Sutoratosu

Bribery will not save you, my friends... only your merit and willingness to learn from mistakes will.

So, as many of you will likely know, I recently took on the persona of Lt. Surge, "The Lightning American!" on these forums, as marked in this splendid thread right here by a certain Emperor Pyon Pyon Kyuu. Well, It was stated that the persona period would on January 16th of 2015, was it not? So I'm sure you're thinking "He must've coped out, ending things more than a month before he was supposed to..." Haha, well... no. That's not how things ended up here. I set out to DO SOMETHING with this, and that SOMETHING was ultimately accomplished sooner than I thought it would be. That's the only reason I'm here right now, so far ahead of schedule. So let me dispel any rumors before they start, M'kay? I did not cop out of the Surge persona. I did not give up on the Surge Persona operation. I did not wuss out of Surge. What I did do, was call the project complete after seeing that honestly, what I did it for in the first place had actually been accomplished, just a lot sooner than I thought I would need to implement the personal change I wanted to in myself. So why continue on with it if the objective had been achieved? It would've pointless in my view, dragging it out any longer than it had to be, so... here I am, standing before you all. Now to clarify: Why? Why did I do surge in the first place? Well it's a long story kinda, but those Reborn Members whom are regulars from the RP Forums here will likely know a bit more than anyone else on the matter. The short version of my motivation is this: It was pointed out to me that as a writer, I had a habit of making my characters essentially the same personality wise. I gave them too much of my own persona for the most part. This is, for reasons that should be obvious if you know anything about Literature or characterization, quite an issue, and one that I felt I had to take action in order to solve. Now, after this revelation and Epiphany that they had a point, I sat there thinking to myself: "How do I do it then? How do I break my mold...?" then I looked over at one of my RPs I run, "Surge Story" and a light bulb went off: "I know! I'll take on the persona of Lt. Surge!" Hey, I had heard, and gotten, far crazier ideas than that before. I figured it could work if I did it right. And thus, Surge I became. I played an angle that "Stratos had left" or "Stratos has business elsewhere right now" while playing him to further isolate my persona from his, taking it from just an act for me, to him legitimately being separate from Stratos. He was, to me, his own personality. I called people "Soldier" almost indiscriminately, giving certain individuals whom I genuinely respected from past interactions a bit of rank (EX: like Hukuna was called Commander, Notus was called "Captain", and so on and so forth. I even addressed Ame as "Madam President". While the first one, for hukuna, was technically not an official rank within the US army... eh, it works, right?) So there's my Why, and my how. the only question left is the what? Why did I come back early? Well, I already explained this above. I was done with what I was trying to do overall, had accomplished it. over the time I played as surge, I did notice a genuine change in the Characters I was running for RPs and in Characters I was drafting for plans for my main Story, Project Sky Slayer. They were all...well, pretty much fundamentally different from me over time. They started to change after Surge came along. Started talking a bit differently depending on who they were, started acting a little differently. I even drafted two characters who were virtually nothing like me. So... is that not Mission achieved? Did I not have a reason to come back after realizing this experiment was done? And in closing, I want to clarify something. Every second you guys saw me as surge, I want to say this: I WAS playing a character. Just want to make this perfectly clear, I was acting the whole time. As some of you know, I was among the first to raise a little hell and get outraged about a certain tactic that shall not be mentioned here any further than this to avoid potential flames starting from response posts (I can see the salt being passed around...). Now, while personally, I was a bit pissed off that it was that simple to use a single loophole to destroy an entire team's competitive ability, I quickly got over it after I looked at what was done and how the tactic was carried out. I had to give it credit for cunning, might not have been right, or wrong, but I'll only say this: IT was cunning, in my true opinion. And no, I'm not going to discuss my actual opinion on the issue any more than it's relevant to Surge. Now... who is surge? A member of the US Military, or at least a former member. and what two things do the US Military stress as some of it's core values? Honor and Integrity. What is PZA? A game of betrayal, as heavily suggested in the very name. So, when this... tactic began being used, what did I see? A perfect opportunity to act the hell out of my character. So that, I feel, explains every ounce of outrage and bile I poured out of my little mouth about certain things during that. No more on that though, I'm just using this example to try to make my point: I was acting. Surge said things on here... alot of things. Those things aren't necessarily how I feel about something or my actual opinions. Surge's version of honor and right and wrong was stricter than my own. All I care about is trust, honestly, and I make sure to place that in very few people, period. So... yaw. What did I say while in Surge that I meant? What did I say that I didn't mean and was just for an act? I'll probably never tell, folks, but if you're one of the few who know me, as I truly am, then it shouldn't be too hard to try to figure out. Well, I'm done now. Just wanted to clear that up. ((And a closing note, seriously, please don't even talk about "that matter" (You know what I mean) in this thread. I know there's salt going all around still from the latest incident, and quite frankly, I'd like for this to not become a flaming incident in this thread... but I'm sure that won't be an issue, will it? Will it?))

