DeathKnight

[color=crimson]House MD is getting too popular. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3zeMhFOP4w]Canes are bitchin'[/url].[/color]

[color=crimson]The first draft of three point five interconnected short stories concerning several hours on the night of December 6 in the town of Hearthton. I. The Cleansing The red tinge trails from the edge of my mouth off my face. I stand before my collected brothers, and tap the altar once with my hand. I have finished devouring the entrails of the drunkard, and the sacrifice is completed. I spit out the blood onto the altar, and immediately it reacts. The marble altar lets out a low, hollow sound followed by a harrowingly loud groan. "This will be the dawn of a new age. I call forth from the void the unknown one; the being who harkens a new age for all of mankind!" I said and the brothers let out a triumphant hoot. “We are your servants, and all of us will shed our blood for your eternal existence! Wash the Earth! Cleanse the Earth! Bring upon us a new age, our lord! Come forth!” The leftovers on the altar burn to ash and a horrible chill falls through the room. My brothers let out a gasp mixed with terror and anticipation. The chill causes me to shudder, and I watch the ashes as they float up into the air. A voice begins to speak, but not from the room. Instead, it originates inside my own head similar to a thought. I fell backwards with its initially gravely tone, and came to rest on the rough stone of the cavern. "For thousands of years," The ashes rose and formed into the shape of a star, "I have watched a growing stain." I pushed myself off the wall and tried to right myself, but the voice seemed to knock me down harder this time. I fell onto the altar and felt some of the ashes crawling over my skin. The ashes left a black trail over my arms, and within a few seconds, I was criss-crossed with dozens of thin black lines. “A stain that has used fire, metal, and blood to pillage all it so desired.” The star divided into a dozen smaller stars. These smaller stars flew at dazzling speed and attached themselves to the foreheads of my brothers. A few panicked at this and scrubbed with increasing frustration at their foreheads, but the ash was similar to a tattoo upon them. “Pillaged the land and green earth, pillaged, pillaged, and PILLAGED whatever it so desired. You filthy ape borne monstrosities summon me, the father of your failed existence.” Several of the brothers broke down into tears as the voice lowered into a demonic, guttural noise that grunted an unspeakable language as if cursing our naivety. The lines on my skin began to burn, and I heard the shrieks of my brothers. I managed to open my eyes to watch them, and I wish I had not, for in those few moments I witnessed their demise. The stars were incandescently burning purple, and blood poured down from them. The eyes of the brothers were brimming with madness as they clawed at their foreheads. The screams they uttered slowly became more and more inhuman; until finally one-by-one, each man raised his hands high into the air before slamming them into their gut and ripping their flesh open. Their entrails spilled out across the floor. They slumped, each one of them, one at a time to the floor. The stars still burned bright on their foreheads, even though their bodies lay torn asunder. The entrails bubble and frothed. All the blood-red organs came together and rose into a terrifying array of body parts. In a calculating fashion, the bloody heap oozed across the floor to acquire the head of each brother, and so it now had a dozen heads all with mouths open agape with that accursed purple star shining like a beacon upon them. The mouths began to flap incessantly and the guttural voice came out from each one. I forced myself up from the altar and groped at a nearby torch. I cast it onto the heap and it burst aflame, but it did not burn away. The flaming mash-up of my brothers oozed towards me and all the heads turned to look at me. The mouths curled into a smile before they spoke once more. “Do not scream. Accept your fate and let me use you. You desired me to clean the Earth, and it seems to me I am simply starting with this cavern.” I stared at the faces and weakly shook my head. “No?” It asked mockingly. “Terrible fortunes are befalling you this evening it seems. Terrible, terrible indeed. Let me end them.” I descended into deep terror and let out a yelp. I tore away and surged past the creature. I do not know if it let me go, but I spilled out behind it and followed the labyrinthine cavern up to the surface and never glanced behind me. The police say that they picked me up wandering the streets of Hearthton babbling incoherently. They insist I am mad and that there is no such cavern anywhere near Hearthton. They cannot even see the lines. The lines, the black thin lines that are traced across my body and I cannot wash them off no matter what I do. They speak to me, and they talk of the coming end. They thank me. I cannot wash them off, and these markings move across my body as if alive. Even now, I can hear the sound of something oozing around the padded walls. It is watching me. It is coming for me. II. Graveyard Shift Michael Warrington is a modern, contemporary man. He has tivo in his house, he drives a Ford Excursion, and his wife and children love him. He works at the Hearthton Insane Asylum, or ‘Psychiatric Hospital’ as said in the press releases, as a night guard, and his job is usually quite boring. He watches security screens. He walks baby blue halls and passes the hospital-white doors that hold the craziest of the crazy from across the county. Sometimes, he stops outside for a smoke. Yes, Michael Warrington’s job is dull. On the night of December 6th, Warrington was standing outside for a smoke. His shift had one hour to go, and had so far been bland as usual. The night air was cool, and the stars stared down upon him from the sky as sentinels. Warrington tapped excess ashes from his cigarette and checked his cell phone. 4:01 AM and time could sincerely not pass by any slower. He tossed his cigarette to the ground and walked back into the asylum. The silence was broken only briefly by a giggle here or a incoherent muttering here. As he wandered the halls, a piercing scream echoed down to him. He furrowed his eyebrows and jogged towards the source of the scream. He turned the corner at the asylum’s central junction, and halted. The hallway in front of him was pitch black. He pulled out his two-way to the central security room, “Chuck, there’s an outage in Hall 2A. The emergency lights didn’t come on; flip them on manually for me.” The radio was silent. Warrington stared down at his two-way. “Chuck, are you asleep again man? I need those emergencies on.” The red emergency lights flickered on. “Thanks Chuck.” There was no response, but Warrington thought for a moment he heard a slight dripping noise from the two-way. The hallway looked normal under the crimson glow of the lights. Warrington slowly walked down the hall and peered through the first window. There was no one inside. The seriousness of the situation dawned on Warrington and he scrambled for his pistol. Warrington