Transcendence

The Netherlands is made of concrete, with an occasional tree here and there and farm fields between cities... I don't think it's much fun to hike here, except maybe at the Veluwe (our one and only national park with greenish stuff and a few deers and boars ).

I was also thinking about a group social activity... but which? A treasure hunt sounds fun as well. (and it's cheap )

The weather: In general, it's best to assume it's raining. You'll be right 9 out of 10 times. The date isn't exact yet, but probably somewhere around spring.

About the students... I don't think there really is a common interest. We have quite a few science geeks, some sport fanatics, musicians, sport-haters, artists and everything in between. The ages vary quite a lot (16 to 20). Oh, and the boy-girl ratio is 4:1.

Hi everyone, it's me. Thought you'd never see me again did you?

Well, I need some help, and figured I might as well involve as many people as possible with it.

So here goes: Me and a few other people are arranging a class trip this year and we're all supposed to think up some cool, original ideas. Trouble is, I'm not very cool or original when it comes to large group social activities, so I was wondering if I could borrow some originality here.

These are the 'rules':
- The trip is from approximately 9:00 to 15:00h.
- There are 25 students, ages ranging from 16-20.
- Funding: 5 Euros (=$6.80) per student (but the students can add their own contribution)
- The funding may increase to 20 Euros (=$27.18) if we can somehow relate it to something educative, especially considering teamworking/teambuilding/anything else team-related
- It has to be (available) in the Netherlands

General ideas are things like kart, barbecuing, bowling, the cinema... but I'm looking for something a bit more original.

@icey: What exactly do you mean by "reserving" people? (...and do I want to know?)

It sounds a bit fishy to me... If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

QuoteQ. Will my affiliation with scanlation groups hurt me?
A. No. We are looking to recruit localizers, people who have skills and want to be part of our community. We are not concerned with whether or not you may have scanlated before, that is your business with what you do on your own time.

I guess that's good.

QuoteQ. What genres will be offered?
A. Currently we are planning to start off with mainly yaoi titles, but eventually we will add more mainstream genres like shoujo and shounen.

I'm out. I haven't lost my innocence yet.

Quote from: litoxpinky on April 12, 2011, 21:12
How come they don't have a super duper editing process? Do they recieve awesome raws?

Answer:

QuoteQ. What are the quality of the images that I will have to work on?
A. As this is still early, we cannot give a final answer. The quality will vary, it will be best to know how to both retouch and letter.

Many things are still vague, like what will be paid, how they're going to get paid and which publishers are involved. Many other standards still need to be decided on, so I guess it's best if we just wait until the first few volumes/series are published and the first 'localizers' are paid before considering joining. This should be around winter 2011/spring 2012.

I also wonder if you have to be a US resident, as it's an initiative from a Los Angeles publishing company, or if you need a credit card or digital identification etc. If you have to be from the US, many of us can't join anyway.

Source quotes: http://www.digitalmanga.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=1389

Newest Legend
-Removed golden line for Godparents
-Removed square brackets, except for [Godchild]
-Put in "Name Stalker" and "Name Stalkee" instead of just "[Name]" and [Name]"

Newest Tree
-Removed all other relations werr was somewhat forced into, except his marriage to Tammy and their child Dante. I decided I'd let werr be 'married' to Tammy, so he won't be bothered anymore... hopefully.
-Now fatherless, mangaluva and Kataki would be floating without any connections to the tree. However, I, out of the goodness of my heart, adopted them, or at least until they (want to) choose their own parents. Now I have 9 children, which is starting to get ridiculous.
-Removed all lines from Godparents
-Added Criss (retired) as my sister, or else she'd be floating without any connections to the tree. I don't think she'd mind.

Oh, BTW, when a proposal is refused, you end up divorced with them. It's a cheap trick to get as many staff members somewhat connected to the tree. The only exception is when the other also refuses to be divorced with you. If that's the case, they'd have to submit another place on the tree they want to be on, or say that they have moral/ethic reasons to not want to be on the tree at all (which they do not need to specify).

So, if I understood it right, the next update would include:
Lily -> Married to Vincent [children: Shiro and Ryu], affair with Sharwin [children: none/?]
OR
Lily -> Divorced Vincen [children: Shiro and Ryu]t, married to Sharwin [children: none/?]
OR (If Sharwie refuses)
Lily -> Divorced Vincent [children: Shiro and Ryu], divorced Sharwin [children: none/?], and enjoying singlehood... for now.

Other possibilities (dating Sharwin, having an affair with Vincent and vice versa, stalking either one or both... etc.) are also an option.

Icey -> stalking Sharwin...

@werr: Is it possible if I just leave it "werr+Tammy -> Dante"? (as that's what started this whole tree project...) If you don't want that, then I'll completely remove you from the tree. It's up to you. You don't have to be on it if you don't want to.

Changes legend:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4499/transcendencefamilytreei.png
Fictional=gold1
Outsiders=lightblue1

Changes tree:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/376/transcendencefamilytree.png
-switched colors fictional/outsiders
-werr had(/...has?) an affair with "?", resulting in mangaluva and Kataki

It's gotten a little crooked with werr's triple timing and Catriona dating her nephew (which is okay because she's adopted), but it's still possible to find your way if you try hard enough...

I'm considered ditching the godparent lines (the golden ones), and just having the godparent relations symbolised in the name, like it is now: (godparent, [godchild]) without the lines. It might clear things up a bit.

What do you all think?

This will be all the changes for today. I think I'll just check weekly what you all came up with here, and try to get it all in.

Forcing Lily to marry a certain 'Vincent Valentine'? Me likes it =P Joking, joking... *gets into bunker before she gets murdered*

Changes made:
Legend:
-color outsiders=gold1
-color fictional people=lightblue1
(It's a little different then what you intended. I can also switch the colors, so Vinny becomes gold and Shiro blue if you prefer)

Tree:
-changed "?" into Vincent Valentine
-gave outsiders and fictional people their respective colors.

New Legend
New Tree

@mangaluva: I could move you if you want. You can choose to have Catriona or Tammy as your mother (and werr as father), a different mother (not related to werr - I'm trying to avoid incest) or a question mark. I'll add Kataki as your brother.

If you become werr's daughter, I'll be your great-grandmother.

@Ryu: I've put you in as Lilly's daughter and a question mark for a father (for now...). I've also added Shiro. I haven't given 'outsiders' their own color yet, so you can choose from this list: http://www.graphviz.org/doc/info/colors.html

Newest tree

QuoteThe next update will include: ('x' needs further specification, '?'s may be specified, but isn't absolutely neccessary)
Things in bold still need to be specified.

-mangaluva:
Father: werr
Mother: Catriona/Tammy/x/?
Siblings: Kataki (brother)

-'Outsiders' (Gackt and Shiro) will get their own color

Newest Legend= http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/376/transcendencefamilytree.png

Changes made:
-I added the option "Dating"
-I changed the color or "Adopted" to a darker shade of green
-The pentagon shape now also represents "Happily both" instead of just "Unknown" as gender
-The little grey diamonds that symbolised marriage/relations have become a bit bigger and pink. There is also a number in it (on the legend represented by "n"), which refers to the amount of children resulting from that marriage.

