Wondershot

Well, I've had this game in my possession for over a week now, and the reason I haven't posted anything about it yet is, well, the fact that I've been spending most of my time playing it. This RPG, despite being fairly simple in overall gameplay mechanics, is still surprisingly addictive and a great way to kill a few hours at a time. Personally, I really like some of the changes that have been made to the battle system, in that while previous games would have a forseeable maximum number of turns available (usually 8 for Nocturne, and 6 for DDS1) the One More Turn system of P3 means that each person on the field could hypothetically have as many turns as there are opponents on the field, provided they keep exploiting weaknesses. Also, I like the All Out Attack system as well, and the manga-styled dust cloud of violence that appears still makes me crack up when I see it. Though some might be annoyed at the fact that only the main character of the party can be controlled, the other characters are certainly not useless, and you can assign them a variety of tactics and orders for their upcoming turns which allow them to function rather intelligently on their own. Also, I love the fact that no one character has to learn a useless "Analyze" skill and that it can be done automatically by your mission control-esque character within a couple of turns, and then done instantly right after. It's great for keeping track of what enemy is weak against what element, especially since most enemies are simply palette swaps of each other. The only things that really annoyed me were the fact that buffing "-kaja" and debuffing "-nda" skills now only target one person at a time, and are largely useless as a result to me now, and I was a little surprised to see Wind-element skills changed from "Zan" to "Garu". Not that the latter is so much a problem as it is a little confusing. Also, the option to split up the party to better explore floors of Tartarus is usually effective if you want to get up the stairs quickly, so it means that exploring can be easy and you can devote more effort to simply grinding the enemies if you choose. I, for one, usually like charging straight up through floors of Tartarus to the nearest bosses without doing much fighting on the way up, and then grinding later on in preparation for the next wave of bosses. It works so far, but I have to admit that it can be a little tedious grinding previous floors so often, and that I usually get tired of doing so long before the characters do. Also, the Social Link system is quite cool, since it can sometimes be of greater benefit than even grinding Tartarus, and though it can be a pain trying to figure out which Links to establish in preparation for future encounters, the story segments are usually at least somewhat entertaining to watch and the characters all interesting in one way or another. Seeing as how I use [spoiler]Magician[/spoiler] Persona the most, I have been trying to get ranks with [spoiler]Kenji[/spoiler], and, interestingly enough, I have a strong friendship with [spoiler]Kazushi[/spoiler] (Rank 9) despite the fact that I don't use [spoiler]Chariot[/spoiler] Persona very often. Also, I'm aggressively pursuing a relationship with [spoiler]Student Council Treasurer Chihiro[/spoiler] so as to make [spoiler]Justice[/spoiler] Persona stronger, and though I only use [spoiler]Hermit[/spoiler] Persona occasionally, I derive great amusement from talking to [spoiler]"Maya" on the MMORPG, and her attempts at leet-speak.[/spoiler] Also, the side story about the group's trip to [spoiler]Yakushima for summer break[/spoiler] was quite fun, especially seeing how Junpei reacted to everything over the course of the trip, and how he undertook his "operation" with greater fervor than when he has to fight Shadows. All things considered, the only things I see wrong with the game are the fact that Tartarus gets kind of boring after a while when all you have to do is grind the same floors several times, and the fact that looking at the mini-map in the corner is much easier than looking down the halls of Tartarus itself, especially since you can see enemies on the map. Also, I get the feeling that soon I'll end up with more player characters than I will know what to do with, and that I won't be able to grind everyone or pay for everyone's stuff with equal frequency. All things considered, though, this is a great RPG from a company that has a history of making great RPGs, and you'll find enough familiarity in the battle system and general gameplay concepts to be comfortable going in, yet have enough diversity and creativity in the gameplay mechanics to hold the interest of people looking for something different. The only sort of person I can see disliking the game is one who is into extreme complexity with RPGs or games in general (which I am...sometimes) and who will likely feel a sense of tedium set in within a couple of in-game months, as they grind the same floors of Tartarus each night over and over again while waiting for the next major plot point to occur. And as for the mission control characters talking over fights. I like it. It makes the fights seem much more animated and lively even if the dialogue repeats itself quite often. Although, my favorite line still remains Junpei's battle cry when we start an All Out Attack. Oh, and this should go without saying, but series composer Shoji Meguro is still awesome. The soundtrack that came with the game is a little sparse and omits a few of my favorite tracks, but it is worth repeated listens all the same.

Webster, somewhat flushed, turned his head downwards. ?Well...This dictionary isn?t mine.? Webster looks up slightly to see the red-faced surgeon before him sweating like a pig. He seems to be eagerly awaiting the next instruction. ?Cut that red wire to the left, if you will.? The surgeon, stressed beyond rational thought, does so with a surprisingly steady hand. Agent Shades then turns his head back to the X-OED3. ?Not yours? Who else would use a dictionary like that?? Webster, nonplussed, takes a moment to collect himself before replying. ?Well, it belonged to my mentor, who taught me everything I know about languages.? Shades grins slightly. Webster seems to bring up this ?mentor? quite often, and though he is certain that he could acquire the answers through other means, decides to pursue the story straight from the source. ?Well, who was he, exactly?? ?Short, white, a little to the left.? Shades blinks and looks at Webster. ?Excuse me?? ?Oh, I was just answering his query first.? Webster points to the surgeon, who is now attempting to cut another wire without disturbing the delicate mechanics of the bomb. Shades rolls his eyes skyward and opens his mouth to ask again, but Webster continues. ?He wasn?t an agent, or even originally from the Boards. He was just a private instructor who happened to have a lot of respect for what the CTU represented, and who decided to raise me to be a translator and keeper of the peace.? ?Raise you? Was he your father?? ?No, but I?d known him since before I could remember. Multiple doctorates in linguistics and languages, assistant developer to a language translation program and head editor of multiple bilingual dictionaries and grammar texts, alligator clip from the red wire to the blue one.? Shades looks down to see the surgeon acknowledge the order. Webster returns his focus to his story. ?He would have nothing to do with the CTU directly apart from assist in the construction of their automated translator...which I ruined....but he seemed happy when he first heard I would be an agent there, and stepped up my training accordingly. Unfortunately, he died disbelieving in my ability to act as a competent translator and linguist, and that?s why I have the name Webster.? Shades glances at Webster?s face as it becomes even more flushed. ?I don?t follow.? ?He was convinced that I would never be ready to handle the might of the Oxford, so I forever remained Webster in his eyes.? A small smile creases Webster?s face. ?In a way, though, one could say that I am either acting out of guilt in trying to use my mentor?s gift in the defense of my life and those of the CTU agents when I had failed, or out of spite in that I am using it to further my skills and prove that I am capable of using his Oxford on my own. Either way, the reasons for my having it are hardly positive, but ultimately, its presence is beneficial.? Webster rests his left temple against his closed left fist and sighs deeply. ?Ironic that so much negativity could produce a positive result.? ?Okay, what should I do now?? Webster, barely looking at the bomb, speaks his reply to the floor. ?There?s a single wire sticking out of the circuit board on your left, cut that.? A hesitation on the part of the surgeon. ?No there isn?t.? Webster looks at the bomb, face whitening rapidly. ?What?? ?There are three wires there, not one.? Webster, hands shivering, picks up the fiber optic camera and looks through it at the bomb circuit board that he had just pointed out. There were, indeed, three wires protruding from said board, and they all seemed to lead in different directions. Webster?s face paled to the point of transparency when he saw what now lay before him. ?This is...I don?t know what this is. It?s a completely different circuit.? Shades leans in to look at the fiber optic camera, though he isn?t quite certain what the worry is about. ?What?s the problem?? ?This circuit board has been built so it would draw power from the separate elements of the bomb and detonate if anything went wrong, but it looks to me like the wires from this circuit are leading somewhere else and that the system has been built so that the bomb would detonate if any of the wires failed. The entire point of disarming this bomb is cutting the power to the circuit board without triggering the explosive, but since this board is wired elsewhere, it can?t be disarmed.? ?Can?t you figure out where the wires lead?? Webster, head in both hands, trembles as he speaks. ?Even if I did, there?s no telling what system could be powering it, and if I tried to change anything in the power source the bomb would go off for sure. I...I?m not good enough to handle something like this.? ?Then your mentor was right after all.? Webster looks back up at Shades, but before he can muster a response, Shades continues. ?Look, you said that this was something you could handle, and now you have no choice but to continue on and deal with whatever it was you started. No one else here will be able to figure out what this bomb does now that you?ve started on it, and it?ll all be on your head if something goes wrong. You think your mentor would think any better of you if you gave up now?? Shades then leans forward and strikes Webster on the back of the head with an outstretched palm. Webster flinches with his whole body in response. ?Grow some backbone, man.? Webster, cautiously returning to his sitting position, glances at Shades angrily before glaring at the bomb silently. Shades looks at the bomb as well. ?What do we do now, Webster?? Webster remains silent. ?I said, what do we...? ?Will you be quiet! I cannot concentrate if I am forced to tolerate these continued interrup...? Webster?s eyes widen and his hands become completely still. He rises from his wheelchair carefully and turns around to look at the hallway behind him. Without looking back, he speaks to the surgeon. ?Doctor...might I assume that your Nuclear Medicine department has a working magnetic resonance imaging scanner powered by a liquid helium cooled superconductor?? The surgeon stands and looks at the back of Webster?s head. ?Yeah, it?s the best we have. It?s right down the hall that way.? He points in the direction opposite the way Webster is facing. Webster spins to correct his line of sight accordingly and begins walking in that direction. The surgeon and Shades look at Webster?s retreating form with some apprehension before Webster calls back to them. ?Bring the bomb.? ?I thought you said we couldn?t move it.? ?The bomb?s major component is a mercury switch that prevents it from being moved without detonation. The switch, however, can be easily deactivated and I made sure to get that over with first so that there would be no further issues with moving the bomb if necessary.? Webster, moving with the intensity of a man possessed, glides down the hallway as Shades and the surgeon, wheeling the bomb in the wheelchair, both struggle to keep up with him. ?Okay, now would you please explain what exactly we are doing?? ?Only if you make sure to remove all metal objects on your person first.? Shades does so, and, with much regret, removes his trademark sunglasses and shields his eyes from the hospital lighting. Webster nods assertively despite not looking in Shades? direction. ?All right, the MRI scanner I was referring to uses an extremely powerful superconductor acting as a magnet to create images of the human body. However, it is a powerful enough magnet that it can have a substantial attracting effect on metal objects. What we are going to do now is place the bomb in the center of the magnetic field and turn on the machine, and the major metallic components of the bomb will be ripped right out as a result.? ?Isn?t that, well, extremely dangerous?? ?Ordinarily, yes, but part of the disarming process for an F-bomb involves trying to separate the nuclear material from the rest of the bomb so that if something does go wrong, there will at least be no nuclear reaction and therefore substantially less destruction. In this case, what will happen is that since we have already disabled many components of the bomb, the MRI tearing it apart will cause at least some of the explosive to go off, but not enough of it to make the bomb go nuclear, and since the bomb will be completely dismantled before any more explosive can detonate, it will basically be disarmed after the initial blast. I can?t say for sure how much of a blast it will cause, but I assure you, Doctor, that your hospital will need a new MRI afterwards.? The surgeon grimaces, Shades follows Webster around a corner and is confronted with the machine. ?You?re sure the magnet will be powerful enough to do this?? ?No, but it is easily the strongest magnet we have available and our best chance of preventing the bomb from harming anyone.? Shades blinks. It?s somewhat uncharacteristic of Webster to rely on chance, but clearly this feeling of desperation now prevalent in his eyes is taking its toll. Webster motions to the surgeon to place the bomb in the MRI. He shudders as he does so, as the bomb is being tugged gently towards the machine by its now deactivated magnet, but eventually, they manage to place it directly in the center of the magnet and they retreat behind the X-OED 3 which Webster had set up. ?To protect us from the blast, naturally.? The dictionary is open, and the surgeon could just barely reach the button to activate the magnet from its position. ?There should be a brief pause as the magnet charges up enough to tear apart the bomb, so don?t expect the bomb to go off right after he presses the button. Wait until after the explosion to get out of the barricade.? Shades, looking at the spot at which Webster opened the dictionary, can?t help but read the definition for ?moronic?. ?I think I?ve found the perfect adjective to describe this plan.? ?Shut your mouth and cover your ears, Agent Shades.? Once again surprised by the uncharacteristic outburst, Shades does so. Webster motions to the foreboding green button on the console before doing the same. The surgeon, breaths now coming rapidly, slams his fist on the button and quickly pulls his arm back behind the dictionary. The three crouch and wait, eyes closed. There?s no telling how long the three remain that way, but it feels like an eternity to each of them, only the thought of getting their heads blown to pieces prevents them from glancing back at the MRI with morbid curiosity. Webster cautiously opens his eyes to look at the wall behind the barricade, and sees a nurse standing there looking at the MRI. Webster jumps to his feet and yells at the top of his lungs. ?GET OUT OF HERE! THE BOMB?S GOING TO BLOW!? The nurse, befuddled, glances around in worry before screaming back. ?WHERE IS IT?!? ?IT?S IN THE MRI, YOU IDIOT! RUN!? ?I DON?T SEE IT THERE!? Webster, agitated beyond all reason, moves out from behind the barricade and points at the MRI. ?IT?S RIGHT OVER...? He glances at the MRI...and sees nothing but air where the bomb used to be. He glances around quizzically before noticing bits of metal and wiring stuck to the sides of the circular MRI, evidently pulled there by the force of the magnet. He looks all around and, sure enough, sees all the major components of the bomb stuck to the magnet, save one critical element. ?No explosive...? Shades emerges from behind the X-OED3, somewhat flustered. ?What?? Webster falls to his knees and slaps both hands on top of his head. ?I SAID, NO EXPLOSIVE!? He then collapses to his side and rolls onto his back. He looks at the ceiling in abject defeat. ?It was all there, timer, mercury switch, circuitry, wiring, radio transmitter...everything but the explosive. That Terror Stick didn?t build a bomb, he built a fancy shell that did absolutely nothing. It?s his idea of a joke, and we all fell for it.? Webster covers his face with his hands for a moment before rising to his feet and yelling indignantly at the terrified nurse. ?WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ANYWAY? DIDN?T YOU HEAR THERE WAS A BOMB DOWN HERE?!? ?I...They told me to come down and find you...they found someone upstairs...? ?What? What do you mean they ?found someone??? ?That other agent here, Sanguinius, he was in the hospital morgue and told me to get you guys...he found someone important, he said.? Webster, glaring daggers at the nurse, snatches up his X-OED3 and storms after her as she leads him towards the morgue, Shades following. What they failed to notice, however, was the surgeon, eyes screwed shut, ears covered, oblivious to the disappearance of Webster?s barricade, still crouched over and waiting for the blast... ?Glad you guys took care of the bomb.? ?Let?s not talk about that now, Agent Sanguinius. What did you find?? ?Well, he was like this when I got here.? The three agents look at the emaciated corpse of a man on the cold metal table. Hair white, skin so milky it almost reflects the powerful lights of the morgue, cold all over. His face is even twisted into some crazed combination of anger and shock, and the three agents can only speculate at what was happening to him to end up this way. Shades, as shocked as the others, steps forward and takes off his sunglasses to better look at the man. He speaks with a solemn growl as he approaches the table. ?DeadSeraphim...Never before has a username been so apt...?

