Aaryanna_Mom

I've sent you my responses Sandy. And just like the other two, I'm excited to see the outcome. :catgirl: It's been a lot of fun so I'll be sorry to see it finally come to a close.

[quote name='Avenged666fold']So what I am getting at is this. Is there something wrong with not being scared by anything the people in Hollywood(or whatever...) throw at me? Is it ok I am desensitized to such things at 16 years old? Are any of you guys like this?[/QUOTE]I would have to say there is nothing wrong with not being scarred. And though I find it a bit sad to see kids desensitized at such a young age, I don't see a problem with that either. Though I'll still argue that you're too young for such horror. ;) Personally, sometimes I kind of wish I was more desensitized since I rarely watch any horror films as they tend to be too creepy for my tastes. I know they aren't real, but technology has made such huge advances in making things[I] look[/I] real that I've gotten where I'd rather not see the fake blood, gore, violence, etc. I'm more use to watching shows where the fear came from watching the people react instead of senseless blood and gore. A good example would be the original movie The Thing. Not the silly remake mind you, but the original black and white that came out in 1951. I definately prefer horror to be more psychological instead of graphic. So I guess in the end, I'm a wimp, and proud of it.

Just a quick update for you Sandy, I'm finishing up the second part, my victory themed piece if you will. I hope to have it done today, if not, definately tomorrow. Once I do that I'll send you everything. And yes Rachmaninoff, I agree, it is going to feel very strange for this to finally end! The whole thing has been a lot of fun. :catgirl:

The moment the meeting ended Catherine immediately chased after Colonel DeSouza, calling out his name until he finally stopped and turned to face her as she quickly caught up to him in the hallways of the Argo Navis. "[B]What is it Dr. Sanderson?[/B]" He asked, clearly impatient to be on his way. "[B]About the health monitor I mentioned earlier, I think you should wear it...[/B]" She hesitated when he shook his head negatively. "[B]Colonel, even if I only have one ready it is a good idea to use it![/B]" "[B]Schovick,[/B]" DeSouza barked, catching her attention as she hurried past them towards the access leading to the lower areas of the ship. Teresa stopped and turned back to face them. "[B]Yes sir?[/B]" "[B]Dr. Sanderson has some equipment for you to use. Go with her to retrieve it before getting the rest of your gear.[/b]" He looked back at Catherine."[b]I trust that will do?[/B]" He asked, one eyebrow raised slightly, showing his impatience to get going. "[B]Yes, but before you go, you might want to consider taking field jackets as well. Even though the space station seems to be working just fine, the readings did indicate that the temperature is a little bit on the cool side. It's not enough to be dangerous, but being cold will affect your teams performance.[/B]" She paused, tilting her head to the right a bit. "[B]I'm sure I don't have to remind you to take along basic medical kits.[/B]" DeSouza just shook his head. "[B]I'll keep that in mind Doctor. Anything else?[/B]" But Catherine just shook her head indicating there was not. "[B]Then I suggest you get that equipment to Schovick immediately.[/B]" He nodded and then turned and continued on his way. "[B]So, what equipment was the Colonel talking about?[/B]" Teresa asked. Catherine turned to face her, "[B]A health monitor.[/B]" She explained even as she started towards sickbay. "[B]Oh, like they use for space walking right?[/B]" Teresa asked as they entered the sickbay. "[B]Correct.[/B]" Catherine replied as she picked up the monitor and turned back to face Teresa. "[B]As you can see you pin it to your collar[/B]." She handed it over to Teresa who immediately put it on. "[B]Anything else?[/B]" "[B]No[/B]." Teresa smiled a bit, "[B]All right then, I'd better get going.[/B]" Catherine watched as she turned and then left at a run. [I]She sure is hyper.[/I] Catherine thought once Teresa had left. [I]You'd never know that we've been stranded in the middle of no where from the way she behaves. [/I] Once the door to sickbay had closed she turned back and took a seat in front of the equipment the health monitor was tied into. Catherine turned it on and then tested the data feed from the health monitor. Everything was working perfectly. At that precise moment an empty feeling reminded her that she had yet to get something to eat. Quickly she got up and headed to where the cafeteria was suppose to be. [I]I'd better get something before they leave.[/I] Since it was her intent to stay in sickbay and monitor the feedback from the health monitor as well as catching up on some of the latest medical updates that she had not read through yet. Moments later she was in the kitchen area, hunting for something she could simply take back to sickbay with her.

[quote name='Boo'][size=1]I'm Dutch, stop saying things about the joint part.[/size][/QUOTE]You are the one who suggested it. :animesigh Anyway, other than the bit about a joint, which I'm going to assume is a joke, shaking things up by changing them a little is always a good idea.

Congratulations and good work you two! :catgirl: Even if I'm now nervous about facing both of you. I was worried that we would not win. Since as the Aces said, our article was not as focused as it could have been and yet considering how hard the two of you worked to get that done before school started again... I was very proud at how well it turned out. Though I do have to laugh at the 'fluff' comment since we did trim out a lot of the material we found to avoid dragging it out. I guess we didn't get enough trimmed out. ;) And I do wish that we would have had more time to refine the article, but still I'm happy with how it turned out. Just as I'm happy at how quickly both of you responded to the requests for the review. Anyway, I guess in a little bit we'll find out just what we will be doing. It's been fun having both of you as teammates. So best of luck to everyone. :catgirl:

Hmmm... I guess I should clarify a bit. By suggesting pming people, I am mainly referring to when you are new. When I first started I had never done rpging before so I often found myself talking to the other players to help me understand what to do. Now for the most part I do not unless I want to be clear on something. So I guess what I was trying to say is if you're uncertain, don't be afraid to ask. The underground thread is a good place for that as well. To bring up questions or doubts you have about how to proceed. :catgirl:

