Horendithas

[QUOTE=Katana][size=1][color=royalblue]I think I need to clear this up before we all get killed. The reason Delta, I, and r2vq are hoping for a counter vote is because Who? and SunfallE's main reason for not liking Kitty's was because of her choice of photo. That's it. To us, it sounds like they didn't like the graphic merely because they have seen that image around so much, and because of that, Kitty does not deserve to advance. [u]We mean no disrespect to those two[/u], and I apologize if that's what you think. However, when you don't like an image because you've seen the base photo before, that's just not right. When you say "I've seen that picture everywhere, so I don't like the graphic", I really don't think that's right. Hell, I've seen that image from the end of FLCL with Naota standing atop the rubble with the guitar a thousand times, but do I hate a graphic because of that? No. Do you hate a website's banner because an image used is a fairly generic one of the series? You shouldn't. Do you avoid eBay auctions that use generic images of the product? Probably not. I apoligize for clogging up the thread like this, but I felt the need to say the above before more misunderstandings take place. To Who? and SunfallE, we really don't mean to degrade you, and if you had other reasons for not liking the graphic, then that's perfectly fine and legal, we can all go on our merry way. = =;;[/color][/size][/QUOTE] [quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1']Nonetheless, appropriate image choice is an essential part of the contest. It is completely justified for Who? and SunfallE to judge the image based upon the stock, no matter how unfair it may seem.[/size][/quote] [QUOTE=Doc][size=1]Even though I personally love Kitty's piece, I agree with Baron. It is their right, and opinion, as to why her piece shouldn't advance. Given the chance, due to how amazing the rest of the competitors pieces have been, if Kitty is disqualified *Which truely seems unlikely* I would gladly bow out to her superior piece. But, as I stated, I totally agree with the Baron, and they have all the right to vote against if they feel her piece isn't chosen well. [/size][/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]Sorry Katana but I too agree with Baron Samedi, Doc, and Aaryanna. A member should be able to vote based on how they see the picture as a whole. Not on how you think they should be analyzing it. And the base photo is a big part of the overall picture. As both Who? and SunfallE were quite polite in explaining their choice, I think their votes should stay the way they are, as counter-voting would in my opinion undermine the very essence of this contest. SunfallE must have wondered if her vote was going to be countered as she took the time to explain why she voted the way she did in further detail. Though I think it shouldn?t have been necessary in the first place.[/COLOR] [QUOTE=SunfallE] [COLOR=DarkOliveGreen][B]EDIT:[/B] 11-12-04 Katana I guess I should try to explain my choice a little better. It?s more than a I don?t like the picture cause I?ve seen it a lot vote. It was part of why it didn?t grab my attention, but it?s more than that. I?m not sure how to explain it but it?s also because of the words that go with the picture. It just doesn?t seem to flow in the sense that the water is in motion and yet it?s stating show me my own reflection. To me moving water doesn?t show you your reflection so the picture didn?t seem to fit the saying. So it?s a combination of the image didn?t grab my attention and I don?t think it fits the saying. Even though it?s beautifully done. I can see where Aaryanna was going with her disagreeing as people were asking for a counter-vote without saying why they felt one was needed. No one before you mentioned that they felt I needed to explain in further detail as to why I voted the way I did. It did kind of look like what she was complaining about. So hopefully the more in depth explanation clears that up for you and the others. [/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Indigo]Well that?s interesting. I had no idea that spoiler tags were dangerous. :::chuckle::: I?ll be sure to keep that in mind the next time I feel the urge to highlight the blackened blocks of text. Wait?.I think it?s too late. I already highlighted several today. Nicely written, I discovered this thread by clicking on your link in your signature a while ago. I hope you write more of them. I especially like the one you did about the master sword. I laughed and laughed when I read that one. Excellent work. Now if you?ll excuse me, I need to go and highlight some blackened text. Till later. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Ruby thought about the offer for a moment. So they were after the legendary Scion. Interesting. Such a search would definitely be more entertaining than his current job, or that of serving as a mercenary again. Why not? He had been wanting to do something different for a change. This was definitely different. ?Very well, I accept your offer to assist you on your quest.? He told Javen. If nothing else he kind of liked him. He obviously had the ability to think even in battle, as he had not attempted to hurt him over the misunderstanding in the tavern. Did that mean he was the leader of the group? Most regular soldiers didn?t have enough restraint to back down from a fight. Which was a bad thing as it could get you killed. ?As to my training, I was trained by several different teachers. I never attended the academy. Until about six months ago I was serving in the war as a mercenary. My contract was up and I decided to not re-new it for the time being.? Ruby said. ?I?m assuming you are the leader of the group, so now what do we do?? Ruby asked.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sena smiled when Karne said the neutral would die. Nothing like having a more challenging target to take down, it just made the moment of the kill even more enjoyable. He looked at Alcina, she definitely looked quite good with her transformation. Before she had been cute, but now? Sena was surprised that even he felt the tiniest stirrings of desire. Destruction laughed. [I] It is because she has taken the legacy of Lust upon her. The fact that you can feel it means the transformation worked.[/I] [I]I see.[/I] Sena thought. He had never been attracted to any female other than to end her life. [I]That is because you have yet to learn all the ways to destroy your opponent. There is more than one way to destroy a person. You can crush their spirit as well. You have yet to enjoy the pleasure that comes from taking what so many women hold dear. [/I] [I]And that would be?[/I] Sena asked. Destruction chuckled evilly. [I] Their virginity, many of those who belong to the light believe in the foolish notion that it means they love their intended mate by waiting to have sex. They think it makes them pure and holy somehow. [/I] [I]Does it work?[/I] Sena asked. [I]For some it does, by denying themselves the power of lust they can grow closer to the light. [/I] [I]Interesting. [/I]Sena thought. He had heard about how various religions followed that practice, but he hadn?t given it a second thought. It would certain explain why some people took a vow of celibacy. Once again Destruction laughed. [I] I am well experienced in such things; there is no greater pleasure than completely and totally destroying your target. You?ll see. [/I] Sena turned as the one who was neutral walked into view. He too had changed. [I]So have you if you look closer.[/I] Destruction said. Sena looked at himself. Sure he felt more powerful, but his body seemed to be the same. [I]Look closer.[/I] He did and to his surprise his clothing seemed to be almost part of his body. Flowing almost like a second skin. His cloak was also nearly transparent. He looked further. He hadn?t realized it but the clothing clearly showed his muscles and other aspects of his body. [I]Well, that?s different.