People did that with rep too. Having their friends gang up on and derep people - except because of the added value of rep, those situations were actually taking something from the members. Not to mention a lot of the dereps given were dumb to begin with [ie: this person has a font I dislike, or no given reason at all ]. When I first reached premium, I was given a derep when I made a thread about having done so that said 'congratulations, you've accomplished nothing'. I don't remember ever getting derepped for a valid reason. People were just mean with it. Not saying the same will happen now in 2013 but I just wonder what kind of dereps are you guys so eager to give?
Personally, before I share my opinion on it I'd like admin confirmation of this being possible [ + why it wasn't working ] and to know for sure if everyone would have to start over from zero with their 'reputation'. Until then ...
OOC: formatting later. Dakota went pale at his questions. Sure, she hasn't given him much to go off of but ... S Couldnt he initiate the conversation?! She looked away and up at the glowing kites floating about above them. "Uh ... Um." Oh gods. She snuck a peak at his glasses. That was something, yeah? It took a few inner monologues and prep talks before she was able to, but she finally spoke again. "Glasses. You noticed. The eye ... Thing." This was awful. She tucked some hair behind her ear and then changed her mind, pulling the thick strands back against her cheeks. "What do you, uh, think ...?" Personally she had no idea what to make of it. "A-assuming they're not all related ... Maybe there's something in the water ...?" Haha. Silly. Water, right. "Uh. You know I heard about the government puttig stuff in our water," her fingers begn twirling around her hair tightly. "Not just that fluoride stuff either. Like, poisions to cut our life spans short. Pop-population, you know - ouch." She unwraveled her hair from her hand, having accidentally yanked it. "Maybe we should get a sample of water from somewhere and ... I don't know. Um." She wasn't a scientist. She didn't have a lab. She wouldn't even know what to do it she had one. What tests could she even run? It was a dumb suggestion. Wait. "... We could do an animal test. We should catch a squirrel, or something, maybe."
w e l c o m e, xxxxxxxUSER!‹‹ CONTROL PANEL OPTIONS ›› xxxxwearing • hair • music • ooc Dakota didn't have to ask what he wanted to do, not that she would have. He led them around a massive fountain, and passed several other attractions. They were walking for a comfortable time, descending upon a short dirt road shrouded by trees, before they finally reached what seemed to be a kite flying station; a massive green hill littered with flowers, overlooking a body of water and some other city quite far from them. All of the kites were left set up on what resembled a bike rack, and a gentle piano melody was playing from somewhere she couldn't place [ this bothered her ... a lot ]. She wasn't going to fly a darn kite in a situation like this. She had never flown a kite before in normal circumstances. What was the point? They looked like little alien spaceships, glowing in the rapidly darkening skies. Her eyes flickered to the boy again. Maybe this reminded him of his people. Her heart ached. If only. Shifting her weight from heel to heel, she folded her arms over her chest. There weren't too many people up here, compared to behind them, but the skies were still taking on a neon glow with the few kites above them. It reminded her of the aurora borealis, and she was feeling a bit nervous, no matter how beautiful it was. What was she supposed to say? She dug one of her heels into the earth beneath her and rubbed at her arms, regretting her decision to leave behind a sweater. 『 Uh.』 She pressed her lips together, making them a thin line. It took about seventy-three percent of her deliberate control to resist turning back around and leaving him here. This was awful, she couldn't even think of the words to attempt to formulate.
Locked upon request. / Answered.
Basically. I think I actually sleep too much. I stay up past 3am [ lately, anyway ] and then sleep until late afternoon and never actually feel rested oops. On days I have to work tho, n o p e.
♔: ♠ « MUSIC ♠ « WEARING ♠ « ✉ 0 ♠ « OOC: N|A ♠ :♔ ❝This is nice ... What do you think?❞ Oliver looked up from the screen of his cell phone. Sophie. He peered passed her, noticing Pierce had yet to walk off. They had been standing pretty close before, and he was trying to work up the courage to ask her if she had been alright - despite a world of other, much more important things he should have been focused on. Things that also did not involve texting Mary. ❝It's nice,❞ Pierce answered before he got a chance to. He looked at her, and then narrowed his eyes at Sophie with an exasperated sigh. ❝I'm going to the petting zoo.❞ And she was off. Maybe he would have stopped her if Sophie wasn't right between them. He watched her, and then turned his attention back to his phone without looking up again. ❝What are you doing?❞ He muttered. It was directed towards Sophie but he didn't really care if she caught it. She was annoying. He wanted her to make up her mind and quit messing with him. He didn't want anything to do with her and Pierce's 'thing', and if she wanted the stuttering beauty to herself, he wasn't getting in the way of that. He took a step back, shoving his phone into his pocket. He had yet to eat. For a second, his eyes lingered on Pierce's form, and he hoped she'd be okay ... then he turned around and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Sophie to do whatever. Hopefully leave him alone.