hoarsely whispered into the two-way, “Chuck, at least one patient is out of the room- no, two.” He corrected himself as he glanced through the next window. “Three, four, five.” Warrington’s count increased as he jogged down the hall. “The entire damn hall is empty. This is- damn, Chuck we need the police down here right now.” The silence came over the radio again. Warrington looked down at his two-way in confusion. “Chuck, why are you being so damn quiet?” “Sorry, so sorry.” Chuck’s voice finally came over the two-way. It sounded different to Warrington’s ears. There was a hallow tone to it, or a lack of emotion. Something was strange about it. “Are you okay Chuck? You went quiet for a long time there man.” Warrington said as he checked the rest of the hall. “I am simply startled by the situation around us, friend.” Chuck said in a very odd way. “It seems you require the police, am I correct?” “Well, yeah, but why so formal? You feel threatened in your little fortress of a room?” Warrington chuckled to himself but there was no response back. “I have contacted the proper authorities, Michael Warrington. Are you doing well out there? It must be very eerie.” “Yeah, this entire hall shows absolutely no sign of forced entry or exit. In fact, I think the locking systems on these doors are intact.” Darkness fell behind him, and Warrington turned to look. Beyond the central intersection, the hallway opposite of him had fallen dark. “Shit, Chuck. 1A is down now too. I’ll go check it out, flip the emergencies on.” “I shall.” Warrington jogged to Hallway 1A and found it in the same condition as 2A. The door locking systems were in tact. The keypads were not disabled, the deadbolts were in position, and the door had not been touched in the least. All the patients in 1A were gone, and there was no trace of them in the Hallway. There was not a sound throughout the hospital, nor had any of the external door alarms gone off. “Chuck, I have to say I am stumped. The patients have disappeared off the fucking Earth for all I know.” “That is unlikely, Michael. I believe they are to be found, and perhaps it would be prudent to go to the two hallways that have not been affected.” “Yeah, if those hallways go dark I need those emergencies on immediately.” Warrington jogged back to the central intersection and looked down both of the lit hallways. Nothing was amiss. “It’s here! It’s here! It’s HERE!” A voice screamed from behind Warrington. He swiveled and ran to the door of the screaming voice. It was the soap-patient, so called because he insisted that he needed to wash himself almost every five minutes. He was wide-eyed and staring at the ceiling. “You stay away! You keep away from me; I will not lose my head!” Warrington turned on the intercom into the room, “Patient 126, what seems to be the problem? “Send it away! Send it away; send it away; send it away; send it away!” The patient leapt up and staggered towards the window in the door. He looked pleadingly at Warrington, “Keep it away from me! It killed us, but we brought it here, but- displeasure, why was it displeased? We did everything correctly, but they are all dead! It is- you hear it? Right? You hear it? That oozing noise, the- the slime, the slimy noise of something in the walls. It drips and oozes around me, reminding me that I am part of it. It is strong tonight, the noise is strong tonight! You must get me out of here, it is too strong tonight.” “I can’t let you out of here 126, and I can’t get you anything to let you sleep. I need to take care of,” Warrington paused and glanced at the intersection where the two crimson halls met. He thought he had seen something move across it. He warily turned back to look at 126. “I need to take care of some work first, but I would appreciate it if you kept things down.” “Michael, I am picking up some movement in the hallway opposite you. Very queer looking, very queer. Oh my, I believe that- yes, yes the lights just went off in that hallway. The emergency lights are already lit for you.” “Thanks, Chuck.” Warrington jogged now to 1B, and there the situation was the same. No patients. No doors had been messed with. “Chuck, are the police here yet?” “Why no, Michael, they are not here yet. It seems to be dangerously stormy outside, and perhaps that is delaying their arrival.” Warrington paused. “Stormy, is it?” He looked up at a security camera. “Is it a pretty bad storm?” “Very bad, Michael. Very bad indeed.” “I see.” Warrington said. He heard the scream of 126 again. He screamed over and over that it was here, it was here, it was here. “Michael, 126 seems distressed. I think you should bring him some medication to allow him to rest, don’t you?” Chuck said. Warrington walked at a slow pace to the center of the intersection. “Well, I would but I don’t feel real comfortable just leaving this situation, y’know? Why don’t you come down here with some medicine and help me out? We could sort this out together.” There was a long pause at the end of the two-way. All the lights went out and only the sound of 126’s screaming was heard. “We have a problem, Michael.” The two-way spoke in the darkness. “A very big problem as it seems something has affected the power of this hospital. You are correct though. I believe the saying by our people is ‘two heads are better than one.’” Something in Chuck’s tone caused Warrington to shiver. “Chuck, you don’t have to grope your way down here in the dark. I think I am going to go outside and see what the situation with our power is.” The dripping noise came over the two-way once more, and 126 screamed in terror. “No! I- I offered service! I can be part of your new order!” He yelled. "Let me lead your servants! I can-" The yelling stopped with a nauseating gurgle. “You will be.” Warrington stumbled into the wall as a voice echoed in his head. It seemed to drag his feet to a halt as it spoke. “Not in the way you imagined.” 126’s screams began anew and a purple light glowed out of the door’s window. Warrington righted himself, stepped back, and ran towards the exit. A bright red light shone from behind him, and Warrington looked to see the most horrifying and maddening thing in the hallway behind him. It was a heap of organs, all frothing and moving together as one. There were dozens upon dozens of heads across its surface, and each had a purple star glowing out from it. The thing took up the entire width and height of the hallway, and Warrington had no way to discern how far back it went. The most maddening of all was the head in the very center of it. Chuck’s head stared at him, and the voice spoke in a cacophony of human voices. “Good evening.” Warrington panicked and fired his pistol till it was empty at the mass. The bullets were absorbed into the large pile of human parts, and the mass shuddered with laughter. Warrington turned and broke into a sprint as his terrified instincts drove him to fly from that place. He tore out of the exit and ran down a set of stairs to the power terminal. Frantically and haphazardly he flipped every lever and pushed every button he could. The terminal let out an alarmed beep, but Warrington insisted and told the terminal what to do. He glanced up the stairs, and the