Well, I would have to say that your initial reaction was similar to my own in watching the episodes for the first time. Really, all they did was breathe some life into the Megastructure in the first log by sparsely animating it and adding sound, but there really is too little story to speak of to hold the attention of anyone looking for a plot. I can imagine your frustration at realizing that the show wasn't about adapting the entire manga so much as presenting moments from it in a different medium, but I would have to say that while I can accept that it wasn't really meant for someone who hadn't seen the manga already, it does have a bit of a hook as it makes me wonder a bit more about the context under which the events in the seven logs takes place. Also, I must reiterate that if you were to get the DVD, you would see that its design is really based on the setting of the story itself, and is quite fascinating from the moment you so much as enter the first menu. So, yeah, I think I'm in agreement and some disagreement with what you said, indifference. The anime offers no story context if you haven't read the manga, but it does make me want to pick up the manga and learn more about it, and see how some of the elements of the anime differ from the source material. However, for those of you still out there who are uncertain as to whether or not this is as likeable as I make it out to be, maybe you can still find the fansubs of at least a couple of the logs (especially 01: Megastructure) and then decide if you like the minimalist aesthetics enough to appreciate the moments that occur devoid of story, or maybe you would want to read the manga first and then explore the option of getting this series if you really like the plot and want to see how some of the story's finer moments are presented through animation. Or, maybe you disliked the manga or watched the anime first and didn't like it, and are cursing the production studios, fansub groups and myself for wasting your time with it. It's all good.

As it turns out, I did end up recently seeing a couple of episodes of this series, and boy is it something else. At first, I couldn't help but try and draw comparisons between this and FLCL (some similarity between Simon and Naota's character designs, as well as the personality of Kamina as being comparable to Haruko's), and really, the best I could come up with was that if you thought FLCL was complex to the point of being boring, then Gurren-Lagann certainly makes up for it, as it is less about metaphors for growing up or sexuality as it is about giant (and small) mechs pounding the living daylights out of one another. Really, I think the reason this show is so interesting is that it absolutely revels in its cliches and "same-old, same-old" type of story. It's comparable to, say, the films [I]Shaun of the Dead[/I], or [I]Hot Fuzz[/I] in that it shows an appreciation for the conventions and style of the mech fighting or sentai genres, but still can't help but overblow everything to absurd proportions. I mean, sure, we expect the characters to accomplish their dream of escaping their underground city to see the surface world, but what we weren't expecting was for them to accomplish this [i]by the end of the first episode[/i]. After that, I couldn't help but wonder how in the heck they would keep that level of energy going for more than a couple of episodes, and while the ones I did see had their moments of slowdown, the overall tone and mood of the story is just so gleefully frenetic and, well, as the title claims, "Toppa" (meaning hot-headed), that I couldn't help but be absorbed. The stream of jokes and references to other mech anime is nearly continuous, and as I said, the creators of the show are more than willing to dig into every cliche they can come across. I mean, the sequence wherein Gurren and Lagann "unite" for the first time was hilarious (not to mention Yoko's expression when Kamina suggested it, just what did she think he meant?), and the fact that they exploited jokes about Yoko's attire and breasts within ten minutes of meeting her is something to be admired, strange as that may sound. Also, Kamina's straightforwardness and utter lack of foresight borders on the legendary, and it actually makes him one of the funniest and most likeable characters on the show. Naturally, Simon contrasts him by being mostly scared or unwilling to adventure, while Yoko is the more cool-headed one who continues to reiterate why she can't "fight like a man", as Kamina put it. Well, I would have to say that so far, the series has its hooks far enough in me that I'm going to look into getting the DVDs when they come out, and I sincerely hope they manage to find an English voice actor who is up to the task of replicating Kamina's absurd attitude. Also, the first sixteen episodes' ED, "UNDERGROUND", is one of the best ED tracks I've heard in any recent anime, and it actually reminds me a bit of some of the tracks by The Pillows when they worked on FLCL. Ultimately, I guess the point I would have to make is that you should watch this if you liked FLCL, as it retains the absurd sense of humour and epic mech battles, as well as some of the character mannerisms, and you should also watch it if you didn't like FLCL, as (from what I've seen) it doesn't end up immensely complex and it features even more epic mech battles and genre-bloating comedy than the latter series. Of course, you shouldn't watch it if you like your anime completely serious or think that the classic mech shows are too awesome to be made fun of, you would really be barking up the wrong tree in this case.

Hm, well, I'm quite sorry to see this show hasn't gotten more notice, as I have watched the four episodes currently out and I have to say that it's one of my favourite anime comedies thus far. The fact that it's brief and yet still has enough opportunity to deliver in terms of plot and dialogue is quite refreshing. The pacing is good and I really appreciate the fact that it doesn't drag out minor details or conversations, and its always about getting to the next joke. Though the jokes are of an overwhelmingly sexual nature, and the implied impropriety of the relationship between Justice and Sora makes me cringe at times, the story and moments of embarrassment on the part of Najimi do keep me interested in each episode. Since no one has written about it yet, Episode 4 deals with the rest of the gang stalking Najimi to find out what sort of job she had to get in order to pay off her doujinshi printing fees (also, see if you can spot the [spoiler]Haruhi Suzumiya[/spoiler] reference). Eventually, they find her working at a [spoiler]cosplay cafe with a cat-girl theme (which apparently is based on a real place, no less)[/spoiler] and, naturally, hilarity ensues. Also, the altercations between Justice and Junichiro Hoshi continue, and Hoshi ends on a triumphant note when Justice [spoiler]accidentally reveals Najimi's real name (as she was working in the cafe under an alias).[/spoiler] Especially funny moments in this episode, in my eyes, included the continued conflicts between Najimi and the group (especially over the [spoiler]ketchup message[/spoiler]), Justice's offer to [spoiler]work at the cafe in an effort to protect Najimi,[/spoiler] and the constant reminder that [spoiler]Najimi is not a tsundere character[/spoiler]. Though the episode was less about plot than it was about advancing the whole Najimi/Justice/Hoshi relationship, it had enough gags to be a funny episode in its own right. I ended up showing this anime to my dad and a friend of mine, and while my dad didn't find the character designs very appealing (he couldn't reconcile with the images the fact that Najimi and Tsuyuri were supposed to be university students) my friend thought it was hilarious, especially Episode 2. I liked Episode 2 quite a bit as well, especially the bike chase and the moments at the very end of the episode, but I would have to say the funniest moments from episodes 1 and 3 respectively were Najimi obsessing about the possibility of eating dessert with each meal, and Justice's last five words of dialogue: [spoiler]"Acknowledge your child, you bastard!"[/spoiler] Ultimately, I would have to say that I like this series because each episode is short (and therefore is harder-pressed to get all the funny dialogue and story into shorter segments) and doesn't drag out, and the quirky art style, including the mostly mono-hued crowds and the depictions of the characters as two-dimensional (as, when they turn around, for instance, they briefly become 2D). I, for one, will be eager to see episode 5 when it arrives.

A maniacal laugh cuts through the air and stings Webster's ears. Though he is unfamiliar with its source, he does know that such a laugh in a hospital can mean nothing good. He glances up at the nurse tending to his shoulder wound with a local anesthetic, and sees her eye the hallway in curiosity. "Who was that?" Her voice belies any sense of panic or frustration at the current situation. Natural, given that she has only been assigned to treat the wounds Webster has sustained, but if that laugh means what Webster thinks it means, there could be far worse awaiting her in the near future. She wheels at the sound of Webster trying to rise from his bed unsuccessfully. "Hey, stay down. I still have to finish up." "Can you just dress it and let me go outside for a minute? I have to see who that is." The laugh pierces the air once more, and Webster is convinced that he can make out a voice. The nurse continues. "You're highly anemic, you shouldn't even be standing with a wound like that, and I still have to disinfect it and stitch it up." Webster lies back in bed, unsatisfied, and eyes the massive X-OED3 sitting unused in the corner of his room. He turns his head in an attempt to make a final plea. "Look, I'm an agent of CTU, and that voice could mean some real trouble for all of us, and unless you want to risk the idea of this hospital being overcome with far more people bearing more wounds than myself, I suggest you let me out into the hall right now to see what the situation is." The nurse looks out into the hall worriedly. She shoots a pained expression back in Webster's direction before rushing outside, returning a moment later in a wheelchair. Webster eyes it suspiciously. He doesn't have a leg wound, so it seems fairly arbitrary to ask him to get into one of them. "Is that absolutely necessary?" "Hospital policy, either you ride in one of these or you go nowhere." Webster sees that the nurse will not sway on this issue, so he reluctantly climbs in... "Look, Terror Stick, I'm sure there's something..." "SILENCE! You have no idea the wrath the Terrorists are capable of! Your CTU has been destroyed, so we will shape the world as we see fit at last!" "You don't understand..." "It is you who does not understand! Finally, the world is at our mercy!" The sound of creaking wheels temporarily diverts the madman's attention, and the crowd surrounding him, including the CTU agents, briefly parts to admit the wheelchair-bound Webster, nurse at his back. "Actually, the world is at the mercy of others, now." Terror Stick spins on his heel, clearly distraught, but then bursts out laughing at the sight of an immobile Webster. He reaches into his beard and produces a sharp-looking knife, advancing on Webster. "Well, if that is true, then at the least, I can exact my revenge on the CTU!" The knife comes down, and Webster moves to deflect it with his namesake pocket dictionary. However, when the two come into contact, the knife, apparently made of rubber, bends harmlessly. "What is the point in that? You said it yourself. The CTU as we know it is gone, and so is your organization. We both have much more worrisome threats at hand." "You..." "As a matter of fact, several of our agents and your collaborators have died, and the remainder have been forced to ally themselves with us in order to survive this threat." "Liar! This can't..." "What's more, there are many of them in this hospital, which you are disrupting! How can you expect to accomplish anything by hurting your own partners?" Terror Stick freezes and pulls back, he wraps his arms tightly about his ominous parcel. Webster places a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Is that a bomb, Terror Stick?" Terror Stick plants his back against the parcel. "You...You'll never get that out of me!" "It's something, but I can only speculate what." The crowd wheels again and sees Agent Shades approaching from the other side of the hallway. The tension reaches a fever pitch as Terror Stick can't decide which end of his package to guard from the approaching agents. "So, if it's not a bomb, Terror Stick, what is it?" "That's something you'll never know until its too late!" "Fine, then I'm off." Webster motions briefly to the nurse at his back, and the two begin their return to Webster's room. Shades glances in his direction. "What’s your plan, Webster?” Webster motions for the nurse to stop. She sighs but doesn’t turn him around. Annoyed, he forces his head back around to look back in Shades’ direction. “Well, clearly there has to be some sort of explosive somewhere, as you have just stated he doesn’t seem to be carrying it on his person. Maybe it’s somewhere in the hospital.” A wave of panic ripples briefly through the crowd, and people mutter to each other briefly about the possibility of a bomb. In the distance, a doctor’s pager begins beeping incessantly. Shades looks back at Terror Stick, smiling. “I saw you, you placed it...” “Let me guess...in the Department of Nuclear Medicine?” Both Terror Stick and Shades spin on those words to face Webster. “How...how could you know something like that?” Webster grins briefly at the waver in Terror Stick’s voice. “First of all, because you just admitted it. Second, you would know that we have methods of detecting radiation or nuclear material which would make your bomb difficult to find...unless it was already surrounded with such material in a facility such as this, which is normal. If the bomb is here, then you would likely put it...” “The basement! The Department of Nuclear Medicine’s power room!” The nurse finally obliges and turns Webster around to face the pale doctor standing in the hall, looking at his pager with great apprehension. “They found a strange object there, lots of flashing lights, looks like...” Webster glances in the direction of the CTU agents and Terror Stick. “I’m going to get a look at it and inform you guys once I find out what it is. I’m not very experienced with disarming bombs, but I’ll let you all know if I need help. You guys just keep our friend here busy and don’t let him attempt to pull any detonation switches...make sure you check that beard of his for one.” Webster cranes his neck upwards at the nurse. “Basement, please, we have a bomb to disarm.” “Oh, no...” The medical staff, while doing their best to keep their distance, can’t help but look curiously at the brightly-colored box, decorated with many an LED and digital readout, though the information displayed across it wasn’t that clear. Surprisingly, this is the one type of bomb that he is familiar with backwards and forwards, but he would have also preferred to have to face any other bomb, as this one was easily the worst. He glances around and, with some effort, manages to turn his wheelchair around to face the crowd of medical technicians. “It’s called an F-bomb.” The technicians look at each other with some worry, though none of them are aware of exactly what it means. “As I mentioned, because of its proximity to the Nuclear Medicine department, it is masking radioactive material, so if it does go nuclear, it would vaporize the whole street.” The doctors and nurses all begin muttering to each other, and one of them steps forward... “How...how would it go...off?” “Any number of ways, it’s motion and pressure sensitive, the screws and clamps are all wired to the detonators, and it’s on a remote switch and a timer. Suffice to say, we can’t move it, smash it, dismantle it, and we don’t have much time to disarm it.” Webster glances around at the medical staff. “However, there is a way to disarm it...the Doctor told me how.” The doctors look at each other, who on earth in this hospital would know how to disable something like that? Webster laughs slightly. “Not any of you, my mentor, a doctor.” The staff all look at him angrily. “Well, go on, then! Disarm it so that we can deal with that maniac upstairs!” “Not that simple. I’m wounded, and have only dealt with such a bomb in theory. The risk is too great for me alone, which is why I need your help.” Webster wheels around and glances at the bomb. “I’m going to need a generator, at least a dozen alligator clips, a scalpel, a penlight, a small fiber optic camera, and a member of your surgery team to do the work for me while I talk him through it. Also, someone get back upstairs and tell the rest of the agents what sort of bomb it is, and that I should be able to handle it. If all goes well, we can be done here in fifteen minutes...assuming the timer leaves us that long.” Webster spins around once more and looks at the medical staff, frozen in fear. He rolls his eyes and shouts at them. “Stat!” They all scatter in search of the objects that Webster indicated. He spins once more to look pensively at the bomb. Though he feels confident about the method of disarmament, one small slip would spell doom for a city block, so he has to relieve himself of the tension. Though his palms are sweaty and his forehead slick with moisture, he does his best to keep his voice calm and his thoughts clear, and hopes that he gets a good surgeon to do the work. He looks up at the ceiling, imagining the sky above. [i]Doctor...You taught me well...I merely hope I can follow through.[/i] OOC: I’ll write another post later about disarming the bomb.

