it would seem half the purpose of the internet is to provide people with a distraction. whether it be from school work, office work or an escape from general boredom, we all flee to the internet. How you choose to pass the time is up to you, but how about a fun, interesting little game? So we've all seen the "who would win" threads. From super man vs the hulk and dumbledore vs gandalf, to Goku vs probably superman again, nothing like spending a little free time by engaging in some spirited debates. we've even seen meme threads and what not. Tonight i bring you something a little more unconventional. something that combines a little bit of everything. something not seen very often. something with a twist, but more importantly, something that has less to do with fighting with each other, and more with just having a little fun on the internet and using our imagination for once.
THE OFFER: story time. where my readers at? better get your kindles out
ok so imagine for a moment, after a long day of whatever it is that you do, you get in bed and drift away into the world of dreams. You find yourself standing in the middle of a room as large as a football field, completely white from ceiling to floor. You look around for a moment, there is no one else but you in this room. you notice a painting hanging from one of the walls, but the room is just so damn big that you can barely make out if its even really a painting. As you squint and try to focus on the painting, you hear a voice from behind you
"hello "insert name here", welcome to the Midriff" said this voice
you are so startled that you almost stumble and fall. once you regain your posture, you look at the person standing in front of you. What a handsome looking man, you think to yourself, but as you lean in and get a closer look, you notice the man standing in front of you is none other than smogon user and ex-admin, Articuno64
"Jason?" you ask.
The mysterious man looks at you for a moment and replies "no....i am afraid you have me mistaken for someone else".
"no, its definitely you, articuno64"
The mysterious man continues to stare at you, and for a moment he smiles, but then the smile vanishes from his face almost as fast as it came.
"i am afraid i do not know this articuno64 fella, i am simply known as the greeter, and the keeper" he replies. "The midriff has been my home since the beginning of time".
You look at him suspiciously for a second. what was that smile for? was he indeed articuno64, but was just refusing to acknowledge it? You get a little closer to him.
"what exactly is this midriff? where am i?" you asked.
"The midriff is the in-between, the space between worlds, a holding room if you will".
"The fuck," you burst out saying in frustration. "that tells me nothing".
The greeter points to the right, a little bit behind you, and says "ok, have a seat and i'll try to give you the short version of whats going on".
You turn around and find a white chair and table completely matching the room. You also noticed that this so called greeter had on a white suit and matching white dress shoes......
"why was everything so....white?" you wondered in your mind.
"why is everything so white?" the greeter repeats your question as he slowly turns his back to you.
you immediately turn around to face him with shock on your face.
"whoa, you can hear my thoughts? that's....very creeper".
"i am the keeper of the midriff, my power in here is almost what you humans would call God-like." The keeper turns around to face you once more and continues to speak. "that should also answer the other question that came to your mind earlier, about where i came from and where the furniture came from as well. i can do almost anything in here. This power was given to me because the greeter also serves as the keeper, the guardian of the midriff."
The keeper then pauses for a second and starts to slowly pace back and forth.
"if this place was to be taken over by anyone, the results could be disastrous. with the power of the midriff, one could destroy anything and everything in the universe. You'll see what i mean very soon. now please have a seat, we are on the clock here. this will all make sense to you very soon".
you sit down but refuse to take your eyes off of this mysterious man for a second.
"hah, being cautious eh, they always are. lets start from the beginning" The greeter says with a smirk on his face. "since the beginning of time, dreams have always been apart of every living thing, even animals dream. i-".
"EVEN PLANTS?" you interrupt rudely, trying to suppress a laughter.
"Don't get smart with me, and please do not interrupt me again" the greeter replies. "As i was saying, everything in the universe is connected somehow. Dreams serve as part of this connection, we all dream. you humans don't think of dreams as anything more than a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. But"
"wait so i am dreaming? is that it?" you interrupt once more, this time with a sigh of relieve on your face.
"ok if you interrupt me one more time i am going to take your voice away, and i wont give it back," the greeter snaps at you
The greeter then pauses for a second once more in order to regain his composure
"now where was i?" the greeter says as he glances at you from the side; his back was turned to you and he was moving around once more.
you open your mouth to say something, but then you realize he was bating you to see if you would dare ignore his threat to you should you interrupt him once more.
"what the fuck, this is just a fucking dream, i can do as i please" you think to yourself.
In the end you close your mouth and decide to entertain him as you are curious to find out what the fuck is going on.
The greeter smiles once more and goes on.