Over the years I've met people who share the same birthday that I do, though it's been a while and I don't know anyone at the moment. But as for other people who are actually famous there are a few that I know of, who's birthday is also on September the 5[SIZE="1"]th[/SIZE]. [B]Bob Newhart:[/B] American actor and comedian. [B]George Lazenby: [/B]Australian who played James Bond only once in the film [I]On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[/I] [B]Michael Keaton:[/B] American actor played [I]Batman.[/I] Of course there are quite a few more, but those are the ones I'm familiar with. :catgirl:

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]Well, I intend to join a lot more RPG to get active. I have to make a character for Shy's latest Rp, Weekly World News. I know I drift away form people, mostly becuse when I have gathered with others, I ended up making their characters look bad. For example the RPG Keyblade Wieder made a year back. I used her character and I got thrown out. I just don't have luck with that.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]I guess I just have one question for you then, when you use someone else's character do you pm the person who is controlling that character to see what they think? It is something I have done and the other players in Silver One have done on a regular basis. When we are doing a post that includes the other person's character, often we've pm'd the other person and said, hey, this is what I have in mind what do you think? That helps to avoid making major mistakes, at least until you've been rpging for a while and have a better feel as to how their character would react. Often they've made suggestions other times they've said that would work. But basically, for most of the major times I've used someone else's character, to some degree I've worked with the other person to make sure I'm not 'making them look bad' as you put it. It's not necessary every single time, but it does help. That would be my advice, making sure you are communicating with the other players, that way when something is off, no one minds since they know you're putting in the effort to get things correct. And even then, it's easy to use the edit button to correct any glaring mistakes. :catgirl:

All right team. It seems that the Aces have submitted their article. So I'd like each of you to write up your thoughts on it and send it to me. Basically do it as if you were the only one writing the review. Then we'll work on combining all of them together into a single review to post in the main thread for Sandy. I'm glad they got it posted since we'll probably need a few days to work together to get that review done in time. [CENTER]*****************************************[/CENTER] All right you two, good work on sending me your thoughts and input as to how you thought we should do the review. I've gone ahead and posted it. :catgirl: I look forward to seeing what The Aces write as well as finally seeing the outcome of this challenge. I'm a little nervous since even though I'd like to win, I'm not sure I want to face the two of you if we do! lol Either way, since we'll be on the Jury if we lose... I'm thinking it's going to be fun to see what the final challenges coming up are! :catgirl:

[CENTER][B]Our Review of the article written by The Aces for: [U]The Mario Forum[/U][/B][/CENTER] [U] [B]Strong points:[/B][/U] The article is to the point and clearly explains just what The Mario Forum was, as well as when it was added to OtakuBoards. Along with information as to who moderated it, and other interests surrounding it such as the motivation for creating it, the proposed ShineGet.com for Super Mario Brothers, even though said website was never built. It also talked a bit about the threads that were a part of The Mario Forum as well as even linking to one of the more interesting threads created when The Mario Forum was a part of OtakuBoards. And interesting trivia such as the “Mushroom Kingdom Award” made the article interesting to read. Overall, it ended nicely with a bit about how the forum never generated much interest and how it’s removal from the boards was barely noticed. [U] [B]Weak points:[/B][/U] A little more information on ShineGet.com might have been interesting seeing that it was supposedly the entire basis for creating The Mario Forum in the first place. Though without asking James directly it is impossible to know if there was more information to be had, but again that could have been included in the article, in the form of a short response from James. The bit about the “Mushroom Kingdom Award” though interesting was a bit confusing in that many newer members have no clue what Otaku Awards is. So perhaps a tiny bit as to just what Otaku Awards actually is would have made the article a bit more interesting, or even a link to the thread in question so members could look for themselves if they were curious. Because without further information, it is not clear as to why James getting this award was even connected to The Mario Forum. [U][B]Overall:[/B] [/U] We are quite pleased with the article produced by The Aces. We feel that they did an excellent job in tracking down information and putting together a nice article that explains a bit about the long gone Mario Forum of OtakuBoards. Excellent work. :catgirl:

[quote name='Disenchanted'][size="1"]Edit: ooh i'll probably have to wait for things to move along abit before posting, o.0[/size][/QUOTE]I understand what you are saying. Part of what I was sent obviously will not happen until later. And speaking of that, I've now posted the first part of what I received. I believe I got that correct if not let me know and I'll fix it. It's also part of Catherine's personality, if it involved checking for life signs or other things medically inclined, she'll simply start giving orders with giving it another thought. So she'll occasionally be quite bossy. :catgirl:

