Post #1: 09 April 2000

Posted by PSI322

PSI322 was one of the most popular people in SM.Net's history, and for good reason--she was probably the kindest, friendliest soul that ever treaded there. She was also, as you will see, easily the most talented writer of the bunch. If you're familiar at all with internet communities, you have already guessed that this makes her--and Luna, who will be introduced shortly--relentlessly sought after by the legions of guys. (And yes, that included me.) Moving along...

(I think we can all have a lot of fun with this topic!

Boy, did we ever.

This is a relaxed, humorous IF, probably not lending itself well to a whole lot of seriousness.

Hahahahaha! Oh, PSI, if only you knew what you were unleashing on the world...

Basically, strike a balance between the serious and the humorous aspects and you'll be all set.

You know how staticians will tell you that if your left foot is frozen and your right foot is on fire, on average you're comfortable? Yeah. On average, there was great balance in this fic.

Basically, by the halfway point the fic had converted to 100% serious and all attempts at silliness were instantly and ruthlessly exterminated (or utterly ignored). At the time this seemed unfortunate. Reading it now, I couldn't be happier about it, because like I said before, it's an unintentional comedy gold mine.

Only one AC per person will be allowed; your AC should probably be yourself and not some strange character you've created, since is a big party where all the Starmen.Net users are meeting. Make sure you don't add in anyone who hasn't added themself in here; for example, don't say you arrive and see Czar reidman first thing if reid hasn't joined this IF already on his own. Please try to write your posts in novel format, as this makes them easier to read and understand; furthermore, it allows for more description and actions in your writing. Also, please don't use signatures. I think that's all the rules, so let's get going!)

Yes, a full paragraph of rules was absolutely necessary if you wanted to try and start an IF (Interactive Fiction). And believe you me, many of the writers would do everything they could to ignore or break every one of the rules PSI listed.

It was mid-summer in the year 2000, a time of year when most people want nothing more than to sit out in the sun, drink a glass of cold lemonade, and relax. But everyone from Starmen.Net was on edge with excitement and anticipation; next week was the First Annual Starmen.Net Gathering!

© ® and ™

As it turns out, members of the Syndicate, in their never-ending quest for power (y'all know I'm just kidding about that, right?),

'The Syndicate' was what the staff/administration of SM.Net called ourselves. THE SYNDICATE IS WATCHING YOU was our motto. Some of us took ourselves way too seriously. That guruzeth guy is the most obvious example.

By the way, there was supposed to be a smiley icon there... at least I think there was. On my saved copy all of the emoticons are gone, recognizable only by a broken-link doohickey, so I'm mostly going to skip them here.

had gone exploring and discovered a small, deserted island in the Pacific which couldn't be found on any map. Since the land had never been found before, it had no country affiliation, so the Syndicate had claimed it for Starmen.Net and named it Eagleland Island, or just Eagleland for short. (At last, Eagleland was a real place on the planet Earth! Woo hoo!)

Don't doubt for a second the Syndicate is capable of this. Screw with the Syndicate at your own peril, kiddo.

The Syndicate had proudly informed everyone back at Starmen.Net of their great discovery and announced that there would be a huge party in Eagleland that summer. Everyone at the site rejoiced and prepared to wait out the months ahead until that party came in the summertime. (The party's length was to be about a week, but depending on how it went, everyone thought they'd take a little more time off to vacation with their online friends.)

Vacation? PSI, do you know nothing of the adventurous* spirit of teenage boys?

* read: 'bloodthirsty'

Finally, after so much anticipation, the fated day had arrived. PSI322, better known to some as Juliana, stepped off her private jet

Provided by the Syndicate, of course.

onto the shore and smiled as she looked around. She saw palm trees and white sand, and beautiful blue Pacific waves crashing upon the shoreline. The beach was set up to look like a luau or something of that sort; she saw a whole lot of DJ equipment, a table covered with snacks, a limbo stick waiting patiently off in the distance,

Ouch. I just herniated a disc reading this.

and tons of balloons. This had all the makings of a great party, to be sure; PSI322 had slept a lot in the past few days in preparation for a week of solid partying, dancing, and playing games. She walked across the sand and wondered who would be the next to arrive.

And so it began.....