Allamorph

[quote name='Matt']Now this is just awesome. I have not even been here a year, and look, I've essentially gotten an academy award (that IS what the Nifty Fifty is, right? The OB's Oscars?), so this is effin awesome.[/quote] [FONT=Arial]You and me both, man.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Here's how I understand the situation in front of us prospective authors: If a person wishes to excel at a particular discipline?say, art, or trombone?the best course of action he/she can take is to study under someone who is already proficient in the field he/she wishes to enter. So aspiring artists will look for the best studio they can find and afford, and prospective trombonists will want to take lessons from a well-trained professional. Likewise, for us authors the best we can do is to learn from those who have mastered our field. Unfortunately, most of the "creative writing" courses available teach only development of ideas, and not actual syntax; even the yearly requisite English courses skim over how to write well, focusing only on minute, individual aspects of it, like spelling or grammar, without tying everything back together afterwards. Both are necessary, but they must be used together, and are ineffective alone. And still other vital knowledge, such as proper use and flow of mid-sentence punctuatuon, is put to the side. I have been reading since about the age of four or five; Dr. Seuss got me started, and I gradually progressed through the Bobbsey Twins/Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series', eventually reaching such distinguished authors as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Tom Clancy, to name a few. I have read through most of these books at least twice (because I enjoy them), and so I have been basically absorbing style, structure, and flow until it pretty much just comes out my fingers when I write or type. I do not necessarily mimic any one author, nor do I write as a large smush of all of them combined (pretty hard to mix Fleming with Seuss), but I know how to make the words I write say what I want them to say, how I want them to say it, almost off the top of my head. To your question I will answer this: I do not believe one can write effectively, or even hope to write masterfully, unless he/she is familiar with the language he is using, and the best way to get more familiar with the language is to read it. However, I would caution against reading only one author and attempting to immediately emulate them, since that is dangerously close to plagiarism. Read as much as you can, in as many genres as you can enjoy (to this day I refuse to read romance), and let your skills and style develop over time. And keep writing, even if it's lousy at times. Writing is basically our method of praticing. -A[/FONT]

[QUOTE=Shy][center][img]http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/niftyfifty_2007/thegame_nifty.png[/img] [b]The Game[/b] "Because I hate it. Everyone hates it, yet no one could stay away from it. It is 10 pages of "The Game" stories and even some posts simply saying, "Oh ****, I just lost it". How this thread did not get locked is beside me. But the point is, it brought about one common thing for everyone to be ****ed off at, and it is a truly entertaining thread to read when I'm bored."[/center] [right][i]- taperson[/i][/right][/QUOTE] [FONT=Arial]Yeah, the Game is pretty nifty.... Aww, crap!! (I lost the Game.) Wow. I really don't believe I'm up there. Maybe someday I'll get a set that describes me.... (^_^) Congratulations all! -A[/FONT]

[size=1]On the way through the theatre, Darius had fallen casually to the back of the group. The instant LeCrosse had opened the building?s door a sick feeling of unease had entered his stomach, and it had been gnawing at him ever since. Darius? eyes had scanned continuously left and right behind his shades, which he had declined to remove, looking for anything wrong, anything out of place, anything that wasn?t as it should have been. They?d found it, all right.[/size] [center][COLOR=DarkRed][I][B]Join Us Or Die[/B][/I][/COLOR][/center] [size=1]From the looks of the strokes, the writer had used two fingers dipped in most likely the victim?s own blood to spell out the ghastly slogan. Darius noticed a small droplet of blood forming at the bottom of one of the ?i?s, meaning that it was still fairly fresh, and that the murder had not taken place too long before their arrival. Combined with the grotesque dead husk of a body on the floor, the scene caused the nausea churning in Darius? stomach to spread upwards, and his tongue stuck thickly in the back of his throat. It appeared that poor Nikki was hit hardest out of all of them; he was glad for Xavier?s gentlemanliness and presence of mind. [B]?Madre del dio.?