Quote from BirtDog

You are mistaken. I will not be banned. I'm far too awesome and pretty for that. Far too pretty.
I can't ever be banned! Mwahahahaha!!!!! >=D

(Please don't ban me, those who have the power to do so xD. )

Yes I'm sure you're a beautiful...person...

Anyways, I've got some packing to do so I can drive from one end of Cali to the other so my progress on my story with have to take a "short" break. Thankfully the time I drive back down falls perfectly with in the time constraints of the deadline! :D

Quote from The Organization

Considering the fact that the Loser's bracket is just a way to get into main bracket. I would guess it just depends on the fall out from the main bracket.

However, Its safer to simply assume that the worst case scenario will not occur and simply carry on. Also I must stress this; do not procrastinate .

If your having trouble with the constraints of the specifications, you are probably running into limitations of your character. A design flaw perhaps, but you simply need to adapt your wRHG to fit the framework.

I would suggest looking at the bounds of the rules, picking a story from your childhood that you enjoyed and placing your character in the mold. A complicated character can exist in a children story; look at Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carol original).

For example, with Acel I would probably do a princess story with a tortoise vs the hare sort of thing. I would leave her personality completely unchanged, and have her freak out about being in a kids story.

EDIT: {Omg...Acel in Wonderland, racing the white rabbit, or possibly the cheshire cat or that weird slug thing...See how easy that was? Well, such a thing might not work for everyone, but I'll be in teh chat so if you need ideas, that's my strong suit, and I'm willing to help...while at the same time not having to empty out my inbox every 30 minutes, but I digress.}

if anyone needs help brainstorming I'll be on the irc.adelais.net server in the channel #wrhgbrainstorm for like ever.

The loser's bracket is intended to be difficult to weed out weaker writers, for those of the main bracket to compete against. If your deterred by it and can't write up to the challenge, then how are you going to fare against the competitors of the main bracket? Its also giving you a chance to stay in the game, as well as participate if you were late to the party. To even get to Round 2, you had to participate in the preliminaries and win your battle in a match that either favored or handicapped your wRHG as well as stay active enough to participate in both.
Being granted a second chance or even a chance to participate in the tournament is a privilege, not a right.

Saw that edit a little late, but I can't let that slip. So rather than just ditching this, I ask for a best path of trying to contribute anyway - to get talked down upon about not having a 'right' to contribute? And then other members praise the use of this? That is an awful choice of words on your part, and I'm again concerned with everyone nodding along to that.

Sure, the bracket should be a challenge, this thing would hardly serve a purpose otherwise. But it should challenge the writers, not the characters imo. If we've all designed characters for combat, we should be asked to use them for some form of combat challenge, like Round 1 did perfectly. Take the combat out, which all of them are geared for, and suddenly certain characters are greatly (impossibly?) limited in the methods which they can be used for (let alone win). Throw in a limit on adult themes, despite how prominent brutality usually is here, and we get a tournament round half-filled with no-shows.

But, you supposedly say this isn't the case, and that you're open to help. If you're still willing, I'll hold judgements aside and gladly take your offer =o. Never used IRC more than once before, so if it screws up on me I'll send a PM.

I should've framed my words better but I was implying that the challenge lies in the ability of the writers to adapt their characters to crazy situations. Your concerns are valid, and I believe Hewitt doesn't actually intend to punish the participants because of those who fail to do so, but rather shock the malcontent into getting off their butts. The versatility of the writer is being challenged here, you're being forced to think of using your characters in a different way and its going to hurt if you're not used to it. I stand by my claim that it is a privilege not a right but only specifically a privilege to participate in the event, especially when it was intended to be closed off to new entrants since the start of r1.

You are allowed to modify the properties of your characters to a degree to fit your story: Take Gorsgan, he gets mad right? He throws a tantrum and later learns the importance of controlling his anger. There is creative license to do whatever you want with your characters, within reason. IMO every wRHG battle is a test of writing skill.

Nothing is impossible in fiction, especially if you know your character well enough.