Newest tree= http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/376/transcendencefamilytree.png
Changes made:
-Mister want has become Kiriane's ...something, and my and drex's sibling.
(Total Kirane's offspring= 2 daughters: Evory and drex, and 1 ...something: Mister Want)

-I added Mangaluva, Greta, Deathberry and Black Miserie as my daughters, and adopted Catriona
(Total Evory+Shiki offspring= 8 daughters: Catriona; Zain; Terra; Mangaluva; malsaneta; Greta; Deathberry and Black Miserie)

-Instead of a question mark, Blix is now married to Shrubbery
-Added Zephyr, riz-i, Lily, charmy and Animus as their children.
(Total Shrubbery+Blix offspring= 7 daughters: Tammy; Nozomi; Zephyr; riz-i; Lily; Charmy; Animus)

-werr and Tammy divorced
-werr and Catriona are dating
-They have two daughters: Saki and candyness.

Other options for werr+Catriona and werr+Tammy relationships:
-werr and Tammy are still married, werr and Catriona are having an affair;
-werr and Tammy are divorced, werr and Catriona are married;
-Saki and candyness are from an earlier marriage of Catriona, she and werr don't have children (yet);

Other:
-Saki was already Catriona's daughter, so she couldn't become her sister (=my daughter)
-Icewing was already Zain's daughter, so couldn't become Catriona's sister (=my daughter)
-werr was already Zain's son, so he couldn't become Catriona's (adopted) brother.
-While not on your list, I do recall  werr's proposal to my darling daughter Catriona, so I turned him into her boyfriend.

If anyone feels up to making a clear list of who married who and the like since the last update, I'll make a nice shiny new tree.

Next part:

-CHAPTER FIVE: INTRODUCTION OF SOME NEW BOTHERSOME CHARACTERS WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS FOR NOW-

Behind the portrait of a grumpy looking Onion Head (who was called Grugru the Not-So-Smelly, and claimed to have slain a legendary Garlic Head), were some people. About five and a half per cubic meter, all of them female (or at least appeared to be).

Needless to say it was pretty cramped.

Why, you may be quite justified to wonder, where there so many people congregated in this small enclosure?

Let me give you a hint.

All of them were equipped with a camera, and wearing shirts and sweaters with the phrases "Dante for President Emperor Heir!" or "We love you Dante!" or "Bishie-ness is Might!" or something of a similar fashion that cannot be printed here because this story is PG-rated.

You might have guessed it by now. They were the D.F.F., Dante's Fearsome Fanclub.

They have always been present in the story, but this is the firs time Dante was slightly aware of their presence.

"Everyone please follow me as Dante is transported to the medical ward." A masked guide said. "Don't forget to pay the entrance fee, or you will be forcibly evicted form the palace. And keep in mind the once-in-a-lifetime discount! Instead of 50 transcendollars a picture, the 895th snapshot you make of Dante will be free! More disposable cameras are available..."

The masked guide continued on in this fashion, steadily robbing the crazed fangirls of their life-savings.

Life's good... The mysterious masked guide sighed happily. To keep a source of tension and an enigma in the plot, the identity of the mysterious masked guide will not be revealed for now, but random guesses or accusations from the readers aren't prohibited.

***

Back to the main plot.

"There is a plot?!" All the fangirls gasp. And probably most of the readers too.

"Yes. Somewhat." Your honorable writer replies. "Now shut up and pay attention."

***

Dante woke up a few hours later with a headache and still smelling strongly of rotten Apples. Sir Guiney took pity on him, and decided he could use a few days of rest...

Really great timing, Sir Guiney thought. I still need some time to think about what the fourth, and thus my final training task, will be...

***

"We refuse!"

The mob of Onion Heads had given the Royal Empress Zain a signed petition which stated the official refusal of the Onion Heads to do a certain something.

"Could you please summarize the main reason/reasons that you refuse to perform and/or execute certain aforementioned task and/or assignment and/or orders?"

"Fear of certain death."

"'Fear of certain death' has not been included on the list of legitimate reasons to refuse performing and/or executing said task and/or assignment and/or orders, for the certainty-rate of dying while performing and/or executing this task and/or assignment and/or orders has only been estimated at 98%, which is 22% lower then the legally required minimum certainty-rate of dying while performing and/or executing this task and/or assignment and/or orders for it to be used as a legitimate reason to refuse performing and/or executing said task and/or assignment and/or orders."

The Onion Head Union (a.k.a. 'Union Heads') couldn't think of another counter argument, and left the office, some of them crying miserably knowing they would soon get to see the underside of the grass in the Onion Head graveyard... if they were lucky, and their bodies found.

Zain took off the glasses she wore whenever she needed to be bureaucratic. A few minutes later, when her bureaucratic mood had somewhat subsided, she began to feel a little sorry for the doomed Onion Heads. But the job had to be done, and who else could do it besides the almost-criminally* under-paid and abused Onion Heads?

*If the Onion Heads were treated and this severely underpaid like this by anyone else, they would be committing a crime. However, being a Royal Empress has it advantages. Not to mention the fact that it is frowned upon for anyone else to employ an Onion Head in the Empire of Transcendence, so the Onion Heads have no choice but to find their luck at the Royal Palace, or suffer even worse fates abroad...

Suddenly inspiration hit her like a bolt of lightning. She quickly fixed her hair that was messed up by the static electricity, and registered the curious sensation of her burns healing before they were fully formed, ans resolutely walked out of the office...

***

What a beautiful day, no obligations, nice weather, Dante recovering so well in the hospital and it's cheese day in the cafeteria! Today can't get any better, Sir Guiney thought happily, but secretly hoped it somehow would anyway. Unfortunately for our giant Guinea-Pig, the day really couldn't get any better, so it's only option was to get worse, as the writer can't allow it to stay the same. If it did, this whole paragraph would be kind of a useless addition to the story, wouldn't it?

As Sir Guiney continued his stroll in ignorant bliss, Zain was secretly meeting up with the leader of the Union Heads, the Head Onion, explaining her idea. She didn't want Evory to find out she was helping the Onion Heads, for she knew Evory enjoyed seeing and making Onion Heads suffer. She had to make it look like he came up with it himself.

"So that's settled. In exchange for an eighty-nine percent pay-cut, will not have to perform this job."

"Please.. a seventy-five percent paycut, we've got young to feed..."

Such unreasonable beings. If they continued to be this selfish, they can forget their Christmas bonus!

"Eight-nine percent."

"...Alright then, but that's exclusive of the "special act" you've asked us to perform..."

Darn, that's the most important part! No choice...

"Eighty-eight and a half percent." Seeing the hesitant look on the Onion Heads face, she added: "And I'll throw in a toothbrush in addition to the Christmas toothpaste."

Wow, I'm feeling really generous today! It must be because the weather's so nice, or because I'm not wearing my bureaucratic glasses...

"Thank you so much!" The Onion Head was moved to tears.

After that, the contract was formed, where Zain managed to get the pay-cut up to a total of ninety-five point three percent due to administrative reasons, and the Union Heads specified that they wanted pink toothbrushes.

***

Sir Guiney, completely unaware, turned around a corner and suddenly his perfect day had become horrid, for a horribly offensive odor had filled his nostrils. He couldn't stop himself from retching, and he got to 'enjoy' the cheese-plate he had eaten earlier that day again. It wasn't nearly as enjoyable the second time.

Someone's going to pay for this! He thought while mourning the loss of the cheese-plate. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a little Onion Head sobbing while clutching that which distantly resembled a nose. Feeling his anger deflate slightly at the pitiful sight, he approached the little Onion Head.