[/I] He thought. [I] Of course, you are destruction and your very body is a tool to use as you see fit. Clothing gets in the way and with only a thought you can change what is covered. It will be useful I assure you.[/I] Sena turned his attention back to the neutral when he said. ?So come on Sena I know you are just itching to fight.? Sena turned to look at Karne. As much as he would enjoy taking him down, it was not his decision to make. Somehow he knew that first kill was the leader?s right. He would fight the neutral only if ordered to do so. Karne decided on Lust for the battle. Sena stood still and watched.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Ruby didn?t even get to the door of the room when the man from downstairs walked into the room.[I] Good[/I], he thought.[I] That means he took care of the other rider. I was right, he is a soldier, or at least he use to be one.[/I] He held out his hand and said. ?Name?s Javen.? Ruby helped the one who was hurt over to the bed and then turned back and shook his hand. ?I?m Ruby.? He let go of his hand and then continued. ?Care to explain to me why two riders are after your group? Riders don?t usually attack villages unless their intended target happens to be in them.? ?Hey! What about me?? The wounded guy said, ?How about you get me some help, you two can sort things out later.? Ruby glanced at his wound. ?Unless the blade was poisoned, you?ll be fine, the wound?s not that serious.? He turned back to the one named Javen. ?Well? I?m waiting for an explanation. I need to know if there will be others, otherwise I?ll have to ask your group to move on. Nothing personal, but most of the guests lack the ability to defend themselves against raiders.? Ruby stood there waiting to see what Javen would say.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Ruby sighed as a huge fight broke out between two tables that quickly spread through the tavern. He got up with a sigh and started clearing out the drunken customers. All was going well until one of the men fighting dodged his fist. ?Hey! I am trying to help you.? ?Yeah, right.? Ruby had heard that one before, a classic excuse to avoid being tossed out for the night. Admittedly he didn?t move like the usual riff raff that started a fight, but the excuse never changed. To Ruby?s surprise he continued to dodge his attacks, but even more startling was that other than to block or dodge he never once tried to hit him back. [I]What the hell? Is he serious about trying to help?[/I] He thought. Ruby felt a chill go down his back and he jumped back out of range, the stranger doing the same thing. Something was wrong he could feel it. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment, ignoring the fight going on around them. ?I suggest we discuss this later, you can feel it too can?t you? Something?s not right.? Ruby turned his back on the stranger and retrieved his sword sitting by the bar. He glanced towards the door and caught a flash of movement. Damn! What ever it was, it was cutting down anyone who stood in its way. And it was headed for the tavern! He glanced back at the stranger to see that he was facing the door.[I] Good[/I]. He thought. [I]He has noticed it as well. I wonder if he is a soldier as well? [/I] Ruby started to move forward but was stopped by yet another chill that ran down his back. [I]There are guests upstairs what if there is more than one?[/I] He wondered. Ruby hadn?t survived all these years as a mercenary without developing a bit of a sixth sense for knowing when trouble was around, and his was practically screaming at him that there was likely one entering the Tavern from one of the guests windows. He turned and ran up the stairs, ignored the looks from the bartender and the other guests. Sure enough he had barely made it up when he heard the clash of two swords coming from the room at the end of the hall. He swore under his breath and with a running kick knocked the door off its hinges sending it flying into the room. The door hit a rider as it was raising its sword to strike down one of the newly arrived guests. The man was injured and Ruby could see that he wouldn?t be able to lift his sword in time to block the blow. Ruby didn?t give the attacker a chance to respond. With a swift stroke of his sword he cut the assailant in half. ?Quickly, come with me, it isn?t safe here.? He reached over and helped the man up and then helped him towards the stairs. Hopefully the first guy he encountered was doing something about the other attacker. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]I?ve wondered about this as well. I?ve also noticed that it is happening when you leave comments on wallpapers, articles, people?s myOtaku sites and such. You submit your comment and though it tells you it?s is displayed below, it isn?t. You close the window and re-open it but yet the comment still isn?t there. It?s like SunfallE said, after a bit of time it finally does show up. It?s not a big deal, as I know my comment is there. But it did throw me off at first, as it didn?t use to do it. It doesn?t do it every time though. I think that out of about 10 comments I left today only 2 had that problem.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sena didn?t get to watch Alcina change, as suddenly he felt overwhelmed by an unknown force. It was if someone had thrown him into freezing water and he had to swim to the surface. He dropped to his knees and fought to breathe as power unlike anything he had ever felt before entered him. It was dark, bitter, and intensely powerful; such darkness, as he had never dreamed possible. His body didn?t change other than to become stronger, more powerful and an almost eerie blue glow seemed to come from within. A dark blue-black in color it pushed the bright light from the street lamps away from his body, making him almost seem as if he was part of the shadows. When it finally seemed to pass Sena almost floated back into a standing position. It was beyond thrilling; never had he felt something so intensely pleasurable. It was even better than what he felt when he killed others. Destruction chuckled. [I]Just wait until you do kill someone in this state. Those pathetic fools who try to protect love and light have never experienced true power. Nothing can compare to what I can give you.[/I] Sena eagerly awaited Karne?s next command, he couldn?t wait to try out his new abilities by killing someone. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sena watched as Alcina quickly got out of the truck. [I]I need to get my stuff from the hotel.[/I] He thought. [I]No need for that. We are close enough that all you have to do is think of them being in your hands and your stuff will come. [/I] Destruction said. Sena raised his eyebrow in doubt but did as the stone said. It felt as if something inside him pulled the stuff to where he was, but nothing appeared. [I]What the..?[/I] [I]The stuff is here, but until you need it I will be holding it for you. I can?t hold a lot, but this way you only have to think of what you need and either it will be held by me or it will appear in your hands.[/I] Destruction finished. [I]Interesting. [/I] Sena thought. [I]Alcina is about to change isn?t she?[/I] [I]Yes.[/I] Destruction said. [I]I thought you might be able to sense it. You too will change, though not as much as she will. [/I] [I]I will change?[/I] [I]Yes, you will take my legacy upon yourself, it will grant you abilities that you will need for the upcoming fight. [/I] Destruction said. Sena smiled. [I]Abilities that will let me over come the barrier of the girl with blue-black hair? [/I] He thought. Destruction chucked. [I]It will definitely help you be able to destroy her barrier. I?ve noticed that you think of her constantly. I too long to hear her screams of anguish as you slowly destroy her.