Circ

I actually regularly quotes things and people at my blog. [B]A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. ~ Thomas Mann[/B] Ever since I started doing some actual writing, I've discovered how true that can be. Especially when one, like me, has a tendency to procrastinate. [B]A great deal of human grief is caused by our demanding perfection from everybody but ourselves. ~ John Todd[/B] This one I love because I find it the epitome of human psychology and it describes my relations with my stepfathers oh-so-perfectly. [B]A man learns to skate by staggering about and making a fool of himself; indeed, he progresses in all things by making a fool of himself. ~ George Bernard Shaw[/B] True in its essence, but mostly an excuse when I willingly makes a fool of myself, which has grown into a full-time hobby of mines. [B]Most people make it their lives' work to refuse to think rationally.[/B] This one I read in a livejournal comment, I think. Another epitome of human sociology. A friend of mine added [I]I'd say most people make it their lives' work to not think at all.[/I] [B]'Diversity' is just another way for everyone to be more like everyone else. ~ Zach Hauser[/B] This one was actually produced at the OB. It's kinda sad how well it illustrates labelling and the need for many people to identify themselves with some form of subculture. [QUOTE] "I think it's great that we have a president who seems like he's always looking directly into the sun" - Frank Caliendo[/QUOTE] My personnal favorite Dubya quote goes [B]If the United States were a 35-year-old man, I think he'd be in a mental institution. Violent tendencies... delusions of grandeur... medicate heavily. ~ Rick Mercer[/B] A close contingent is [b]I think many Americans are in love with a country that only exists in their heads. ~ Ramanan Sivaranjan[/b] [quote name='Lord Dante][B']Before you judge someone too harshly, walk a mile in their shoes. - Then you'll be a mile away and have their shoes!![/B][/quote] Taking classics and making them better is fun!

[B][SIZE=1]Edit: bear with minor grammar trouble in my own comments: it's 1:25 in the morning here.[/SIZE][/B] I offered to copyedit the thing, but you refused, so I'll be doing it here and now. In English, lines of dialog follow this format (at least, that's what I've learned): "blah blah blah[COLOR=Red][B],[/B][/COLOR]" said X. [quote]A gruff, come in, greeted him.[/quote] I think there are quotes missing here. [quote]As he turned to grab the folder, and the others[/quote] I'm pretty sure that's a comma too much [quote]I?m not sure you guys you should have that.[/quote] Duplicated "you"s [quote]Jean Sebastien, smiling. [/quote] Missing verb? And AFAIK, "Jean Sebastien" takes a dash (compound name), unless you want to combine a female and a male first names? [quote][...]he was training in specializing in Linguistics.[/quote] Again, I think there's a verb too much here. Either that or missing words. [quote]JJ was about to ask about how things went when he was swarmed by the others, asking questions about him.[/quote] Not sure this comma belongs here [quote]Inside, was a picture of Annie, a picture of 2 shadows near her, and the back drop of Ciampo airport in Rome.[/quote] Looks like you,re leaking commas or something. I'm pretty the first should go, and that "was" should probably be "were". [quote]He was one of those, funny and sometimes over friendly type of people, who tried to make everyone laugh, and spread the cheer around.[/quote] Over-comma-itis strikes again. I'm striking all three out. [quote]Every once and a while[/quote] That's "Every once [I]in[/I] a while" [quote]so he left James with instructions on caring for the foursome, and left the office[/quote] Another comma to go down. [quote]He had then had dinner with James and shineys[/quote] Not sure about this, but I think you want an article before "shineys" [quote]JJ and James had used dinner to catch up, and plan for the mission.[/quote] Dear JJ, breeding commas and conjunctions rarely wields good results. (inside joke) [quote]He moaned softly, then got up. He got in the shower, and changed into the clothes he was wearing to the airport[/quote] I find these two "got"s too close for comfort. I find that "was wearing" to be an odd construction. at this point, he's not on his way, is he? "would be wearing" seems more appropriate. [quote]The clean, fresh, air greeted him[/quote] No comma needed between "fresh" and "air". [quote]Of course, these are the Chiefs orders[/quote] Apparently, you reuse apostrophes for commas "Chief's" [quote]Against the orders of the mission head, I fired into the room,[/quote] A bit unwieldy. Maybe invert these phrases. [quote]he noticed immediately the meeting point, and his fellow agents.[/quote] "he immediately noticed", and extra comma [quote]He smiled, and picked up his pace[/quote] Again, commas and "and" don't mix well. [quote]The latter looked up, and smiled when she realized who it was. [/quote] See previous I let slip a few more commas+and combination 'cause they can go as stylistic. Otherwise, it's a great breather, if lacking in help understanding what's going on (well, for us, that is). And as far as I can tell, there would not have been any actual problem with the random ob-er thing if you weren't asking about it like that or planning to make it obvious. I disagree with Gavin here. At this point, JJ is kinda thunderstruck (for lack of a better word :sweat:), and as I said, taking a breather, so it's pretty much normal that this chapter has a different pace.

I haven't been very present, only lurking occasionnally, but this sounds really fascinating. I'm in. [B]Code Name / Call Sign[/B]: :[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_%28mythology%29]Pygmalion[/URL] [B]Gender (If Applicable)[/B]: Male [B]Location[/B]: Varies. teaches at University of Washington (Seattle) when not at some dig. [B]Age[/B]: 56 [B]Personal Appearance[/B]: See image below. As Pygmalion, He wears a leather tenchcoat hiding archaeologiuc material and several guns, shades and a large beret ressembling a beanie to hide his clearing hair. [B]Personality/Behavior[/B]: Samuel Malkins is driven by a desire to preserve the hidden treasures of lost civilizations for the betterment of future generations. He is otherwise a slightly conservative man doing his best to instill a sense of respect to his students. This has lead to some serious problems with his head of department over commercial sponsoring and political involvement in his work. An affable and passionate, he maintains a taciturn façade as Pygmalion. [B]Personal History[/B]: Samuel Malkins grew in an expatriate american families living in Greece. His father was a diplomat in Athen, and Samuel lived through the troubled times of the military junta. After several murder attempts on Matthew Malkins, the family eventually moved back to the United States in 1963. However, these years had given Samuel time to acquire a taste for ancient history, and he later became a brilliant archaeology student and one of the youngest persons to lead an archeologic expedition in 1974, at only 24 and a few months after the fall of the military junta. This would be only one of many expeditions to more or less famous locations across the ancient world. During research at an Athena temple in 1984, he discovered a hidden cave marked with serpentine motives. Investigating, in the darkness, he stumbled on a hissing silhouette lined with snakes. Modern heroes have an advantage over classical greeeks: guns. Closing his eyes, he reflexily used the one he always kept him and emptied it. A yell of rage an blood answered his defense. Greek mythology held that blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon could bring the dead back to life, yet blood taken from the left side was an instantly fatal poison. Samuel was splattered with both and fell into the dark. When he came back, he was in a New York hospital getting treatment from a serious case of poisoning. Over the course of the next few weeks strange events repeatedly occured around him: medical equipment inexplicably turned to stone and a nurse had a fit, swearing he had turned her to stone. Samuel eventually came to the conclusion that the blood of Medusa his sin had absorbed had given him special kinds of power. The next year, he had to fight against Alien beings in the Nazca site. Over the years, he became, under the guise of Pygmalion, a mythical figure investigating all sort of mystical misdemeanor linked to ancient artifacts, facing Dryads, ghosts, satyrs, sorcerer, pixies and all sort of malicious forces. The Illuminati seems to monitor Pygmalion's doing, and has at times caused him great trouble in safegarding dangerous or precious artifects from falling into the wrong hands. [B]Special Skills or Abilities[/B]: Samuel Malkins possess an extensive knowledge of archaeology and ancient history of mesoamerica, africa and the classical world. He is also an experimented marksman. Despite his age and appearance, Pygmalion has the strenght and stamina of a young and well-trained man, he also do not age. He is noticeably harder to hurt than normal people, a side effect of medusa's blood. His most obvious and useful ability, however, is that of turning people of objects into stone and vice-versa at will with a look or a touch. It is necessary for him to touch inanimate objects in order to turn them into stone. [b]Posting[/b]: I have no particular qualms about any ratings, though my writing rarely goes beyond PG by itself, it might raises to M depending on what's going on with the others. I would probably have problems to post more often then once a week, though. I tend to get the impression the RPG is moving more rapidly than me.

