Happy 2016 Birthday!

[thosetwoturrets]

New Year, new experiences, and a new birthday for our favorite foul-mouthed Portal turrets! Red and white streamers and balloons give the bar the appropriate feel, and a big TV with various gaming systems (and the special puppy-ready controllers) has been set up at the back to make the pair feel right at home. Come in, sit down, and maybe see if they can ever stop arguing about which is better -- "Halo" or "Call of Duty."

Comments

[dee_lorean81]

Dee's the one to present the gift this year, as weirdly enough she's one of the ones who gets on best with them. Being someone who can switch from being technological to organic at will is probably a part of it. At any rate, she puts a simple thin box in front of them, wrapped neatly in red-and-white striped paper. "Happy birthday, guys!"

[thosetwoturrets]

"Thanks, kiddo," Gary says, pulling off the paper with his teeth. "Guessing it's -- oh, awesome! 'Star Wars: Battlefront!'"

"Wooo!" Steve agrees, coming over for a look (and sniff -- instinct). "See, I told you we shouldn't download it!"

[dee_lorean81]

"Yeah, Vic figured you might like it -- even if the Zero Punctuation guy didn't," Dee giggles.

[thosetwoturrets]

"Anything that lets us blow up stuff and make it look awesome," Steven confirms, tail wagging. "Come on, load it in! What do you think, Gary, Rebels or Troopers first?"

"Troopers," Gary replies with a doggy grin. "White armor, can't shoot straight, come in big old sets? Feel like we should give the Imperial Turrets a chance to shine."

"And then kick their ass as Alliance?"

"Hell yeah, can't let 'em get cocky."

[dee_lorean81]

Dee grins as she gets the game box open. "Can I play too? It's got a split screen mode."

[thosetwoturrets]

"Tell you what -- we'll play, and then you can team up with whoever the best Trooper is," Steve says. "Which'll be me."

"You wish," Gary says, nipping at his side. "Get ready to suffer humiliations galore!"

"You first, buddy!"

[alienlisa]

Hey, they're not that late this time!

AL and the guys march in and this time she's clinging a bit to Luke. Not full-on won't-let-him-go clinging, but arm around his and holding his hand; just enough to make the Jedi look more amused than annoyed.

"Happy birthday Turrets!" she says. She holds up the hand holding Luke's. "Just because his future self isn't having too good a time in this new movie."

"Which has nothing to do with me," says Luke. "Since I'm based on my Return of the Jedi self."

"Don't care. Doesn't matter." AL sets her mouth in a determined line and cuddles up to him. "Love you."

Luke shakes his head with a smile, sighs and pats AL's head.

[thosetwoturrets]

"Hey Lisa!" Steve calls, bounding over from in front of the TV. "Thanks." He tilts his head. "Really, huh? Then again, when is Luke not having a bad time in those movies?"

"He wasn't in the prequels," Gary says. "On account of not being born until the last few minutes of the last one."

"Right in time for his mom to die; I think that counts."

"He says, standing right in front of Luke," Vic mutters, shaking her head. "Allow me to apologize for these idiots."

[alienlisa]

Luke waves the hand AL's not holding. "We've been friends a while. I'm used to it."

"If they weren't being inappropriate," says AL, "then we'd worry."

The guys nod.

[thosetwoturrets]

"So it's our solemn duty to be enough of a jerk for you guys to know everything's okay?" Steven asks, with as much of a shit-eating grin as a puppy can manage.

"Stoppit," Vic says, nudging him with her foot. "So, how are things beyond Star Wars taking over AL's life? Because we know it has."

[alienlisa]

AL rolls her eyes, then turns to V to answer her question. "Jumbled. We're still in the process of being rearranged as the alter ego remakes the website and rethinks my life. And things jump around as her primary fandom changes. First Twelve, now Luke. Sometimes Data sneaks in there if Our Song plays on the radio. I feel like a yo-yo that's been formed into that 'rock-the-baby' trick."

[thosetwoturrets]

"Ah, backstory restructuring," Vic says. "The boys around here know about that." Nods all around, particularly from Forgotten Vows. "Well, hopefully it'll all result in a more stable timeline. Though I can't promise anything about the fandom hopping."

"She should just do like you do and cross them all over," Gary remarks.