I don't plan on going back on my word any time soon, and If you can't figure out the IRC then PM will work just fine.

if you're using chrome you can download a free irc webclient:
1. search for circ on the Play store
2. download and install it
3. type the following commands:without quotes obviously
3.a "/server irc.adelais.net 6667"
3.b "/join #wrhgbrainstorm"

Quote from BirtDog

You are mistaken. I will not be banned. I'm far too awesome and pretty for that. Far too pretty.
I can't ever be banned! Mwahahahaha!!!!! >=D

(Please don't ban me, those who have the power to do so xD. )

Wouldn't that be ironic...

Well damn it I got ninja'd and you covered pretty much every topic I was going to cover

Also wish I could join you guys on IRC too, but I has a mac~! And for some reason mibbit doesn't work :/

Quote from Nikx232

Well damn it I got ninja'd and you covered pretty much every topic I was going to cover

Also wish I could join you guys on IRC too, but I has a mac~! And for some reason mibbit doesn't work :/

You're not missing on too much, I'm still wrestling with a couple IRC programs myself D: is pretty embarrassing when TO's steps are that straightforward.

Quote from Nikx232

Well damn it I got ninja'd and you covered pretty much every topic I was going to cover

Also wish I could join you guys on IRC too, but I has a mac~! And for some reason mibbit doesn't work :/

Mibbit doesn't work on all types of computer. Instead, try HexChat.

Quote from The Organization

I should've framed my words better but I was implying that the challenge lies in the ability of the writers to adapt their characters to crazy situations. Your concerns are valid, and I believe Hewitt doesn't actually intend to punish the participants because of those who fail to do so, but rather shock the malcontent into getting off their butts. The versatility of the writer is being challenged here, your being forced to think of using your characters in a different way and its going to hurt if your not used to it. I stand by my claim that it is a privilege not a right but only specifically a privilege to participate in the event, especially when it was intended to be closed off to new entrants since the start of r1.

You are allowed to modify the properties of your characters to a degree to fit your story: Take Gorsgan, he gets mad right? He throws a tantrum and later learns the importance of controlling his anger. There is creative license to do whatever you want with your characters, within reason. IMO every wRHG battle is a test of writing skill.

Nothing is impossible in fiction, especially if you know your character well enough.

I don't plan on going back on my word any time soon, and If you can't figure out the IRC then PM will work just fine.

if your using chrome you can download a free irc webclient:
1. search for circ on the Play store
2. download and install it
3. type the following commands:without quotes obviously
3.a "/server irc.adelais.net 6667"
3.b "/join #wrhgbrainstorm"

You're*
XD

Quote from Nikx232

Yes I'm sure you're a beautiful...person...

Anyways, I've got some packing to do so I can drive from one end of Cali to the other so my progress on my story with have to take a "short" break. Thankfully the time I drive back down falls perfectly with in the time constraints of the deadline! :D

I was actually paraphrasing the opening lines to "Firefly" (re-watching it >//< and loving it) and it felt good. I'm not that pretty but I do think I'm up there with Ryan Reynolds lol

Quote from TyTheGamerGuy

Wouldn't that be ironic...

That was the joke ("-___-)

Quote from Tantalum

That's not being sorry; that's being ridiculous. =| I wonder how I'm not the person least-offended by this.
Almost half of the entrants ran away from you choosing a theme that suits no-one's characters (who are all developed to deliver interesting conflicts through combat), and which most of us didn't have a taste for anyway.

The other half either persisted with it, struggled, or both. And now you suddenly propose to waste their time like that, for a fault I'm fairly convinced is yours to begin with?

Gee I dunno, I thought everyone was fine with it. Nobody even complained save for the 2 people who said they might not be able to do it. Fuck I even put a poll up there to gauge you guys and more than anything I had hoped half the participants from the prelims would become inactive but they suddenly posted their Antes here like nothing happened so I thought ya'll was fine with it.

And that is why I am cancelling it if and calling it a failed event. None of you were complaining until the last miute when I decided to wrap it up and call it quits. If this bracket is my fault for letting it come this far then it's also you guy's fault for letting it get this far as well.

