Artemis

[COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Arial]Name: Riyo Age: 17 Gender: Female What village you come from: none (Let me know if that's alright, Conna.) Abilities/Special Powers: Riyo specializes in powers of the mind: She's telepathic and telekinetic. (teleportation is related to those, so she may develope it later.) She can also create illusions in the minds of others. (Think [i]The Ring[/i]) She has martial arts abilities, but prefers not to use them. Weapon: a simple pair of sais Appearance: See my icon Bio: Riyo's family was killed in one of the many riots which insued after the Dark Lord took over. She was found in the cellar of cottage by unknown traveler. The traveler left her with the monks of an underground (as in illegal) shrine. They gave her her name and trained her in the arts of the mind. Three years ago, the shrine was discovered by the Dark Lord's police force. Luckily for Riyo, she had been on journey to Konhom for supplies. She returned to find the shrine burnt to the ground and her mentors dead. On that day, she vowed to see to the fall of the Dark Lord. She has spend her time until now training in martial arts from anyone who would teach her. She has traveled the countryside and seen the turmoil of the people. She has used her mind powers as a service to those willing to share some of their scarce food. She is joining the tournament, not for the prize, but as access to the Dark Lord and his city. Personality: Riyo tends to be somewhat aloof. She has one goal in mind, and is in no mood for distractions (though they may arise....) Her experiences have made her quiet and bitter. She is very kind to the suffering, but has little room in her heart for the arrogant and well-to-do. She has a fear of relationships as everyone she's been close to has died. BTW, Conna, if I forget to post on here, just remind me on MyOtaku![/FONT][/COLOR]

[b]by Cloricus[/b] [quote]Or he never would have killed the woman in the first place and it's all your families fault for not moving into that house. Don't you just love it when history is non-linear?[/quote] Um...sure? yeah. Anyway, here's the article from crimelibrary. The Wichita Eagle may have more. [url]http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/unsolved/btk/index_1.html[/url]

Back in the seventies, all of BTK's murders were on the opposite side of town. That's why everyone was really surprised to find that the one right next to me was him. (Of course, it could be that a different murderer is trying to play off of BTK's fame. Supposedly, though, the police are sure it's the same guy.) We lived in that same house for 6 years. The one we live in now is only a few blocks away. I haven't heard of any other violent crime in our neighborhood since the '86 murder. Most of it is on the side of town where BTK's original murders were. I'll see if his case is on crimelibrary.com

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkGreen]Have any of you ever heard of BTK? He was serial killer back in the 70s in little old Wichita, KS. He disappeared back in '79. Everyone thought the case would simply go unsolved. He was compared to Jack the Ripper of London. Well, the Wichita police recently got a letter from "Bill Thomas Killman" admitting to the murder of a woman in 1986. He had a copy of her driver's license, the only thing that had been missing at the crime scene, as well as pictures of the scene which had been messed up by EMS when they arrived to try to revive the strangled woman. Here's the creepy thing: at the time, I was a year old, and my family had just moved into a new house. Two weeks after we moved in, that woman killed in the house right behind ours....her son was left alive, a 2 year old sleeping in the next room. If he'd chosen the house only one street over, the strangled woman would have been my mom, and the sleeping baby would have been me. Anyway...*shudders* If anyone else has done research on this serial killer, let me know. I could give you info directly from our local papers.[/font][/color]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkRed]"Well, let's get started!" Liz cried out urgently. "What's your first hour? We should start so that we end closest to our first classes," Harry replied. "I have History of Magic on the first floor this morning." "Really? Me, too. Let's start at the top and work our way down." "Sounds good to me!" Within a few minutes, Liz and Harry had reached the top floor and were running as quickly as the could through each corridor searching for their friends. They finished the top floor, and began running down the stairs to the next floor. Liz spun around the corner as fast as she could, searching frantically. BANG Liz ran smack into her darling cousin, Malfoy. "Watch where you're going, Jones!!" "Get lost, Draco!" Harry stood back surprised. He'd never seen Liz so forceful. "Hey, we don't want any trouble, let's go, Liz." Harry began to drag Liz away. "Yeah, you're dad was yellow livered, too, Potter!" Harry clenched his fists tightly. Malfoy had just gone too far.[/font][/color]