Yes, the OCC will act like an OCC for the most part, but the prompts will be put up there first before ever being put in IC. as for the second part, Again, we aren't very far in the development of this, we're just checking to see if there's enough interest to make it even worth devoting the time and effort towards.

Alright soldiers, ol Surge is here today to tell you about something that I thought up to give back to this community here on these Subforums. Let's get marching. "You're here because you have potential. Because each of you is capable of creating Worlds with your mere minds, of creating individuals from thin air and making them seem as though they actually exist. You are among the most ambitious and the most competent Authors this world has to entrance itself with. And you're here today to decide which one of you is most worthy to go onto to greatness, and which will fade into obscurity. As once said, 'There can only be one'." Soldiers, what I'm here to present to you is something a bit different than what we have here already; An RP... that at the same time will serve as a Writing Contest to help improve the skills of those who participate. That's right, you heard me. A Writing Competition. Now, understand me well: this is BY NO MEANS complete at this point, I am simply putting this interest check thread because there's no point in even doing this if myself and those who will be working alongside me for this don't even know for sure that people will be interested and actually participate. Basically, why should we all go and use our valuable time on something if we don't have assurance it will be appreciated when the final product is ready? hence why this thread is here, soldiers. First, let us discuss the ground rules: 1. You will respect all standing Community Rules, as well as the pre existing rules of this RolePlaying forum. You have no excuse for breaking them whatsoever. 2. No Plagiarizing -Self Explanatory. I'm going to say it right now; we will have a zero tolerance policy for it. If it can be proven that someone willfully and intentionally stole the intellectual property of another competitor, or of some outside source if it comes to light, then the penalty will be immediate expulsion from the program, along with a perma ban from ever re-entering. Those are on the only two drafted rules currently. more will be drafted when we know of the interest levels. they should be enough, but if more are proved to be needed because people can't conduct themselves sensibly and maturely, then I can alway draft up more as needed. And remember, the Mods are Watching you; They're both involved in this, cadets. Now onto how this will work. Soldiers, in this RP/ Writing Competition, you will be taking on the role of an Ambitious young author who is taken from their everyday life and thrown into a competition against other fellow authors from all across the world; The prize for coming out on top, to prove yourself the best? it is achieving what you deserve for your skills. It is the World knowing of your gifts as a story teller, while your peers who fell short fade off into the winds of obscurity, their novels doomed to be relegated to the shelves of a Dollar Store at the very best. (This will yes, be a Low Fantasy RP.) Conducting this competition, are a strange and mysterious group of individuals, known only as the "Tribunal", a panel of judges, each skilled and excelling in a certain area of writing and story telling. You shall be challenged on a tri weekly basis, and at the end of each trial, your fate will be decided by the Tribunal. Those who do well will be rewarded in the end... but only in the end. in other words, it's not over until it's over. And working along side the Tribunal will be the War Masters, individuals tasked with overseeing and directly administrating these competitions. They will be responsible for handing out prompts and challenges and explaining them, and monitoring the field to ensure all goes smoothly. So, who are these people, you dare to ask? well I will apprise you, Cadet: On the Tribunal: -Rosesong -Flux -Hukuna -Acquiescence Serving as War Master: Myself, Surge/ Stratos Serving as Backup War Master: Notus (And possibly Murdoc at some point, still haven't gotten confirmation about that) On to how this would actually Function: Their will 2 threads total: the War Thread, where the IC action of the RP will take place, and the lounge Thread, which will function both as an OCC and a submission thread for the competition. Participants will be given a prompt, given a set amount of time to write something for it, and then be required to submit it to the Lounge before a certain date. After which, the IC action will happen in the War Thread for that challenge week, while the Tribunal evaluates the works submitted and decide who is the winner of the challenge. Every Challenge would be conducted in a three week period, with one week intermission between each new challenge cycle. Here is what the schedule would look like Week 1 of Each Challenge- Writing and Submitting work to the Lounge - The prompt is given on the designated day that is to be decided upon here, in both IC in the War Thread, and OCC in the Lounge thread, Descriptions and primary advice and warnings, etc. from the War Masters pertaining to the challenge will be presented. - The clock starts ticking. Participants have one full week to type their submission for the challenge prompt and post it up in the lounge using a certain format to prove they finished it within time. Week 2 of Each Challenge- The actual IC action & when Judging is conducted - This week will serve as to purposes, the War Masters will go in and Man the War Thread and the Story in which this "Competition is taking place in will unfold. While at the same time, the Tribunal will be deliberating amoungst themselves as to determine the winner of the challenge, and apprise the War Masters of their decision. Week 3 of Each Challenge- Announcement of Winner, the handing out of constructive criticism, awarding of points and personal effects. - on the agreed upon day this week, the winner will be announced in both the OCC and War threads. Points will be awarded along with any personal effects, and pointers and Constructive criticism will be handed out to all participants based on the order in which they submitted their work that week. The reason this will be an entire week instead of just a day, which is really all that's needed since the winner will be decided before that date, is so that encase something comes up and the Week 2 agenda has to drag on a little, we have some wiggle room for extra time. As for how the IC will work... that's still a bit of a work in progress, but currently the concept would be similar to the Fate series in a way; basically what you write more or less comes alive and dukes it out with the other competitors. (Again, still very much a work in progress right now. Alright. I have presented you with the basic mission intel soldiers. The only question is: Who's interested? Any questions? Interested People: GotWala Damiano Rielly987 Exlink32 Darklight Typhlosionrulez Commander218 Zephyrenyalios Chimchain

