Sutoratosu

"How much are you paying?" Makoto immediately asked in deadpan. There were other questions, of course, but that was their biggest. Besides, it wasn't like they hadn't been in a situation where the employer had gone to the trouble of exerting some type of forceful and coercive tactics. In fact, it was similar to the very first job they'd ever done, now that they thought back on the circumstances. Perhaps a bit more drastic in the measures taken, but nevertheless... still the same basic intent at the core of it's tactics. Which made the Soundbreaker consider another possibility... "Or... is the type of situation where there isn't money, and you've simply gone and specifically found threats to hold over each of our heads, just to ensure we comply?"

Error: Stratos.exe has crashed Cause: mind blown before anything, let me just say... This looks like, hands down, the best looking fan game I have ever seen on the internet graphics wise, no doubt about it... and the amount of additional, high quality concept art there is to go along with it... I'm telling you bro, most of those I would easily mistake coming straight from Game Freak itself, actually no, scratch that, they are freaking better than gamefreak. And that's without even mentioning the unique game mechanics elements that easily set it far apart from anything I've seen... the whole Variable Trainer system reminds of Final Fantasy 4 the After Years in a way, being able to jump from character to character and basically... play it a bit like it's final fantasy or something, and the fact that each character has a unique skill set only adds to the feeling. I haven't fully read up on the thread yet, just skimmed here and there, but obviously, I don't care how long I have to wait for this... whenever you get this thing out, I'ma try out, most definitely. Hell, I was recently even considering getting rid of my old Windows netbook for a newer replacement, and this is definitely a bonus reason for me to.

Makoto weakly opened their eyes. Their mind detected the phone's ringing long before the sound ever reached their ears as they lay there, trying to recall why they would've come to in such a place as this. They sat up and tossed their legs over the edge of the cushions, only then catching the whiff of the faint compound. They reached up a hand to their mouth, rubbing at the suspicious odor. There was no doubt about it. "This... this is indeed ironic..." They sighed to themself, though not without smiling despite the obvious implications. "hit with chloroform. interesting... so this is how they must've felt afterwards. Too bad, I can't say I'm a fan of it." They stopped reminiscing about the past job long enough to take in the rest of his surroundings. The rather conveniently placed placard saved them the trouble of having to piece together their own conclusion though. "A strange place to incarcerate a prisoner, assuming that's what I've become. Regardless however..." They had been practically suppressing the phone's noise up until this point- whatever time it was, it was too damn early for such an annoying racket -but reached out a hand now, taking up the sleek device and giving a single tap on it's glossed screen. They didn't bother with a greeting. Chances are that whoever was on the other end wouldn't care anyway, not if their most prevailing theories about their predicament were true... though they had to admit, if one of their past employers really was behind this, it wouldn't be that surprising. "I presume this has something to do with my awakening in a random break room?" They said calmly in their natural, androgynous pitch and timbre; they saw little point in any voice tampering at the moment. "And the fact that I was obviously abducted at some point in the journey here as well." all the while, they were just waiting for the moment when he could analyze and file away whatever voice answered... alone it might not be much in way of means for identification, but it would at least be better than nothing, if things came to having to hunt down the other end...

There's a difference between simply using a bit of dark humor, and saying something for the sake of being inflammatory and no other purpose but to be inflammatory. That article isn't dark humor, it's some blog poster trying to use the tactic of shock value inorder to swindle people. His purpose in that article was obviously to generate enough anger and disdain towards the very post that people would be willing to fucking donate to his blog in order to just get him to take it down. The very comment I posted a screenshot of earlier is proof enough of his true intentions, as is the overall firestorm that was going on in the comments. As many hate comments supporting the post as there are, his true targets were to garner those speaking out against the content. Those people were the ones he really wants to pay attention, because those are the people who are going to donate just to get him to get rid of it. Do not let the ratio of opposing to supporting commentary be misleading. I'm no expert in the art of comedy, but I'm 99% certain that regardless of the particular sub genre of it, people ideally aren't supposed to get screwed over and scammed by some clever troll who knows just a modicum of psychological manipulation tactics... but ironically, you still have a point. Because those types of tactics are used all the time nowadays... and ya know whats the only way to negate them? to stop paying attention to them... if they're denied the very fuel they need in order to grow and reach their goal- controversy and subseqeunt talk and veiwership- IE, relevancy -well... they just fail then. So, that said... it's been nice talking to you all, gents... I think I'ma leave this now though. I've said all that I wanted to say, both on the topic of the news media in general and the troll poster. There's no point giving this article anymore attention than it's already gotten- trust me, giving trolls attention only encourages them and adds fresh wood to the firestorm. So I'm personally going to stop paying attention to this... cause that's the only way it'll ever truly die. Plus, if I were to try to preach anymore, It would quickly become a circular argument and lose it's entire point altogether. On a parting note though... I hope the guy who concocted this little scam goes fucking bankrupt some day, or at least has some type of karmic bite-in-the-ass catch up to him at some point... I know I personally would have no pitty for the bastard if it did.