OOC: Sorry I haven't posted in so long. At least the play's over. No more rehearsals. No more performances. I can have a life again!! Happy St. Patrick's Day! [FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkGreen]"How 'bout if I take Liz to the Ravenclaw common room, and you can take Alex to the Hufflepuff's, Ron?" Harry suggested. "We'll spend less time roaming the corridors that way." Ron shrugged grudgingly, "sure." "Good night, guys!" Liz called out as Ron and Alex trudged down the east corridor. "Where's your common room?" Harry asked. "Down the south hall." The two walked on in silence for some time. Liz became increasingly aware of how quiet her school could be at night. She suddenly felt very secluded and wanted to reach her room as quickly as possible. She led Harry up a set of stairs and past the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Liz stopped for a moment and gasped. She felt a ghost of the chill that had overcome her during the class. Harry halted with her, concerned, "Are you alright? You went really pale all of the sudden!" Liz shook herself, "I'm fine, just a bit tired. I just need to get to bed." "Are you sure?" Harry grasped her arm to steady her. "Yeah. Don't worry about me." She turned to him, and they locked eyes for a moment. Liz turned away again, blushing. "Well, at least your color's back," Harry said laughing, somewhat nervously. She grinned back and led him down the hall again to the statue of serene unicorn. She turned the horn down and recited the password, "Bella." "Good night, Liz." "Good night, Harry." Liz felt herself blush again as she hurried into her common room. [i]What is [/i]wrong[i] with me? I've never been like this around a guy before! I'm usually so calm and collected. I really need to get a grip.[/i] She climbed the stairs to her dorm room and crept quietly to her. She had changed her clothes and pulled back the sheets when she suddenly felt a memory of the chill race through her body. She clenched her teeth and shuddered for a moment. [i]Something's up here.[/i] she thought to herself in a panic.[/font][/color]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkRed]My entire senior class went to a special showing of The Passion of the Christ on Wednesday. I was very impressed with it and cried at several parts. I didn't see it as anti-semitic at all. I think that's a trumped up charge to make it look bad. I'm very proud of what Gibson has done. I didn't see it as cheesy or overdone. People have talked about the demons. I thought it was an interesting take on how we're tempting by them. They're real afterall (and you're all going to call me crazy...). I thought Satan was appropriate. The kids creeped me out, but I thought they worked out just fine. I talked about the movie more in MyO. I'm gonna see it again tomorrow w/ my youth group. My brother and sister will be seeing it for the first time.[/color][/font]

OOC: I don't really mind the soap opera stuff...I'm a hopeless romantic, myself...lol :luv: Julie, Vash, and Stocatta ran to catch up with the rest of the group. [color=blue][i]What on earth is going on? You can't seriously mean that he's back! Sarah turned him in for the bounty! He can't have broken loose so quickly as injured as he was... This is insane![/color] [color=purple]So, what are we supposed to do?[/color] [color=gray]I don't know why you're all so worried. There are way more of us than him![/color] [color=red]Fine, let's head back to the hotel, regroup, and form some sort of plan...[/color] [color=blue]Sounds good to me![/color][/i]

OOC: :bawl: This is so sweet! [FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkRed] Elizabeth made sure to wake up early for the second day of school since she'd gotten a late start the day before. She sat up in her bed and stretched for a few moments. Her bedding was all twisted off and halfway on the floor. [i]I must have had an intense dream last night again. I'm usually such a peaceful sleeper.[/i] She closed her eyes and tried very hard to remember what she'd dreamt. All she could bring up was the intensely terrified feeling that had overwhelmed during Defense Against the Dark Arts. It had come and gone so quickly, she hadn't a moment to judge where it was coming from. Liz took a deep breath to erase the panic so she could return to the present. She had a long day ahead of her.[/font][/color]

OOC: I'm not sure, but this is turning into a bit of a soap opera... c'est la vie... half of it's my own fault! :rolleyes: ;) Stocatta walked back to the hotel with Julie and Vash, more than a little shaken. [color=blue][i]Vash, I'm really sorry. If I hadn't hit you, you wouldn't have been in that position.[/i][/color] [color=red][i]It's alright... I just need to take a hint...[/i][/color] Stocatta flinched as the dejection and sorrow within him hit her like a ton of bricks. She never thought she'd really feel pity for him, but she did now. [color=blue][i]I wouldn't mind so much if you'd just be respectful, Vash.[/i][/color] He turned to her with a child-like half smile and said, "I'll try." Stocatta was taken aback. Twice now, she'd been hit by sudden emotion from him, except, this time, it was her own emotion towards him. Things were just getting too weird...

