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Darkfall suffering from "Christmas Morning Syndrome"
I can't help myself in posting this. I mean the ENTIRE debacle that is surrounding Darkfall and the actions of Tasos and Aventurine is beginning to look like Christmas morning in the house of Timmy, the hyper-active, highly intelligent and extremely curious child.
It's Christmas Eve and Timmy is having trouble going to sleep. For the past year he's been a good boy and worked very hard at it just so Christmas this year would be one to remember. He's done everything right and even eaten all of his vegetables at every meal without complaint. His grades have been excellent and his attendance perfect. He's been recycling and doing his chores with zeal. It's been a great year for Timmy. This Christmas should be fantastic!
As the hours tick slowly past, Timmy rolls around under his covers, sleep refuses to come. It's been a long time since he believed in Santa Claus but his parents still insist upon the old rituals of the past and rise very early to set up the rest of the presents that have been kept secret from Timmy and he hears them as they creep down the stairs. Their footsteps are heavier than usual and the stairs creak under the added weight of yet more presents being hauled down to the tree. Timmy's clock glows 3:27AM in the darkness. He smiles and tries to imagine how big the packages must be to make the steps protest so.
Timmy already knew what many of his presents were going to be. His parents had, as all parents do, tried to surreptitiously glean from him in casual conversation what his favorite toys and games were for the past few months and he'd recognized each attempt for what they were. In each answer he gave he tried to be realistic and reply only with the items that he knew his parents would find reasonable in order to have the best chance of seeing them on Christmas morning. The mound of presents already under the tree more than accounted for all of the items he'd told them about though and his curiosity was driving him crazy as his parents crept up the stairs for a second arm load. He almost giggled under his covers and had to stifle himself to keep from ruining their efforts at stealth.
Timmy, like his parents, had tried to find some clues about what they had actually gotten him. His parents were masters at keeping a secret though and poor Timmy was left to his imagination. When the presents first began to appear under the tree Timmy had taken the moments when he was alone with them to pick them up and test their weight, gauge their sizes and shake them slightly to see if any clues could be found were they to make a noise from within, but, as it is with all well wrapped items in non-descript and colorful packaging the clues were few and assumptions and guesses were all he gained from his efforts.
At last the hour came when his parents crept up the stairs for the last time to return to sleep. Timmy's eyes were heavy and tired but anticipation and curiosity kept them open. He listened intently to the darkness for any sound from his parents. The silence was complete except for his own breathing and his heartbeat in his ears which began to grow faster and louder as he contemplated getting up and creeping down to see how the mound had grown under the tree. His clock now showed 4:43AM. He counted how many times his parents had come up and down the stairs... 7 times in all. The mound of presents must look like Mount Everest now! His bare feet touched the floor and he rose from his bed, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
He carefully made his way down the stairs avoiding the creaky spots and stepping as lightly as he could. If he woke his parents now he knew their hearts would be broken at missing the expression on his face as he saw the completed arrangement of what they'd worked so hard to place under the tree for him. He would do his best in the morning to act as suprised as he knew they hoped he would be and put on his best performance for their sake, but, for now, he had to do what he had to do and the presents waited under the tree for his curiosity.
As Timmy slid around the last corner into the livingroom his eyes beheld a wonderous sight. Arranged around and under the tree was an assortment of sheets of colored paper and all of them had a white border about 10 pixels wide and a large question mark in the center of each. There were, literally, hundreds of them... perhaps thousands! What in the wide, wide world of sports could they mean? They certainly weren't toys or games were they? He reached down and picked up the closest one to him. In the dim light of the Christmas tree bulbs as they blinked cheerily in the relative darkness it was difficult to tell if the border was indeed white but he assumed it was yet that did nothing to answer any question he had as to what they represented.
He scrutinized the paper and studied the question mark in the center for any clue; perhaps there was some writing somewhere on the paper that he couldn't make out in the light of the tree? The first piece of paper gave up no secrets so he reached for another and another and studied each intently until his eyes began to hurt. Strangely he began to feel anger welling up inside him... "What in the hell does all this mean?", he wondered. His frustration grew and he worked his way farther into the papers, picking them up and tossing them aside as each was just another mystery that refused to reveal itself to his tired eyes.
Suddenly he realized that dawn was beginning to peek through the windows. The sun was coming up and it wouldn't be long before his parents awoke as they did every morning and the smell of coffee brewing filled the air. The room was getting brighter with each passing minute and as he turned to return to his bed before the buzzing of their alarm clock broke the silence of the morning his eyes widened in horror! In his frustration over the meaning of the white bordered papers and the haunting question marks upon each of them he had begun to wrinkle them and even wad them up and toss them about the livingroom! He didn't recall doing it but the proof lay all about his feet.
To make matters worse the alarm clock that sat at his fathers head was now protesting that it was time for them to awaken from their slumbers. Christmas morning was upon them and Timmy stood guilty in the center of his presents around the tree with tears in his eyes. There was no way he could repair the damage done to the papers that lay crumpled and lifeless at his feet. He was busted for sure. Timmy took several deep breaths and waited for the sound of his parents descending the stairs and imagined the disappointment they would feel when they saw him standing there amidst the ruin of their late night efforts.
He didn't have to wait long. He steeled himself and wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his pajamas. His parents came into the livingroom and their eyes widened a bit at his presence and widened further when they saw all the many balls of colored paper at his feet. His father was the first to say anything, "Well son... I see you've been busy this morning." Oddly there was no dissappointment in either his words or his eyes as he spoke. His mother simply said, "Merry Christmas, honey. I have to get the coffee going", and she started for the kitchen pulling her robe tighter around her. "Don't open anything until I get back.", she said over her shoulder. Timmy saw no disappointment in her either. Odd indeed.
