He might have blurted it out even if we'd typed 0." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "smell" | ||||
Floyd | I smell nothing unexpected. Floyd | Floyd | Where is Ferdia? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "eat toast" | ||||
Floyd | I nibble at the toast a bit. I'm not a great breakfast-eater at the Floyd | best of times, but this morning especially I don't feel like eating. Floyd | I'm too nervous about tonight. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "think" | ||||
Floyd | I'm thinking! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "think about daniel" | ||||
Floyd | I'm thinking! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drink" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to drink? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "coffee" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drink tea" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "sorry. Couldn't resist." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drink juice" | ||||
Floyd | I take a sip. It's not nice. Floyd | Floyd | Ferdia comes into the dining hall and rushes over to my table. He Floyd | begins to speak before he sits down. He always speaks at a million Floyd | miles an hour. Floyd | Floyd | "Alex! Alex! I've got tonight's meeting arrangements all sorted out. I Floyd | was on the phone to Alice - Alice, that's one of the girls who's coming Floyd | - and I told her about it. Anyway, I suggested that we meet in PJ's Floyd | cafe at half five. Do you know where PJ's is?" Floyd | Floyd | Of course I know where PJ's is. He always assumes I know nothing about Floyd | town. Ferdia isn't a boarder by the way. That's why he couldn't tell me Floyd | all this last night. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Ah. I'd missed the orange juice. Was just tring to figure out if we had something to wash down our soggy toast." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Ferdia McMahone is my 'best friend'. I put that in inverted commas, Floyd | because he's really an asshole. I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate Floyd | him I hate him. Floyd | Floyd | Sometimes I am surprised by the ferocity of my hatred for Ferdia. At Floyd | times I am liable to blame him for all my troubles, for anything and Floyd | everything that is going wrong in my life. What is it about Ferdia that Floyd | provokes such a reaction in me? I often think about this, for on the Floyd | surface he can appear to be quite friendly. But underneath this Floyd | friendliness is something more sinister. Ferdia is constantly seeking Floyd | attention - demanding attention. With every word, every gesture, Ferdia Floyd | screams "Look at me! Look at how great I am! Look at me!" Floyd | Floyd | And whenever we speak, it's as if Ferdia is demanding that I Floyd | acknowledge all his perfections and concede his superiority in all Floyd | things. So most of the time he feels less like a friend and more like a Floyd | leech, drawing all of my attention, sucking away at my self esteem. Floyd | Floyd | But I'm starting to rant - so let's just listen to him: Floyd | Floyd | "Okay then," he continues, "Well, we're meeting at half five. Alice is Floyd | coming along, and she's bringing her friend, who's called Claire. Alice Floyd | is tall and has blonde hair; I think Claire has brown hair." Ferdia is Floyd | the kind of guy that uses semicolons in his speech. "Don't get them Floyd | mixed up." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Don't worry, I won't." Floyd | (2) "Er... which one is the blonde again?" Floyd | (3) "How did you meet all these girls anyway?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says, "haha - 'the kind of guy that uses semicolons in his speech.'" | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "How did you meet all these girls, anyway?" Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, Alice is just a friend. I have more friends than just you, you Floyd | know." Floyd | Floyd | "Anyway, I have something important to tell you," Ferdia goes on. "I Floyd | could be late for our meeting. I may not even get there til six." Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "ooh, more talking" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "eep" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "What? But didn't you arrange the time yourself?" Floyd | (2) "Oh for fuck's sake Ferdia..." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "What? But didn't you arrange the time yourself?" Floyd | Floyd | "But I forgot about my science project," says Ferdia. Floyd | Floyd | "You see, I absolutely have to get some work done on my science project Floyd | after school. I'm way behind schedule at the moment. It's really Floyd | getting seriously out of hand. I have so much work to do at the moment Floyd | that I don't know where to begin. Do you realise how little time I have Floyd | left to finish it?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "You've got five fucking weeks left to finish it!" Floyd | (2) "No, please tell me loads more about your project." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "You've got five fucking weeks left to finish it!" Floyd | Floyd | He does too. Ferdia is talking about his entry in a local project Floyd | competition. He has somehow come under the impression that I'm Floyd | tremendously interested in it, and tells me about it all the time. It's Floyd | titled "The effects of interactive video entertainment on human Floyd | concentration and response." As far as I can see, it just involves Floyd | playing computer games for hours. Floyd | Floyd | "But five weeks is a such a short time for a project of this scale!" Floyd | says Ferdia. Floyd | Floyd | "If I don't get something done this weekend I may have to give it up, Floyd | and that would be a pity. It would be a tragedy, after all the work Floyd | I've put into it. And I still have so many reports to write, and so Floyd | much research left to do..." Floyd | Floyd | > | yandexx says, "we even swear out loud" | |||
| Fang says, "We must have broken the game" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "But why didn't you think about that when you set the time Floyd | yesterday?" Floyd | (2) "Yeah... fucking catastrophic." Floyd | (3) "Oh... that sounds like a lot of work alright.." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "But why didn't you think about that when you set the time yesterday?" Floyd | Floyd | "I'm under so much pressure now! Sometimes I don't know how I find any Floyd | time for myself at all. As well as my project, I've got my normal Floyd | homework to do, and then there's all the work I do in the community Floyd | centre at weekends. It's not easy, you know! I'd like to see you trying Floyd | to cope with my workload!" Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Is this a new game=" | |||
| Taleslinger asks, "?" | ||||
| inky says, "no" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No, we had a scene change." | ||||
| inky says, "it's from the 2000 comp" | ||||
| Fang says, "This is pre-photopia, I think" | ||||
| Fang asks, "or not?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, you mean is it a recent game. I thought you were asking if we'd changed games, sorry." | ||||
| inky says, "(that was the 1998 comp)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "How do you do it, Ferdia?" Floyd | (2) "I'm sorry, I know you're very busy..." Floyd | (3) "Hey, stop whinging! You're not the only one with work to do around Floyd | here!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "I'm sorry, I know you're very busy..." Floyd | Floyd | This kind of bullshit is typical of Ferdia. With him, every minor Floyd | inconvenience is blown into a crisis of collosal proportions. Ferdia Floyd | sees himself there, in the thick of things, making heroic decisions Floyd | under enormous pressure. Floyd | Floyd | "Well as long as you know." Floyd | Floyd | "Anyway," says Ferdia, "I might get there at half five. I'll try to Floyd | finish up with the project at five. I'm not saying I will, but I'll Floyd | try. Then, let's see, it might take me ten minutes to get home, get Floyd | changed..." Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "This is deeply suspicious" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "How so?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Oh, you can spare us the details..." Floyd | (2) "So what are we doing when we meet up, anyway?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Fang says, "that Ferdia would leave us for the chicks for extra time" | |||
| Fang says, "before he arrives" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "So what are we doing when we meet up, anyway?" Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, you'll see, I have it all planned..." says Ferdia with a kind of Floyd | grin. Then he changes the subject. Floyd | Floyd | "Did you do your English last night?" says Ferdia. "Oh, I have to tell Floyd | you about my new theory on A Clockwork Orange. My theory is that Floyd | Anthony Burgess is telling us about the importance of free will." Floyd | Floyd | No shit, Ferdia. Doesn't he stop to preach about it in every fucking Floyd | chapter? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "You mean, there are no chicks." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Amazing insight there, Ferdia..." Floyd | (2) "Well, I said something a bit different in my essay - " Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Fang says, "Or worse" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "Well, I said something a bit different in my essay - " Floyd | Floyd | "I haven't finished explaining my theory yet," says Ferdia. Floyd | Floyd | Asshole. Floyd | Floyd | "Even though the droogs did lots of bad things, what's important is Floyd | that they had the choice to rape, the choice to be thugs, the choice to Floyd | kill. And every human being needs this choice - it's what makes us Floyd | human. If you take away this choice from people, you take away their Floyd | soul. It's like trying to impose some kind of mechanical order on a Floyd | living organism. That's what the title is about: it's like making an Floyd | orange run on clockwork." Floyd | Floyd | Oh Jesus. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "It's a set up. He's going to be there with Gordon and Wayne, watching from a dark corner of PJ's. Laughing at our protagonist." | |||