[/I] Sena didn?t bother to deny what Destruction said. It was true; he had been unable to get her out of his mind. It was almost unsettling, as he had never wanted someone as badly as he wanted her. Only his loyalty to the visions of destruction kept him from leaving to hunt for her immediately. If she knew what he had in store for her, well Sena was sure she would commit suicide to prevent it from happening. She certainly wouldn?t be the first to do so when they realized what Sena was going to do to them. Sena continued to watch Alcina; he didn?t want to miss the changes she was about to go through. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo][B]Name: [/B] Ruby Chaos [B]Age: [/B] 23 [B]Race:[/B] Primarily human with a tiny bit of Eleven blood. [B]Gender: [/B] Male [B]Appearance: [/B] [URL=http://indifference.zoto.com/img/480x640x1/248aae271009176ac9ee331039cb5414.jpg][COLOR=Indigo]Ruby[/COLOR][/URL] [B]Personality: [/B] Cheerful and resilient. Likes anyone so long as they don?t double cross him. Tends to be a bit secretive about his past. Although he does have eleven blood he lacks any physical characteristics of that race and he keeps that fact a secret. So everyone who knows him thinks he is only a human. [B]Weapon:[/B] Sword with a ruby attached to part of the hilt. [B]Bio:[/B] Ruby walked down the stairs of the tavern to the bar and sat down. ?Hey! Quit sitting on your butt and bring me a drink!? He demanded. The bartender turned and smiled when he saw who it was. He brought over a pint of Ruby?s favorite drink and placed it in front of him. ?One of these days I?m going to beat some respect into you Ruby.? He joked. Ruby took a long drink from the pint and set it back down. He smiled and said. ?If you did that, who would take care of the idiots for you?? The bartender sighed as true to Ruby?s words a fight broke out. Ruby got up and walked over to take care of it. ?How about you not break the furniture for once?? The bartender said. Ruby just smiled. He walked over, grabbed both drunks by the back of their tunics and dragged them to the door and hit their heads together before he threw them out into the street. He walked back over to the bar and sat back down. ?One of these days Ruby I'm going to pry out of you why you quit being a mercenary and settled down. Seriously, your far to good for a simple job of keeping the peace in my tavern.? The bartender narrowed his eyes and continued. ?Not to mention you?ve never told me your real name. Ruby Chaos? What kind of daft name is that?? Ruby just smiled and kept his mouth shut. No point in arguing with the bartender over that subject. He himself wasn?t sure why he quit working as a mercenary. All he knew is that for some reason the war bored him. It wasn?t a matter of not being good enough. He was pretty good with a sword. He just wanted something different for a change. As for his name, well Ruby Chaos would serve for now. OOC: If it's not to late to join, here is my character. If there's anything you want different, just let me know.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sena went over and retrieved all his weapons and gadgets and after putting the Red stone back on he went outside and got in Karne?s truck. Alcina climbed in as well. Sena smiled when Karne deliberately ran the guy on a motorcycle over without stopping. The Red stone laughed gleefully in his mind. He watched as Karne continued to speed through the town, but unfortunately no one else got in the way. Sena saw a flash of movement. [I]Looks like we caught someone?s attention.[/I] He thought. [I]Attention?[/I] The Red stone asked. [I]Yes, the local police. Two of them are following us, in a moment they will be turning on their lights when they realize we are the ones who ran the motorcyclist over. [/I] Sure enough they had barely stopped when the police pulled up along side them in front of Diana?s house. ?Sena take that car. I will dispose of these.? Karne said. Sena got out of the car and smiled. When the cops in the second car realized that Karne was actually attacking the other officers they reached for their guns. Before they could even move more than an inch they both jerked back eyes wide with surprise. One of them reached up to touch the handle of the knife that was embedded in his throat just beneath his chin. He could feel blood running down his chest and hands. With out a word both of them collapsed. Sena walked over and retrieved his knives. He took a brief moment to clean the blood off before putting them back into their hiding spots. Mere police were no match for him. They hadn?t even realized that in the brief moment when they tried to reach for their guns he had already thrown both knives. [I]Excellent. [/I] The Red Stone whispered in his mind. [I] Before long you will be ready to receive my legacy.[/I] Sena just got back into the truck with the others when Karne shouted for them to go.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]The knife that Karne threw at him did not surprise Sena, he had been expecting a test of some sort and he caught it without a second thought. He was not upset either; if he had failed to catch the knife he would have been unworthy of being chosen by the Red stone of destruction. He followed Karne?s instructions and went with him out to his car. When Karne put together the fact that it was him and not the former chemistry teacher who had planted the bomb in the school he did not respond. As he was the black stone it was not surprising that he had realized who was responsible for the incident. It was part of the stones power to see the darkness in others and he had enjoyed killing all those children. As for killing his other friends, well who Karne chose to be a part of the visions was really none of his business. He had no intention of killing anyone that Karne wanted alive. The only circumstance in which he would kill any of his friends would be if they were plotting to destroy Karne. If that were to happen, not even Lust or Greed would be safe. The one thing he understood perfectly from the visions was that without the stone of black, it would not come to pass. Anyone who got in the way would be mowed down without a second thought. As Sena followed Karne into the gym he watched his movements studying what he was capable of. He did have power, but he clearly lacked any expert training. So when Karne ordered him to teach him he obeyed. As Karne watched he turned his back on him and briefly left the ring. Without a word he removed all the weapons he was carrying and placed them on a chair. His knifes, pistols, and other accessories such as a silencer and specially prepared wire for strangling your target to death. When he was finished there was a small arsenal of weapons and gadgets; all of them useful in tracking down and eliminating a target. Lastly he removed the Red stone of destruction and placed it with the weapons before returning to the ring. Karne was watching him, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. [I]Interesting.