Quote from Tantalum

Either way, time's not an issue for me. I haven't procrastinated in the slightest, up until the old deadline... I don't think I slept on that day. At my absolute best for this genre, I have a half-written story which I don't expect to hit 500 words, which pits the extreme best of Karal's personality against my opponent's exaggerated worst, with a plot so poorly sewn together I'm ashamed to still be using the English language.
With this rule, I'm now split between having to insult fellow SP writers with this piece, or chancing that Hewitt will dismiss everyone else's hard work. Advice, please? =S

Edit: ironic typos

I won't dismiss everyone's hard work if there is even hard work to be shown. The writer's from the other bracket know of this most of all. If this event is cancelled then feel free to post your work unabated, without tournament rules or guidelines to fuck up your vision of what a real battle should be like. Isn't it better for you then?

Hmmmm. After a break from the internet for awhile (not my fault) I realize a lot of things happened. But I just realized while reading organization's comment that, for example, some of my country's child stories include some fighting. Some have bloody fighting as well. (I live in Romania) I don't really know any other countries with battles in child stories. If anyone could please name another country with bloody child stories, I'd be most grateful to know I'm not the only one with a weird way of growing up.

Quote from Codincx

Hmmmm. After a break from the internet for awhile (not my fault) I realize a lot of things happened. But I just realized while reading organization's comment that, for example, some of my country's child stories include some fighting. Some have bloody fighting as well. (I live in Romania) I don't really know any other countries with battles in child stories. If anyone could please name another country with bloody child stories, I'd be most grateful to know I'm not the only one with a weird way of growing up.

I think if that's your childhood story then it's ok. This seems like a nice cultural experience as well as a challenge. My story had fantasy violence, but...child like. Like in anime when the two kids hit each other with like fireballs that don't do anything but leave ash on them. In my case, someone gets smacked around by a sentient sweater sleeve lol. We all had different childhood influences, experiences, and stories bbut no matter how different they were there was an air of childlike about them. In the words used, sentence structures, story progression, etc. I feel those are what make a children's story more so then what actually occurs (to an extent of course; a non-sugar coated scene of a murder happening would not be very childlike. But a battle where someone dies, usually a bad guy, and the scene is painted less with blood and more with honor/justice is ok for my kids [if I had any, I'm not that old] )

I remember a series of books way back when that had a particular chapter dealing with handling a bully. Not sure if it'll help at all but this was the only thing that could come to mind atm. I'll pop in again if I find anything better of use.

Here's the book's name. "The Berenstain Bears and the Bully."

Edit:
I've noticed you've been a bit more active lately Dog. That's awesome!
Sorry if I'm making you wait so long for my part to be finished.

Quote from Nikx232

Edit:
I've noticed you've been a bit more active lately Dog. That's awesome!
Sorry if I'm making you wait so long for my part to be finished.

I'm very active, just not when it's time to write. I get too distracted so I tune out life, both on the web and irl. I'm active now because I figured I could take a break from closing my story. I'll probably go dark again in a day or two to finish up. I'm not done yet either, sad really since it's not too lengthy of a read, imo.

And it's ok if you're not done. Shit, I wouldn't mind if you didn't post anything. Life can get in the way and it shouldn't be my prerogative as a name on the internet to get mad at anyone. As long as I get my story up I'm happy. Plus, free win lol. So do what you need to do man, I'm pretty chill.

Heh, well I'm sorry to say that I'm not going to give you that pleasure of an easy win good sir! ;]
I'm going to try to pop in tomorrow, but I'm probably going to be offline. (We'll see however)

Anyways, thanks for the reassurance bro. I'm sure your story will come out great at whatever length it is. Besides, it's a children's themed story! It would make sense that it'd be a tad shorter than our usual 10,000+ word write ups (exaggerating of course).

Ah well, might as well post it...

Even though Boomerang's story is much better than mine, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this.

[spoiler=Once Upon A Time]
Prologue

Once upon a time, a mysterious masked man told a story to a carefree young girl. Oh, but it was a wonderful story! Full of mystery and intrigue and drama! I have never known a better story than which he told.