purple stars of the mass glowed in the darkness above. Warrington stepped backwards several times, but his back was against a high, barbed wire fence. Frantically, he climbed up the fence and ignored the barbs as they tore through his skin. He took one glance back at the mass, but it stood silently at the top of the stairs and did not move. It watched him run from the hospital, and finally a large explosion overwhelmed the rear of the hospital. The fire spread from the power system and across the hospital with abnormal speed. Warrington turned and watched the glowing red of the hospital. He fell to his knees as the fire spiraled into an otherworldly maelstrom. The mass floated up into the maelstrom, and funneled the orange flames up into the sky above. The hospital below shook with a tremendous downward force, and it collapsed into a fiery ruin immediately. The firestorm now swarmed far above him in the sky. It swirled like a hurricane, and a wall of fire cut off his escape route. He collapsed to the ground and rolled over. The orange flames twirled around the heap, and it began to fall from the sky down onto him. Warrington cried out, but blackness enveloped him and that was all he knew. III. Zazith The jail cells were unoccupied except for one drunk. Hugh stared at the one drunk for a long time, and watched the drunk stare at the floor in return. The drunk swayed as he stared, and Hugh wondered if a strong wind would simply topple him over. “Izza long night.” The drunk said and looked Hugh in the eye. “Long, izza long night fur you two ‘uh Hugh?” “Yeah.” Hugh said and nodded. “You’re the only trouble maker tonight, Red.” The drunk was a long-time offender, and his continually alcohol-flushed cheeks had earned him a nickname over the years. “Not too unusual, but I always wonder where you get the money to drink so much.” “Oh, I do that shtuff legal, jus’ take it and end up doin’ stuff illegal, you know? Nice shishtem.” The drunk barely managed to ramble the entire sentence out without tipping off of the prison cell’s bench. “It seems to work very well for you, Red. A little too well, actually.” Hugh smiled at the drunk. It was a lazy night in Hearthton, and even Red was welcome company on this cold December night. The phone rang, and Hugh picked it up. “Hearthton Police Department, Officer Calvin speaking.” “I would like to report arson.” A steely calm voice came over the phone. “It occurred a few moments ago. The entire Hearthton Psychiatric Hospital seems to be affected.” “Oh Jesus, the entire hospital?” Hugh imagined the evacuation headache that must be underway. “We’ll send some units out to help with the evacuation immediately.” “There was no evacuation. Everyone inside is dead and the building is nothing but a pile of rubble.” Hugh froze and stared blankly at the floor. “Wait, the entire hospital is gone? There is no one outside at all?” “I am looking at the hospital. It looks very ruined to me.” “Alright, the units will be underway to look at the crime scene. I’d ask you to stay there and assist the officers in answering any questions they have, Mr. …?” “My name is Rose.” “Alright, Mr. Rose. I appreciate the call and we’ll get the units out there as soon as possible.” Hugh sent the majority of his units out to investigate the crime scene, but he felt comfortable with a skeleton crew patrolling Hearthton. It was a quiet town, and the cool winds of winter always seemed to dim what little trouble makers there were. “Thass a bit weird, Hugh.” Red said. “The entire hozpital burnt down, thass jus’ weird, but no survivors? Shit, tha’ was one hell of a fire.” “Yeah, I don’t understand how not a single soul could get out. Not even the workers. I guess they tried to save the patients, and, if that is the case, that is a real tragedy. This will really affect the whole town.” “It’z aight there Hugh, you’ll be aighht. The rest of ‘em, I dunno about ‘em.” Red said and looked out the barred window in his cell. “The rest of ‘em, well, I zupuse that they’ll do as they need to do.” Hugh looked at Red, and the drunkard looked incredibly sober. “Well, I appreciate it Red. I hope that the rest of the town will do alright with it too.” “We’ll zee.” Red said. “We’ll zee.” The radio system came alive. “Hugh, this is Grant. We’ve arrived at the psychiatric hospital, and it looks like that caller was right. The entire place is black rubble, and there is not a sign of anyone, not even the caller. We’re going to start looking around the grounds. Hopefully we can find that caller.” Hugh picked up the radio and responded. “Got it, Grant. Take care of yourself out there, there is a real chill in the air tonight.” “Therezza bad awful chill, zazright.” Red said in a return to being quite drunk. An explosion tore out from outside. The shockwave blasted the windows to pieces, and it slammed Hugh out of his chair and onto the floor. He stood up uneasily and held onto his desk to stand sturdily. There were small cuts along his arms from the glass, but it was nothing serious. He glanced over at Red, but he sat in the same spot unmoved. “You okay, Red?” Hugh asked. Red just nodded back at him. Hugh moved quickly and stepped outside to look over the town. There was a large black plume of smoke towering up from the middle of town. Hugh ran inside and grabbed the keys to his patrol car. “Red, I’ll be back.” “Take yur time, therezz no rushk.” He said. Hugh drove to the center of town and the large Cathedral that stood majestically was ablaze. He radioed for fire assistance, but there was no response from the either the fire department or the emergency responder. Neither could he hail Grant or anyone else from the psychiatric hospital. He tossed his radio down in disgust, and ran towards the Cathedral. “Hello, is anyone inside?” He called out. There was no response. The front door burst open and a wall of flame jetted out. Hugh jumped backwards in surprise, but the bigger surprise was the black form that calmly walked outside of the cathedral. It was a dark shade of a man, and the edges of his form seemed to be vapor. His eyes were iridescently dark purple and seemed gaseous. Whisps of the purple light trailed up into the air, and the very sight of his eyes sent a tremor of fear down Hugh’s form. The nature of this creature was not human, but it was merely human shaped. Darkness and shadows were fashioned together to make this creature. The two purple eyes set upon Hugh, and he drew his pistol. The creature stared at the pistol, then to Hugh, then back to the pistol, and walked away towards the street. “Freeze!” The creature froze at the sound of Hugh’s voice. It turned and tilted its head towards Hugh, until the head simply fell off an onto the ground and melted. The body of the creature melted away into the black pool, and it moved towards Hugh. It paused in front of him and bubbled. The two eyes came to the surface and stared up at him; they were looking at him with a mixture of predatory interest and amusement. The black pool shot up into the air and flew towards the nearest building, the Post Office. It expanded exponentially in the air and swallowed the building whole. Black flames burst forth across its body, and immediately an