| DavidW says, "wait. 'CHOICES'" | ||||
| Fang says, "Maybe Ferdia is an author surrogate" | ||||
| Marvin has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | DavidW says, "'if you take away this choice from people....'" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Amazing insight there, Ferdia..." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "0" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I decide not to say anything. Floyd | Floyd | "You see, Alex, free will is central to us. It's the very thing that Floyd | makes us human. And because we are human, we will do everything to Floyd | preserve our free will. We act with our free will at all times, and we Floyd | do anything we want. I could run naked around the room now, if I Floyd | wanted." Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Ferdia's talking about the game itself." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "HAHA" | ||||
| Jacqueline cackles. | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "get naked" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "That's sort of mean, but very funny, and somewhat true." | |||
| yandexx says, ""we can't!"" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Though I am seeing why it's sometimes recommended." | ||||
| Fang says, "I wonder if this is intentional. It looks that way" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdia" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Well why don't you?" Floyd | (2) "Oh, please don't." Floyd | (3) "Do you want to hear what's in my essay?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "Do you want to hear what's in my essay?" Floyd | Floyd | Ferdia just ignores this. Floyd | Floyd | "Anyway, I've put all that in my English essay. I can't wait to see Floyd | what Mrs. Pearse thinks." Floyd | Floyd | The school bell rings, calling us to assembly. If it had not rung at Floyd | that precise moment, I would probably have jumped across the table and Floyd | strangled Ferdia. But instead, I get up and throw my toast in the food Floyd | bin. Ferdia waits patiently for me, and we walk to assembly in silence. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | DavidW says (to Fang), "I'm sure it is intentional." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Fang), "Oh, yes. I think it is." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit ferdia" | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I had a friend once. A real friend, not a parasite like Ferdia. Someone Floyd | with whom I could be myself, someone with whom I could relax, someone Floyd | with whom I could share my hopes and dreams. Floyd | Floyd | His name was Daniel Maguire. I first met him when I was ten years old, Floyd | before I went to St. Enda's, when I was going to the local primary Floyd | school out in the country. He was the new boy in class, and for no Floyd | apparent reason he was very nice to me. We became friendly, and pretty Floyd | soon we became inseparable. Whenever we were together, it was so Floyd | special! I remember the summers we had... Floyd | Floyd | I can honestly say that the only times I felt free, the only times I Floyd | felt liberated from all my inhibitions, were the times I spent with Floyd | Daniel. We didn't have any secrets from each other. I didn't have to Floyd | feign interest in anything just to please him, I didn't feel the need Floyd | to impress him with long words and insincere feelings, I didn't have to Floyd | be anything other than myself. Floyd | Floyd | But I know my parents weren't too fond of him. They were always trying Floyd | to get me to play with some ghastly yacht-club children, and I don't Floyd | think they liked some of the language I picked up from Daniel, either. Floyd | Somehow I began to see him less and less. Then, when I was thirteen, Floyd | disaster struck. I was packed off to St. Enda's, and Daniel went to Floyd | some other secondary school. And after that, I didn't get to see him at Floyd | all. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Shortly after that, Daniel sent me a letter. It was a very funny Floyd | letter, describing some events and people at his new school. It was Floyd | like a flash of the old Daniel, the one who used to tell funny stories Floyd | in a hay-barn. It cheered me up no end during the misery of St. Enda's, Floyd | let me tell you. I knew I had to reply, and it had to be a really Floyd | well-written and funny letter, too. Floyd | Floyd | God, I tried so often to write that letter. Practically every night I Floyd | would stare at a page that was blank except for the words "Dear Daniel" Floyd | at the top. I just couldn't think of anything to say. "Just be Floyd | yourself," I kept thinking, "And write down whatever comes into your Floyd | head." But nothing came into my head. Floyd | Floyd | A few weeks passed, and I still hadn't written a reply. And then I Floyd | couldn't think of any excuses for my lateness. The longer it went on, Floyd | the more ashamed I became about the delay, and the harder it was to Floyd | write. I must have read and re-read Daniel's letter fifty times, Floyd | looking for inspiration. I still have that letter. I still haven't Floyd | replied. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | DavidW asks, "Would I be a bad person for wanting to see Alex's pencilcase?" | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I often dream of a reunion with Daniel. I think about how it would Floyd | happen - whether it would be in our old school out in the country, or Floyd | in the hay-barn where we used to go, or maybe just passing on the Floyd | street. Floyd | Floyd | But if I ever do meet Daniel again, I hope I'll be standing on the Floyd | platform of a railway station - a miserable, damp railway station, Floyd | where all the seats are taken by stuck-up grannies and biddies and Floyd | ghastly yacht-clubbers. And while waiting for the train, which is Floyd | taking ages, I'll peer over to the opposite platform, and notice a Floyd | familiar figure. Daniel! Barely able to conceal the joy in my voice, Floyd | I'll step over to the edge of the platform and shout "Daniel Maguire! Floyd | What the FUCK are you doing here?" And he'll notice me and shout "Alex Floyd | Moran, would you ever shut the FUCK up, you cross-eyed WANKER!" And Floyd | I'll reply "Go FUCK yourself, ASSHOLE!" and he'll reply "Suck me off, Floyd | you BENT BASTARD!". And the two of us will run up and down the Floyd | platforms, joyously shouting abuse at each other across three lines of Floyd | track. And all the stuck-up grannies and biddies and ghastly Floyd | yacht-clubbers waiting at the station will stare at us as if we are Floyd | mad, but we'll carry on, running up and down, screaming profanities, Floyd | and let the rest of the world GO FUCK ITSELF! Floyd | Floyd | . . . | yandexx says, "Good writing." | |||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Well, another crap day in school. Ferdia has been pissing me off all Floyd | day. He kept on droning on and on about his science project and all his Floyd | 'theories' and 'breakthroughs'. And then of course there was a fucking Floyd | orgy of showing-off during English class. And now I have to come back Floyd | up here and get ready for tonight. Tonight - now there's another thing Floyd | that's pissing me off. Floyd | Floyd | Dormitory Room Floyd | The dormitory is a small, frequently claustrophobic room that somehow Floyd | fits four bunkbeds, which are stacked up on opposite walls. There is a Floyd | sink in one corner and an old wardrobe in another. The doorway leads Floyd | east. The early evening light comes through the window. Floyd | Floyd | On Paddy's bunkbed is Paddy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x paddy" | ||||
Floyd | Paddy is fat, and has the timidity and docility of a young deer. A very Floyd | fat young deer, admittedly. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Paddy leafs through a large folder. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x folder" | ||||
Floyd | A large, paint-speckled folder with the words "Patrick Mulroney 6A3. Floyd | Art Portfolio" written carefully on the cover. Floyd | Floyd | Paddy turns a page in his folder. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x paddy's folder" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine Paddy's bunkbed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to paddy" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "How's it going, Paddy?" Floyd | (2) "Have you been there all day?" Floyd | (3) "What's that you're looking at, Paddy?" Floyd | (4) "Hey Paddy... I'm sorry about what happened this morning." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "What's that you're looking at, Paddy?" Floyd | Floyd | God, I always sound so condescending when I'm talking to him. I don't Floyd | mean to, but I can't help it. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh... it's just my art portfolio... for art class..." he mumbles. "You Floyd | can have a look at it, if you want... it's not very good, really..." He Floyd | hands me the folder. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x folder" | ||||