[/I] He thought. ?Now, show me what you can do, you may use what ever weapon you wish, though if you wish to use a gun I recommend borrowing one of mine with a silencer as we do not want to attract attention, at least not while we are training.? Sena paused and then continued. ?I want you to do your best to kill me if you can. To be perfectly blunt, as you are now you lack the skills to hurt me, but if I am to teach you anything I need to see what you can do.? Karne did not reply but instead took his gun from his pocket and tossed it out of the ring. He pulled out another knife like the one he had thrown at Sena earlier, only this one was twice as long. He hefted the 10-inch blade briefly getting a feel for it and then lunged towards Sena without warning. Just as Sena had caught the blade before he did so again. Then with a twist of his wrist he forced Karne to the side and let go causing Karne to stumble into the side ropes of the ring. Karne circled warily before lunging again, but this time Sena simply sidestepped the attack and he nearly fell over the ropes as he attempted to stop his momentum. For the next 10 minutes they continued and it seemed that no matter what he did Sena eluded him. Karne started to get frustrated, he had told him to not go easy on him! This wasn?t teaching him anything! He turned around after missing yet again only to stop when Sena suddenly called out for him to stop. He took a deep breath and lowered the knife. He would wait to see what Sena did next. ?Good, now remove all your weapons as I did, including the stone of power. Right now your moves are being enhanced by the power of the stone. The Red stone has told me that there will be times when we will have to rely on our own skills so I do not want you to use the stone to help you learn. It will be harder, but in the long run you will be more powerful as you will not require the stone?s assistance in executing what I can teach you.? Sena said. Karne thought about it for a moment and then did as Sena suggested, he briefly left the ring and removed the other weapons he was carrying and also set the stone of power down with them. He returned to the ring. ?Now, we are not going to fight, but rather you are going to show me the different strangle holds that you are familiar with. I in turn will show you how to break free of them, though I will not actually use the necessary pressure to stimulate your nerves, as I do not want to actually put you out of action. Once we have gone over what you know, I will show you what I know as well and how to break free from those holds as well.? Sena paused and smiled, ?If we are still here tomorrow I will quiz you by having you practice the various pressured point attacks on the students to see how well you learned them. Or if we leave any one in our way will serve as a test subject as well. Once you have learned that we can continue by learning something new each day. ? Sena paused and continued, ?You are correct in the assessment that I am trained to move this way. From the time I was ten I trained myself, when I turned thirteen I started putting my training into use. I eliminated over 50 people before the government caught me when I was 15. Since then they have continued to train me and I have worked for the past 3 years as an assassin. Though now that I have been chosen I have severed my ties to the government. Now lets begin.? Karne moved forward to show Sena what he knew. He was familiar with such tactics so it would be interesting to see what he did not know. And it definitely would be interesting to test it on the weak fools at the High School. He was still uncertain on what to expect but so far this was proving to be interesting.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sena woke up right at six am. He didn?t need an alarm clock, he never had. He got up and quickly showered and got ready to go to the High School. He took extra care in strapping his dual knifes and other various weapons in place as he didn?t want anything to slip free. It didn?t matter if it was only a High School. Unless there were metal detectors he never went anywhere unarmed. When he had passed by the building yesterday he had seen no such precautions. But then most teenagers were not hardened assassins like he was. It was kind of ironic as Sena had never stepped foot in a High School before. All his schooling had been done by the government as part of his training, any time not spent on a mission was spent honing your skills and studying various subjects in order to help you blend in with the regular population. It had included not only what one would learn in High School but shortly before the Red stone came for him they had started him on college based classes as well. It was boring, but he studied it diligently as he was not one to turn down information that would assist him in destroying others. He finished putting everything into place and picked up the necessary documents for him to be able to sign up at the school without the presence of parents. That was yet another skill he had been taught, forging identification papers. He tucked the papers into his pocket and left the hotel to head for the school. As he walked towards the school he thought back to the last time he had been in any type of public school. It had been a year ago as part of an assignment. He had been ordered to destroy a junior high school girl who was the daughter of a prominent politician. His orders were to make it look like an accident. Sena had carefully researched the school and found a disgruntled former chemistry teacher that had been fired. It had taken close to three weeks but he had carefully made sure that the trail from the homemade bomb would lead straight to the former teacher. He had even made sure it was built out of materials that any chemistry teacher would know how to do. Then when everyone was gathered in an assembly he had detonated the bomb, killing over 500 students, including the intended target. It had worked perfectly and the chemistry teacher was not only caught, but also found guilty of pre-meditated murder. Sena smiled, it had been quite enjoyable watching all the rubble and shrapnel as it flew in all directions from the blast. He had carefully placed the bomb so that the blast resulted in body parts flying all over the place. It had taken the authorities weeks to start piecing the parts together. Sena pulled his thoughts together as he entered the building and headed towards the main office. Within a very short time he was signed up as a transfer student and armed with the information of where his new locker was and his class schedule he left to walk over to the next building. As he approached the doors he could clearly feel an aura of darkness. [I]He is here, the leader of the stones of evil. He?s on the other side of those doors. [/I]The red stone said. ?I know I can feel it? Sena replied. He opened the door and walked in. His attention was immediately drawn to one who was leaning against the lockers watching him. Sena knew that he was the leader that the Red stone had told him about. He could see it in his cold demeanor and icy eyes. Sena matched his look as he walked just past him to reach his locker. Not in challenge but rather in displaying his strength and determination to serve as a messenger of destruction. He opened his locker to check the combination and then closed it, as he had nothing to place inside. ?What?s your name? I really don?t want to have to keep calling you Red all the time.? Sena turned to face the leader and after slightly bowing his head in respect he said. ?I am Sena.? Karne smiled. ?I am Karne, have you met Lust or Greed yet?? he asked. Sena shook his head no. Karne started to say something else but his attention was caught by a disagreement between two other students. ?Let me introduce you to Lust.? Sena followed Karne as he walked over and grabbed the guy who was arguing with the girl who had penetrating emerald green eyes. It was clear to Sena that she was one chosen by the stone of Lust. He watched as Karne slammed the guy hard into the locker. It felt a bit strange but obviously he was one of those who possessed a stone of neutrality. [I]Interesting.[/I] He thought. [I]What do you mean Sena?[/I] The Red stone asked. [I]He may be neutral but yet he deliberately baits Lust. He can see the weakness in Black and yet he doesn?t seem to see his own in regards to Lust.[/I] Sena thought. Talon stormed away and Karne turned back to Sena and Alcine as if nothing had happened. ?Alcine meet Sena, or Chaos and Red as you call him.? Alcine batted her eyes and smiled her most winsome smile at Sena. But other than to nod politely to her the cold look in his eyes did not change. Alcine sighed inwardly; [I]well at least he?s not getting on my nerves [/I]she thought. [I] Don?t worry Alcine, if Talon gets in our way Sena will cut him down without a second thought. Even his stone of neutrality may not be enough to protect him.