"What's the matter, little Onion Head?"

"It smells... so bad... and tomorrow... tomorrow..." The tiny thing burst into tears again.

"There there, it's not like you ever need to come here."

It only sobbed harder. "To-to-tomorrow we have to go to the Source a-a-and clean it out! P-P-P-Papa and M-M-M-Momma an me and my s-s-siblings are all going to die!" It hid it's face into it's tiny hands in misery, sobbing harder than ever.

"The source? You mean... that place?!" "Sir Guiney exclaimed, shocked.

The Onion Head child was crying too hard to give any other reply than a nod.

"Unforgivable! Making a child go there! There must be something I can do, anything..."

And once again, despite the cloudless sky, lightning struck again, giving Sir Guiney an amazing idea.

"Fear not, small Onion! For I, Sir Guiney, have come up with a plan!"

He ran towards the Head Onion's den office, making a little detour to get the burns sustained by the lighting bolt healed by a clergy, and told the Head Onion what Dante's next task would be...

"I'll avenge thee, oh wonderful cheese-plate!" Sir Guiney shouted, and rushed to the hospital carrying the document with the details of the next task.

Ooooohh, I'm double posting, I'm so badass...

As promised, the end of the Apple arc. I already finished writing the next one, I just need to type it out.

Dante spend the next quarter of an hour convincing Sir Guiney his life hadn't been severely endangered. He reasoned with him that the old cleaning lady's behavior could only be explained by the presence of Apples of Gapples. Following that logic, it was obvious to assume an Onion Head had entered the bathroom and as all Onion Heads employed by the Empresses were male, the room couldn't be Secured.

Also judging by the cleaning lady's behavior, the room had been unsuitable for cleaning or using, so he couldn't be caught by someone currently present.

"But it was still reckless! Don't ever do that again!"

"But I have to! All the remaining Apples are definitely in the girl's bathrooms!"

"I still can't allow you..." Sir Guiney stammered.

"Excuse me young man, did you say you just entered the bathroom?" They heard a severe voice say. The old cleaning lady had returned.

"Dante! I told you you would be in trouble! Now I'm considered your accomplice!" Sir Guiney moaned. "I hope the courts will believe me when I say I tried to stop you! My retirement fund won't be able to cover the fine..."

The old cleaning lady was fuming with indignation. Seeing she was very likely to explode with anger soon which was likely to summon every guard in the castle, Dante quickly intervened.

"Wait! It's true I entered the girl's bathroom..." - this didn't really help against the fuming - "...but it's not like I used any of the toilets! I also made sure nobody was currently present in said bathroom, so I wouldn't disturb any lady currently... uh... relieving herself."

Common sense slowly made her understand Dante hadn't committed an unforgivable crime. "I will let you slide by this time, but if I ever catch you near a Lady's room again..."

"Wait wise lady, I need your help!" Dante had been struck by a sudden inspiration.. "I have to be able to enter every girl's bathroom in the palace. Let me explain!" he cried when the cleaning lady showed symptoms of exploding again. "I have to collect these Apples, and I'm sure they can be found in the Lady's rooms! I already collected seven of them in this bathroom, see?" And he held out the Apples.

"So you only want... to collect these Apples...?" Slowly a mischievous smile appeared. "Let's make a deal, shall we?"

***

What have I gotten myself into? Dante wondered. The deal was simple. He had to give her one Apple which would be returned to him when he had fulfilled his end of the deal, which consisted of also taking the Gapples with him.

It seemed fair enough, for the Gapples had almost completely blocked access to the bathrooms. But he hadn't anticipated he would have to carry all the Gapples to the Onion Head too! Any one who has ever had their arms full of any kind of Golden Apples knows that stuff is heavy. And the Onion Head-Headquarters was on the other side of the grounds

"Is it me, or are the number of Gapples increasing?" Dante asked to no-one in particular.

"That may very well be true," the annoying Onion Head replied absentmindedly while updating Dante's Gapple/Apple statistics. "Spontaneous increase in numbers is one of the Gapples key features." He looked at his clipboard. "You have been searching for twelve hours, forty-two minutes and sixteen seconds. You have collected 499 Apples. You have eleven hours, seventeen minutes and forty seconds left. And also -" the Onion Head eyes glinted mischievously - "you have collected 653 Gapples."

Only one Apple left! Which was in the hands of a cleaning lady who won't give it back to me if I don't clear all the girl's bathrooms of Gapples! Knowing the number of restrooms in the palace, he began to feel a little faint...

"Don't give up Dante! You're almost there!"

Sir Guiney was right of course, what was he thinking, almost collapsing in the hallway when he was so close to victory? He had plenty of time left, he could do this! He was almost half-way of becoming the Heir of the Empire!

With a maniac glint in his eyes, he spurted back to the cleaning lacy, forgetting the weight of the Gapples, forgetting he had plenty of time, his eyes fixed only on his future glory that lay within his grasp...

***

"You have been searching for exactly thirteen hours, zero minutes and zero seconds. You have collected 500 Apples - and 998 Gapples - thereby completing the third task."

Dante, disheveled and smelling strongly of rotten Apples, cheered alongside Sir Guiney, and somehow still managing to do so in a dignified manner.

"Yes, very well done Dante Tammyson, very well done indeed. You are considered a worthy Heir by my race, for you posses bravery, strength, stamina and the will to never give up! Thereby, I proudly bestow upon thee..."

"As long as it isn't something gold colored and Apple shaped it's fine by me" Dante said exasperated. He might have nightmares about Gapples for the res of his life.

"Uhm.. here have a clover." the Onion Head said, quickly picking a common four-leaf clover, while stuffing away what he had meant to give (the Great Golden Apple of Great Leadership, which would empower him with his own legion of Onion Head minions). He grinned sheepishly at Dante, holding out the random clover.

"Uhm... Thanks?"

"You're welcome my good man, that's a very special clover indeed - It's a lucky charm!" The Onion Head made up on the spot.

"Lucky charm?"

"Probably."

"Oh. That makes sense, if you think about it."

Surely you don't have to think about it, it's obvious right? Sir Guiney thought. Then he saw Dante was standing rather unstable.

"Dante! Are you okay?!"

But Dante barely heard him. Fatigued with the task, he fainted... gracefully. The last thing he was aware of, was the clicking of a camera...

And another cliffhanger because I'm being annoying.

edit: I think I'm going to do weekly/biweekly/monthly updates, so you can look forward to that

Did someone say my name?

Nah, must have been my imagination.

So... you both are stalking... your older brother?

  Shiki's not having polygamy.

And you may have his super-genes, but only a few selected can enjoy leeching from my considerable fortune! MUAHAHAAAAA!!

...

That was random.

@icey: ATM Disturby is your sister and Saki and candyness are your cousins, because you said you were Zain's daughter. You can change it of course.


For the ones that are confused, here is the Family Tree walk-through: (WARNING: this might also make you more confused)

Xye 'married' Gackt, and they have three daughters: Kiriane, nancy and Misaki.

Kiriane 'married' [unknown] and they have two daughters: Evory and drex.

nancy is Evory's 'Godmother', Misaki is drex's 'Godmother'.

nancy and Misaki don't have any children of their own.

drex 'married' Bakascarlet and they have one son: Jambalaya the Fearless.

Evory 'married' Shiki and they have four daughters: Zain, malsaneta, Catriona and Terra.

Terra and malsaneta don't have children.