The moment she saw Dr. Henderson's slightly annoyed expression Catherine knew she had made a mistake by asking her what was going on. [I]I really need to find out what the procedure for things like this is here. [/I] She thought even as her attention was drawn to the main viewer and the strange object that vaguely looked like a spacestation. "[B]It's simple Dr. Sanderson...[/B]" Dr. Henderson started to say. "[B]Doctor or Catherine is just fine.[/B]" She asserted, looking back at Dr. Henderson. Catherine smiled. "[B]I can always wait until you are free, I did not mean to interrupt anything.[/B]" "[B]Very well Catherine, if you'll just take a seat and perhaps go over the readings from the spacestation, once I'm done with Dr. Rhodes and Mike I'll fill you in on what's going on. Though Ms. Erickson is free to do so if she wishes.[/B]" Catherine just nodded and slipped around her to take a seat just to the left of where Mr. Bishop and Ms. Erickson were sitting. It only took her a moment to activate the display in front of her seat and without giving it much thought she checked the information that the sensors were providing. Though Dr. Henderson had referred to it as a spacestation, the computer indicated that it did not match any known design by any of the different races in the CIF. Puzzled she also pulled up and listened to the transmission that was still being broadcast in intervals. Just as she noticed that someone had set up a standard request for identification to be sent from the Argo Navis. [I]I wonder why there is no reply? [/I] But when she looked to see if anyone was on board she noticed that the strange wave of frequencies being emitted by the spacestation was interfering with the scanners ability to detect any life readings. [I]This won't do, we need to get a little close so I can tighten the scan to punch through the interference. [/I] "[B]Mr. Bishop,[/B]" Catherine said in a firm voice, forgetting for a moment that she had no right to issue any form of orders. "[B]I need you to take the Argo Navis in closer, so I can focus the scan for life readings.[/B]" She mentally calculated the distance, "[B]I'd say closing the gap by about one third of our current distance should do the trick.[/B]" She was too busy changing the parameters for the scan as her hands flew over the controls, to notice Bishop's hesitant look as he turned to Dr. Henderson to inquire as to what to do. After receiving a brief nod giving him the go ahead, he turned and brought the ship in closer. "[B]Thank you, that's close enough,[/B]" Catherine said as she initiated the scan. It took a moment and then the results came back. She shook her head and turned to face the others. "[B]You can turn the automated request for them to respond off, there is no life on board. Either the crew is already dead, or they have abandoned the station altogether.[/B]" Catherine moved a bit to the side when Dr. Henderson came over and took a look at the readings. "[B]Someone needs to inform Colonel DeSouza of this. If the spacestation is responsible for the gravitational anomalies and the odd wave frequencies, we'll have to transport over and take a look to find out what, if anything, over there is causing it.[/B]" Brianna finally said after she straightened up from looking at the data on the screen in front of Catherine. "[B]Right,[/B]" Kendra said as she turned to the ships computer system to request the Colonel's location. "[B]I'll let him know immediately.[/B]"

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]I liked that too since I left it completely up to GuyYouMetOnline as to how they wanted things to go. I can easily imagine just how irritated Stevens is right about now. lol[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]I liked that as well. When I saw your post I was figuring that I'd start the next part with my character stuck in sector one. lol And now that the post is up, I like how GuyYouMetOnline chose to do things. :catgirl: Anyway, I'm sure it goes without saying that I'll be looking for the next part since I definately want to continue as Daniel and William. Especially since there are so many things that we still haven't learned about! That and we definately need to get both Jason and Celestia out of sector one. Though I'm still not sure as to how we'll manage to actually do that. lol

When it became apparent that Stevens and the rest of those in sector one were not going to give into the demand to release the enslaved races, William did just as he had told him that he would. Within no time the information about the four factions was all over the Versilan Empire. And though he had been certain that at least sector nine would break off, he was mildly surprised that sectors seven, eight and ten, eleven and then finally twelve had followed. He had been hoping that some of them would but he had not been counting on it. The only question William had now was just how firm each sector would be in the face of retaliation from Stevens and the rest of the High Council that had been cleared for duty. He was positive that they would not sit by and allow it. Especially since most of the military in those sections had simply chosen to break off as well. It was a pity that the core of the fleet was residing in sectors one through six as well as thirteen and fourteen. It would have helped if the crew of one of the fleet's five flagships had broken off. But they had not, still the threat of them moving in mass to take back a sector was pretty slim. Stevens would be forced to keep the fleet divided to a certain extent to protect both sides from invasion. And sector one would be particularly open with one side right against sector seven. Which meant that the chances of sector seven being the first one they moved to reclaim was pretty high. As William was about to call it a day, yet another bit of information was forwarded to his location from one of his operatives still in sector one. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the news. Kiva had followed standard procedures and had run with both the [I]Transcendence[/I] and Daniel. She wouldn't know it of course, though he figured that she suspected it, but since Daniel had been working in close proximity with him for quite some time, he had quite a bit of information that would have been disastrous for Stevens to learn about. He would have preferred to have her as an undercover agent with war breaking out, but having the [I]Transcendence's[/I] capabilities as well as Daniel's command experience would ultimately be more helpful. And there was no getting around that having a ship like the [I]Transcendence[/I] would work in their favor. Other than the flagships it was capable of destroying other battleships and messenger ships. It would be critical for the upcoming fights. William wondered about her crew Daego, but figured that it was likely he either left the ship or had decided to back the dissenting sectors. After all, he knew from Erica's notes that at one time he had been approached due to having similar views. With all that had happened, it was highly possible that he had decided to switch sides. With a tiny smile he turned his hand held computer off. Once they got to sector seven he would start organizing the Resistance cells to work with the local military and representatives for the upcoming war. [CENTER]********************************************[/CENTER] Daniel was both relieved and yet at the same time sad. Though technically things were going well for the Resistance, Civil War would bring a horde of other problems that they really didn't need. Deep down he knew that it would likely end up like this, Stevens and the others simply refused to free the enslaved races. They wouldn't even bargain to slowly phase it out. Sure it would have been hard on their economy, but in time they would have adjusted. Hell, as long as they lived it could have easily been done in his lifetime. It was easy for him to wish for the change, but then his own daughter and son-in-law were slaves. Daniel had no trouble accepting members of the lesser races, once he had learned about Celestia it had been easy to accept it. Her mother, when she had been alive, was a kind and gentle woman. And though he had done nothing about it back then since he had not known about it, he since then wondered about how they had ever thought it was okay to enslave others. [I]We're so messed up. [/I]With a tiny shake of his head he went back to reviewing the information that Kiva had for him. She had already summarized everything and it came to no surprise to learn that just as he had thought, Kerstin had not said anything. He only hoped that after what happened, Stevens would not change his mind and take it out on her. Then once they had gotten clear enough he had prepared a specially encrypted message for William. Requesting that Kiva stop just long enough for him to send it off into the system, it was short and to the point, letting William know his current status and plans. The message would get to him and by the time they reached sector nine, if he wasn't already there, he would be able to contact William directly. If he understood the situation correctly, it would be easy enough to get into sector nine, William would make sure that was taken care of. His only regret was that Celestia and Jason were still stuck in sector one.

