Shinmaru

[QUOTE=Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1]I HATE THE NEW COMMENT SYSTEM! Not only can you only put 250 characters, but then when that isn't long enough to make an entire post, you can't post a second post in a row to clear it up. Also, html is not working for me either. I really wish it would just not have a limit on it, as I like to leave nice and long intellectual responses instead of short and spammy replies like "wow ur so cool, dude." Please is there something we can do about this? I'm not trying to sound brash, I'm just pretty upset.[/color][/size][/QUOTE] The character limit in the comment system is the only thing that's really irking me right now. I don't really use HTML when I comment, so eh lol. I'm just glad you can view comments and add comments in the same box - it's such a great convenience for me ^_^;

Well, I'll be attending Cal Poly Pomona next year, and I'll be majoring in Journalism, though Cal Poly isn't really known for being a Journalism-centric school, heh. It's more of an engineering school, really, but I liked the school well enough. Plus, I liked the head of the Journalism area of study...he was a cool guy. After that, I hope to get some sort of job in the video game journalism industry, but you never know how that stuff will work out. I might not even end up being a journalist when it's all said and done, depending on if my skills as a short story writer sharpen and if I'm still being pursued by the creativity bug. But, hey, as long as I'm doing something I enjoy, I'm happy, whether it's harrassing people and being a dorky journalist or writing crazy stories all day.

Yep, still awesome. It's kind of weird to see a play written in regular prose, but it gives it a unique feel, I guess you could say. Also, it's totally easy to imagine the green figure speaking with a whispery hiss right into the ear of the woman...gives you goosebumps just thinking about it, heh. I'd like to see more. *nods*

Well, you know how I feel about the banner already...but I'll post my thoughts on it, anyway. I really think the banner is fantastic; perhaps even my favorite of yours that I've seen. The silhouettes are extremely sharp and I really love how the red color stands out against the white. The decision to make Kenshin's scar white was an [i]extremely[/i] clever idea, too, I think. Overall, fantastic job, Syk3 ^_^

