Ra's Al Ghul has a plan, a simple, two-part plan: First we show up, then we see what happens. What could go wrong?
At FanFiction.net and the Cat-Tales Website
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Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan
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 Chris Dee.gothampm |
Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan |
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Posts: 3928 08/16/05 18:40 Gothamite |
Ra's Al Ghul has a plan, a simple, two-part plan: First we show up, then we see what happens. What could go wrong? At FanFiction.net and the Cat-Tales Website |
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Kimberly T.gothampm |
re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan | #1 | ||
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Posts: 647 08/16/05 20:39 Gothamite |
Oh. My. Lord.
To quote a certain somebody, This Can't End Well... The spoilers below should be blacked out (I hope): Bruce entertaining guests. TCEW Item 1. Didn't the man learn his lesson after, let's see, that first Thanksgiving dinner, the wine-tasting convention, etc? He's had only one solid win from all the times he's had guests over; Dick and Barbara's wedding. And that would probably have bombed too if Selina hadn't been on the ball, and handling everything so well that she was promptly dubbed the future Mrs. Wayne! Which resulted in a great deal of drinking, one may recall... But because of that one solid win, Bruce thinks the curse is over and he's going to barbecue. And he's invited Harvey. Ohhhh, the poor man... The tiff between Selina and Alfred. TCEW Item 2. I perfectly understand feline pride, but this is one of those times when she should have just laid back and let it all roll over her, accepting the icepacks and other attention as her rightful due and blithely ignoring-for-the-most-part the Battitude that accompanied it. A "So sorry I upset you, Alfred dear" and perhaps a reflective pose, seemingly considering his words instead of considering what to have for lunch, and it would have blown over in a few hours. Instead... Did anyone else hear the echo of that first shot fired at Fort Sumpter? Ra's and DEMON, of course, cover TCEW Items 3, 4 and 5 all in one. Any precognitives in Gotham must be packing their bags for long vacations right about now... But I still can't wait to find out what happens next! Spoilerish question: What particular critter were the Pit ceremony's ivory tusks from? Ra's would no doubt insist on only the finest available... And now we know what master plan Batman has involving Greg Brady's position in DEMON! Clever indeed... Kimberly T.
"Everyone who believes in telekinesis, raise my hand!" |
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Jaime.gothampm |
Re: re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan | #2 | ||
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Posts: 489 08/16/05 22:03 Gothamite |
I just wonder what Ra's will say once he realizes
that Talia's romance was with Greg. Either he will be
imperially upset or he will accept the relationship,
albeit reluctantly, in order to have his heir have that
Gotham X-factor.
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Jarissa Paxton |
Re: re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan | #3 | ||
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Posts: 545 08/16/05 22:03 |
Bwahahahahah!
I am looking forward to seeing what happens when Herself and the Hairdo each find out about Bruce's latest shenanigan. |
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BenRG |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #4 | ||
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Posts: 294 08/16/05 22:35 |
Hmm... Now this is an interesting little start. Set
aside the little bits of Cattitude and Bruce's delusional
belief that he can hold a cook-off at the Manor without
provoking a Joker attack or worse, there is a lot of
interesting information in this one chapter.
Starting from the top: Ra's problem with mortality. It is clear that the Lazarus Pit, by whatever mechanism, is a genetic regeneration therapy, restoring Ra's back to that point where we are at optimum biological adulthood (maybe between 30-50). However, even this biochemical miracle cannot keep entropy at bay. I theorise that, every time the Pit regenerates Ra's DNA, more sequence errors are copied, making old age come on all the faster. More worrying, those sequence errors could be accompanied by errors in synaptic connections, meaning that the Hairdo's mental stability and acuity could be measurably reduced in every treatment.  I also wonder if one of the reasons that the treatments aren't working so well is that he has let himself obsess over Bruce, so he is unable to reach the necessary mental and emotional calm for the treatment to have its full effect. The biochemical theory aside, this is a very interesting little story. I had to laugh at Ra's horriffic misreading of the intelligence reports from Gotham. This, as so many have mentioned, cannot end well. On to the other stuff: Poor Selina! I suppose that Alfred is really more worried about her being away than her little bruise. Maybe she should learn a kind of 'Cat-grunt' that will let her try to blow him off the way that Bruce tries to with the 'Bat-grunt'.  And Ms.