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkGreen]OOC: oh, I want to post, but I don't want to interrupt what's going on....Um...I'll backtrack! Liz looked at Karen in surprise. She hadn't expected others to know so much about the planets. She'd taken a few basic astronomy lessons back at her muggle school in the States, but that was because she'd been a gifted student. She looked back into her telescope in awe of all she observed. "This is so beautiful!" she gasped in amazement. "Isn't it?" Liz spun around surprised. Harry was standing beside her at the next telescope, agreeing with her assertion. She smiled, amiably at him. "Yeah. I love the night sky. It's so peaceful and gorgeous! I never got a view like this back home. The cities were too bright. You could never see anything." "I know--" Suddenly, someone shouted, "Karen!" She was about to fall out the window, but Ron had stopped her just in time. Liz then realized that she'd been holding her breathe and let it out again, "Wow, that was too close." "I think today's been a little much for all of us," Harry replied. [/font][/color]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]As you can see by my banner and avi, I'm a big Daft Punk fan. It's some of the best techno I've heard and proof that the French aren't [i]all[/i] bad. However, there's an earlier thread about Daft Punk if you'd like to see more posts about them. Just do a search on OB for them. Welcome to the Boards![/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][FONT=Arial]Liz began walking up the long staircase to the astronomy tower with her fellow Ravenclaws. She wished that Alex was there, but at least she would get to see her Gryffindor friends. Occupied by her thoughts, she wasn't ready when the students in front of her stopped suddenly. Someone up ahead was laughing. "Did the Slytherins even check their schedules?!" "They don't have astronomy until tomorrow night!" "We've got it with the Gryffindors tonight!" The Ravenclaws were shoved to the right side of the staircase as a disgruntled group of Slytherins began to descend. Liz, realizing what was happening, joined her classmates in laughing at the Slytherins. "Oh, shut up, Yank!" Draco hissed at her. "Excuse me?" she asked irritably. "You heard what I said! All you snooty Ravenclaws are a bunch of nerds!" Liz could no longer control her temper. In one swift movement she shoved Draco down the stairs and turned around as though nothing had happened. An avalanche of Slytherins were now falling down the stairs. The Ravenclaws began laughing even harder as they continued their trek up to the Astronomy room.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=Sienna]About a week ago, I was sitting up reading a book required for my religion class at my Catholic school, and I suddenly started thinking about how I might be called to be a religious sister. It was really odd. I hadn't really seriously considered it since before I started dating two years ago. I felt a renewed since of yearning for that vocation. I'm going to keep praying about it for awhile because I'm not completely sure, and I would love to be a wife and mother some day. But, on to my question: Have any of you felt a strong calling to any particular vocation? In this wording, it applies the most strongly to Catholics, or at least Christians, so I'll try to rephrase it: Do you feel that there's anything in particular you're supposed to do with your life?[/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]Wow, I'm going to have to admit right now, that as an intense Catholic, I can't help being slightly biased. My initial reaction was, admittedly, "yes. I could consider that beautiful." There was no way of telling at first how they'd created the picture. The red/orange in the background made me think of the blood and suffering of Christ. Upon reading the title and realizing it was the work of "art" I'd heard about, it was all I could do to keep from puking. It was like receiving a physical blow. I think it's quite insulting to be shown something like that. I've also taken philosophy classes, and I'm currently taking Apologetics. We're reading [i]The Evidential Power of Beauty[/i] by Thomas Dubay. It takes everything back to the classical sense of beauty and art, the four Transcendentals: The One, The Good, The True, and The Beautiful. All for reside within each other. Therefore, anything completely beautiful is unified, truthful, and good. Clearly, this "art" is not truthful. It does not portray Jesus as He truly was. Anyone can see it's not "good" either, in the sense of morally good. As far as I can tell, we're accepting far too much as "art" these days. Often times, it has no meaning, and it's completely subjective. We base everything on the "artist" not on what he/she is portraying. True art should capture the essence of what is being portrayed. No, I do not think something like this should be in a museum, but there's a lot of "art" in museums that really doesn't belong there. At the Wichita Art Museum, there's a large canvas with a bunch of paint just thrown on, brushed around here and there with obviously no rhyme or reason. This piece of crap is supposed to be "the energy of New York City." I think it's a waste of wall space. I don't think all art has to be initially eye pleasing though. If I saw a good painting that was a true portrayal of the soldiers in Vietnam or WWII, I would call it good art. Something like that would take on a very mournful, sad sort of beauty. Wow, I've rambled on for far too long :babble: without really saying anything. This wasn't all as well put as I would have liked, but I think I'm gonna leave it this way.[/color][/font]