I've honestly just been waiting for a good moment to jump out either behind or in the path of someone from the Town Team

Right as Tryon finished speaking, Nemo came running back from the bush with a Chesto Berry in his hand, hauling tail over to Mareek and holding it up to the where the young man knelt. "Good job," He said, accepting the berry and looking over at his other two team members. "Erce, come here for a minute and hold out one of your scythes for me" The mantis did as requested, watching as her trainer took the berry and wedged it on the sharp edge. Clear, blue tinted juice flowed down a little as he retrieved it and pulled the skin apart the rest of the way, effectively dividing the thing into halves. "Nemo," he said, giving one half to the Cubone, who stared at it curiously. "Go take this and hold it under Rhyhorn's nose." the orphan nodded and went to go do just that. Meanwhile the boy took the half he still had and held it under Lana's nose as she slept. "I heard about this once when I was younger," he explained to Tyron. "An old trainer who was passing through Saffron told me a story about how he and his Blastoise and Nidoking had gotten into trouble against a few Hypno's in the Berry Forest in the Sevii Islands. He said that he got a chesto berry and cut it in half to hold under their noses in order to wake them up since they were too heavy for him to roll them over and put it in their mouths. He said it worked because they inhaled the scent from the oils in the berry flesh, and a lot faster than ingesting them at that, so I figured I'd test out how truthful he was being back then..."

yeah, it was OK. The only reason I didn't include it though was because I personally felt that the Grammar could've been cleaned up a lot better/ more; it was so messy at a few points that I honestly had kinda a hard time understanding what the hell the Characters were trying to say, which in a game like Pokemon, where the story is almost exclusively driven by prompts and objectives given to you via new dialogue from NPCs, could easily screw you over and make it hard to finish the damn game without having to go google what the hell you're supposed to do next.

Oh... let's see Dark Rising Pokemon Glazed Version Pokemon Light Platinum Pokemon Snake Wood (This one has zombies and is funny as hell) Pokemon Ruby Destiny series Pokemon Flora Sky Pokemon Ultra Violet Those are just a few rom hacks I can think of off the top of my head that are pretty decent/ good.

Pokemon Fire Red, Leaf Green, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Versions. There ya go, Soldier.

"Why think of an alias?" Anver asked, scoffing a little bit at the idea. "All my friends and contacts know me by my name, and I'm talking about real friends, as in they truly know me and what I'm like, and when all this shit started flying, didn't much believe my status as a Fugitive and still had faith in the person I was and helped me out and continue to help me, not abandon me the second they found out the law was after me like a more than a few bastards in my network did. And the cops nor the feds have ever been able to really close in on me, not even once. I stay one step ahead of the idiots whenever I can, make sure to be smart and be prudent. That's how I've survived and escaped arrest this long. So I don't really need an alias; just how long will it take them to figure out to link my name to it afterwards? the second I make a movement or do something and someone calls in with my physical description, they're going to sit there and say 'Oh, hey, that must be Anver Dunn!'" He paused, staring off into the darkness outside "Sorry about the rant, but I'm honestly not going to cast off my name or take another one to hide behind... because I've done nothing to soil it or the reputation I had, that's all been done by the fucking Feds, and if I give in and try to call myself something new, as far as I see it personally, that will mean that I'm lying down and giving those bastards a victory, letting them know that they can destroy who I am with just putting me on a list...I'm not giving any of them that satisfaction. I'm wanted now, and you know what? when they find out eventually that I'm working with you all, as I'm sure they will somehow, I'll still be wanted. An alias would be completely useless to me."