[/B] The breathed expression of appalled disgust from Amelia, just in front of him, barely reached his ears. Darius felt she had summed up the situation as acutely as possible; the phrase had drifted through is own mind, albeit in Spanish, and he felt a sudden burst of kinship with the dark Magician. [I]?Madre de Dio, indeed,[/I] he thought in revulsion. Her whisper had brought him back to reality, and while the others stood rooted in front of the horrifying scene, Darius slipped away and headed for the main lobby. The person or thing responsible might still have been in the building, and Darius wanted to at least see something before the killer got completely away. He moved smoothly, his hands resting in the pockets of his jacket, his body projecting a false aura of calm and relaxation, his face barely registering the gruesome scene he had just witnessed. His eyes darted now behind the cover of his sunglasses, his head turning slowly every few seconds, letting nothing escape from his field of vision. When he entered the lobby, he stood still for a moment, getting his bearings around the mass of people that wouldn?t know of their show?s unfortunate cancellation for probably another twenty minutes. Not that Darius was complaining?it was much easier to lose someone, or something, in a crowd of panicked people. A brief flash of black to his left caught his attention; he turned and saw a retreating figure wearing a black mantle similar to the one his housebreaker had been dressed in. The figure wove easily between the human traffic, apparently intent on escaping out one of the building?s side doors. Darius moved after it, adding a touch of purpose to his stride. As expected, most of the crowd veered around him, and he was only forced to dodge a select, inattentive few. He quickened his pace, attempting to close the gap. The figure glanced backwards for an instant, then abruptly changed its speed. It must have sensed Darius following it; Darius took his hands out of his jacket and followed suit, careful not to lose track of his target. The figure kept moving faster, and turned sharply down a hallway to its left. Darius gained the hall quickly, in time to see the bottom of the figure?s cloak disappear down another passage; he rounded the corner and was rewarded with the sight of an exit swinging shut. Darius cursed and ran for the door, bursting through it into an alley beside the theatre. The door was slammed shut and a black arm swung towards his face; his jiu-jitsu training kicked in and he absorbed the punch with his hands, using the figure?s momentum to swing it around and into the alley?s wall. Darius threw his left arm across the figure?s chest and leaned heavily on it, pinning it to the bricks behind it. He threw the figure?s hood back to get a clear look at his victim?s face. The figure was male, short and unremarkable in stature, with thick, greasy black hair and eyebrows, a short, squashed nose, and pallid white skin. His dark eyes glittered nervously, and his mouth was curved into a simpering smile. Pale white hands scrabbled at Darius? arm in an attempt to free their owner. Darius felt his nausea returning. [B]?He didn?t wish to join the Master,?[/B] the repugnant creature said immediately in a thin, edgy voice. [B]?He had to die, and, and?so will you.?[/B] Darius raised his eyebrows. [B]?Well, then, you admit you killed mister Crowley? I hadn?t even got to the part where I asked what you were doing here, but that?s fine with me.?[/B] He leaned in closer. [B]?Since we don?t have to waste our time with [I]those[/I] questions, maybe you can tell me a little about this ?master? of yours.?[/B] The fingers on Darius? right hand performed the air-quote sign in front of the little man?s face. The man?s head twisted frantically to either side, no doubt looking for a means of escape. [B]?He?he is the Master. We are not allowed to speak of him any other way. He is the Master and we serve him.?[/B] Darius sighed tiredly. His right hand slipped into his leather jacket and brought out a single match. [B]?That?s a terrible answer,?[/B] he said, affecting a bored tone. The match head flared to life. [B]?Let?s try that again.?[/B] He let his left arm slide up the man?s chest until he had the murderer pinned by the throat. The match flame rose a few inches in the air, and Darius dropped the burnt stick to the ground. [B]?I understand that you serve this ?master?,[/B] again he made the air-quote, [B]?but I want a little more than that. What does this ?master?? ?[/B] air-quote [B]??do? What does he want? Why does he want us as associates? Who is he??[/B] The man was struggling for breath, his eyes clearly panicked, but he shook his head furiously from side to side. Darius looked at him questioningly. [B]?Sure you don?t want to answer??[/B] He moved his fingers, and the flame crept closer to the man?s face. The man shook his head frenziedly. A fierce grin spread over Darius? face. [B]?Really? Oh well.?[/B] The flame had stopped just under the man?s nose. [B]?At least I can repay you for your services here.?