OOC: It took forever, but I?m finally done. Huzzah! It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the best of times on the outside, and the worst of times on the inside. Growing up only seemed to encompass the best for Shinmaru. He lived in a nice house, went to the most prestigious schools in the country and was extremely wealthy. However, as we all know, appearances can be very deceiving and this holds very true in our little tale? [center][b][u]Heads: Personality Crisis[/u][/b][/center] Shinmaru walked home slowly, knowing exactly what was coming to him when he got home. He had been struggling mightily in school as of late and his father was not very appreciative of this fact. Shinmaru?s father demanded absolute perfection out of even his merest of acquaintances; Shinmaru himself was not so lucky; he could never hope to live up to his father?s punishing expectations. Shinmaru slowly approached his home, the door looming larger with each step he took. He could feel himself shrinking with each slow stride. By the time he got to the door, it seemed an impossibility that he could even think of opening it. Shinmaru stretched his arm out at the brass doorknob, but he couldn?t reach it, nor did he want to reach it. However, in spite of this, the door opened. Shinmaru contemplated running away for a few seconds, but he knew that this would only make matters worse. He did not see how things could be any worse, but he knew his father would find a way. He always found a way to make things worse. Shinmaru advanced lingeringly towards his father?s room. He knew he had to go in there, but lumbering through the massive stretch of hallway on the way to his father?s room was like walking across a bed of hot coals. His feet burned with pain after each step, but he never loitered, not even for a second. At long last, Shinmaru finally reached his father?s room. He turned the doorknob and, with a soft creak, the door opened. Shinmaru closed the door, enveloping the room in darkness for a split-second, before the light turned on. His father sat in a chair across from him, for a mere moment looking like death was eating away at him. He stood up and assumed the full strength that his presence commanded as he glared down at his only offspring. ?I saw your report card,? Shinmaru?s father said icily. ?I--? Shinmaru started. ?Don?t try to feed me any of your ********,? his father growled. ?I?m sick and ******* tired of telling you this every time you get your grades!? ?The courses are too difficult!? Shinmaru yelled. ?None of the kids are doing well!? ?Any son of mine should rise above the challenge,? Shinmaru?s father shot back. ?[i]I[/i] rose above it when I was a kid.? Shinmaru knew that this was a lie. He had come across a record of his father?s grades when he had gone to the school and they were no better than his own; a bit worse, in fact. Shinmaru?s father did not get into the position he was in because of hard work and grades. ?You know, I try to be a good father,? Shinmaru?s father started. ?But I can?t help but be ******* ashamed of you every time I see your god damned grades! They make me sick!? Shinmaru decided that arguing further with his father would get him nowhere. He fought the tears welling up in his eyes because he knew that if his father saw even a hint of weakness, he would pounce upon it like a scavenger. However, one tear rolled down that Shinmaru neglected to catch onto and his father punched him across the cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground. ?You gonna ******* cry now?!? Shinmaru?s father yelled. ?Jesus Christ, I didn?t know I was raising a crybaby!? His father kicked him in the ribs a couple times, but Shinmaru refused to utter even one grunt of pain, lest his father act upon that, too. His father kept beating on him until he was satisfied and glared down at him. ?Get the hell out of my sight. You?re no son of mine.? Shinmaru stumbled out of the room and the door slammed shut. Shinmaru immediately fell to the floor and coughed out a short stream of blood. His father?s words kept ringing in his head. ?You?re no son of mine?? ?If I?m not his son,? Shinmaru thought. ?Then who am I?? Shinmaru forced himself to stand up and he limped toward his room. He made it to his room without losing too much blood and entered his room, locking the door behind him. Shinmaru sighed wearily and made his way over to his bed, several thoughts buzzing around his head at one time. He decided to use this time to read a comic or two and took out a couple of his favorite Batman comics. Shinmaru read these comics for a couple hours, completely engrossed in the world of Gotham City. One character, in particular, had always struck Shinmaru as interesting: Harvey ?Two-Face? Dent. Shinmaru was captivated with learning about Two-Face and the different aspects of his personalities. After Shinmaru was done reading, he set his comic book back in its special spot and rolled back onto his bed, hands clasped behind his head. Shinmaru tried to rest but he couldn?t. He rolled over continuously, back and forth, from one side of the bed to the other. He just couldn?t get comfortable. He felt a dull ache on both sides of his head. He blinked a couple times and his vision began to blur slightly. He thought he could hear whispers in the back of his mind. A few minutes passed and the whispers began to grow louder, the aches in the sides of his head growing sharper. Shinmaru rolled over again and sat up on the edge of his bed. The pains in the side of his head were pounding, mercilessly beating his brains in. He grimaced and raised his hands against the sides of his head in a vain attempt to stop the pain. When this did not work, he staggered slowly to his feet and tried to walk over to his desk, where he kept his aspirin. This was easier said than done. Shinmaru?s vision was blurred to the point where he couldn?t tell one thing from another. He fumbled around the room, tripping a couple times. He was reduced to crawling agonizingly towards his desk, where he grasped the edge of it with a shaking hand. He forced himself to his feet and, after feeling around the desk for a few seconds, picked up the bottle of aspirin. He struggled for a few seconds to open the bottle and took out a white pill. He raised it to his mouth, but before he put the pill into his mouth, his headache suddenly disappeared. Shinmaru blinked twice and his vision was restored, as well. He walked back over to the edge of his bed and sat down. He could still hear two voices arguing clearly in the back of his mind, but it was not painful to listen to the phantoms of his imagination. In fact, it was quite pleasurable to hear them speak their minds. ?He has to die, you know.? ?I agree, but wouldn?t it be a bit preferable to have some justification for our actions first?? ?Justification? What the hell are you talking about? He deserves to die. That?s all the justification that we need.? ?Without justification, killing is a senseless act.? ?Senseless? Killing makes my senses real, it makes me feel.? ?You know damn well that?s not what I meant.? ?Regardless, you know as well as I do that the man can?t go on living.? ?I know that and you know that. But the boy has some sort of attachment to him, despite how much of a dick the old man is. He?s family, you know.? ?The kid will go along with us. He likes us.? ?Is that so?? ?Yes. He wants to kill the old man as much as we do.? ?We?ll just say that he would have ended up killing the boy eventually and use that as justification. Is that all right with you?? ?Sounds good to me.? Shinmaru snapped to attention. He felt his head and looked around. He was still in his room. He had dozed off for a few minutes?he thought so, at least. He could not remember dozing off, but he had been unaware of things for a few minutes. That was the only logical explanation. Shinmaru stood up and walked over to his door. He opened it and stepped outside. He walked over to his father?s room and brought his hand to the doorknob. His hand stopped just above the doorknob, however. Shinmaru began having some second thoughts about this. He turned around and walked down the side hallway to the lounge area. The room was darkened, except for the glow of the fire which was roaring in the back of the room. Shinmaru approached the fire, feeling the warmth against his skin. The color of the flames flickered against the darkness that was enveloping Shinmaru?s body, on and off, on and off. He spotted a poker in a rack by the fireplace. He picked it up and held it in his hands, staring down at it. The poker was made of a blackened iron, long and a bit rough, the end split apart a bit to better mix and stimulate the ashes in a fire. Shinmaru slid the poker back and forth in his hands, getting a feel for the poker. A slow smile spread across his lips, as he chuckled to himself. He inserted the split end of the poker into the fire and held it there for a few minutes, while it turned white hot. As soon as this was done, Shinmaru walked back over to his father?s room and knocked on the door. ?What is it?? his father asked. ?I want to talk to you,? Shinmaru replied. ?I thought I told you to stay the hell away,? his father said. ?It?s urgent,? Shinmaru said. ?I need to speak to you right now.? Shinmaru?s father sighed. ?Fine, but make it quick,? his father said. ?The door?s open.? Shinmaru opened the door and stepped inside, hiding the poker behind his leg. His father spoke up again. ?What do you want, boy?? ?Turn around,? Shinmaru said quietly. ?What?? his father asked incredulously. ?Turn around,? Shinmaru repeated, his voice cool and completely devoid of emotion. Shinmaru?s father rolled his eyes, sighed and turned around. ?What the hell is it?? he yelled before staring into Shinmaru?s eyes. Shinmaru?s father?s eyes widened with horror. These eyes were not the eyes of the son that he had beaten mercilessly