I tend to hate these kinds of first chapters, because all you want is read the next, but there isn't any! Anyway, it has been said before, but I'm going to repeat it for good form: it's got great thrill and rythm, and sounds like a fascinating world.

[quote name='Boo][size=1][color=gray]The whole story is one big Dialogue. It started off nice by falling in with "what prophecies" and then talking talking talking. I hardly read anything of it at the end. Just to point out, this might be an interesting story, but remember that reading a dialogue aint interesting.[/color'][/size][/quote] I have myself had concerns about the amount of dialogue in these chapters, though so far few have expressed concerns about it, I appreciate the observation, although I'm not sure there is much I can do by now. It is mostly compounded by my tendancy to write short chapters (around 1500-1700 words) and a need for quite a lot explanation before I feel I can move along with the story.:animesigh However, I must admit I need to really tackle the issue of "showing vs. telling".

I originaly started to write this back in November 2004. I managed to produce 3 chapters before life got a hold of me and prevented my writing for a long time. I recently reworked on the story and can begin producing new chapters. The firest 3 chapters are in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=631242]original thread[/url] [SIZE=3][B]IN YAOYOTL, IN HUICTLI, IN AHELEHUILIZTLI - Battle, toil and trouble[/B][/SIZE] "[I]What prophecies[/I]?" she exclaimed. "Oh my, we are not getting anywhere like this," the great snake pointed out. With a wave of his tail, the servants were shooed away. Andrea got up. The creature locked his eyes in hers for a second. She frowned defiantly. "What prophecies?" she asked again, calmer. "If I might, you are?" He asked politely. Something in the back of Andrea's mind warned her it wasn't quite a question. She bowed respectuously. "Andrea Tamikane." He bowed in turn. "May your skin never dry. I am Coatlatoani Santiramon." The snake lord sighed and uncoiled, pointing at undecipherable engraving and the figure of an Asian dragon on the wall. "When the Digital World created itself as the outlet of excessive data from your world, there was but a single, all powerful digimon: Qinglongmon. When the world divided into nodes, he clearly saw that his mere presence upset the balance of power and threatened this world with destruction. Thus he cast himself away into the 'Great Delete', the oblivion beyond our universe. Behind him he left, circling Infinity Mountain of File Island, the 12 Digi-Cores, the digital destiny. They contain prophecies announcing the times of threat to this world." "So he's your kind of Nostradamus right?" Andrea huffed. Santiramon ignored her. "Twice before saviors from the human world were announced by the cores, and twice before they saved the Digital Word. Now your presence, a mere week after the arrival of Derek, announces a new era of trouble to this world." Andrea ignored most of the explanation as crazy ramblings. "So your name's Derek, right?" She examined the man. And extended her hand. "Andrea Tamikane." They shook hands. "Derek Mason" "56-S Clockmon," the humanoid figure atop the machine bowed too. "Eztepoztli Sepikmon" "I'm here," Derek continued, "because a month ago, (Andrea was puzzled at this remark) the sixth core opened when I came to File Island and I've been attempting to decrypt it ever since. Yesterday, I finally managed to do so, but the prophecy is written in an old form of atlahtolli, so I came to Teocaltintlan to have it translated." He took a handheld computer hanging from his shirt pocket and pressed a few controls. A hologram shot up with elaborate scripting, not dissimilar to the one Santiramon had pointed earlier. Santiramon turned toward Sepikmon. "I think this falls within your competences, doesn't it?" Sepikmon approached the connection and started speaking. [I][INDENT]"The knot of water will be stormed. Digimon will disappear in the land of the night bird. The Flower Creator will stream in to connect the Wall Builder and the Masked Fighter. She will stream out once the Butterfly has been saved."[/INDENT][/I] Andrea tried to contain a curse. "What kind of nonsense is that?" "Well, Qinglongmon's prophecies aren't exactly recognized for for clarity, but I do believe the 'Masked Warrior' designates me." Sepikmon said. Andrea rolled her eyes. "Really?" she asked sarcastically. "The 'Knot of water' must be Axolotl node, " Santiramon added. "Parts of Teocaltintlan were reconfigured in a data storm generated by your arrival. 'Axolotl' means 'water salamander'." "Derek, isn't a 'mason' a journeyman doing brickwork?" Clockmon though aloud. "Actually, I though it was a reference to the Firewall." The heads gravitated slowly toward Andrea, in obvious expectative. "What?" She couldn't bear it anymore. "Do you really expect me to take part into that guessing game of 'what if's?" she scowled with great annoyance. "I am just some graphic designer, for God's sake! All I want is to get back to my good ol' cubicle, print my last project and..." The sentence died a painful death on her lips. "Are you O.K.?" Sepikmon enquired. Andrea looked like she was just told she had an incurable disease. "It's a project for CTV's latest series. It's called 'Flower Power'." Derek cracked a smile. She pouted in response. "As for the 'Land of the night bird', I am stuck." Santiramon said. Andrea raised her eyebrows. "A night bird? An owl?" She pointed out. "Owlmon is way too arrogant to allow such information from getting out of his prefecture." Sepikmon spitefully said. "He came just short of arresting me for putting an end to a band of pirate's streak in Moyotlan." "Actually," Santiramon countered, "Toxochiton Piyomon came to Teocaltintlan to report raising numbers of mysterious disappearances. She was attacked on her way here." "Oh." "Wait a minute." Andrea panicked. "Does that mean I can't get back to Toronto until I've saved that 'Butterfly' mentioned in that blight of a prophecy?" "Err... Most likely," Sepikmon sheepishly answered. "Oh bugger." She palmed her forehead. "Well, I do know a butterflymon in Patläninitlan. He's a blacksmith." Sepikmon tried to reassure her, but she palmed her forehead with her other hand. "My lord, would you happen to be aware of unauthorized data streams in Axolotl node?" Derek suddenly asked out of the blue. "What do you mean, Cohuatzintli? You think the missing could have been taken away?" Santiramon asked, intrigued. "Actually..." the man's head dropped. "No," he mumbled. "But as stream monitor I detected some very weird energy signatures about a week ago." Santiramon raised a brow. "Wouldn't that be yesterday's data storm?" Derek's face darkened. "Oh right. Temporal entropy." "Just when I started to respect you, you come up with some undecipherable jargon." Andrea tried to keep her brains from melting from the ambient surrealism and settled for rolling her eyes. "Computer technicians. What in heaven and hell is that 'entroprise' about?" Dered reddened. "Sorry. Old habits die hard. Basically, the bigger a node is, the more rapid his time flow is compared to smaller ones and the real world. I've calculated time in HTTP is about twelve times as rapid as in Axolotl." Derek explained. "Well, [I]that[/I] explains why you were on File Island a month ago, but I landed here only a week after you." Derek reached for the device that had produced holograms earlier and pressed a few controls. An holographic map sprung up this time. Andrea recognized in the middle the temple at the center of the city. A zoom out revealed forests and villages surrounded the capital. A part of the city lit up. "Molotlan, you said, right?" Derek asked, his finger moving on the touch-sensitive icons. "No," Sepikmon corrected him. "Moyotlan. Owlmon is prefect of Moyotlan. That's to the west." He pointed. An area of forest surrounding a few villages and cultivated areas lit. "Hum... A day's walk distance." Clockmon estimated. "2 and a half, actually. The road is not quite straight: it follows the river and it goes round Ololtepetontli." Sepikmon pointed a large, round mound the river wedged around. A red, tortuous line shot from the temple to a city in the yellow area. A label appeared: 'Ahuamoloyan, pop. 2629'. "That's the prefecture seat, right?" Derek asked. Another place lit in the forest, causing the Moyotlan territory color to fade leaving only its borders, with a second label: 'Patläninitlan, pop. 261'. "Correct. If there's one place we can get pointers, it's there," Sepikmon. "I'll have messengers sent to Owlmon immediately," Santiramon said, calling the servants back in. Feeling mostly unconcerned with the route they were taking, Andrea had taken the time to examine the device Derek used. She eventually recognized a PalmOne handheld of a similar model to her superior's. "How did you get it to do these kind of things?" she exclaimed. "That's impossible!" Derek and Spikmon, who had been discussing different means of transportation, jumped out of her way. He seemed to look at it in a novel way now. "Actually, I don't think it's still the exact thing I used to have for on-field work. Machinedramon called it a D-Coder. Apparently, it allows human to travel betwen the real and the digital world." Andrea looked closer at the screen, deciphering some glyphs and a menu with several options: "Messages", "Data storage", "Encoding". It suddenly felt familiar. "No way!" she barely managed not to drop the device. "What?" "My... My mouse got, it got all weird and it had the same menu. Then, then when I pressed it, pressed it on the computer screen..." she stuttered. Derek looked dreamy "Wow... Can I have a look at it?" he asked implorantly. Andrea shrugged. "I don't have it with me. No idea where it got." "I do think we left it at my home. You were in quite a hurry." Sepikmon helped out. Derek stared at them for a moment, then Clockmon and him exchanged an ominous glance. "What?" Andrea and Sepikmon chorused. "It's one of this world's most potent device! Not a good idea to leave it laying around like this!" Derek yelled. He turned toward the digimon lord. "I am deeply sorry my lord, but we have to go now." With that, he whirled and, followed by Clockmon, ran out of the room. Andrea looked bemusedly after him, rubbing her temples. This journey promised battle, toil and trouble. At least if she was to take care of it.