"Dreams are not mere images that appear in your mind while you sleep. The dream world is a portal, thats its true purpose. it serves as a gate-way between worlds." the keeper then turns around and looks at you, "have you never dreamed about mysterious places? lands which...ah never mind, you probably wouldn't even remember. That's just how the dream world works. not many people get the chance to see the real purpose of the dream world, to see the portal, so you are meant to forget so you do not end up asking questions or eventually figuring out the truth behind dreams. its a safety measure of the portal, it makes you forget your dreams a lot of the time. throughout history, some people have come close. people started keeping things they called dream journals, but you see, you never truly remember your dream in its entirety. you can try your best even right when you wake up, but you will never be able to remember everything you dreamt about."
the keeper then pulls out a chair seemingly out of thin air, he takes a seat right across from you.
"but you" he says, staring right into your eyes. "but you, you've been chosen, and you will be given an offer tonight before you wake up. Understand how lucky you are, its so rare to be one of the chosen few. from when mankind first came into existence, there have been only 4 humans chosen, you will make the 5th." the keeper smiles once more. "you can speak now, this is a lot to take in".
With your head swimming with questions and even doubts as to the reality of this, you blurt out without even realizing. "this cant possibly be real right?"
"oh its real alright, when you wake up, things will never be the same again for you" the keeper answers with the smile still on his face.
this time it looked as if that smile wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. that last line of his only seemed to bring about more questions in your head. out of all the questions in your head, out of all the questions you could have possible asked, you ask something that wipes the smile off of the keepers face and makes him lean back and stare at you for a moment.
"you said there was an offer, i am guessing i am here because you have an offer to make me, what exactly is this offer?".
"wow" the keeper replies, "you don't waste anything time huh, getting straight to the point? alright. i mean, all of the other chosen had a lot to ask before coming to that question, i'm just a little surprised thats all. you are the first to go straight to the point"
You both exchange mysterious looks at each other, as if one was wondering what the other was thinking at that very moment
"hmmmmmm" the keeper uttered as he stared at you for a moment longer.
the keeper then gets up as he continues to speak. "The universe is filled with many secrets as well as many worlds, even i, after all this time, have not figured out all its secrets. on your planet, in your world, humans are the dominant species. the universe chooses from each world a member of that worlds dominant specie and brings them here to the midriff. the midriff, as i said earlier, is the in-between, the space between worlds, a holding room if you will. here that chosen member is brought and i make him/her or it an offer. it is always the same offer and it is part of a system to keep all the worlds connected. how this happens you will come to see and understand as you age."
"what is the offer?" you say, but then slowly lean back on your chair as you quickly realize you just interrupted him.
the keeper just laughs at your reaction and leans in closer. he takes his index finger and touches your forehead . as soon as his finger makes contact with your forehead, everything goes blank
"here it is" you barely hear the keeper say
THE GAME
alright i promised a game and here it is. the reading was just to make this 10x more epic and because everyone loves a good story. the game is the offer, and the offer IS the game. its quite simply, its time for you to regain consciousnesses after everything blanked out. lets get to the offer (dont worry, most of the reading is done)
".........wha..........what did you just do to me?" you struggle to get the words out as you struggle to get back on your feet as well.
you put you hand on the spot the greeter touched on your forehead, then BAM, a huge flashback hits you like a tidal wave of memory. You are suspended in mid air, surrounded by nothingness, just white everywhere with nothing else in sight below or above you. You hear the keepers voice.
"this is the offer" the voice says. "You have the opportunity to be sent to another world, any world you have ever come in contact with, whether it be visually or physically. You can even choose to remain on earth, however those who choose to remain in their own worlds must have their memories wiped of all that just took place. If you choose to leave your world and go into another world, you lose your family, everyone and everything you've come to know and love, and you must start anew in whatever world you choose. to your family and friends, it'll be as if you never existed. Your parents will have no son/daughter and your siblings will never have had a brother/sister. In this new world you'll have the opportunity to live a fantasy you've always wanted. when you wake up from your fall, you''ll find a door before you, choose wisely which world you'd like to live the rest of your life in and go through this door once your decision is made. This is the offer"
"wake up from my fall? WAIT" you shout as you begin to tumble towards what seems like nothingness, just white. You begin to scream and a moment later you open your eyes, still screaming and your hand still touching the spot on your forehead. you stop screaming as you realize the flashback was over. you close your eyes again for a moment and try to calm yourself down. cursing under your breath at the greeter, you open your eyes and see something that completely takes the wind out of your chest and leaves you uttering soundless curses from the wind being taken out of you. before you stands a gigantic door. the door slowly opens, making no sound for such a large door, and in that moment you know that the next move is yours.