"Technically she already did," Steve points out. "I mean, I don't think Lisa's hopping universes."

[alienlisa]

AL pats Forgotten on the arm then waves her hand dismissively. "It's nothing we're not used to. It's just a little more often nowadays. Once things get settled and she actually WORKS on the damn thing instead of being lazy, it should calm down."

Then she smiles a little. "That happened once. Long time ago in one of those 'ack!-no-one-but-me-will-ever-read-this' stories. Fanfiction written before knowing what fanfiction was. Actually that's where the Hall O'Rooms in my house on Alnilam came from. The story goes that I was on the Enterprise and wanted to go home and I took Data with me. Then all the guys ended up on my planet and decided to stay there with me, so I needed a place for them to sleep. Hence a long hallway with private bedrooms for everyone. That's also when Woodhorn was created; one of the guys was Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer...don't ask, please. But we needed a threat to a vampire and, thus, unicorn with a stake for a horn." She shrugs.

Data frowns. "I have no recollection of that experience."

The other guys agree.

"We're talking nearly two decades ago," she says. "Buffy first aired in 1997, so the alter ego was 13 going on 14. Once expanding upon what really happened, as it were, that sad concoction of a story faded into the ether and you guys remained blissfully unaware. I like what I have now, anyway. Combining universes is limited to the blog when it's not in limbo, and here. And the occasional crossover that also need rewriting."

[thosetwoturrets]

"You mean when she and Vic stop trading DragonVale advice and dragon updates," Steve says.

". . .I hate when you're accurate," Vic mutters as a few of the other muses giggle. She grins at AL's summation. "Yeah, we all write stuff that makes sense to our teenage selves and our teenage selves alone. Would you believe my very first BTTF fic had them going to see the Marx Brothers, and Harpo taking a ride in the DeLorean?" She shakes her head fondly. "I like what I'm doing these days a lot better too. Though the mega crossovers for me started AFTER I turned twenty, I believe. . .I think I'm going backwards, Lisa, help me."

"She needs it -- she literally can't remember every AU she's made for Victor/Alice pairings," Forgotten reports.

"What, seriously?" Gary says. "How many can it be, Vic?"

". . .you want just the ones with names?"

[alienlisa]

AL frowns at Steve. "Dragons are cool."

Then she thinks a bit. "Hm...well your first NaNo crossover was in '07, right? And since it was in November you wouldn't have turned 21 yet if I'm doing my math right. So starting at 20."

She counts the assembled Victors, then says, "I thought you had a list of everything. At least you have your tumblr with some of them, like the Victor with Moonlight. I know you have a lot, though...I'm glad my 'alternate universes' are limited to two."

[thosetwoturrets]

"Never said they weren't -- just said they were distracting," Steve retorts.

"He has a point," Vic says, then nods. "Yeah, that would be it, wouldn't it? That was the first really big one, anyway. . .man, that feels like ages ago. When did I get to be almost 30?" (Yeah, yeah, she has no room to complain. . .)

Vic grins just a bit madly as the four Victors fidget. "Oh, RP versions are just a start. . .I'm trying to count up all the ones I've either talked about extensively on said tumblr or actually written fanfic for. Current count? Thirty."

And cue jaws dropping all over the place.

[alienlisa]

AL has to concede that point with a nod and a shrug.

She refrains from commenting on the age thing, though she does raise an eyebrow, since the age range of her group goes from the 20s to over 2000 years.

And her eyes widen at the AU count. "Seriously? Wow, that's...a lot. Great Orion...now I'm really glad the ones I'm involved in only add up to two...three if you count the DragonVale fic you wrote for the alter ego." She whistles.

[thosetwoturrets]

Vic would argue that surely at least one of them has had a similar moment over their lifespan (however long it might be). Doesn't everyone?

". . .Thirty-one," Vic groans, putting her head in her hands. "I'd forgotten about those for a minute. . ."

"There is NO WAY you have over thirty Victor and Alice AUs," Steve declares, sitting down with a decisive thump.