w e l c o m e, xxxxxxxUSER!‹‹ CONTROL PANEL OPTIONS ›› xxxxwearing • hair • music • ooc Why did everyone have green eyes? Her head reeled with possibilities, and they all turned up as red flags. Something wasn't right here. She felt sick again, and pulled her hair further into her face, wanting to hide away behind all of it. Once off of the trolley she just sort of stood around, clutching her bag to her chest and doing deep breathing exercises. Oddly, it didn't smell as ... strongly here. She gazed around for some kind of street camera as well, and found nothing - which made her more nervous because the eyes that were inevitably watching were hidden. Speaking of eyes ... Dakota stepped timidly away from whoever else remained in their group, and looked around for some kind of accessory vendor. With her hair draped over her face like the grudge girl she was able to successfully purchase a pair of sunglasses to hide her eyes. They'd look silly come nighttime but ... maybe by then she would find a way to part her hair so her eyes were hidden. She regretted the rare trim of her bangs she had gotten recently. 『 hey Dakota. You feeling better now? If so want to hang out and do some festival fun activities with me?』 Slowly, she turned around. The voice was too different to be Erik's. It was ... that one guy. It was driving her crazy, not knowing his name. She took a deep breath, hoping she would melt away and become invisible - like a ghost. Her fingertips slid over her arms, trying to calm the risen goosebumps. What kind of thing was he asking her so directly?! What was this? Some kind of trick? Her eyes dug into his. Before she punched him the face and ran for it, he spoke again. 『 and maybe try to see what's up with all these people? I don't really know why, but this place seems too suspicious to be this normal.』 ... Oh? He wanted to ... investigate suspicions? She felt feverish again, and picked nervously at the hem of her dress. The drumming of her heart echoed into her ears and she started to breathe deeply again, mind reeling. So silly ... Like he would be asking her to spend tonight like a date or something, that would have been absolutely, horrifyingly terrible. 『 S-Su ... uh ... sure, yeah, okay.』 She answered finally, with a good amount of hesitation. He couldn't see her eyes from behind the glasses, but she kept looking at him - and then away - wondering if he was wearing eye contacts. The color of his eyes ... Was he a mutant? A government experiment gone wrong - desperate to get to the heart of all conspiracies to find out who he truly was? Her heart fluttered. Probably not. Life was full of disappointments.
w e l c o m e, xxxxxxxUSER!‹‹ CONTROL PANEL OPTIONS ›› xxxxwearing • hair • music • ooc As soon as they were partnered up, Dakota maneuvered passed some of the kids and took the key to her room. It wasn't long before she was climbing the staircase to the second floor. They had really lucked out ... So empty. If it had been a holiday, maybe the rooms would have been booked up and they wouldn't be able to fit somewhat comfortably. The key was pressed into the lock and twisted, and as soon as she pushed the door open, she was assaulted by the scent of peppermint and coffee and a flood of uncomfortable warmth coming from ... candles? There were no electrically powered lights. She gagged and dropped the handle of her suitcase, along with her bag, running quickly to the bathroom and kneeling before the toilet. There wasn't even any time to check for a camera. -- It took awhile for her to finally crawl out of the bathroom and when she did, she overheard talk of them going to a festival. That sounded like a horrible idea. All she wanted to do was sleep. There were no chairs in this room, so she would likely end up sleeping on the floor or something else uncomfortable - but maybe if they left her behind, she would have a chance to get some real rest before they were back and she moved. That wouldn't happen though. She didn't trust this place, with it's bright colors and disgusting smells. If she were left alone and something were to happen ... Ugh. Finally, she returned to the bathroom, this time to change clothes and her hair. When she was done she picked up her bag and left the room, trying to escape before OCD completely took over and she went on another duct tape spree. It was dark outside when she stepped out of the room. She stood in the lobby, waiting for the others. They would leave here via the trolley and arrive shortly in Bentley Square, where the festival was being held. She wondered if they would stand out ... While she waited, she decided to approach Cane in an attempt to ask her about the atlas. It didn't go over too well at first. There was a lot of stuttering and 'ugh's, and of course sassy remarks from Cane that made Dakota want to cry - and slit her throat with her scissors all at the same time. Luckily, the guy she couldn't remember [ Evan ] approached her and helped out a bit and they were able to get through the question - Why WERE the atlases different? Cane stared at them with an odd expression at first, and then she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, shifting in her chair and muttering something about having known they 'weren't just visiting'. Her voice was low when she said it, but she told them that the old atlas was accurate, but