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Funny story actually-- we were talking about this in the chat half a week ago and I was like "OH THAT'S RIGHT..permission!"

Freakenstein: the one person you really need to contact about this is Zophia, and if it were really possible, the admins/developers. Zophia is particularly particular about the use of her characters. Nemo and I are pretty much "sure, just nothing too horrible and use a disclaimer", and Cen and Gantic and the others haven't really been mentioned here yet.

I only thought permission would be necessary if we wanted to go off site with our stories.

Is permission needed if they use the descriptions from the official AG characters sticky?

.:Warning-- 3rd party characters' personalities are in the image of the author and as such, could be misconstrued from the real perspective. If you see a character that you don't know or is called by the real name, it probably does not exist.

~*Chapter III: A Necessary Evil*~

"There's something about newcomers making their first thread in the correct forum that gets me all giddy inside!" wiggled Strop as they sat on a nearby bench and waited for Ivan to return.

"You're kidding right?" retorted NoName, with his left eyebrow raised. "That Kashan fellow seems like a good kid and all, but how would we even know we will see him again afterwards? After we help him and all, he's on his own. How much of an impact will he make then?"

"Oh, you're worrying too much! assured Strop. "Some people are naturals at flash gaming, others have more trouble. This is why we segregated the puzzle games from the rest of the group so only the roughest, toughest gamers can tame them. If the newbies get to them, they will return in a hospital bed and tend to their brain wounds. Adventure and Action games? Pshaw, anyone could tame those!"

"No, you dolt, I meant foruming! That's where the real recognition takes place." NoName shifted his weight over on another side, passing a glance at a passerby, who blushed and ran off. "People don't get famous just by taming games all day; those types are called Poachers. You know this."

"True enough," Strop said, surrendering. "But every guy has to take a break from the foruming, relieve their stress, and go out into the fields to play some games. I remember when-- Hey look!" Strop pointed. "There's one right now!"

He pointed over to an empty field of grass, past the trees that blocked the backlight from the bench. It was an interesting creature. It hopped along the edges of the grass where puddles of windex still lingered after the long rains. Pausing briefly, looking from side to side, it ran to a moderate speed and jumped up a tree, one that was nearest to the couple on the bench, where Strop's menacing eyes spied in its direction. His head popped out the collection of leaves the tree gathered, turning occasionally and swaying from the wind of the fans. Strop looked at NoName, then back at the tree.

"Come on Strop, we got a job to do!" yelled NoName.

"Now Nemo, I had a hard day at work and I deserve a little break..." he stands up out of the way of the bench and sneaks over to the tree.

"You're going for a fancypants?" NoName said with a weird look on his face.

"Yes, it's not on my favorite games list, but it's still a fun game every now and then. Now let me just...er..." He reaches into one of the pockets in his garb, the one closest to his thigh. Emerging from the fabric was a pill, red on top and yellow on bottom. Strop unzips part of his mask to expose the mouth, then downs the pill. After a few moments, he became one with Armorgames, and NoName no longer knew where he exactly stood.

He still knew he was in the vicinity though. "I was thinking that we maybe do something drastic to Kashan so he'll never leave!" called NoName. Strop replies with a thumbs-up, but returns to his task at hand, obviously ignoring that last part from NoName's perspective.

Slightly amused, NoName continued to sit on the bench and watch Strop's attempt at taming a fancyPants. Although an Adventure game, fancypants are quick creatures, both athletic and acrobatic. Forget taming; fancypants are the hardest games to catch. If this game isn't a perfect match against Strop, the author does not know what is. Now at the base of the tree, Strop climbs it, quick, yet stealthy. The fancypants clearly had no idea he was near, nor were his plans, for it continued to play ignorantly amongst the leaves and the branches. It was only a matter of time before he entered the tree, wholly concealing his already-concealed presence. Suspense was clearly building up; NoName patiently waited for the right moment, patting his legs occasionally, with bogging eyes getting incrementally wider as the second passes by. The leaves in the tree continued to rustle until....