for over sixteen years?yet, they were one and the same. There was a certain psychotic nature to the look that Shinmaru was giving his father right now and there was also a certain familiarity; like Shinmaru could have, should have, done this all along. ?That?s right,? Shinmaru said, a psychotic grin spreading across his face. ?You see it, don?t you? Daddy?s little boy is all grown up. Do you like it? Do you?? His father paled considerably, though he was still standing. He couldn?t move at all, it was like his feet were rooted straight into the ground. Shinmaru took a couple steps backward. His father was shaking like it was the middle of winter. Shinmaru took out the poker from behind his leg and pointed the white-hot end at his father. ?You like this, don?t you?? Shinmaru asked. Before his father could answer, Shinmaru reared the poker back and brought it full force into his father stomach. His father?s throat was immediately clogged with blood and he couldn?t utter even a hint of pain. Shinmaru removed the poker with a jerk, sending chunks of flesh and innards across the floor. His father fell to the ground, expelling the blood that was caught in his throat. ?Don?t hurt me anymore!? Shinmaru?s father managed to gasp. ?Please, don?t hurt me!? Shinmaru looked at him with a hurt look on his face. ?Hurt you?? Shinmaru asked, looking around the room. ?Did I hear you right?? Shinmaru cupped his hand over his ear and bent a bit closer to his father?s mouth. ?Don?t hurt me!? Shinmaru?s father rasped once more, his throat raw with pain. Shinmaru shook his head back and forth. ?I [i]did[/i] hear right!? Shinmaru said. ?I?m not a dangerous guy. I don?t want to hurt you.? Shinmaru held his arms out to his father, as if he was pleading with him. His father?s stomach was still bleeding profusely, but he still found the strength to crawl away from Shinmaru, inch by inch. ?Get?get away?from me?? Shinmaru?s father whispered violently, still crawling away from Shinmaru. ?I don?t want to hurt you, daddy,? Shinmaru said. His father groped against his desk and managed to pull himself up to his knees. ?I just want to bash your brains in. Bash them [i]straight the **** in[/i]!? Shinmaru swung the poker back like a baseball player, then swung it forward into the side of his father?s head, shattering bone and sending it straight into his eye, bursting it with a flourish of blood. ?That?s the stuff!? Shinmaru yelled. ?That?s the kind of show I wanted to see!? Shinmaru continued to strike his father?s skull with the poker, hit by hit, blow by blow, until his father?s skull was an unrecognizable mass of flesh, blood and bone. Shinmaru?s breath rasped out in short, quick breaths, almost unable to contain the raw excitement he was feeling. The poker had finally begun to cool down and was dulling back to its normal black color. Shinmaru looked from the poker, which was covered in blood, to the lifeless body of his father. A small, short chuckle escaped from his mouth, then another. He began to chortle a bit, quietly at first, then louder and louder still. The chortling developed into full-fledged laughter as Shinmaru was unable to control himself. For several minutes, he laughed at the top of his lungs. Then, as suddenly as he started, he stopped laughing. ?This man got what he deserved,? Shinmaru said. ?The powers that be decided that he would get his long ago. I?m just his personal Angel of Death.? Shinmaru raised the poker into the air and plunged it down into his father?s spine. The body spasmed a few times before finally coming to rest. ?I shed a tear for you,? Shinmaru said, mockingly wiping a tear from his left eye. He was about to turn and leave when he spotted something. There was a box on his father?s desk. A small box, no larger than those used to carry wedding rings around. The box was opened slightly. The object in the box reflected what little light was in the room back at Shinmaru. He looked closer and realized that this was his father?s lucky penny. The penny was like a beacon of light in the middle of the darkness of his father?s desk. Shinmaru was drawn to it, as he had never been drawn to anything in his life. He picked up the penny and felt an electrical charge run through his hands. The penny was nothing less than pure power. He ran it through his hands for a couple minutes, completely enraptured with this newfound item. He flicked it quickly using his thumb, the penny making a small pinging noise. The penny turned over and over in the air coming to a rest in Shinmaru?s palm. He smiled down at the penny and pocketed it. ?Well, my lucky little friend,? Shinmaru said. ?You didn?t work very well for my good old pops, but maybe you?ll work well for me, eh?? He walked out of the room and was about to head to the door. However, he stopped at the phone first and dialed for the police. ?Hello, operator?? Shinmaru said. ?Yes?? the operator answered in a smooth voice. ?I just killed my father,? Shinmaru answered. ?Did a real good job on him, too. Bashed his ******* brains in and everything. The whole area is rather messy. You guys might want to check it out.? ?Wait, who is this?!? the operator yelled, before Shinmaru hung up. He opened the door and walked outside, never coming near his house again. [center][b][u]Tails: Revenge of the Minds[/u][/b][/center] [i]Cling. Cling. Cling.[/i] The old man couldn?t believe that he had been reduced to this type of life. Reduced to recon missions, reduced to passing along information to people like his current employer and, most of all, reduced to being chased along like a piece of meat by people like the young punk hunting him down. The old man turned a corner quickly and found himself staring at a dead end alleyway. ?Damn,? he swore under his breath. ?I?ll have to get out of here before?? ?Going somewhere?? a voice asked behind him. The old man turned around and looking into the grinning face of Shinmaru, staring down at him from the shadows. The old man tried to flee, but his actions were too fast for his body to keep up with and he tripped onto the ground. ?How did you get here so fast?? the old man asked. ?I know this city just as well as you do,? Shinmaru replied. ?Need some help?? Shinmaru held out his hand to the old man. The old man stared up at Shinmaru quizzically before deciding that he really had no choice other than to take Shinmaru?s offer to help him up. As soon as he grabbed Shinmaru?s arm, the old man was jerked to his feet and felt a sharp pressure against his throat. ?Now, now, now, you didn?t think you would get out of this that easily, did you?? Shinmaru asked. ?You have to give a little before you receive, understand?? The old man rasped out a choke in response. ?What was that?? Shinmaru loosened his hold on the old man?s throat very slightly. ?I don?t understand what you want!? the old man yelled angrily. ?Adam doesn?t want you!? ?That?s not what I heard,? Shinmaru said, nicking the old man?s throat slightly with his lucky penny, just to assure him that death was close by. ?I heard that Adam wanted me dead. A death mark from someone of the stature of Adam puts a bit of a damper on business, wouldn?t you say?? ?Look, it?s not my problem if you run out of people who want you to kill for them, but, believe me, Adam doesn?t want you dead,? the old man chuckled slightly. ?I doubt he even knows who you are. You?re not really on his priority list, if you know what I mean.? The old man saw red less than a second later as he struck the dirty, concrete ground headfirst. He looked up at Shinmaru, eyes widen, heart beating a mile a minute. Shinmaru stared back coldly. ?You?re not in a position to insult me, my friend,? Shinmaru said, placing a bit of sarcastic emphasis on ?my friend?. The old man tried to get up and dust some of the dirt off his suit, but he was pulled up roughly, right back into the position that Shinmaru had him in a few seconds earlier. The old man was now sweating profusely, not because he was tired, but because he was honestly afraid for his life. ?So, if the death mark isn?t on me, then who is it on?? Shinmaru asked. ?Well?they call him the Desert Taipan,? the old man said reluctantly, knowing that he couldn?t argue with Shinmaru, no matter how hard he tried. ?Only a few select people know his true name. They say he?s the leader of a gang called the Southern Vipers. He?s got a grudge against Adam, or so I hear.? ?Interesting,? Shinmaru muttered to himself. ?Any idea where these ?Southern Vipers? may be at the moment?? ?That?s for Adam?s ears only,? the old man said, and then regretted it shortly before Shinmaru sliced his left ear off with the lucky penny. The old man?s ear hit a brick wall with a smack before falling to the ground. The old man?s ear began to bleed profusely and he clapped a hand up to the spot where his ear was formerly, in a vain attempt to halt the bleeding. ?Adam?s not here right now,? Shinmaru said. ?So, I think I can be a fairly good Adam substitute for the moment. Don?t you agree?? The old man nodded up and down quickly. ?Good. Now that we are on the same page, how about you tell me all you know about our little Desert Taipan, aye?? The old man told Shinmaru every bit of information he knew, including where the Desert Taipan was to be that night and at what time. ?How can I be sure that this information is reliable?? Shinmaru asked. ?Do you really think that the Desert Taipan would allow his position to be leaked out so easily?? ?That?s what I thought,? the old man rasped. ?The whole thing sounds really fishy to me. Then again, it could be true. You never know.? ?A leap of faith is all it takes,? Shinmaru said, to nobody in particular. The old man stood up and Shinmaru?s head whipped in his direction. ?Where the **** do you think you?re going?? Shinmaru asked. The old man froze in place. ?Well, I figured that, since I gave you the information, I?d be free to go,? the old man replied. Shinmaru grabbed him forcefully and pulled him over, staring at the old man face to face. ?I don?t think you should go anywhere,? Shinmaru whispered. ?In fact, I think I would like to play a little game with you. You?re not really of much use to me, anymore. I think it would be for your benefit if you provided me with some entertainment.? The old man paled considerably. Shinmaru turned the old man around and lifted his head skyward. ?Let?s see how well you can paint the walls, shall we?? Shinmaru ripped his penny across the old man?s throat, the sharpened ?edges? of the penny easily cutting through the fragile flesh and veins of the old man. Blood sprayed out in a hellish display of crimson red color. The plasma splattered across the brick wall and slid down slowly. Shinmaru pushed the hidden button in his penny and the penny expanded and long, sharp blades protruded along the outside. With one swipe, Shinmaru sliced off the old man?s head. ?Your blood doesn?t really hold up too well,? Shinmaru said, eyeing up the blood that decorated the wall. ?But it?s not bad. I?d like to take a little souvenir with me, if you don?t mind, that is.? Shinmaru walked up to the severed head of the old man, stuck two of his blades into his eyes and pulled them out. He plucked them deftly off of the blades and pocketed them. ?There we go. Always good to have reminders,? Shinmaru chuckled to himself. [center][b]Later on, that evening?