that they wouldn't be able to get anywhere without Patrick. By the end of the conversation, she had slipped them his address and phone number. They asked for a bit more information, but she only snapped at them to 'bug off', saying something about being busy. -- The rest eventually arrived in the lobby and they were off to the festival! There didn't seem to be a reason for it, other than it being Spring, which was nice - she guessed. It was the strangest thing, though. As talkative as the trolley guy - Carman - was, there was literally NO ONE on the streets around town. No cars, either. It was completely empty. That was, until they arrived at Bentley Square. Children, adults, elders all gathered around, flooding the colorful streets with cheerful banter and friendly conversation. There seemed to be a lot of things to do. a giant carousel a japanese garden a puppet theater a stage set up for performances and a talent show arts and crafts - pottery and jewelry making various food and candy stands a paintball tournament night kite flying face painting sparklers, clothes and trinkets for sale a haunted house bumper cars a petting zoo a ferris wheel fireworks being prepped for later There were so many people, she was terrified. She wanted to go back, everything was way too lively for her! Though, it all seemed ... normal ... the weirdest thing about it was that ... Everyone seemed to have green eyes.
Mmkay, sleep tight.
Hey big bro, your signature is above the 500 x 500 limit. Could you please resize it? Thanks. ;c
CHOICE #11
W H A T xxW I L Lxx Y O U xx D O ? ? Time for the investigation! Are you ready? Well, where you like to start? *Event and time skip triggered! Cane informs you all of a festival being held in Bentley Square later that night but is scarce on details.
If this is going to turn into a 'LET'S NEGATIVELY DISCUSS THIS MEMBER' sort of call-out thread [ not saying that was / is your intention, Below ], I am going to lock it. Please refrain? So long as a member is not hurting anyone or breaking the rules [ in which case, please approach a staff member ], it shouldn't be a big deal. If you seriously have a problem with something you feel is invading your privacy or making you uncomfortable, feel free to discuss the issue with a staff member. °˖✧◝( ⁰ ▿ ⁰ )◜✧˖°
He's being a good sport.
w e l c o m e, xxxxxxxUSER!‹‹ CONTROL PANEL OPTIONS ›› xxxxwearing • hair • music • ooc 『 Dakota,』 she wasn't planning on looking at him, but then he took her chin between his fingers and made her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt like he was about to trigger some kind of seizure in her. She wanted to move, but she couldn't force herself to. His eyes dug into hers. 『 It's not like I didn't want to be close in school. Even back then, you were an impossible little girl. But it's not like 13-yr-old boys are supposed to like hanging out with 9-yr-old girls that aren't their sister, or even their sister.』 What was he talking about? She had done nothing to pique his interest to begin with. Her lips curved into a frown. She wasn't an extraordinary child or anything, regardless of how much more she attempted to interact back then. He had no reason to want to talk to her. 『 It's not like you gave me much of a chance to get close during school, and well... I still wanted to see you after you stopped showing up.』 She kept him in sight as he shrugged his shoulders and got on his hands and knees to leave. When he dropped her chin, the skin he had left untouched felt ... tingly, and warm still. Some kind of poison, no doubt. She wiped furiously at her skin with her scarf and huffed out. 『 If it's really that much of a bother, I'll just go.』 Good! 『 I do appreciate you coming though.』 He gave her some depressing smile that left her feeling a little guilty, and then left. -- A part of her regretted bringing along a suitcase with how much walking their group seemed to be doing. She trailed behind as usual, occasionally wiping at her chin and internally hyperventilating. Her cheeks filled with warmth, and she was pretty sure her anxiety was giving her a fever. There were so many thoughts going through her head. Fears about Bentley, and then ... Erik. By the time they arrived at the Inn, she was panting and clawing at the top of her shirt black every so often. The smell in here ... it was ... what was this? It was nauseating. She felt like she was going to faint. Her eyes darted nervously from the violent woman 'welcoming' them, and what she assumed to be the bathroom. Her stomach continued it's backflips and her knees felt weak. Aaaaaaaaaah! 『 That was really unnecessary, and it's not like we're freeloading this time. We have money to pay for rooms, which means that everyone deserves the same hospitality you would share with any other guests you acquire. Unless this is how you treat your guests.』 Dakota's shoulders tensed and she breathed out heavily, dragging her suitcase to a chair nestled in the corner of the lobby and plopping down. She felt like she was deep underwater, with only a second or two every few minutes to attempt to catch her breath. What was Erik doing? Oh, Hell. 『 We would have paid last time too, but Grant insisted. We need four more rooms aside from the one Tucker already got. Double beds. Can you do that without pelting any more kids with office projectiles?』 