Floyd | A large, paint-speckled folder with the words "Patrick Mulroney 6A3. Floyd | Art Portfolio" written carefully on the cover. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "read folder" | ||||
Floyd | A large, paint-speckled folder with the words "Patrick Mulroney 6A3. Floyd | Art Portfolio" written carefully on the cover. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open folder" | ||||
Floyd | I open the folder, revealing some drawings and paintings. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x drawings" | ||||
Floyd | I look at the first picture. It's a pencil drawing of the front facade Floyd | of St. Enda's College, in all its neo-gothic horror. Now, I'm no art Floyd | expert, but I have to say it's a brilliant drawing - I can't believe Floyd | Paddy drew it. It's not just technically excellent - it also captures Floyd | something of the foreboding, the coldness, the stuffiness, the Floyd | bullshit, that we associate with St. Enda's. Floyd | Floyd | Paddy's large, bovine eyes look at me anxiously as I survey the Floyd | picture. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask ne" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to ask. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to paddy" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Did you do these yourself, Paddy?" Floyd | (2) "That's a brilliant picture, Paddy." Floyd | (3) "Not bad. I'd do the shading a bit differently myself, but..." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "That's a brilliant picture, Paddy... really brilliant." Floyd | Floyd | God, I wish I didn't sound so insincere. I really mean that. It really Floyd | is a brilliant picture. Floyd | Floyd | "Well... it's not that bad.. I suppose..." says Paddy, dipping his Floyd | eyes. He's beginning to blush a bit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to paddy" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Did you do these yourself, Paddy?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "Did you do these yourself, Paddy?" Floyd | Floyd | Paddy has a brief flush of pride. "Yeah I did. They're all mine," he Floyd | says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x paintings" | ||||
Floyd | I look at another picture. It shows an old stone farmhouse next to a Floyd | field full of grazing cattle, all painted in thick, earthy colours. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne strides into the room, in an irritatingly buoyant mood. "Hi Alex! Floyd | Hi fat-boy!" he says. "What's that you're looking at, Alex?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "It's Paddy's art Portfolio." Floyd | (2) "It's none of your fucking business." Floyd | (3) "Here - have a look at this!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Yeah, Wayne is such an asshole, barging in here and demanding things. Floyd | I'm not going to tell him anything. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne snatches the folder from me. Floyd | Floyd | "An art folder, eh? 'Patrick Mulroney, Art Portfolio'. Oh excuse me. So Floyd | what kind of stuff do you draw, Podge?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "You wouldn't be able to appreciate it." Floyd | (2) "Have a look inside." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says, "Please tell me we can stand up for ourselves and Paddy this time." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "Have a look inside." Floyd | Floyd | What a fucking idiotic thing to say. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne looks the the picture of St. Enda's College. "Aw, isn't that Floyd | lovely, Podge. But what I want to know is, are there any nude women in Floyd | here? Can you draw a pair of tits?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "punch wayne" | ||||
Floyd | I could kill him. I dream of causing him as much pain as possible, of Floyd | giving him a slow, agonising death. And Wayne is one of the few people Floyd | I know who would actually be better off dead. But of course it's not Floyd | going to happen. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne looks through the folder. "Or are there any nice pictures of Floyd | sheep, perhaps? Any nice heifers you can stick up on your wall?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Give him back the folder, Wayne." Floyd | (2) "Stop it, Wayne." Floyd | (3) "Sure there are! It's Cow International in there!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take portfolio" | ||||
Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | But he won't stop it. There's no point in even telling that asshole. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne chances on a picture that depicts a field of cattle. "Whoa, we've Floyd | hit the jackpot here!" he says. "Look at the udders on that one! Know Floyd | any of these cows, Podge?" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "GAH" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "GRR" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "AHHHH" | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "take folder" | ||||
Floyd | I want to take the folder from Wayne - and I probably should - but Floyd | instead I just stand there. Maybe it's better not to get involved. Floyd | Anyway, why doesn't Paddy do anything? Floyd | Floyd | He continues his routine. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Podge. You've Floyd | got a very nice family. Fresians, are they? So which one is your Floyd | mother? Or have you eaten her, haha!" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, ">DEVELOP SPINE" | |||
| DavidW says, "uh-huh" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "feel ashamed" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "jump" | ||||
Floyd | I'm not in what you would call a jumpy mood. Floyd | Floyd | "Hey - Podge goes 'Where's my mother?' and his Dad goes 'In the grill!' Floyd | Haha!" Wayne is so delighted with this that he lets the picture fall Floyd | from his grasp. Floyd | Floyd | Paddy leaps down clumsily from his bunk and picks it up. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to paddy" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne starts taking more sheets from the folder and throwing them Floyd | around the room. "Oh shit Podge - I dropped one! And another one!" Floyd | Floyd | Paddy runs around picking them up. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Jacqueline says, "Yay jump response, though." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take all" | ||||
Floyd | I prefer dealing with things individually. Floyd | Floyd | Wayne keeps throwing sheets around. "I keep dropping them, Podge - I'm Floyd | so clumsy today!" Floyd | Floyd | Paddy runs around picking up the sheets. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kill wayne" | ||||
Floyd | I could kill him. I dream of causing him as much pain as possible, of Floyd | giving him a slow, agonising death. And Wayne is one of the few people Floyd | I know who would actually be better off dead. But of course it's not Floyd | going to happen. Floyd | Floyd | Suddenly, Paddy snatches the folder from Wayne, and walks out of the Floyd | room. Floyd | Floyd | "Oooh... looks like fat-boy has a bit of a temper," says Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You think I'm an asshole now, don't you? You think I'm worse than Floyd | Wayne. Just some useless withering shit that spends his whole life Floyd | standing by... well it's not that simple. It's not that simple at all. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I mean, what would you have done? I suppose you would have put Wayne in Floyd | his place, or helped Paddy, or something. Well just say you were here Floyd | instead of me, and you had done your heroic actions. Do you know what Floyd | would happen then? You wouldn't just have Wayne treating you like shit Floyd | for the rest of the year - I'm sure you could handle that - you'd also Floyd | have Paddy being pathetically grateful, Paddy clinging to you all the Floyd | time for protection, Paddy with his big sad-dog eyes staring up at you Floyd | every time he's in trouble. You'd be stuck with him for the rest of Floyd | your life, probably - but I won't ever have that. I have my freedom. Floyd | Yes, that's right, I am free! No-one is dependent on me and I am Floyd | dependent on no-one! And that's how it will remain! Floyd | Floyd | . . . | Fang says, "Hmm, that worked well" | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Anyway, it's not as if I intended to hurt Paddy or anything. It's not Floyd | as if I was intentionally complicit with Wayne. I know that. And it's Floyd | intentions that matter, isn't it? As long as I am satisfied that my Floyd | intentions are noble, I can live with myself... I mean, who else is Floyd | there to judge me? Who else - Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "you Randian twit" | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Gordon bumps into me. "Oh, sorry Alex, didn't see you there," he says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Gordon is an asshole. He is without doubt the most vain, pompous, Floyd | self-obsessed asshole I have ever met. God, that guy is in love with Floyd | himself. He absolutely adores every inch of his own body. He has to Floyd | surround himself continually with an entourage of fawning admirers. Floyd | Floyd | "Hey Gordo," says Wayne, "you missed a right laugh! We sent the Floyd | Podgester crying out of the room! You should have seen the face on him. Floyd | He painted a picture of these cows, right, and I said, 'Is this your Floyd | family portrait?', and then he starts huffing and puffing round the Floyd | room after me -" Floyd | Floyd | Gordon gives a noncommital laugh. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Oh, leave it out, Wayne." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | DavidW says, ">HI GORDON, I WAS EXTEMPORIZING" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Oh why bother? Floyd | Floyd | "And then he runs out of the room like a big frightened... cow." Wayne Floyd | finishes a bit uneasily. Floyd | Floyd | Gordon turns and faces the room. "Right - time to get ready for Floyd | tonight!" he says. "Oh - and Alex is going out tonight as well!" Floyd | Floyd | Did he have to remind me? Fucking hell. Actually, tonight isn't Floyd | worrying me too much now anyway - it just pisses me off. It's going to Floyd | be crap anyway, so why worry about it? That said, I really don't want Floyd | to go. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | It's too early to leave yet. I don't fancy sitting around PJ's cafe on Floyd | my own for ages. And I don't want to be the first one there. Floyd | Floyd | "He looks nervous," says Wayne with mock intensity. "It's his first Floyd | time, of course. Way behind the rest of us. I was beginning to have my Floyd | doubts about you, to be honest, Alex. I still do, really. I mean, you Floyd | and Ferdia are awfully close..." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "sorry" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "leave" | ||||
Floyd | But I'm not in anything at the moment. Floyd | Floyd | Gordon starts changing his clothes. As usual, he spends unnecessarily Floyd | long amounts of time looking in the mirror. He slaps on a bit of Floyd | aftershave. "Only the best," he says. "Here, Alex, you should try some Floyd | of this. Eau de Scrimgeour. Fifty pounds a bottle. Women can't resist Floyd | it." Floyd | Floyd | He tosses me the bottle, and I catch it clumsily with both hands. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger asks, "Is this game a bit of a melodrama, or is just me?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "hit wayne with bottle" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to hit Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert exclaims, "It's a $#@&ing Disney cartoon!" | |||
| DavidW says, "It's a bit of something." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, I think some people do feel like this, trapped in their world." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "It's RAMSES? I can't find it on the Wiki." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But it's frustrating to play this when you're not one of those people." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Rameses" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "Yeah. Rameses." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, typo - yeah. Another e." | ||||
| Fang says, "It is interesting that it has managed to incorporate the frustration with playing the game into the game itself" | ||||
| Bert asks (of Jacq), "You think it's fun if you are one of those people?" | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x bottlw" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "oops bottle" | ||||
Floyd | A small bottle of piss-coloured liquid, with a scent to match. Floyd | Floyd | "Well go on, put it on!" says Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Not at all." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Fang makes a good observation in that I'm sure it's this game's intent." | ||||
| olethros arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wear aftershave" | ||||
Floyd | I pour some aftershave on my hands, and splash it on my face. Oh shit - Floyd | think that was a bit too much! It's starting to dribble down my chin - Floyd | it's soaking my shirt - shit, it's going everywhere! Floyd | Floyd | Gordon looks appalled. For a moment, he loses his composure. "That Floyd | stuff costs money, you know!" he says, snatching the bottle from me. "I Floyd | should charge you for that!" Floyd | Floyd | "Alex just thinks he'll get more women that way," says Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | I think I'm going to be overcome by the fumes of aftershave. My eyes Floyd | are streaming. My face is burning. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Oh. I thought it was RAMSES and thought along the lines of Infidel." | |||
| inky says, "no, no, it's Rameses -> condoms -> impotence" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Fang says, "I sure hope there's some machine gun based catharsis" | ||||
| DavidW says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "change clothes" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "shower" | ||||
Floyd | I'm really not in the mood to have a shower now. I rarely am. There are Floyd | two things I hate about the showers in St. Enda's: Floyd | 1) They are hot enough to give you second-degree burns. Floyd | 2) I have to be naked in front of loads of people. Floyd | Floyd | I go into a fit of coughing. Floyd | Floyd | "Serves you right," says Gordon, only more jokingly this time. "Though Floyd | I don't know how you'll keep the girls away from you tonight! That Floyd | stuff is sex in a bottle." Floyd | Floyd | "Anyway, I don't know how I'll be able to keep the girls away from me Floyd | tonight - especially when I'm wearing these," he says, producing a Floyd | rather ordinary-looking pair of jeans from the wardrobe. "Claudio Floyd | Armani - original design. Guess how much I paid for these." Floyd | Floyd | "Fifty pounds!", says Wayne, like an enthralled child. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "To quote the Wiki:" | |||
| Taleslinger |The game can be 'completed' by repeatedly typing wait at the prompt. | ||||
| inky says, "no spoilers!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "snrk" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "Sorry. But it's on the Wiki." | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x jeans" | ||||
Floyd | They look just like an ordinary pair of jeans, to me. Floyd | Floyd | "Higher," says Gordon, shaking his head and waving his hand upwards, as Floyd | if this figure was laughably small. Floyd | Floyd | "Ninety pounds!" shouts Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I think we knew that, inky." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Oh for fuck's sake Gordon. I can't believe even you would stoop to Floyd | this." Floyd | (2) "A HUNDRED POUNDS!" Floyd | (3) "Five bazillion pounds!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says, "It's better this way, though. Does allow us to feel the character's frustration." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hah. I don't think Gordon would appreciate that suggestion. He's deadly Floyd | serious. Floyd | Floyd | "Higher," says Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | "What?" Floyd | Floyd | "They cost more than that," says Gordon. "Keep guessing." Floyd | Floyd | "A hundred and fifty pounds!" screams Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Oh for fuck's sake Gordon. I can't believe even you would stoop to Floyd | this." Floyd | (2) "Two hundred pounds!" Floyd | (3) "Two hundred and fifty pounds!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "Two hundred pounds!" Floyd | Floyd | "Nope," says Gordon. He walks up and down the room, modelling the Floyd | jeans. Floyd | Floyd | "Three hundred pounds!" cries Wayne, getting more and more ecstatic. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Oh for fuck's sake Gordon. I can't believe even you would stoop to Floyd | this." Floyd | (2) "This is pathetic! I'm not guessing anymore." Floyd | (3) "Four hundred pounds!" Floyd | (4) "Five hundred pounds!" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Yeah, it is pathetic. This is unbelievable, even for Gordon. Floyd | Floyd | "Five hundred pounds!", says Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | "Yup, that's right," says Gordon. Wayne beams triumphantly. Floyd | Floyd | Sickening. Floyd | Floyd | "That's about eight hundred dollars," says Gordon. "I picked them up in Floyd | New York last summer - reduced from three thousand dollars. But they're Floyd | the best. Cynthia is going to fall all over me when she sees these." Floyd | Floyd | He strokes his own thighs as he says this. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "rip pants" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Ah, to have that exchange rate again." | |||
| Bert says, "Ah, the good old days." | ||||
| Bert says, "Timing." | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "take jeans" | ||||