All right, time for a quick update since were close to doing another edition. First of all, I've already gotten some articles and reviews this time so I want to know who is free right now so I can send it to you for editing. You don't have to post, but a pm telling me you are would work. Also, here's an update on what is being worked on: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57718"][U]Isolated By Anime[/U][/URL] [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57786"][U]What are You Watching/Reading Now?[/U][/URL] ~2007DigitalBoy [three threads total] [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57742"][U]Mmm, Chocolate [Or: If You Were Chocolate, What Type Would You Be?][/U][/URL] ~2007DigitalBoy [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57798"][U]Another Little OB Survey[/U][/URL] ~Rachmaninoff [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57624"][U]Signature Size?[/U][/URL] ~Premonition [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57681"][U]The Challenge: A Survivor Story [PG ? LV][/U][/URL] ~indifference [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57084"][U]Graphic Worm 2007[/U][/URL] [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57478"][U]Sci-Fi Showdown [Duel] - [PG][/U][/URL] ~Aaryanna [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57468"][U]¡The Return of the Padded Room Party ! Everyone Invited! [PG][/U][/URL] ~BKstyles [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57473"][U]What kinds of threads are and are not appropriate for the Adventure Square?[/U][/URL] ~BKstyles And there you have it. Rachmaninoff has indicated via pm that he'd like to do the one on a survey. Also, I'd really like to know where you are with your article BKstyles so if you could pm me to let me know I'd appreciate it. Again, good work everyone. Especially 2007DigitalBoy since he's put a lot of work into the upcoming edition. And thanks again to James for putting up an announcement for the past edition. We greatly appreciate it. :catgirl:

I just realized something, it couldn't have been related to the unknown project in sector fourteen since Stevens knows what that project is! lol Oh I feel silly! I don't know what I was thinking. Though I suppose it made what the secret was more fun since I was kind of off as to what I thought it might be. I was thinking it was another bizarre alteration actually. Though upon reflection I clearly see that what it turned out to be made sense. I've also worked in the bit you sent me about what Erica's last orders were. I was expecting it to be someone on the main world sending those orders not Williams! lol It's kind of funny to learn that your character has been doing something that you were not aware of. :catgirl:

Though it had pained him to do so, William had left the sector. Taking off as if he was heading for a check point and then immediately jumping to hyperspace the moment he was clear. Though he was heading for sector six, he had already gone into full stealth mode and after a while he would change course for sector seven. He would have liked to stay on Reflection, but he had gotten what he needed and with Daniel's capture he couldn't afford to stick around. "[B]Is it true sir? What you sent in that message to Fleet Admiral Stevens? Are we really going to support the four factions?[/B]" His new second in command asked. "[B]We are and once I send out an update to all Resistance members you'll understand why, in fact I'll send it to your terminal right now.[/B]" William punched in the command and then waited for him to read what Crystal's report would have found. "[B]Bloody hell![/B]" He turned to face William. "[B]How long have you known about this?[/B]" "[B]Since shortly before Erica was arrested. I've been gathering further information in regards to it as well as making sure those in sector nine were prepared. Erica was concerned that once it was found out the rest of the other factions would move to eradicate those who were tainted in the remaining factions.[/B]" "[B]I can see why, something like this would cause Civil War among the factions. Hell! The rumors were true then.[/B]" He shook his head. "[B]If only we had been able to force their hand with this knowledge sooner.[/B]" "[B]It's unfortunate, but until now, we would not have been believed, it would have been considered nothing more than an ugly lie started to discredit the High Council.[/B]" Williams didn't bother to tell him that even Erica had been worried that she would have been silenced before the information in regards to her arrest could be released. Even if she had little time to live, it had been a serious gamble to do what she did. "[B]Yeah I know, they've done a good job with brainwashing everyone, between the mental alterations and the propaganda they spread about us. It's a wonder we even manage to get new members like we do. What I don't understand is how you managed to convince those in sector nine to start stockpiling.[/B]" Williams laughed. "[B]I took advantage of connections that Erica had already set in place. Shortly before she was arrested she sent orders to those who work in that area and had them carefully work with the officials there to convince them that if they weren't ready, that the High Council would be moving to seize control of that sector. It wasn't hard to convince them that even if the rumor about them being tainted with the blood of the lesser races was not true, the people would believe it after all that had happened. The hard part has been keeping them in check all this time since some of them were considering breaking away from the Versilan Empire altogether.[/B]" William couldn't help but admire Erica's work and he had to agree. She had been convinced that left unprepared, the High Council, would do just that. The factions had been peaceful for generations, but it still didn't change the fact that internal power struggles occurred on a regular basis. Erica had been expecting Stevens and the others to seize control if given a chance, but she also knew that without some powerful incentive, no real changes would be made. It was sad really, her last words to him. She knew that if things went how she expected them too that it would result in Civil War. And it seemed that she was right. Williams expected Stevens to attempt to find a way to defuse the situation in sector nine instead of doing anything about it. And if he did, he would do as threatened, that information would be sent everywhere, the preparations were already done. "[B]Anyway, bring us out of hyperspace and set a new course for sector seven.[/B]" Then he went back to reviewing some of the information he had gotten on Reflection. If war did break out, he had a lot of work to do to get ready for it. [CENTER]*********************************[/CENTER] Daniel didn't know what if anything had been done, but to his utter surprise no one had come to run him through the standard interrogation techniques.[I] What is going on out there?[/I] He couldn't think of a single thing that would stop Stevens from having him interrogated. If he demanded that Kiva hand him over, he knew that she most likely would, so why was he still on the [I]Transcendence[/I]? Had Daego tried to do something and failed? Was he even still alive? It was maddening to not know what was going on. Sure he knew about the rumors of Civil War and though William had not given him the details, he had assured him that the possibility was quite real.[I] Did war break out? Is that why nothing has happened to me?[/I] He caught himself as he started to move to pace back and forth in the tiny cell. Instead he stayed on the bed, doing his best to remain calm. He'd find out soon enough just what was going to happen. Though for the life of him, he couldn't think of a single reason as to why nothing had happened to him. [I]Wait... Did Kiva decide to run?[/I] After all, he knew who she was, making him a severe liability to her position. But if she had run, taking the [I]Transcendence[/I] with her, then there would be no reason to leave him locked up in the cell. Daniel forced himself to lean back against the wall. No, he would just have to be patient and hope that when someone did come, it was with good news instead of bad. Though he was not expecting it to be good. Daniel just couldn't see how Daego could make a difference in regards to his fate.