Happy B-day, hope ya enjoy it!

So... just to update on my earlier words, since I didn't have time to actually read the article itself before I had to leave for a bit... Author is actually right, that article isn't actual journalism, not even in the fully corporatized, soulless sense more concerned about profit than truth. It's really just a troll blogger trying to make light out of a heavy and inappropriate subject for the sake of generating views and attention to his little corner of the internet. And I can confirm the whole shady thing about donations to take it down: http://prntscr.com/8ym4d8 Yeah... this really is a troll, folks. A god awful troll, but a troll nonetheless... and the only way to deal with trolls... is to ignore them. Ignore them, and eventually... they have no choice but to fade away; Find some other way to waste their god damn time. Oh, and... don't give that sick fuck any of your money, please...as much as some may want to, just to get this disgraceful shit taken down, it's not going to help the situation, it'll only add fuel to the fire and encourage the idiot to repeat shitposting like this in the future. IE, your ass will indeed likely be scammed if you fork over any cash. And damn it, Mael, now I want the superpower to punch people through the internet too, after reading that pile of shit...actually, no, fuck it, I would like the power to freaking dropkick them instead.

the vast majority of Journalist and news outlets simply have no souls nowadays. Once upon a time, journalism was something that actually mattered, was actually used to serve at least some type of perceived greater good, but now? All the media cares about is profit. Which really hasn't changed in anyway since the founding of media- the only thing that's changed is that the greed and souless money grubbing that once ran rampant through the hearts of boards of directors and CEOs of the biggest news outlets, now runs just as rampant through the hearts of the grunts whose job it is to go out and get the cash cows rounded up, and once upon a time, those grunts were most often the only ones who actually cared about the stories they were delving into and getting the truth behind them out to the public... It just seems like so many people in the profession no longer give a damn... not to say that there aren't any true journalist left out there, there are, but at this point, the number is getting steadily smaller and smaller as time flies by. As these true journalist, veterans left over from a better and more integrity conscious age of reporting, are getting older and beginning to step down and retire, newer, younger individuals are replacing them. Individuals who weren't alive for some of the shit that happened decades ago... individuals who just want to keep themselves fed. More and more of them just want to get paid, and don't care about the truth. The truth is apparently whatever the big man at the head of the table says the truth is, as far they can be concerned. And ratings is what keeps the lights on for them... so they're going to twist and contort any story in any way they need to in order to add shock value and get a sticking point into folks minds so that they'll "Tune in". And they won't feel the least bit of shame regardless of how many facts and context they either crop out, misrepresent, or outright just lie about. overall, I think it's just a shitty situation for all of News Media. Hence why I've honestly just stopped watching most of it altogether except for a select few groups who I think are actually still worth a damn. But that's just my two cents on the matter...

"You seem troubled. Is there anything bothering you?" Ethic's brows raised at the sudden inquiry... it had certainly come out of left field. Perhaps he had misjudged it's source just a bit... "I´m not so pretensious as to say I´ll be able to help, but if your fighting ability is compromised in any way because of your state of mind, that will be a problem for me too." His brows instantly dropped right back to their original position. Nope, He hadn't misjudged her. Not at all. "It's nothing," Said Ethic pointedly, keeping up his pace, eyes forward. "I just happened to hear a bit of... something back there. Something I can only believe is from my past. I don't know how I could possibly have forgotten something like it, as... crucial as it sounded." The memories surrounding the dialogue were already falling back into place as he tried to explain. It was almost as if simply hearing the words had inserted the full account of the scene in his psyche, back where it belonged. Complete with visual memory of the event and all. The place they had spoken to each other in... it was... beautiful. Beautiful, yet at the same time, horribly morbid. It had been... a garden of sorts. A garden of death. A garden where eternal blackness and vibrant colors clashed, a garden filled with stone effigy of slain person after slain person, plaques placed beneath each of them for mourners to marvel at, gardens of all different species and color blooming at their feet and around the cobblestones forming miniature plazas around each Statue's pedestal, and between each plaza, darkness reigned supreme. Where he and the Angelic Being had met though... had been the only empty pedestal in the entire place.The pedestal bearing the name Silverjay Waite on it's glossy, obsidian plaque. "Regardless, it's nothing." Ethic finally said after a moment's pause. He just couldn't help but have wondered... did that place still exist? how had he gotten to it? "I'm not the same fool I was when I entered this place. It will take far more than a flash of sealed away memories to make me falter here, besides, I've fought and destroyed tough threats before... threats far more dangerous than whatever opposition the others can likely pose us down here. I only survived some of those fights because I figured out how to compartmentalize." He closed his mouth the minute he had finished spouting... whatever the hell that bit of declaration was. Where had that come from? It had just... come out without him even thinking the words. What threats, what fights? was it what he had heard earlier? Why the hell could his mouth apparently remember well enough to gloat of it's own volition, but his fucking mind still have only blank spots during certain moments when he knows his flight or fight response had come up? They... they had to be tied together...