Well, I for one also got the DVD (and Gavin, I think both the movie and DVD came out in Europe months before they were released in North America) just the other day, and I had a great time watching it several times over the last couple of days. I still haven't seen most of the extras, but will definitely make a point of doing so tomorrow, at least. One thing I talked about with my dad regarding that movie was the fact that, as a reviewer whose name escapes me put it, the movie is not really a parody. The concept of parody suggests that at some point the film or story at least acknowledges some of the conventions of the works or genres they are parodying and play off them for laughs. However, neither [I]Shaun of the Dead[/I] nor [I]Hot Fuzz[/I] does this quite often enough to be considered parody. What both movies do instead is follow the conventions or tropes of the zombie/cop movies and then add dialogue humour or physical comedy so that the two mesh. In [I]Hot Fuzz[/I], there are only a couple of instances where the movie seems to mock the cop-movie tropes openly, like the gun battle, or Nick Angel's discussion with the guy working at the corner store: [spoiler]"Is there anything I can do for you?" "No, this is something I have to do on my own..."[/spoiler] Also, the points at which the movie referenced both [I]Point Break[/I] and [I]Bad Boys II[/I] were also quite cleverly done, and worked because the audience doesn't necessarily have to have seen those movies to get the jokes, since they were likely mentioned earlier in the movie (except the helicopter sequence at the end, apparently from the latter film). The fact that I have seen neither movie yet could still appreciate the references helped the movie quite a bit. Also, I'm actually quite surprised at the number of references made to [i]Shaun of the Dead[/i], including the fence jumping sequence, the brief exchange between the two protagonists about [spoiler]Cornetto[/spoiler], Danny [spoiler]shooting someone in the leg with an air rifle[/spoiler], [spoiler]the sea mine being live when they thought it wasn't, like the shotgun from [i]Shaun[/i][/spoiler], the game machine in the bar, and, in one of the deleted scenes, the explanation of the word "exacerbate". Also, if you watch the extras, you see joke extras similar to the ones from [I]Shaun of the Dead[/I], such as the "Hot Funk", where they show the actors attempts to overdub lines in the original movie to eliminate swearing with nonsensical expressions, or "The man who would be Fuzz", where they shot a scene where Simon Pegg and Nick Frost attempted weird impersonations (my dad thought Simon Pegg was trying to sound like Michael Caine, what with the nasal intonations). Personally, I would have liked to see them do "Plot Holes", like they did with [i]Shaun[/i], but I guess this movie had fewer such moments so it really isn't a big deal. Ultimately, I highly recommend that people get this DVD if they haven't already, as this represents the epitome of action-movie humour and wit to date, and I look forward to seeing the wonder-trio of Wright, Pegg and Frost make more movies in the future. Actually, in case people here haven't already heard... Nick Frost did a TV series called "Danger! 50,000 Volts!" which was like a humourous takeoff of wilderness or danger survival shows, teaching people how to stunt-drive out of gunfights, fight off muggers, or survive a zombie attack with help from Simon Pegg. The zombie episode is called "Danger! 50,000 Zombies!", and I'm pretty sure it's on YouTube somewhere. Simon Pegg is going to be in a movie called [i]Run Fatboy Run[/i] with [I]Shawn of the Dead[/I] co-star Dylan Moran in which Pegg tries to impress his girlfriend by losing weight and participating in a marathon. It could be some sort of tongue-in-cheek statement about body dysmorphia or the fact that Nick Frost is usually the one playing the role of the fat guy, but either way, I'll be looking forward to it. Finally, Edgar Wright is apparently going to direct a film adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's comic book series [I]Scott Pilgrim[/I] at some point in the future. I have only read one volume of the series thus far, but its pop-culture related humour and almost absurd sense of romance and drama could make for an amazingly fascinating film...or a really bad one, it being an adaptation...but I have faith in Edgar Wright to do it properly.

"He's still out?..." "...can carry him any...." "Can't leave..." Webster awakened to the sound of what seemed to be a surprisingly heated argument. The first thing he noticed was that Agent Shades was lying down next to him, somewhat uncharacteristic of...oh, Webster sees a leg wound. He rouses himself to hear an explosion of anger from a female voice. "You can't carry him anymore?! Fine, I will!" Agent Crystia then turns to pick up Webster, only to notice his change in position and jumps back up. "Oh! Webster! You're back!" "I don't recall ever having left." Webster painfully returns to his feet, looking with great apprehension at the hole in his shoulder. He examines it carefully with his extremely limited medical experience. Gavin's weapon did a fine job cauterizing it, so he was unlikely to bleed out from it, but he would have to get to a hospital soon to check the blood flow in his entire arm, as it was devoid of feeling. "Damn, and that was my writing hand." "Well, that settles it! Webster is up, so you just help Shades up and we can get moving again!" Crystia began marching in an authoritarian fashion towards the brightening lights of the city in the distance. Sanguinius reached an arm out for Shades, and Webster began following, but the wound in his arm was troubling him quite a bit. "Agent Webster, come on!" Crystia's voice in the distance beckoned, but Webster reeled and fell backwards upon trying to run in her direction. She stopped and ran back to check on him. Webster began struggling to his feet. "Webster, you okay?" Webster nodded briefly to Sanguinius, despite the fact that he was quite certain he was not. "I have a...an extremely low blood pressure, I really can't operate normally without..." Webster reeled again as the blood began draining from his head once more. Sanguinius threw an arm against him to prevent him from falling over a second time. "Okay, that's it. Crystia, you help Shades, I'm carrying Webster." Sanguinius cracked his knuckles briefly, but Webster began wandering off, checking his pockets with his left hand. "What are you doing, Agent Webster?" Webster turned around, and in his left hand he flashed a PDA at him. "Look, if you try to help me we're just going to slow down far too quickly. They'll be on us in a second." Webster, to the best of his ability, began punching numbers into the PDA. Sanguinius motioned to Crystia and Shades to move ahead, but he remained. "Stop being so stubborn and let me help you!" Webster, having finished punching in his numbers, slipped the PDA back into his inside breast pocket. "No, Agent Sanguinius. Now I will help you." A moment later, Sanguinius became aware of the sound of an approaching airplane. In a moment it came into view. Extremely large, flying at low altitude...a tactical airlift plane. "Now, we see if my training finally bears fruit." The plane, on final approach, opened its cargo bays wide and dropped a massive package, wrapped in plastic, right between Webster and Sanguinius. He jumped back as it made a massive crater where it landed, and Webster approached it reverently. He proceeded to delicately tear the plastic off, and Sanguinius examined it more closely. It looked like a monolith of some sort, extremely large and dense, with a leathery exterior. Webster smiled as he pointed to a section on the side of the slab. "We knew it as X-OED3." Sanguinius examined the spot where Webster pointed and could make out letters, embossed in gold print. [I]The Oxford Dictionary of English Third Edition PROTOTYPE[/I] "The largest compilation of the English dictionary known to man. Every term, expression, neologism in the whole almighty English language. It was meant to be developed as software, but he decided to design a book prototype for defensive use." Sanguinius watched as Webster began pulling the book from its crater with great effort. Once he did, he pulled a series of straps out from under the inside dust jacket and clipped them to his body. The book then enveloped his entire frame, like the roof of a house. "It's the ultimate form of defense known to Otaku or man. Nothing can penetrate close to a million words sealed beneath a fireproof dust jacket and kevlar hardcover. It will slow me down greatly, but it will also slow down our pursuers, and likely keep me alive until I reach the destination, regardless of who is attempting to attack me." Sanguinius, while somewhat impressed with the sight, can't help but shake his head. "No, I'm not..." Webster reaches out and grabs him by the shoulders. "Listen to me, Agent Sanguinius. Our mission is to get as many personnel back to the city as possible, and it is more than likely our groups will rendezvous back at the hospital. If you go, then you will be able to assist in any effort that they may undertake, as well as ensure your continued survival and most likely mine. However, if you stay behind, this dictionary won't be able to protect both of us, and we will likely perish when our pursuers catch up. Now, what do you believe is the more plausible course of action?" Sanguinius pauses for a moment, then regards Webster and nods briefly. Webster smiles. "Good. Go on ahead and tell the others what is happening. I will not catch up, but at least our pursuers won't either. If you doubt my return, then just point everyone back in the direction of myself and Agent Fluff once we are assured of backup. All right?" Sanguinius nods briefly. "Good, go on, then. I'll see you some time from now." Sanguinius turns towards the city, but gets one last look at Webster before running in the direction of the lights. Webster sighs heavily and slips the X-OED3 more comfortably over his weakened shoulders. He begins his plod, knowing that the dictionary will slow him down but ultimately keep him safe from further harm. He smiles with reminiscence as he trots slowly along the path. "I guess this is my last gift from you. I promise not to use it to harm." He looks up at the stars, and for the briefest moment, imagines someone smiling down on him.

Well, upon seeing the "Pretentious Music" thread in this forum and hearing about the death of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman from my parents the other day, I figured that I should start a thread devoted to the usually unseen world of independent cinema. This thread will be used primarily to talk about unusual short or indie films people have gone to see or seen at home in the past, or maybe film festivals that they've gone to (or have been dragged to, as it were). The most recent example of such a film I've seen is Luis Buñuel's "The Phantom of Liberty". It's a feature-length film that was apparently the second to last long film he ever made, and it's sort of a surreal look into the lives of a number of people in and around France, including monks with gambling addictions, sadomasochists who engage in displays of their passion in public, policemen who "act like children" and a family searching for their missing daughter...despite the fact that she is standing next to them at all times, to name a few. It's 100 minutes long and, based on the title, deals almost exclusively with the idea of "liberty" and its meaning in the modern world. However, I would be lying if I said the theme alone would be a good reason to see this movie. Instead, you should see this simply for the bizzare portrayal of modern life and modern relationships. However, be warned, that there is full frontal nudity on more than one occasion. Another one I saw at least part of in Portugal is a Quebec cyberpunk movie known as [URL="http://www.quietusfilms.com/webpages/film_details/film_sigma.htm"][u]Sigma[/u][/URL], and it deals with, at first, a doctor trying to rescue his wife from an unknown captor who is slowly drowning her in a water tank, and eventually encompasses a number of characters all involved in a conspiracy that includes brain-controlling nanomachines and a sentient computer network. Though the plot may seem a little cliche at first, the presentation of the film is anything but, as cameras are placed at the most bizzare angles possible (sometimes the actors are even holding the cameras or they are otherwise attached to their bodies) and footage from on-site security cameras is often used as well. Though the director claims this was the result of having little to no money for camera equipment, the resulting aesthetic is quite striking and makes the entirety of the experience that much more alien in nature. Though I wouldn't know where one could find it, I suggest that it be seen by anyone even remotely interested in creative camera work and the cyberpunk genre in film. Anyway, that's all I can offer at the moment, but I would like to hear about the experiences of others with short or independent film. If you have a favorite movie of that type or a movie you didn't expect to like, feel free to talk about it. You should also tell us about film festival experiences you may have had. As a film student, I'm going to be expected to see a lot of these, so I'd like to hear about what everyone here thinks about such films.

Well, I actually have my doubts that there are a lot of Ninja Action Team songs out there, even on BMS, as the only simfiles I've seen for their music apart from their own website are part of Japanese Stepmania packs. Really, I would still suggest that you give Ninja Agent Galli a try even if you have a Beatmania simulator already, as it is a rather amusing parody with some very unique music. On a side note, I am curious to know what files or packs you already have for Stepmania. I am still pretty bad at keyboard playing myself (preferring to use a USB controller), so I tend to gravitate towards pad files even though I currently lack the USB converter to play them on my pad. Personally, I think that the Japanese simfile makers usually capture the spirit of DDR best when they create song packs, so I would suggest that you look up [URL="http://foonmix.nothing.sh/"][u]the Foonmix series[/u][/URL] if you haven't already, as well as [URL="http://dee.manbow.org/popcandy/"][u]Pop Candy[/u][/URL] or [URL="http://st2.blacktale.net/"][u]Strawberry Steps[/u][/URL]. Again, though, these are all pad files so most of you might be bored at the difficulty level (except for those who get Foonmix and play "Re Routes Remix Reloaded" on the harder difficulties, which would be excruciating to play on a pad). Anyway, I'd like to hear what sort of Stepmania files you guys have that I might not, although I must say that I do have quite a few already (over 1300, last time I checked). Also, I may end up linking some of the stepfiles I've made (or am making) if there is any interest in them in the future.