Catriona 'married' [another unknown] and they have two daughters: Saki and candyness.

Saki and candyness don't have children.

Zain 'married' [yet another unknown] and they have 3 daughters and 1 son: Mithril, Icewing and Disturbance are her daughters, werr is her son.

werr 'married' Tammy and they have one son: Dante

Mithril is Dante's Godmother.

Icewing and Disturbance don't have children.

Tammy's father is Blix, her sister is Nozomi and her mother is unknown.

@Cat: I'd love to have you as my daughter! And Terra too.

However, marrying Shiki would be a little weird as he'd be your father... that's kinda... gender-switched Oedipus-complex or something (butplzdon'tkillme).

ATM Icewing is your niece, because she said she was Zain's daughter.

For the man-seekers: May I bring your attention to a currently single, though retired, father named Blix? Or the (fictional) characters of Jambalaya the Fearless and Dante? All of these are already on the Tree, so if you want to 'marry' any of these eligible bachelors, you can't be on the Tree already (we don't want incest here). But you can always change a decision you made earlier ;-).

We need a 'search by gender' option on the member list >.<.

newest

I ditched the legend and rules, and put them in this separate image. I changed the standard color to white, instead of transparent/blue.

New

You've just become my granddaughter *pinches icey's cheek* aw, so cute...

Say where you want to be on the tree, and I'll add you.

You should say:
-who your parents are AND/OR
-who you are married to AND/OR
-who your children are AND/OR
-any of the other possible "relations" with someone else. (adopted, divorced, affair, stalking etc.)

I can't just have bubbles floating about randomly with no connections to anyone. (wait... I can. But it's weird on a family tree  )

Try to get someone 'related' to you connected to someone already on the tree, even to a question mark if you have to (and please specify which one).

Oh, and one more thing: NO ONE is above Xye!

Newest version

I put in some more positions, and the retired staff now have gray bubbles.

Feel free to suggest different colors, from this list. I still need colors for the other positions.

I think I know which image you're talking about, it was one of the old website top banners. I don't think it's from any manga that we scanlate, but I'm not too sure.

I think it would be best to ask/PM Xye about it, because I can't remember where she got it from.

*Enters scary mode* "Shiki's mine... mine.... miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. My... precious... MUAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!"

Huh, what was that? *Back to normal*

I didn't say anything weird, did I? *Yrove, Evory's evil alter ego, laughs mysteriously while whispering "Mine... Mine... Mine...".*

Wow, she's so evil that she can talk and laugh mysteriously at the same time O.O. I'd better watch out...

off topic: @Cat: Aaaaaaah that kitty in your sig is sooo cute  *cat-lover who is allergic to any animal with hair, possibly also for humans*

back on topic:

You can also 'marry' outsiders (=someone who isn't a staff member), famous people, fictional people, figments of your imagination, objects (?), aliens (? ?) and yourself (? ? ?). But it is encouraged to 'marry' another staff member.

If I left a category out, please inform me so I can add it.

Here are the original rules of the Transcendence Family Tree:

Quote from: Evory

I've typed out the rules for 'marrying' (I just completely made this up. They are not definite.):

The rules:
- If you want to 'marry' another member, you should let her/him know first. You can also propose on the forum, and wait for their answer. New policy: marry whoever you want, with our without their knowledge/consent. If they end up not approving of it, you can divorce.
- You can always refuse a 'marriage'.
- You are allowed to 'marry' someone who is not a member of the forum (fictional people are allowed too), but try to choose from the staff first (especially the guys!).
- You are allowed to set up people for 'marriage'.
- Gay 'marriage' is an option.
- Polygamy is possible.
- You can divorce. You don't even have to be really 'married' for it.
- You can be 'married' and have no children (but it is not preferable)
- It is possible to have children without being 'married'/illegitimate children.
- You can adopt.
- You can decide your own parents.
- Some of us may be capable of parthenogenesis ("an asexual form of reproduction found in females where growth and development of embryos occurs without fertilization by a male." -Wikipedia). Here, the guys may be capable of it too.
- Preferably, your kids are staff members. Try to stick to the generations, but it's no disaster if you don't. edit: Those generations are pretty much outdated, so use Catriona's list instead

Post here if:
- You are 'marrying' someone. Say who your kids are going to be, if you have them.
- You want to set up two people for 'marriage'. Also say who their kids are going to be, if they are going to have them.
- You have divorced from someone/are going to divorce someone, and if you had kids from your previous 'marriage' (and who they are if you did).
- You have adopted a child.
- You think someone else has adopted a child.
- You know who's kid your going to be.
- You believe you are capable of parthenogenesis, say who your kids are going to be.
- You believe someone else is capable of parthenogenesis, say who their kids are going to be.
- You absolutely refuse to get 'married'/have children. We'll spare you.

Let the Transcendence 'Marriage' Mayhem begin!

Here is the old partially filled in Tree. The Positions still need different colors, and I ditched the 'Singles' list (=a list of staff members who weren't on the Tree yet) because there are so many new staff members.

You can use GREYCstoration (or the update for it, G'MIC, but I haven't tried that one yet) instead of Topaz for denoising. You can find it with Google (too lazy too find a link )

There's a simple batch plugin, "David's Batch Processor" for GIMP, (Filters > Batch >Batch Processor). You can do several things with it, but the only ones I find useful for scanlating is the Rename tab, where you can add prefixes and postfixes to names and convert them into grey (don't forget turn the output format into XCF, which can be done under the Output tab). The other seemingly useful options (Resize & Sharpen) work in just the wrong way... (with resizing you can only keep the aspect ratio when resizing relatively...)

I'm not too sure if this batch plugin is standard, a recent update or an extra from an other plugin I once added. (after a quick Google search: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hodsond/dbp.html)

More complex batching and actions are possible... but you have to learn Python-fu, Script-fu or pearl (both programming/scripting languages) for that. I intend to learn pearl after I finish scanlating Divine Melody, there's a book about it lying here somewhere... (gotta love having a geeky-family XD) If I ever master it, I can write scripts for different scanlation processes and share them.

Hi everyone!

I told you the next installment would be here within 300 years

"Dante... You can't seriously be thinking of entering, no man in Transcendence ever has before!" Sir Guiney exclaimed. "You might die!"

"In order to become the Heir of the Empire... I will go where no man has gone before!" Dante stated. "Even if I will have to face certain death, or do the impossible, I will not give up! I, Dante Tammyson, will become the First Royal..."

"Excuse me, coming through."

Dante's dramatical speech was interrupted by an old cleaning lady, who stepped past him, and went through the door where Dante had been gathering his courage. After a few moments of stunned silence, she walked out again, completely unharmed, but cursing lightly under her breath: "Those damned Onion Heads..."

That's it! There must be Apples hidden there! His determined expression returned, and taking one final deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside...

***

... The Lady's Room.

There were a lot of gold colored apples alright, but to Dante's disappointment, they turned out to be Gapples. Nevertheless, he digged through the huge pile anyway, and found three rotten Apples hidden at the very bottom. He checked the stalls, and found four more. Satisfied, he left the girl's bathroom, only to walk straight against Sir Guiney. To Dante's surprise, his large black eyes were filled with tears.

"Thank goodness your alive! I would never have forgiven myself if something happened there! What were you thinking?! You can't know what is in there! What if someone had been there? What if it had been Secured?! No Apple is worth dying for!"