[/B] He released the pressure from his left arm; the dark man gasped a deep lungful of air. Darius flicked his fingers. The man crumpled screaming to the ground, his breath coming in great, useless heaves as he desperately tried not to suffocate. Darius? fire had scorched down the killer?s throat, searing his lungs, and his alveoli were damaged with third-degree burns, or so Darius speculated. He watched unremorsefully as the pathetic creature writhed on the concrete; he didn?t so much as move until the man died, which was a slow and probably agonizing process. Darius felt somewhat vindicated by the spectacle. His fierce grin had become a snarl, and he spat contemptuously on the corpse before venturing back inside the theatre to rejoin the others.[/size] [FONT=Arial][center]------------------------------------------------[/center] [indent][B]OOC:[/B] Darius is not nice when he's angry. Not nice at all. [B]EDIT:[/B] Oh, and this piddly little dead man obviously isn't one of the higher-ups.[/FONT][/indent]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1]A fair point, I hadn't actually considered it as [U]my local library charges for internet usage[/U'].[/SIZE][/quote][FONT=Arial]Really. How depressing.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial] :animesigh I'm sorry. I just couldn't pull any more internet time out of my hat this weekend. Still, before we are sundered, I have some things to say: [COLOR=Blue][B]Josh[/B][/COLOR]: Thanks for trusting me, and for that bit about Diana. It was great, and it helped keep me in line. I swear if I just could have had two more hours I could have made it all work. [COLOR=Blue][B]Mom[/B][/COLOR]: Thanks for giving me your scene. It just slipped into place, and I liked the idea you had there. I most definitely had no clue what I was going to do when I finally got to you, so you really made this happen, not me. [COLOR=Blue][B]Zeke[/B][/COLOR]: This is for you. [center][IMG]http://www.sunshinejoy.com/images/FeatherRoses/37108.jpg[/IMG][/center] If you hadn't said anything on Monday, I'd still be stuck in mud. Seriously, it was like I was stalled out in my Pinto on the starting line of a hundred-mile long drag strip and you casually pulled up in your Dodge Nitro, hooked up the jumper cables, revved the engine, and ... [center][SIZE=9][I][B]BLAM![/B][/I][/SIZE][/center] ... I was off at about three hundred-seventy mph (which is what, 550 kph?) screaming at the top of my lungs, hanging onto the bumper. I could see almost everything as it was supposed to happen. Thank you so much. (I think you've earned a permanent sig position, and in orange, too.) But yeah, I could barely work for most of the week anyway, and, as you no doubt saw, I tend to get rather satirical and irreverent when I'm rushed, and so what have you. I really needed about four hours straight per day, and the Music department is nowhere near that relaxed, so I tried with what I had. Sorry I couldn't do better. No hard feelings.[/FONT]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1']On top of all of that, if it is you who are in this situation, as you seem to indicate from the above quote, then what the hell are you doing running up your phone bill using the internet ? There are such little things called priorities.[/SIZE][/quote] [FONT=Arial]There are also such little things called Public Access Computers, found in libraries and other various locations. (^_^) Still, though, [COLOR=DarkRed]Gavin[/COLOR]'s point remains. If it is indeed you in this situation, why are you spending valuable time on the internet rationalizing your situation instead of using said time to search out job openings at, say, diners or fast food restaurants, thus providing the option to counteract the straits you seem to be in? [quote name='Mythologically']...but instead of being in the victums shoes try seeing from the attackers ppoint of view, if it was you would you commit a crime to survive.[/quote] Yes, I can see the situation from the attacker's point of view. And were I in that predicament, I would first exhaust [I]every[/I] alternative either that presented itself to me or that I had any hope of creating before resorting to violence and thievery, and then I would hate myself the entire time I was doing it. That's pretty much the bottom line. Whether or not it's the only option (which I sincerely doubt), whether or not it's rationalized, and whether or not anyone else understands why it "must" be done, the fact remains that it is still wrong, and therefore [U]un[/U]acceptable. Pardonable, maybe, and dismissable in some cases, but nevertheless unacceptable. I beg your pardon if I have offended you in any way, and you are free to ignore the rest of my post, as I will be directing the next segment at other parties. [center]----------------------[/center] [QUOTE=Retribution][SIZE=1]I know, I know, everyone. I bring up the point [mostly for fun] to show that a law can be unjust, be it civil or criminal. And that's not to say that anti-theft laws for food are unjust [B](although I do think it a human right)[/B], but in a broader sense I want people to at least think about why this crime is illegal and 'wrong'. Too often do people quickly dismiss the issue if they can quickly equate "crime" with "bad" and get on with life. And if people think on a deeper level than "crime = bad, arrest thieves," [I]why it's happening[/I] will become a more important question than "is it illegal or not".