"Well, unusual as it may be for me to admit it, that was actually some excellent thinking." The compliment came out rather suddenly, and Webster's trio of companions jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. Crystia and Fluff both pointed their Rods threateningly at him. The wooded area they were crouched in was close to the road, so everyone was rather high-strung, having been expecting an ambush for the past half hour. "Will you be quiet! We're almost there, and you are about to blow our cover!" Fluff's raspy whisper cut through the air, but she relaxed her arm and put the Rod away a moment later. "...and thanks." This, however, was not the end of the fearsome foursome's trouble, as they soon found themselves face to face with a land bridge with two OtakuBot guards holding their position steady. Were this just another adventure, our heroes would have been able to sneak past them when they turned their mechanical heads like good idiotic AI, but this was not the case, as these robots were quite focused. "However, I doubt even we will be able to hide while attempting to traverse that bridge. It would be best if we disable those two before attempting it." Crystia and Fluff looked at each other meaningfully, Mod Rods at the ready. However, Webster instead opted to raise his hand, but Fluff noticed that it was shaking. "If I may, I think I might be of some use this time." Fluff rolled her eyes. "That would be a first. What have you got for us, W?" Webster raised a single index finger to indicate silence, and proceeded to reach his right hand into his breast pocket, from which he retrieved... "A mustache? You can't be serious." Fluff looked over at Crystia. "Then again, when is he not?" Webster proceeded to gingerly apply the fake mustache to his face, and then reached into his pockets to retrieve a coarse white dust, which he proceeded to sprinkle all over his face. "What is that?" Webster glanced sideways at Crystia, and quietly mouthed two little words. "Sea Salt." "[color=red][B]NO TARGETS SIGHTED, MAINTAINING CURRENT POSITION...[/color][/b]" ... ... "[color=red][b]TARGET FOUND! INITIATING PROCEDURE![/color][/b]" The OtakuBot Duo proceeded into the woods, but were then pushed back by a white-haired man with an equally white mustache. He was speaking loudly to no one in particular, but seemed to be carrying on a fairly jovial conversation. "Ah, sim, mas ainda temos so um pouco de tempo para acabar com isso." "Oui, oui, mais avec ce plan, on ne peux pas échouer!" "Well, aren't we confident today, my good man?" "Sim, nao vai ser problema nenhum!" Webster proceeded to laugh jovially while the OtakuBots scanned him head to toe. "[color=red][b]PROCESSING...ONLY 50% OF FEATURES RECOGNIZED...PROCEEDING WITH COMPLETE SCAN...[/color][/b]" Upon hearing this, Webster turned to face one of the two bots. "Desculpe, senhor, podes me dizer onde e que fica o hospital? Tenho um encontro muito importante." The OtakuBot whirred briefly. "[color=red][b]TRANSLATING...'EXCUSE ME, SIR, CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHERE THE HOSPITAL IS? I HAVE AN IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT.[/color][/b]" Smiling slightly, Webster turned to the second Bot. "Ah! Mais votre ami est vraiment fluide avec son Portuguais! Qui avait lui enseigné?" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...YOUR FRIEND IS QUITE FLUENT IN PORTUGUESE, WHO TAUGHT HIM?[/B][/COLOR]" Shivering with anticipation, Webster turned back to the first Bot. "Well, I'm sure your French friend might be able to explain to me how one might get to the hospital?" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...BEM, TENHO CERTEZA QUE O TEU AMIGO FRANCES PODE ME DIZER ONDE E QUE FICA O HOSPITAL?[/B][/COLOR]" Webster returned to face the second. "Sim! Eu preciso de saber agora!" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...YES, I NEED TO KNOW NOW![/B][/COLOR]" The first bot then turned to face the second, Webster took a step back. "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...SIM, EU PRECISO DE SABER AGORA![/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...OUI, J'AI BESOIN DE SAVOIR MAINTENANT![/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...YES, I NEED TO KNOW NOW![/B][/COLOR] Webster whispered surreptitiously into the first bot's ear. "You know, you really should change tense, old boy. Helps with the explanation." "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...TU SABES, TU DEVES FALAR EM NOVO TEMPO, VELHO. FACILITA A EXPLICACAO.[/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...TU SAVAIS, TU AVAIS BESOIN DE CHANGEZ TON TEMPS, MON AMI. CA AURAIT AIDÉ L'EXPLICATION.[/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...YOU KNEW, YOU MIGHT CHANGED YOUR TENSE, OLDING BOY. HELPING WITH THE EXPLAINED...[/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...TRANSLATION ERROR, UNABLE TO TRANSLATE...[/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...TRADUZIR...ERRO DE TRADUCAO, NAO E POSSIVEL DE TRADUZIR.[/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...TRADUZIR...TRANSLATING...ERROR, ERROR...[/B][/COLOR]" "[COLOR="Red"][B]TRANSLATING...UNABLE TO TRANSLATE...FICHIER DE LANGAGE CORRUPTED...ERRO DE SISTEMA...[/B][/COLOR]" Webster backed off further while the two bots continued on their feedback loop of death, and shielded his eyes as their heads popped off with a loud bang, sending a shower of sparks every which way. When the heads landed, Webster bent down and picked one up morosely. Cradling it in his arms, he saw that it's eyes were filled with the Blue Screen of Death...in several languages. Agents Crystia and Fluff approached. Crystia was the first to manage speech. "Como e que?...I mean, how did you?..." Webster turned to face her, his eyes sad. "You simply have to initiate a loop wherein you set the default language of both bots. Then you speak to one in English, and it translates back from the default language. Eventually you start a loop wherein the two bots try to translate each other endlessly. After that, it's a matter of masking a tense change as an imperative which causes the grammatical structure of the languages to break down...the language comprehension centers crash..." Webster held up the Blue Screened head. "And this happens." Even Fluff couldn't help but stare slack-jawed at what she had just witnessed. "Wow, that was...really cool, actually..." A moment later, Webster's eyes filled with tears and he turned his head shamefully. Fluff laughed slightly. "What's the matter, Agent Webster? A little salt get in the eyes?" Webster, voice shaking, barely managed a comprehensible reply. "I...I swore..." Fluff looked on with curiosity, and Crystia approached slightly. "I...I swore on my mentor's grave...that I would never do that again..." Fluff leaned in to listen, Crystia looked at Webster's back. "Mentor's grave? What?..." Webster turned his head back towards the bridge. "I...I was a young firecracker once, much like you, Agent Fluff. I was taught the ways of language by my mentor when I first went to CTU, and he informed me of the CTU's tireless efforts to develop a language translating machine that could operate on several levels and in different languages at once. He then, in trusting me, decided to tell me about the feedback loop that the scientists were trying to correct. As a practical joke, I decided to try it on the translating machine when he was not around. I initiated the loop, people rushed in to stop it..." He shuddered as a man's scream cut through his mind. "People...died...when it exploded." He took a long, shaking breath, and began to traverse the bridge. Crystia and Fluff followed. "My mentor, he never looked at me the same way again. His health declined quickly after the incident, and the last thing I told him was that I would never use my language powers to cause destruction, only to help people understand each other." Webster, still holding the head, held it briefly over the edge of the bridge before releasing it, watching it disappear down into the gorge below. Crystia and Fluff looked at each other and began whispering confidentially to each other. "Wow, who knew?" "Your mother, probably, since she would have been around at the time." "Oh...wow, maybe that's why she's been telling me not to joke around so much." "Maybe that's also why Webster's been so serious...and hard on you." The two of them looked back at Webster, who was furiously shaking the salt out of his hair and trying to dry the tears from his face. Unable to achieve the latter task, he then turned back to face his companions and attempted, failing again, to restore his usual tone of voice. "Well, now that this is settled...I must ask that you continue to spread your spoiler tags, Agent Fluff, as our pursuers have doubtlessly heard the explosion." Fluff stiffened, and saluted briefly before proceeding. "Yes!" As she did so, Crystia looked back at Webster and saw that a massive smile was now on his face. Fluff noticed it as well, when she turned around. "Hey, what are you smiling at?" "You, Agent Fluff. You just followed a direct order immediately...from me." Crystia turned around and looked at Fluff in shock. Her face was quickly changing to a very red shade. Fluff did her best to splutter out an answer. "No, but...you...I...I wasn't following an order! It was just a good idea! My good idea! You don't even have any authority over me, Agent Webster!" Webster's smile became wider, and his tears finally dried. "No, of course I don't, Agent Fluff. Proceed." Agent Fluff nodded sharply in response, and did as Webster asked. He turned to continue down the bridge, but Fluff called back to him. "Agent Webster!" Agent Webster turned to face Agent Fluff once more. "Yes?" Fluff drew a line across her upper lip meaningfully. "Mustache." Webster reached up and felt the mustache still on his lips. He recoiled slightly in surprise, having completely forgotten it was there. "Oh, of course. Thank you." Slipping it quietly into his breast pocket, Webster turned to proceed down the bridge, so that the others wouldn't notice his face quickly turning as red as Fluff's.

This is something I ended up getting at a video store in my area on a whim for about thirty dollars. The anime (or Experimental Animation, as the back cover calls it) of Nihei Tsutomu's manga [i]BLAME![/i]. The manga [i]BLAME![/i] is about two explorers, Killy and Cibo, attempting to conquer a massive, dark maze known as the Megastructure, which is essentially a building that is capable of constructing itself faster than anyone can explore it. As a result, the Megastructure has since enveloped most of the galaxy, and all of humanity has been trapped inside, looking for ways to either get out or survive within its walls. Worse yet is the fact that beings known as Silicon Creatures have begun to appear, humanoid abominations bent on dominating the Megastructure and eliminating humans as they see fit. However, the anime doesn't make much of this clear at all, as the nature of it is not to tell the story already presented by the manga, but highlight a few moments from the manga through animation. The disc itself is known as [i]Ver 0.11 salvaged disc by Cibo[/i] and it is probably one of the more fascinatingly designed DVDs in my collection. When you first insert it, you see the typical ads and warnings against copyright violation, but then you see a menu appear in a strange, senseless language. No translations are offered, you just have to pick an option and see what happens. This is an interesting reinforcement of the idea that it is a "salvaged disc" from the world presented by the story, as there is no real explanation as to what exactly is on it and it has no way of making itself comprehensible to an outside viewer. Furthermore, some of the menu options cause an error message to appear, saying that the disc has been damaged (but in a fashion indicating that it is still part of the illusion), and the viewer then has no choice but to eject the disc and try again. While frustrating at times, the fact that the DVD itself references the reality presented by the story makes it that much more interesting to watch and explore. Now, we get to the actual series, which consists of seven episodes and a grand total of...34 minutes of footage. I am serious, each episode usually doesn't exceed five minutes in length. The reason for this is that, as I said before, the anime doesn't actually present the story already depicted in the manga, but a series of vignettes based on events that take place in the manga. The episodes are known as "logs", and here they are. So you know, some of these bits of information will spoil events that take place in the manga, so I will use spoiler tags accordingly. [B]log:01 - Megastructure[/B] No story to speak of. This is just a series of still shots or brief animations depicting, more or less, what the Megastructure is. You only hear a few haunting sound effects and what sounds like a ghostly trumpet in the distance, and simply observe the twisted architecture that is the Megastructure. This is meant to encompass Nihei Tsutomu's method of storytelling in the manga, as he is usually content to simply linger on details of the Megastructure and emphasize the sense of empty space and loneliness within its walls. [B]log:02 - Silicon Creatures[/B] This depicts a brutal battle between one of the Silicon Creatures, Cibo and Killy. This log may spoil an event in the manga, as it appears as though [spoiler]Cibo dies[/spoiler] in the battle. Really, this episode is meant to showcase the twisted new aesthetic that the backgrounds and character designs take on in combat, as all the lights and walls turn red and blue blood flies everywhere. [B]log:03 - netsphere[/B] This is where we are first introduced to Cibo's past. [spoiler]She was once working on a project to escape the Megastructure through the "netsphere", which would allow the people to control the Megastructure's rate of construction, but the project failed miserably and many people died for her efforts, so she was exiled from the society in which she lived.[/spoiler] This, however, is not all made clear in this episode, as it consists of a conversation between her and a person known as "the President's son" regarding some obscure details about her plans for escaping the Megastructure. This, again, will likely only interest people who have already read the manga, and probably just seem strange to people who haven't. Also, this episode contains a brief nude scene in the form of a woman in a tank of translucent liquid, not covered up by any of the wires or anything normally associated with people in tanks of liquid. You've been warned. [B]log:04 - (unreadable, it's in Kanji)[/B] This episode is so obscure that even I will be hard pressed to explain it. Killy and Cibo meet an entity who claims to be part of the "netsphere Administrative Bureau" who updates them on their progress and informs them that the Bureau wants them to continue their mission because [spoiler]the netsphere itself is slowly becoming damaged by the Megastructure's continuous expansion, and they are required to find someone who can stymie the Megastructure's construction on their own.[/spoiler] Again, this scene will likely cause confusion for those who have not read the manga and are not aware of the context of the scene, so beware of spoilers. However, the scene itself is quite unusual to watch and the Admin Bureau rep has one of the most disturbing distorted voices I've ever heard, and he tends to pronounce words one excruciating syllable at a time. It's quite something to hear. [B]log:05 - (again, in Kanji)[/B] This episode is also somewhat confusing in terms of chronology, because it starts with the events at the end of log:02, but then gives us a segment from the manga in which Killy and Cibo meet for the first time. First, Killy is set upon by another Silicon creature, but is rescued by Cibo and her crazy flying mech suit. Then, they end up being chased away by more creatures, before finally ending up in a narrow valley where Killy dispatches them all with a blast from his "Graviton Radiation Projector", a weapon the size of a handgun but with the destructive power of a nuclear weapon. It also becomes evident that it can punch holes through the walls of the Megastructure, and may be the key to escaping it as a result. [B]log:06 - Cibo[/B] This log seems to start with the events at the end of log:01 (if you can call those mostly still pictures events), and shows Killy and Cibo stopping briefly to discuss their plans for the future. It again highlights the sense of isolation that these two characters feel, as most of it takes place from an unusually far-away angle from which both protagonists are only little stick-figures. The episode concludes when Cibo mentions [spoiler]having potentially met Killy sometime in the past.[/spoiler] Also, Killy never speaks a word in the entire series, (except at the very end, when he mouths "Cibo"), so the relationship between the two is definitely something very enigmatic. [B]extra log: Collapsed Data[/B] This final "extra" is actually a brief story told from the point of view of a Silicon Creature, wherein it explains that [spoiler]Silicon Creatures are not responsible for the Megastructure's expansion, but they are only capable of existing within the Megastructure and that they only kill humans to preserve their own lives, since they know humans seek to destroy or halt the Megastructure's expansion.[/spoiler] This allows us to sympathize somewhat with the enemy, strangely enough, but the Silicon Creature then establishes that it is not interested in making empty justifications for its actions, stating "Besides, we've always hated you." In all, this is an anime directed almost exclusively at existing fans of the [i]BLAME![/i] manga, and it will spoil events that take place in the manga without offering any real context or insight into the story. However, if you're like me and have a yen for both anime and experimental art or art film, then you might enjoy it even if you haven't read the manga before. I, for one, am now interested in picking up the manga series and understanding more of the story (even if I am already familiar with a couple of plot twists), but I think that the animation did a very good job of capturing the essence of twisted architecture and loneliness within the Megastructure that the manga is supposed to capture by itself.