explosion ripped out from it. The shockwave sent Hugh hurtling into a tree, and he blacked out. Hugh woke up some time later, and it was silent all around him. The post office was gone, the cathedral was gone, Murph’s department store was gone, and everything in sight was merely rubble. In every direction, there was merely rubble to see, and all of it left off a trail of black smoke high into the air. There were bloody masses all along the street, and it looked as if people had merely exploded in on themselves while running away. The smaller heaps of organs were children, and Hugh felt faint from the realization. There were trails of blood, and it looked as if the heaps had moved themselves back and forth for some time driven by some unknown puppeteer. Hugh stood and radioed desperately for someone, anyone. There was no response. His car was gone, and so he walked the streets of Hearthton looking for survivors. The school was gone. His house was gone, and the bloody heaps around his house he had stared at for several minutes before moving on. Finally, he came back to the police station. The cell was still standing, and inside it sat Red. Red looked up at Hugh and shook his head. “Too loud to sleep.” He said. “What a commotion they made, but it was all the same.” “Red, what he hell happened?” Hugh said and grabbed onto the bars of his cell. “Let me out of this cell, Hugh.” The shock of the situation had overwhelmed his mind, so Hugh did the task without a second thought. Red walked out and looked out across the rubble of the town. He glanced at Hugh, and there was a smile on his face. “I know who did this, and he is a terrifying individual indeed. He left me a symbol to give you, and I believe it could lead to an answer for you.” Red reached into his pants’ pocket and pulled out a small medallion. He gave it to Hugh and looked up into the night sky. The rolling black columns of smoke blotted out the sky to a dark gray color. “It looks stormy tonight.” Red said and began to walk away. “You should probably leave before the storm gets here.” Hugh looked down at the medallion. There was a picture of a star etched into it, and on the reverse side was a horrifying picture of a severed head. The top of the coin had words in an unrecognizable language etched upon it. “What the hell does that say?” Red turned and looked at him. His grin grew unnaturally large, and his teeth sharpened into fangs. Hugh dropped the medallion and raised his pistol. The voice that came out of Red’s mouth sounded more similar to the buzz of a thousand insects that human speech. “It is the proper title for the King of a particularly pestilent world.” “What is his name?” Hugh said. “His name? It is the same as my name." Red pointed to himself. "I am Zazith.” Red’s face burst open. The blood splattered over the ground. Out of his face gushed a fountain of blood, guts, and heads. Hugh fired his pistol without effect, and finally dropped it and ran. He sprinted across the abandoned streets, and glanced behind him to see the blood-red form that Zazith had taken. It was massive, and taller than any of the buildings in Hearthton could be. “You will go and you will try to tell people what has happened here. There will be none that believes in you, yet soon the terror of Zazith will reclaim the globe. I will fix the errors you have committed. Run, Hugh. Run to the corners of the Earth, and know that you will be the last to be cleansed.” The voice reverberated in his head so loudly that Hugh convulsed on the ground as it spoke. The mountain shuddered and drew in on itself. All of the piles of body parts flew to join it, and soon the only thing that remained was the distant silhouette of Zazith’s human form. Hugh stood and staggered into the forest at the edge of town. He wandered aimlessly for many days. A group of hikers stumbled upon him wandering in forest and rambling on about the destruction of the world. A helicopter took him to a hospital in the nearest town, and the authorities were confused when he insisted on being from Hearthton. The authorities had never heard of Hearthton, and insisted that he was mistaken. The doctors insisted it was some form of mental delusion from his taxing trip through the forest. Hugh recovered, and stubbornly took a trip back to Hearthton. The highway showed no exit to Hearthton where it once did. Hugh pulled over and stubbornly hiked several miles to where Hearthton was. In the place of the city was a large, foggy forest that seemed to be untouched by time in its beauty and splendor. In the center of the forest, sitting alone in a small clearing, sat the sole artifact from Hearthton. Hugh approached the prison cell. Vines had grown over its bars, and the ceiling had fallen in, but it was definitely the very same prison cell the drunkard had been in. Hugh entered it. A golden glint caught his attention and he brushed away some rubble from the ceiling. There sat the Medallion of Zazith, with the severed head smiling up at Hugh. IIIB. An Excerpt from the Book of the Corpse-King "The King walked down from the throne and onto the orb. The orb had been desecrated by the ape borne, and the King was displeased. The King took into his own hands the cleansing of Earth, and walked upon it. The orb cried many tears as the King let fire wash across the landscape, and the many creatures of the orb trembled as the corpse-King grew in might and power. In this time, I was graced with a vision of the King in his heavenly form. My eyes fell upon the King, and I shuddered at his true form. There upon him were four black wings, mere skeletons with ribbons of flesh hanging off, and his eyes were innumerable. The purple, the symbol of the King, was shining greatly within them. His body was more a conglomeration of dripping black bile, and within it one could see the pearly white bones of defeated enemies sticking out. He flew through heaven as a shooting star, and turned all life to corpses wherever he went. He is the corpse-King, Zazith, ruler of the orb, and his form will wash over it. The terror in that day will not cease, and neither will the cry from the ape borne. Their pestilence will be at an end, and their bodies will join the marvelous form of the corpse-King. Let it be known to all who read this, that he is coming, and there is no hope for salvation. Weep for your children, weep for the planet, and look to the sky, for there the corpse-King stares down upon the planet hungrily, awaiting the time when he can put things right." - The Book of the Corpse-King, as translated by Milton Merchel[/color]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="77656"]Gavin, anybody can put somehting into wikipedia, so that soarce isn't legitimite. I could say that I'm and 28 year old livin inCalifornia on wikipedia, when I'm just a minor living in upstate New York. So Gavin, you failed oon that part.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]I know, that [url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/duc.htm]United States Department of Justice[/url] source that says the exact same thing as the Wikipedia article could have come from anywhere, Gavin. I expected more from you, and you fell far short of that.[/color]