[/SIZE][/QUOTE] Man, we really lambasted you there, hunh? :animeswea Ah, well.... Oh, and I was not entirely sure what you meant by the bolded statement. Could you perhaps clarify? Anyway, I know what you're saying about the reasons [I]behind[/I] the offensive action, but that only returns me to my distinctions. The words I used before were not quite as accurate as I wold have liked them to have been, so I will start over. I believe the issue is not so much whether or not the crime is [U]acceptable[/U] as whether or not it is [U]pardonable[/U]. And, for the record, I do not think the reason "I'm just trying to provide for my family" holds as much weight now as it did back in, say, the Medieval period, or the Middle Ages, when taxation was completely under the discretion of a [I]singel person[/I], who may or may not have been materlialistic and thus harsh in their extraction of funds from the lower classes. Times are a little better, taxation rests in the hands of more than one person (who may or may not work together unfairly), there are aid programs like (the much abused) Welfare system, and there are many more job opportunites (unless the person hiring is an absolute jerk). This is not to say it's any less valid a claim to make, just that there are more ways out of it then resorting to crime (which is also a much overused phrase). Essentially, as far as theft/larceny is concerned: pardonable, maybe; dismissable, maybe; acceptable, no. [I]Selah[/I][/FONT]

[quote name='Boo][size=1']Wouldn't that be a good reason to actually care?[/size][/quote][FONT=Arial]I think he means that he's not obsessed with what happens to them every day, as opposed to just wishing they'd all die (an extreme case, obviously).[/FONT]

[QUOTE=Shy][size=1]Just remember that the genre we are working on is 'Fantastic Adventure,' so keep that the sole focus of our screenplay. Comedy and romance are great, but our assignment was to come up with the most exciting story we can. The more action the better! -Shy[/size][/QUOTE] [FONT=Arial]Yep, I know. :) We just gotta get there, eh? Can't start the adventure without knowing where we're going (unless you're a fan of the Eragon format, where crud just seems to happen...). [quote name='Mom']I should have been clearer, I was talking about the actual meeting and not the journey to get to my location. So I was going to start off a bit from the prospective of my character realizing you had arrived and giving you a little bit of a hard time before agreeing to go with you. :wink[/quote] That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. Oh, and if any of you feel like my stuff needs anything, just chuck it in and send it back ? I wanna see it.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial][B]Edit:[/B] I'm gonna wait a bit before I make a graphics call. I want to get a better feel for what we're going to end up with.[/FONT]

[quote name='Sandy][FONT=Century Gothic]Just to remind all teams, the third challenge will close [B]after tomorrow[/B'], so all entries should be put up during Saturday.[/FONT][/quote] [center] :D [/center] [FONT=Arial]I don't think we have anything to worry about. Two days left to write. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [B]EDIT:[/B] [quote name='Mom']Since I have an idea on how to write up the scene where they end up with my character.[/quote] Actually, I was just going to have me take Shy and Zeke to meet up with you, since, although I know quite a lot about the artifact itself, you'll be the one who knows its actual location. I kind of view the relationship as one where I have the knowledge and you have the wisdom. E.g.: I know when we're going to get into something, but you know how to get out of it, which is why we need you along. But yeah, the first part of the journey would be to find you. And we'd be going by sea. I think. At any rate, I'll pick up where I left off, and when you're satisfied with what you have I'll see how I can tie it in. 'Zat work?[/FONT]

[size=1]As the summoned Magicians continued to arrive, Darius' expression gradually became more and more strained. He had expected to see a few old friends, sure, but this, this was unsettling. There were a couple of fresh faces, of course: he had never seen young Ms. Landry before; Cameron he had heard rumors of, but hadn't known she was actually a shapeshifter; and Xavier he simply couldn't place. Of course, Nikki was the only one of the three who seemed at all nervous, and at sixteen she was a time witch to boot, so they each had to be fairly strong, and Darius wasn't worried. The others he knew, and the fact that they were all present was what made him nervous. LeCrosse and Ivy he had worked with before, and he had seen Albrecht Himmler in action?nasty fellow (Darius meant it as a complement), especially with his doppelgangers, and good to have in a fight. And of course he knew of Amelia. It was rather ironic that he had been contemplating the scarcity of dark Magicians just this morning, and here she was. That they were all big guns was what they had in common, and Mugen was no pansy either; in fact, he was quite possibly stronger than any of them. To gather this many heavy hitters within forty-eight hours was no mean feat, and it could only mean that Mugen Shisa was badly spooked. Darius leaned against a nearby tree and waited tensely for the qi master to kick things off.[/size]