[/I]Lust whispered in her mind. Alcine smiled at the thought. ?Now, how about you tell us what you know Sena?? Karne said. Sena wondered what to tell them first, he decided to start by explaining about the girl with the blue-black hair with the protective barrier and the other one who joined her, he may not know what she looked like but he was positive that she was one of the ones chosen by the stones of good. Sena put his thoughts in order as he had been trained to do and started to explain in full detail his two encounters regarding the stones of good.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]It was early afternoon when Sena arrived at the town the Red stone had led him too. As he entered he could clearly feel the darkness of what seemed to be at least two other stones of power. The bus pulled into the small station in the center of the town and once it stopped Sena grabbed his small bag and exited the bus. He walked up the street and found himself a hotel to stay in for the night. He checked in and after putting his things away in the room he left to explore the town a bit on foot. He had barely started walking down the street when he felt the same strange unsettling feeling that he had felt around the girl the other night! As he started walking in the direction it seemed to be coming from he also felt another strange presence. It was just as unsettling, yet it was tinged with fear as well. What ever it was it was close. He quickened his pace, pausing briefly in front of the school as he could clearly feel darkness radiating from within. He ignored the school and continued to follow the feeling. His instincts and training as an assassin told him that this was more important. He came to the edge of a hill that overlooked the train station. It wasn?t much of a hill but it was enough to give him a clear view of the platform. He pulled out a small set of binoculars and looked through them at the people boarding and leaving the train. It had been night when he first saw the girl but he was sure he would recognize her. Sure enough he spotted her sitting in one of the cars. It didn?t look like she would be getting off. Another girl caught his attention by her movements but when she entered the train and sat down part of the train's structure was blocking his view and he couldn?t see her very well. All he caught was a flash of white, which was probably part of either her clothes or a ribbon in her hair. As the train started to pull away he put the binoculars away. It was a pity that he had yet to learn how to bypass her barrier, he could have easily taken her out with his sniper rifle. Even if the train had been moving it would have been child?s play. At least he had a better idea of what she looked like. Now it would be easy to recognize her. He turned and started walking back towards the school where he had felt the darkness. It was a pity he had not clearly seen the other girl either. His instincts told him that she too possessed a stone of power. [I]That?s correct. [/I] The Red stone said in his mind. [I]The other girl was directed here to find her. It is a pity we did not get here sooner as we might have been able to stop her before she found the bearer of the other stone.[/I] Sena didn?t care; after all, he could wait. Besides it was more fun to corner your target when they least expected it. It was positively thrilling to see their faces when they realized that they were trapped and at your mercy. ?So now what do you want me to do?? He asked the stone. [I]Go back to the hotel, tomorrow you will go to the school and register as a student. It will be easier for you to move among the students that way. There you will meet the one who posses the stone of Lust and our leader the stone of pure Black. Greed is somewhere around here as well.[/I] The Red stone said. [I]One thing to keep in mind, our leader has no tolerance for disobedience so you had better keep that in mind. [/I] The stone said. Sena smiled and said, ?So long as I am allowed to take part in the killing and destruction, I don?t care who is in charge.? [I]Yes but you are thinking of killing those who you use to serve.[/I] The stone replied. Sena laughed. ?That?s because they were weak and planned on destroying me once I was no longer useful. If our leader is anything like you, he will not be weak. It will be enjoyable to finally work with someone who is not pathetic. Besides anyone who is a part of creating the visions you have shown me deserves some measure of respect. I will gladly pledge my skills to one such as he. But then you already knew that or you would not have chosen me in the first place.? The red stone chuckled. [I]Indeed you are correct, not only are there those who oppose us, but also there are those who sit on the side and refuse to pledge any form of allegiance. They have the unique ability of being able to see through the deception and power of both good and evil. But such an ability will not change the fact that your skill at killing others does not require my assistance. They will be able to see you for what you are, but it will not change your ability to silence them if they should get in the way. I will enhance your skills as needed, but there will be times when you will have to rely on your own skill to deal with our enemies.[/I] Again Sena didn?t care, if those who were neutral stayed out of his way, he truly did not care what they did. He was more interested in slowing destroying the girl with the long blue-black hair. It was a pity he had to stay here, he would have loved to track her down. Sena walked back to the Hotel. Tomorrow would be interesting, as he would finally meet others dedicated to bringing about the visions of death and destruction. Just thinking about it gave him immense pleasure.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=SunfallE][COLOR=DarkOliveGreen]I have just one word to say about this, Brilliant! Makes me wish I had found this place much sooner. ^_^ It was positively hilarious from the beginning where James slipped with his coffee dragging everyone into the net. The attack of the n00bs where they multiplied as a result of being nuked. The Nativity chapter with little plushies acting out the creation of OB. Poor Adam nearly getting vaporized! The play on Star Wars with the Phantom Spammer and Agent Smith. Tee Hee! And I positively loved the part where Desbreko gets furious when they destroy the Zelda forum. And his nad-kicking abilities? Hehe! That was priceless, it so fits him. ^_~ The plushie short with you and James with the coffee was great. And poor Lady Katana being kidnapped by another forum. I especially loved the ?Summoned Creature! DESBREKO!? bit. LOL! I sincerely hope you are creating another chapter to this. ^_^ I keep hearing members talk about the ?good old days? and now I finally understand. ^_~ [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]I?ll second that wish for another chapter to be created. That was beyond enjoyable. Especially since I?ve been her long enough to recognize the main characters in your story. My favorite part was where James dragged everyone into net with his coffee mishap as it set the feeling of expectation of wondrous things to come quite well. And the most hilarious part was the ?Summoned Creature! DESBREKO!? That is so him that I laughed and laughed over it. Ah, if only I too had found this place sooner. Positively amazing. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Nicely done everyone, it will be hard to decide which one I like the least. After careful consideration I have decided that the one I like the least is the one by Retribution. It?s beautifully done, but I have to practically squint in order to read the words on it. I know you say it?s just my monitor, but I?ve tried looking at it at school, on my friends computer, as well as my own. I?ve even tried different settings from 800 x 600 all the way up to 1400 x 1050. And I still have the same problem being able to read what is said. Regardless of whether or not I?m using an older or newer monitor. So I really don?t think it?s a monitor issue but rather one of the font is too small. At least in my opinion that is. Till later. indifference[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sena had always known that the day would come when he would no longer work for the government as an assassin. He was no fool; he knew exactly what they would do with someone with his skills. Letting him live was not an option. It was one thing to kill for them and yet another to die for them. He had no intention of doing so and the moment he knew how he had set up safe points in different cities with the necessary documents, weapons and money for him to just disappear. Ironically Sena had been looking forward to the day as he fully intended to hunt down his previous employers and eliminate them when the time came. He had never anticipated it would happen so soon though. He didn?t mind; the visions would be far more pleasurable than the simple assassin work he had been doing. It had been a long time since he had the pleasure of torturing someone to death. Sena opened the door to the tiny jewelry shop on Main Street and walked in. He had waited until the owner was starting to close the shop so he would be his last customer. ?Evening Mr. Henderson.? The shop owner said. ?The chain you requested is ready.? He walked over behind the jewelry case and pulled out a custom made chain with a small silver wire frame attached. Without a word Sena reached into his pocket and handed the red stone to the shop owner and watched as he placed the stone into the wire frame before fastening it shut. ?As you can see the wire frame fits the stone perfectly just like you requested.? The shop owner said as he handed Sena the necklace with the stone attached. Sena immediately put the necklace on. It was a perfect fit. Sena turned back to the shop owner who was waiting expectantly. He pulled out his wallet and said, ?So exactly how much do I owe you?? The owner placed the receipt for the work on the counter and opened his mouth to explain the charges when he was brought up short by the sudden appearance of a gun in Sena?s right hand pointed right at his head. Before he could even properly react to the gun he felt a sharp sting when Sena jabbed him with something sharp that he had in his left hand. The owner froze in fear, waiting for the gun to fire, when Sena did nothing he opened his mouth to speak only to find he couldn?t! Darkness began to cloud his vision and he his whole body started going numb. His last thought as darkness took over was he hoped his wife and kids were safe. Sena watched as the shop owner first froze in fear and then as his face twisted in panic when he realized that he couldn?t speak or move. The poison was quick acting and in less than a minute the man collapsed. He walked around and checked to make sure the man was dead and then gathered anything in the shop that was connected to his order for the necklace. It was a pity he couldn?t have more fun killing him, but he didn?t want to attract unnecessary attention to himself, especially since he would be staying the night in the city before moving on tomorrow. The poison he used was untraceable and would give the appearance of a heart attack so even if his body was found tonight it would not arouse suspicion among the local authorities. He didn?t really care about the local authorities but more about attracting the attention of those who were opposed to the visions of destruction becoming a reality. For some reason there was something in this town that made him feel uneasy, it was unsettling as he was not use to feeling that way. He was more use to feeling in control. The stone had told him that there were others who would assist in creating the vision of destruction and that they needed to work together. Sena didn?t care, so long as he got to kill others. He left the shop locking the door behind him and took the subway back to the apartment building he would be staying in for tonight. It didn?t take long for the train to reach his stop and he got off and walked across the street to the complex. As he was walking up the stairs the feeling of unease became even more pronounced. It was almost like something filled with light was hovering over his shoulder. [I]He hated it[/I]. It made him feel exposed somehow. ?Do you know what this feeling is?? He asked the Red stone. But the stone was preoccupied and didn?t answer him. Sena sighed with frustration and continued to climb the stairs. Once at the top he opened the door and entered the apartment. He put a few things away and made use of the restroom. Once he finished he turned off the lights and walked over to the balcony to look outside. He could clearly see the subway station across the street. Movement caught his eye and he looked down to see a young girl with long blue-black hair toting a backpack and what appeared to be an instrument case of some kind in her right hand leaving the building. Time seemed to freeze as the feeling of unease intensified. [I] It was her! She was what he had been sensing since he entered the city[/I]. Sena instinctively moved from the edge of the balcony back into the darkness. To his surprise the girl looked up directly at the balcony he was in. He knew she couldn?t see him but no one had ever been able to sense his presence before! Sena quickly pulled out his gun and took aim. Without fully understanding why, he knew she was dangerous. Before he could pull the trigger the red stone spoke. ?Don?t fire! You won?t be able to harm her and all you will do is give yourself away.? He put the gun away and watched as the unknown girl ran across the street and got onto the subway train and left. Sena didn?t even bother to try and follow her. By the time he got down there and actually caught the next subway she would be long gone. Especially since she had sensed his presence. Sena walked back into the room and lay down on the bed. ?So why did you stop me?? He asked the red stone. ?I could have easily taken her down.? ?I stopped you because she has one of the stones who oppose us in her possession. Your bullet would not have been able to penetrate her barrier. So it was pointless to confirm her suspicion that you were actually here.? The stone paused and continued, ?Be patient. I will teach you how to sense such things and how to hide your presence. And when the time is right, nothing she can do will stop you from destroying her.? Sena smiled in the darkness. Tonight he would rest, and tomorrow he would continue his journey to where the other stones that he would be working with were. And then he would find the girl. It had been a long time since he had a female target. He would be sure to take his time with this one. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Initially I joined myOtaku as I was looking for a site that not only was more tolerant of yaoi and yuri anime, but one that would let you post wallpapers from the various games and anime shows of that nature. I had a problem with one of the wallpapers I submitted and it was suggested to me by another myOtaku user to come here to OtakuBoards for assistance. So I started a thread in the Suggestion and Feedback area and I was literally blown away and how friendly, nice and helpful the people here were. The issue was quickly resolved. As a result of that I have made several new friends here and I keep coming back as it?s thankfully fairly spam free and it?s been a pleasure to talk with more open minded and educated anime fans. I?m really enjoying being a member and I have just recently started becoming involved in the RPG side of this forum. Overall I wish I had found this place much sooner.