『 We don't mean to be impolite!』 Eyepatch-girl clocked in. Zoey was her name. Thank the Gods for Zoey. Dakota lifted her eyes and had to put her head back down. This smell ... She was having a hard time processing it along with everything else. From what she could tell, the woman looked a bit irritated - but no more than she had when she had first greeted them. 『 ... Oh? You think I treat 'em any differently? This is my inn, boy, I'll treat you how I'd like! Silly me, thinkin' it was hos-pit-al-ity enough lettin' you stay at the only inn in toon.』 Ugh, what accent was this? Dakota felt nervous again. There was a small clapping sound and she peeked up just in time to see the woman's slender hands pushing Erik's cheeks together, making him look like a fish. She would have laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it if she weren't so sick The woman pulled away from him with a fox-like smile and sat back down on her seat with crossed legs, as if it were throne. She sighed, and bent over - pulling out a box of room keys and slamming it down onto the table. 『 I'd make you sleep outside if I really had no decency ... at least one of you has some respect,』 she muttered, presumably about Zoey. Respect, yeah, hah ... Once keys were shelled out and rooms were checked into, the group kind of huddled about again. More pairing ... ugh. They had to decide who slept where.
♔: ♠ « MUSIC ♠ « WEARING ♠ « ✉ 0 ♠ « OOC: N|A ♠ :♔ The rest of their trip was tiresome and discouraging. As soon as Pierce said that Bentley already knew they were coming, he lost all hope. It was true that they hadn't a plan to begin with, but any element of surprise they could have had was gone now - tossed away into nothing. Now Bentley had time to prepare and hide away anything they wouldn't want their group finding. Some sort of madness broke out amongst the group and Oliver watched as Pierce scurried away to the bathroom like a frightened mouse. He thought about checking on her, he really did, but once he finally brought himself to stand up and leave the bridge, he found himself unable to. He walked passed the bathroom instead and carried himself up onto the deck with still-sore legs. Unfortunately, he was not the first one up there. While the company was unwanted, he adjusted quickly to their presence and managed to effectively tune them out. A light mist nipped as his skin as he leaned over the rail to gaze down into the dark, crashing waves around them. They were going awfully fast, but he hadn't expected any slower a speed from Julius. A man on a mission ... Hah. He filled his lungs with cool, salty air, and after a moment or two - released it. If he survived this, there would be a lot of thinking to do ... A shore was coming into sight now, and considering Julius hadn't steered away, he assumed it was their destination. When they docked, he got off of the yacht and stood around with the others as they waited for some kind of greeting. His muscles were stiff, and his eyes were tired. Being inactive wasn't helping with that, so he was glad when they finally started walking. It took forever and he was about ready to pass out. Why didn't any of them have a rental car - or bikes - or something?! All of this walking would kill him before Bentley did. ❝Tucker,❞ He lifted his eyes and peered past Bryan. Oh. He hadn't even noticed they had gotten there. Somewhere during the walk he had basically dozed off. [ This was also around the time Jayn started imagining Tucker as big, buff, black man with a wig ]. The place was ... foul. He felt immediately nauseated upon stepping into the inn. It smelled so ... sweet. He shook his head. ❝Hey, man.❞ He greeted casually, as if it had only been a few days since they last saw one another. He was so tired ... There wasn't much time for a meet-and-greet as almost immediately after they entered, a coarse, foreign voice cut through the candy stained air. Behind Tucker stood a medium-height woman with bright, almond-shaped emerald eyes. Her thick Rapunzel like tresses were bundled up in a low, braided bun with a tropical blue ribbon, which complimented her dark boots and long sky blue dress. ❝Welcome back, freeloaders. ❞ Oliver flinched. He hadn't even been there last time. Cane turned on her heel and settled down behind the receptionist's desk. Her eyes scanned them over like needles, and her expression flickered between cynical and concerned for a few silent moments.❝I see some new faces ... and notice a few missing ones.❞ They were all still kind of standing around but it looked like the woman was going to wait patiently for them to gather themselves. Oliver used this opportunity to sneak another peek at Pierce. She looked nervous. He should talk to her ... Sophie hadn't been all too chatty with the nutmeg haired girl, either. He wondered if she was lonely ... He kind of was. Just a little, though. He rested a hand against his jean pocket, feeling for his phone and breathing in another breath of putrid candy air. ❝WELL? What're you waitin' on? I've better things to do if yer just going to stand around!❞ She snapped with a sour expression, tossing a pen towards them from her desk. It hit the guy named Shane in the forehead and Oliver was tempted to shift his backpack to the front to protect himself from any more projectiles. This chick, tho ... It was time for them to check in.