[quote name='2007DigitalBoy][COLOR=DarkOrange']Most of the new members probably don't even know about myO.[/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Some of us do. We just don't use it.[/FONT]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']Interracial marriage was a crime for quite a long time in the United States.[/size][/quote] [FONT=Arial]True, but that was a subjective law with no precedent; it was enacted and enforced because some of my ancestors were morons with a screwed up mindset, not because there was actually anything wrong with interracial marriage.[/FONT]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']...is breaking the law justified?[/size][/quote] [quote name='Allamorph][FONT=Arial']Essentially, I am falling back to the old maxim "The ends cannot justify the means"....[/FONT][/quote] [FONT=Arial]The Law here does not look at the situation. Either you stole and broke the law, or you did not steal and did not break the law. No grey area. The Law is rigid out of necessity; if all instances of law infraction were open to subjectivism, we would eventually be reduced to chaos. However, individuals are permitted to exercise irrationality when dealing with the same scenario. Thus, we can choose to or choose not to justify the person's actions according to how we wish to set our standards. The Law does not have this luxury. Now, under the Law, if a person steals food from another person, the Law has been broken and the person must be punished. The Law cannot look at the situation. Now suppose you witness this theft, and you know that the thief had no other recourse. You justify his actions as necessary. (I would.) Then you learn that the offended person has had the thief arrested and taken to court. Since you have justified the thief's act in your mind, you now perceive the plaintiff as a douchebag. (I would.) The trial goes through, and the thief is convicted, since, yes, he did commit the crime. The thought that runs through your mind now is, [I]?This isn't fair. The guy had no choice, and now he is suffering for something that was really out of his hands.[/I] Thus you are left with two answers to your devil's advocate question. Yes, the crime is justified in your eyes. No, the crime is not justified in the eyes of the Court. Which one takes precedence?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I would like to make a quick clarification about my pyromancer (ooh! I like that word). I mentioned briefly in my sign-up that Darius knows jiu-jitsu; I want to make it official that he is by no means a martial arts master. He picked up the form because it gives him a means to practice his true art in a controlled atmosphere, which is basically all he uses it for. He can defend himself adequately with the form when necessary, and can [U]probably[/U] disarm his opponent if they have a weapon, but that's about it. (Really, I just don't want him to be able to instantly pwn random people; that's what the fire is for.) Speaking of fire, Darius also cannot as of now control his flames with thought alone. He needs to execute some sort of physical mnemonic, like snapping his fingers, waving his hand, or punching. Maybe later he'll get to the whole "I don't need to move to fight you" stage, but not now. Besides, movement looks cooler. :D -------------------- EDIT: The thought just occured to me: is the Master's side going to have some sort of emblem or symbol that they all carry/wear, or will they just wear black all the time? (I ask everybody.)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I am going to make a definitive statement below, and I wish to first make a clarification. The statement is not to be taken as either one of those naïve people who hold ideas without really knowing why, nor as a holier-than-thou, Bible-thumping pious Christian whose been a Baptist all his life and sits in the exact same pew every Sunday. (You know who I'm talking about.) This statement is to be taken as an unchangeable Fact. Crime is wrong. Now, this is not to say that crime is situationally acceptable; it is simply what it is. [quote name='Retribution][Size=1']But if you've got a family to feed, I'm saying stealing from 7-11 shouldn't bug your conscience.[/Size][/quote] I agree. Or rather, seeing someone steal from a 7-11 won't bug [I]my[/I] conscience. (Besides the fact that it's a 7-11. :animesmil ) If a person steals a valuable item of mine out of desperation, I am going to be agitited because stealing is wrong, but I'm probably not going to do anything about it because I'm human and I understand that he had no other recourse. Essentially, I am falling back to the old maxim "The ends cannot justify the means", while at the same time attempting to make a discintion between right/wrong and acceptability.[/FONT]

