Shy

I like it. Well done, dude.   - Shy

[quote name='SOL' timestamp='1349810472' post='712384'][font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif]I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday. I think the doctors gave me too much drugs though. Perceset (SP?) AND Ibuprofen. I won't be able to feel my nose for several decades.[/font][/quote] When I got my wisdom teeth pulled it was relatively painless and the surgery was over in 30 minutes. What's more, I only needed the drugs for about a day but I sure as hell kept using them. Most people have horror stories about the dentist, but my experience was awesome. It's how I started watching 30 Rock. - Shy

I thought that Uncanny Avengers was a little underwhelming with its debut. The characterization of Rogue was way off, and I'm not thrilled with the line-up's lack of diversity. It's a beautiful book, and Rick Remember does a competent job with the script, but this book is not new reader friendly AT ALL. Also: It's terribly grim for my tastes. I'm most interested in A+X because team-up books always have interesting creators and they are able to be more experimental in terms of storytelling. The new Captain America seems pretty cool as well. I'm not a huge Romita Jr. fan, but his style seems to suit the sci-fi adventure elements that they have been teasing. Iron Man and Thor will probably be fine. I don't read those books anyway so I'm not very concerned either way. - Shy

Good seeing you again, Desert Shadow. Didn't you used to be a moderator at one point? This was already answered pretty thoroughly, but lack of activity made nominating 50 unique OB achievements/members impossible. Although a nominations thread was created, it was subsequently deleted in a server move. Since there was no apparent interest in keeping nominations going we decided it was best to pass this year. Having said that, this is still a site worthy of merit. Just seeing this thread fills me with a lot of strong memories about the site over the past decade. Many of the members I joined with are married, and some even have children, but we keep in touch through Facebook/Twitter/etc. as best we can. Sometimes I think we are perhaps a community that outlived its forum since new potential visitors are drawn to more immediate forms of social media. Still, I have yet to find such a cross-section of awesome people elsewhere online. I still visit OB regularly (it will always have a place in my 'Favorites Bar') with the hope of finding a thread to catch my interest -- and luckily enough it still happens from time to time. I get older and I post less, but I will always recognize the value of my time here and what the site still means to users today (albeit in weaker numbers.) - Shy

Cool! Maybe we could collaborate on a short comic or something. Send me some love, Boo, and we can write it together. - Shy

Otakuu, what's your story? How old are you? What do you do for a living? Have you ever done sequential (comic book) art before? You work I've seen so far is great, and I'm curious about what your professional aspirations are. Keep up the good work! - Shy!

Yeah, I was really disappointed with my first post in Oceanus. I'm Action posts work best with music, which is probably why we kept getting attacked so often. I figured the strength of concept of the RPG would be enough to justify me posting, but I kept getting writer's block. There are two or three half-finished posts for Oceanus... I'm sure I'll get around to finishing them when I feel inspired. To answer your question about how long it takes to write posts, that varies wildly with me. Some posts sit on word documents for months or years before I end up posting them. Kill Adam is an RPG that James and I still continue to post in periodically (although I believe that the recent software changes ended up wrecking all of the elaborate formatting we did on those posts.) Other posts I pop out in an hour. Some stories are much easier to tell than others, but I do notice that the more I write the easier it is to writer. It's definitely a muscle that needs to be exercised now and again. - Shy

[quote name='Boo' timestamp='1337808616' post='711864']What would you do differently next time to hand back the freedom? And would you give more or less freedom still than the first episode?[/quote] I would be more careful about when I exerted control over the story, I suppose. In the case of Almagest Expedition, I should have given the returning players more freedom to tell the kinds of stories they wanted with the characters they had previously created. A lot of the time I would contact players to get an idea of what they had in mind for a story, but there was only so much leeway when [i]my[/i] story demanded that everyone hop into an airship and go on a treasure hunt around the globe. I think writers want to know there is a strong central idea behind an RPG before joining. If your sign-up is too vague on the plot points then the initial posts always seem to suffer. Conversely you don't want to have everything planned out in complete detail because you're denying the other writers a chance to make their mark on the story. The structure of Almagest worked the first time because Sandy and I wrote about the major events happening in the world, while everyone else was free to interpret how those events impacted their own characters (if they did at all.) Someone needs to steer the ship, but that doesn't mean everyone needs to be rowing at the same time? - Shy