[quote name='Aaryanna'][COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Sounds like someone is grouchy. :p[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]Very. I am a cannibal who eats people who argue without thinking it through rationally. I ate The13thMan's liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti. ;)[/color]

[quote name='AzureWolf']I think there is just hype over the lack of research, and what little research that has been done on the effects of marijuana smoke have been NOT BAD (doesn't mean same thing as good). This says nothing about the long-term effects, or anything else. Ok, so there has been no research that shows any detrimental effects, but that is not the same as finding consistent, universal benefits either. The drug helps some people, hurts others. It is unpredictable. Being responsible has little to do with legalizing a drug with unpredictable effects. That just makes no logical sense.[/QUOTE] [color=crimson]All of you should have stopped shitting on each other when this post came up but, Jesus Christ, you guys really must need an outlet for your hot air.[/color]

[color=crimson]Two to three hours into Mass Effect, I have to say I am very impressed. BioWare titles are usually superb story, mechanics, and characters. This time the visual aspect of the game is astonishing. They stress the 360's capabilities at times. Character armor pops in a second or two after a scene begins or a location loads, and similar textures on landscapes take only a slight second or two. I would say that is a testament to their beautiful nature, and the graphical slowdowns are not too annoying. The universe, even three hours in, seems massive and well developed. If you care about backstories and the universe BioWare created, there is a steady stream of interesting entries about species, history, technology, and a widespread array of topic that bring BioWare's universe to greater life. This is without having your own ship or visiting and exploring planets, so you can imagine the scope increases. I created a soldier class, and can report that combat is very fluid. There is a cover system that is less expansive than Gears of War, but works adequately enough to keep your skin intact in firefights. I have not tinkered with biotics [magic-esque system] too much, but some of the powers sound both fun and powerful. I am impressed with Mass Effect. Various reviews nitpick aspects of the game, and these minor issues are true. Loading times and graphical glitches are not too obnoxious to me when the rest of the product is so fluid and amazing.[/color]