All right, sorry that took me so long Beth. I kept getting side tracked by other things. Also, as much as I hate to be blunt here, but we have a number of people who have not posted in over three weeks. If they've lost interest, that's understandable, or if school or other commitments interfere that's understandable too. But what I'm saying is if that really is the case, I would be interested in either controlling two characters like I do in Silver One or simply writing a few out of the rpg altogether so this won't die out. Because I really want to find out why people are disappearing and what we've run into that resulted in the ship stopping. That and I like Science Fiction rpg's the best and there just aren't enough of them it seems. Also, no offense people, but nothing in three weeks? That's stretching it in my opinion. Again, sorry for being blunt about it, especially since I am not the creator of this rpg. It's merely my opinion as one of the players.

Although Colonel DeSouza had not given her a firm answer in regards to her question about using health monitors on the teams who would be in close proximity of the gate itself, he had at least told her to go ahead and prepare an example for him to look at. And since they would be stopping at the Creid's capital city first, Catherine could show him the one she was putting together at that point, and if he gave her the go ahead, it would be a simple matter to prepare some more for when they actually arrived at Telvaris. It was not uncommon to use such monitors for when the crew needed to be outside the ship in space, so the basic components were standard on any ship and it seemed, when she checked the cargo list, that for the Argo Navis, it was the same. It had taken her very little time to pull up the location on her CCB for the parts and then head down into the various storage compartments on the lower level to retrieve the basic components. Catherine took enough for one health monitor and then went back to sick bay to put everything together. She wasn't sure where Nakiesha Rhodes had gotten off to, which was a bit of a shame actually, someone with her skills would have a much easier time putting things together than Catherine would. Still at least for medical equipment she knew the basics and after a while she was finished. She took a moment to attach it to her own clothing and test it to make sure it was working correctly, that the information was being fed to the equipment in the sickbay like it should. Moments later, satisfied that it did indeed work, Catherine took it off and set it down. Once the Colonel approved it she could request that Miss Rhodes help her with putting together enough for everyone who would be near the gate. Between the two of them, they should be able to prepare them in time. It would then be a simple matter to test them, making sure that they were all working before the gate was turned on. Just to be sure that they would indeed transmit back to the ship as intended. As well as making any last minute adjustments that might be needed. Catherine stood up and stretched a bit, wondering what to do next. They weren't due to arrive at the Creid's capital city for a little while yet. Perhaps now would be a good time to check out the rest of the ship. As well as perhaps getting something to eat. It had been long enough that upon thinking about it, Catherine realized that she was quite hungry. [I]I wonder if military rations are as bad as I've heard?[/I] She smiled at the thought.[I] I guess there's only one way to find out. [/I] She picked up her CCB and pulled up the layout of the ship as she walked out of sickbay and into the corridor. But as she looked up at the stairs leading up she couldn't help but notice through the side windows that the stars were still and that the Argo Navis was no longer traveling in hyperspace. All thoughts of exploring the ship and getting something to eat were forgotten. [I]Why have we stopped?[/I] She wondered, even as she turned to head for the bridge to find out.

I'm sure you saw this one coming, but my children of course. Nothing makes me happier to see how well they are doing, and I like to think that I had a hand in that, even if they grow up and no longer need you like they did at first. The other, my ability to read music. For whatever reason, sight reading music has always been fairly easy for me, even before I went back to school and learned more. Pieces like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, I can sit down and simply play at a glance. Not well enough to perform since that takes practice, but still it's fun to do. It also makes playing for church easy as well since for simple songs like hymns and such, I never need to practice I can simply play anything in the book, on both the piano and the organ. :catgirl:

[quote name='Shy'][size=1] In fact, most of my gay friends have been disowned by their families after 'coming out.' If children can't be educated about homosexuality and discuss it in a classroom setting, where else can they? -Shy[/size][/QUOTE]That's just sad really. I'll never understand a parent who disowns a child over something like that. Anyway, in spite of my religious upbringing that tells me that such a thing is wrong, that doesn't change the need for accurate information. Whether or not I or other members of my faith think it is a sin in irrelevant. I am constantly amazed at people's tendencies to attempt to force their values and beliefs on others. If an education system has the option for parents to opt out of their kids receiving sex education, which is exactly how it's done in some of the schools here, though that's pointless since they don't really teach enough to make a difference. Anyway, what I am getting at is that if parents object so much then they need to step up and make sure their children are educated instead of objecting to a more realistic education that doesn't shy away from the truth. Also, I don't know where people are getting the idea that leaving them to find out for themselves is such a bright idea, good grief! Just ask any parent, leaving kids on their own to discover things is what results in so many pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. I've lost count of the parents I know who were shocked to learn that their kids were doing it and yet they had never bothered to get around to having that all important discussion with their children. I have to wonder how many of their kids wouldn't have gotten pregnant or wouldn't have gotten some disease if they had just been a little more informed. It's about the same as handing your kids the keys to your car and saying go have fun! Sure many of them will do fine, they'll pick up the basics, where others will not. It's why we have education in the first place, it's not going to prevent everything of course, but if its never taught, then you have no one to blame but yourself for not doing all that you could to prepare these kids. But even more important is not pretending things don't exist, by refusing to educate them about both sides your doing them a disservice really. It won't change the fact that people are different, all it will do is make you look like an intolerant backwards idiot who can't handle something different.