[/b][/center] The nighttime sky was alive with brightly burning stars, a sea of diamonds that one could only hope to stare at, thunderstruck with emotion. Jamie?s face betrayed nothing, however; nobody would be able to tell what he was thinking beneath the emotionless mask on his face. He lowered his head slightly and raised his eyebrows skyward, in a slightly quizzical expression. He was tailed. ?You did a nice job of following me until the last moment,? Jamie said aloud. Shinmaru stepped out from the shadows, keeping a relatively safe distance from Jamie, as there was no telling how dangerous this ?Desert Taipan? could be. ?It would?ve been a nice tail job had I followed you,? Shinmaru said. ?I?ve just been waiting up here all day and all night.? ?It?s not wise to reveal your inefficiencies to your opponent,? Jamie remarked. ?Inefficiencies?? Shinmaru questioned. ?I just have my own ways of going about my business.? ?Did he send you?? Jamie asked, assuming that Shinmaru knew of whom he was referring to. Shinmaru shook his head from side to side. ?I come of my own accord,? Shinmaru answered. ?And of my own curiosity.? ?What is it that you are so curious about?? Jamie asked. ?You have some sort of grudge against Adam,? Shinmaru said. ?Why?? Jamie turned his head, staring Shinmaru straight in the eyes for the first time, and he smirked. ?That?s my business,? Jamie replied. ?Fine,? Shinmaru said. ?And what of your business with Adam?? Jamie questioned. ?I have a death mark on my head,? Shinmaru answered. ?I?d like to get it off me before some madman decides he wants to kill me.? ?And what if I decided that I wanted to kill you?? Jamie asked, chuckling slightly to himself. ?Then, maybe, I?d have to kill you,? Shinmaru replied, withdrawing his penny. Jamie withdrew his katana, holding it firmly in his hands. ?Do you really think that you can kill me?? Jamie asked. ?That?s the last thing on my mind right now,? Shinmaru replied. ?I don?t want to kill you, I want to kill Adam.? ?Well, then,? Jamie started. ?How about we strike a deal?? ?I?m listening,? Shinmaru replied, gritting his teeth in slight annoyance. ?You prove your worth to me,? Jamie said. ?And we?ll take you in with us.? ?We?? Shinmaru asked. ?I?m already traveling with another friend of mine,? Jamie said. ?I guess he couldn?t make it tonight. Our group is the Southern Vipers; much like you, we are out to give Adam his?just desserts, so to speak.? ?And what if I don?t prove my worth?? Shinmaru asked, grinning. ?Then I kill you,? Jamie said, also grinning. ?I can?t have someone roaming around free who knows who I am, can I?? ?I suppose not,? Shinmaru replied. He tossed his penny skyward. The penny flipped over and over again while it traveled upward in a perfectly straight course. Shinmaru caught it, looked at the sign for a split-second, and then flung the penny like a discus at Jamie. Jamie stood, unflinching, as the penny swooped around his left side, around his right side and into Shinmaru?s left hand. A tiny cut opened on the left side of Jamie?s face and a drop of blood fell slowly down his cheek, like a tear. Jamie didn?t bother to clean it up and let it fall to the ground. ?An expert marksman,? Jamie remarked. ?Well, no matter how good you are with your ?weapon,? such a small item is useless in battle.? Shinmaru replied by poking the penny slightly. The penny expanded to the size of a small shield, about three feet in diameter. Another push of the button and sharp blades protruded along the ?edges? of the penny. Shinmaru crouched slightly and held his weapon in a battle-ready position. Jamie nodded and likewise held his katana in a battle-ready position. Jamie made the first move. He took three steps forward and swiped his katana, sideways, at Shinmaru. The blade of katana was blocked with a loud clang from the penny and Shinmaru rolled to the side. He took this opportunity to take out Jamie?s feet with his blades, but Jamie leaped gracefully over Shinmaru?s attack and took out Shinmaru?s feet from underneath him. Shinmaru fell to the ground, the back of his head banging on the hard material of the roof. Jamie stood over him, playfully wagging the katana in front of Shinmaru?s face. ?You?re a bit slow,? Jamie observed. ?No,? Shinmaru replied. ?I underestimated you. Bad move on my part, obviously.? Jamie relaxed and stepped back slightly. Shinmaru bounded back onto his feet effortlessly, dusted himself off, and again crouched into a battle-ready position. ?That won?t happen again.? This time, Shinmaru made the first move. He slashed his shield at Jamie and, when he missed, contorted his torso in order to avoid the slice of Jamie?s katana. Shinmaru ducked against the ground and tried to take out Jamie?s legs with a sweep of his own leg. Again, Jamie easily evaded Shinmaru?s attack, but Shinmaru was ready this time. He pushed himself against the ground and attempted a heel kick to Jamie?s gut, bolstered by the added leverage of the ground. However, Jamie was far too quick to be fooled by such a maneuver. Jamie grabbed Shinmaru?s leg, just before the heel of his boot sank into his torso, and flipped Shinmaru backwards. Shinmaru forced himself to fly backwards in mid-air, and with good reason; as soon as he touched the ground, Jamie again swiped at him with the katana, this time missing Shinmaru?s throat by mere centimeters. Shinmaru could feel the cold, stinging air of the missed blow pounding against his throat and knew how close he had been to death. There was no time to think about such things, though. Seeing how close he was to the entrance that led to the roof, Shinmaru leaped into the air, pushed off against the wall with his leg, and bounded over Jamie, with a graceful back flip. Shinmaru landed onto the ground, knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, and immediately bounded backwards twice in order to avoid the inevitable slash of Jamie?s katana. Jamie and Shinmaru both watched each other from the opposite ends of the roof. Neither of them had broken a sweat or even needed to breathe a bit more than normal. Jamie called out at Shinmaru from across the roof. ?Impressive,? Jamie yelled. ?For someone who made the mistake of underestimating their opponent, that is.? Shinmaru smiled sardonically, muscles taut, still ready for battle. He did not know what Jamie?s next move was and that unnerved him slightly. He licked his lips, taking in the taste of his own blood where he had accidentally bitten his tongue upon his landing. The taste of the blood invigorated him; he was like a shark in a feeding frenzy. There was a crazed look in his eyes at that moment, like he was now a totally different person than the man that Jamie had just been fighting. Jamie saw this, of course, and reacted by putting his katana back into its holster. Shinmaru narrowed his eyes at Jamie, at once confused and suspicious of this action. However, he knew that their battle was over, shrunk his penny back to its normal size, and pocketed it in his coat. Jamie approached him and spoke to him. ?I think that you have proved yourself sufficiently,? Jamie said. ?Your battle skills are decent enough, they?ll improve with time. That look in your eyes is what entranced me, though; you have the eyes of a madman. That?s exactly what we need. After all, you have to be somewhat mad in order to take on Adam.? Jamie laughed out loud at this and Shinmaru joined in on the laughing. Eventually, Shinmaru calmed down, and the wild look in his eyes disappeared. Jamie left him with all the information that he needed, including where to contact him the next day; Shinmaru was now a Southern Viper. Jamie turned and started walking to the roof. ?You?ll turn your back on me that easily?? Shinmaru asked. ?Of course,? Jamie said. ?You don?t think I?ll attack you?? Shinmaru asked. ?Please,? Jamie said. ?I said I was impressed with your skill, but that doesn?t mean that I couldn?t have killed you any time that I wanted to. But it?s good to have some insurance with you.? With that, Jamie left. Something about his words clicked in Shinmaru?s mind. There would always be the two voices arguing endlessly about what was right and what was wrong, when it was the time to kill and when it was not. There was one thing that the voices would not argue about, however: Despite how insanely mad the two voices were, from that night on, they pledged their undying oath to Jamie, no matter what Shinmaru himself might have thought of him.