Unfortunately that story has been lost, as apparently one day the Interdimensional Postal Service accidentally ran all their mail for the day through a paper shredder. When we received the story, it was taped together in a haphazard way, and it was incredibly obvious that most of the letters were not in the correct order. So instead of the wonderful story that he told, we have a bizarre, twisted version of it.

This is the story of that story.

Chapter One

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

"And so Kalena beat the pencil pusher with the ol' one-two before the school plunged back to Earth and crashed. She was saved however by her ominous Host and brought to the next round. It was a glorious stone maze of---"

"Wait, what happened to the other guy? P-Penci-Penciliyam, was it?"

Hewitt paused, as he slammed the storybook shut. He knew there was nothing in there Luna wanted to hear. He knew what had really happened to those that failed The Host's expectations. But there she was eagerly anticipating the fates of her fallen heroes. How could he ever let her down?

"That's a very interesting question, kiddo. You see..."

The Meadows
Childville, Storybookland, Dimension 1812
Augustine Narrator the Fifty-Second

Augustine was bored.
There had not been a decent story for him to narrate for years. Even the few good stories within his parameters to narrate were not offered to him; they were given to people like Beldivere from across the street and Vilesh two blocks away.
Yet… he felt as if there was something. Something there. Yes. A child in Dimension 1992 wanted a story. A story.
He walked with a brisk pace to the nearby Story Store, received a permit after hours of arguing with the clerk, and returned home.
Augustine smiled, and picked up his enchanted quill.

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

“Okay, Luna…”
The little girl sat impatiently in front of the masked man, waiting for him to continue with the story.
“Who do you want to hear about first?”
“The pencil guy with the weird name!”
“Who else?”
“Uh… the guy who turns into a demon!”
“Er… okay. Here we go…”

Chapter Two

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

“Once upon a time, there was a mighty dragon who lived in a cave – “
“Hey, wait a second. You were supposed to tell me what happened to the pencil guy and the demon guy. What’s this dragon thing about?”
“You’ll find out later.”
“No! I want to know NOW!”
Dead silence ensued.
“Okay, fine, keep going…”
“Anyway. So, once upon a time, there was a mighty dragon who lived in a cave high up in the Mountainous Mountains. One day, he swooped down from his cave to the rolling pastures below, grabbed a sheep, and carried it back up to his cave. It was never seen again.
“Now, the other sheep were, understandably, not very happy about this. Not only had the dragon violated Clause 7.52 of the Dragon-Sheep Code, he had also violated the Agreement of 1390, when he agreed to never steal a person’s property again. So the sheep called a mass meeting.
“The lead sheep gave a long speech, which went something like, Baa baa baa baa baaaaaa baa baaaaaaaaa baa… you get what I mean. Translated from Sheep, and simplified to its core, he said, ‘The Dragon-Sheep Code has been violated. We must send a hero to discover the reason.’
“But who would be this hero? Baas erupted from the massive crowd as much discussion ensued. After half an hour of debate, a consensus had been reached. A mighty ram with massive horns would be sent to talk to the dragon.
“His name was Titus.”
“Wait a second, wait a second, I recognize that name! It’s… it’s… the guy that transforms into a demon!” interrupted Luna.
“Yes,” was the response.
“Wait… how’d he turn into a sheep?”
The man opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed his mouth again, stayed silent for a moment, then spoke again.
“Um… a mysterious man named merich1 did that. Incredibly powerful with magic, like me, but he often does things for absolutely no reason. This time, he waved his hand and Titus turned into a sheep. Muttered something under his breath like ‘because you said so’.”
“Did you make him do that?”
“No! No, not at all! Why would I do such a thing? Why would you think that? I totally, completely did not make him do that!” The man stood up and paced around the room agitatedly, avoiding eye contact with the girl.
“Okay, please! Can you please finish the story?”
The girl said this with so much innocence that the masked man was convinced to sit back down.
“Okay, Luna…”
“Wait, before you start, can I ask you something?”
“Obviously, you have just done so.” He smiled. “You may ask one more thing, however.”
“But that’s from Harry Potter,” the girl mumbled. “Dim – Dum – the Dumblydore guy says that in Book One in the Mirror of Erised chapter…” she trailed off, then looked back at the man. “Did me - mare – the wizard guy change anyone else into an animal?”
“Uh… erm…”
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me… the dragon is the Pencilsomething guy!”
“You weren’t supposed to know that yet…”
The girl smiled widely.
“Oh well. Anyway…”