William could do nothing but watch helplessly as the [I]Tryst[/I] was stopped by the [I]Transcendence[/I] and then boarded by an assault vessel. When it was all said and done, he turned the feed that he had hacked into off and leaned back into the command chair on the bridge of the [I]Astera[/I]. It was supremely ironic in so many ways. And yet supremely frustrating as well. Both him and Daniel had finally gotten the last bit of information that he had been searching for and once he got cleaned up and came over to the [I]Astera[/I], they were going to make the arrangements to leave the sector. But the military had found out and were tracking him, if not for the warning, Daniel would have come over to the [I]Astera [/I]and they would have caught both of them. It was maddening since they had done all they could do for now and he knew, from what Erica had told him, that Civil War was virtually unavoidable. He had planned on leaving the sector before things broke out. But now, he had a bigger problem, and yet he could do nothing about it. It was unfortunate, but Daniel knew who Kiva was, and it went without saying that Kiva knew about it. It was bad enough to lose Daniel, but to lose Kiva too? Sure she could run if she needed to, hell, she was in the best position to do so. With the [I]Transcendence[/I], no one could stop her. And those that could, wouldn't be able to catch Kiva. But getting someone in that position in the first place was beyond difficult and with the possibility of Civil War, that position would be vital for intelligence. With a sigh William got up and headed to his quarters. There was nothing he could do and for now he would have to trust Kiva to do something if the opportunity presented itself. Though he seriously doubted that something like that would happen, and Kiva was far to smart to risk compromising herself. William pulled out his hand held computer and went over the last few orders he would need to issue before leaving sector one. If not for the recent fuss with Daniel being captured, he would have taken off immediately. But by now, they would definately be hunting for him as well so it would be better to wait a little bit first, after all, the last thing he wanted to do was put Kiva in the position of having to stop his ship as well. All he had to do was calmly leave like one always did and simply make the jump to hyperspace the moment he was clear of the gravitational pull of the planets. They would realize what was going on, but of course at that point it would be too late. And as cold as it sounded, even if Stevens had Kiva hand Daniel over for immediate interrogation, or requested that her crew take care of that aspect, getting any information out of him would take time. So even if he stayed another week, the chances of him being compromised were slim. Though he wasn't going to wait that long, doing so would be foolish. No, William would wait a day or two and then he would leave. [CENTER]***********************[/CENTER] Daniel felt the urge to laugh, even though the situation was far from funny. He had been so close to being gone from sector one and yet now, here he was, stuck in a cell on the [I]Transcendence[/I]. Sitting on the tiny bed, leaning back against the wall and resisting the urge to bang his head against it. The only question he had was just how sincere Daego Kelse had been about what he said, as well as if it would do any good. And his last comment about Kiva and her loyalty? Gods! If only he knew! But then that was what made her such a good agent, she never shirked from her duty, even when those actions were detrimental to the Resistance. Even his own capture was proof of that, she could have easily made sure his ship had been destroyed, but instead she followed her orders to the letter. Making sure that he survived the assault so that he could be caught. Daniel started to reach up for his locket as he often did and then halted, letting his hand fall back down to his side as he remembered that he did not have it. Why having Anna's picture had been so important to him, Daniel didn't know. Just as he didn't know for sure how they had figured him out. He was assuming it was due to Kerstin, but he was willing to bet everything that she had not come forward with the information. No it was more likely that someone like Kiva had found it during their investigation or perhaps it had been Blaine, after all he too had been convinced that Daniel was not who he claimed to be. In the end, how it happened did not matter, he couldn't change it. Now the only thing he could do was try to hold out as long as possible. If Daego Kelse was not able to do anything, then it would be up to him to keep what he knew to himself as long as possible. Though it wouldn't be too hard, he knew from experience that interrogations took time. William would be long gone before they got anything useful out of him. The only thing he dared to hope for was that it was someone besides Jared. More than anything, he did not want to be interrogated by Jared again. Daniel sighed. Now if only he dared to ask for his locket from the [I]Tryst[/I]. As well as for the chance to see his daughter Celestia and his son-in-law Jason again. But even as he thought about it, he knew he would not ask. Doing so would only give whoever was assigned to interrogating him a glimpse into what was important to him. And if they were anything like Jared, they would exploit that information. Well other than Anna, she was already dead. They couldn't do anything to her anymore.

[quote name='Sandy'][font=Century Gothic][B]Update:[/B] about ten days to go until the deadline, and neither article is posted yet. You better get the hustle on if you want to make the reviews on time. ;D[/font][/QUOTE]Actually, our original deadline that we set for ourselves was to have the article ready by no later than the 24th. Which would have left the other team a full week to do the review. However, since we worked hard on it to get things completed before my teammates returned to school today, I have now posted the completed article. :catgirl: I would have had it up earlier today but the site was down when I tried to log on.