I've never been discriminated against, though that's most likely because I live in a community that's predominantly made up of people of my racial background (Mexican-American). Well, most of my racial background, anyway. I suppose I'm part of a growing "trend" around here and the rest of the U.S.: people of mixed ethnicity. There aren't [i]that[/i] many people of mixed heritage around here, but they're definitely around (I'm part Mexican, English, Dutch, German and Native American, in case anyone cared). In terms of racial jokes, I just look at it like this: If the joke is funny, I don't take offense to it. If the joke is not funny, if it's done in poor humor, then I'm offended by it, because I take offense at people wasting my time with bad jokes. I employ racial humor from time to time, but it's mostly in reference to myself, because I feel more comfortable poking fun at myself than some random person, heh. I know what offends me and doesn't offend me; I don't know what would offend someone else.

Somehow, some way, I've managed to [i]avoid[/i] buying a GBA SP, most likely because I am one cheap bastard. However, I'm really thinking strongly about buying this, though that'll probably involve a lot of luck and soul selling lol. There's no denying that this new rendition of the GBA SP looks damn cool, though. I wouldn't really bother with the games, myself, because I already either have them on Animal Crossing or Zelda Collector's Edition.

[QUOTE=sailorscorpio21][COLOR=DarkRed] It isn't out in america yet :moron: When will it come out is Riku in it.He is so hot he :love: was my favorite charcter even if he is a bad guy. form sailorscorpio21[/QUOTE] First off, your attachment had absolutely [i]nothing[/i] to do with the topic or anything at all...you just can't attach images to posts for the hell of it. Second, your post quality isn't really up to par. All you really said was that "Riku is hot" and he's your favorite character. What else about the game did you like? What else are you looking forward to in KH2? Aye.

[url]lhttp://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/04/30/news_6094924.html[/url] I don't really keep up with PC games, so I wasn't really familiar with Citizen Zero, but it sounds like an interesting game...I'd keep an eye on it if I owned an XBox, heh. Sounds like an interesting enough setting for a Real Time Strategy game.

I always sort of figured that the first three dungeons correlated to the order that you go through the other dungeons as Young Link. You know, Deku Tree/Forest Temple, Dodongo's Cavern/Fire Temple and Jabu-Jabu/Water Temple. That's always how it seemed to work for me, anyway. I'm sure plenty of other people have noticed that, too lol. And I agree with Desbreko's point about the Shadow Temple's accessibility; with the Shadow Temple you have to do relatively little in order to gain access to it, heh. I would just save the Spirit Temple for last because, while I enjoy the Shadow Temple (especially the atmosphere of it), I prefer Gerudo Fortress and the Spirit Temple. They're just more fun (Spirit Temple is my favorite temple in Ocarina of Time). So, yeah, that's my preference lol.

I've already told you my thoughts on this, but I might as well post them right here, heh. What I like most about this particular poem is how seamlessly you shift moods within the poem. You'll get a bitter feeling in one part...then, a wistful, melancholy feeling in another...and a hopeful feeling in another. It's all done very well and doesn't feel awkward; it feels like it fits, and that's what makes it work so well. I also like your use of quotes during the poem, as they add a lot to the overall mood of the piece, as well. Also, this poem doesn't feel overly angsty like a lot of other poems seem to...this is more of a reflection on a lamentable situation, but it's not really full of self-loathing or anything like that. I say good work, Mr. Sennen.

After thinking it over a bit, I decided that it would be best to have one thread that encompasses all of the conversation relating to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's just easier that way. Anyway, I've never really tried going off the beaten path, so to speak, and beating the dungeons out of order. When I usually play Ocarina of Time, I usually tackle the dungeons in order, heh. I should probably try doing them out of order sometime, though...as fun as Ocarina of Time is, anything to freshen it up a bit and make it even more fun is cool with me. [quote name='outlawstar69']There was only one weapon qualm I had.. there was no need for the ice arrow power. I played through the game without ever needing it, so I never bothered to get it.[/quote] Well, I don't really see how this is a problem lol. The Ice Arrows [i]are[/i] an optional item; they're available for you to try and obtain if you want them, but they're not needed to beat the game by any means, which you mentioned. However, I don't see why that would lower your opinion of the game. *shrugs*

Just ignore that bit :p I thought it was really funny. You have the journalistic style [i]down[/i], Des lol. Even better that I got a mention in it ~_^ That poor interviewer got a real kick out of it, though. He's just not used to the constant abuse.

The poor mugger was neglected by me - I feel bad now ;_; That's a problem, though...the mugger was the only person I didn't really give [i]that[/i] much thought into developing. He was just in the story for one thing: To kill Sarah and provide the basis of the fight between Johnny and Wolf. That particular line that Wolf says is supposed to be a bit reluctant on his part. He believes that Johnny had something to do with Sarah's death, but Johnny is a good friend of his and he's a bit reluctant to put the full blame of Sarah's death upon him. At the same time, though, he told Johnny to take care of Sarah and Sarah was killed, so, in essence, Wolf blames Johnny for her death, regardless of whether or not he killed her. However, Wolf [i]does[/i] finally come to realize that Johnny could not have prevented Sarah's death any more than Wolf, himself, could have. It's just that Sarah was such an integral part of his life, that he's having a lapse of sanity, so to speak...one that lasts quite a while, heh. Don't ask me how he found the mugger, though. I prefer to leave that to people's imaginations :p EDIT: I'd argue about the slacking if it weren't so true ~_^