"CEEEEEEK!"

"WOAH!"

The commotion inside the tree grew wild! Leaves and twigs broke off and the tree itself was wrestling trying to contain the two noisemakers inside. With an "OOOMPH" sound, the fancypants shot out the tree and into the distance, where as Strop fell out the tree, taking twigs and a couple branches with him. NoName was lolling.

"I can see why it's not on your favorite games list!" NoName remarked, still chuckling.

"I've captured their kind before, Nemo, it just needs a little more reinforcement!" Strop reassured. "Come back here, you vermin!" Strop assumed a ninja stance and dashed after the fancypants.

NoName sighed. "Well, I might as well go check up on the kid, see how he's doing". He got up from the bench and strolled along the walkway, taking his time to enjoy the view. The temperature was a gorgeous 101 degrees with winds marvelously blanketing the citizens with fresh air. There wasn't a cloud in sight, yet Logo's rotation bound it to the other side of the world at this time. It's been quite a few hours since Ivan was home, his mom would probably want to see him later. NoName decided that would be the next thing to do, after "the drastic thing" he wanted to do to Ivan later.

The Newcomer's forum would be anything anyone would expect. It was a place to help the new guys get with the AG program, make new friends, and all the more feel welcome in this world. It takes a special kind of user to do all three at once without making them feel uncomfortable. Inside, a counter with a secretary guided all those that wanted to introduce themselves over to the computer, where they would make a thread in the Newcomer's forum for all to see. Along the borders were a row of chairs for those that showed the newbies to the forum, but waited for them to finish. NoName looked all around. Those that waited were some middle-ranked members. Their badges showed Knight, Lord, even one Duke rank among the crowd inside. A door in the back led the newcomer's to a yard, where many veteran users, helpers, and otherwise wannabe-mods welcomed the new users. Some did more than was necessary by telling them the rules, showing them the rules, and telling them not to poach. *Author takes a moment to look directly in your monitor. You know who you are!* The argued most-important part of the whole building was the monitor which put the most-recent introduction on display. To make sure he was not too late (or early!) he scanned the monitor to find out if the OP was Ivan or not. A message just popped up inside.



Eyes shifted toward NoName's direction. "Aww nuts!" he thought. Red in the face from all the eyes, he slowly backed out the door. Moments later, running footsteps emerged out the door. Right next to NoName was Ivan. He was quite excited about his first thread.

"I finally did it NoName! I made my first thread, now all that looked know me! I got some fame!" He said quite ecstatic.

"Hey that's great kid!" NoName praised. "Listen though, try keeping a tad down on the embarrassment level, would ya?" He made a small sign with his fingers.

"Hey, where's Strop?" Ivan asked looking around.

"Oh, he's just combating a fancypants. He will be back shortly." He motioned Ivan to follow him. "Come on though! I got something to show ya, but after we get this tour underway." He quickly caught on to what NoName was saying.

Assuming the same stance as before, Ivan and NoName rode through the city of Armorgames, intangible and invisible. "I don't know if you know this or not, kid, but the capital of Armorgames is called 'The Community'. It is where all the forums conjoin and where all the commerce and social interaction combine, save for the few bits of private conversations.

"Oh yeah I knew that!" Ivan replied. "Some veteran users showed me a layout of The Community and what it looks like!"

"Great! First off, I'm going to show you the Support and Suggestions forum, which is closest to the Newcomer's forum." This forum was more like a series of buildings, together of course, but separate. Inside, citizens came bearing forms or complaints, showing things that are wrong with the AG system, whether it is the laws of AG or the culture, showing something that firsthand should be right, but appears to be wrong. On every computer that citizens sit down with, a list of stickies pop up, making sure the citizen isn't complaining about already-answered-for comments. Otherwise, people have the free will to comment to that citizen about his complaint or ideas, and if everything's still not working out, the secretaries take the forms and put it into a filing bin to be processed later.