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue] [SIZE=3]Results after cycle 2[/SIZE] All proposal have passed with unanimous support [B]Points gained:[/B][list] [*][B]2 points[/B] each to JulianPhire and myself for making post #5 and #8 [*][b]2 points[/b] to myself for making a proposal [*][b]1 point[/b] each to JulianPhire and Myself for proposing an amendment. [*][b]8 points[/b] to JulianPhire for passing a proposal with unanimous support [*][b]16 points[/b] to myself for passing two proposal with unanimous support [/list] [B]Point Docked:[/B][list] [*][b]2 points[/b] to Cyriel and Sean for failing to vote for this cycle [*][b]2 points[/b] to JulianPhire for failing to comply with rule [B]4. b) III. C)[/B]. [/list] [SIZE=3]Results[/SIZE] [list=1] [*]Circéus (dictator) - [b]36[/b] [*]Cyriel - [b]6[/b] [*]Dagger - [b]12[/b] [*]Sean - [b]6[/b] [*]Sakura - [b]13[/b] [*]JulianPhire - [b]17[/b] [*]open [*]open [*]open [*]open [/list] [/COLOR]

I'm not sure I'm following you on this one Sakura. What does the arbitrator have to do with the current proposals?

Actually, proposal #2 would prevent you from making proposals like proposal #1, because new ways to make or loose points would become new rules instead of amendments, so you'have to separate them into different proposals. I vote [B]yes[/B] on #1, though it's unlikely it'll be applied since we barely have enough voters who participates. Reminds me I'll have to make an amendment to rule [B]6)[/B] about the winning conditions. I vote [B]yes[/B] on #2. I've already explained up there the reasons and the change this would have on Hameplay. I vote [B]yes[/B] on #3 (though I've forgotten to make a related amendment for point loss about it...). A bit of silliness never killed anybody. And it'll make the game more compliant with the rules of Adventure Square.

Some deeper explanations of the game: Everything goes unless it is already treated in the rules or in a decision of the dictator/arbitrator. Currently, rule conflicts go like this: [list=1] [*]The dictator makes a decision [*]That decision stands as the correct interpretation unless a later proposal or a call to the arbitrator overrules it [*]Only a new rule can overturn an arbitrator's decision. [/list] If you wish, I can list arbitrators' decisions in the first post. Now, I am forgetting something... oh yes! I am strongly encouraging you to make proposals: they are giving you the most points. Also check your post numbers for scratching a few points. Finally, I will [B]abstain[/B] on my own proposal and vote [B]no[/B] on Sakura's. Also, welcome our new player: [I]JulianPhire[/I] And... oh, yeah, I didn't dock Sakura points for incorrectly formatting her original proposal, since I hadn't previously provided any examples. Now that there are, I will not refrain from docking points in the future :devil: [COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=3]final results after cycle 1[/SIZE] [B]Points gained:[/B][list] [*][B]2 points[/B] each to Dagger and sakura for making posts number 2 and 3 in the thread [*][b]2 points[/b] each to myself for making a proposal [*][b]1 point[/b] to sakura for proposing an amendment. [*][b]5 ponts[/b] to myself for having a rule passed (2 out of 3 votes) [/list] [B]Point Docked:[/B][list] [*][b]2 points[/b] to Cyriel, Sean and JulianPhire for failing to vote for this cycle [*][b]2 points[/b] for myself for failing to formulate correctly my amendment: point docked to the arbitrator are not listed. [/list] [SIZE=3]Results[/SIZE] [list=1] [*]Circéus (dictator) - [b]15[/b] [*]Cyriel - [b]8[/b] [*]Dagger - [b]12[/b] [*]Sean - [b]8[/b] [*]Sakura - [b]13[/b] [*]JulianPhire - [b]8[/b] [*]open [*]open [*]open [*]open [/list] [/COLOR]

[url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=656644]It has started[/url], but the inscriptions are still open as long as we are up to 10 players..