Though you might find yourself wondering just what an absolutely ridiculous theoretical weather pattern may have to do with our story. I ask that you suspend your disbelief and hear me out. Irregular things happen all the time. In fact, irregular things happen with such alarming frequency that it would only be irregular if these things didn?t happen. Unfortunately, people, more often than not, exhibit negative reactions to irregularity, claiming them to be the end of civilization, the work of an angry god, or an attack on their beliefs. However, I digress, as nothing quite so catastrophic will be happening here. Instead, we embark on a journey just strange enough to capture the attention of a few interested in learning how it ends. Unfortunately, this isn?t so much about how it ends as how it develops, and I hope that those of you who do read this tale enjoy the little details or brief moments of witty dialogue, and as these moments occur, that you laugh in spite of yourselves, as lord knows we could all use something to laugh about these days. However, I must now ask that you picture a hotel room, one fairly devoid of detail, at least it is until our protagonist wakes up, as he does so, his eyes sweep the ceiling, lit by a gaudy-looking chandelier that briefly hypnotizes him with its crystalline surface. He blinks once and lifts his upper body into a sitting position. Soon the details become more clear. Oak desk complete with lamp and green blotter, small hot tub in the corner behind said desk, a bed, the bed he happens to be lying in, with red comforter and white sheets, 100% cotton, or so the tag he remembers reading yesterday claims. He rises to his feet and catches a glimpse of his somewhat frightening frame in the full-length mirror to the left of his bed. Tall, pale, hairy arms and legs, blond hair scattered about, Grateful Dead T-shirt he swore to himself he would throw out or sell on E-Bay a year ago, the shirt fails to hide a slight gut, white boxer shorts. He regards his traveling companion lying in the bed next to him, still sound asleep, black hair remaining in the same pristine condition that it was in the previous evening. Against his better judgment, he decides to go to the window to open it. He throws the white drapes wide, he is blinded by a furious white glare... Is it snowing outside? He crashes back to earth when his cell phone begins ringing. He marches back to it slowly as ever, waiting until the fifth annoying digital ringtone ceases before answering, squinting at the caller ID as he does. ?This is Montecarlo.? ?Morning, Snowball, how have you been?? Montecarlo, or so he claims his name is, recognizes the rough voice and glances at the clock radio between the two beds in stereotypical fashion, a useless act considering that he cannot read it without his glasses. For some reason, people have to associate their moods with the time of day, especially when they have just woken up. Montecarlo, however, has no time to crack this philosophical quagmire, as his long-distance caller is expecting an answer. ?Just fine, but it is early in San Francisco, you know.? ?Well, Snowball, you had better get your act together, as I have a job for you.? Montecarlo, or perhaps Snowball, rises to his feet and begins pacing the room as he likes to do when he needs to formulate a plan. Again, he can?t quite decide on the reasoning behind this, as he is still extremely tired and there?s no way he?s going to think of something before his morning espresso. His sentiment is one shared by most of America, apparently. ?Um, okay, what is it this time? Insider trading? Embezzlement?? He stops pacing. ?It?s not a...?? ?No, no, no, it?s nothing that you have to worry about.? Despite his instructor?s insistence to the contrary, Montecarlo does worry about it. He waits patiently for the proverbial other shoe to drop. ?I need you to go to Oakland and pick up a guy I?m looking for.? Montecarlo winces. This simple request epitomizes everything he dislikes about his current occupation. First and foremost, though he has been known to work as a defense lawyer for members of this organization, he has consistently demanded that he never have to deal with them outside the courtroom or in person. Second, he also swore that though he maintains fairly good relations with the local boss, that he would never do him any personal favors of a questionable nature. Third, this job involves going to Oakland. ?Okay, look, I have a number of principles on this issue...? ?Which you have already made clear several times. Look...? ?No, no no, you look, I didn?t go to law school and offer to defend you and those characters in your group just so that I could find myself on vacation having to explain to you why my going to Oakland to pick up some guy you know is a bad idea.? ?It?s just a simple thing. He?s been playing fast and loose with his cash lately and I just wanted to make sure he?s doing all right so that he can pay me back when the time comes.? Montecarlo looks at the other bed in the room. Though all this, his companion has not been roused from his sleep, or perhaps one should say coma, through this whole incident. Montecarlo often wonders why this one sleeps so little, yet when he does he is out like a lightbulb. He?ll never understand younger people. ?I?m not doing it. You run this group, you should get some of your Oakland thugs to do it.? ?They scare the hell out of him, I think you should meet him just to see how he?s doing. You?d really like each other, I swear. Joshua, I?m only doing this so that you can get an opportunity to meet some of the nicer people I work with.? Joshua, as we can finally call him, glances out the window towards the furious San Francisco sunlight. The gears grind in his head almost audibly. ?You want me to do this, then I expect you to pay my full legal fee.? The voice on the end of the line sours like milk in the sun. ?All right, maybe I will send my boys from Oakland down there instead, and maybe get them to do something about that smart mouth of yours, too.? Both parties remain silent for some time. Joshua glances at his traveling companion worriedly. His defeated voice replies: ?Fine, I?ll do it for a quarter the legal fee.? The voice on the other end sweetens again. ?That?s very good, Snowball, for a smart aleck. I think you?ll really like this guy.? ?Yeah, fine, just don?t tell me I have to threaten him with a beating or anything.? ?Oh, don?t worry, that?s the other one?s job.? The voice laughs heartily as Joshua ?Snowball? Montecarlo hangs up. He glances at his traveling companion, who rises from his slumber on cue. ?Hey, what?s going on?? Joshua, pondering the question himself, goes over towards the bathroom and calls over his shoulder in response. ?Get washed, dressed and packed. We?re going to Oakland.? The dark-haired figure rises from his bed. ?Oakland? Sweet! I?ve always wanted to go there!? Joshua frowns at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Persistent case of acne notwithstanding, the behavior of his companion is what usually drives him to such expressions in the morning. ?Well, you won?t have a chance to see much. We?re on a job, stupid as that sounds.? The young man rises from his bed, clad only in a pair of red briefs, and proceeds to put on a pair of pine green jeans, previously draped nonchalantly over a bedside chair. ?A job? We going to have to pull a hit on someone?? Joshua, mouth full of toothpaste, splutters his response, sending flecks of foam all over his reflection. ?Ver- -unny, we -ust -oing to phee some -uy.? ?Well, I?ll be sure to pack my 38 to make sure.? Joshua rolls his eyes and, after spitting out his mouthwash, marches back into the room to confront his partner, now clad in a black T-shirt with descending green Matrix text. ?Luis-David, just cut the comedy and wash up. I?ll pack our stuff.? Luis-David sullenly begins his walk towards the bathroom, but is grabbed by the arm as he goes by. ?What time did you go to bed last night?? Luis-David replies...too quickly. ?One.? A long pause, complete with glare from Joshua?s eyes. ?Four.? Joshua releases him. ?You?ve got to get to bed earlier than that.? Luis-David marches into the bathroom and turns on the water, muttering sullenly. ?Fine, Snowball.? Joshua shouts in reply over the sound of the running water. ?I heard that! Don?t call me that!? Luis-David, in between brush strokes, shouts back. ?-hy? -hey all call you -hat!? ?Just don?t, okay? It?s really upsetting.? Luis-David spits the froth into the sink. ?Fine, dad.?

Name: Alistair Harvey Species: Human Appearance: A man in his thirties, Alistair has the constitution and immune response of an infant, and his face is usually pock-marked with a variety of discolored blotches, most of which are covered by a scraggly mane of black hair and a few days' growth of beard that he attempts to shave whenever he gets the chance. He stands at about 6', is quite emaciated, but few can tell thanks to the multiple layers of shredded clothing (including a tattered trenchcoat several sizes too large for him on top) he wears for makeshift protection against the weather and "other undesirables", as he calls the Collective. His right hand is missing, as a wound he once received on his right palm became gangrenous and he was forced to remove it himself, but thanks to his baggy clothing both his arms are covered to the fingertips so few can tell at a glance. Underneath his layers of clothing he carries a large supply of medications for his own use, most commonly digitalis for a heart condition he has. He is further burdened by the presence an ancient laptop computer hanging from a rope around his neck, and a variety of speakers and discarded radio equipment attached to his back and shoulders which he keeps on his person at all times. Evidently, this equipment is also powered by a gas generator that he carries on his back, but since he cannot always find gasoline readily available, the generator is off most of the time. Capabilities: Whenever someone incredulously wonders aloud how someone so physically weak as Alistair has managed to survive for so long, Alistair insists that it is because of his ingenuity and knowledge of the habits and biology of the "undesirables". This, however, translates to the fact that Alistair does an excellent job of portraying a corpse when he is alone, which does not interest the Collective creatures. However, Alistair is highly trained in working with machines and advanced communications equipment, and even if he has never seen an object before, can usually surmise its function and operate it within a few moments. He also does a surprisingly good job of estimating locations of enemy attacks or potential safe hideouts from the Collective creatures, and people with whom he has traveled often begrudgingly admit that they owe their continued survival to his intellect. On the other hand, the general consensus is that Alistair is mad, and converses with himself more often than with others, usually when trying to solve a problem. Also, he claims that the equipment about his body is part of an effort to develop a weapon of mass destruction against the Collective, as he believes that, given the efficiency of sonic weapons at destroying the creatures, there must be some sort of sound-related phenomenon at work that could be applied against the Collective. Unfortunately, his research efforts are usually for naught, and he finds himself spending more time trying to stay alive, getting more digitalis or fuel for his generator, than actually applying his ideas. Also, his physical weakness prevents him from activating his power generator's pull-cord starter motor very easily, either, so it is usually only by luck that the machines he has on him can function properly when he needs them. "Well, I'm sure that resonant frequency must have some sort of an effect on the creatures." "Don't be ridiculous, resonant frequency only has an effect when the perfect frequency is achieved in the first place. Why would the sonic weapons work right away in that case?" "Perhaps because they struck the right resonant frequency." "Since their inception? There is no coincidence great enough to explain away hitting the right resonant frequency by luck alone." "All right, but even if it's not the right frequency, that's why I'm working on this, to try and find the solution that would allow even basic pulses of sound to have an effect." "Maybe you should look at the disturbances in the air current? Perhaps that is the effect you are looking for instead." "So you would surmise that air current motion has a greater effect than the sound being created by said motion?" "I'm saying that the normal rules don't apply to these things. Perhaps you have to think outside the box a little more on this one." "I do that, I will get sidetracked and never be able to finish the project in my lifetime. Oh? It is that time already?" "Hm, sun at the angle of...distance..." "Yes, yes it is time for my medication." "Of course, you hardly have any. You should really just drop that other speaker and just use the one so that you have more room for digitalis and fuel." "What if I have to include power or volume in the equation? What if the speaker I keep fails? I have to keep whatever I have available." "Oh? Look over there." "Ah! There's one now." "Well, quickly! Play dead! It looks rather thick, it will pass you right by!" "No, no, I think I'm going to try my latest attempt on it. It's too good an opportunity to pass up." "You idiot! Who is going to help you if it fails! You'll be dead!" "No, no, no, I have the utmost confidence in this latest attempt. You saw what happened the last time!" "Yes, they retreated, but only because that Blue Blood chap happened to be among our ranks! We have no such advantage this time!" "Don't worry, it will work fine." "Very well, go die, then." The creature turns to the sound of a starter motor being pulled. It turns a malformed eye around in its socket a few degrees, and sees a bit of smoke curling out from around a ruined pillar. The sound repeats itself, and the motor roars to life. The creature lurches over, one misshapen leg crossing over the other. It eventually confronts the source of the noise and smoke...it's latest meal. It seems unusually amused with itself for something about to die. It proceeds to press a few buttons on its stomach with its left hand and a noise begins to pour out of the its back and shoulders. It's quite repulsive, the sound being quite painful to the ears, but a moment later it is cut short by a fountain of sparks shooting out of the being's back. The noise ceases, the creature finds itself able to think once again. "Oh dear." "Oh fuck." The creature lunges, and is promptly halted as it is cut into infinitesimal pieces...by a red-haired man standing tall behind it. Alistair wipes off a little of the creature's saliva from his clothes and gazes balefully at the red-haired Blue Blood. "Are you all right?" Alistair's savior asks. "Well? Are you?" "Oh, be quiet, I was just about to document the findings when that fuse blew. I'm trying to remember what the frequency of that blast was." "Will you stop it? This man just saved your life, you could be a little more grateful." "Oh, you're acting like my mother, I just need to remember that one detail." "Uh..." "He's waiting, you should really say something." "Look, you want me to say something so urgently, you help me think of the number." "I don't know, somewhere around 15,000 hertz?" "That was from last time, now it had an oscillation of about 12,000..." "Hey!" Alistair's attention returns to the Blue Blood before him. "Yes?" The Blue Blood approaches, looking Alistair right in the bloodshot eyes. "Why are you...talking to yourself like that?" "He asked you a question." "And I intend to answer, as soon as I find that frequency..." The Blue Blood grabs Alistair by both shoulders. "Hey! Are you okay? Are you talking to me?" "Yes, yes, I am quite fine, but I wish I could remember that..." "13,000-14,000 hertz, with oscillations every third of a second." Alistair looks at the Blue Blood, unperturbed. "Ah, yes, thank you for that. You are quite observant, I must say." "Yeah, so, are you all right?" "Oh yes, absolutely." "For someone who nearly got himself killed." "Well, at least we got some more usable information." The Blue Blood, somewhat disturbed by this display of Alistair's one-man conversation, continues his walk in search of more Collective creatures to finish off. However, just as he was pondering whether or not he should follow Alistair, Alistair calls back to him. "Oh, and if you're looking for more of those undesirable elements to hunt down, might I suggest looking more towards the southeast, as it is an area where a camp of survivors had been sheltered earlier and the creatures are most likely searching for them now." The Blue Blood stares back in response, then nods briefly. Alistair, however, is already ignoring him once again, this time choosing to ramble on about his theory of resonant frequency once more...to no one in particular but himself.