Victoria looks at him. Then she takes a deep breath, and: "Forgotten Vows Verse, Secundus, Home Is Where The Heart Is, Valice: Madness Returns, Catch Us If You Can, Victor: Otherlands, Pern Crash, Fandom Weyr, In The River Valley, In The Blood, I Ain't Afraid Of No Ghost, Cuddlepile, Modern Mages, Solicitor's Ward, It Only Takes A Moment, Somebody I Used To Know, Victor Van Dort Vs The World, Wonderland Fuzz, Born From Thorn, Born From Thorn Modern, American McGee's Corpse Portal, Tim McGee's Travelers In Wonderland -- EEEEUGGGHHH--"

Excuse her as she tries to catch her breath.

[alienlisa]

The collective eyes of AL and the guys widen as V names them all, then decides it'd be cruel to mention that she only named 21 of them -- because even that's insane -- and they rush to catch her in case she falls over.

"Great Orion, woman!" AL exclaims. "Is it even possible for you to keep them all organized?"

IT'S OVER FORTY NOW HELP ME

[thosetwoturrets]

Vic leans on whoever's nearest, sucking a bit more air. "I -- I don't even know anymore. . ."

"The HELL, Vic -- what WERE half of those?" Gary demands, just as stunned as the rest of them. "I mean, the first few we know 'cause you're always working on 'em, but -- 'It Only Takes a Moment?'"

"WALL*E AU," Vic explains.

"WALL*E AU?!"

"Her problem is she gets inspired by everything," Forgotten explains, shaking his head.

Re: IT'S OVER FORTY NOW HELP ME

[alienlisa]

That would be Clark, as he's the fastest of AL's group minus AL herself. Super speed and all.

Hooks offers V a glass of water he somehow carries over on his head without sloshing the liquid everywhere and Data brings over a chair for her.

AL gapes a bit more. "Y'know, the alter ego once told me she admires you for certain things you're able to do...set stories within stories and stuff like that. If you can keep all that straight, you deserve a medal or something."

[thosetwoturrets]

Vic accepts the water, patting Hooks as she does, but waves away the chair. "Thanks, but I'm not that bad," she tells Data, sipping her drink. "Just give me a minute."

She blushes and shakes her head. "I'm just -- I see something, I think it might be cute for Victor and Alice, and sometimes the BTTF cast, and -- well, sometimes it spirals out of control, sometimes it's just a one-shot deal."

"I'm still getting over the WALL*E AU," Gary says.

"I heard Portal somewhere in there!" Steve says, shaking his head and making his ears flap. "I mean, okay, maybe Alice would be a decent Chell, but who the hell's Victor?"

More blushing on the mun's part. "Wheatley."

". . .Isn't the big twist of the game him going looney and betraying Chell?"

"That might at least partly the chassis's influence!"

[alienlisa]

Hooks gives a little smile and blushes as Data shrugs and puts the chair down where he found it.

AL actually nods, understanding. "I get it. Inspiration's a funny thing. Do you have, like, a document that you stick random scenes in? Because the alter ego does. Named 'Story Scenes' fittingly enough. Whatever idea sparks her interest that she just needs to write out goes in there. There's no way of knowing when the thing was created because of computer glitches messing up the date, but it had to be in the late '90s because Eight's included and the Movie didn't air until '96. It's 368 pages with 94 different 'scenes' from different shows or whatever strikes her fancy in it. Some of the things she gets inspired by even I question."

And they're a little lost as they discuss Portal, as they're not familiar with the franchise.

[thosetwoturrets]

Vic bites her lip. ". . .About three of those, actually. Or -- four?"

"She made one for all the information she could find or deduce on fire lizards, which ended up also storing whatever scenes she wrote for Pern Crash and Fandom Weyr," Forgotten Vows elaborates. "Then there's another that's for my universe, with backstory and random scenes that may or may not end up in the actual fanfics, then there's another that she made specifically to gather up ones for some of the AUs--"

"And I remember a fourth that was a lot more random, but I don't think I've used it in a while," Vic wraps up, pressing her face into her hand. "Your alter ego does not even touch the bounds of my madness."

Gary notices the lost look and explains, "The Head AI, GLaDOS, is a power-hungry bitch who likes to kill test subjects. The sequel got her yanked out of her chassis and put one of the personality cores into it -- and HE ended up a power-hungry asshole who liked to kill test subjects. So yeah, definitely sounds like the chassis is to blame, eh?"