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue] [size=4]Rules[/size] [SIZE=1][b]1. Leading principle[/b] Any, absolutely any, rule can be altered in the course of the game, including this one. The rules can only be altered through proposals. During the 24 first hours, the dictator is free to make any changes he feels are necessary. [b]2. Roles[/b] There are players, a dictator and an arbitrator. [indent][b]a) The dictator[/b] There is a dictator. The dictator is in charge of running and keeping the game up to date. The first dictator is Circéus. The dictator is also a player. [b]b) the players[/b] There are ten players. There cannot be more than ten participating players at any time. [b]c) the arbitrator[/b] is in charge of making decisions in case of rule conflicts. [indent] [b]I. Designation and alternation[/b] The first arbitrator is Circeus. Once an arbitrator has made a decision,the next player in the list of players becomes the arbitrator. [b]II. Scope of the arbitrator's power[/b] The arbitrator might be called at any time by a player to make a decision. This decision is considered the [i]de facto[/i] correct interpretation of the rules, no matter how ridiculous it might sound. Any arbitrator's decision may be superceded my later new rules or amendments. [/indent] [/indent] [b]3. Points[/b] Player can lose or win points. [indent][b]a) Starting Points[/b] Players receive 10 points at the start of the game. [b]b) Gaining and losing points[/b] [indent][i]I. Gaining points[/i] One may gain points by doing any one of the following: [list] [*]Making a post whose number is a [url= http://wikisource.org/wiki/Fibonacci_numbers_1-500]fibonacci number[/url] other than 1 (2 points) [*][b]A)[/b] Making a proposal proper (2 points) [*][b]B)[/b] Proposing an amendment (1 point) [*][b]C)[/b] Having a proposal become a rule (3 points) [*][b]D)[/b] Passing a proposal with a unanimous vote (5 points) [/list] [i]II. Losing points[/i] Player may lose points for: [list] [*]Failing to vote before the end of a cycle (2 points) [*][b]A)[/b] Failing at presenting a proposal correctly (1 point per offense) [*][b]B)[/b] In the case of the dictator, failing to keep the game up to date. (2 points) [*][b]C)[/b] In the case of the arbitrator, failling to give a decision within a 7-days limit. (1 point) [*][b]D)[/b] Having a proposal being voted down unanimously (3 points) [/list] [/indent] [/indent] [b]4. Modifying the rules[/b] Players vote over the course of a cycle on various proposals to change the rules [indent][b]a) Cycles [/b] A cycle begins with the posting of the proposals by the dictator and ends on Saturday midnight, Eastern Time [b]b) Proposals[/b] Proposals may change the rules if they receive enough votes [indent] [i]I. Definition[/i] There are two types of proposal: new rules, and amendments. [b]Amendments[/b] can only modify previous rules, while [b]new rules[/b] are added below the old one. One cannot combine an amendment and a new rule. [i]II. Related amendments[/i] A proposal can include as many [B]related amendments[/B] as the player wishes. These are alteration to previous rules in relation with the new one. (For example, to state that failing to meet the proposed rule will cause the docking of points, one must amend rule [B]3. b)[/B] [I]I. Losing points[/I]) [i]III. Making proposals.[/i] Proposals are made by PMing them to the Dictator. [indent][b]A) Number of proposal[/b] A player may send in up to 2 proposals [b]B) Time limit[/b] Proposals must be sent in before the end of a cycle [b]C) Presentation[/b] A proposal must follow the same presentation as the starting rule and be labelled as either a new rule or an amendment. Any secondary amendment must also be labelled as such and specify the rule it modifies. All of its text must be enclosed within a pair of [qwote] tags, and it must be in unmodified font color, size and typeface. [/indent] [/indent] [b]c) Vote[/b] The dictator posts the proposals between Saturday midnight and Monday 8am Eastern Time. The players then vote Yes, No or abstain on each proposal. A proposal receiving more than half of the number of the player Yes votes is accepted and added to the rules. [/indent] [b]6. Winning[/b] A player wins when its score reaches 100 points.[/SIZE][/COLOR] [b]7) Roleplaying[/b] All posts made after this rule has passed must be written as roleplay within a political legislative context of the player's choice. This is a game of Nomic, these are the rules, you will be 10 players (including myself) making new rules to try to win more rapidly, or keep other players from winning. [size=4][B]Current players and point tally:[/B][/size] [list=1] [*]Circéus ([I]dictator, arbitrator[/I]) - [b]36[/b] [*]Cyriel - [b]6[/b] [*]Dagger - [b]12[/b] [*]Sean - [b]6[/b] [*]Sakura - [b]13[/b] [*]JulianPhire - [b]17[/b] [*]open [*]open [*]open [*]open [/list] Player wishing to take an "open" place may do so by writing it in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=47290]suscription[/url] thread [size=4][B]Current proposals:[/B][/size] [i]Proposal 1[/i] [quote=Circéus] [b]New rule 3. b) I. E)[/b] "Failing to comply with rule 7 (2points)" [/quote] [i]Proposal 2[/i] [quote=Circéus] [b]Amendment to rule 4. b) III. A)[/b] The rule become "A player may submit as many proposals as he wishes" [/quote] [size=4][B]Comments:[/B][/size] [i]All rules are superceded at all times by those of the forum.[/i] At the moment, people may vote in any fashion, as long as the dictator can access the vote whithin the time limit.

[QUOTE]A new question here, exactly, how do we participate in this game?[/QUOTE] Well, I consider you and dagger to be players so far, since I am not too sure about Cyriel. I plan to PM the players when I launch the game. [QUOTE]How will the voting be run? In-thread voting, or by sending private messages to the dictator? If it is in-thread, what will be done to avoid racking up a series of one or two-word "Yes" or "No" posts?[/QUOTE] I was hoping in-thread voting. At worse, I'll add that to the ruling when I'll start the game. I wouldn't worry too much about one-word posts: I'd expect us to quickly spend enough time haggling about the rules to not have problems putting the votes in. At worse, I'll rules out one word post with point loses. Since you'll be voting on up to 10 proposals each week, you should be able to write nice posts discussing why you like or don't like a proposal. I think I'll add the precision that the game is still superceded to the forum's rules, though.

[QUOTE=Cyriel]Cyriel Is there a certain format for the wording of proposals?[/QUOTE] None by itself, except a minimal clarity.