"You have any problems with AG, just take it up there and they, or the veteran users, will help you with that problem!" NoName called.

"Next, we have the Gaming forum!" This forum was a rather large building, filled with people and computers all perpetuating the same word, which was "games". "You can talk about video games, flash games, get help with game walkthoughs, make your own walkthrough, or play forum games with other people! This is mostly how people make friends, because they all have the same affiliation for gaming! These gaming walkthroughs help you tame game species better and faster, but mind the poaching!"

"Poaching?" Ivan asked.

"This is where you run out into fields and do nothing but play games all day. Once you successfully tame a game, its spirit is broken off into forms of light and is re-transferred through a satellite building in the distance. It then beams its information and 'respawns' into the appropriate destination. It's a really nifty gadget, mind you, but the problem is poaching. They just keep taming the games, but eventually, they get scarcer and scarcer. Eventually, citizens will have to wait to play games. So it's up to us mods to find these poachers and bring them to justice. I'll teach you about that later. Moving on though. To the WEPR!"

Shaped like an oval, closed-in colosseum, inside was more wonderful to look at in the WEPR. Rows upon rows in a circular motion burdened the many citizens who would spend time debating many of the events that plague the world with controversy today. Ivan looked inside as well, stepping off NoName's back. A giant, wide, tall, immense monitor half the size of the room portrayed the current topic of today, which showed in big, bold words, "GAY MARRIAGE-- SHOULD IT BE LEGAL OR NOT?" Two sides divided the sides of the debate. Quite a few people approved of the situation, where as just a few people opposed. Moments later, the debate heated up, in which 2 citizens on either side traded some very harsh words. Clearly not getting anywhere, both sides slammed their gavels, silencing the conversation. They voted on a new topic, and the monitor changed as such.

"We can all be the biggest, most stubborn mules out there", NoName remarked, "But it's amazing how we all agree to cut the crap instantaneously."

"Do you debate in there too NoName?" Ivan asked. He clearly did not like the looks of this place as it can get you riled up in seconds.

"Oh yeah, plenty of times!" NoName replied. "It just has to be the right topic at the right time, and I'll put them in their place just like that! Hey, maybe later, you can see me in action later, right?"

"Erm, sure, but I'll just watch, ehehehe..." Ivan laughed, scratching the back of his head.

The next forum was pretty interesting. The Popular Media forum was formed as a small, skinny, yet completely long in size. Inside, people sat on chairs next to conveyor belts and listened to the music that passed by. Obviously distasteful of the sample that just passed through, one citizen got purple in the face and stomped out the building, but not before making remarks on how horrible that particular type of music sucked.

"Whut?" Ivan asked with a dumb look.

"Some people think it's great fun to pass out music that clearly sucks to others," NoName replied, also with a dumb look. "That's also part of our job. If we find (after sampling) the music and it's just downright horrible, no matter who you are, it's obviously a joke from someone across the conveyor belt and we go out there and find the culprit. It's harder than it looks, because we can't really know whodunit unless they are snickering in the background. It's quite a chore."

"To the other interesting place!" NoName exclaimed, pointing the direction of south.

If this wasn't the most welcome-like building Ivan ever saw, then he didn't know what welcome-like is. The Tavern was just a few yards away and was the first building that didn't look futuristic. Made out of bricks, one-and-a-half stories high, with heavy, auburn-colored shingles, and a golden sign next to the door that said "The Tavern", you'd have to be an idiot to NOT feel at home in this atmosphere! Inside, citizens gathered around various chairs, stools, and benches, telling some of the most off-topic conversations ever, where they laughed, drank tankards of Koolaid, and got piss drunk after hours in the moonlight, where they continued their conversations elsewhere.

"I swear to God, I saw a duck tell a joke", claimed one citizen, holding his tankard of Koolaid at an angle. Small droplets of drink spilled over every time he moved in position. All the others that were watching were very creeped out, yet amused in the conversation. "there was as group of ducks on a pond near where i live *hick* one of the ducks was quacking away looking straight at a group of like 10 ducks then he stopped and all the other ducks went mental!" The rest of the group laughed hardy and gulped down some Koolaid. One burped and fell over, busting his chair. "it looked just like duck stand-up comedy man!"