[quote name='Boo' timestamp='1337610456' post='711840'][font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif]Other people who posted here still active enough to reflect? Any others? Plz. I have picked up writing again and would very much like to know people's thoughts and experiences, and maybe we'll even create some amazing new story as a result of this. [/font] [/quote] Anything for my Lady Shy. Always. Over the years I have leaned more on structure and pre-planning the story than not. For me, I think that shows my insecurities as a writer, and a fear of my core idea for the story becoming transformed by someone else's vision. Almagest worked because Sandy and I had a very clear vision for the world we wanted to create, and we were more interested in the major overarching story of Czenovia than the personal stories of those living there. We didn't care a lot about the individual characters, and aside from the important NPCs we had created we had no clear vision for what role everyone would play in the story. This gave the other writers some freedom to tell more personal stories against an epic backdrop, which was really ******* cool. At the end it all tied together pretty nicely, and I thought we had such a well-oiled machine running that we could do Almagest stories indefinitely. That [i]was[/i] my ultimate RPG. The issue with the sequel RPG is that we overplanned things too much. Players weren't given the same freedom to go where they wanted in the story, because the story hinged on collecting these plot devices that were located in unusual fantasy locales. This turned off players, and killed interest. If we were to revisit Almagest, it would be very important to give every writer back the freedom to do whatever the heck they wanted. In Ye Olden OB days the RPGs all had the same central premise: You are a dude or dudette with powers in some fantasy locale and you explore the city/fight one another until you get bored and sign-up for something else. A lot of us hated that and we made a point that our own RPGs would be idea-driven and have a defined endpoint. There isn't the same spirit of collaboration when you are force other people to write about your own ideas. The plotting is tighter, sure, but they're also lacking any fun and spontaneity. The fear of having your ideas trampled over by the next post is also intense, though. Most of the 'work' I do in these stories is communicating with the other writers and trying to figure out where everything is going. That allows me to create threads between the work of others and give the story a better sense of cohesion. It's great to have that in a collaborative story, but if my effort is put towards supporting the posts of others I never get to chance to introduce my own ideas. Shrug. - Shy

Almagest? Hm? Call me on Skype or something, James. Almagest has always been near and dear to my heart. I was actually chatting with an artist yesterday about working on a small Almagest comic for our portfolios. With Expedition I think we overextended ourselves a bit, but I would certainly like to wrap up some of those plot threads and figure out what the next step is. - Shy

[quote name='Stephanie' timestamp='1324753387' post='710735'] Mom: The 2012 Farmer's Almanac, a ceramic go cup, and a painting I did. :D [/quote] Is your Mom a farmer? - Shy

Happy holidays! I have 12 hours to get my Mom a gift! What are you getting yours? - Shy

[quote name='Allamorph' timestamp='1317237270' post='709648'] [center][img]http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z158/Allamorph/Misc/kool-aidman.jpg[/IMG][/center] [b][color=red]Sorry, LOL Cat pictures are banned, so I replaced it. That's pretty much the only rule in this thread. - Shy[/b][/color] [b]Sorry, I'd buy that except [COLOR=DarkRed]Shy[/COLOR] isn't the one with the history of altering other people's posts for his own base amusement.[/b] [color="#fdfdfd"]Also his writing pattern is different.[/color] [/quote] Oh, no, that was me. I hate those cats. - Shy

Do we have posts archived from pre-2005? I can't seem to search for anything earlier. I was curious to pull up some of the 9/11 threads from when it happened. http://www.myotaku.com/users/shyguy/posts/4904 Do any of these threads still exist? - Shy