[quote name='Semjaza']Boy, if I knew there was someone on this site that actually like Megaten as much as you apparently do I would have put something in my signature asking for staff for Digital Devil Database here lol.[/QUOTE] Well, admittedly you were my first source of information about SMT games, back when I read your topic here on SMT: Nocturne when it first came out. I tried it, loved the art style, loved the soundtrack, loved the gameplay, loved the story and the characters, loved the mythological imagery, loved the level design, loved the optional bosses, loved the ending(s)...in short, I was hooked, and I have played every game since as well as gone online to try and find more info on the SNES games. Really, I'd be happy to write for Digital Devil DB if you wanted me to. Anyway, as far as the game goes...I guess waiting a little while longer wouldn't be so bad...except now it means I have less than three weeks to finish it before the next school year starts...oh, the stress. There are a couple things I am curious about, though, before I play it. On the occasions when you're in class, is it true that [spoiler]the teachers usually ask you questions about incredibly obscure facts about Japanese history that most people in North America wouldn't know about?[/spoiler] Also, when exploring Tartarus, is it true that [spoiler]experience bonuses decrease the higher you ascend?[/spoiler] Finally, what is the ratio, more or less, of time spent in school to time spent climbing Tartarus? I assume that Tartarus would take up more game time than school, but I am just wondering about these details. I know the spoiler tags probably aren't that necessary, but hey, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise of any details.

?Well, it looks like the ga-gang?s all here.? Razorback looked up in disdain to see the uniformed officers and forensic scientists milling about Leo Chen?s ex-room in the hotel. He felt a surge of anger as he saw two uniformed officers hurling a bodybag into a truck parked in front of the hotel. Leo had always been sure to keep his place clean, and now the cops were milling about, disorganizing his things. No respect for the deceased. He looked down at the blood-stained dumpster beside him. The bloodstains began to glow a bright, furious blue color, and Razorback tilted his head to look at them. ?Don?t worry, Yue, I?ll get them out for you.? The bloodstains glowed a contented green, and Razorback began his advance towards the hotel, leaving the duffel bag in the care of his dead friend. Alice grimaced at the sight of the man whom Sergeant Scruggs? knife had found lying on the floor. She knew that Detective Chang and Scruggs? methods were usually ruthlessly efficient, but despite her years of training on the force, she had never completely gotten used to what the two of them were capable of. She nodded to the two forensic scientists nearby and they proceeded to load the man into a bodybag. Years ago, such sloppy investigations would not have been tolerated under the force, but Alice had learned long ago that Chang and Scruggs? methods were easily the best ones for solving the problems that plagued the city today, and that it was not in her place to question them. She stiffened as she heard a voice out in the hall. ?...more scum off the schtreets! How about it, officers? A toast to your victory againsht the mob...? Just a drunk, the officers outside could handle it. Alice looked towards the balcony to check and make sure that the team outside was doing all right at cleaning up the messy paste that remained of Leo Chen. When she looked down from the balcony, though, a disturbing sight met her eyes. Purple gas, and she could swear that she heard the din of people trying to speak. Upon closer inspection, she could make out members of the forensics team writhing on the ground and in the street, babbling incoherently. She heard the sound of smashing glass out in the hall, and the officers posted outside screamed. There were gunshots. Alice ducked behind the balcony door and drew her weapon. A profound silence. Alice wheeled and glanced into the hall. It was now bathed in purple gas. She could just barely make out the officers yelling...something that she couldn?t make any sense of. A voice erupted from the hall. ?Let?s hear it for San Francisco?s finest!? A man burst into the room, short, bald, generally looking like a mess. He produced two wine bottles from behind him and tossed them up to the ceiling. They shattered on contact and, all at once, the hotel room was bathed in thick purple smoke. The forensics team began to cough and splutter, and Alice heard them drop to the ground one after the other. Alice aimed her gun to fire shots, but she couldn?t see anyone because of the gas, and couldn?t risk harming the forensics team. She instead retreated back to the balcony, and flipped open her cell phone, trembling fingers moving for the speed dial. ?Chang! Detective Chang! Someone?s raiding the hotel! They...? Alice felt a piercing pain in the back of her neck... And that was all she felt. Dropping the cell phone on the ground, her legs crumpled and she fell, slumping over the balcony railing, nearly falling all the way over. She could still see and hear, but was completely paralyzed. She heard the footsteps of the man approaching behind her, and, through her upside down perspective, saw him reach down to pick up her cell phone. She could barely hear Chang?s voice on the other end. ?Alice! Alice! What the fuck is happening?!? The man then began speaking in a raspy, strained falsetto. ?Oh, Detective Chang! It was so-so scary! The man was trying to rape me! He?s coming back this way! Save me, Detective Chang! He...? The man then flipped the phone closed and placed it gingerly on Alice?s back, though she couldn?t feel it there. The man began taking steps back into the hotel room, but abruptly stopped and turned around. He began walking back towards her, and his legs soon disappeared from sight. She could hear his breath in her ear, telling her that he was leaning over the railing right next to her. He whispered into her ear. ?Tell Yue and Leo...I sa-said hi.? He retreated back into the hotel room, but not before smashing a small purple vial on the balcony ground near her face. Alice shivered, and all at once, began feeling her body again. She struggled to right herself, but her body wouldn?t do it, it had begun convulsing without her control. She could only watch with terror as her legs started kicking madly, slowly unbalancing her until she finally tilted all the way over the balcony. Her vocal chords began to work again, she managed what she thought was a scream, but was only a raspy exhalation before her head contacted the pavement, sending chunks of bloodied gray matter spraying across the sidewalk. Razorback exited the hotel from the service entrance, but he still saw what remained of Alice on the sidewalk as he passed by. He did a double take at her remains, and saw them begin to glow red. ?You?re mad, okay, but your friend did this to me first! He killed my friends, so, so you should have thought of that before you decided to be his friend!? The remains started to glow blue, infuriated, and Razorback spotted a piece of her brain at his feet. From what he could make out, it was part of the temporal lobe. He picked it up and examined it briefly before popping it in his mouth. He gave it a brief taste, and then spat it out, coughing and spluttering. He picked the piece of gray matter off the sidewalk and slipped it into his pants pocket. ?Dirty thoughts about your part-ner?? He asked Alice?s cadaver before continuing his stroll. He returned to his duffel bag and picked it up, looking bemused at he walked down the alley. He couldn't help but smile. ?Chang, eh?? OOC: This takes place after whatever Flash or Chaos posts, chronologically.

Well, I know this game hasn't been touched on in a while, but it releases in two days from now in the US and the EB in my area said that they'd be getting it two days after that. Therefore, I figured now was a good a time as any to get in my two cents. Frankly, I've been looking forward to this game since early this year, so I have been really counting down the days for the last couple of weeks until this comes out. I haven't played any of the previous Persona games, but since having been introduced to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (through news on these very boards, no less) I've been loving every iteration of the series. Also, since it's the first time I will be playing one of the legendary Persona games, I have reason to be excited. What really gets me about this game is the idea that there will be more ways than fighting to level up. Apparently, time management during the day, when you have to form relationships with your classmates and in-battle allies, is as crucial to a successful playthrough as the actual combat. Depending on who you develop "Social Links" (as they are called in the N.A. version) with, different persona at your disposal may become stronger, so it becomes a matter of figuring out how your persona connect with the people at your school and making everyday decisions based on your findings. Apparently, after multiple playthroughs, it becomes possible to form friendships with absolutely everyone, powering up all your persona immensely. However, this supposedly takes patience and amazing time-management skills, something that should occupy people into 100% completion for a while. Also, while Kazuma Kaneko of the other SMT games is not character designing this time around, the art style of P3 is something that impresses me quite a bit as well. It seems sort of like an anime in a lot of ways (character proportions, coloration, the fact that it includes anime cut scenes), but the sharp colors and unusual menu design (based on a lot of circles...A LOT) is something that I look forward to seeing more of. Also, one of my favorite game composers, Shoji Meguro, has written everything for this game, and I have to say it's some of his most entertaining work yet. Never before has an RPG battle tune made me want to get up and dance so badly as "Mass Destruction", and the title theme "Burn My Dread" is quite awe-inspiring as well...especially with the opening video. Regarding news on the FES expansion, Atlus USA said no, apparently, no FES for the time being, but the speculation on the Internet is that hopefully a huge number of sales will change Atlus' mind, so despite a handful of whiners who say they won't be getting P3 because FES isn't coming, there is hope for the future. Besides, FES is just supposed to be more akin to a really long sidequest than anything, so people getting P3 here really won't be missing any story. Also, regarding a Special Edition, apparently all copies of P3 come with a soundtrack and artbook, so really, it's more like an "international" edition since everyone who gets the game here will have these things available. I'm quite excited about getting to listen to some of the game's tunes on my CD player for a change. Anyway, just thought I'd bring this topic back as the release date for the game looms overhead. Those of you who are getting it, let us know what your impressions are once you do. For those of you getting it two whole days before me, remember your spoiler tags!

Agent Webster, pacing the halls of CTU, couldn't help but notice the fact that his footsteps echoed off the walls more than usual. Perhaps this was owing to the fact that there weren't as many agent walking the hallways as before. Upon reaching the break room, Webster also noted the fact that the room, despite always being full of agents needing their fix of caffiene, sweets, or both, was now devoid of life, despite there being a full pot of coffee wating for its next eager recipient (despite this, Webster doesn't touch the stuff). Finally, Webster can't help but look disconcertedly at the OBCTU lobby, completely empty. Only a few guards were left posted at the entrances, and their job descriptions prevented them from interacting directly with the agents, so they were more akin to statues than people. A cricket chirped lonesomely somewhere in the lobby. "Hey!" Webster about-faces calmly and sees the junior agent, Fluff, approaching quickly. She gasps for breath upon stopping, and looks around the room before eyeing Webster. "Webster...where did everyone go?" Webster looks around, and the cricket continues chirping morosely. "I don't know, Agent Fluff, this building has not seen new activity for over a week...therefore I suspect that most of the agents have vacated for some reason." "Why would they do that?" "I can only hypothesize, Agent Fluff, but I feel pressed to point out that the sudden absence of activity coincided with the induction of your Event." Agent Fluff glares at Webster angrily. "I'm sorry, Agent Fluff, that was meant to be humorous, but probably came off as conceited, and I apologize. Fluff crosses her arms pensively for a moment. "Accepted, but would you please be serious for a minute?" "Well, I would have to surmise that since the agents have been left to their own devices, several of them have since developed side projects or other outlets for their energy, which eventually took over their lives and forced their abandonment of their duties as OBCTU members. Your mother was, at the very least, straightforward about it, and resigned formally, but other members probably feel a certain amount of embarrassment at the fact and would rather just let the CTU evaporate on its own." Fluff pauses. This is turning out to be a lot to take in. "Admittedly, I am one of the examples of this, as I was once absent for several years as a result of just such a side project, and my recent excursion to Portugal is just a reinforcement of the fact. I'm also developing another creative project by myself, and I am sure you are working on something similar." Fluff places her hands on her hips and stares at Webster. "Yeah, but, the event and everything...it all seemed to be going so well." "Well, the temprament of the OB community is a hard thing to gauge. Sometimes these things just happen." "Right..." "However, the important thing is not to give up hope. I will participate in your event once some of my other business is concluded, if you so desire, and we will make an effort to restore the CTU to its former glory. I'm sure Commander Grape Ape feels the same way." Fluff pauses to consider this, then smiles slightly as Webster snaps her a salute. She laughs slightly through her response. "Well, Agent Webster, you'd better drum up hype for my event and make sure some of the other senior agents get back here, cause I'm going to seek you out if you don't." "Of course, Agent Fluff." "And Webster?..." A long pause as Fluff considers her words. "I'd say that it's been a pretty fun experience, even if it ends now. Am I right?" "You are, Agent Fluff." Webster then allows the briefest smile to crack his face as he turns away on his heel. He speaks over his shoulder to Fluff. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll try and catch that cricket."

Well, in response to the Elite Beat Agents / Ouendan mentions, I would have to say that when I first got a look at Ouendan it made me want to get a DS for the very first time, so it definitely impressed me to say the least. EBA seemed like a natural extension of the game to North America, given Ouendan's import popularity, but I tried it a couple of times and didn't like the song list one bit. However, someone did end up making another free PC version of the game, entitled [url=http://www.thephorse.net/beatclick][u]ClickBeat[/u][/url]. Though the concept of clicking the buttons with the mouse isn't quite as interesting as with the DS stylus...not to mention the extremely bare-bones nature of the project which lacks Ouendan's/EBA's charm and story, the game is free, and a worthwhile try for someone who wants to get a glimpse of what those games are like. Also, the basic package of music includes a song called "Midnight Coffee", which may just be one of the most awesome rhythm game songs I've ever heard. There is one more game I'd like to mention. It's known as Ninja Agent Galli, and it's a program based on Beatmania that a band from Japan known as the Ninja Action Team developed. [url=http://ninjaactionteam.sakura.ne.jp/][u]Here is their website.[/u][/url] To get the game, check the sidebar on the left for the third option written in kanji from the top (can't read kanji, sorry) and select BMS to get the songs, and BMS PLAYER to get the program you use to play the songs (it's also compressed as an .lzh file, so you'll need an archiver that can extract those files). When you do play the songs, you see the notes fall from the ceiling as in Beatmania, but you control the tiny Ninja Agent Galli sitting at the bottom of the screen, whom you then command to strike the notes before they reach the bottom. It's like a twisted rhythm game/platformer hybrid...and features some of the Ninja Action Team's most amusing tunes. I recommend "No Sumoking" and "Born". Also, Ninja Agent Galli is capable of various special powers to help him smash notes more quickly, but as the site is in Japanese I have no idea how to execute most of them. Patience and a sense of humor are of the essence when trying to install and play Ninja Agent Galli, so if you have some spare time I suggest you go pick it up. If, however, you still cannot install or play it for whatever reason...then let me know and I'll email you with instructions when I can.