Floyd | Gordon would defend them with his life. I'd probably look a complete Floyd | prat in them, anyway. Floyd | Floyd | "Wayne, will you get my socks? They're in the bottom of the wardrobe," Floyd | says Gordon. Wayne enthusiastically does his duty. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha (also)" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to gordon" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "How much did they cost?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "How much did they cost?" Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, about fifteen or twenty pounds, I can't remember," says Gordon. He Floyd | doesn't realise I'm taking the piss out of him. He takes himself far Floyd | too seriously for that. "Or maybe I should have said a hundred Swiss Floyd | Francs," he says. Floyd | Floyd | "I got these at the Val d'Isere last Christmas," says Gordon, putting Floyd | on the socks. "They're specially designed for champion snowboarders. Floyd | Have I told you I went snowboarding last Christmas?" Floyd | Floyd | Yes, he has. About a million times. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to wayne" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | "You've only told us a little bit," says Wayne. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, have I told you about this girl called Katja that I met on my Floyd | first night at the Chateaux de Vie? She came up to me on the verandah Floyd | -" Floyd | Floyd | There follows a tale littered with name-dropping, lavish parties, Floyd | sexual conquests and death-defying snowboarding heroics. But I don't Floyd | think I can stay to listen to it all. I put on my casual clothes and Floyd | leave. As I am walking out the door, I can still hear Gordon talking. Floyd | He is going on about other people who were staying in the hotel. Floyd | Floyd | "We didn't get on with them very well," he is saying. "We kept pretty Floyd | much to ourselves. Not sure if we'll go there again next year, Floyd | actually. Far too many nouveaux riches." Floyd | Floyd | . . . | yandexx says, "Katja -- Russian name." | |||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | For days, the thought of this meeting has gripped me with terror, but Floyd | now, as it becomes only a few minutes away, I face it with a sort of Floyd | numbed complacency. It's as if none of it matters anymore - Ferdia, the Floyd | girls, Paddy, St. Enda's - as if it's all some sort of sick dream. Floyd | Floyd | I walk out of the gates of the college onto Grogan Road. My steps seem Floyd | to lack any purpose - just one foot in front of the other. It's getting Floyd | dark outside on this cold January evening, and the orange street-lamps Floyd | are starting to flicker on. Floyd | Floyd | Grogan Road Floyd | Grogan Road is a dismal, litter-strewn street of terraced houses. Floyd | Orange street-lamps shed light on passing faces, like spectres in the Floyd | darkness. The gates of St. Enda's are up the road to the east. PJ's Floyd | cafe is a few streets to the west, towards the quay. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x houses" | ||||
Floyd | Horrible, dilapidated red-brick hovels, no doubt full of ancient Floyd | grannies making tea on their old gas cookers. The doors are all heavily Floyd | lacquered with paint, and musty lace curtains hang in the windows. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x windows" | ||||
Floyd | Horrible, dilapidated red-brick hovels, no doubt full of ancient Floyd | grannies making tea on their old gas cookers. The doors are all heavily Floyd | lacquered with paint, and musty lace curtains hang in the windows. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x lamps" | ||||
Floyd | Sodium street-lamps, which bathe the place in a fuzzy orange glow. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "smell me" | ||||
Floyd | I smell of incredibly overpowering aftershave. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "So we didn't shower. Lovely." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I am carrying: Floyd | some casual clothes (being worn) Floyd | my underwear (being worn) Floyd | my watch (being worn) Floyd | Floyd | Well I'd love to dawdle here all evening, but I've got to be in PJ's by Floyd | half five, so I better move on. I go west to Floyd | Floyd | Gibson's Lane Floyd | Gibson's Lane is a near-forgotten tributary of the Main Street. Amid Floyd | all the boarded-up houses and general misery lies a small video shop. Floyd | PJ's cafe is on the Main Street, to the west. East leads back to Grogan Floyd | Road and St. Enda's. Floyd | Floyd | > | Emily says, "no wonder we're such a hit with the ladees" | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | A cheap-looking digital watch I bought a few years ago. It wasn't cheap Floyd | though. But no-one would know that unless I told them. Floyd | Floyd | According to my watch, the time is 17:20. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "drop underwear" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking my underwear off) Floyd | What do you think I am, the Phantom Flasher of St. Enda's? Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I hope that's at least clean underwear." | |||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x underwear" | ||||
Floyd | These are the world's most embarrassing pair of Y-fronts, which makes Floyd | me almost glad that no girl has ever seen them. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Well, I know you're not playing, David, but feel free to investigate that." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | South Main Street Floyd | Floyd | I walk on to the main street, absent-mindedly, without any conviction, Floyd | as if drawn along by a thread. It all means nothing to me - all these Floyd | shops, all these people - Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I don't believe it... Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | But it is! Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | It's Daniel! Walking towards me! From the other end of the street! Floyd | Floyd | Daniel - my best friend! My only friend... after all these years... I Floyd | haven't seen him for so long... But there he is! That's him! Floyd | Floyd | He's walking towards me... it's as though there is nobody else on the Floyd | street.. just me and him... Floyd | Floyd | But wait - there are other people with him... he's talking to them... Floyd | he hasn't noticed me yet... what should I do? Floyd | Floyd | I can see Daniel here. Floyd | Floyd | Who's that girl he's holding hands with? They're smiling at each Floyd | other... Floyd | Floyd | > | (from DavidW) Janice says, "oh. my. ghod." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x girl" | ||||
Floyd | She's walking along with Daniel, holding his hand, smiling at him... Floyd | Floyd | He still hasn't noticed me! He's talking to his friends... They're Floyd | getting closer... Floyd | Floyd | > | Emily says, "HA" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x daniel" | ||||
Floyd | He's older now, of course, and taller... but still the same Daniel. Floyd | He's walking in my direction, holding hands with some girl... and Floyd | laughing with his friends... his face is a picture of happiness... he Floyd | hasn't noticed me yet. Floyd | Floyd | Did he glance at me then? Has he seen me? He's almost reached me now! Floyd | Maybe I should say something... Floyd | Floyd | > | yandexx says, "> scream YOU WANKER" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to daniel" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Daniel Maguire, what the FUCK are you doing here?" Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Jacqueline says (to yandexx), "Yay" | |||
| Fang says, "oh god" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I suspect (hope) that Daniel has changed and that we should perhaps say something else." | ||||
| Fang says, "This isn't going to end well" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "0" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | But I have to say something... Floyd | Floyd | "Da-" I begin; and our eyes meet for a second, and I know he has Floyd | recognised me. Then he looks away, or not away but straight through me, Floyd | through me as if I wasn't there, through me as if I was nothing. He Floyd | keeps holding hands with the girl, he keeps talking to his friends. Floyd | They walk on. They walk past me. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | yandexx says, "Hmm.." | |||
| Fang says, "sigh." | ||||
| yandexx pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I stay rooted to the spot. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| yandexx pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | What reason have I got to do anything now? Why do anything ever again? Floyd | Why talk to anyone, or go anywhere? Fuck tonight! Fuck this meeting! Floyd | Fuck PJ's fucking cafe! Fuck Ferdia, fuck the girls, fuck St. Enda's, Floyd | fuck everything. Fuck my stupid, stupid fucking life! Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You were laughing at me all along, weren't you? Laughing at me for the Floyd | stupid, pathetic asshole I am, going on about Daniel, Daniel all the Floyd | time, dreaming my stupid dreams, and you knew how deluded I was. Well, Floyd | I can see it all now. Oh, I can see it all. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Ben arrives, full of fun and funk. | yandexx says, "...everything is fucked, everybody sucks..." | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I can see now how little my friendship meant to Daniel, what a small Floyd | part it was in his life. I was just some dork he knew when he was ten, Floyd | some guy he was friends with out of politeness, some guy he once told Floyd | to fuck off in a barn. I'm probably a vague and unpleasant memory... Floyd | and what need has he for all that now, with his friends, and his Floyd | girlfriend. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "press green" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cut myself" | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I'm just a faint blip on his memory, if he can remember me at all. Or Floyd | maybe he's forgotten, forgotten about the time he hung out with an Floyd | asshole. Because that's what I am - an asshole. More than that - I'm Floyd | the prince of assholes, the holiness of assholes, the Master Asshole, Floyd | the biggest asshole of them all! Yes, that's right! And all of you Floyd | assholes out there will venerate me tonight, because I'm going to this Floyd | meeting, I'm going out there, AND I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT AN ASSHOLE IS! Floyd | Floyd | . . . | inky says (to Taleslinger), "ha ha" | |||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I go into PJ's cafe, past a few self-service counters, and into the Floyd | dining area. Floyd | Floyd | PJ's Cafe - Dining Area Floyd | I would love to be able to tell you that PJ's cafe is a seedy dive, a Floyd | filthy little place with greasy tables and horrible food. But it isn't. Floyd | In fact, it's one of the larger eating-places in town, and really isn't Floyd | all that bad. But it will soon be closing down for the night - there Floyd | aren't many people here at this time. Actually, it's a strange place to Floyd | meet, now that I think about it. Floyd | Floyd | Oh shit! There are the girls! In the corner, sitting beside each other Floyd | on a four-seater table! Er... what am I doing here again? Maybe I Floyd | should just go now... Floyd | Floyd | I walk over to their table. Floyd | Floyd | I can see Alice and Claire here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | I beg your pardon? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fyrion goes home. | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x alice" | ||||
Floyd | Alice is tall, thin, blonde and angular. Her posture, her body Floyd | language, her facial expression, seem to suggest that the surroundings Floyd | are demeaning to her. In fact, life itself is probably demeaning to Floyd | her. I bet she's a complete bitch. Floyd | Floyd | Alice's cold, sarcastic eyes look at me with a mixture of amusement and Floyd | contempt. But mainly contempt. Floyd | Floyd | > | Emily says, "man, I had forgotten just how annoying the PC truly is" | |||
| DavidW says, "Hope you guys remember which is Alice and which is Claire." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x claire" | ||||
Floyd | There isn't much to say about Claire. She's pretty nondescript and Floyd | average in every way... though 'pretty' probably wasn't the best choice Floyd | of word there. Her face is podgy and has a slightly stupid expression. Floyd | Floyd | The girls stare up at me. "Are you Alex?" says Alice, the blonde one. Floyd | Floyd | "Er... yeah," I say, grinning nervously. I can hear the blood pounding Floyd | in my ears. I can just tell tonight will be a disaster. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "So... Claire..." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "So... Claire..." I begin. Floyd | Floyd | Oh shit, what do I say now? They're both looking at me as if I was mad! Floyd | Floyd | "Well, aren't you going to sit down?" says Alice. Actually, that Floyd | sounded more like an order. And Alice sounds like a person who is used Floyd | to being obeyed - so I sit down hastily and clumsily. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | PJ's Cafe - Dining Area (on the chair) Floyd | The dining area of the cafe is reasonably large, and fairly empty at Floyd | this time. The room is striving incongruously for a jungle theme - with Floyd | mahogany-effect tables and chairs, potted plants scattered everywhere, Floyd | an annoying green carpet, and prints on the walls depicting tropical Floyd | scenes. The self-service counter is to the west. Floyd | Floyd | I can see Alice and Claire here. Floyd | Floyd | Alice takes a sip of coffee. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | Now I'm inside, the eye-watering scent of that aftershave is really Floyd | starting to get quite powerful again. Alice is already beginning to Floyd | turn her nose up... Floyd | Floyd | Where the fuck is Ferdia? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "talk to alice" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "So... Alice..." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "So... Alice..." I begin. Floyd | Floyd | Oh shit, what do I say now? They're both looking at me as if I was mad! Floyd | Floyd | Alice takes another sip of coffee. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "run" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to say which compass direction to go in. Floyd | Floyd | Alice looks at me pointedly and starts coughing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask alice about weather" | ||||
Floyd | In this story, to talk to somebody, use 'talk to'. Floyd | Floyd | Maybe Daniel just didn't notice me that time. If only I had said Floyd | something... Maybe we'll meet him later on, and he'll come up to me, Floyd | and apologise... or not apologise, what does he have to apologise for? Floyd | I wonder is he thinking about me now... Floyd | | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "dance" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "kiss claire" | ||||
Floyd | It would probably be better to talk to her first. Though I doubt anyone Floyd | could work up much enthusiasm about her. Floyd | Floyd | He's probably a bit embarrassed about ignoring me... though I Floyd | understand... it would be a bit awkward meeting me in front of his Floyd | friends... maybe he'll write me a letter later... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "cry" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "ist" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "sit" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to sit on top of? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "alice" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something I can sit down on. Floyd | Floyd | > | olethros asks, "is this an AIF?" | |||
| DavidW says, "ha. no." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Heh. No." | ||||
| Ben says (to floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | Alice makes a face. "What is that smell?" she says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "smell" | ||||
Floyd | I smell nothing unexpected. Floyd | Floyd | > | Rob says, "it's an F.U. IF" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "alice, me" | ||||
Floyd | In this story, to talk to somebody, use 'talk to'. Floyd | Floyd | Alice glares at me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | I really should stay here and try and make some conversation... it Floyd | would look bad running away so soon. Floyd | Floyd | Come on Ferdia... Come on... Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "man" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to alice" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | "Have you any idea where Ferdia is?" asks Alice. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to alice" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "He should be along in a few minutes... he said he might be a bit Floyd | late." Floyd | (2) "He's working late on his science project... he said he might be a Floyd | bit late." Floyd | (3) "He's off licking some teacher's arse after school. He'll be here Floyd | soon, don't worry." Floyd | (4) "I haven't a fucking clue." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to alice" | ||||
Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | Taleslinger says, "Emo IF." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Yeah, that's all the bastard is doing. Maybe I should tell Alice that, Floyd | and she how she likes it. Floyd | Floyd | "Obviously not," says Alice. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "talk to alice" | ||||
Floyd | I really can't think of anything to say right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "joke" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Ben says (to floyd), "talk to myself" | ||||
Floyd | It's one way to get intelligent conversation around here, certainly. Floyd | Floyd | "Would you like to get something to drink?" asks Claire. It's the first Floyd | time she has spoken. She has a really weedy voice. She looks at me with Floyd | big, childlike eyes that stick out of her face. Floyd | Floyd | > | yandexx says, "haha" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "No thanks... I'm not that thirsty really." Floyd | (2) "No thanks... I don't drink coffee, actually." Floyd | (3) "Yeah, okay..." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "Yeah, okay." Floyd | Floyd | "Well, the counter is behind you," says Alice. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | I can't take this anymore! I get up off the chair. Floyd | Floyd | "Where are you going?" says Alice. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh.. I'm just going to get something to drink." Floyd | Floyd | "Well, I don't want anything, thanks for asking," says Alice. Bitch. I Floyd | walk over to the self-service counter. Yes! I'm away from that table! Floyd | Floyd | Self-Service Counter Floyd | It's the contemptuous look on their faces I couldn't stand. Why did Floyd | they have to look at me like that all the time? And now I can see them Floyd | over there, giggling... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Ben says (to floyd), "inventory" | ||||