THE OFFER/GAME:
alright folks, so there you have it. if you had the opportunity to live out the rest of your life in ANY WORLD, which world would you choose? or would you stay on earth and live out the rest of your life here?
ANY WORLD
this is a chance to live on another world, any idea that has ever been conceived by the human mind and made its way on paper, film, internet, etc etc.
have you ever thought to yourself "boy it would be swell to live in the magical world of Harry potter" or "man, i love playing the pokemon games. i wish pokemon were real and i could just drop out of school at the age of 10 and go on a grand adventure to catch them all, collect badges, conquer every inch of the poke-world and defeat everyone from simple trainers to the elite four champion himself and all the leagues in between. maybe i'll settle down some day, start a family and become and gym leader myself". or would you love to live the rest of your life under the sea with spongebob square pants and his pals? or do you dream of the adventure that the world of one piece would have to offer you? maybe the sea isnt your thing and you'd rather go into the world of naruto or even bleach, idk. maybe you'll become a captain one day and unlock your very on BANKIA!!!!!. MAYBE your fantasy is to become a mighty morphin power ranger one day and you'd rather go into that world. how bout Yu-gi-oh, or you'd rather be a padawan with aspirations of becoming a jedi master one day. anything from anime to movies to books/comic books, VIDEO GAMES, etc etc. seriously guys, ANY WORLD.
the only rule is that you cannot be the main character or major characters of the world you choose to live in. you cant be fucking Goku in the world of dragon ball z, but you can become strong and maybe even fight by his side one day, or being evil is more your thing and you'd like to be the one to end Goku (good luck, even if you fail its a good life though, kicking ass and trying to kill main badass in that world). If you dedicate yourself and become very strong, you can have major effects and leave a huge foot print on that world. Imagine being a sith or choosing to give yourself to the dark arts in the wizarding world of harry potter, and growing to become the next dark lord or big evil thing. or something for the good side, you get the idea
so tell me smogon, where would you rather live the rest of your life? and why?
i wonder if anyone is going to choose to remain on earth. not everyone considers their life a misery or wants an escape. heck, despite how shitty the world has come to be, and i'm sure it will only get shittier, some people might like this little shin-dig we got going on on earth, and wouldnt mind giving it a second chance.
THE OFFER: story time. where my readers at? better get your kindles out
ok so imagine for a moment, after a long day of whatever it is that you do, you get in bed and drift away into the world of dreams. You find yourself standing in the middle of a room as large as a football field, completely white from ceiling to floor. You look around for a moment, there is no one else but you in this room. you notice a painting hanging from one of the walls, but the room is just so damn big that you can barely make out if its even really a painting. As you squint and try to focus on the painting, you hear a voice from behind you
"hello "insert name here", welcome to the Midriff" said this voice
you are so startled that you almost stumble and fall. once you regain your posture, you look at the person standing in front of you. What a handsome looking man, you think to yourself, but as you lean in and get a closer look, you notice the man standing in front of you is none other than smogon user and ex-admin, Articuno64
"Jason?" you ask.
The mysterious man looks at you for a moment and replies "no....i am afraid you have me mistaken for someone else".
"no, its definitely you, articuno64"
The mysterious man continues to stare at you, and for a moment he smiles, but then the smile vanishes from his face almost as fast as it came.
"i am afraid i do not know this articuno64 fella, i am simply known as the greeter, and the keeper" he replies. "The midriff has been my home since the beginning of time".
You look at him suspiciously for a second. what was that smile for? was he indeed articuno64, but was just refusing to acknowledge it? You get a little closer to him.
"what exactly is this midriff? where am i?" you asked.
"The midriff is the in-between, the space between worlds, a holding room if you will".
"The fuck," you burst out saying in frustration. "that tells me nothing".
The greeter points to the right, a little bit behind you, and says "ok, have a seat and i'll try to give you the short version of whats going on".
You turn around and find a white chair and table completely matching the room. You also noticed that this so called greeter had on a white suit and matching white dress shoes......
"why was everything so....white?" you wondered in your mind.
"why is everything so white?" the greeter repeats your question as he slowly turns his back to you.
you immediately turn around to face him with shock on your face.