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1][b]1. Leading principle[/b] Any, absolutely any, rule can be altered in the course of the game, including this one. The rules can only be altered through proposals. During the 24 first hours, the dictator is free to make any changes he feels are necessary. [b]2. Roles[/b] There a players and a dictator. [indent][b]a) The dictator[/b] There is a dictator. The dictator is in charge of running and keeping the game up to date. The first dictator is Circéus. The dictator is also a player. [b]b) the players[/b] There are ten players. There cannot be more than ten participating players at any time. [/indent] [b]3. Points[/b] Player can lose or win points. [indent][b]a) Starting Points[/b] Players receive 10 points at the start of the game. [b]b) Gaining and losing points[/b] [indent][i]I. Gaining points[/i] One may gain points by doing any one of the following: [list] [*]Making a post whose number is a [url= http://wikisource.org/wiki/Fibonacci_numbers_1-500]fibonacci number[/url] (1 point) [*]Making a proposal proper (2 points) [*]Proposing an amendment (1 point) [*]Having a proposal become a rule (5 points) [/list] [i]II. Losing points[/i] Player may lose points for: [list] [*]Failing to vote before the end of a cycle (2 points) [*]Failing at presenting a proposal correctly (1 point per offense) [*]In the case of the dictator, failing to keep the game up to date. (2 points) [/list] [/indent] [/indent] [b]4. Modifying the rules[/b] Players vote over the course of a cycle on various proposals to change the rules [indent][b]a. Cycles [/b] A cycle begins with the posting of the proposals by the dictator and ends on Saturday midnight, Eastern Time [b]b. Proposals[/b] Proposals may change the rules if they receive enough votes [indent] [i]I. Definition[/i] There are two types of proposal: new rules, and amendments. [b]Amendments[/b] can only modify previous rules, while [b]new rules[/b] are added below the old one. One cannot combine an amendment and a new rule. [i]II. Related amendments[/i] A proposal can include as many [B]related amendments[/B] as the player wishes. These are alteration to previous rules in relation with the new one. (For example, to state that failing to meet the proposed rule will cause the docking of points, one must amend rule [B]3. b)[/B] [I]I. Losing points[/I]) [i]III. Making proposals.[/i] Proposals are made by PMing them to the Dictator. [indent][b]A) Number of proposal[/b] A player may send in up to 2 proposals [b]B) Time limit[/b] Proposals must be sent in before the end of a cycle [b]C) Presentation[/b] A proposal must follow the same presentation as the starting rule and be labelled as either a new rule or an amendment. Any secondary amendment must also be labelled as such and specify the rule it modifies. All of its text must be enclosed within a pair of [qwote] tags, and it must be in unmodified font color, size and typeface. [/indent] [/indent] [b]c. Vote[/b] The dictator posts the proposals between Saturday midnight and Monday 8am Eastern Time. The players then vote Yes, No or abstain on each proposal. A proposal receiving 6 votes or more is accepted and added to the rules. [/indent] [b]5. Rule conflicts[/b] If any rule conflict arise, it is ultimately up to the dictator to decide on the result. This decision is considered a rule, although it is not added to the written rules. [b]6. Winning[/b] A player wins when its score reaches 100 points.[/SIZE][/COLOR] This is a game of Nomic, these are the rules, you will be 10 players (plus myself) making new rules to try to win more rapidly, or keep other players from winning. All I want is 10 names, after which these same rules will start off a new thread in Adventure Square. Feel free to ask questions to get the thing vlearly, caus' I might not be as useful once the game start. Brittish Obers will be happy to know that a (theorically) famous Nomic game is [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_%28game%29]Motrnington Crescent[url]. Current players: [list=1] [*]Circéus (dictator) [*]Cyriel [*]Dagger [*]Sean [*]Sakura [/list]

I am tempted to organize a game of [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomic]Nomic[/URL] at the OB. This post is mostly to know whether there is an interest in the concept or not. A nomic is a game where the players are allowed to change the rules. A game of nomic can easily diverge wildly from the original (to the point that the winning conditions are reversed, for example). In our case, a game would end when a player causes a paradox or fulfills the current winning condition. We would have (at the start, at least) defined limits for proposing and voting new rules, so that the game doesn't become TOO chaotic...

I must add that almost all education level here in Quebec are (mostly) public (secondary, collegial (technical diplomas and pre-U studies), universities) The true potential of a general reside in: [list=1] [*]The government will have to spend majopr sums (as pointed out) to pay teachers [*]if students fail because they didn't go to class (say, because there weren't enough school days for the session to be legally completed), all these students are "overboard" in the system (potentially over 80 000 students, for 170 000 post-secondary students in Quebec!) [*]that's pressure on a system that already lack ressources, teachers, places... [*]Moreover, if (say) 30 000 college students don't pass the session, that's 30 000 secodary students that can't go to CEGEP because the places are taken [*]Tat's also potentially 70 000 students that don't complete their education to enter work: economic shortage of workers in several areas. [/list] Remember that people in Quebec general study and work in Quebec, unlike in the U.S. where you frequently study in a different state. The whole province is almost autarcic in the way education, government and workforce are related. There have been 7 Quebec-wide general unlimited strike in Quebec's history, and they were all successful. We are asking that the government (who said education would be a "top priority"!) actually put on his pants and not destroy our free (yeah, right!) and universal educational system. I don't believe that's too much. I hope I made sensible arguments here. I tend to have trouble organizing my though :animestun

There is currently a province-wide unlimited student strike here in Quebec. What happened was that the government cut 103 millions dollars last year in bursaries and raised the minimum amount of loan you needed before you could get a bursary. Additionnally, this broke a deal with the federal government so that an additionnal 70 million$ in scholarship won't reach the students of Quebec. This reforms affect the poorest students, those who need scholarships the most. The government has steadily ignored the protests during the last year, so the 3 main associations have launched a call to general strike. There are currently 70 000 students on strike whose major demands are: -That the government [b]retroactively[/b] cancel the bursaries reform -That the government takes back any attempt toward institutional independance in the collegial network (hard to explain if you're not from Quebec. Currently, diplomas from all cegeps of quebec are equivalent, it would make them inequal, basically) Ever been in a student strike? What do you think of student strikes? links: [url]http://thelink.concordia.ca/article.pl?sid=05/03/09/2313229[/url] [url]http://action.web.ca/home/cfs/en_alerts.shtml?x=73366&AA_EX_Session=324831bc33567d9a04c5f75e965af539[/url] [url]http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=004904c5-928c-4a1d-a308-6d16f832dfd1[/url] [url]http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=004904c5-928c-4a1d-a308-6d16f832dfd1&page=2[/url]

We will use Battle City rules, I assume? 4000 Lp No attack on the turn of a special summon All set cards are spell speed 2 for the purpose of chaining/activation. Aren't the decks posted so far (particularly Oliverwhip's) [I]exactly[/I] the kind of deck we [i]wouldn't[/i] want? maybe we can try to apply *insert shameless plug* my [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=45980]my guidelines for YGO[/url] :D