Kyle? The hiding place for those gems? That was
too much
information,
especially for a respectable Englishman like Alfred.
 I liked your little bit with Harvey. Like any recovering addict, he sees temptations anywhere. Will he succeed or fail? Well, let's face it, even with a restored visage, he is still Fate's bitch, in that matter if no other. Poor Greg. Like Bruce and Selina, he is learning all about that river in Egypt.  He is also
finding out that people of tribal backgrounds tend to be
a bit... er... hot-blooded.A nice little thought about dragons, BTW. In the east, they are often seen as beneficient. It is odd that one comment in the Bible about a single bad symbolic dragon has been enough to blacken the name of an entire species. Anyway, I can't wait to see how Ra's misunderstanding, Bruce's hubris and Greg's heartbreak all come together as this story proceeds. BenRG's Rating: 8/10 - bonus point for the Lazarus Pit stuff; I like!  ~*~*~*~ They call me BenRG But... I don't know why... ~*~*~*~ |
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RasAlGhul275 |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #5 | ||
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Posts: 608 08/17/05 00:22 The Cadaver |
TCEW Items... I do love you Kimberley.
 I really enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was a really good fun one. (And that's not just because I got a nod at the end ). I think
Ra's' pomposity is captured really well actually, as is
his total lack of self awareness.And it's FANTASTIC to see Harv again! He's not been in it for a while, but this could be well worth the wait. Nice interaction between him and Bruce, although I too fear for his safety at the Cook-Off. Although having said that, Harv's quite a mean cook himself, you know. And DAMN! Ra's coming over to the mainland? That REALLY can't be good news. And how is he going to react to finding out that he's... sorry, imposible, his Informants were wrong??? I hope that Selina and Harv can get over this hump. They're far too cute together - although obviously, stubborn cart horses as well. Should be a good 'un! |
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Unregistered(d) |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #6 | ||
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Posts: 0 08/17/05 03:59 |
This chapter did a good job of proving that Talia
is really Ra's daughter; they both draw completely wrong
conclusions from the information they are presented. I
for one can't wait to see the look on Ra's face when he
finds out that he was wrong about Bruce not to mention
when he finds out that Greg has been doings thing he
shouldn't be doing.
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ThatSeanGuy |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #7 | ||
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Posts: 380 08/17/05 05:39 Gothamite |
<I also wonder if one of the reasons that
the treatments aren't working so well is that he has let
himself obsess over Bruce, so he is unable to reach the
necessary mental and emotional calm for the treatment to
have its full effect.>
I'm thinking, at least, this is Chris's angle. Alchemy, which is Ra's traditional MO when he actualy creates things himself instead of hireing people to do it for him, is a sticky wicket, as the principles of alchemy helped found Natural Philosophy, and thus science, but the roots are firmly in mysticism. Ra's isn't a Luthor or a Felix Faust, but somewhere in between. I think the facination with the Chinese is very suitable for Ra's, as his philosophy is very Legalist. However, this does throw more questions about the big man's origins-he's usualy drawn and played by white guys, has an Arabic name, and Chinese roots and techniques powering him, and a Lazarus pit, putting a steak into Juedo-Christian origins. The only obvious thing is that he hung out on the silk road for a while, because that's the only place he could've picked all this up a thousand years ago. Possibly an advisor for a Caliph on the western end of the Mongol empire...that would've given him enough freedom and education to seek the inital knowledge that allowed him to become Ra's al-Ghul, as well as make the initial connections to create an organization that, well, covers alot of the origional "Silk Road", excepting India. |
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danvighar.gothampm |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #8 | ||
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Posts: 53 08/17/05 05:57 Gothamite |
Anyone ever read the "Mage Winds" trilogy by
Mercedes Lackey?
Ra's (especially here, but pretty much everywhere in canon/fandom) reminds me of a character called Mornelithe Falconsbane. Himself being one of those ever-returning types, with every new life, he got less creative, less able to think and more fixated on What Was Once, with a helping of anything he thinks is a new idea of his, is actually him trying an old idea of his. Usually one that failed miserably. Which is Hairdo all over, y'know? Oh yeah, and the ever-increasing insanity is a good match too - Ra's has more than a touch of the sociopath in him in most depictions, and it seems likely that those attitudes feed back on themselves and grow stronger with every Ressurrection. Oh, and I like BenRG's remarks about the compounded sequencing errors. Makes as much sense as any other explanation, as far as the 'physics' side of it goes, and more sense than most. Then there is, at the LEAST, the metaphysical feedback loop of "Thinking of the Detective when regenerating is Bad for me." leading to a less-useful ressurrection, which leads to more obsession with an Heir, and thus with The Detective. Finally, anyone want to lay odds that any male Heir who didn't end up like the Arkady I remember from one of the Batman series would end up like, well, Talia, only male? A Fop who believes himself to be some kind of Dark James Bond? |
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Chris Dee.gothampm |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #9 | ||
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Posts: 3928 08/17/05 15:18 Gothamite |
Good morning all, thanks as always for the
wonderful comments.