"whoa, you can hear my thoughts? that's....very creeper".
"i am the keeper of the midriff, my power in here is almost what you humans would call God-like." The keeper turns around to face you once more and continues to speak. "that should also answer the other question that came to your mind earlier, about where i came from and where the furniture came from as well. i can do almost anything in here. This power was given to me because the greeter also serves as the keeper, the guardian of the midriff."
The keeper then pauses for a second and starts to slowly pace back and forth.
"if this place was to be taken over by anyone, the results could be disastrous. with the power of the midriff, one could destroy anything and everything in the universe. You'll see what i mean very soon. now please have a seat, we are on the clock here. this will all make sense to you very soon".
you sit down but refuse to take your eyes off of this mysterious man for a second.
"hah, being cautious eh, they always are. lets start from the beginning" The greeter says with a smirk on his face. "since the beginning of time, dreams have always been apart of every living thing, even animals dream. i-".
"EVEN PLANTS?" you interrupt rudely, trying to suppress a laughter.
"Don't get smart with me, and please do not interrupt me again" the greeter replies. "As i was saying, everything in the universe is connected somehow. Dreams serve as part of this connection, we all dream. you humans don't think of dreams as anything more than a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. But"
"wait so i am dreaming? is that it?" you interrupt once more, this time with a sigh of relieve on your face.
"ok if you interrupt me one more time i am going to take your voice away, and i wont give it back," the greeter snaps at you
The greeter then pauses for a second once more in order to regain his composure
"now where was i?" the greeter says as he glances at you from the side; his back was turned to you and he was moving around once more.
you open your mouth to say something, but then you realize he was bating you to see if you would dare ignore his threat to you should you interrupt him once more.
"what the fuck, this is just a fucking dream, i can do as i please" you think to yourself.
In the end you close your mouth and decide to entertain him as you are curious to find out what the fuck is going on.
The greeter smiles once more and goes on.
"Dreams are not mere images that appear in your mind while you sleep. The dream world is a portal, thats its true purpose. it serves as a gate-way between worlds." the keeper then turns around and looks at you, "have you never dreamed about mysterious places? lands which...ah never mind, you probably wouldn't even remember. That's just how the dream world works. not many people get the chance to see the real purpose of the dream world, to see the portal, so you are meant to forget so you do not end up asking questions or eventually figuring out the truth behind dreams. its a safety measure of the portal, it makes you forget your dreams a lot of the time. throughout history, some people have come close. people started keeping things they called dream journals, but you see, you never truly remember your dream in its entirety. you can try your best even right when you wake up, but you will never be able to remember everything you dreamt about."
the keeper then pulls out a chair seemingly out of thin air, he takes a seat right across from you.
"but you" he says, staring right into your eyes. "but you, you've been chosen, and you will be given an offer tonight before you wake up. Understand how lucky you are, its so rare to be one of the chosen few. from when mankind first came into existence, there have been only 4 humans chosen, you will make the 5th." the keeper smiles once more. "you can speak now, this is a lot to take in".
With your head swimming with questions and even doubts as to the reality of this, you blurt out without even realizing. "this cant possibly be real right?"
"oh its real alright, when you wake up, things will never be the same again for you" the keeper answers with the smile still on his face.
this time it looked as if that smile wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. that last line of his only seemed to bring about more questions in your head. out of all the questions in your head, out of all the questions you could have possible asked, you ask something that wipes the smile off of the keepers face and makes him lean back and stare at you for a moment.
"you said there was an offer, i am guessing i am here because you have an offer to make me, what exactly is this offer?".
"wow" the keeper replies, "you don't waste anything time huh, getting straight to the point? alright. i mean, all of the other chosen had a lot to ask before coming to that question, i'm just a little surprised thats all. you are the first to go straight to the point"
You both exchange mysterious looks at each other, as if one was wondering what the other was thinking at that very moment
"hmmmmmm" the keeper uttered as he stared at you for a moment longer.
the keeper then gets up as he continues to speak. "The universe is filled with many secrets as well as many worlds, even i, after all this time, have not figured out all its secrets. on your planet, in your world, humans are the dominant species. the universe chooses from each world a member of that worlds dominant specie and brings them here to the midriff. the midriff, as i said earlier, is the in-between, the space between worlds, a holding room if you will. here that chosen member is brought and i make him/her or it an offer. it is always the same offer and it is part of a system to keep all the worlds connected. how this happens you will come to see and understand as you age."