The Meadows
Childville, Storybookland, Dimension 1812
Augustine Narrator the Fifty-Second

Augustine stopped writing.
What happens next?
What now?
He walked away from the table and looked through the window just in time to see a monstrous robot step over the horizon. He ran to the door and tried it. It didn’t budge.
Oh dear. Oh dear. I have to finish the story before that thing gets to me, or else millions of people may die from a quantum rupture. Oh dear. I have to finish. I have to finish!
He ran back to his desk, picked up the enchanted quill again, and quickly began writing whatever he could think of.
Shouldn’t you at least smash the door open or something?
Oh right. Stupid me. Told the contractor to make the house indestructible to protect from robbers. Idiot.
So I’m just going to sit here and die?
Oh, right. I won’t die, of course. This chair is enchanted to teleport me out of here as soon as I’m in danger. But I can’t bring my story, and if it’s destroyed while I’m writing it, the quantum rupture triggers and…
He continued writing.
The robot took another step.

Chapter Three

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

“Titus trudged through snowy fields, vast deserts and grassy plains to get to the Mountainous Mountains. Even when he arrived, he found it nearly impossible to reach the cave, as it was situated very high up to be easily accessible to a flying dragon. He sat at the foot of the mountain before realizing he had nothing better to do than at least try.
“So he began to climb the mountain. It was tedious, and oftentimes required Bane taking over, and always required falling back down, getting back up, and trying again. Again and again he fell. It was days before finally, bruised and sore, he summoned the last of his willpower, sped up the mountain, reached a ledge, and hopped into the cave, where he collapsed.
“Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, collapsing from exhaustion in a dragon’s lair is generally not a good idea. By the next morning, Titus was nowhere to be found.”
At this point the strange man reached into his pocket, removed a remote-control-like object, and pressed a button. A booming DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN echoed through the room, but there did not appear to be a sound system anywhere.
“Alright, Luna, that’s enough for today. I’ll finish the story tomorrow. Good night – sleep tight – don’t – “
“Wait! No! I want to hear the rest of the story now! At this rate it’ll take you forever to finish telling me what happened to everybody…”
The man thought for a long moment, then appeared to decide a disappointed Luna was not the best way to end the night. He sat back down.
“Yay, Hewwy!” The girl enthusiastically clapped, and sat expectantly in front of the masked stranger.
“Okay…”

The Meadows
Childville, Storybookland, Dimension 1812
Augustine Narrator the Fifty-Second

Augustine’s enchanted quill flew over the paper, writing whatever he could think of with no regard to whether it made sense or not. After all, how else could a ram climb a mountain? How else could a major character barely appear in the story? How else could a chapter be so incredibly short? How else could a story be written so horridly?
The robot took another step.
And another.
And another.