[color=crimson][b]Russia[/b] [img]http://www.geographyiq.com/images/rs/Russia_map.gif[/img] Then I could conquer you nubs and take your stuff.[/color]

[color=crimson]I go to my girlfriends for thanksgiving since my parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, my Dad just left with my Mom for lunch with the parting salute of "Have fun with the pagans!", lol. Trippy gentleman, him. The history of the Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock is, roughly and heavily summarized: Pilgrims have ****** winter. Many of them die. Pilgrims face ****** winter again, but out of the blue comes... Indian appears out of nowhere who can speak English, offers them help. His name is Squanto. Squanto was captured as a slave by the English a few years earlier, brought to England, learned the English language, somehow escaped and ended up back in North America to find that his entire tribe (and most of the New England tribes in general) had been wiped out by a plague. Ended up in another tribe. Squanto acts as a translator, teacher, and mentor to the Pilgrims on New World horticulture. Teaches the Pilgrims how to grow corn, catch eel, and acts as kind of a go between with the indians. Pilgrims aren't facing too ****** of a winter after all. They hold a typical harvest festival that year, which over centuries is spun into 'Thanksgiving'. I don't really remember how it was spun so much over two hundred years. These things happen I guess. There were earlier 'Thanksgivings' held in America, a couple at least. Two second Epilogue: Squanto was distrusted by both the Indians and the Colonists. He dies mysteriously on the way back from a diplomatic meeting between Indians and Colonists. The resulting expansion and success of the colonies across North America is well known. The effect this had on the Native American populations and their success in the following centuries also goes without saying. Teach a man to fish, right?[/color]

[color=crimson]I was sick earlier this week and I handled it with sleep, caldo de pollo, and skipping a day of college. It was some kind of weird sickness. My temperature would spike every time I got off of ibuprofen, my neck was a bit stiff, and my throat hurt when I swallowed. It is pretty much gone by now, but I have no idea what "it" was. I think caldo de pollo is the best thing for a hurting throat. Delicious and nutritious.[/color]