"what is the offer?" you say, but then slowly lean back on your chair as you quickly realize you just interrupted him.
the keeper just laughs at your reaction and leans in closer. he takes his index finger and touches your forehead . as soon as his finger makes contact with your forehead, everything goes blank
"here it is" you barely hear the keeper say
THE GAME
alright i promised a game and here it is. the reading was just to make this 10x more epic and because everyone loves a good story. the game is the offer, and the offer IS the game. its quite simply, its time for you to regain consciousnesses after everything blanked out. lets get to the offer (dont worry, most of the reading is done)
".........wha..........what did you just do to me?" you struggle to get the words out as you struggle to get back on your feet as well.
you put you hand on the spot the greeter touched on your forehead, then BAM, a huge flashback hits you like a tidal wave of memory. You are suspended in mid air, surrounded by nothingness, just white everywhere with nothing else in sight below or above you. You hear the keepers voice.
"this is the offer" the voice says. "You have the opportunity to be sent to another world, any world you have ever come in contact with, whether it be visually or physically. You can even choose to remain on earth, however those who choose to remain in their own worlds must have their memories wiped of all that just took place. If you choose to leave your world and go into another world, you lose your family, everyone and everything you've come to know and love, and you must start anew in whatever world you choose. to your family and friends, it'll be as if you never existed. Your parents will have no son/daughter and your siblings will never have had a brother/sister. In this new world you'll have the opportunity to live a fantasy you've always wanted. when you wake up from your fall, you''ll find a door before you, choose wisely which world you'd like to live the rest of your life in and go through this door once your decision is made. This is the offer"
"wake up from my fall? WAIT" you shout as you begin to tumble towards what seems like nothingness, just white. You begin to scream and a moment later you open your eyes, still screaming and your hand still touching the spot on your forehead. you stop screaming as you realize the flashback was over. you close your eyes again for a moment and try to calm yourself down. cursing under your breath at the greeter, you open your eyes and see something that completely takes the wind out of your chest and leaves you uttering soundless curses from the wind being taken out of you. before you stands a gigantic door. the door slowly opens, making no sound for such a large door, and in that moment you know that the next move is yours.
THE OFFER/GAME:
alright folks, so there you have it. if you had the opportunity to live out the rest of your life in ANY WORLD, which world would you choose? or would you stay on earth and live out the rest of your life here?
ANY WORLD
this is a chance to live on another world, any idea that has ever been conceived by the human mind and made its way on paper, film, internet, etc etc.
have you ever thought to yourself "boy it would be swell to live in the magical world of Harry potter" or "man, i love playing the pokemon games. i wish pokemon were real and i could just drop out of school at the age of 10 and go on a grand adventure to catch them all, collect badges, conquer every inch of the poke-world and defeat everyone from simple trainers to the elite four champion himself and all the leagues in between. maybe i'll settle down some day, start a family and become and gym leader myself". or would you love to live the rest of your life under the sea with spongebob square pants and his pals? or do you dream of the adventure that the world of one piece would have to offer you? maybe the sea isnt your thing and you'd rather go into the world of naruto or even bleach, idk. maybe you'll become a captain one day and unlock your very on BANKIA!!!!!. MAYBE your fantasy is to become a mighty morphin power ranger one day and you'd rather go into that world. how bout Yu-gi-oh, or you'd rather be a padawan with aspirations of becoming a jedi master one day. anything from anime to movies to books/comic books, VIDEO GAMES, etc etc. seriously guys, ANY WORLD.
the only rule is that you cannot be the main character or major characters of the world you choose to live in. you cant be fucking Goku in the world of dragon ball z, but you can become strong and maybe even fight by his side one day, or being evil is more your thing and you'd like to be the one to end Goku (good luck, even if you fail its a good life though, kicking ass and trying to kill main badass in that world). If you dedicate yourself and become very strong, you can have major effects and leave a huge foot print on that world. Imagine being a sith or choosing to give yourself to the dark arts in the wizarding world of harry potter, and growing to become the next dark lord or big evil thing. or something for the good side, you get the idea
so tell me smogon, where would you rather live the rest of your life? and why?
i wonder if anyone is going to choose to remain on earth. not everyone considers their life a misery or wants an escape. heck, despite how shitty the world has come to be, and i'm sure it will only get shittier, some people might like this little shin-dig we got going on on earth, and wouldnt mind giving it a second chance.
damn bro, thats sucks, you missed out on a great read