[i]The following text was uncovered in the middle of a Nevada desert, and appears to be dated 1887. The text itself seems to be a diary, but it follows the theme and pattern of a Western novel, although the events described therein are so fanciful and ridiculously extreme that it can hardly be described as even remotely realistic. We have reason to suspect aliens left it here.[/i] It was a dark and stormy night... No, scratch that, it was the middle of the day. It?s always the middle of the day around here. I don?t know why, but it sure helps me write, cause I don?t really have money to buy candles. I figured I would start writing today, as today I ?embark on mine quest?...although I don?t know quite what that means, just that my pappy told me that this was what I was doing. My pappy says a lot of things, a lot of which I can?t quite make sense of. In fact, he has a habit of saying things like ?thou art? or ?prithee? a lot, so if you talk to him, make sure you know what all that stuff means first. In fact, he also said that I should be named Alexander. I still have to thank him for that, because every time someone hears the name Alexander they assume some tough guy, and get all their expectations all built up, and then I have to make an effort to surpass them. Hasn?t been easy for me in the least, but I thank my pappy for giving me the name, because it?s been preparing me for this day. In fact, today wouldn?t quite be so special if I didn?t figure that Lady Luck herself was smiling on me, because no sooner did I start writing this down then I heard a voice coming from the saloon across the street, and damned if it wasn?t the very man I was looking for. Not only was I about to ?embark on mine quest?, just like my pappy told me, but I was about to complete it that very same day. Not bad for someone who doesn?t even know what a ?quest? is. The voice that emerged from the darkened saloon spoke as follows. ?Now bartender, you are going to listen to what I am about to say very carefully, because many a bartender has tried to make what I am asking and few have succeeded.? Loud, obnoxious, with a hint of southern drawl. That?s the man I was looking for. I decided to listen a little more to make sure. Although I doubted that I would be disappointed. ?One shot glass, if you please, the cleanest you got, with the following ingredients mixed in.? I approached the saloon cautiously...as cautiously as I could fully armed, mind, but still cautiously. I could start to make the man out from his place at the bar. ?One part, milk, one part, tequila, one part, salt, two part, milk...? The man was young, surprisingly so, but I was told to expect something strange like that. From my position, I could see that the man was wearing a large overcoat and cowboy hat, not very conspicuous in these parts. At least, these would not have been conspicuous were the coat not lime green and the hat purple. As it were, the man stood out like a sore thumb, which was exactly what I was hoping for. ?Finally, all of the juice you can get out of this one chiltepin pepper that has started growing in my hat...without spilling a drop.? I burst into the saloon as loudly as I could without saying a word...you know...to maintain the tough guy image. Evidently, this was not loudly enough, as the man ignored me and remained transfixed on his drink. Finally, and with much ceremony, he held the glass high. ?Very, very well done, my good man. This is a fine one...although I must always credit myself with its creation. In fact, I made a point of naming it after myself. It?s a...? Tired of this story, I made my voice heard. ?William Hastings Brown!? The man stopped, and turned his head, mouth still open from the words he was about to utter, to look at me. He straightened his hat with his other hand and walked up to me, his arm holding the shot glass still crookedly held in the same stance as before. ?Lucky guess, boy. In fact, just a little bit too lucky, which prompts me to venture that it wasn?t a guess at all.? His eyes traveled downwards to my feet, then upwards, right over my head to the ceiling, then back to my face. ?You are absolutely right, the name, as was given to me by my dear sweet momma, is William Hastings Brown. However, some of you denizens of this little frontier town probably better know me as...and you better pay attention, bartender, because what I am about to say also concludes the sentence that I was unable to complete a moment ago.? The man swiveled around and looked at all the saloon?s patrons, danger in his eyes. ?Wet Willy.? He then downed his drink, shot glass and all, and awaited the reaction. Women screamed, men screamed louder, babies cried, but, again, not as much as most of the men, people dove out of windows, under chairs and tables, the bartender remained stiff as a board for a moment before his legs failed him, those who were able to put as much distance between Wet Willy and themselves as their legs would allow them. His voice carried, too, so I could make out people across the street vacating their homes and running into the desert. Wet Willy looked around the bar, genuine astonishment clouding his face. ?You mean it was a SURPRISE? Unbelievable, you people act like you?ve never met a living legend before! They?re always the ones who arrive, stirring up trouble, dressed in strange clothes, ordering strange drinks, growing peppers in their hats. You people don?t know a daggone thing about the world, you hear?? ?They can?t hear, sir, they?re running away. ?Cept for him.? I pointed at the unconscious bartender. Wet Willy spun a whole three hundred and sixty degrees on his cowboy boots, so that he remained facing me when he was done. ?Well, son, exactly what purpose drives you to come in here and expose my identity to these fine patrons of this establishment, at this time?? I take a few steps back, straighten my straw hat, dust off my jeans and poncho, and flip back to the page in my notebook featuring the lines I had written earlier. I point an accusing finger at Wet Willy. ?You, William Hastings Brown, are hereby asked to present yourself before the district judge of this county, one Hamilton MacArthur, so that you may stand trial for your crimes of arson, grand larceny, assault with a weapon, kidnapping, vandalism, and possession of an unlicensed firearm. If you fail to comply to this task that has been set before you, I, one Alexander MacArthur, will be forced to escort you to the courthouse myself so that you might be present for your trial.? Wet Willy reeled, tears began to well up in his eyes. ?Oh, son, that, that was just the most beautiful performance I have ever witnessed. I have to sit down...It was so...passionate, so real! I was really under the impression that you were placing me under arrest. You should really just go down to your local theater company, where I am sure you work, and tell them that Wet Willy says that you are just the best daggone actor he has ever seen and that they should pay you double what they are currently paying you just for having you around. You?re an inspiration, son, you really are.? I stashed the notebook back under my poncho and eyed Wet Willy curiously. ?That wasn?t an act, sir. My pappy wrote me the lines, and he did ask you to come down to the courthouse right away.? Wet Willy turned his head, his ear now pointed in my direction. ?How?s that, son?? ?Really, my pappy and his courthouse are just a couple of buildings down, he told me to go with you, said it was my ?quest?.? ?Okay, now you?re starting to lose me, boy, you had my attention at the start of it, but if you really want to act then you have to keep up that energy for the whole performance.? I stamped a boot angrily. ?I?m not acting, sir! My pappy really got me to write this! He really said he wanted you at the courthouse! He really said that I had to come take you in!? Wet Willy approached me, eyes burning. ?Son, I think we should take this outside.? He kept on approaching, and eventually, he had backed me right outside. He walked down the street, and looked back at me. ?Now then, your pappy seriously wants me to stand trial, and sends you to come get me if I say no. Okay, that?s simple enough. The question is, though, are you really not an actor? Cause you should try it if you aren?t, you?re really something else.? I looked over in his direction, attempting my best tough-guy expression. ?No sir, I haven?t. Now, as for the court thing, my pappy said that I shouldn?t use it if I can avoid it, but I he also said that I should let you know that he gave me his gun and that I should pull it on you if you try anything, and that I should shoot you with it if you run away.? Wet Willy smiled. ?Well boy, let me assure you that you will have a bright future with any theater company you find your way into, but as for the rest of it, forget it, there?s no way I?m coming with you to that trial. Sorry, and I?m sure your pappy will be very disappointed, but just show him that great acting ability of yours and he?ll forgive you in no time.? ?Sir, I mean it now, I can?t let you go anywhere without going to the courthouse first.? I drew the gun, and cocked it, sort of like Wet Willy did his eyebrow. ?Now son, all those people from before ran away cause they knew better than to get on my bad side...and because I just swallowed a shot glass. Now, before we begin, is there anything you want me to tell your pappy once he finds what?s left of his boy?? ?Ask him what a quest is.? ?Fair enough.? The wind howled ominously, and the vacant streets tunneled all the air towards Wet Willy and myself, removing our hats for us. Awful nice of the wind to do that. Anyway, the tumbleweed rolled by, and I knew that he was serious, because the tumbleweed only appears when there?s going to be a gunfight. It rolled up against his leg, and he kicked it away. It recognized the hostile gesture, and pounced. The two of them struggled for a few moments before he finally picked it up and hurled it into the great unknown. Upon regaining his composure, we resumed the stances of two men about to shoot at each other. When a cell phone rang. It was playing ?Rawhide?. ?Sorry boy, this?ll be just a minute.? Wet Willy reached into the pocket of his green overcoat and produced a cell phone, one of the latest models, probably stolen. He flipped it open and began speaking a mile a minute, face contorting with every sentence. ?Yes, momma?...No, I?m not comin? home yet, I got business...Well of course it?s really important I...Momma, I?m getting into a gun fight....Well of course I?m going to win, Momma, I always do, and he?s just a boy...I?m not going to get hurt...Yes, I?m comin? home right after...Yes, I was at the saloon a minute ago...Yes, they want to take me to court for all that stuff I did...No, I?m not going to get hurt, momma....No...Yes...No, No, Yes, NoYesNoNoYesYes....Yes momma, I?m coming home right after, now get off the phone ?cause I got a daggone gunfight to get into...Yes, momma, I do have to use that language...Because it?s part of the image, momma, now your boy has really got to go, because he?s gettin? himself into a gunfight...All right, then, I love you too, momma, goodbye.? He hung up the phone in one lightning motion and pointed a threatening finger at me...except the finger wasn?t quite as threatening as he was. ?Now, I don?t want you to get any sort of mistaken impression about me, boy. I love my momma very, very much, but there are simply not enough hours in the day...to allay every suspicion and worry she might be having about my activities and whereabouts. Now, where were we?? In a motion that I am hard pressed to describe, on account of it being so fast, and on account of the fact that I was in the middle of a gunfight at the exact moment I was writing it, he drew his guns and fired wildly, striking me in the chest with two furious blasts of water that blew me five feet down the street and knocked me unconscious all at the same time. I can?t say how I still wrote this part down, on account of me being unconscious and all, but Wet Willy walked up to me and smiled before lifting up my lifeless body... Next thing I knew, I was outside the courthouse, clothes missing, and in a barrel of ice water. My pappy was standing in front of me, foot stamping angrily on the wooden steps. Again, the foot itself wasn?t quite so angry as the rest of him. ?Son, how could you fail me in such a simple task so quickly?? I considered stepping out of the barrel, what with it being cold inside and all, but I had a feeling that my pappy?s foot would be stamping on my behind next if I tried that, so I stayed where I was to respond. ?He beat me, pappy, he?s really tough.? ?But you are meant to be strong, young Alexander. You have already seen fifteen years on this earth and you still have not embarked on a quest to save a lady trapped in a castle, or recover an ancient artifact for the glory of your country!? ?I don?t know what you just said, pappy, but I really am sorry that I couldn?t catch Wet Willy for you.? My pappy sighed and sat down on the courthouse steps. ?T?is but a small disappointment, I?m sure you will succeed in some quest one of these days. You are, after all, my son.? I looked around the barrel at the floor, attempting to find my clothes, when I ended up failing at that too, I looked back up. ?Pappy, did Wet Willy leave my things behind somewhere?? ?Yes, I?ll go get them.? My pappy, with a heavy sigh, walked up into the courthouse and returned a moment later with all my clothes under his arm. Jeans, boots, poncho, straw hat, everything was there... Not really. ?Pappy, where?s my notebook and pen?? My pappy looked at me, puzzled. ?He didn?t leave them, I just assumed that you had memorized the notes I had given you, rather than take the notebook.? A white blur, I jumped out of the barrel and started throwing clothes on. I was off to a terrible start as I had already put my jeans on backwards. ?He took them? Pappy, I got to get my pen and notebook back!? Pappy, far from seeming angry, clapped his hands as though he was really happy. ?Oh, joyous day! My son finally finds himself embarking on a quest, a quest most grave to restore his honor and retrieve his pen and notebook! His *********!? Now, the reason I didn?t write that last part down (and it?s a wonder how I wrote any of this down, seeing as how my notebook was missing), was because my pappy said something that I couldn?t even begin to understand, let alone spell. It sounded like Extra Scale, or Exhaling Bird, or something like that. Once I figure out what he said I?ll write it down for real. Anyway, I had finally gotten all my clothes on straight and was running down the street after Wet Willy, although I wasn?t sure if he was headed in that direction. My pappy called after me. ?The best of fortune on your quest, son! And if you do not return alive, I will tell the villagers that you died honorably!? I didn?t see how that was going to happen, seeing as how Wet Willy and I were using water pistols, but I figured my pappy was just playing. ?Also, you should be sure to have some knights join you on your quest!? Knights? It?s always the daytime around here. I figured my pappy was talking about friends, so I figured that since Wet Willy had a lot of enemies, I would probably find someone who was looking for him who would also help me get my pen and notebook back. ?Finally, son, I should tell you that he went in the direction opposite the one you are going now!? This is Round Barrel, a western-themed story that is meant to be completely playful and absurd. The story, as you have now gathered, is full of genre mash-ups, surreal imagery, and anachronisms. Therefore, I feel that there is significant room for creativity and humor. Here?s how it works: Rather than a classic sign-up with name/age/gender/whatever in list form, I would prefer that you write a story segment, however long, about your character, which should include, within the story itself, their full name, age, and details about their appearance and personality. The above story is an example, as it tells you what Alexander?s name is, his age, what he wears, and a bit about what he is like as a person. What the story segment should also feature is your character?s reason for pursuing Wet Willy, so feel free to look at his list of criminal charges for inspiration. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I want to see your take on absurdity and playfulness in your story segment. Be as weird as you can. As I mentioned, the story is western-themed, but your characters need not be. If you can pull off a ninja/pirate/stereotype/modern character/what have you successfully, they are welcome here. However, you should still demonstrate the ability to write effectively, so I do reserve the right to make cuts to the story?s cast. Also, as in the case of weapons and abilities, they are meant to be cartoon-ish jokes (such as Wet Willy fighting with water pistols that do arguably equivalent damage to the real thing), but again, I leave it to you to decide what would be most entertaining or humorous. Anachronisms are fair game as well. With that in mind, let the madness begin.