Much obliged friend, thanks a million.

Jolteon, without a doubt. During my time as Surge, this thing served me quite well on multiple occasions... and it's continued to serve me well ever since. IT always warms my heart to see a big bad dragon drop like a fly the moment a Lightning Fox hits it with a Hidden Power Ice. Flareon gets an honorable mention too though... anyone who ever read Surge Story will know precisely why I've a fondness of the little firefox RIP Infantry

So I finally got a response up, and I got a bit of explanation for the whole split second spacing out thing. I'm intending to slowly reveal a bit more and more about the endgame stages of Ethic's personal little war he waged and the subplot I originally had going in the first run, and use the opportunity to give some actual backstory and origin story to the whole conflict that it was genuinely missing in the first run (Plus fill in a bunch of plot holes). I'll be doing so by either having him hear a snippet of old conversations related to it he was involved in, or seeing scenes of past battles and confrontations, many of which will have originally happened off screen during the inbetween times spanning from where the original run died and the reroll picked up. I'll probably stick to hiding them in spoilers and spacing them out to occur after he clears a major obstacle of the maze, like the Corridor just now. I just figured that given that I never got around to giving out backstories like I said I would back then... I should at least try to get something done now that I've got the chance again.

"So it has..." Ethic muttered beneath his breath, shrouding himself in the remaining veil and making his way to the end of the former corridor of death. Even with one of the statues dead, he would take no chances here. He reached up and pulled away the concealment with his mind as he stepped passed the remaining effigy's line of sight, again emerging into sight as the veil shattered like glass in his mental grasp. Something... was off though. Like he was missing something. Something that felt...important. He didn't know what or why, but... he didn't have time to think about it either. "C'mon, lets get moving..." He walked down the corridor, but he stopped before he was even ten paces away, his eyes turned into the black, open skies of the frigid circle as he listened... listened to the voices chiming in his mind. "When... when did I have this conversation before? And with who?" It was over just as quickly as it had begun. Mere Seconds had passed from the time he'd stopped till the time he'd come back to reality. But to Ethic, it seemed as though... he had just spent an entire afternoon chatting with a friend. "Arcana? Maxwell? Waite, Artificial Angels? What the fuck is going on? They said... something about the magician... and I can remember that.. they're right, can remember back when it used to control flames, but... when the hell did I ever have this conversation? and with who? I sounded so familiar with them... how could I have forgotten? And... what the fuck are the keepers?" "God damn it, of course it's in the endgame where the holes in my memories start to apparently fill in..." He muttered aloud, continuing to travel the corridor... not even checking to see if Annie was following.

Dayum... you got skill, friend. Request 1 1. Spinda ((Preferably in the center)) 2. Porygon-Z 3. Mega Lopunny 4. Noctowl 5. Lickilicky 6. Wigglytuff Text (Static, not moving): Some travel the high road, steady and steep And some stick to the low road, easy and deep But regardless of our destination, valley or peak We will tread with the hearts of lions, not the minds of sheep

So, originally intended this thread to just be a one shot, but I recently found something that changed my mind and made me decide to delve back into it again... so I've changed the title as needed. In the future, if I find anything else from my past I think is worth sharing as well, I'll put it here too My first short story... written in the seventh grade. My god, how bad it was... and how far I've come in 5 years. I recently found this old thing on the hard drive of the family laptop If you want context, go check out my profile in the Author Index thread. I've already given the details on this, and I'm not going to repeat myself regardless of how many times I'm asked to. Now, it's been many years... so I don't have the complete file for it, but I did have a hard copy. So, what I have done is scanned the pages that were missing from the hard copy, and then fill in the rest with a copy and paste from the actual file itself... this is the completely unedited version of my first story... unedited to show the full horror of my early writing. The missing first page: http://oi67.tinypic.com/vpj1ar.jpg The second half of the story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uogX0DswGZhrHahK-So4cY9rPh3IiC88xhf-46h5iMw/edit?usp=sharing And there's actually another story... I wrote it in the eighth grade for a very similar assignment... infact, it was identical project- a four page entry to a county wide writing competition... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HW2wn67UxLpEeNiHfwBNfvQbpJcK1SlI15OSmjSVkFA/edit?usp=sharing For the record though, in no way am I proud of either of these stories... they were amateurish, rushed, poorly written, and poorly thought out... but at the time, I needed a grade... and I didn't care so long as I got it. But eh, we all start from somewhere, right? So I guess it's time for me to stop hiding from my past, regardless how embarrassing my origins might be... hence, here I lay bear to you my darkest secrets... my first works.