"Erm, I'd feel at home here, NoName!" Ivan paused. "But maybe not to those guys. Their conversations are kinda whacked."

"Oh no, this is the best part!" NoName spoke. "Aside from taking out the hopeless coversations that spur flaming and utter nonsense, we also have the job of taking the drunks to the Help office and nurse them back to health! Isn't that a hoot?"

NoName looked at the nearby clock on the Tavern's wall. "Oh jeez, it's nearly dusk. If I have to show you this, I gotta do it now. You'll have to look at the other two forums on your own, kid."

"Where are we going?" Ivan asked.

"To the place where even the mods break up in tears. It is a necessary evil, and we must show others this in order to know what it is like for the alternative."

"You're kinda scaring me with this line of discussion" Ivan retorted.

"Well, I have to show you this, because it is important. Now get on, and let's go. Maybe Strop'll show up later."

Together, they rode straight into the wilderness, the dusking backlight glinting a golden tinge on everything that was touched. As they rode on, the noise of the commerce in The Community grew fainter and fainter. The electrical lights turned on, illuminating the city, well in advance of the nighttime. Dodging the trees and various bushes that yielded thorns and various burdens to slow them down, they eventually came to a cliff. A great waterfall roared in the distance, distributing heavy amounts of water to many branches of rivers. The backside of Logo was beginning to rise [it revolves twice a day and rotates twice a day, making the front side show in the day time and the back side at night] up overhead of the two. With every second passing, Ivan felt uneasy. Aside from the beauty of the view, it also felt heavily ominous. He glanced over at NoName, who had such a saddened look on his face, one that showed an expression of pity. He hung his head over the cliff and let down deep, quiet sighs. Looking back at the branches of rivers, they were tinged various colors, blue and green bleeding through. If one were acute in hearing, you could say you could hear faint bouts of crying, deep in the waters. NoName suddenly stood up, taking the most of the experience as he could. His true colors shown through.

"What...is this place?" Ivan asked quietly.

"Kashan, this is the Sluice of Ghosts", Nemo declared, with a hint of whimper in his voice. "This. Is the alternative, should you ever decide to be done with this world. The souls leave, and the body stays put where it last was, in the same position as it was left. It waits, ever so patiently, for the return of the soul so they could at last resume their paired adventures.

"But.." Ivan mumbled. "Who would ever decide to leave? Why would they want this instead of living?"

"Some people just had enough of Armorgames", NoName replied, "Whether it was from torture, boredom, whatever. Some may be gone for days, weeks, months...some may even never come back. Of course, we all gotta delve out of our bodies some time, but just in order to recharge their energies."

"Sleeping, right?" Ivan interrupted.

"Yeah. Sleeping. The soul dissipates to travel to the dream world, and then return when the body beckons for re-awakening. It's the sudden...how would Strop explain this... neurological shock that is the effect of the soul re-entering the body that prompts it to awaken." He pauses to clear the heavier and heavier mucus in his throat. "It is the pain that you may hear clear across that river that the soul never wants to be with that body ever again. The body cries for that soul for however long it takes. That's where the citizens of Armorgames reports whenever a body lies limp in the streets, gaping in screams. This is when we mods take the bodies and dump them in this river."

"Man, that sounds so sad.." Ivan said, lamenting. "Some do come back, right?"

"I believe the last ghost to return was Freakenstein, where his soul wandered the other side for one and a half months, never to speak again. That was a shocker for us, mind you. Ol' Strop had the honor of dumping him in the river. Then, one and a half months later, he jumps out the river, screaming for air, wonders what the heck just happened, and continued on his merry business." He stops with a little chuckle in his voice. Then, his small, mournful voice turns sharp.