Quiet you, I know that I took this title from the Radiohead song (which is quite awesome, by the way). I just think it's a cool title for a story. I always found the new house to be sort of creepy. I was sitting in a chair in my living room, reading an old book that I had checked out from the local library. A fire was roaring away in the fireplace and gave me all the light that I would need to read the night away. It was sprinkling a bit outside and the pitter-patter of the raindrops against the windows provided a nice ambience for my nightly read. Usually I could read for hours, but I was starting to get a bit tired. The words on the pages that I was reading began to blur together, becoming nigh unreadable. I put the book down on the side table near the chair and leaned back in an attempt to get comfortable. I didn?t feel like going all the way upstairs to go to sleep; it was cold and drafty in my room. With the comforting noise of the rain and the warmth of the fire, I felt that I could go to sleep rather easily in my chair. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, my phone rang. When I bought the house, it came with these older-style phones, the ones that make the loud ringing noise and you have to spin the dial in order to call someone. The phone?s bell awakened me with a jerk and I looked hurriedly from side to side, but was relieved when nothing was there. I guess I was sort of jumpy. This house was my 10th house in as many years. I was forced to move a lot, because of my best friend and my worst enemy; he had a grudge against me and I wasn?t about to sit idly by and let him kill me or whatever else he had wanted to do to me. No matter how much I moved, though, he always ended up catching up with me. Sure, I would be safe for a while, any time from a few months to a few years, but his arrival in town was always inevitable. Whenever I would finally become settled in and adjusted perfectly to my new home, the rumors would start: He was in town. I walked over to the phone and picked it up slowly, still trying to recover from the shock of being awakened so suddenly. I lifted the phone up to the side of my head and spoke into it with a tired voice. ?Hello??? I said. ?I?m coming,? a deep, gravelly voice replied. I paled considerably and dropped the receiver to the floor. I was breathing rapidly, with fast, gasping breaths. My hand was shaking as I crouched to the floor and picked up the receiver from the ground. ?Excuse me?? I asked, my voice shaking even more than my hand. ?Who is this?? ?You know exactly who this is,? the voice answered, quite calm and confident. ?I?m coming.? The person on the other line hung up abruptly before I could ask any more questions. I stared down at the phone, eyes wide, scared out of my wits, unable to believe what had just happened. Or, rather, I was trying not to believe what had happened. However, deep down, I knew exactly what had happened. The voice on the other end of the phone could have only belonged to one person, and he had found me. Wolf. I never found out where Wolf got his nickname from. I met him in college, in my Freshman year; Wolf was also a Freshman that year. We ended up becoming best friends in a very short time, helping each other out in our respective classes and causing general trouble wherever we went. I lived at the college, but Wolf commuted, since he had lived only a few minutes from the college his entire life. I went over to his house whenever I was bored, which was quite often. ?Say, Wolf,? I said. ?You wanna pick up some dinner tonight? I feel like eating out somewhere.? ?Sure, why not?? Wolf replied. We walked down the steps out of the college and out to the parking lot. ?Where?s Sarah at?? I asked. Sarah was Wolf?s little sister. ?Sarah?s been busy lately,? Wolf said. ?Lots of schoolwork. She probably won?t be able to go out with us, if that was what you were hoping.? ?That?s a shame,? I said. ?She?s too young for you, anyway, you damn pedophile,? Wolf joked. ?I?m only a year older than she is,? I laughed. ?I wouldn?t do anything with her to get me arrested, anyway.? ?Regardless,? Wolf said. ?She?s my little sis, Johnny. Makes me a bit uncomfortable to see you so interested in her, I guess. Big brother protection in action.? ?Oh well,? I said. ?We can still have a good time without her, I suppose.? I got into the passenger seat of the car and Wolf got into the driver?s seat. He started up the car and drove smoothly out of the parking lot. I rolled down the window and let my elbow hang out of the car a bit. ?Where would you like to go, Wolf?? I asked. ?I dunno,? Wolf answered. ?Maybe some Italian place. I haven?t had good Italian in the longest time.? ?Cool,? I replied. ?I could go for some good Italian myself.? A sudden ringing came from the back of the car. Wolf grumbled to himself a bit before parking his car on the side of the road. He rummaged around the back of his car and picked up his cellular phone. This was a while ago, so the phone was kind of bulky, but Wolf said that he needed it in case of emergencies. Wolf raised the phone to his ear. ?Hello?? he said. ?Yeah, this is Wolf. Uh-huh?are you serious? God damn it, when the hell did that happen? Okay, okay, calm down, I?ll be right there. Bye.? Wolf closed the phone and tossed it to the back of the car. He let himself calm down a bit before starting the car back up. I had a million questions that I wanted to ask him, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. Antagonizing Wolf was not something that I wanted to do. We continued to drive, in silence, until we arrived at Wolf?s house. He stopped in front of his mailbox, next to the stretch of asphalt that led into his garage. ?Sorry, Johnny, but I won?t be able to make it tonight,? Wolf said. ?I have an emergency.? ?It?s okay, man,? I answered. I was a bit disappointed, but emergencies were no laughing matter. ?I have a favor I want to ask of you,? Wolf said. ?What is it?? I asked. ?I want you to watch over Sarah tonight,? Wolf replied. ?No funny business, though. You can talk to her, hang around with her, but that?s as far as you go. Got it?? ?Yeah,? I answered. ?I got it.? Wolf nodded his head. ?Good,? Wolf said. ?I?ll see you later, Johnny. Thanks.? I got out of the car and closed the door. Wolf started the car up again and drove away. I walked up the short path to his house and knocked lightly on the door. A voice answered that the door was unlocked and I walked inside. I paced around in front of the fireplace, unsure of what to do. I didn?t have enough time to be able to move out completely, but I didn?t want to wait around for Wolf to get here. On the other hand, I didn?t want to keep running for the rest of my life. There was a part of me that knew that Wolf would catch me, eventually, and that, perhaps, this was that time. The rain outside intensified. It began to pound harshly against the windows and I could hear the faint rumblings of an approaching thunderstorm. The fire in the fireplace was dying down slowly. I went over to the drawer on the other side of the room where I kept my cigarettes. I was feeling really nervous and figured that a good smoke could calm me down. I reached over to open the drawer, but before I could open it, I heard a loud pounding at the front door. Once, twice, three times; each pound louder than the one that had preceded it. I turned around sharply and stood transfixed at the front door. I was deathly afraid of what could have been on the other side, but I was extremely curious, as well. Against my better judgment, I inched my way towards the front door. Each step seemed to take an eternity, each floor board that I stepped on made a sound that seemed to be magnified a million times. Finally, I made it to the door. I tried to control my quivering hand, but that only made my convulsing palm shake even more. I slowly guided my hand towards the doorknob and grasped it tightly. I reluctantly turned the doorknob and stepped back slightly so that I could open the door. I threw the door opened and my heart stopped, fully expecting to see the face of Death staring back at me from outside. But he wasn?t. There was nobody there at all. I sighed with relief and closed the door. I decided that this had been all too much for me and walked over to the drawer to get those cigarettes. After what seemed like another eternity, I made it over to the drawer and opened it. My hand reached inside to grab the pack of cigarettes, but I noticed something else that was stuffed over in the side of the drawer. The rag doll. I walked up the front steps to Wolf?s house. It was nighttime and the stars were glittering like jewels in the darkened sky. This would be a nice night to go out. I knocked on the door and I heard Wolf?s voice tell me that the door was unlocked. I opened the door and walked inside. I spotted Wolf sitting on the couch watching television. ?Hey, Wolf,? I greeted him. Wolf looked over at me. ?Hey,? he said, in reply. I could sense that he was feeling a bit awkward, so I decided to sit down instead of continuing a conversation with him. I looked over at the television. Wolf was watching The Simpsons, laughing when his favorite parts came up. The show ended and he looked over at me. ?You know how I feel about you going out with Sarah,? Wolf said. ?I know,? I replied. ?But she really likes you,? Wolf continued. ?And, as much as I don?t like it, I don?t think I could break you two apart. You?re a good guy, Johnny, it?s just that there?s something that bugs me about the whole thing, you know? Maybe I?m just being paranoid or something?you?ll treat her right.? Wolf got up and I spotted something sticking out of a cushion on the couch. ?What?s that?? I asked pointing at the object on the couch. ?This?? Wolf asked, picking up the object. ?Hey, it?s Sarah?s old rag doll. I was wondering where this had gone to.? Wolf turned the rag doll round and round in his hands. ?Where did she get that from?? I asked. ?It was a gift from our mom before she passed on,? Wolf replied. ?Sarah used to play with this