"It was quite an ordinary bathroom, nothing to worry about. I even got some of Apples from the Room." Dante assured him. "And even if I would have died, it would be in pursuit of Imperial Power, not for an Apple." He jokingly added.

Why all this fuss about entering a bathroom, you may wonder? As the attentive reader is aware of, 95% of the Transcendence population is female. However, due to tax reasons, every building has an equal amount of male and female bathrooms. This has resulted in a severe lack of Lady's rooms, and an overload of Men's rooms. To make sure no male would dare to use the Lady's room, even if all toilets designated for their use were clogged, the female population spread horrible stories about what happened to men who entered that forbidden place, and of the horrors inside their Room. Young girls even went as far to never go to the bathroom without a female friend accompanying them. This was fertile ground for the rumors, for it was the cause of that many men believed the fact that secret rituals took place there, where females would curse and ridicule men. Some rumors say that the Lady's rooms were 'Secured', meaning that if a male dared to enter, he would instantly die a horrible, painful death.

Most of this is of course nonsense, but there is a high fine for any male that's caught on a Lady's toilet.

That was a short one  

The next part will probably be the end of the Apple arc.

Please don't spam in my spam story topic .

Or I'll have to take drastic measures .

The next instalment will be put up somewhere between now and 300 years, please be patient.

"Hah! Finished!" Dante exclaimed triumphantly, as he deposited another armful of Apples onto the enormous stack. He had counted them in his mind, and knew he had now exactly 500.

"Let's see if that assessment is correct." The tiny onion head, who had been guarding the stack of Apples, said as he started counting while Dante waited impatiently. After he was done, the onion head made a few notes on the clipboard he was equipped with, and read aloud: "You have been searching for ten hours, fifty-four minutes and twenty-two seconds, you still have thirteen hours, six minutes and thirty-eight seconds left to search and you have found..." The onion head looked at the clipboard again. "Three-hundred-and-eighty-eight Apples."

"Only three-hundred-and-eighty-eight?! Impossible! What about that big stack of Apples you threw aside when counting?!"

"They're not Apples."

"What?! But they look just like Apples!"

"Just because they look like Apples doesn't mean they are Apples." The onion head said smartly. "These are in fact Gapples"

"What the hell are Gapples?"

The onion head grinned "It really isn't such a surprise that a puny human like you confuses Apples and Gapples, they are closely related after all, and the difference isn't always obvious."

"What is the difference?"

"While Apples look like they are made out of gold, and taste like it too, they are still closer related to apples than Gapples, and thus easily edible, if you disregard the rather odd taste of gold. Gapples on the other hand don't only look like they are made out of gold, they actually are made of gold. But strangely, they taste like apples, and are thus differ from Golden Apples." The onion head's grin had become much more mischievous. "When we hid the Apples by order of the Noble Sir Guiney, we took the liberty of also hiding a few Gapples."

"I didn't order that! Why did you do it? How many did you hide?!" Sir Guiney cried out.

"We hid as many Gapples as Apples. The Gapples were mainly hidden in places he couldn't easily reach, like the top of a tree for instance, so it's not like it interfered that much with the task... Also..." The onion head looked proudly at Sir Guiney, "Why shouldn't we be allowed to test him in a way we see fit? He is also going to be our Emperor! We need to know what sort of person we are dealing with!"

'They were mainly hidden in placed he couldn't easily reach, like the top of a tree'?! Does that mean that I, Sir Guiney, suffered for nothing?! He was outraged.

"COUNT THE GAPPLES ALSO AS aPPLES!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF YOU JUST GET FIRED!"

"I'm afraid I can't." The onion head said smoothly, and took out an official looking scroll of parchment. "As you can see on the task description, The Heir of the Emipre Candidate, Dante, has to collect 500 Apples. Everyone involved in this contract is bound by it." His eyes gleamed. "I guess our poor little Heir Candidate has to look for a hundred-and-twelve more Apples, heh heh..."

Dante took a few deep breaths, trying hard to suppress the urge to painfully kill the annoying onion head. "So I just have to taste all the gold-colored apples I find to determine if it's an Apple or a Gapple?"

"No Dante! You cannot taste the Gapples/Apples! If you take a bite of an Apple, that Apple won't count, and it will be impossible to complete the task." Sir Guiney explained.

"How am I going to differentiate between Gapples and Apples then?" Dante asked desperately. "How do you do it, Mister onion head?"

"I cannot divulge the ancient secrets of my race!" The onion head said outraged.

"Oh, please, everyone knows onion heads instinctively know if they're dealing with different variations of 'gold'." Sir Guiney said exasperated.

Meanwhile, Dante had been comparing the Apples and the Gapples. Suddenly they heard him gasp and exclaim: "I've got it!"

"Really? How can you tell?"

Dante held up an Apple, and a Gapple. The difference was suddenly obvious to Sir Guiney. The Apple looked rotten and wrinkled, while the Gapple was still beautiful, shiny and golden. "But... the Apples didn't look like that a few minutes ago!"

"Humph! So you figured it out! Apples spontaneously rot completely approximately twelve hours after they were picked. Gapples don't."

"Hah! now it will be easy!" And Dante ran off again.

***

He had looked everywhere. Twice. He was certain of it. And he still needed a hundred-and-twelve Apples. Were could they be, Dante wondered. He had been everywhere, except the parts where he wasn't allowed.

Wait, that's wrong. I was only told Apples wouldn't be in the locked rooms, Royal Empresses' private quarters, or any place you can't reach without special equipment that's not present in a 500 yard radius! Not that they wouldn't be in places I am not usually allowed!

And so he searched in the places that were off-limits to the public. The kitchen, the servant's quarters, the factory (?), the basements, the Dungeons (the ones that weren't locked of course), the laboratory (??), the torture chambers, the treasury, and even Sir Guiney's lodgings. He found eighty-three rotten Apples. But that wasn't enough. He still needed twenty-nine more.

I have looked in every nook and cranny of this place, thrice, and I can't think of anywhere where I can find them! Dante thought. Luckily I still have time.

He started wandering around the palace aimlessly, thinking hard of which place he hadn't gone yet. And suddenly, he saw the Door.

He had passed one so many times, yet never even considered going in, even though he knew it wasn't locked. That place was just so forbidden he couldn't bring himself to look there. But desperate times had arrived, and he needed to enter the Most-Mysterious-Place-Known-To-Men...

Muahahahaaa I love creating cliff-hangers...  

(Dang harimee, how did you guess the ending? Now I have to think of something new...)

For the newbies, here's the prequel:

The fantastic SPAM-story Episode I - The Dark Warrior And The Guinea-Pig.

And here's the original beginning:

Heir Of The Empire - Part I - The Heir Of The Empire

http://ourtranscendence.com/forum/index.php?topic=1.270 The story continues from there, continuing from post #274 by Zain, and onwards throughout the spam pages.

And here's a small portion of the next chapter of the rewritten style. I wrote it while I was procrastinating chemistry homework.

-CHAPTER THREE: QUEST FOR APPLES-
"I have to do... what?" Dante asked uncertainly.

"Collect all the Apples."

"Apples?"

"Yes."

"With a capital letter?"

"Yes."

"..."

Dante and Sir Guiney were standing in the courtyard, where Sir Guiney explained to him what his third task consisted of.

"How can I tell if I'm dealing with an Apple or an apple?"

"There's no particular difference, except that Apples look and taste like they're made of gold."

"Why would anyone want apples that taste like gold?"