Name: Kevin lendon Age: 18 Gender: Male Appearance: (sorry don't have time to fill this in for the moment) Side: Evil Personality: annoyingly matter-of-fact and flegmatic Kevin is from brittish lineage, but has been raised in Egypt by his father, who worked in a museum. He was most of the time left alone, and almost never went to school, so he's not very intelligent, out of the duel monster game and mythologies from all over the world, which had been his one and only interest. He learned of the Shadow game from the work of professor Hopkins, which was took more seriously by his father, and made some research of his own before he joined the bad guys. Maybe he knows a bit more than it is left to see. [SIZE=3][B]Deck[/B][/SIZE] Name/level/Attribute/type/atk/def Forest/Field Magic Wicked Dryad/4/EARTH/Warrior/1500/1800 If "Forest" is in play, this monster may attack your opponent directly. Pythie of Delf/continuous magic As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent must show you every card he/she draws before adding it to his/her hand. Sparkling Satyr/3/LIGHT/Beast/800/1100 When this monster enter battles with a DARK monster, remove the monster without going to the Damage step. Calydon Boar/4/EARTH/Beast/1750/1900 Hera's Trapped Throne/Trap Select a monster and equip this card to it. This monster switches to defense position and cannot change it's battle position as long as "Hera's Trapped Throne" remains equipped to it. Book of Ages/Magic Both player's life points are returned to their levels three turns ago Seven-Headed Scylla/5/WIND/Dragon If a Beast-type, Beast-Warrior-type, or Warrior-type monster is summoned or special summoned by either player, it is destroyed. Red Cyclops/4/DARK/Fiend/1800/1700 Two-headed Cerberus/4/DARK/fiend/1500/1000 Demon King of the Underworld: Hades/DARK/fiend/6/2450/1600 When this card is sent to the graveyard, special summon a monster from your graveyard. Heaven's Fury/Magic Transform a "Little Chimera" into "Chimera the Fearless/6/DARK/Beast/2400/2200" Little Chimera/3/FIRE/Beast/600/550 Meridion Sphinx/4/WIND/Winged-Beast/1300/1800 When this monster is summoned, each player ask the other a riddle. If a player cannot answer his opponent's riddle, his monsters are destroyed. Triton's Horn/Trap Activate when your opponent attacks. Negate the attack and inflict direct damage equal to half the attacking monster's ATK to your opponent's life points. Gift of Hades/Magic Special summon a monster from your graveyard into face-up DEF position. The chosen monster has a DEF equal to one and a half its original DEF. Guarded Io/4/EARTH/Spellcaster/1500/1600 All long as this card is face-up on the field, both players' maximum hand size during their respective end phase is 3. Atlas, Support of the Sky/9/EARTH/rock/2700/3000 You can only tribute EARTH monsters to summon this monster. Negate any magic, trap or effect monster that target this monster. Discard the top half of your deck to destroy all your opponent's cards on the field. Discord: Eris/magic Select three monsters on the field. Your opponent chooses two and sends them to the graveyard. Crosser of the Tartarus: Chiron/4/DARK/Beast-Warrior/1500/1100When this monster is special-summoned from a graveyard, increase it's ATK by 300 for every complete turn it was in the graveyard. Monster Reborn/magic Pot of Greed/magic Cornish Pixies/3/EARTH/Fairy/1000/700 As long as this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be attacked by monsters with a Level of 4 or higher. Attack-Scattering Prism/Trap Activate when your opponent attack your monster. Negate the attack and destroy one monster on each player's side of the field. Carnivorous Plant/3/EARTH/Plant/300/2000 Monsters attacking this card are destroyed at the end of the turn. Magical Lure/magic You might discards as many cards from your hand as you wish and draw that much cards from your deck. Springs of faith/trap Special summon a monster that was destroyed during the preceding turn to your side of the field. Concentration Funnel/magic Combines the attack of two monsters into one. Polymerization/Magic Orpheus/4/Light/Spellcaster/1800/1200 Temple of Apollo/Field Magic Your LIGHT monsters cannot be destroyed in battle or targeted by card effects. Apollo the Great/7/LIGHT/Spellcaster/2700/2150 This monster can only be special summoned by tributing 3 LIGHT monsters, and only if "Temple of Apollo" is in play. You may pay 1000 life points to negate and destroy a magic or trap card activated by your opponent. Increase this monster's ATK by 100 for each LIGHT monster in your graveyard. Apollo of the Sun/4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1300/1200 Increase this card's attack and defense by 500 for each other card with "Apollo" in it's name on your side of the field. Great Seer Apollo/4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1800/500 During your standby phase, look at the top card of each player's deck. Healer of Apollo/4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1500/1000 If you have a "Temple of Apollo" in play, once per turn, you may negate and destroy a card with the effect of doing direct damage. Apollo in Delf/3/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1100/500 This monster can only receive damage from LIGHT monsters. Asclepios, Son of Apollo/6/LIGHT/Spellcaster/2300/1700 When this monster is successfully summoned, special summon a LIGHT monster from your cemetery. Priests of Apollo/Continuous trap If you do not have a monster in play during your end phase, special summon a "Priest Token" (Spellcaster-Type/LIGHT/2 StarS/ATK 500/DEF 500). This token cannot be destroyed in battle, removed from the field or tributed. At the end of your opponent's turn, destroy the "Priest Token". Apollo Parnopion/Magic Return a card with "Apollo" in it's name from your graveyard to your hand. Fist of Apollo/Magic Pay 1000 life points. During this turn, one of your LIGHT monster may attack all of your opponent's monsters. Altar of Apollo/Continuous Magic When a LIGHT monster is summoned, draw a card.

I've had this into my head for a long time now. I'm not sure I've integrated everything I wanted as clearly as I expected to and would greatly apreciate criticism. [QUOTE]This article is aimed at those wanting to produce fairly long, anime-type Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction. That is, fanfiction that creates a "new" anime season or story arc, or simply wants to use the same "framework" as the anime. [I]Notes: "Mary Sue" also refers to masculine characters. Most of these rules can easily be applied to roleplaying[/I] [B]Concepts[/B] Friendship and honor *are* central themes to Yu-Gi-Oh!, no matter how mushy it sounds. Do not forget that when writing. [I][B]Characters[/B][/I] [B]Characters have ties[/B] Characters in the anime have complex backgrounds and links to secondary characters. When creating a new major character, be it an ally or an enemy to Yugi, make sure to have a small gallery of related characters: a fanfic allows for much more space for secondary characters! [B]Villain ties[/B] This is even more important. If you want to make villains which have ties to Yugi, know your ancient egypt and the anime's ancient egypt stuff. A little research never killed anybody and many sites have good manga/anime timelines and summaries. [B]Characters are not perfect[/B] This applies to all fiction, but make sure to give your characters flaws, otherwise you have a Mary Sue. But then overly tragic characters (e.g. orphans, loners) don't have any link to other characters! It is a delicate balance. [B]Out of the blue[/B] Please, liberate us from odd and forgotten family members appearing out of the blue. Not only is it frequently a way to throw in a Mary Sue but this plot device is overly used and way out. [B]Motivations[/B] You should always know precisely why a character wants to beat/duel another or, if that's the case, why he doesn't want to. [I][B]Cards[/B][/I] [B]NO god cards[/B] PLEASE liberate us from new god cards. There were 3 created by Industrial Illusions. If there had been more, we'd have heard of it by now. At the very least, we've seen way too much Anubis god cards. [B]Real world vs Anime cards[/B] We have seen little cases were people used duplicates of cards in their decks. Also, the anime and the TCG's idea of a powerful card are DIFFERENT. Remember that cards like Raigeki were banned during Battle City. Also, the anime's equivalent of a 1900 (e.g. a base attacker) stands around 1400-1600 ATK. The only 1900 atk we see is Kaiba's sole Blood Vors. [I][B]Decks and duels[/B][/I] [B] Dueling levels[/B] NOBODY beats Yugi in a fair duel. And Yugi is the ONLY one who can beat Kaiba in a fair duel. If you can't respect the conventions of canon, don't write for that canon. [B]Themes[/B] Give us themes. Give us motifs. Give us a reason to be interested in the duel. We expect o discover new strategies and new themes with each new duelists. A good Anime duelist has a strategy and loads of cards that work together. He also has a signature card that might or might not be very powerful (One of yugi's signature cards is Kuriboh!) [B]Duels[/B] A good duel is won by a fairly narrow margin, or saved from the brink of loosing. It i of no interest to us to see duelists being utterly crushed down within 3 turns. We want to see complex strategies, clashing and suspenseful duels. [B]New cards[/B] Make sure to reveal a few wholely new cards with each duel. Don't be afraid to have half the cards in a deck be made up. To keep suspense rolling, each and every duel a character fights should reveal to us a few new cards from his deck, unless you want to reveal new uses of previous cards.[/QUOTE]