thing all the time; she loved it. Didn?t really matter that it looked ugly as sin, it?s the thought that counts, right?? I nodded in response and Wolf grinned. ?Here, Johnny, you take it.? Wolf handed the doll to me. ?Why do you want me to take it?? I asked. ?Give it to her as a present when you two come back,? Wolf said. ?She?ll love it, I promise. She?s a sucker for nostalgia.? I looked down at the rag doll. It was brown and worn in several places; it had obviously seen better days. I decided to give it to Sarah later on that night, anyway, because Wolf had never steered me wrong before. If he said that Sarah would love it, then she?d most likely be ecstatic when she saw it. ?Thanks, Wolf,? I said. ?You?re a good friend.? Sarah called down the stairs, announcing that she was ready to head off. I got up and put the rag doll in my jacket pocket. Wolf got up, left the room for a bit, and came back, handing me an umbrella. ?It might rain tonight,? Wolf said. ?Take that, just in case.? ?Rain?? I asked. ?The sky?s crystal clear.? ?You never know,? Wolf said. ?Just take it, Johnny.? I gave in and took the umbrella. Sarah came downstairs, looking as lovely as ever. I opened the door for her and she walked outside, thanking me. I was about to head out, when Wolf tapped me on the shoulder. ?Remember, come right home after the movies,? Wolf said. ?I don?t want to hear about anything funny going on, got it?? ?Yeah,? I said. ?I got it.? I closed the door and walked over to the car. I hugged the rag doll to my chest, millions of memories flooding back into my head at once. I wasn?t sure whether or not I wanted to remember any of these things, but they forced their way back into my head, regardless of my preferences. I opened the drawer and gently placed the rag doll back into the drawer. After that, I picked up the pack of cigarettes and pulled a cigarette out. I took a lighter out of my pocket, lit the cigarette and placed it in my mouth, puffing on it with quick breaths. I rubbed at my chin absently, still staring at the door. The knocking unnerved me very much, but what unnerved me more was the fact that there was nobody at the door?nobody that I could see, at least. I could not count out the possibility that the knocking on the front door was meant as a distraction. Wolf was very tricky like that. He was always a very good planner. Before I could give any more thought to these things, I heard a loud stomping coming from upstairs. I bit down on the cigarette in my mouth, nearly severing it in half. I looked over at the stairs, again feeling that unnerving feeling. Wolf was toying with me and he was probably having a damn good time doing so. I tried to calm my fears, but it was impossible. I decided, though, that I had to go up the stairs to see what happened. I walked upstairs, step my step, the creaking of the wood even louder than it had been when I was walking over to the front door, if that is even possible. My heavy, nervous breathing synchronized itself with the creek of the stairs, successfully making me even more nervous than I already was. Thankfully, I made it up the stairs without having a heart attack or anything. I looked around and my heart skipped a beat. The ladder that led to the attic was pulled down and the attic door was open. I was about to turn around and forget the whole thing, but curiosity again got the best of me. I walked up the shaking, fragile steps leading up the attic door and pulled myself up once I got to the top. As soon as I made it into the attic, the door slammed shut and I was plunged into darkness. I panicked for a minute or two and groped around for the light switch. The rain was raging even more outside and several lightning flashes lit up the room. I had no desire to walk around the room blindly, with lightning as my only source of sight. Luckily, I had been into the attic a few times before and knew where the switch was. I flipped it on and light flooded into the attic room. I took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and sweep their away around the attic. Nobody was in here, nor did it appear that anyone had been in here. Everything was still settled the way it always had been and the same dust caked the objects that were spread around the attic. I searched around the attic and bumped into a small, red box. Something drew me over to the box, so I opened it. I looked inside and saw a cracked picture. A cracked picture of Sarah. We had been mugged after we came out of the movies. It was raining like crazy when it happened. The mugger came out of nowhere and knocked me on the side of my head, sending me sprawling to the floor. He tried to take Sarah?s purse and, when she did not cooperate, forced her to come with him. He dragged her kicking and screaming from the theater and kept the frightened bystanders at bay with the knife that he was holding to Sarah?s neck. After a couple minutes, I regained my composure and ran in the direction of the mugger. I was soaked to the bone almost immediately, but I refused to stop searching. I ran past an alley and I spotted two figures near the back of the alley. I ran over to them and confronted the mugger, whom was standing over the limp body of Sarah. ?She wouldn?t listen to me,? the mugger said. ?She refused to cooperate?? I started breathing faster and faster, not out of fright, but out of anger. ?You ******* killed her?!? I screamed. I punched him in the jaw, breaking it, but also breaking one of my knuckles. He fell to the ground and uttered a moan of pain, his hand feeling his jaw tenderly. He got up and ran away. I decided against running after the mugger and instead decided to tend to Sarah. Her throat had a deep cut in it and it looked like she wasn?t going to make it, but I knew that I had to keep her alive, no matter what. I carried her body out of the alley, when a car came barreling down the road. It screeched to a halt, nearly losing control because of the slick roadway, and Wolf ran out of the car, totally disregarding the cars that were flying down the road. I put Sarah?s body down on the ground. Wolf nearly got hit twice, but he made it across the street. His eyes widened when he saw Sarah?s body. ?What the **** happened to her?!? Wolf screamed. ?I?we got mugged,? I stammered. ?The mugger kidnapped her?and?and he slit her throat?? I started crying. The emotion of the situation was too much for me. Wolf looked at me, staring at my hands, which were still somewhat red with blood, despite the torrential rainfall. ?Like hell you got mugged,? Wolf spat out. ?You got caught up in something, didn?t you?!? ?Are you blaming me for this?!? I yelled, astonished. ?You?re damn right I?m blaming you for this,? Wolf said. ?I said no funny business?and then I find that Sarah?s been killed! My little sister, dead!? Wolf punched me across the face, sending me to the ground. I scooted backwards from him, ignoring the throbbing pain in my cheek. I pulled myself to my feet and Wolf glared into my eyes. ?As God as my witness,? Wolf said. ?I swear I?ll track down whomever killed Sarah. It may be you, or it may be someone else, but they?ll get whatever?s coming to them.? He looked down at Sarah?s body, then he looked back up to me, fire blazing in his eyes. ?If I were you, Johnny, I?d get the hell out of town.? I didn?t have to be told twice. I ran like hell and I never turned back. I knew that I hadn?t killed Sarah, but Wolf didn?t know that; and nothing is more dangerous than someone who acts when they don?t know the entire story. I put the picture back into the box, tears flowing slowly out of my eyes. The picture, the memories, the rain?all of it was too much for me to handle at one time. I walked over to the attic door and opened it. Then, I turned out the light and walked down the attic stairs, making sure to put the ladder back in its proper place. I walked down the stairs that led to the front room, so that I could finally enjoy that cigarette. ?Hold it right there,? a gruff voice interrupted. This time, I reacted with nothing but calm. I knew exactly who it was and I wasn?t afraid anymore. I raised my hands into the air and waited for more instructions. ?Just turn around slowly,? Wolf said. I complied and turned around slowly and faced him. ?That?s good. You can put your hands down now, I just wanted to make sure that you weren?t going to try anything.? He put the gun into his pocket. We stared at each other for a couple minutes, trying to figure out what the other was going to do next. At last, I spoke up. ?Wolf,? I said. ?What do you want?? ?I wanted revenge, Johnny,? Wolf said. ?And I got it.? ?I?m still alive, Wolf,? I pointed out. ?Yes, you are,? Wolf agreed. ?And I killed the guy that slit Sarah?s throat, with this gun right here.? He patted the pistol that was in his pocket. ?So, you finally realized the truth?? I asked. ?Yeah,? Wolf replied. If he seemed put off by my question, he didn?t show it. ?It looks like you were right all along. I was just so angry and saddened that my sister had been taken out of my life so quickly, that I had to blame somebody. I?m sorry I chased you for so long, old friend.? ?That was you making all that noise, right?? I asked. ?Why were you doing that?? Wolf sighed. ?I couldn?t confront you directly, Johnny,? he said. ?After years of sneaking around and trying to hunt you down for something you didn?t do, a crime you didn?t commit?I couldn?t face you directly after all that. I had to get you to come to me.? ?I see,? I said, though I didn?t really see at all. ?So, what happens next?? ?I got what I wanted,? Wolf said. ?Now it?s time for me to get some peace. Get your shovel ready, Johnny. I?m going out.? I suddenly understood what he wanted and went out to get my shovel. When I came back, shovel in hand, Wolf was gone. I looked out the window to my backyard, saw a bright flash of light and knew immediately what had happened. Wolf was at peace and it was finally time for me to take care of my business. After ten years, I was finally free. Comments and critique are appreciated, as always.