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]I chose my user name based on events that happened when I was a high school student and later after some experiences I had with other online anime forums. When I was in High School I made the mistake of bringing some Sailor Moon manga to class. One of my teachers saw it and assumed it was porn without bothering to read it and took me to the principal?s office where I got a huge lecture and then they took me outside and literally burned my books on the spot. My parents tried to complain to the authorities but the principal and teacher both lied and claimed they gave me the books back and that if anyone had burned them I must have done it myself. Needless to say the authorities believed the adults and not some out of state High School kid (since we had just moved to the state) who wasn?t a member of the dominant religion in the area. I also joined some online anime forums run by the dominant religion where I lived thinking it would be a good way to get to know the people of the area. It turned out to be nothing more than a way for the parents to strictly regulate and control what their children were watching in regards to anime. Since I am a fan of yaoi and yuri series the moment I mentioned a few I was immediately flamed by other members, It reached the point where I finally closed my account and looked around for another forum to join as I was tired of getting close to 100 + messages a month. I lost count of the religious subscriptions I was anonymously signed up to by other members of the forum. Needless to say I was not interested in the nonsense being sent my way. Those two events led me to change my user name to indifference as I decided that if others do not like my love of anime then as I my name says I am indifferent to their opinion in that respect as I have no intention of changing to fit their narrow views of what they think is acceptable. Ironically I like the new user name better than my previous one.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium]Well, I know a couple of pixel artists who are extremely skilled with things like icons and smilies. One of them is particularly good with fine detail and animation. So if I'm lucky enough, I might be able to get one (or both) of them to develop a new set of smilies from the ground up. I suppose that my intention would be to have smilies that are slightly anime-themed, although unique to OB. I don't want uniform colours - the colours would be different, for sure. And we'd obviously have animated and non-animated smilies. I'd want uniform dimensions and it's also possible for us to have "non-smilies" (like small icons or objects that you'd use like a smiley but that isn't simply a round face with an expression - like a little sign post or something). Right now I'm just thinking aloud, but this is the direction I'm hoping to go in. I'd much rather have unique smilies that really suit OB and are relevant to us, rather than freely-available stuff that you can find anywhere.[/font][/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]I know that I would enjoy the inclusion of non-smile icons or objects, as I have never been a big fan of smiles in general. But that?s primarily because I?ve seen them used excessively on other sites and I?ve never cared for a post that has two sentences and two paragraphs of various smilies. I say we keep the one with the tongue sticking out though, or at least make sure we have a good replacement as I?ve seen enough of [B]Desbreko?s[/B] posts that I always think of him when I see one. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo][QUOTE=Adahn]I understand that I'm making an assumption, and I didn't say all women I see are weak. However, with our society's obsession with thinness, many, many of the women in my college are quite thin. It's not natural to 'slim-down' like that. The result is that the majority of women I see are quite fragile. I don't say it to be condescending. I just hope that they don't find themselves in a situation where physical strength is necessary. Strength is just as important in trying to harm someone as it is in trying to protect or save someone. I got my statistic of '1 in 4' from a woman who works in the same place as you do, who also happens to be in my Sociology class. I hope that you can support that for me, since many people doubt my reasoning. I read an article written by a feminist who was attacked from behind, physically assaulted, raped, and left for dead. I know that in such a situation, in would be difficult to recover from the first blow, but I think a stronger body would have a better chance of resisting the concussive blow. I'm glad for the woman who turned on her attacker, and I wish all women were as capable as her. [/QUOTE] No need to worry as I know you were not trying to be condescending, I was only pointing out that for some of us that appearance is misleading. I know many of my guy friends are surprised by how strong I am. As for the statistics, sadly it?s all too true. The reason I did not quote the exact numbers is like I said, it?s considered a breach of privacy. If I were caught handing out specific numbers on such an issue that I got from the center I would get in quite a bit of trouble as I agreed to keep the exact number and other information regarding victims confidential. I agreed with you regarding the 1 to 4 ratio you were referring to as it is quite accurate. At least in Utah. Nationally I believe the statistic is 1 in every 6 women. For America that is. I can provide this link that has quite a bit more information regarding rape, including the fact that it is estimated that 10% of sexual assault victims are men. Again this information applies to America, I do not know what it is for other countries. So if you really are curious about it then go here: [URL=http://www.rainn.org/statistics/index.html][B][COLOR=Indigo]Statistics[/COLOR][/B][/URL] I work at the women's crisis center as a volunteer as I am majoring in psychology with the intent to become a therapist who works with the assault victims when I graduate. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]For me being a woman is almost meaningless. Other than the obvious differences between a man and a woman, which are a result of genetics. I never really thought about my gender when deciding how I wanted to live my life or as a factor in choosing what I actually do. I feel like I am pretty capable in many roles regardless of what society thinks is more male dominated versus female dominated roles. Mentally I never considered myself inferior or superior to men. You don?t have to be a genius to be smart, quite a bit of intelligence can come from just being educated. It may have been true in the past, at least here in America, that women could not vote or hold much in the way of jobs, but that is no longer true. So I guess you could say being a woman to me means that if I so desire I can choose to be a mother. Which is probably why I never think about it as I have no desire to have children. [/COLOR] [QUOTE=Adahn] If you go to college, look at the women around you. Almost all of them are soft and fragile. How many of them could beat you in an arm-wrestling match? [/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]That?s a bit of an assumption, as appearances do not reflect the whole truth. I fit the description of looking soft and fragile and yet I assure you I am more than capable of winning an arm-wrestling match against many of my guy friends. That?s like judging a book by it?s cover, it won?t tell you what?s really inside.[/COLOR] [QUOTE=Adahn] Sandy, what are the odds that a woman will be raped in her lifetime? 