[color=crimson]The most depressing moment of my life: Pre-ordering Mass Effect while my 360 was being repaired for red ring of death. It still isn't back. :([/color]

[quote name='Avenged666fold']I can't type or move a mouse while I do...what your suppose to do when your looking at porn[/QUOTE] [color=crimson]Try your left hand.[/color] [color=crimson]I have played games that were utterly strange and devoted to nothing but sex. The X-Change series, where a boy gets turned into a girl and has intercourse in a ton of consensual and none-consensual ways, is probably one of the weirdest series I have played through. I bring this series up because it is an example of a Japanese eroge maid simply to be pornography. The story is not even worth describing beyond the set up I mentioned above, and that little snippet is just the tip of the iceberg of the horrid narration of the game. I can compare this to Crescendo, which was a very well written and emotionally moving game. The sexual scenes were complimentary to the overall story. Ever17, mentioned by Dagger, does not have any sexual scenes portrayed on screen. Ever17 was probably the best visual novel I have ever played. It is also the only visual novel that I have wanted to play again through the multiple endings just to see the story again. The intention of the game creators is easy to see over the course of playing through the game.[/color]

[quote name='The13thMan'][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Rap today is complete trash. I was listening to a rap artist the other day talking about how the rap of today is complete trash and how the rap of yesterday was real stuff. It had a message, it wasn't just derogatory bullshet about women, sex, and drugs. His basic theory was that the old school rappers didn't hold the new ones accountable for what their messages. So, to sum up (or rap up), rap is crap. [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]10 miles wide, one inch deep (You get boosted an extra 9 miles, congratulations). Your opinion is best applied to mainstream rap, and according to most people 'in the know' and who are 'crazy cool to the max' mainstream music usually consists of what is marketable to the broadest audience possible. The independent, underground rappers that exist in the United States and the United Kingdom (primarily) rap on a wide variety of issues that touch political, religious, socioeconomic, and philosophical topics. Rap music is a very broad field of sounds and messages. What is popular is unfortunate, but it is simply popular. So asterisk yourself and make the necessary addition of "mainstream" before "rap". I don't really know what clique I was in school. I made good grades. I liked things. Other people didn't like the same things. We differed. Life went on. Some of them are drop outs. Some of them are in college. Some of them are dead. Life still goes on in college. I take pleasure in the fact that I will not need to know these people for an extremely lengthy amount of time unless I want to. It is a liberating way to go about your business.[/color]

[color=crimson]He's actually my illegitimate child.[/color]

[color=crimson]Updated picture for much lols.[/color] [img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=26440&stc=1&d=1194820734[/img]

[quote name='Deus ex Machina'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]I didn't even know that a format war [i]existed[/i] but apparently there is one and [url=http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/07/format-war-gets-more-warlike/]it has become violent.[/url] Honestly, I couldn't even tell you the difference between HD and blue-ray. Anyone have an opinion about this?[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]You just heard about this? lol.[/color]

[quote name='Odin M Yggdrasi']Don't need drugs either, just get psycho.[/QUOTE] [color=crimson]I don't think you're lying, but neither do I have much reason to believe you. If your situation is true, I would say that you are the most interesting person so far compared to the two wonder-twits.[/color]

[quote name='Gunslinger'][COLOR="77656"]I also broke a few of my mom's things. Heirlooms more or less. But holy christ, it's just an object, get over it.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]Jesus Christ this thread is a quagmire of some people with crap just flowing out of their mouth. I swear to god if this is the pending electorate in America I hope they start conscription so that you all end up Iraq with lead rearranging your dim personalities and giving you a hint of interesting traits. God this thread gives me a headache.[/color]

[quote name='Andrew'][size=1]Moving on, I had a JW in my first year of college with me and I regularly questioned him on various things to do with the relgion and its ideals. From what I gather, whatever put them in that state (whether it be disease, accident, whatever) is God's doing, and therefore God's will that they should die. So, interfearing with that is like directly defying God or something.[/size][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]It is God's will that the rule about [b]blood use[/b] is followed. They do not believe that God struck them with the disease, or that God wants them to die. If anything can save them that does not violate that rule is available, they will readily accept that treatment.[/color] [quote name='The13thMan][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Of course it matters if you agree or disagree with their understanding of the Bible.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote] [color=crimson]They have interesting beliefs, but the hierarchy within the Kingdom Halls is very rigid. The disfellowshipping process (excommunication) has caused family hardships for people I've known in the past.[/color]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Just OOC to any JWs, is there a ban on bone-marrow or organ transplants as well ?[/SIZE][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]Organ transplants and bone marrow are alright.[/color] [quote name='The13thMan'][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Are you saying that you don't believe it is put into God's hands or are you saying the Jehovah's Witnesses don't? Yes of course the docs can do things other than blood transfusions. I don't know if that was or was not the case with the 14 year old girl, i would guess that it wasn't. Would you agree or disagree with their understanding of the Bible?[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]Jehovah's Witnesses do not. They have contributed a great deal to a growing area of medical science called "bloodless surgery" due to their peculiar take on Biblical commands regarding the consumption and transfusion of blood. Does it matter if I agree or disagree with their understanding of the Bible? They have an understanding of the Bible that has attracted several million followers worldwide. If they believe they have the truth, then that is what they believe. I'd also like to point out that the entire group of them are rational individuals. The doctrine is ignored by dissenters within the religion, and it is can be either followed or not depending on the JW you are dealing with.[/color]