First of all, this article was a collaborative effort between myself, my daughter Aaryanna and Rachmaninoff. Secondly we'd like to also thank the following people for taking the time to respond to our requests for information: Lady Asphyxia, Desbreko, Charles, Kei, Sara, Semjaza, James, Sandy, Nerdsy, DeathKnight, Gavin, Lunox, Neuvoxraiha, Dagger & Shy. Without them it would have been next to impossible to put the pieces together so thank you very much. :catgirl: Anyway, having said that, here's the article that we put together. [B]The Yu Yu Hakusho Forum[/B] In order to understand the Yu Yu Hakusho Forum, it?s important to understand a little bit about how OtakuBoards was quite different than the format members are familiar with as of 2007. You see, back in 2001 before the forums in each section of OtakuBoards became more centralized in February of 2004, it started out with a main section for anime called Anime Otaku that at first simply had forums such as Digimon, Dragonball and Gundam for discussion. [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/May152001ob.jpg"][U][B]May 15 2001[/B][/U][/URL] As time went on, other sections such as a Tenchi forum was added until somewhere between September 22, 2001 and January 22, 2002 a General Anime Forum for all anime that didn?t have it?s own forum was added to the Anime Otaku section of OtakuBoards. [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/September222001.jpg"][U][B]September 22 2001[/B][/U][/URL] [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/January222002.jpg"][U][B]January 22 2002[/B][/U][/URL] Though later on the Tenchi forum would become the Tenchi/Outlaw Star Forum and then the Tenchi/Outlaw Star/Teknoman forum before it was eventually removed. Other forums would come and go in the Anime Otaku section, including a Cowboy Bebop forum and Trigun forum. Later when Anime Otaku had been renamed Otaku Anime and was moderated by Shyguy; between April 20, 2003 and April 24, 2003 the infamous Yu Yu Hakusho forum along with the .hack//SIGN forum was added to OtakuBoards. Something that as Shy put it: [I]This was because the existing staple of forums was getting kind of stale, so we needed something new to shake things up. I think it might even have been me who suggested creating both forums.[/i] [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/April202003.jpg"][U][B]April 20 2003[/B][/U][/URL] [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/April242003.jpg"][U][B]April 24 2003[/B][/U][/URL] But its addition did not shake things up as Shy had expected: [I]Reaction to both forums was pretty lukewarm, which is strange because both series were extremely popular at the time. Yu Yu Hakusho was the more active of the two, but it seemed to have a weaker quality of member posting in it. Aside from Dagger I can't really remember anyone who made intelligent posts there on a regular basis. Most of the threads were the same generic stuff you'd see in any anime forum: favorite character, fangirl rantings, questions about music from the series, etc. Needless to say a great number of these threads were deleted for repeating topics or overall post quality.[/I] What makes the Yu Yu Hakusho forum so unique is that it would be one of the last series specific forums added to OtakuBoards for discussing an anime, before the site switched to a more centralized format instead of a decentralized one of having separate forums for more popular shows. Even before the switch was made it was clear that people?s opinion in regards to having separate forums for different animes was divided as can be seen in these posts from the thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=25886"][U]OtakuBoards v7[/U][/URL] in the Suggestion and Feedback part of OtakuBoards. [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=424023&postcount=77"][U]POST ONE[/U][/URL] | [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=444234&postcount=103"][U]POST TWO[/U][/URL] | [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=444288&postcount=105"][U]POST THREE[/U][/URL] Another example of why a centralized format worked better was clearly seen in the .hack//SIGN forum something that according to Shy: [I]The .hack//SIGN forum was the exact opposite. Even though only a handful of members posted there the discussions were very intelligent and thorough. Azurewolf and I created OB's first thread directory to organize discussion in .hack, which only made Yu Yu Hakusho look spammier and more chaotic by comparison.[/I] Although it is unclear if this had an impact on the decision to move to a more centralized format, it did make it easy to see that the separate forums simply made things more cumbersome for both the members and especially for the moderators. The Yu Yu Hakusho forum only made this worse by being one of the spammiest forums to have ever existed on OtakuBoards. Or rather it was a good example that having too many forums made moderating a chore since things were not as organized as they are today. Or it could have been due to what Shy remembers: [I]Part of it might have been that the Yu Yu Hakusho forum attracted a lot of new members to the site, and those new members hadn't read the rules yet. We had sticky rules threads in the forum; in fact, at one point I even made a sticky warning people to follow the rules or we'd be forced to get rid of the forum. For whatever reason most threads in that forum were locked at any given time, and a significant number of members were banned for ignoring repeated warnings from moderators such as myself. I used to have screenshots of 12 of the 15 most recent threads being locked in that forum. It's pretty awful. To remove clutter I ultimately started to delete threads in that forum. Nobody wants to post in a forum where all of the threads are closed.[/I] To this day, the Yu Yu Hakusho forum is remembered for how troublesome it was. When the project Otakupedia began, Shy, formerly known as Shyguy, disputed a fact presented by Charles for one of his entries: [B]11-26-2006[/B] [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=55820"][U]Otakupedia Entries/Suggestions/Discussion thread[/U][/URL] [B]Shy:[/B] [I]Anyway, I need to take issue with this statement in the Down With Newbie Lounge Article. [/I] [B]Charles:[/B] [I]Amid much controversy (including that generated by Mnemolth ? who still maintains that the Clown and Businessman analogy was misrepresented by everyone), the Newbie Forum was deleted, and with it, the last spam hub of Otakuboards. Not since has there been such intense spam activity.[/I] [B]Shy:[/B] [I]You're forgetting about the Yu Yu Hakusho forum. [/I] Though he was known as Shyguy at the time, Shy was responsible for moderating the Otaku Anime part of OtakuBoards. Since Yu Yu Hakusho did not have it's own moderator, the duty of watching this forum was his responsibility. One that he clearly remembers as he made it obvious that the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was just as bad as the Newbie Lounge that was infamous for how spammy it was. Before the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was finally removed; several times it was used as a point of reference in requesting that other series specific forums be added to the Otaku Anime section of the boards. [B]9-20-2003[/B] Suggestion and feedback forum, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=31304"][U]New Lounges[/U][/URL] This would not be the first time that James would not agree with adding other forums based on the premises that they should be allowed since one that was so spammy like the Yu Yu Hakusho one existed. It was clear that James had other ideas in mind for OtakuBoards and further spammy forums like Yu Yu Hakusho was not one of those ideas. [B]12-23-2003[/B] Suggestions & Feedback, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=35274"][U]Rurouni Kenshin Forum?