1 in 4, according to statistics. How many rapes that occur could be prevented if strength in women were socially acceptable? I don't even want to guess, because I hate rape with such a passion that learning society's role in its perpetuation would make of me a deviant bent on the destruction of our society. Physical strength/skill are effective preventative measures to sexual assault. How many stories of wife beatings would we have if women had the physical strength to stand up for themselves? [/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]Actually quite often the real problem is that many women are caught by surprise when they are attacked. I can?t give you my source of statistics as I work for a crisis center for women and information of that nature is considered private, but quite a few of those who are attacked are hit before they even know someone is there. If you were to let them know the attacker is coming, how many do you think would fight back? And possibly win? It?s difficult to fight back when the attacker has the upper hand by either hitting you hard enough to nearly knock you out or if they pin you down so it would require greater strength than a normal to wiggle free. For example by throwing a net over you, your movements are restricted preventing you from using your full strength properly. Most would be rapists are cowards who strike before you even know they are there. I assure you many do fight back and win in spite of the surprise factor involved. I dealt with a case earlier this year where the woman managed to not only take the knife from the attacker but when she got done beating him up for attacking her in the first place, he had to be taken to the hospital. Being attacked without waring is not a true representation of how strong a woman is as it is quite often not an equal fight due to the fact that they are being attacked without warning. [/COLOR] [QUOTE=Gavin][SIZE=1] By nature I'm an old fashioned kind of man myself, while I'd have no problem with my wife going out working and holding down a full time job, if finances permitted it I would prefer that she stayed home and raised the children. Before humans formed civilizations and even after the formation of civilization men were hunters, not fighters, they took care of their families needs where as woman took care of the children and I think those roles are still important in the modern world. Call me sexist or old fashioned, but I'd like to take care of my wife and family because it's my job as a gentleman and as a man.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo] I might call you old fashioned, but not sexist. It is one thing to say you would prefer that she stay home versus the true sexist who would expect it and demand that she stay home. Nothing wrong with being a gentleman in my opinion I think you state it quite nicely.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=Petie][font=Verdana][color=blue]Well first of all, why do you have a ] in front of the links? Is that supposed to be there for this post or are you actually pasting that in. That could definitely be a problem if you're putting in the bracket.[/color][/font] [font=Verdana][color=blue][/color][/font] [font=Verdana][color=blue]The thing I thought of first is just that the URL is too long. There is a limit to the number of characters you can use for fields in your backroom. If you need to, you can use something like [url=http://www.tinyurl.com]TinyURL[/url] to shorten the links first. Just remember to remove that bracket if you haven't done so already.[/color][/font] [font=Verdana][color=blue][/color][/font][/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]The brackets are only for the post so it doesn't automatically turn it into a link for the post. When I previewed the post before submitting it the system turned them into links and as a result the view was shortned so you couldn't see that one was longer than the other without clicking on both of them. I'm still learning how to do things on my site so I didn't think to explain why I put brackets in front of the link. Sorry about that. When I put the code in there was no brackets in front of them. If it is a case of being to long then I'll be sure to check out the TinyURL site you mentioned. Thank you for the assistance. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Indigo]Recently I changed my theme to myOtaku page. I ran into an error telling me that the link I was using was not valid. I have since gotten it fixed, but I got to wondering just what the problem was. I use several different image services. But I have started using one called zoto as it has a number of features that photobucket and imageshack do not. But when I try to use the code for pictures hosted there they do not work and I get the error that the link is invalid. I only have this problem when trying to use it for a background image on myOtaku page. They work just fine for posting on my site. I am guessing that the problem is because the actual code is too long. Here?s a couple of the links and as you can see the zoto one is longer than the photobucket one. ]http://indifference.zoto.com/img/original/17fd618ddf054dc14a564830670722ba.jpg ]http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c374/indifferencecry/PlatinaAlt09.jpg My background is working with the photobucket account so I guess you could say I am just curious as to what the problem really was. Or if I did something wrong when putting the code in. [/COLOR]

[QUOTE=ChronosDevil] Anna is out of town and asked me to fill in for her so any way she did that beacause there was no little upload thing but on ZU there was so she just copied it onto here!! you guys are so difficult i don't think she'll want to come home to this you guys are so heartless this is an online board i can't prove anything so what she did those and i know it weather you want to belive it or not get a life! you guys wouldn't like it if the same thing happened to u now would u? if your so worried about weather she did thoes or not than keep it to yourself beacause quite frankly im tiered of having to deal with morons like you like i said get a damn life! If this gets closed fine than Anna wouldn't have to deal with you jerks you have to respect her and i havn't been seeing it lately from school or anywhere else she's in a tought time now her dad died so lay off! go be rude somewhere else if i see anymore of this im going to tell Anna to close this! there was no meaning for her comic she just wanted to make it look funny if you can't see it tough! you'll live get a hold of your whinning and biccering!Just beacause you didn't belive her the first time doesn't mean you have to be rude the second time! I know i can be harsh but this is the truth don't diss anyone just beacause you don't like them i make people learn that the hard way good bye[/QUOTE] [COLOR=Indigo]This is where both you and YohsAnna lost any form of creditability in my opinion. Even I understand how to upload a picture to a free server. If you can upload a picture to the ZU site then you can also simply go to [url]www.imageshack.us[/url] and sign up and do the same thing. It is not an issue of being able to upload it here at otaku as you do have the ?attach a file? option when you are making a post. Instead you are throwing out meaningless accusations by telling people that they are mean and to get a life. I was giving YohsAnna the benefit of the doubt by asking her to upload and host the picture herself. Quite truthfully all the two of you are doing is looking like thieves who claim others fan art as their own and then scream and yell when someone points this out. Instead of getting angry you could try going to the PC/Mac section or even the Suggestions & Feedback area as you can post in both areas asking for assistance on how to host your own images as it is usually considered rude to hotlink to others sites as it uses up their bandwidth. [/COLOR] [quote name='YohsAnna']you didn't have to be that harsh but yes im going through a tuff time and that comic was posted on ZU by ChronosDevil but she let me post it here since i made the story line and i was supposed to just be stupid ok there was no meanning to it and i thought thats what makes a good comady like the Hitchhikers Guid To the Galaxy it basicly had no plot so it was funny and thats all im saying[/quote] [COLOR=Indigo]I will explain once again that it is simple for someone to upload a picture to a free server as. If ChronosDevil can post it on ZU then why can?t she post in an image shack account as well? As I said before, it?s free and simple to do. [/COLOR]