Chapter 2: [size=3][b]COCHIHTLEHUALLINTLAN - The land of Dreams[/b] [/size] A hand came to rest on her shoulder. "There, there. Things can't be that bad, can they?" the humanoid said in a soothing voice. Her sobbing rose to a higher pitch. "Okay, maybe they can," he conceded, "but I know someone who is likely to be able to help you." Her cries eventually came to a halt and she looked up hopefully. "Did you just say what I think you said?" She could have sworn he was smiling. "If you think I just asked you to dance the rumba with a dandelion up your nose, I doubt it," he teased. " But I did say I might know someone who can aid you." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. He extracted a handkerchief from a pouch at his side and offered it to her. Andrea took it, thanking him with her eyes and wiped the tears off. She got up again, her legs more solid under her, and felt the sudden urge to kick something as her vision blurred another time. When the haze subsided, she looked defiantly at Sepikmon and spoke up. "Well, let's get on our way." And with that she walked out of the room. Sepikmon looked at the door in perplexion and smiled. On the bedside, the device the woman had clung to while he carried her to his home gave a short, bright burst of light and its screen turned black. However Sepikmon didn't notice this as he was already walking after Andrea, rapidly catching up to her. He found her standing in the middle of the street, looking around in a dazed state. He gave a deep, low chuckle. "Don't worry, if anything, Coatlmon is just as surprised at seeing you." he pointed out. He guided her, "Welcome to Teocaltintlan, the city of temples." He waved with his arm for added emphasis. She watched the same road she had seen earlier. Further down, twittering discussions surrounded a few stands. Rectangular stone buildings decorated with intricate carvings bordered the paved road. A frog nearly her size jumped past her, startling the young woman. Sepikmon chuckled again. "You'd better get used to it, Miss. You are going to see a lot of things like that." She cringed. "My name is Andrea." As they walked down the street toward the pyramid, Andrea could do nothing but look in astonishment as these creatures walked, entered stores, bargained, discussed and argued just like humans; there were plants, bird, frogs, lizards, snakes and even an armadillo. And then there was the vegetation, familiarly tropical, yet unlike anything she had ever seen. Palm trees no higher then a couple feet sprung from the buildings' roofs. Clusters of lilies mottled with red and white emitted a penetrating scent. Large black beans spotted with white were kept into a cage. She looked at her guide quizzically. "Jumping beans," he explained, tapping on the cage lightly. The beans immediately reacted in an explosion of small cracking sound as they hurled themselves at the bars. "Eh, we grow them pretty hardy here." Then some apple-sized peppers kept under a transparent dish-cover caught her eye. "Tlacempanahuihtin, 'overachievers'. So spicy you need to wrestle the smell before you can even taste them." She shook her head. She wasn't sure that would beat wasabi, but she wasn't one to try and touch food that seemed to be able to burn through quite a few materials. As they made their way toward the pyramid, which seemed to steadily grow more levels as they approached, Sepikmon came to an abrupt halt. "Oh no..." he whispered. Andrea looked for what had put the creature in such a state. A group of heterogeneous beings had gathered tightly around a house. From what she could see, even more where crammed inside, if that was possible. Those standing outside talked softly, often glancing through the windows. Sepikmon advanced and tapped a large humanoid lion on the shoulder. It turned around and looked at him with a mourning expression. "Eztepoztli!" he exclaimed. "So, Tiyacauhtzin, it is it?" he asked in concern. The large being looked down in a surprising display of sorrow. "It seems so. Her wound has infected. Sharmamon reckons she's at her worst, so we came to give her our last homage." Sepikmon's head hung down now. Andrea couldn't help herself and rubbed his shoulder. "Did you know her?" she asked softly. "If I knew her? Everybody knew Toxochiton!" he exclaimed. His leg gave away and he sat down. "Such a sweet Piyomon. And now she's leaving us." As he spoke, a flurry of small butterfly flew through the window. Their twinkling wings caught Andrea's eyes and she remarked they hadn't any true feature. They were made of light. "There she goes." Tiyacauhtzin said, just as the butterfly that had landed on his extended finger dissolved away. Sepikmon gave a small sniff and got up as another one disappeared in his hair. "We have to go now." he half-cried. As they walked away, Andrea kept looking behind her at the group of dispersing creatures. She finally gathered the courage to speak up. "What was that about?" Sepikmon looked at her. She could only guess what he looked like under the mask, but she assumed he would have been glassy-eyed. "When a Digimon dies, their data transforms into these butterflies you saw and returns to the Data Streams. However, parts of it can be absorbed by the Digimon standing nearby." He explained. She made a disgusted noise. "Ew, that's morbid." Andrea herself was surprised at what she'd said. "Not at all. It is just the way it works in this world. It is an honor to accompany a friend in their last moments. And I am certain Piyomon was happy to see all those she knew there." Sepikmon countered, "It's not like you humans who burry your dead. Now that's unhygienic. A dying Digimon knows that those he loves will always keep him in their hearts. Some will acquire a little of Piyomon's natural grace, or her amazing cooking skills." "I see." Andrea tried to understand, but it still felt like opportunism to her. Another question immediately surfaced. "Digimon? What is that?" Sepikmon seemed a bit lost in his though as he caught a plant-like Digimon who had tripped and helped her back up. "We are Digimon. It means Digital Monsters. We inhabit the Digital Worlds, made of the Nodes connected through the Data Streams. This is Axolotl, where we speak atlahtolli, the language of water..." he recited in a daze. But new questions overrun her and she interrupted the Digimon. "And why do you call her Piyomon? You said everyone knew 'Toxochiton'." Came the query. "Her nickname, 'Our little flower'. You normally call a Digimon by his name. Bt when you know someone more intimately, you can call them by their nickname. You do not refer to them using it, though. You can call me Eztepoztli if you want. Means Bloody Sword." Sepikmon answered, still in his dazed state. Andrea shuddered and, glancing at the large sword hanging on the Digimon's back, wondered for a moment whether that was a good sign. She mastered herself. "Why do they call you that?" she asked Sepikmon, who was now leading her a couple of steps. "Excuse me? Are you talking to me?" The figure turned to look at her. She immediately noticed it wasn't the same Sepikmon and stood dumbfounded for a second. [i]Oh,[/i] that's[i] what he meant[/i]. Knowing that, unfortunately, didn't tell her were "her" Sepikmon was. She looked frantically around and finally spotted her guide mechanically walking away. Sepikmon had turned in an alley without her noticing him. She shoved her way through the crowd until she reached him and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Uh, what?" he mumbled as his spirit was brought back down to earth. She had forgotten her question in her panic. "We were going to meet someone who could help me go back to the real world." [size=3][b]COAMEHTLAHTOANI TENAMIQUÏLO - Meeting the Snake Lord[/b][/size] Sepikmon looked uncertain for a second, then regained his composure. "Right. This way please," he bowed like a cartoony steward. They had now reached the pyramid by its eastbound side. No door was visible but a stairway to the top of the pyramid, which seemed to have gained another couple levels. Her eyes widened. "You mean we have to climb all that? No funicular?" He got up on the first step. "We might have all day, I do think you'd prefer to be up there as soon as possible." he commented. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "And I thought the stairs to Saint Joseph's Oratory were bad," she sighed. Giving in, she climbed onto the first step. "Let's get this stair rolling," she added, going for the second. Then the stair started moving with her caught in mid air. Her arms flailed around for a few horrible seconds until one came to rest on a large stylized statue of a lion. She chose to ignore the fact there were no lions in America to be statufied and just stand there dumbfounded as the steps moved up the side of the temple in the grinding of stones. She turned and shot a nasty look at her partner. "You could have warned me!" Her ears were whistling now. "I expected you could take care by yourself now," he deadpanned her. She huffed and turned away. The wind grew stronger as the stairway rose, sending her mid-long hair flying around in all directions and flapping her clothes against her. As they elevated, she could see farther, notably how straight the roads where in the whole city. Low buildings like white mushrooms in a badly kept lawn sprouted here and there in the middle of surprisingly colourful gardens. A few flying creatures hovered above the streets. Some of them, she noticed, should not have been able to fly. But then, she should not have been transported to Meso-America by pressing her mouse to her computer screen. As she dwelled on these thoughts, the mechanism came to a halt and to the top platform. "Welcome to the Palace." Andrea jumped and almost fell off the building, only to have her wrist snatched by Sepikmon. "Please leave any weapon in the antechamber. Do not forget the offering to the Gods," the voice continued, undeterred. "Thanks Shiisamon," the warrior-like digimon said, as if such things were a daily occurrence in his life. Andrea tried to walk looking at the white and golden statue and ended up tripping on her own foot. "You mean, he was a..." she uttered. "Of course he was a Digimon too. He's just paid to stay there without moving most of the day," Sepikmon stated. They entered the room. The walls were made of massive stone piled without mortar. Andrea wondered for a moment if there was enough room between them to slip a strand of hair. In the wall opposite them niches had been carved in various sizes and shapes. Sepikmon reached behind his back and brought the sword to his front. He got on his knees and reverently saluted the statue of a winged human with a deer's head in the corner of the room. He then delicately placed his sword in an oblong niche off the middle of the wall. Reaching to his pouch, he extracted a small fragment of veined green stone Andrea recognized as malachite and placed it alongside the sword in the niche. He then turned around and motioned for her to do the same. She stared at him, but he tensed and she relented. [i]When in Rome do as the Romans do.[/i] She knelt before the statue, joined her hands before herself and bowed. She then slowly got up without looking back at it. She glanced at Sepikmon who nodded his approval. And motioned for the wall. "Uh..." she trailed off. "I'm afraid I don't have anything that could qualify as an offering to the gods: I left my purse at work." Sepikmon looked a bit distressed at this. "We can't leave the room as is. It'd be sacrilegious!" "Mind you, not being of your religion, or even from this world, I think this could hardly be considered sacrilegious." Andrea pointed out, a bit miffed. Sepikmon raised a hand under his mask and she assumed he would be nudging his chin. "I guess you've got a point. We'll decide of this later." He motioned for her to follow him as he went into a darkened corridor. Horizontal slits occasionally pierced the walls, allowing light rays to light up the area. The corridor ended in an archway. A soft, uniform light hid any vision from beyond it. As they approached, what she had thought to be statues appeared to be two nightmarish creatures. Demonic thin bodies covered in metallic bends were attached to pairs of angelic wings on their back and heads. They had no visible eyes. The one on the right was black; the other was white. Nearly 2 meters-tall (compared to her guide's almost normal size), they towered menacingly over any incomer. "Everything is more than you know," the dark one greeted them. "And everything is less then you think," the second completed. "Aztapiltictecuacuilli, Pahpalpiltictecuacuilli, shall you let me pass, for this guest seeks to speak with Santiramon," he said. It sounded quite official. "What do you seek from the Snake Lord?" the dark one responded. Andrea realized he was talking to her. She tried her best not to stutter. "I..." she almost choked under their gaze, despite the absence of any visible eye. "I seek help in returning to my world." They looked at her as though they were seeing right through her soul and stepped aside. "You may enter," a deeper, hissing voice came from the inside of the room. Andrea shuddered. The voice had a strangely appealing quality. Closer to the rustling of a book's turned pages or the rubbing of silk than the actual hissing of air through a hole too thigh in one's eardrums. She crossed the barrier of light. "Here she goes, here she goes," the white creature commented flatly. "Well, I'm gone too," Sepikmon stated. He went through before the surprised creatures could keep him. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrea entered an immense room. She didn't lose any precious mental resources wondering how such a large room could fit in the small construction atop the pyramid. The ceiling started (or ended, depending on one's point of view) at least a dozen meters above her head and provided a welcomed shortcoming to walls covered with engraved glyphs. Coiled against the wall on what she could only describe as a ceremonial platform, a massive snake loomed over the few persons present. It acknowledged and beckoned her with a movement of its head. A few short orange lizards she guessed to be servants wore simple red loincloths and stood motionless against the wall. Completing the vision was a large machine her sight described to her brains as a walking clock from which a humanoid shape holding a hammer sprouted. Her brains dismissed the description and proceeded to shut down. But before they could complete the process, a figure appeared that brought a much sought for touch of reality. A man. Not quite the hero in shining armour, more like a middle-aged man who could use more exercise, but her brain nonetheless latched onto the fugacious figure. "Great. We lost her again," Sepikmon deadpanned as she collapsed in the human's arms. "She fainted," he observed. The three short digimon rushed to help set her down. One of them ran out of them room and came back accompanied by two walking plants holding cushions and a bottle of salts. Soon after, Andrea was again more or less conscious, her eyelids fluttering like jell-o in the middle of an earthquake. "She had a difficult day. Getting sent to another dimension looking like nothing she knows, discovering strange creatures, and I haven't yet told her about the prophecies," Sepikmon explained. Andrea's eyes popped out and she jumped up so furiously she knocked down one of the servants.

Well, in the beginning she did expect the rate to be one book a year.

[QUOTE=Readordie] But where IS nowhere, exactly?[/QUOTE] Consider that quote Yoinked. Great storyline, BTW, very terry-pratchett-y. Can't wait to see the details and concept-busting.

Well, in such a case you might want to seek inspiration within Lord Archive's [url=http://www.digibros.net/~lordarchive/diaries/]Diaries Universe[/url]. Otherwise, I wish you good luck to find new ideas.