Ooh, I have a spray bottle next to me that I fill with ice cold water when I need to stay up late. Whenever I feel myself dozing, I spray my face with it and turn on a fan or something so it's really cold [ i know this is probably really weird oops ]. That + coffee = success.
Hmm ... I feel like PaW. It was alright. Very, very generic and anime-like to me right now. That doesn't mean it's BAD, just nothing that particularly stands out to me. Very typical plot and very animated, colorful, expressive characters - that thus far seem a bit one dimensional. I feel a little bummed with the introduced characters. They're all, again, just basic anime archetypes. When Ruby came out as a silly personality, I accepted it, but Weiss? I really thought she was going to be deeper, based on her trailer. Not a spoiled brat tsundere type. The music is gorgeous and the animation is great, specifically for the fight scenes - oh my goodness. Just wonderful. I felt that the guy character that was introduced ... his voice didn't really fit him, it seemed. But again, they're amatuer and this is just the beginning. I'm hoping that they'll surprise us and something will happen that shakes this whole thing up to a less generic level. Until then, it's still an enjoyable watch.
w e l c o m e, xxxxxxxUSER!‹‹ CONTROL PANEL OPTIONS ›› xxxxwearing • hair • music • ooc It was really rather glorious under the table, she had to admit. No camera, and no idea of what was happening on the surface, or around the yacht ... It would have been better with a tablecloth, she thought, and without the loud insufferable rap music - which they still hadn't shut off for whatever reason - blaring over the intercom. The vaguely familar, honey-eyed male from before was still kind of hovering around, and she was becoming increasingly more anxious - feeling a bit like a zoo animal locked in a cage for entertainment. Her knees bent in front of her, and she pulled them closer - thighs against her stomach - and rested her arms there. 『 Dakota,』 she acknowledged the voice, but did not look up. It was only when Erik knelt down and crawled beside her under the table that she reacted. Her chin lifted and she furrowed her eyebrows at him, displeased with his closeness. 『 Hey, what are you doing down here?』 There was a moment of silence between them. Her icy glare was clearly doing him no damage, so she looked away, resting her chin atop her arms. Wasted effort ... 『 Dakota it's okay to come out from under the table.』 A loud snort reverberated through her nose and throat. That was ridiculous. Well, maybe not completely ridiculous ... She didn't honestly believe that something horrible would befall her once returned to the surface. It just felt better down there, tucked away under the table. She flexed her toes in her shiny black platform shoes. Erik didn't stop there. Of course he wouldn't. Dakota was beginning to wonder if he understood what personal boundaries were. Without warning, his hands wrapped warmly around her skinny wrists and pried her arms away from her face. Her dark, straightened hair tickled the sides of her exposed cheeks and she glowered at him as he stroked it away. Her stomach was doing all sorts of violent kicks, spins and backflips. She hated such feelings. She would rather not feel anything. 『 Or, I could stay under here with you, if you'd rather not leave.』 Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this? As soon as he let go, she buried her face back into her arms and let her hair fall over her face and knees again. The two were quiet for a bit, while she tried to make sense of the conversations from above them, and when it was evident that Erik wasn't going to leave her alone quite yet, she finally muttered a response. 『 Why did you come and vi-visit me?』 Her strained voice was muffled against the fabric of her scarf, so she lifted her chin a bit and readjusted, staring angrily down at Erik's feet and trying desperately to unlock some kind of hidden power of pyrokinesis. 『 I mean - uh ... Ugh, when you would come to my house ... ? We weren't close before I left school, so I don't ... 』 I don't understand. Leave me alone.