[QUOTE=AzureWolf][font=Georgia][color=#0000ff]It's a good thing you mentioned Shinmaru's website. On the school computers, whenever I go to Shin's website, there's a pop-up saying that there's an error, and if I want to keep running whatever caused the error.[/color][/font] [font=Georgia][color=#0000ff][/color][/font] [font=Georgia][color=#0000ff]That might actually be the cause of your computer trouble rather than a large compilation of pictures and sounds.[/color][/font][/QUOTE] I think my site was one of the sites that might freeze up because I used to have mp3s in my Now Playing section, but my current song disappeared after the character limit was introduced, so I've decided to just not have anything in there. I doubt many people even listened to the music, anyway lol. So, if my site continues to freeze up, then I have no idea what the problem is o_O Anyway, I just wanted to come in here and clear that up >.>

There was an old thread about the game, but it was in the Video Game Archives, so I just decided to make a new thread about it, since I've been really getting into the game lately. Anyway, I never had the opportunity to play the original game on the Dreamcast because, well, I had never owned a Dreamcast lol. I had heard many great things about the game, though, and really looked forward to its release on the GameCube as Skies of Arcadia: Legends a few months ago (okay, it was more than a few months lol). I bought the game about six months ago and played up until [spoiler]Pyrnn Temple, where I proceeded to get my *** kicked by the Red Gigas[/spoiler] and abandoned the game for a while. Yes, that is an extremely silly reason to abandon such an awesome game. However, a couple weeks ago, I was feeling extremely bored and decided to take up the game again. Lo and behold, I showed that [spoiler]Red Gigas bastard[/spoiler] what was what and proclaimed my victory over the land. I've been hooked into the game ever since. What was pointed out extremely well in the other thread (and whenever I talk to Tony about it lol) is that Skies of Arcadia was, and still is, a well needed breath of fresh air in the realm of RPGs. The story, which is actually very good, maintains a light-hearted sense of pure exploration and includes a rich and likable cast of characters. The game's story pulls off both serious moments and humorous moments with ease. There have been several moments in the game so far that have genuinely made me laugh. That's pretty rare in gaming, heh. The gameplay is more than up to snuff, too. Most of the puzzles are admittedly a bit simple, but the boss fights are fun, the world is genuinely fun to explore and the game gives you several reasons to keep playing the game; this isn't a short game by any means (hell, my quest is approaching the thirty hour mark and I [i]know[/i] that I'm nowhere near done with the game - I'm fully expecting that my game will approach thirty-five to fourty hours by the time I'm finished and I haven't done very many of the extra quests, outside of the bounties). If you haven't figured it out by now, this game is highly, highly recommended, [i]especially[/i] if you're a fan of RPGs. Skies of Arcadia: Legends is the best RPG on the GameCube by leaps and bounds and I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of the best RPGs I've ever had the opportunity to play...by the time I'm finished with it, I might even be calling it [i]the[/i] best RPG I've ever played.

I'm going to have to ask that you guys put a little more quality into your posts. Not only are you just making one sentence posts, but you're also straying a bit off-topic. You've all mentioned what anime/anime-style games you like, but I would also appreciate you including some [i]reasoning[/i] behind your choices. Thanks.

Like Godel said, some things just require political correctness. You can't be a rude jackass about everything :p I think that when I am with strangers, I tend to be more "politically correct". When I'm with a group of friends that I like to hang around and talk with (which, admittedly, there aren't too many of), I'll be more casual and "politically incorrect". Also, the way I see it, it pays to be in the middle with this sort of thing. Both extremes are really quite silly lol. People who demand you be politically correct about [i]everything[/i] are just really annoying, as are people who are just ******** about anything and everything. Hm. Can't think of much else to say.

This thread has lasted long enough. I don't think that any more valuable discussion will be arising from this. Thread Closed EDIT: Note that I deleted a post before this, so this is not a double-post.

Eh. Signs was okay. It was suspenseful, I'll give it that, but it didn't really make me jump or anything. Really, you're just beat over the head with every single theme and plot device that the movie wants you to know about. It gets really annoying after a while lol. Although, [spoiler]the fact that the aliens die because of water makes sense, especially if it's Californian water they touched. I would die if I touched that crap, too.[/spoiler]

It's time to bump up the thread! Woo! ...yes >.> [b]Name:[/b] Jacob Truant (I'm not good with names >.>) [b]Age:[/b] Twenty-five. [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Race:[/b] Hylian [b]Class:[/b] Knight [b]Background / Biography:[/b] Jacob was a new recruit to the Hylian army. He was mostly relegated to guarding the backwater areas of the castle, where nothing usually happened and boredom was endless. Jacob was always itching for the day when he would be able to go out into battle and prove himself as a full-fledged Hylian Knight. That day would come sooner than Jacob thought. Jacob was in the Guards District, when Ganondorf's army struck Hyrule Castle and the surrounding town. Though, the Hylian Knights did their best to drive back the menaces of the army, their efforts were in vain and many innocent lives were lost. The Hylian Knights managed to get whomever was left over to the Guards District, where the ReDeads have as of yet not penetrated. It is only a matter of time, however, before Jacob will ultimately have to prove himself worthy of the rank of Hylian Knight. [b]Appearance:[/b] With his armor on, Jacob looks like any other Hylian Knight (very recognizable if you have played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). Without his armor, Jacob has messy crimson-red hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion. He is about average height (about 5'8" or 5'9", I'd say) and he has a fairly strong build. [b]Primary Weapon:[/b] Broadsword [b]Secondary Weapon:[/b] A small dagger that he keeps in a hilt strapped to his left hip. [b]Items:[/b] A cache of Deku Nuts (about five) given to him by Impa, a sharpening tool to sharpen his sword and dagger and a bottle of Lon Lon Milk that he bought from a store before Ganondorf's army attacked Hyrule Castle. [b]Spells:[/b] No spells. All item slots are taken up. I hope that this will suffice ^_^ If there are any changes that you would like me to make, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Please try to improve your post quality, JuliasPeach. You've really added nothing to this thread other than the fact that you've been working on your own FFIX sequel. We'd like to keep the topic of this thread to [i]official[/i] sequels, if you don't mind.

I think that the banner looks good. Nice and simple, heh. It helps that the picture of the girl is extremely sharp, as well. The only problem that I see is that the bluriness in the background is somewhat hard on the eyes, but it's not too bad. Overall, I think that you did a good job ^_^ I still like your Sniper Wolf banner, though, simply because Sniper Wolf is kick *** in just about every way >.>

I don't really have much exposure to They Might Be Giants. Just the Malcolm in the Middle theme song and that one episode of Tiny Toon Adventures where they use a couple of their songs in music videos. That episode was pretty funny, I must say. Istanbul (not Constantinople) was one of those songs, I believe. The other one...well, I'm guessing it was called Particle Man, I don't really remember if that is what it was really called lol. Funny videos, though. Other than that, my experience with TMBG is nil.