"If you EVER turn into a ghost without notifying, I will personally never forgive you! Especially after I taught you this horrible lesson!"

Ivan sat down in the grass and continued pondering. "No sweat NoName, I won't do something like this".

"Hay, whatcha guys doin?" said a rather sudden voice coming from the trees. Startled, both NoName and Ivan sprang to their feet.

"S-Strop! What the hell?" NoName spoke.

"Yeah, we were in an emotional vibe here" Ivan added in.

"Well, erm..." paused Strop poking at his fingers. "Oh yeah, I got the fancypants! Took me a while, but I got the little bugger." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his trophy.

"Woah! Put that away, we are in an almost-holy area!" Noname remarked.

"Oh yeah.." remembered Strop. He put the fainted fancypants near a tree and let the spirit particles take its course to be respawned. "The Sluice of Ghosts..man, I don't like the feel of this place, nor do I like to come here, even on assignment." He huffed through his muzzle.

"Anywhoo, kid, now you got this valuable lesson behind us, and it's about time to let your ghost fly into the dream world, because it's now 11:00", NoName nagged.

"Yeah, it's about time I got back home. My parents are probably worried sick about me." He got himself up, brushing the dirt off his leather garments. "See ya guys later! I'll be hitting the forums later on!" He spoke with a wave, then hurried back, with a jog. While running, he heard the decremental sounds of an argument between NoName and Strop.

"A fancypants corpse? Showing it to us? Are you insane?"

"Well, I thought it was a good idea at the time!"

Please, if I may be an imposing jackwagon, can I be in your story, pwetty pwease?

Sounds so interesting, and I'm always very much thirsty for a part in anything.

Thoad has a character sheet, and a good side note is that he'd be an expert on hunting Zombie Game.

Also, Thoad would have likely been one of the first 50 to go running to the beta area.

He would also be trying to out-do anyone trying to become a mod (due to the desperate OMGWANT feeling he gets whenever he thinks about becoming a mod).

because the story itself contained graphic violence.

This is the part that cracks me up. When regular members are included in a story, they go "OOOHEHEEOOEOEEOEHEEOOOEEEEE!" and jump up and down. I was like that once believe it or not. When mods are included in a story, they go "Sure. But with permission!" It's great...

Now, if I had a tablet and a better-than-decent program, I could do something cool and have some good concept art included in the story, instead of just plain ol' Xat Doodle. That thing's hard to work with.

Now, if I had a tablet and a better-than-decent program, I could do something cool and have some good concept art included in the story, instead of just plain ol' Xat Doodle. That thing's hard to work with.

This is the part that cracks me up. When regular members are included in a story, they go "OOOHEHEEOOEOEEOEHEEOOOEEEEE!" and jump up and down. I was like that once believe it or not. When mods are included in a story, they go "Sure. But with permission!"

Strop is taking notice just incase it turns into the story that shall not be named...by the lovely Klaus...(two refs to this in one night, go me)...

I saw this thread when it first got posted, but only just read through it all. It seems good - but I don't see how a 'fancypants' can be a hard to catch game when its on my friends list and I'm an old man...Maybe I bore it to death...

Btw, stay away from my lawn...

That we're taking notice of this story should speak for itself: we're taking notice.

I saw this thread when it first got posted, but only just read through it all. It seems good - but I don't see how a 'fancypants' can be a hard to catch game when its on my friends list and I'm an old man...Maybe I bore it to death...

Oh well, breaking silence.

Under this perspective, Armorgames is perpetuated as real life, meaning the attributes of a character and a game species are submitted as a "what if" sort of deal. It's quite an interesting view of things, if I do say so myself....

Is permission needed if they use the descriptions from the official AG characters sticky?

I really, really want to know how you would describe a monster truck game or a racing game. Just to figure out if my imagination fit yours.

That would be creepy wouldn't it... Eventually, the chapters are going to cover every aspect of Armorgames's flash game spectrum, but I'm going to have to think about something like racing or music. Or any sports-related theme for that matter.