[color=crimson]It is not put into God's hands. It is perfectly alright for the Doctor to use any methods available other than blood transfusions to prolong the life of the patient. If the only option is a blood transfusion, then Jehovah's Witnesses choose to live in accordance with their understanding of Bible. The secular legality of that is another matter.[/color]

[quote name='Aaryanna'][COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]To Former Staff Members: Would you return to your post?[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]I'd be on it like white on rice. They'd be all "Ken, there is a problem that only you can fix!" And I'd be like "I know. I already fixed it." "Hurray!" And then there would be much rejoicing with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. [/color] [quote name='Deus ex Machina'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]Of course, by the time I got into my first stupid debate with DeathKnight I thouht my chances were shattered for sure with my ratboy reputation and all. However, I think that over the past however many months I've more than made up for it by being the most awesome dude evar >_> I honestly do think I could do a better job than a lot of mods, no offense. It's simply for the 2 reasons that 1.) I'm always here and 2.) I have a craving for order. Mind you, I'd make a bad mod because I'd be modding posts in all forums, being the first one getting to them, lol. That's why I made that post about wanting to be an admin, though I'm pretty sure that's not what thy do ^^;; Also, if I were a mod, all of the goddamn thread directories would be organized. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]I don't really think you understand why I attack you. I sincerely hope sometimes you are being witty, but I think you really do have the opinion that you are quite significantly awesome. It's not good self esteem, but more like "Trust me, I know that my awesomeness is THISSSSS big". It isn't. Calm down. If you're awesome, people will notice. If you have to tell people you rock, then the predominant theory is that you don't rock. You might not suck, but you aren't the hottest thing on the block. If you don't think you're all that, then you are the next Stephen Colbert. You can consider me your perennial "You've been punk'd!" victim. Also, perineal and perennial would be a very great typo.[/color]

[quote name='Deus ex Machina'][COLOR="DarkOrange"](even if I've got straight Ds >_>) [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=crimson]*has his suspicions confirmed* Today was alright. I had only one class today at my university. As a catholic institution, they cancel classes for Mass services to allow the catholic students the chance to attend. Today is All Saint's Day. My usual 12:35 and 2 o'clock courses went out the window. Right now I'm writing a book report on the most numbing book I ever read. It's called "From Ezra to the Last of the Maccabees" and it is about the Hellenization of the Jews during the diaspora following the return from the Babylonian exile. I wouldn't say it was boring, but I can't say I had much of a sense of pleasure as I trudged through various Greco-Syrian Kings and their wars against the Maccabees. It is for extra credit on tomorrow's test, so I am trudging through it. Yeah, tomorrow my only two classes of the day are tests. Math and history. Tonight is going to be pretty dull. This weekend should be fun though. I just have to get through the next seventeen hours. [/color]

[color=crimson]So, this one time Deus Ex Machina made this thread about virginity for virgins and it didn't really go too well. People then began to conjecture that, perhaps, it had a weak foundation and didn't make very much sense. Discussion of how awesome sex is, especially in comparison to masturbation, went on and DxM was left disgruntled having only his hand to love him for the foreseeable future. I think in that thread everyone learned a valuable lesson.[/color]

[color=crimson]What the hell is wrong with you? There's no big difference between people who have had sex, and those who have. The only reason it means anything is that society says it does. 1. Do you have anyone who you'd like to take your virginity? Yeah, my girlfriend. I'd like to take hers too. ;) 2. How or where would you like to loose your virginity? Anywhere. A shower would be neat. 3. Are any conditions you consider that must be met for you to loose your virginity? I already met my conditions. I feel like she's the one. I just am waiting for her to be comfortable with it too. 4. How does it feel being a virgin? Are you ever made fun of for it? It feels like I'm a virgin. When I'm not a virgin, it will feel like I've had sex before. In either state, I look forward fondly to any sexual activity in the future.[/color]

[color=crimson]Hentai with robots looks normal enough. I think I'm going to base my entire opinion on this topic based on that.[/color]