His father moved to the sofa and patted the seat next to him for Timmy to sit down. "Come here son and tell me what's the matter." Timmy sheepishly nodded and made his way to sit next to his father carefully not stepping on the papers. As he sat his father placed an arm over Timmy's shoulders and pulled him to his chest and hugged him. "Why would you do what you did, Timmy?", was all he said.
Timmy really had no idea what to say since he honestly had no idea why he was so upset over pieces of paper with white borders and a question mark. Tried as he might he could think of no explanation why such a thing could have frustrated him so and he told his father the truth of it. "I don't know, Dad. I guess it was so many questions that I couldn't handle it when I saw them." He felt the warmth of his father against him and began to relax. "I couldn't figure out what it all meant. I mean, what is the point of all those questions and what in the world is the significance of the white border? I guess I went a little nuts." With a sigh he said, "I'm sorry Dad."
His father smiled and looked deep into his eyes, the lights of the tree twinkled in his glasses as he said, "Have you ever heard of Darkfall?" Of course he had! The lights in his head all turned on at once as the realization hit him. "Yes! I've been waiting for that game for years now! But I hear they've been having all sorts of trouble getting it completed. Is that what all those papers are about?"
His father chuckled and nodded his head. "Yep. And every one of the papers is a representation of all the questions everyone is asking about the game. Quite a stir over this game on the internet." Timmy was a member of MMORPG.com and had been faithfully following the progress of the game and knew all of the questions and even had a few of his own. He'd been reading the forum posts about the game there and at the Darkfall website. He started laughing when he recognized the significance of the White Border now.
"It's completely understandable to be so upset by so many questions, son", his father said with a smile, "but you shouldn't let them bother you." Timmy looked at all of the papers, the wrinkled and crumpled and all of the others he hadn't touched yet, and said, "Yeah. Kinda silly to get all worked up over not knowing something like that. I should have just waited until I could get the answers and not ruined Christmas morning." Again his father chuckled and pulled him even tighter in to his chest. "The answers to questions all come in time if we're patient, son. No amount of speculation or guesswork will ever be an answer to them. You just have to wait and see sometimes."
Timmy smiled up at his father and said, "Thanks Dad. I know the game isn't released yet. They say now that it will be released on February 22nd after they get some more testing done on it. I hope so. I've been waitng a long time for it and it looks really cool." "I know", his father replied. "I'm hoping to play it too, but, I won't waste my time worrying about it. It will come out or it won't and it will be what it will be. Until then all we can do is hope. Now go get your mother and lets see what Santa brought this year." Timmy rolled his eyes smiling and pulled away from his fathers hug.
Just then Tasos himself came out of the kitchen with cup of coffee, a box of chocolates with a white border and a smile. "Care to try some?" His smile broadened. "There's only a few left...."
Comments
That was great, truly great xD
The ending with Tasos had me crying with laughter...you sir...have a gift at writing
I'm amazed that men like you can be so shallow, thick and slow. There is not a man among you who will care whether I come or go....not one...not one of you
"They say now that it will be released on February 22nd.."
Actually I think it was reannounced as the 25th of Feb.
Dear Baby Jesus!
You win.
You can haz the internet.
Jus...Just take it. You deserve it. *tear*
So beautiful.
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Guys! I'm hopelessly lost in a mountain of mole hills! Them damn moles!
What an absolutely wonderful post!
Thank you for that, I truly enjoyed it.. you do indeed have a gift for writing.
Its not often I can be baited out of my usual lurking mode on forums, but this certainly did the trick!
Hats off!
That was freakin' hilarious. I wonder how long it must have taken to make this post, holy crap, that was good and long. You should be a writer... I loved the ending.
SPOILER: So his mom just turned into Tasos...?
...perhaps Tasos is really Santa in this little tale and mom is still in the kitchen trying to recover from the shock of seeing Santa with her own eyes, but, I'll leave that to your own imagination
ps: thanks for the compliments
You are a litterary genius.
You know, that could be one of the most perfectly veiled insults ever given....if you REALLY think about it. An affront to so many different people and groups, all at once...and each under the guise of a "freudian slip" that would go nearly unnoticed.
Nearly....
If so, that makes my day TWICE. Once for the stellar writing, and again for the amazing literary command used in that insult.
This is getting out of hand
nice read.
Pfft....in THIS forum?
Hell, we've got miles to go before we reach "out of hand". I doubt they make cars with good enough gas milage to even justify the trip there on this one
; )
I second that "nice read" though. For the second time....which I suppose would make this a "thirding" of sorts.
Nice read, man. Truly epic.
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar, our only goal will be the western shore."
Nice write OP
But tell us, you are Timmy, right?
Only problem here is christmas get postponed every time
Honestly for me this reading was been piece of s***. Please your next topics in spam forum.
rofl, open ending made it epic
nice
Absolutely wonderfull! thanks for the entertaining read!
Lol nicely done... My one edit would be instead of coffee, it could've been Kool-aid
-Almerel
Hello my old friend.
**Wall of text crits you for 1200 points of damage**
Just kidding, I'll read it later on, sounds worth a read
Proud Master CH -
Sorry,
Proud FORMER Master CH...
my toon was untimely converted into something more Star Warsy
awesome read!!
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
So Tasos created Darkfall so he can sleep with your dad on xmas eve?
Fabulous read...
Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? ~Ernest Gaines
Me after reading the final 2 lines www.youtube.com/watch
Iiii-iiiiiit's.... me!!! *Hooray*