You're all in. Let's jam. - Shy

[center][font="Georgia"][size=7][center][b][color="#000080"]OCEANUS[/color][/b][/center][/size] [/font][/center][indent]Silence. Eos had been to many worlds in her lifetime, but never had she and her crew come across one quite like As-Saif. Built in the heart of a star, Crystal City was one of the last safe-havens for those fighting against the Dark Tide; a place where both heroes and their secrets went to hide. The goal was simple: refuel the [I]Oceanus[/I] and, with caution, refill the ranks of the crew. An act of betrayal had cost many their lives, but not the payload. If their ultimate mission was to be successful they would need to move, and soon. Darkness. The remnants of the Oceanus crew were spread across Crystal City, but two remained on the shipâ??s bridge that night. Bomber, Eosâ?? Reptillian guardian, carefully burned a symbol onto the young womanâ??s bare skin with a laser. Itâ??s silver glow was the only light in the space. He turned off the laser to admire the symbol he had etched onto Eosâ??s arm. To the untrained eye it was a collection of random symbols, colors and shapes, but Deza had ensured that within it was a unique encryption. With it they would be able to bypass security scanners in nearly any system. Eos took the laser from Bomber, pausing momentarily to reach for her forehead. Although it was the faintest of moves, it was just enough for Bomber to know that something was wrong. He looked at her hands as they began to tremble, and before he knew it his own claws were starting to feel weak as well. â??[b]Oceanus! What the hell is going on?![/b]â? In an instant the lights of Oceanus filled the bridge, and video monitors revealed an array of sensors scanning the shipâ??s interiors and surroundings. â??[b]Vertigo canons detected within the vicinity from unknown source,[/b]â? the shops, confident, mechanical voice announced, â??[b]Oceanus is attempting to compensate with artificial gravity. Interference holds at 91%.[/b]â? â??[b]****,[/b]â? Bomber muttered to himself, â??[b]Who is firing at us? Weâ??re docked![/b]â? â??[b]Sensors are jammed. 13 humanoid figures approaching from north docking platfr-zzztzfs![/b]â? The video screens suddenly turned to static, and both Bomber and Eos collapsed to the floor violently. Oceanusâ??s systems were beginning to act wildly, and the full effects of the vertigo canons could finally be felt. Eos reached for her stomach as she began to vomit. Bomber, just as nauseous, struggled to regain his footing. Bomber pressed a button on the collar of his studded leather vest, â??[b]Deza! Someone is kicking our asses here![/b]â? He looked down at Eos; the weapons were targeting her physiology, and there was no way she would be able to defend herself like this. She clung to the metal floor helplessly, doing anything she could to find balance again. This was only the initial impact. With another two or three blasts a humanoid could suffer permanent nerve damage. â??[b]Help me get the captain out of here![/b]â? From beneath the floor panels of the Oceanus arose a mechanical man with a faceless, glowing glass head. Silently it scanned the room, and lifted Eos in its arms. It turned to Bomber for further instructions. â??[b]Oceanus is off-line,[/b]â? it said in a harsh, mechanical tone, â??[b]Had I not disconnected from the ship during self-repair my systems would also be compromised.[/b]â? Bomber opened up a cabinet near the captainâ??s chair, revealing a stockpile of weapons. He pushed them aside to reveal an enormous, zebra-striped guitar and slung it over his arm like a bayonet. â??[b]Stay close, â??bot. Iâ??m gonna break this canon into pieces and if anyone survives, Eos can tell me how to kill them, too.[/b]â? The group rushed down the corridor towards the shipâ??s starboard entrance. Bomber pulled a plunger on the wall, and the door of the ship blasted off with a pneumatic force. Instantly bullet fire cascaded into the entry way, graving Bomberâ??s hide as he tried to cover the others. â??[b]Deza, how is your force field looking?[/b]â? â??[b]I can release a magnetic pulse to disable their weaponry. However, power is at reserve levels. Prolonged combat could compromise my systems.[/b]â? Bomber stared at the machine for a moment, â??[b]Is that a good thing?[/b]â? â??[b]My programming prevents me from making conditional statements.[/b]â? Eos raised her head softly, and reached for Bomber. The two locked eyes for a moment, and Bomber instantly knew what to do. â??[b]Do that thing you said,[/b]â? Bomber commanded, â??[b]But first give me a beat![/b]â? Eos regained her footing by leaning against the wall as Deza placed her on the ground. His electric brain began to race with a bright current as he stepped out onto the docking platform. 13 assassins, each hand-picked by Selene, stood armed and waiting to take control of Oceanus. The group began to fire onto Deza, but their bullets began to ricochet harmlessly off of his invisible, magnetic field. From behind the robot Bomber could see the vertigo canons. While the group was distracted by Deza Bomber leapt into the sky with enormous strength, disappearing into the skyline for just long enough to lose the attention of the group. His guitar raised in the air like an axe, Bomber struck the cannon and the assassin in a single blow as he hit the ground, emanating a musical shockwave that blew the other assassins off their feet. Dezaâ??s magnetic field then reached critical mass, emitting a wave of light that short-circuited every firearm in the vicinity. Captain Eos stepped onto the platform, her golden hair shimmering brightly. A trio of the assassins withdrew blades and rushed towards her, but they would never be fast enough. The girl let out a howl, a sonic blast that incinerated the three in an instant. Bomber and Eos shared a nod, and the two began to jam as they picked off the rest of their attackers. [indent][center][youtube]ZRur9D354W0[/youtube][/center] [I][b][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRur9D354W0]The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control[/url][/I] Your back's against the wall There's no one home to call You're forgetting who you are You can't stop crying It's part not giving in Part trusting your friends You do it all again and I'm not lying Oh oh oh Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control I'm doing this for you Because it's easier to lose And it's hard to face the truth When you think you're dying It's part not giving in Part trusting your friends You do it all again but you don't stop trying Oh oh oh Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control We live our lives Because of standing in the way of control We will live our lives Because of standing in the way of control We live our lives Because of standing in the way of control We will live our lives, lives, lives, lives on Your back's against the wall There's no one home to call You're forgetting who you are You can't stop crying It's part not giving in Part trusting your friends You do it all again, you don't stop trying Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Standing in the way of control Because of standing in the way of control Because of standing in the way of control We will live our lives, lives, lives, lives on[/b][/indent] In a moment their assassins were no more. It was lucky they were able to outdo Seleneâ??s forces, but there was no telling what was next. â??[b]Crew: Report![/b]â?[/indent]