[quote name='Shy][Size=1']Anyway, that's not the whole point of this thread. This thread is to call into question why someone else hasn't started this thread already. myOtaku.com's community came to aid of Adam almost immediately. Meanwhile, I'm not sure anyone here but Panda or Kei were even aware of the situation.[/Size][/quote] [FONT=Arial]I almost started this thread last night at about 9:30, but I was worried about the whole solicitation thing, since I wasn't sure how much OB is connected to theOtaku.com either. I really just didn't want it to get closed for ridiculous reasons after starting it. I am actually only here because last year theO still had a link to this site. I am quite glad I came here, but theO came first for me. So, yeah, I think we here need to throw whatever support we can behind Adam as he follows AnimeFF's paper trail. I logged onto theO just before Adam posted the first story, and I immediately began an internet scouring for anything on AnimeFF. Conveniently, I turned up exactly dit, aside from sites advertising TFTC that had links to AnimeFF's site (which was [I]also[/I] conveniently down :sneer ). From the looks of things, AnimeFF went to ground Pretty D*** Quick and tried to cover themselves, though obviously Adam has already found information to track them with. I wish there were more ways us unequipped civilians could help out. I also wish vigilante-ism wasn't illegal.[/FONT]

[size=1]Reheating dinner didn?t bother Darius all that much; it just meant he?d spent too much time feeding his pyromania again. He barely tasted the warmed-over stew as it was. Normally he would have eaten slowly, savoring his meal?s flavors, but tonight he ate absently, picking at the beef, carrots, and potatoes without really noticing them at all, his mind preoccupied with his mysterious assailant. That the man had already known his name was unsettling enough?Darius? stage contact information routed all inquiries straight to Lindsay, and his real name appeared nowhere. The stranger had also known where he lived and was familiar with the layout of Darius? house. Of the few people Darius had actually invited over as guests, none had found his basement chamber on the first try, or at all, really. But the man had known exactly where to come, and had wasted no time getting there. None of these bothered Darius as much as the attack itself. If it hadn?t been for that little incident, he might have simply chalked the whole thing up to a strange mafia run-in and left it at that. But at his curt dismissal of ?the Master?s? invitation, the intruder had immediately attacked Darius with dark magic, something a mere mafia heavy definitely wouldn?t have known how to use. Darius himself refused to dabble in the arcane art, for reasons of moral and ethical import shared by many of his acquaintances; dark magic tended to corrupt its scholar?s mind, and so upstanding practitioners were rarely heard of. They weren?t nonexistent, just quite scarce. And then his phone rang. Darius glanced at his kitchen?s wall clock: the dial read twenty ?til one. [I] ?How do they always know?[/I] he thought in aggravation. [I] ?Blasted telemarketers. Here it is almost one in the morning and they still manage to call me during dinner.[/I] He snatched the receiver from its cradle. [B]?Hellooo??[/B] he answered dramatically. [B]?Hello, Darius.?[/B] The voice on the other end sounded familiar, and it took Darius a minute to attach a name and face. [B]?Mugen??[/B] he started. [B]?Wow, this is unexpected. It?s been a while, man. But, what?re you calling now for??[/B] he continued, perplexed. [B]?The middle of the night?s a strange time to start catching up with each other.?[/B] [B]?I know, Darius. I think we may have a problem on our hands.?[/B] Darius tone turned instantly serious. [B]?Really,?[/B] he said, his voice hushed. [B]?Let me guess?you were attacked by a dark Magician.?[/B] [B]?You too?? ?Yeah, not an hour ago. I had to defend myself in my own front yard. I was lucky it was raining; my lawn was put out fairly quickly.?[/B] There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Darius thought he heard a muttered expletive. [B]?I need to meet with you,?[/B] Mugen said finally. [B]?I?ve contacted a number of other Magicians; we should be convening in Central Park tomorrow at noon. Can you make it??[/B] [B]?I?ll be there,?[/B] Darius assured his friend. [B]?Noon tomorrow.?[/B] [center]---------------------------[/center] It was a beautiful day to be out. Darius stood casually by the lake, leaning against a tree and watching the various people meander through the Park. His attire hadn?t changed much from the preceding night; he was dressed in a different, darker pair of blue jeans, a thin black leather belt with a understated gold-ish buckle, his boots, a navy blue button-down short sleeve shirt, and a brown leather jacket, and a pair of black sunglasses that fit snugly around his eyes. The shades completely obscured his eyes, allowing him to look in any direction without appearing to shift his vision, a fact which he liked and made use of often. He glanced to his right, noticing someone in a red hoodie motioning to a passing young man with (oddly) silver hair, who stopped and walked over. The hooded man was seated on a bench next to a person who appeared to be of German descent, and the three spoke briefly before looking back out to the rest of the park-goers. They were abruptly joined by a dark-haired Cajun, who was shortly followed by a pretty, diminutive girl, probably a teenager. Darius grinned. [B]?That must be them,?