Floyd | I am carrying: Floyd | some casual clothes (being worn) Floyd | my underwear (being worn) Floyd | my watch (being worn) Floyd | Floyd | Who the fuck does Daniel think he is, anyway? What the fuck is he Floyd | doing, flaunting his fucking girlfriend and his all his fucking friends Floyd | at me... does he think I care? Does he think that impresses me? Is he Floyd | trying to say 'Look at me now! Look at all the friends I have! Why Floyd | should I need someone like you anymore?' Fuck him. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Do we even have money?" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "buy coffee" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x counter" | ||||
Floyd | The counter is now bare apart from a few unwanted cans of cola, which Floyd | may just be there for display purposes. The cafe will be closing up Floyd | shortly... Ferdia better hurry. Floyd | Floyd | Is he trying to dismiss everything that ever happened to us? Is he Floyd | dismissing my whole life with a glance? And why is he being so Floyd | insensitive? He was never like that before... Doesn't he realise how Floyd | much he hurt me tonight? Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think getting up from the table (or not) is the only real choice in the game, at least as far as moving the player on the map goes." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "kill myself" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think things are quite that desperate yet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "run amok" | ||||
Floyd | I can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "sing" | ||||
Floyd | I can't sing very well. It's my adenoids. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Ben says (to floyd), "get cola" | ||||
Floyd | I don't want anything from the counter. I just came here to escape the Floyd | girls for a while. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Ferdia comes in, at long fucking last. "Hi Ferdia," I say. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, hi Alex," he says as he brushes past me officiously. He heads over Floyd | to the girls. Floyd | Floyd | "I hope Alex has been entertaining you," I can hear him say to them. Floyd | Then he laughs. He has the most annoying, offensive laugh you could Floyd | possibly imagine - he sounds like a horse being castrated. Floyd | Floyd | I am about to follow him over, but when I see him there laughing, and Floyd | the girls laughing, all all of them together, I feel nauseated. And the Floyd | cool evening air coming from the exit is so tempting... lulling me to Floyd | go... Floyd | Floyd | And I know then that the best thing I can do, the only thing I can do, Floyd | is to leave all of them. Leave all of them forever. So I walk out the Floyd | door, on to the main street. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Ben unmanifests his avatar. | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "space" | ||||
| yandexx pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The cool evening air calls me, and I follow it. I follow it through the Floyd | main street, past sleepy houses; I follow it to the quayside, where the Floyd | sea breeze is strongest. It's raining now, but the rain is soft and Floyd | comforting, caressing me as it falls. I feel as if I love everything in Floyd | the world, as if everything is singing to me, as if my mind is filled Floyd | with poetry and music. Everything, everything is beautiful now. Floyd | Floyd | I step up to the water's edge. Floyd | Floyd | Quay Floyd | Everything here is so peaceful, so beautiful - why have I never noticed Floyd | it before? Raindrops dance on the river bay beneath my feet. Seagulls Floyd | play in the air above me. Old fishing boats sway gently with the Floyd | lapping of the water. And the air - I always thought the salt air was Floyd | foul before, but now it seems so fresh, so clean, so pure! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "jump" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I look down at the water beneath me, and then - Floyd | Floyd | Hey! You're asking me to kill myself? What the hell made you think I Floyd | wanted to do that? I'm young, I've still got lots to live for... it's Floyd | just that I just feel so restricted at the moment... and then of course Floyd | there is the Daniel thing. But don't think that means I want to end it Floyd | all! It can't always be like this! I know it can't. In fact, for all Floyd | you know, something could happen tonight, this very night, something to Floyd | make me love life again... And if that something happens, I'll seize it Floyd | with both hands! Floyd | Floyd | Where the hell am I, anyway? Floyd | Floyd | Quay Floyd | The quay must be the most miserable place in the whole town, especially Floyd | when the rain is pissing down like it is now. Beneath my feet, the Floyd | rain-pelted river flows like sludge, which probably has something to do Floyd | with all the raw effluent that's pumped into it. The smell, needless to Floyd | say, is truly nauseating. A handful of rusty old boats lie abandoned Floyd | against the quay wall, and seagulls scream overhead. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, ">goodbye, cruel world" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boats" | Taleslinger asks, "What? Wasn't it all beautiful a second ago?" | |||
Floyd | Useless, rusty old boats, which are a complete fucking eyesore. They Floyd | are obviously only left there because nobody can be bothered to scrap Floyd | them. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "pray" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing practical results from my prayer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "x rain" | ||||
Floyd | It's soaking everything. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Yeah, what's the point in staying here. Floyd | Floyd | "Alex!" I hear a voice calling behind me. I turn around. It's Claire, Floyd | running hesitantly up to me. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Taleslinger), "observant you" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "jump" | ||||
Floyd | Oh come on, I've had enough suicide attempts for one day. Floyd | Floyd | "Are you okay? We were a bit worried about you after you ran out of the Floyd | Cafe, so we went looking for you." Floyd | Floyd | Ugh. I could just imagine Ferdia directing the search operations, Floyd | keeping a cool head under pressure, telling people to go here and Floyd | there. Floyd | Floyd | Claire steps a little closer to me and looks up into my eyes. "Is... Floyd | anything the matter? You can tell me... if you like." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | Please select one: Floyd | Floyd | (1) "Nothing's wrong. Now go away." Floyd | (2) "No, I like standing here in the rain." Floyd | (3) "Yes. There is." Floyd | Floyd | Select a choice or 0 to keep quiet. >> | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | "No, I like standing here in the rain." Floyd | Floyd | Claire sighs heavily as if about to deliver a baby whale. Floyd | Floyd | "Look... I get a little... nervous too... when I'm meeting guys for the Floyd | first time... if that's what you're worried about -" Floyd | Floyd | "No! No, that's not it at all!" I suddenly shout. "It's nothing to do Floyd | with that!" I stop for a moment, not really sure how to go on. Floyd | Floyd | "It's just that... I can't... do anything! I can't do anything!" I Floyd | scream at last. "It's like I'm trapped inside and can't get out and Floyd | can't be myself and... I'm stuck.... And I've no friends! - Not Ferdia, Floyd | he's an asshole, he doesn't count.... There's no-one I can be myself Floyd | with! No friends! And the only friend I ever had... my only friend -" Floyd | Floyd | I just break down in sobbing. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | A few moments pass as I try to recover, sniffling away tears. Claire Floyd | looks up at me, tenderly. God, I can't believe I've made such a show of Floyd | myself in front of her. Why did I break down like that? And now she's Floyd | seen me crying... and heard all that crap.... Floyd | Floyd | Claire speaks. "I'll... be your friend... if you like." Her lips are Floyd | trembling. Floyd | Floyd | I answer with a sniffle. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | Fang says, "aw." | |||
| Taleslinger says, "Man. Deus ex machina." | ||||
| Fang says, "Oh come on, I liked Claire from the start" | ||||
| yandexx says, "me too" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Don't worry; I'm sure we're about to blow it." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "I didn't play the start, so..." | ||||
| Fang says, "Just wait until it turns out she has 2 minutes to live" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
| yandexx pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Claire moves closer to me. We're standing very close now. She gazes Floyd | into my eyes, expectantly. Floyd | Floyd | I believe something is now supposed to happen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" | ||||
Floyd | I think actions, rather than words, are required now. Floyd | Floyd | Claire still gazes at me, and I gaze back at her. Her appearance seems Floyd | to be changing every second - now I think she's angelic, beautiful; but Floyd | now I see her cracked lips and the hairy mole on her face. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| yandexx says (to floyd), "hug her" | ||||