[indent][b]Selene[/b] has ravaged this galaxy. A conqueror, an empress, and a goddess, in her wake are the ruins of a thousand worlds. Time has passed, war zones are now graveyards, and the voices of dissent have fallen silent. Silence... Yet even in the darkest of times heroes still exist. A brave crew of soldiers, pirates, explorers, and dreamers hold the key to freeing Seleneâ??s grip on their homes. The keyâ??s name is [b]Eos[/b], and she is captain of this vessel, [b]Oceanus.[/b] On this day we venture into the heart of Seleneâ??s empire without knowing exactly what we will find there. Trust in yourself and your abilities and you will see through this day. Your courage, your strength, and [I]your voice[/I] are all that is necessary to undo the damage that has been done. Choose a weapon and never let it go. Whether it be your mind, your ship, or your song, it is all you will have to protect yourself with in this nightmarish dreamscape we are about to encounter. Stand together and donâ??t be afraid. [I]Oceanus[/I] is about to launch. [font="Georgia"][size=7][center][b][color="#000080"]OCEANUS[/color][/b][/center][/size] [/font] Welcome to [I]Oceanus[/I], an RPG that (I believe) is the first of its kind. There is no set continuity or timeline; posts can and [I]will[/I] contradict one another. Inside of the [b]Dreamscape[/b] all things are possible, and your personal journey will encompass your characterâ??s past, present, future, and their darkest fears. Write about what you want, when you want; all I ask is that you make it interesting.[/indent] [size=5][font="georgia"][color="#000080"][b]sing for me[/b][/color][/font][/size][indent] Music is integral to the story of Oceanus, and you will be expected to include songs and song lyrics into your posts in a meaningful way. Silence is the weapon of Selene, so naturally the best way to defeat her is through the power of music. Characters will burst into song during moments of self-reflection, but also during battle scenes (or anytime, really.) How this works is that you will include song lyrics in your posts, and a credit to the artist whose song you are using. You can simply include the bulk of the lyrics uninterrupted, or interweave them with dialogue or action. Here is an example of how a post might look. This is modified from a couple of years ago when the concept of a musical RPG was first brought about: [/indent] [quote]Diana and Michael entered her dark apartment in the middle of the night. Michael was badly bruised from his fight on the streets, and she carefully rested him on the couch while she searched her apartment for a first aid kit. "[b]Oh Michael,[/b]" Diana said, her face full of worry, "[b]What was wrong with those people that attacked you on the subway? Did you notice how strange their teeth were?[/b]" "[b]That's what I've been trying to tell you, Diana. They're vampires.[/b]" "[b]Now you're being ridiculous,[/b]" she replied from the bathroom, "[b]I'm just glad we're somewhere safe.[/b]" Michael let out a heavy sigh. Although they had managed to escape once, now that they had a taste of his blood there would be no way to hide. Diana entered the room, and Michael took off his shirt to reveal a bloody puncture wound on his chest. "[b]Oh, it's awful. You're gonna rest here tonight.[/b]" "[b]Just patch it up so I can leave,[/b]" Michael winced as Diana poured rubbing alcohol across the wound, "[b]We need to go back to my place and get my things, Diana.[/b]" "[b]And why do we need to do that?[/b]" "[b]I need to confront them once and for all. I have weapons at my place...[/b]" Diana's eyes narrowed, "[b]There's almost a dozen of those guys, and you're just some scrawny kid from the suburbs. I'll call the police in just a minute....[/b]" "[b]You don't understand. They're gonna follow us.