"Beats me. They grow inside a special greenhouse on the grounds, which will be locked while you're completing this task." Sir Guiney added sternly. He knew the boy wouldn't hesitate to cheat if things got desperate.

"So I just have to find these Apples?"

"Yes."

That doesn't sound too bad, Dante thought. "How many are there?"

"Five-hundred."

"FIVE-HUNDRED?!"

"Yes. They can be hidden anywhere inside the palace or grounds..."

DONG! The clock tower started to mark the tenth hour of the day.

"...except in the locked rooms..."

DONG!

"...Royal Empresses' private quarters..."

DONG!

"...or any place..."

DONG

"...you can't reach..."

DONG!

"...without special equipment..."

DONG!

"...that's not present in a 500 yard radius."

DONG!

"And there is a time limit..."

DONG!

"...of twenty-four hours..."

DONG!

"...starting at the final strike of the clock tower..."

DONG!

"...at ten in the morning. Which was about five seconds ago. You still have 86,395 seconds left." Sir Guiney concluded. "Did you understand the task Dante? Dante...?"

Dante was already on the other side of the courtyard, frantically searching through the bushes.

Well, at least he's passionate about it. Sir Guiney liked this task, for he only had to follow Dante, and make sure he didn't cheat. Much better than the first one, where he had the misfortune of being turned into a giant purple pincushion. Or the hours of sword fighting, which had really bothered his joints. No, this task would be pain- and effort-free for him, which was just the way he liked it...

***
"Just a little higher Sir! No, not that much! No, a bit more... Yes! I got it!" Dante triumphantly held up his 269th Apple.

How did it get to this? Sir Guiney wondered. Dante was standing on top of his head, so he could successfully grab the apple which some dork had placed in the top of a tree, without climbable low branches. After failing to find a ladder anywhere in a 500 yard radius, Dante concluded Sir Guiney could be used as a means of elevation, and was within a 500 yard radius.

"So much for a pain- and effort-free task for me..." Sir Guiney whimpered.

"Did you say anything Sir?

"Nothing Dante, nothing..."

***

Furgeson!!

(why are you crying btw?)

Were at $1773.9 USD now...

And if anyone's interested, I've sorta... rewritten the Fanstastic Spam Story (partially, not done yet). I wrote a bit every time I was bored or couldn't sleep. I only did the first two chapters (The Fairytale Continues... - The First Two Tasks) which are originally 343 words long. I've rewritten it into Preface - Chapter One: Heir of the Empire - Chapter Two: The First Two Tasks, and it's... 2749 words long. I managed this by writing it into the same style as the second half of the story, more like dialog than narration.

I'm not too sure if I should post it without Zain knowing about it... But I decided to share it anyway (it's not proofread btw), and continue if it's liked and if I feel like it, and remove if anyone protests.

SO HERE IT IS:

=REWRITING THE FANTASTIC SPAM STORY=

-PREFACE-

"Zain, I'm so bo-hored"!

Zain instinctively ducked, and the heavy book ("Why Quantum-physics isn't hard at all") narrowly missed her head.

"And does throwing books at me help you solve that problem?" She asked at the book-thrower, her fellow Royal Empress Evory.

"Well... for a few seconds... yes." She answered dryly. "But it doesn't solve the original problem of me being bored again."

Zain sighed, and against better judgment, started the same argument they'd had numerous times the last few weeks.

"You still have to work on THAT." she gestured towards the steadily growing pile of official looking letters. "Just because Xye is working abroad..."

"Working abroad my ass, she's on her gazillionth honeymoon with her royal prince*!" Evory muttered.
(*The spouses of the Royal Empresses become royal princes, not Royal Emperors, (and vice verse, the spouses of Royal Emperors become royal princesses) because the spouse does not have ruling privileges*)

Zain continued as though she wasn't interrupted. "...doesn't mean we don't have to do our jobs as Empresses anymore. I suggest you had better get started, because that pile will only grow faster if you don't answer them."

"Nah, I'm too busy."

"Evory..."

"I don't wanna..." But she could no longer complain, because Zain had just given her her famous death glare, causing the Royal Empress Evory to meekly take her chair at the desk, picking up a letter, and trying to attentively read it for about two-and-a-half seconds. After that, her gaze wandered around the Royal Library, picked one of the books at random ("All Inhabitants of the Continent sorted both Alphabetically and by Family Relations") and started reading another book she had already memorized. Zain didn't really care, at least she would be quiet for a while now...

But the silence lasted shorter than she expected.

"Zain..."

"what?" Zain said, looking up from her complex budget calculations.

"I was thinking..."

"You shouldn't, you might hurt yourself."

"Oh, haha." Evory rolled her eyes. "I was thinking about what will happen if we're no longer here."

That was quite a serious subject for Evory to be worrying about, especially considering that it was completely unnecessary as the Royal Empressees were immortal, and couldn't die of old age, disease or be killed in any known way. However, it did catch Zain's interest.

"What do you mean 'If we're no longer here'?"

"You know, we've been in office for an awful long time already - Xye even longer - and will be for a long time to come. Don't you think we won't get tired of all this one day?" she gestured vaguely towards the pile of letters and the room. Zain had to admit she never even thought about it. "So what's your idea?" she asked cautiously, being aware of Evory's previous crazy schemes.

Evory stood up, grinning widely. "You just wait and see." And she positively stormed out of the library, glad to have a remedy against the boredom (and a possibility to procrastinate her work), leaving Zain with an uneasy foreboding...

-END PREFACE-

-CHAPTER ONE: HEIR OF THE EMPIRE-

"Dante! Dante! Look at this!"

Tammy, Dante's mother, burst into his room with a large poster.

Dante looked at it wearily. "Do I want to know what that is?" He certainly hoped it didn't have anything to do with his fan club down at the village, they'd given him more trouble than he wanted to think about right now...

"Of course you want to know!" Tammy unrolled the poster, which had almost completely illegible curly handwriting all over it. "The Royal Empresses are looking for an heir!"

"What? Why would they want an heir, aren't they immortal?"

"...There's a reason on the poster, but I can't read it. But that's not the point! You are the number one favorite candidate from the entire state of Forugamea!" His mother beamed.

"But I didn't even apply or campaign!" Dante protested. He had a nasty foreboding...

"Don't worry, those lovely ladies down at the village will take care of EVERYTHING." As she kissed the top of his head. "My little boy, a Royal Emperor... I can't believe it, how wonderful!" as she danced out of the room, leaving Dante thoroughly confused.

***

Being a Royal Emperor huh... Now that the first shock had worn off, Dante couldn't help but imagine it. It was something every kid dreamed about, to rule Transcendence of even the entire Continent as a valiant Emperor or beautiful Empress, but learn as an adult that it's impossible. Now that he had the opportunity, he'd be a really fool not to take it!

"I'm going to be the first Royal Emperor!" He said out loud to himself, and loved the sound of it.

Unfortunately for our hero, he still has a very long way to go...

***THREE DAYS LATER...***

"Unsurprisingly, Dante Tammyson of Transcendence's largest state Forugamea has won the nation-wide elections of heir of the empresses with 95% of the votes, which about equals the female population of Transcendence. Not on with the weather. There will be mild showers and..."