KimT - you rock, m'dear. One of those questions I don't have an answer to until someone asks, then I have to come up with something. Since these are meant to represent dragon claws (and because he is a a snob), Ra's would want the rarest ivory he could find. It just so happens most of the the really rare ones are taken from sea mammals AND one of those are used by the natives of Sumatra, where we are reminded in this very fic, Ra's has a base. So the tusks are Quote:BenRG! You are officially Bruce's favorite Cat-Tale reader. It was this sentence: "those sequence errors could be accompanied by errors in synaptic connections, meaning that the Hairdo's mental stability and acuity could be measurably reduced in every treatment." Bruce has maintained for some time that the "temporary" madness of the pit is no such thing. Look at the guy, he's nuts. Joker, Ivy, Scarecrow - Ra's. Just different varieties of crazies, ain't none of these fellas sane. AND in addition to grasping this marvelous notion, you expressed it with such scientific detachment. He's impressed, he really is. Tim is looking at you funny tho. He says not to get any ideas, the sidekick slot is FULL. >> Ra's horriffic misreading of the intelligence reports... Yeah well. I hoped the munchies would tip it but eh, truth be told: he's high. Literally. Pit'll do that to the ol brain chemistry. So remember kids, don't dip and read intelligence reports. >> I suppose that Alfred is really more worried about her being away than her little bruise. Yep. >> The hiding place for those gems? That was too much information *Selina starts to explain that it was just an example of a preposterous lie, "My hand slipped" indeed - but then she sighs. She's in something of a no-win situation here. But she gets a reward next chapter so she better not complain. >> Harvey... he is still Fate's bitch Well put. >> Poor Greg Well put. Now... (waving to Sean) some more on dragons! It's a great subject which may or may not work its way into the story again. If it does, act surprised. That's the price you pay for hearing it here first. While the Chinese are the main modern culture that still actively keep their belief in dragons, there are something like 100 cultures across the globe that have had them - some like the Maya, Toltec & Aztec are undoubtedly related *to each other*, but they certainly evolved independently of say, the European and Chinese dragons. And yet, they ALL have certain features in common that collectively we look at and say: dragon. Several of those features are a perfect match for Ra's - not only is there a nice synergy between "dragon" and "demon" in terms of flying-reptilian-piercing eyes-fire kinda thing, there is ALSO the fact that dragons are almost always seen tied to magic and godlike powers, and sometimes actually the creators of life. So (as Sean noted) it is a perfect symbol for Ra's to develop for his cult, tied as it is to his own personal immortality and the pits. AND because dragons are so widespread across cultures, he would have searched the various mythologies and chosen the specific ones that best fit his theme. The Chinese is perfect since Marduk is actually the creator of human life in the first place, he could certainly keep Ra's going, plus there is that whole "breath of the dragon is the essence of life" angle. Ra's first learned of Marduk much closer to home, however. Marduk was depicted on the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. Whew, that was fun. Anyone who didn't find it so, thank you for bearing with me. Hi danvighar! "A Fop who believes himself to be some kind of Dark James Bond" LOL, damn, that's the best laugh I've had all day. Really. Thanks EVERYBODY, I love the feedback, all of it. Sometimes the response is scattered, blame the coffee. If I missed you,I'll get to you next time. |
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ThatSeanGuy |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #10 | ||
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Posts: 380 08/17/05 17:09 Gothamite |
Hahah, high.
"Man, Ubu! Ubu! Get over here, son! I just scored us a prime batch of Easy L!" "I don't know, Ra's, you sure its not just tar again?" "You sure you don't wanna get shot again?" "Toke up, man!" |
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year of the cat.gothampm |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #11 | ||
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Posts: 134 08/17/05 20:48 Gothamite |
And we all know who carries the avatar of the
dragonslayer, don't we?