Mareek nodded at Tyron's directions "Very well then, sir," he said. "I'll try to keep the others from getting in your way during that" Just then however, something caught his periphery, as well as that of both Erce and Java... Lana was on the ground asleep, with a variety of Powder attacks being launched. "Oh hell no..." Mareek growled protectively. "You don't know what you've just started...ERCE, JAVA!" He turned his sights on the two, ordering them forward and breaking into a bit of angry japanese. "Use lock on followed by Psybeams and Tri Attacks, and you don't stop attacking until they do first! Erce, you're with me and Nemo!" he was already rushing off to his friend's side as he gave the orders, the Scyther and Cubone right behind him while Java hovered in front, using lock on and then sending out blasts of Psybeam whenever he got a target, keeping up the assault ruthlessly. Meanwhile Erce was buzzing her wings in fury, doing her best to use the small wind generated to blow away the powders. Before long her efforts managed to clear the air around Lana and her Rhyhorn and her trainer could finally approach as Java pressed forward, not missing a beat with the frequency of his attacks and being sure to hover farther than the powders were being shot out as Erce joined him in an effort to keep the porygon from falling prey to the same status effect the girl had. "Lana..." he said, rummaging through his bag for medicine. He had a good supply of status healers... but he didn't really know if they would work on humans. There was one thing he'd heard of to lift sleep to, he didn't know how truthful it was, but it was worth a shot... "Nemo, buddy," he said quickly. "Go find us some chesto berries, but stay away from the grass types that Java's fighting, and be quick!" The cubone nodded, rushing off to rummage in nearby foliage while making sure to stay in the boy's sights... ((Erce isn't using Gust, but I figured since the whole speed factor that's attributed to her species, she'd still be able to buzz her wings fast enough to generate enough wind even without actually knowing the move.))

"Well why don't you check for yourself?" he asked, finding his Cynicism and lack of trust in the Feds earlier a bit justified by the young man having had similar issues. "This is the most up to date version to my knowledge, got it a week ago... of course, I haven't exactly had easy, untraceable access to the web since then, so I could be a bit off about it's current accuracy..." He shook his head, again offering the sheet to Lux. "Anyways, go on... heck, you might just be surprised. I've seen grandmas in their 60's and even people not much older, or younger for that matter, than you on these things over the months." ((Sorry, Corporal Jory, but I'm afraid I need to get off for the night about now.))

"So their with the government, eh?" Anver said a little bit bitterly. He reached into his tux and pulled a sheet of paper like he had before back at the bar counter, handing it to Lux for the boy to study. It was a wanted poster, like the very same Anver had seen the day he had fled, with names and faces and other credentials for the fugitives in question listed. Somewhere about midway down the sheet was his own information, just as it had been for at least months now. He'd gotten into the habit of checking and printing the damn thing out whenever he got the chance after periods of time. "Then I can guess they're the ones responsible for how my name, and the name of all these other individuals whom I can only assume have some type of ability as well, all got onto this list despite us having not broken any US Laws warranting it then? At least, I know that before all this shit, I hadn't. Call me bitter, But I've lost quite a bit of trust in this nation's government... but hey, whatever you say, so long as they think we're regular citizens and not 'super powered cattle that need rounding up', as I've heard once, I guess we'll be just fine." He paused, detecting the cynicism in his voice and not much liking it. "Sorry about that," he said. "But as you can see... I'm not very enthusiastic nowadays about leaving things up to our country's government..." He couldn't help but smirk a little. "But then again, I guess I wouldn't have to apologize to you all for that."

"What, do you all and this other 'Olympus' group have an alliance or something then?" Anver asked, stowing his gun again despite a tiny voice in his head, the same one that had nagged him to talk to the Barkeep, now told him it was better to be safe than sorry... but he still didn't pick up anyone besides Photon nearby on the thermal, so might as well just wait and see...