[/b]" "[b]You don't understand, Michael! I've lived in this city my entire life, and I'm not losing another friend to the street gangs. There's only one safe thing to do and that's to wait for this whole mess to blow over..." [indent][I]'Beat It' as performed by Michael Jackson[/i] They told you don't you ever come around here Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear So beat it, just beat it You better run, you better do what you can Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man You wanna be tough, better do what you can So beat it, but you wanna be bad[/indent][/b] [b]"It's about more than that, Diana! You know I can't run away with you!"[/b] [indent][b]Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it No one wants to be defeated Showin' how funky strong is your fighter It doesn't matter who's wrong or right Just beat it, beat it Just beat it, beat it Just beat it, beat it Just beat it, beat it They're out to get you, better leave while you can Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man You wanna stay alive, better do what you can So beat it, just beat it...[/b][/indent] As Diana finished placing the bandage on his chest Michael rose to his feet. He looked to he for compassion, but she merely folded her arms with a look of indignation across her face. "[b]I'm sorry...[/b]" Michael reached for his shirt, and stormed out of the apartment.[/quote] [indent]When creating a character try to give them a unique 'sound.' Think of which types of artists best represent your character, because I feel like song selection will be important to telling your character's personal story. I have terrible taste in music, so don't feel self-conscious if your song choice isn't amazing. OB is a unique place to tell stories, and with so many members being from around the world I'm hoping we're going to get a very eclectic mix.[/indent] [size=5][font="georgia"][color="#000080"][b]sign-ups[/b][/color][/font][/size] [indent][b]Name:[/b] Eos [b]Age:[/b] Unknown. Appears to be no older than 30. [b]Homeworld / Origin:[/b] Unknown. Word of Eos and her journey to the center of the universe have existed for decades. It is unclear where exactly this mission began, or why. [b]Species / Appearance:[/b] Human. Eos has pale skin, a slight, feminine build, and long, flowing hair that changes color depending on her mood. Her eyes are gray, and she is usually seen wearing a U-Comm officer's uniform dating back to long before the first Outbreak. [b]Special Skills / Abilities:[/b] Eos is an accomplished pilot, and takes great pride is piloting [i]Oceanus[/i]. She understands dozens of languages from across the universe, but never speaks a single word. Eos has a voice that is tremendously powerful, and is capable of emitting sonic blasts the limits of which are currently unknown. While she can control the intensity of these blasts, even a faint 'whisper' could cause irreparable damage to anyone within earshot. As a result Eos is effectively mute, and entrusts her veteran crew to anticipate her orders. [b]Theme Song:[/b] [center][url="http://youtu.be/FooSG3Ha22Y"]'Sadness is a Blessing' as performed by Lykke Li[/url] [youtube]FooSG3Ha22Y[/youtube] My wounded rhymes make silent cries tonight My wounded rhymes make silent cries tonight And I keep it like a burning I'm longing from a distance I ranted, I pleaded, I beg him not to go For sorrow, the only lover I've ever known Sadness is a blessing Sadness is a pearl Sadness is my boyfriend Oh, sadness I'm your girl These scars of mine make wounded rhymes tonight I dream of times when you were mine so I Can keep it like a haunting Heart beating close to mine Sadness is a blessing Sadness is a pearl Sadness is my boyfriend Oh, sadness I'm your girl I ranted, I pleaded, I beg him not to go For sorrow, the only lover I've ever known Every night I rant, I plead, I beg him not to go Will sorrow be the only lover I can call my own? Sadness is a blessing Sadness is a pearl Sadness is my boyfriend Oh, sadness I'm your girl Sadness is my boyfriend Oh, sadness I'm your girl Oh, sadness I'm your girl[/center] Let me know when you have questions. - Shy[/indent]