As for the BBQ, my first thought was how much cash Dick will have to have on hand to get Tim to splash Selina. The more time Selina has to chase the baby bird, the more time Dick gets to work on the strings of Babs new bikini... 
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danvighar.gothampm |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #12 | ||
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Posts: 53 08/18/05 01:17 Gothamite |
Not absolutely sure of my source, but I always
heard it that Tiamat was the dragon, and Marduk the god
slew her (and created the sky, and the land, and the
people, etc). Of course, I was thinking of the Babylonian
myth.
One wonders whether Ra's has (deliberately?) crossed the myths, or whether he was thinking of the Indian/Chinese dragon... it's not entirely clear to me, as may well be the whole point. I do find it somewhat funny, and possibly a sign of his madness depending on when he came up with the whole 'five dragons' ceremony, that the first Marduk -I- think of is not a dragon, but a slayer of the ultimate mother of dragons, five-headed Tiamat, She Who Embodies Chaos (and as an aside, would She also analogize to Leviathan?). |
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MrGideon |
Re: Cat-Tale 43: Napoleon's Plan - Chapter 1 | #13 | ||
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Posts: 8 08/18/05 18:43 |
As always, Ra's falls into the classic villain
trap. He takes perfectly accurate, if incomplete data,
and by using perfectly logical extrapolation techniques,
manages to come out at exactly 100% the wrong conclusion.
That Ra's in getting rather frootloopz.
You also just know that anytime anyone starts thinking in exclamation! marks! that they're highly due a swift visit to the funny farm. |
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Chris Dee.gothampm |
Chapter 2: Needs Salt | #14 | ||
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Posts: 3928 08/30/05 22:28 Gothamite |
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BenRG |
Re: Chapter 2: Needs Salt | #15 | ||
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Posts: 294 08/30/05 22:52 |
*Sighs* I should have seen this one coming from a
long way off. To what degree is this Selina role-playing
Catwoman, and to what degree does she want to have a
clear and distinct Catwoman & Batman romance
aside from the extant Selina & Bruce romance? It
could cause trouble. Do not forget that the Batman
remains "a judgemental jackass"
(although she loves it that way
) and I
don't see Bruce being too understanding of a little
breaking and entering as sexual foreplay. As has been
said a number of times on this forum: It can't end
well.However, this may well serve Bruce and Talia's interests in their coming confrontation with The Hairdo. After all, if Bruce is busy chasing Sel... No, if Batman is busy chasing Catwoman in what is basically a city-sized act of sexual role-playing, it may convince Ra's that Bruce has cooled on the Cat and that his Master Plan To Get A Son-In-Law is running well. A nicely stage-managed "romantic incident" (complete with an over-acting Selina and Greg) at the barbeque would then be sufficient to get the Cadaver to decamp back to Tibet or wherever and stay out of the kids' hair. I just loved Harvey's attempt to get his life under control. He is at last learning that Two-Face was indeed his own dark half given flesh - worse still, those drives and temptations still exist. I hope that he can hold himself together, because the alternative could easily destroy him. However, recognising that his personality has been re-integrated, he may yet decide to return to criminal behaviour as Harvey Whole-Face. Two-Face may have been a creation of his trauma, but the seeds were always there. It should be interesting to see which way he goes. Once again, I fear that it cannot end well. I do wonder what Harvey is thinking about vis Greg, though. Two-Face was always a bit of a romantic at heart, and I wonder if Greg and Talia are about to get a coin-flipping cupid on their case. Say it with me, guys: It can't end well. BenRG's Rating: 8/10 ~*~*~*~ They call me BenRG But... I don't know why... ~*~*~*~ |
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Star Ranger4 |
Re: Chapter 2: Needs Salt | #16 | ||
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Posts: 1316 08/30/05 23:55 Adrift in Space |
No, Ben, This CANT end well....
But it might end up better. "I was an Otaku before those kids
came along and changed the meaning of the
word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate. |
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Kimberly T.gothampm |
RE: Chapter 2: Needs Salt | #17 | ||
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Posts: 647 08/31/05 00:28 Gothamite |
Well, I had a hunch that Bruce's looking up Harvey
had something to do with "let's get Selina some
better friends," and I was right. I don't blame
Bruce a bit for wanting Selina to strengthen her
relationship with somebody else who's given up crime, and
subtly arranging events to encourage it. But I still
think the barbecue is going to blow up higher than if
someone dropped a match right into the propane
tank.