[/B] he said to himself satisfactorily. [B]?Time to join the party.?[/B] He ambled over towards the gathering, coming up behind them and placing his hand on the shoulder of the hooded man, who turned out to be a startled Mugen. [B]?Told ya I?d be here,?[/B] he declared amicably. [B]?So. Am I late??[/B][/size]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']If you are working on some dialogue sketching Allamorph let me know how I can help.[/quote] [FONT=Arial]Throw things at me. Anything you've got, random or thought-out, directions, lines you'd like to see said, how you want characters portrayed, stuff in general. Any ideas at all will make this all the more fun. I like random ideas best. (If you haven't noticed.) [B][Edit][/B] Other than that, you could probably sketch out the scene where we meet up with you (and Kalon?), or any other scenes you happen to get inspired for.[B][/Edit][/B] I'll probably be working on this all tomorrow afternoon, God willing, and a little later tonight, so just hit me with stuff. I'd have actually put something up by now, but for some reason this seems to be the week where crap happens nonstop. I barely got to eat lunch today. :( [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Ah, excellent. We have a heading; set sail for those last coordinates! I like it, [COLOR=Blue]Zeke[/COLOR], except perhaps, what with the two of you being down on your monetary luck and all, perhaps the[/FONT] [SIZE=1]eccentric old [I]odball[/I][/SIZE] [FONT=Arial] could simply be out on the tavern's patio (or porch or whatever) regaling the local children with his (*gasp*) fantastic stories, in his usual peculiar manner, and the subject of the [B]Golden Fleece[/B] comes up, at which point our impoverished heroic twosome, who happen to be drowning their innumerable sorrows in whatever sixty yen can buy them (meagreness being the operative word there, not monetary units necessarily), perk up their ears at the mention of (*gasp*) fantastic fortune furtively ... nnnnn. Drat. My alliterational skills are not what they used to be. (^_^) I'm just amazed I made that sentence last for so long. Anyway, so's the twain get wind of this mystical sheep's apparel that could quite possibly be the solution to their current misfortune, or rather their lack of fortune. Unfortunately, the abberent gentleman is interrupted by his audience's sudden simultaneous summons to supper (ha!), and the destitute duo are disappointingly denied their informational due.[/FONT] [indent][Size=1][COLOR=DarkGreen]Refusing to abandon this unexpected glimmer of financial hope,[/COLOR] Zeke, ever the chancer, drags Shy over to this oddball of a man (Allamorph) and begs him to tell them more. He's pleased that someone [COLOR=DarkGreen]besides the town's children[/COLOR] is finally listening to him, even if they are a couple of washout heroes, and so he decides to hire them as his guards [COLOR=DarkGreen]on a spontaneous treasure hunt[/COLOR] and the trio set off to wise [B]Mother[/B], she who knows all.[/Size][/indent] [FONT=Arial]Naturally, I am just as satisfied with either direction, as the beginning in one case is simple to alter to fit the other. (Sans my impersonation of [B]V[/B].) I like your little snippet there, [COLOR=Blue]Zeke[/COLOR], being far less perposterous than mine (I felt like A.A. Milne while writing this post). I basically threw my version out here as a "hey, what about this?" dealy. At any rate, now that we have a general direction it should be easier to banter about. I shall begin some dialoge sketching immediately. Ta.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Nnnnnn. That bites. After visiting the site, I can honestly say that the first thing to really make me nervous was the following image. The letters in red speak volumes to me. [center][IMG]http://www.discountanimedvd.com/images/feb_menu/tp1_logo3.gif[/IMG] [/center] I also looked at the return policy thingummy and, aside from the "[U]within[/U] five business days" deal, it made sense. At least until I read this: [quote name='discountanimedvd.com'](PLEASE, DO NOT RETURN ANY MERCHANDISE BEFORE YOU ARE CONFIRMED TO DO SO, WE WILL NOT PROCESS SUCH RETURNS AND IT WILL BE DISCARDED)[/quote] Lousy. Just lousy. I officially do not like this site, nifty-looking though it may be. As for advice: [B]Option 1:[/B] The best as far as quality goes, since you can look for who's handling the subbing/dubbing, who's producing, who's distributing, etc., [I]aaaannnd[/I] most importantly what the site policies are, just in case. The worst, as far as personal expenditure goes. [B]Option 2:[/B] If you go with this one, [U]make[/U] [U]sure[/U] you get good ones. Of course, once your friends open the cases and see the CDs you