Chapter Four

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

“When Titus woke up, he was in a large chamber, apparently in a cave. Skulls littered the ground and there was a general eerie feeling of death and destruction. The chamber was dimly lit by a few candles on the walls, which oddly faintly glowed green, and a massive treasure chest sat in the corner of the room.
“So Titus walked to the treasure chest, opened it with some difficulty with his horns, and found that it was filled to the brim with yellow pencils. After digging through the top layer all the way to the bottom of the chest, he became convinced that it was completely filled with pencils.
“’I see you have found my collection,’ hissed a low voice from behind him.
“Titus turned. A massive yellow dragon stood in front of him, smirking annoyingly.
“’Why are you taking our kind?’ Titus asked, getting straight down to business.
“His smile disappeared. ‘I think you’ll find it is your master that is taking our kind,’ he sighed. A fluffy white sheep plodded between the dragon and the ram.
“’Cecilia!’ Titus yelled, then stopped as the sheep turned yellow and grew larger and larger until she was the same size as the other dragon. In fact, she looked like a female dragon.
“’Your master, who you know as Bob, had taken Pencillia, trapped her in sheep form with a powerful binding magic, and forced her to stay a sheep for as long as he owned her. Only now have my wizards been able to overcome this powerful magic and turn her back into her true form.’
“’Wow. So…’
“’We must go to Bob and find out why he has done this.’
“’Yes. Yes.’
“So Pencillum grabbed Titus in his claws, leaped off the cliff, and… plummeted straight to the ground below. Right before he hit the ground, a flurry of explosions were heard, cushioning their fall to the extent where it felt like they had ran into a brick wall.
“’Ouch,’ groaned the ram. ‘You couldn’t have… maybe… actually flown us there?’
“Pencillum extended his wings. They were massive, at least the size of him, but paper thin and extremely bright yellow. ‘Do I look like I can fly with these?’
“’Uh, yeah.’
“’Well, I can’t.’
“Silence ensued for a few more seconds, before the two picked themselves up and began walking towards their destination.”

“Wait, wait, wait. What about the skulls and stuff?”
“Those were just cheap plastic decorations, Luna. Don’t worry, Pencillum just wants his evil lair to look really… evil, you know?”
“But – wait – you said the cave was high up to be easily accessible to a flying dragon. You also said the dragon swooped down and carried a sheep back to his cave. So now you say he can’t fly?”
“Er… well, a Flyte Charm was casted on him before he left the cave every time by his magicians.”
“So why didn’t they cast one on him this time?”
“Um… Reversing a Transforming Hex is pretty taxing, even for a group of magicians. Besides, they’d been keeping the incantation going for the whole time Titus was on his quest.”
“Okay, then. So why didn’t the Pencilyam guy wait for the magicians to be ready to cast another Flyte Charm?”
“Er… that would take about a thousand years before they were ready to perform another casting major like that.”
“But wouldn’t they be dead by then?”
“Not necessarily. Any good magician can cast a One Day Age Reversal on him or herself every morning, feel somewhat tired and take a three hour nap, and be perfectly fine for the rest of the day. In essence, a good magician is invulnerable to death by old age. Unfortunately, casting a One Day Age Reversal on another person is a different matter entirely, and that takes much more energy.”
“Okay, okay, keep going…”

The Meadows
Childville, Storybookland, Dimension 1812
Augustine Narrator the Fifty-Second

The robot took another step.

Chapter Five

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

“So after months of tedious walking, Pencillum and Titus finally reached Bob’s hut. The surrounding sheep cheered them on as they bursted through the hut’s door, despite not really knowing what they were doing as they had not explained anything to them yet.
“Bob was sitting in his rocking chair reading his newspaper when his front door was knocked down. He sprang up, and immediately backed away when he realized he was in the presence of a dragon with special powers.
“’Why are you taking my kind?’
“He stumbled. ‘H-He made me do it!’
“’Who?’
“’This… masked wizard guy… I think his name was… merich1 or something like that… here…’
“Bob raised his cane high into the air and slammed it onto the ground. A pink spiral appeared on the floor, gradually increasing in size before the human, the ram, and the dragon disappeared into it.


The Meadows
Childville, Storybookland, Dimension 1812
Augustine Narrator the Fifty-Second

Almost… done… thought Augustine, as his quill flew over the paper. Just… need… a… slightly… reasonable… ending… and… I’ll… be…
A loud crash was heard, and he disappeared from the chair before finishing the thought.

The Writer’s Lounge
wRHG Facility, Stickpage City, Internet Empire, Dimension 1992
Hewitt *CLASSIFIED*

“So Pencillum, Titus, and Bob appeared in a dark room, looking practically identical to Pencillum’s lair. A masked man - looking a lot like me, actually, but a lot shorter – walked into the