Aahhh, poor Harvey...  It's always
tough on recovering alcoholics who had driven their lives
into the gutter, too. But it's even worse for him than
for most alcoholics; with them, if they pick up a bottle
and fall off the wagon, there's a good chance that they
can climb back on later. I'm fairly sure that Jason's
"cure" was a one-time deal...
Anyway, BenRG's right, Harvey needs to fully accept that the dark urges of Twoface are still there, and he must control them and hold himself together, or be destroyed. But... and this is what may hurt worse, in the long run, even if he manages to avoid coin-flipping for the rest of his days: sooner or later, he's going to run into somebody that Twoface hurt terribly. Somebody whose brother or father he killed, perhaps. Somebody who demands that he take responsibility for what Twoface did. Yes, he was declared insane at the time, but "not guilty by reason of insanity" is supposed to mean "Yes, he did it, but this guy's so whacked he doesn't know right from wrong; he needs a psych ward even more than we need him in a prison." I think Harvey--even as Twoface--always knew right from wrong. Before, he could claim that it was Fate making the decisions, not him. But that was always a partial lie, and fully accepting that Twoface was part of him will mean accepting responsibility for *choosing what would be decided by a coinflip*, instead of saying simply "No, I won't do that criminal act" or "Yes, I will do the right thing." After all, he didn't flip a coin for every last thing he did, from eating a meal to getting some sleep. Every time he pulled out a coin, *he was making a decision.* Sooner or later, someone's going to demand he admit that, and take responsibility. That person may not have a legal leg to stand on, due to the whole "not guilty by reason of insanity" ruling, but legal responsibility and moral responsibility are often two different things... *snicker* Performance art. Riiiight. Jervis would
be so jealous; that even tops the whoppers he was telling
his Aunt Maud! But then, I'm still a small-town girl at
heart, and freely acknowledge that attitudes are
different in the big city. Moreover, this is Gotham we're
talking about. Gotham, which has melodrama and craziness
aplenty running around in funny clothes. Performance art
there just might be that bizarre.And now, the last part. Catty preparing for future dates with Batman, by planning a playful crime spree... I am so with you, BenRG; this can't end well! Kimberly T.
"Everyone who believes in telekinesis, raise my hand!" |
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Unregistered(d) |
Re: RE: Chapter 2: Needs Salt | #18 | ||
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Posts: 0 08/31/05 04:55 |
I liked the interaction between Bruce and Alfred.
It's not everyday we get to see the two of them have a
discussion that involves Bruce laughing and eating food
that he wasn't offered. Also it was good to see that
Harvey is still fates bitch.
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nikitee.gothampm |
Needs Salt: Delicious | #19 | ||
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Posts: 14 09/01/05 16:59 |
What an awesom chapter, Chris! Awesome...
Poor Bruce... it's rough to be turned on and "twilight zoned" at the same time... it's time to face the question he hasn't since his Father's Day holiday: does he love Selina? does he love Catwoman? who is HE anyway? Very, very nice setup for what's bound to be an emotional (and humorous) revelation. Harvey, welcome to our world... we non-split types fantasize all the time about doing very mean things to our less-liked (okay, a$$hole) colleagues... be strong, Harvey! Don't flip... don't flip! Selina, I'd show up for the spree in a purple leather bustier & the thigh-high boots... maybe a black lace G from VS with a rhinestone kitty on the back... mwahhh haaa haaa haaa, this is going to be fun! What a rush! Chase me, if you catch me... we'll take a roll on the floor of Credit Suisse's vault amid the laser beams... and be gone before the cops arrive. chuckle,
chortle, snicker...Gosh, I can't wait for the next chapter! |
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Chris Dee.gothampm |
Re: Needs Salt: Delicious | #20 | ||
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Posts: 3928 09/01/05 17:31 Gothamite |
Hey there, niki! Good to see you again. You get the
prize for the first to zero in on the truly universal
nature of Harvey's flight of fancy, no inner-rogue
required. For your prize...
*scans the post* ...a purple leather bustier & the thigh-high boots... maybe a black lace G from VS with a rhinestone kitty on the back... Um, y'know what, I'm going to leave the giftcard sitting right here and you can pickout your own prize.
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