Dante never heard the bored drone of the news-announcer, because he was already at the palace, where he would be given details of his 'Heirship'. He waited impatiently, for the one who would bestow his title upon him. He didn't need to wait long. There were footsteps in the hallway, that weren't really footsteps. They sound he heard was as close to footsteps as an off-key trumpet note was as close to a mosquito hum. They shook the very firmaments of the palace. The owner of the footsteps walked in, and if Dante hadn't been so aware of his poise, his jaw would have dropped. In front of him was a guinea-pig. Not just a guinea-pig but, but an eight feet tall guinea-pig. That was purple. The guinea-pig cleared his throat: "I am Sir Guiney, Head Knight of the order of the Transcended Warriors."

A TALKING Guiney-Pig (and yes, with capitals)? That was the Head Knight? Dante hid his surprise remarkably well, and said, smiling: "Hello Sir Guiney, I am Dante Tammyson, soon to be the first Royal Emperor."

"Royal Emperor? Not quite yet, lad." Sir Guiney chuckled. "That's the reason I'm here."

"What do you mean? Did something go wrong with the elections?"

"No, the elections were fool-proof."

"Why can't I be the Royal Emperor already then?!"

"Because you still need to pass some tests before you can become the Heir of the Empire, who can become the Royal Emperor." Sir Guiney explained.

"Tests?! And what do you mean 'Heir of the Empire'?! I thought the elections were about who would become the Royal Emperor!" Dante said outraged. What was this 'Heir of the Empire' nonsense?

"Well, you can't become the Royal Emperor yet because the Royal Empresses are still ruling, and the test are only to check if you are worthy of becoming a Royal Emperor. If you pass them, you will become the Royal Emperor the moment all the Royal Empresses step down."

"..." If you thought about it logically it made sense.

"But that's not everything. We shall also test if you can take my position."

"What?! Why?!" Dante wasn't prepared for this.

"I may not look it, but I'm also gaining years and I'm not immortal. There was a sub-category in the elections for the position of Head Knight, which you've also won."

How can you determine the age of a Guiney-Pig? Dante wondered randomly. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"It was written on the poster... but to be honest, I couldn't really read it myself, so I guess everyone just voted for you to be the Head Knight as well as Royal Emperor because no one campaigned for it..."

"..." The moment I'm Royal Emperor I'm going to fire the one who wrote those posters, Dante thought. Or teach them how to write. But there were more pressing matters.

"What exactly are those test?"

"There are seven in total, I get to think up four, aimed to train you, each of the three Royal Empresses also think up one task. I don't know exactly what they'll test. I accompany you with all tasks, and I shall give the Empresses my advice whether you are worthy or not, and they will decide."

It doesn't sound too bad. Dante thought. He would start with training first, so if it was too hard, he could back out... could he?

"If... I'm unable to do these tasks, what will become of me?"

"Nothing special, you can always refuse, but you won't become Emperor."

Perfect.

"Alright, when can I begin?"

I will be Heir of the Empire before you know it!

***

"What do you think Zain? Do you think he's up to it?" Evory said. They were both listening at the door, because the palace designer had most inconveniently forgotten to put a secret passage or room covered by a painting in that one chamber.

"He seems enthusiastic and willing, but he still needs a lot of grooming."

"Yeah, he's got a bit of a temper." Evory agreed.

"Well, his temper is RELATIVELY   alright, but he lacks bravery. I think I know how what my task is going to be..." Zain mused.

"What is it?" Evory inquired.

"Not telling" Zain grinned. "Now it's MY turn to create a mysterious cliffhanger!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, never mind, I had an out-of-story-experience."

"..."

-CHAPTER TWO: THE FIRST TWO TASKS-

"So... how does this work again?"

Dante was awkwardly holding his finally strung bow and arrow, which shook madly because of the tension caused by the strength required to keep the tendon stretched. (If you ever attempted archery, you know what I'm talking about.)

"Start by not pointing it at me!"

But Dante couldn't hold on any longer, and let go before he could properly aim. Luckily this time, Sir Guiney was prepared and was able to dodge just in time, but he still got a cut.

"That's the fifteenth time! Concentrate! Train your arm muscles! Anything!" Cried Sir Guiney. "I'm going to get this healed, keep practicing. I want at least one arrow on the board before I return!" Sir Guiney left, looking like a giant purple pincushion, leaving Dante behind in the field full of arrows.

Dante, tired as he was, decided he could afford to sit down for a minute and relax his arms before he made another attempt. He never once thought he would be this lousy at archery. This week, Sir Guiney had told him everything there was to know about archery, the right way to stand, how to string the bow, how to attach the arrow, how to aim, how to fire... but he couldn't do it. He wasn't strong enough.

At home, he rarely had to do any manual labor, because both of his parents were scholars, not farmers or warriors. He had never been very bookish, but he learned easily, and his education had been a breeze. Dante looked at the satchel of arrows, wondering if he should stick one arrow into the board just to please Sir Guiney, but decided against it. Honesty was important to him.

Sighing, Dante got up and added another arrow to the bow and tried again. Somehow, the arrow flew directly upwards, and heard a distinct 'OUCH!' from one of the clergy on the other side of the courtyard. "Sorry!" Dante yelled, but the clergy didn't hear him, as he had already run to the healer inside the palace, safe from the arrows. Dante heard the thundering footsteps of Sir Guiney, and decided desperate measures ought to be taken. He stood two feet from the board, and added a new arrow. He took a deep breath, concentrated, pulled the tendon, aimed, breathed out and released.

The arrow smashed the board to pieces.

"What is this?" Sir Guiney said as he ran over to the vehemently cursing Dante. [Bad Dante! Wash your mouth!] "And what happened to the board?" he asked mildly interested. "It looks like I ran through it."

"...I hit the board. From two feet distance." Dante muttered.

"...Well, at least you hit it." Sir Guiney tried to cheer him up. "It would have been a real bummer if you had missed it from two feet."

"I suppose..."

"Rest for a minute, I'll get a new board."

On his way back to the palace, Sir Guiney quickly admired the shattered pieces of the board. It would have been no easy feat to shatter the 10 inch thick board, even from two feet distance. Sir Guiney felt a little guilty he didn't tell Dante that the Royal Empresses made him use the super-extra-strong bow, which most people couldn't even pull, let alone string and hold long enough to aim. "I wondered what his parents have been feeding him.. even I can't do this." he muttered.

"Did you say anything Sir?"

"Oh, never mind."

***

Weeks passed, and Dante kept practicing for hours, every day, tirelessly, until he even managed to shatter the board from a hundred yards, and hit the bullseye at 500. More than satisfied with his performance, Sir Guiney declared that he had passed the task, and would commence with the second: Sword fighting.

"Great! I had never used a bow before, but I have sparred every now and then with dad! This should be easy" Dante exclaimed. "Who will be my opponent?" Sir Guiney stared at him, as if he missed something very obvious. Slowly, it dawned upon Dante.

"I have to spar... with you?" He said weakly. He looked at the 20 feet tall Guiney-Pig. How could he possibly defeat that? Even if he disregarded the size, how do you spar with a Guiney-Pig?

Dante took his stick (they wouldn't fight with real swords in the beginning), and moved into battle position. Sir Guiney was already waiting for him. Wasting no time, Dante immediately attacked, but when he got near, all he saw suddenly was black...

***

"I'm so sorry Dante, I didn't mean to hit you so hard." Sir Guiney apologized for the five-hundred-thirty-second time.

"It's okay, I survived.

"Do you think you will be recovered by next week?"

"I guess..."