Floyd | (Claire) Floyd | I could... and it would probably be nice... and warm... but I can't Floyd | help looking at that mole on her face... Floyd | Floyd | Our eyes are still fixed on each other. She's breathing a bit more Floyd | rapidly, I can tell. Her chest bobs up and down visibly. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x mole" | ||||
Floyd | A hairy brown thing that's like a blot on her face. I can't help Floyd | looking at it. Floyd | Floyd | Suddenly, Claire reaches out to me. Our hands touch for a moment, but I Floyd | recoil. I can't do this! I must run away! I turn and run, and I run, Floyd | and I keep on running, and I don't look back. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | DavidW says, "oh man" | |||
| Fang says, "OH FUCK YOU GAME" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to jacq), "You were right." | ||||
| Jacqueline smiles. | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to jacq), "Girls always know stuff like that!" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Taleslinger pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | It was the right thing to do! The only thing I could do. Her cracked Floyd | lips and the mole on her face and that stupid expression - though Floyd | fairly pretty in a way - but I couldn't have given her what she wanted! Floyd | I wouldn't have put the same feeling into it, I would have hurt her. Floyd | This was for the best. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "press green" | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Anyway, could you imagine if I had gone out with her, and her podgy Floyd | face and cracked lips, and Ferdia would be there with Alice looking Floyd | smug and condescending, and Wayne and Gordon and everyone in St. Enda's Floyd | knowing about it, and the hard time I'd get, and the hard time she'd Floyd | get? I wouldn't be able to take that! I wouldn't! Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | And then she saw me crying too! She saw me weak and crying and babbling Floyd | in front of her. And I'd remember that every time I met her, and she'd Floyd | remind me of this miserable night every time, and she'd be so Floyd | condescending in front of me. So conscious of my vulnerability. And I Floyd | don't think I could bear that. Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | And we'd always have to be together, her hanging out of me, me hanging Floyd | out of her, with the mole on her face, and everyone would be looking at Floyd | us and laughing. But that's not going to happen to me! I'm going to Floyd | have my freedom! And that's one thing you 'people of action' are never Floyd | going to understand. I'm keeping my freedom within me, and I'll laugh Floyd | at you, laugh at all of you, and laugh at you forever! | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | . . . | ||||
| yandexx pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I am standing on the edge of the quay, by the river - it's cold, it's Floyd | raining, and seagulls are flying overhead. Then I hear a voice behind Floyd | me call my name. I turn around. It's Claire! She runs up to me. "I love Floyd | you, Alex," she says. And I say nothing, but put my arms around her, Floyd | and hold her close. And as we embrace, the rain beats down upon us, and Floyd | the cold wind whips around us, but we go on, holding each other, arm in Floyd | arm, and let the rest of the world GO FUCK ITSELF! | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | yandexx says, "this can't be reality" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Wow." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So, that's the game." | ||||
| Fang says, "Oh, huh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I know! Let's play it again and see if we can get a different ending!" | ||||
| yandexx says, "Nice game, really." | ||||
| Fang says, "Hey, that was kinda sweet" | ||||
| Taleslinger asks (of fang), "What, It happens quite often in my life. "I hate you! Do you want to marry me?" | ||||
| Fang says (to Taleslinger), "I don't want to know about your date rape escapades" | ||||
| DavidW says, "That ending was suspiciously similar to how he remembered Daniel." | ||||
| Fang says, "I guess there's multiple interpretations of what just happened" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Are there?" | ||||
| Bert says, "I only see one." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, I didn't like it, but I wasn't meant to. It was a good game, just not enjoyable. Great writing, and well executed, given its intent." | ||||
| Fang asks (of Bert), "So what just happened?" | ||||
| inky says (to Bert), "yeah, I think it's pretty obvious Daniel is your alternate personality playing out your internal fantasies, causing you to stand around in the street swearing at nothing" | ||||
| Emily says, "I think the only way to understand it is that, having totally failed to connect with Claire in reality, he has made her the basis of a substitute fantasy for the discarded Daniel fantasy" | ||||
| Bert says, "We went to being exactly the same as we were at the start of the game." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Emily), "yes" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to emily), "I agree." | ||||
| Emily says, "there doesn't strike me as any ambiguity here" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "(based on this review I just read)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No, there's no ambiguity. We now live in a magical fantasy land where moles no longer wigs us out." | ||||
| DavidW says, "It's possible the status line would've made the last scene more explicit. Not sure." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "s/wigs/wig" | ||||
| Bert asks, "*More* explicit?" | ||||
| Emily says, "wigs wig us out, too" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Darn. Another joke ruined by typo." | ||||
| Bert says, "It was pretty damn explicit if you ask me." | ||||
| Fang says, "Well, I was thinking that the preceeding bit could be him imagining what would happen, and then what he really did" | ||||
| DavidW says, "if the status line says '(dreaming)', for example, then." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "At any rate, I'd be fine with stopping here and saving Punk Points for another week, since we're already at nearly 1.5 hours. Thoughts?" | ||||
| yandexx says, "Agree." | ||||
| Bert says (to W), "Then that would be ham-fisted an redundant." | ||||
| Fang asks, "Will Punk Points make us feel better?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Fang), "heh" | ||||
| Bert says, "It can't make you feel any worse, I don't think." | ||||
| Fang says, "then I'm pro-punk points" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, ">SCORE. You have 32 out of 55 punk points." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, I think a status bar clarification would be redundant at best and, at worst, ruin the effect." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "hm. You could be right." | ||||
| Bert says, "So, personally, I absolutely loathe this game." | ||||
| Fang says, "Well, anyways, that was technically proficient and artistically interesting" | ||||
| Bert says, "More than any other IF game I can think of." | ||||
| Bert says, "Which is a tribute to the author's skill." | ||||
| Fang says, "but deeply frustrating" | ||||
| Bert says, "But I am not going to thank him for it." | ||||
| Fang says, "like a well made torture machine" | ||||
| Emily says (to Bert), "that's impressive" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Fang), "Well, it was intentionally frustrating." | ||||
| Fang says, "well, right" | ||||
| Bert says (to Jacq), "Which fits his analogy well." | ||||
| Fang says, "I think the author fully achieved what he set out to do" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So, if you all would like to play Punk Points, you may start at will. I need to step afk for a moment." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I didn't realize it'd take 1.5hrs to play Rameses." | ||||
| yandexx says, "Let's go back to the Lounge." | Fang says, "mostly because we were fighting the game every step of the way" | |||
| Bert says (to Fang), "Vice versa." | ||||
| Fang says, "indeed" | ||||
| inky says, "come to think of it, a better pairing for this one would have been A Mome of Hope" | ||||
| inky says, "er, Moment" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think the one and only place you can significantly stall the game is by never taking the folder from Paddy." | ||||
| Bert asks (of inky), "So we wouldn't have the risk of inadvertant cheerfulness afterward?" | ||||
| yandexx says, "The PC would probably take the book himself." | ||||
| Emily says, "and finish up with On Optimism" | ||||
| yandexx says, "Er, the folder." | ||||
| Fang disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. | DavidW says, "Was E-Mailbox another game in this vein? I can't remember sometimes which games are which." | |||
| inky says, "there was Mix Tape" | ||||
| inky says, "kinda" | ||||
| inky says, "or, wait, which vein do you mean" | ||||
| DavidW says, "'sad me'" | ||||
| inky says, "there's also [ LINK ]" | ||||
| inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| yandexx has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Taleslinger has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Jacqueline asks, "So, I'm back, but I take it we decided to hold off on Punk Points?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "As is evidenced by the mass exodus." | ||||
| DavidW says, "looks like, yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "mmkay." | ||||
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