bought and burned, what exactly will they be thinking? (A Mexíco flea market comes to mind; I have strange stories involving Memorex.) Personally, if this mishap had happened to me, I'd probably just go ahead and straight-up tell my buddies what happened, work out some kind of sustitute thingie that would end up making everybody feel better, and then start working on the replacement DVDs. (And this coming from a guy who doesn't have all that much cash, too.) I mean, I'd still want to get them the stuff and all, so I'd just want to make sure I had another £55 (or $110) while still getting my friends something. (£ = alt (hold down) + 0163; at least on qwerty keyboards, I think; I also hope I got the right symbol :p )[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I'm still crackin' up over the "infernal machine" bit. I mean, come on. Isn't that like making a law that says "Thou shalt not place Doomsday Devices in our state or thou shalt be severely punished"? :rotflmao: Good grief. As for the case itself, I'm not that concerned about it. I might be a little suprised and irritated if the guys are convicted of placing their "infernal machines" around, but I don't think the prosecutors have a case. [quote name='Declan McCullagh]For the hapless duo to be convicted under this statute, prosecutors [U]must prove [B]each[/B] of four things:[/U] (1) Stevens and Berdovsky were the ones who placed the Aqua Teen Hunger Force devices (2) [U]"with the [B]intent[/B] to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort."[/U] (3) A person must [U]"reasonably"[/U] believe that it's (4) a [U']"device for endangering life or doing unusual damage to property, or both, by fire or explosion."[/U][/quote] Right. So, the prosecutors have to prove each of the four points. Number 1 is a given, but it's the only point the prosecutors can prove without getting ludicrous or abandoning point #3. The whole thing's just loony.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Yeah, a retelling would be nice, but also rather intricate and time-consuming. I'd honestly prefer a sort of adaptation, or an alteration, since the four of us would probably wish to avoid the Isle of Lemnos bit (scroll down from the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason][COLOR=SeaGreen]linky[/COLOR][/URL]; woof.); I want to do some prelim work on characters, but I'd like to know what you guys would like to see yourselves as, and what you might like to see everyone else as. My personality can go about thirty different directions, so I'd like to know who and what you see me as before I say anything. (This is not a cop out?well, not entirely. :p ) But yeah, some basic plot ideas would be nice. Like what [COLOR=Blue]Zeke[/COLOR]'ll be questing for, various possible stops/difficulties along the way. You know, simple stuff to come up with. I'm leaving this open for OB-related travesties that the more tenured members might wish to introduce. (Help, in other words.) I'm pretty sure that the actual writing process will take up a good portion of the allotted time before next Saturday, and so I think it would greatly speed up the whole creation bit if we all started just throwing thoughts out here. I'm kind of stymied since I can't really hear you guys think.[/FONT]

[quote name='Clurr][FONT=Arial]Connect [B]D'addario[/B] to [B]Derek and the Dominos.[/B'][/FONT][/quote] [FONT=Arial][B]D'addario[/B]-->Guitar-->Rock and Roll-->List of rock genres-->Blues-Rock-->[B]Derek and the Dominos[/B] Link [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animaniacs][B]Animaniacs[/B][/URL] to [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross][B]Charing Cross[/B][/URL].[/FONT] [FONT=Arial][COLOR=DarkGreen][B][U]Edit:[/U][/B] First hit: Animaniacs-->variety show[/COLOR][/FONT]

[quote name='Shy][SIZE=1']I think it's important we hammer out the story quickly, so we can spend as much time as possible trying to polish and improve the work.[/SIZE][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Agreed. [quote name='Shy][SIZE=1']The first thought that came into my mind was doing something along the lines of Jason and the Argonauts?[/SIZE][/quote] Actually, the same thing occured to me. Since we need to be in the leading roles, I propose [COLOR=Blue]Zeke[/COLOR] as the main heroine; I see you portrayed a lot in OB fanfics as kind of peppery and rather off-color, but I thought we could play up to the whole young, inexperience, but determined ... ummm ... ... hero. ([I]Gaaah![/I] There aren't any good synonyms for hero!) We could put [COLOR=Blue]Shy[/COLOR] as the sidekick / love interest / essential secondary character or such, [COLOR=Blue]Mom[/COLOR] as the wise Elder, and me as either a villain or the peculiar guy who just seems to do things. Not ineptly, I mean, but I'd just be ... odd. (Odd is a good word. I like being odd.) Unless anyone feels otherwise about that casting. I'm just makin' crud up here, since I know barely any of you well enough to typecast to my satisfaction. (^_^) Oh, and if we wish, we could include [COLOR=Blue]kalon[/COLOR] in a cameo. That would be nifty.[/FONT]