Interestingly enough, I went to my dad about this, and he emphasized the idea of writing about something with which you are familiar. Even if what you're writing is fantastic and not really grounded in reality, you might have a better time of things if you base some of it on something with which you are experienced, like a certain type of relationship between characters or a location or subject that means something to you. If you're thinking about writing on some sort of theme or subject with which you are not very experienced, try doing research. I was writing a sci-fi story in my high school years and I ended up going to my Chemistry teacher for advice on how to explain things that happened in the story. Admittedly, the story was not completed, but I did learn quite a bit and some of the things I did learn will likely resurface in a later work. As Break mentioned, though you might not be expected to write about the extraordinary if you live ordinarily, there are definitely certain aspects of ordinary life that can make a work much more engaging and believable. Therefore, even if you have to write about something you don't know, try starting it off by writing about something you do know. As far as how I come up with ideas...I usually start with a dialogue or a topic of conversation. The train of thought goes as follows: 1. What is being talked about? I have to think of something worthy of discussion, be it a philosophical discussion to an argument of whatever inane nature. 2. Who is speaking? I have to come up with people who would have said theoretical discussion, and what their ideas on the subject would say about their personalities. 3. What would be done with the conversation? This is where I ask how the discussion would fit into the framework of a theoretical story. Is the discussion integral to the plot or does it say something about the characters? So, since we have at least a couple of characters and an idea of what their relationship is to each other and the plot, we have an idea of what sort of story could emerge. I admit, it's probably a strange train of thought, but I like working with dialogue as a method of expressing characterization, and I usually spend a lot of my energy in a story thinking about the dialogue. I have also taken a lot of theatre classes, so I like to occasionally get up from my chair and have the conversation in question with myself to make sure it flows. Speaking to myself aside, writer's block usually isn't that much of an issue for me, it's just having the patience to sit down and actually type everything that I find bothersome. With that in mind, though, I hope things work out for those of you with writer's block, and maybe if you feel uncertain about an idea, then you seek help from someone you know with it...just be careful not to talk about it too much, because then you won't feel like writing it.

[quote name='Sesshomarufan']Here's a picture for you guys that I think you will most likely go :animestun[/quote] Dude, that's Stepmania. Sure, I love it, but if you are playing with the keyboard or a USB controller, AAs are easy on even 10 foot songs. Also, I think the buffer zone for AA is wider on Stepmania than on DDR, as you have 1 miss and 1 good on that song that would ordinarily prevent you from getting the AA. Nice try, though. On the other hand, do you usually play Stepmania with a pad hooked up to a USB converter? I used to do that until I realized that there was a lag with the converter I was using so I don't usually play SM with a pad any longer. All the same, right now I usually like making pad or keyboard files for Stepmania using songs from DDR, Beatmania, or Pop N' Music. I also have some of the PS2 DDR games and am getting pretty good at most of them...my latest record is being able to do the 10 foot song "CHAOS", and you can see what that looks like [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvEfv36ZTGA"][u]here[/u][/URL]. It's not my video, though, and I know it's In The Groove 2 and not DDR, but the steps are the same for both versions, so you can get a sense of how tough that song is. If the above three paragraphs are any indication, I am something of a rhythm game nerd, and I usually play Stepmania or DDR, but I suck at Beatmania and have only tried Guitar Hero/GuitarFreaks a couple of times (I have a real bass guitar, so I would usually rather play that). I've also spent some coins on Drummania, which is pretty fun, but the last couple of times I've tried it the songs were too easy and I should try moving up in difficulty next time. For those of you who haven't tried it yet, I would recommend [url=www.stepmania.com][u]Stepmania[/u][/url] if you don't feel like spending money on a rhythm game. Sites where you can download stepcharts and songs are plentiful, and the variety of music out there is quite astonishing. When I get a few more good stepcharts out, I might link to those in this thread as well.

He awakens from his light slumber most unwilling to move. Though it is already three in the afternoon, he is blissfully unaware of the fact that the alarm on his clock radio has been going off for the past six hours. Perhaps it deafened him in his sleep, but more than likely this inability to discern sound was the result of something far more sinister. He rolls over in his bed and looks at his clock radio, now reading 3:12. He fumbles about trying to reach the remote on his bedside table to stop the alarm, but instead picks up the wrong remote and closes his hand over all the buttons, hoping to get the snooze button. Instead, he leaps back at the alarm clock radio explodes in a shower of sparks. Looking down, he realizes that he is holding the remote to his secret weapon, and he looks over at it, sitting nonchalantly in the corner, and smiles. That really never gets old. "EUSTACE!" The scream is barely audible, but the tone of anger is evident. A moment later, the door opens with a slam and his roommate appears, fury sparking in her eyes, and a mechanical device of some sort sparking in her hair. He shouts at her. "HEY! MORNING!" She recoils in the doorway, but eventually regains her composure. She speaks incredibly quietly, so Eustace reads her lips instead. "I was just downstairs making breakfast when the toaster and the microwave exploded! Did you turn on that thing of yours again?!" "OH, YEAH, I THINK I DID." She stares over at the innocuous gadget in the corner. She lets out a sigh. "You really have to be more careful with that thing, it's not a toy!" "WHAT? I DIDN'T CATCH THAT LAST PART!" She sighs as she slumps out the door. "Your hearing hasn't been the same since that concert, Eustace." "THE CONCERT? OH, IT WAS AWESOME! YOU SHOULD REALLY COME NEXT TIME!" Name: Eustace Distrait Gender: Male Gadget: It's a video recorder that can be taken on holiday and can disable electrical hardware. Notes: Eustace is a huge fan of the band Polysics, a group which is known to damage his hearing. This results in situations like the one above. Fortunately, he is taking sign language courses and is steadily getting better at reading lips. In the meantime, people must remember to look directly at Eustace in order to speak to him and potentially wear some sort of ear protection to withstand the volume of his responses.

As a participant in Laeth E'Thae, I couldn't help but be intrigued by this new idea. I'd like to lend a hand by designing a country. 15. Imezas Imezas, a desert nation, is one featuring an extremely limited population and little to no real social order, as the region is home to nomadic tribes who share extremely poor relations with each other, as well as outsiders, and are prone to attacking first and asking questions later. For this reason, industrialized nations like the neighbouring Zix usually make no attempts at contacting or assimilating the residents of the desert nation, usually preferring to send people into exile there. However, in the years following the Great Fall, the few residents of Imezas have begun exhibiting signs of change. The reason for this is the amount of waste flowing in from the river in the north. As a result of the Great Fall, a great variety of objects from Zix and lands across the ocean fell into the sea, and strong undersea currents carried these items of curiosity into the bay and rivers north of Imezas, resulting in them being washed ashore and buried under the sand. The people who travel along this river in search of clean water would then uncover these mysterious objects and attempt to use them or barter them for other, more important objects. This unusual influx of technology has resulted in the people of Imezas developing a strong sense of superstition about these foreign objects, and many nomads usually attribute mystical or spiritual qualities to whatever they may find in an attempt to make the object seem more valuable to people from outside their tribes. This new commerce usually results in far more people being fooled into trading for useless things, but at least the nomads have reason to communicate rather than kill each other on sight. As the years passed, the people of the desert nation began understanding more and more about the value of the technology being passed down to them, and it is considered an extremely valuable skill among the nomads to be able to appraise the value of or understand the function of a foreign object. People who possess this ability are usually revered as prophets, and are often sought for advice or guidance, making them the de facto leaders of their tribes. These skills are often sought in the younger members of tribes, and the people of Imezas have found that these skills can be present in people of any gender, country or race, and they therefore know better than to judge by appearance alone. Despite having no capital city or town to speak of, the people of Imezas usually spend most of their time in the northeastern part of the region, as that is where most of the items from afar usually wash ashore. However, there are still expeditions to the west in search of fresh water or items that may have traveled further upstream. Though no attempts have been made at crossing the ocean, the people of Imezas usually survive by fishing. Water pollution levels in the waters around Imezas are extremely high, and though the people of Imezas have long since developed natural resistances to the pollutants in their fish, said fish are inedible to residents of other nations as they are unpalatable at best, and poisonous at worst. No one in Imezas attempts to travel south, as it is widely considered suicidal due to the high frequency of sandstorms, attacks by violent creatures hidden amongst the sand dunes, and a general inability to gauge direction or distance under those conditions, making navigation impossible. A hopeful few in Imezas usually attempt to develop new creations based on the qualities of the objects already passed down to them, and most of their energy is devoted towards finding ways of making sea water drinkable, navigating the desert, crossing the ocean, or transporting goods more easily. None of these attempts at reinvention have succeeded thus far, and those that try are usually pitied or ridiculed by their tribesmen, although some of the "prophets" who understand the properties of the objects also believe that these inventions will someday succeed. --- Hopefully this is an acceptable idea for a region. If it is, then I might consider playing a "cameo" role as someone from there. If not, well, I'll take a stab at designing another place.

A lone guard, posted outside CTU Headquarters. He is somewhat tired of his work, having completed the books that he had brought with him to pass the time a while ago. The plot and most of the dialogue of "Oryx and Crake" was fresh in his brain, and most of the works of George Orwell had also been ingrained. He was now amusing himself trying to find the prefect adjective to describe the sense of boredom now hanging over his head. Endless? Massive? Repetitive? Perpetual? However, that question was interrupted by the arrival of a man, a frightening character with a mane of shaggy white hair and even shaggier, whiter beard. He was carrying a black duffel bag in his right hand and a massive tome in his left. His clothes, consisting of a once white collared shirt and a pair of black suit pants, were tattered and filthy, looking as though they had not been washed in a week, at least. Our lone guard could practically smell him before he saw him. However, his reaction was quick, and brought out his standard issue MP5 to bear against this strange intruder. "Freeze, Terrorist!" The man did so, dropping the bag in his right hand but clutching the book in his left ever tighter. The guard advanced and made and effort to snatch the book away from the intruder, but his grip remained firm. "Unhand that book, now!" The man did so, and the guard toppled over from the sudden release of pressure. The intruder then proceeded to reach into his pocket with two fingers, and the guard attempted to return his gun to its target, but he was too late, as the intruder produced... Identification? The guard looked at the ID, and then back at the man. The ID, then the man again. He repeated this process several times before finally looking at the man in disbelief. "I'm...I'm sorry, Sir! I had no idea!" "That's quite all right, as I will admit that my image is currently less than pristine. However, keep in mind that you should not make judgments based on appearance alone." The man retrieved his bag and accepted the book being handed back to him by the guard. He proceeded to walk in through the front, but then stopped to regard the officer once more. "Also, the sense of boredom here is almost palpable. You should bring something to amuse yourself next time." As the man walked off, the officer repeated the adjective to himself and smiled. It was perfect. Palpable. It really was him... Inside headquarters' break room, Agent Starbucks was currently in the process of downing an entire cafe latte in one gulp. Though the caffeine content was a little lower than she would have liked in a drink, she was convinced that drinking at the pace she was would break some kind of record. Taking a moment to breathe through her nose, she continued her epic drink and finally gasped in satisfaction, contents having since disappeared into her stomach. She had done it. She lowered the cup from her face and saw the man with the white hair standing before her. She screamed and flung the empty cup at his face. It bounced off him harmlessly. He instead cracked a small smile and saluted her in response. "Agent Webster, reporting for duty." Starbucks blinked, and then looked at the man claiming to be Webster from head to toe. Perhaps he looked a little different, and his voice was raspier than normal, but she smiled upon realizing who it was. "Oh! Hey, Agent Webster! Good to see you again!" Webster frowned in response. "Again? Have we even met before?" "I thought we did..." Webster's brow furrowed in thought. "Well, now that you mention it, I do think we have met before...although maybe I was a different person...much younger, perhaps..." A long, awkward silence followed. At least until Starbucks broke it. "How did your hair get so white?" Agent Webster reached up to his beard thoughtfully and stroked it. White dust fell from it to reveal his usual black hair. "It's salt." "Salt?" "In Portugal, it is customary to bathe in the ocean, so salt tends to build up all over the body." More awkward silence. Starbucks, this time more hesitantly, spoke again. "So...how was your trip?" Webster put on a strained smile. "Did you know that Portuguese has multiple different dialects for various regions of the world? As it turns out, the man I was sent to interrogate spoke Portuguese, but a dialect that no one recognized! After going through five or six such attempts at translation, I discovered that he was not actually a terrorist, but a short order cook, and one of his restaurant goers misunderstood his confirmation of an order of a wreckfish skewer with wild rice, fries and olive oil for a threat to detonate a nuclear bomb in the Azores!" Starbucks tilted her head to the side in confusion. "And...it took you two weeks to figure this out?" Webster's expression became more strained. "No, I learned this within the first day. As the Portuguese government had assumed I would spend the entire two weeks in the interrogation room, they didn't have the money to get me another plane ticket or even a hotel room, so I had to go live in a small farming community on Sao Miguel Island and milk cows eight hours a day to make enough money to pay for the bus into the city to use an internet connection!" Webster, short of breath from this description, finally stopped to gasp for air before continuing. "Apart from that, it was good. How have you been?" Starbucks, somewhat struck, stuttered her response. "Um, it, was, uh, well, it was pretty good, uh..." Webster nodded assertively. "Good, very good. I'm going to go wash all this salt off and shave. Upon doing that, I'll have to report to the Commander and get feedback on my plan for an Event, which I believe I sent out a couple of days ago." Webster turned to leave, but then spun around again. "It is good to be back, Agent Starbucks, it really is." Webster saluted, then spun around and marched off towards the dorms. Starbucks blinked and listened to the sound of his receding footsteps, before smiling and turning her attention to the espresso machine. Maybe Agent Webster hasn't changed that much...