Sir Guiney left the hospital ward after Dante fell asleep only to find the royal Empresses standing in the hallway, trying (and miserably failing) at being inconspicuous.

"My Royal Highnesses! What on earth are you doing here?"

"Checking up on Dante of course!" Zain replied.

"Checking how long he will survive so I can win the bet!" Evory replied simultaneously.

Luckily, Sir Guiney couldn't hear what she said due to the simultaneousness of her answer, and left muttering something about "I guess it's Royal business only..."

When he was out of earshot, Evory sneaked into the ward, and checked up on Dante. "Dang, he survived pretty well, he might even live through the tasks..."

"Is that bad?"

"It is if you bet 50 billion Transcendollars against that outcome."

"... Where did you get the money from?"

"Uhm... no where..." Evory quickly replied "Just from the state treasury..." she added in a small tone.

"Evory..." Zain, who covered the finances of the Empire, couldn't contain her anger, and the Royal Empress Evory fled from the hospital with Zain hot on her heels.

***

Life continued much in the same fashion for Dante. He sparred every day with Sir Guiney, sometimes got knocked unconscious and needing to recover in the hospital, but steadily improved his skills with a blade. After two months, and two hours of sparring, he did something no one had predicted: he managed to disarm Sir Guiney, thereby winning the battle for the first time. When he repeated the same feat another 5 times, Sir Guiney declared that he had passed the task, much to the relief of Dante and Zain, who had to cover the medical bills.

-CHAPTER THREE: QUEST FOR APPLES-

...
end of story so far

I found the images on http://www.animepaper.net/ You have to register to get the full sized images, but it's really worth it!

VK:
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/wallpapers/Vampire-Knight/item79083/
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/wallpapers/Vampire-Knight/item71454/

DNAngel:
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/wallpapers/DN-Angel/item21355/
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/wallpapers/DN-Angel/item52193/

La Corda d'Oro:
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/wallpapers/La-Corda-D-Oro/item99654/
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/wallpapers/La-Corda-D-Oro/item92065/

Infection Rate

Computer Virus

^ Nightbook by Ludovico Einaudi
< Biology test tomorrow... and I'm playing Forum Games:noway:
V What was the last book you read?

cluttered

how did you know?

next is yakuzakitty

garlic

You have no life because your on friendly terms with sacred pirates

right ^^

your turn

next is Sharwin

Aw... *huggles*

You have no life because the flying spaghetti-monster says so

Gets: cactus (?)

Inserts: blue origami kusudama

Uhm... Either it was raining, so they were already wet (so the couldn't 'get' wet), or they're all married (not a 'single' man got wet).

If correct:
Two convicts are locked in a cell. There is an unbarred window high up in the cell. No matter if they stand on the bed or one on top of the other they can't reach the window to escape. They then decide to tunnel out. However, they give up with the tunnelling because it will take too long. Finally one of the convicts figures out how to escape from the cell. What is his plan?

You have no life because you're very insistent about dominating the Forum Games

Time: Tomorrow morning
Place: Your room
Cause: You fell out of bed and broke your neck

the

812

Naomi (Death Note)

Eat

Blood

Sapient

Let's share okay?

...


Or not *evil grin*

Banned for living for glitter and not me

Will soon be dominated in the Forum Games by me

F - Fruits Basket

Gentle Historians Order Seven Towels

BRAVE

XXXIII

indeed XD

next... yakuzakitty perhaps?

Gets: a pink wig

Inserts: A newt

Me~ XD

Next is... Yakuzakitty

Maid.

Would you rather eat an old lump of cheese for breakfast or for dinner?

LOL 

XXXI

Red light

Would you rather hop around in crowded place wearing a bear suit while screaming "I'M A POTATO!! I'M A POTATO!! I'M A POTATO!!" for the rest of your life or lose an arm? 

It's me!

next... Sharwin?

Knuckles Nurturing Obnoxious Crazy Knots

ALPHA

H - Hakuouki Junrenka

XXIX

Has recently dominated the Forum Games

Banned for being a lowly butterfly

I should sleep too... but first I'm going to dominate the Forum Games again since forever

(should it be s or d?)

Shampoo
Do

No phone calls... because there is e-mail! Or Skype

Would you rather always be dreaming or never needing to sleep?

sparkles

Hopscotch

QuoteIn this game you need to post a name of a character from an anime or manga BUT the name should starts with the last letter of the name above you.

Sorry Yama-chan, but you're wrong >.<

Eriol

Len (La Corda d'Oro)

810

out

time: now
place: behind your computer
cause: shock because I've started playing Forum Games again

You have no life because you didn't see that Yakuzakitty didn't completely rule the second page of Forum Games

Gets: Me!! (wait, since when have I been in the machine? o_O)

Inserts: My entire school, including teachers. And yes, it fits.

Yup ^^

(  For those interested, the calculation:
x= the number of men on one side of the square during the first situation
first situation
full number of men=x^2+39 (x^2=number of men currently in the square, and 39 is the number left over)
second situation
full number of men=(x+1)^2-50 ( (x+1)^2 is the number of men currently in the square in this situation, 50 is the number the officer would need extra to complete the square)
first situation=second situation (the total number of men remains equal)

x^2+39=(x+1)^2-50
x^2+39=x^2+2x+1-50
39=2x-49
2x=88
x=44

total number of men=x^2+39=44^2+39=1975  )

Your turn to post a riddle

new

I made another double background:

La Corda D'Oro

I have avenged you, Tammy and Xye!

Do I get any cookies?

Banned because your name is purple

The mafia are most likely to both vote for the same people, so they can also kill during the day (because everyone apart from themselves is GOOD). So let's look at the votes so far:

DAY 1:
Tammy -> Yume
Zain -> Yume
Xye -> Tammy
Yume -> Tammy
Angelwriter -> Kiriane
Kiriane -> Yume
Evory -> Tammy

People that got multiple votes:
Yume (Tammy, Zain, Kiriane)
Tammy (Xye, Yume, Evory)

DAY 2
Evory -> Kiriane
Zain -> Yume
Angelwriter -> Kiriane
Kiriane -> Yume
Yume -> Kiriane
Xye -> Yume Kiriane

People that got multiple votes:
Kiriane (Evory, Angelwriter, Yume, Xye)
Yume (Zain, Kiriane)

Everyone that voted Kiriane (me, wongi, Yume and Xye) is most definitely innocent, because Kiriane has been proven to be mafia. Zain is definitely the associate of Kiriane, not only because she is the only one left alive that has not been proven to be GOOD, but also because she voted the same as Kiriane on both days.

So I'm very confident that ZAIN is the other mafia. (Which obviously means I'm voting for Zain)

new

Our lovely new staff members Kai, Suzan and 1trinity1 are added.  

I want more data... the tree is slowly dying...

VI

LOL I can imagine it somehow... (Gackt's head pickled in a jar with Xye clinging to it)

Gets: Sunshine (1/2 prince character or the rays of the sun, pick any)
Inserts: My Dutch teacher

LOL. Does Xye look like Gackt and I like Dark?

You have no life because your avatar is cute

Posted at 04-09-2009, 05:10:25 (my time)

Pool

Equinox

eyes

^ I would have temporarily forgotten my fear of heights and looked down while I was on the roof of said building for some reason... and suddenly become incapable of movement because I regained my memory.
< How can someone like that ever become a teacher??!!
V Are you wearing socks right now?

L - La Corda D'Oro

Yup XD

Next... Criss?