[/U][/URL] Once again James made it clear that just because forums such as the Yu Yu Hakusho one existed, adding new ones would be pointless since the new format would most likely not include a decentralized format with many forums for each anime. At one time even a survey was done by James, the Site Director, to see what people?s opinion was on moving from a decentralized format with individual forums for each thing or a more central format where things were kept in the same forum. In the end, it became clear that the majority supported doing away with the cumbersome individual forums and making things more centralized. [B]12-05-2003[/B] Otaku Lounge, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=34600"][U]OtakuBoards Survey[/U][/URL] [B]James:[/B][I] [survey question] 8) Would you rather a decentralized forum system on OB (more forums, less activity per forum) or a centralized forum system (less forums, more activity per forum)?[/I] With 18% wishing to keep a decentralized forum format, 43% in favor of a centralized forum format and 39% who were either fine with how it was or wanted some things centralized and other things kept in a decentralized format. In the end, somewhere between December 30,2003 and 3-16,2004 the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was retired and OtakuBoards moved to a more centralized format. Though the exact date is not known, with the formation of the Official Threads Directory in the Anime Lounge: [B]3-16-2004[/B] Anime Lounge, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=38208"][U]Official Thread Directory[/U][/URL] And this screen shot from a web archive showing the structure of OtakuBoards on August 6, 2004 with an Anime Archive posted in by James on February 14, 2004 [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/December302003.jpg"][U][B]December 30 2003[/B][/U][/URL] [URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/August062004.jpg"][U][B]August 6 2004[/B][/U][/URL] It is clear that during that time frame is when the Yu Yu Hakusho was removed along with all other series specific forums. Also, when asked if the Anime Archive contained the threads from the now deleted forums such as Yu Yu Hakusho, James replied: [I]Yep, the Anime Archives contain our old anime forums/threads/posts. Some are missing (I think most of Digimon got wiped out due to a technical issue), but everything else is there.[/I] So it is apparent that by no later than February 14, 2004 The Yu Yu Hakusho forum was no more. This was also confirmed by asking Lady Asphyxia who also recalled that the forum was deleted in February of 2004. However, even though the forum was long gone, it was far from forgotten due to its horribly spammy nature. It was even used in the popular event The Great OtakuBoards Scavenger Hunt 2006 as one of the clues during a round. [B]7-31-2006[/B] Community Events: Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=54281"][U]The Great OtakuBoards Scavenger Hunt 2006[/U][/URL] [I]Question: #9 A wasteland. A now-lost home to the spirit world And spammers alike. -Shy[/I] [B]Lunox: [/B] T[I]he Yu Yu Hakusho forum. I'm going to feel like an idiot if it's something completely different, but it's the first thing that entered my mind. [/I] When asked, one of the first things members who were around when the Yu Yu Hakusho forum existed will say is how incredibly spammy it was. Though a few don?t really remember it at all, still, it was clearly known as being a disease on OtakuBoards as you can see here from what members have said when asked about the Yu Yu Hakusho forum. [B]Sara:[/B] [I]I don't remember much about it?I've never spent a lot of time in the anime forums here. But the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was (in)famous for being the wasteland of the boards. Shy moderated it, and loved to hate it. [/I] [B]Lunox:[/B] [I]Sorry, but I don't really remember specifics! But as it stands, the Yu Yu Hakusho forum wasn't known for having any particular members or threads, because most of was already bad. It was referenced to as a black hole or hell by members or the people who modded it, but I don't remember anything much else. [/I] [B]Gavin:[/B] [I]Most of what I know are the generally accepted facts of the forum, that it was an utter black hole until Dagger came in as the moderator and cleaned it up which is what really made her her name on OtakuBoards, I think at least.[/I] [B]Kei:[/B] [I]From what I remember about the YYH forum, the most popular (and spammiest) thread in the lot was the "Who's Your Favourite Character" thread. Most people would come in and just so "OMFG Kurama isso hotttttt!!" or something to that effect, which of course would bring the ire from fans of other characters, so on and so forth. I don't believe it was ever closed due to the fact that most of the Mods at the time thought that the forum was a lost cause and rarely ventured there. I do believe there was a general trivia and question thread in there as well, though they didn't do much better in the quality department than did the Character thread.[/I] [B]Desbreko:[/B] [I]About the only thing I remember of it is that it had a reputation as being one of the spammiest forums on OB at the time. At one point there were something like thirteen closed threads on the first page alone and someone had taken a screen shot of it.[/I] [B]DeathKnight: [/B] [I]From my perspective that forum started off pretty much as a typical anime forum here. I was never big into YYH so I didn't venture into it much but the, uh, typical YYH fan could be said to be/appear to be quite young. The quality of the threads/posts in that forum degenerated to the point it became kind of a pox on the forum as a whole, lol. Even now people refer back to it like it was a plague. "Well, at least this isn't as bad as the Yu Yu Hakusho forum".[/I] [B]Lady Asphyxia:[/B] [I]While I was around at the time, unfortunately I was never really involved in the forum. All I remember about it was that it was incredibly spammy and when it ended, Shy [possibly literally] danced on its grave. He was quite glad it was gone.[/I] [b]Shy:[/b] [I] I probably could have devoted more time to moderate that specific forum, but I was moderating five others at the time as well. It's not as if I didn't try to improve things, but there was only so much I could do. Why we never had a desginated moderator to that forum is beyond me. I imagine the idea came up pretty often, but pretty much once James saw that the place was a wasteland the plan was always to get rid of it with the next version change or something. When the forum was deleted it was definitely not missed. I don't think we've had more than a handful of discussions on Yu Yu Hakusho since.[/I] Although the Yu Yu Hakusho forum is long since gone, not only is the forum itself not forgotten, perhaps most notably by Shy who moderated it when it was a part of OtakuBoards. But it lives on in the form of a much better and less spammier part of OtakuBoards as a separate thread in the Anime Lounge where fans of this show can still gather together and discuss the anime [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=39464"][U]Yu Yu Hakusho[/U][/URL] in it?s designated thread.