The Hinamizawa Syndrome Ward!

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 200%;"><strong><span style="color:blue">Greetings, Fellow Infected!<!--size--></span></strong><!--color--></span> Ever feel like you've just watched so much Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, that you've just been drawn into the storyline? Are the characters real to you? Do you jump at the suspense, cry at the heartbreak, and flee for your life if anybody ever shouts "omochikairii" in your presence? Does your neck feel itchy? Are there evil dopplegangers of you, hanging out all around town? Do you break glass on a regular basis? Are there a bunch of guys in beige jumpsuits, watching your every move? Have you ever been dead before? Are you missing any of your fingernails, or have you ever taken any from anybody else? Are you wondering what the hell is in that syringe everybody wants to stick you with, anyway!? Then please, stay awhile, and don't mind the rubber walls and those two big guys over there in the white uniforms, because you just may have <strong><span style="color:red">Hinamizawa Syndrome!</strong><!--color--></span> Whether you were infected with the joys of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni on your own, or a friend exposed you to the contagion, pull up a chair and find something to chat about, because you're going to be a patient--err--member, for awhile! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <img src="http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/QT152/warduserbar.gif" border="0" /> <em>Here's a club userbar, to help pass on your condition!</em> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <span style="font-size: 125%;"><strong><span style="color:orange">Join the fight now! The Ward wants YOU to help smear the taint of Hinamizawa Syndrome all over the anime world!!<!--size--></span></strong><!--color--></span> <em>(In other words, click on the links below for our club activities!)</em> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <span style="font-size: 125%;"><strong><span style="color:red">"Infect an Anime Character"<!--size--></span></strong><!--color--></span> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> The Hinamizawa Syndrome Ward is home to a special club activity in response to all those 'claiming' clubs out there--with a twist, of course (since we're all twisted, here). Instead of claiming an anime character, patients (club members) can now <strong><span style="color:red">INFECT<!--color--></span></strong> an anime character with our mutually shared disease! Here's how it works... If you're interested in infecting an anime character with Hinamizawa Syndrome, there are two criteria. First, you must have made at least 10 non-spam comments on the either the main club page, or any of the club threads (just saying "hi" ten times, or posting ten comments one right after another, is not what we're looking for). This is because we're not a claiming club--this activity is just a side project for us to enjoy, so we're looking for people that are actually interested in this club and will participate, as opposed to joining just to stake a claim. Secondly, if you've decided to pass on your infection, you must make a post to the request thread. Read the thread when it comes up for more details, but basically you're going to be telling us who you want to infect. Your post is considered to be a request to be 'examined' by the Ward staff, to see if your case of Hinamazawa Syndrome is serious enough that you can be considered 'contagious'. You will receive a PM from spring_onions sometime after you make your post, with some trivia questions about the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (and Kai!) anime series. PM a reply with your answers within 48 hours from the date/time you receive the PM, and if you pass the test, you'll be deemed contagious! (Again, the reason for this is that we want people to be joining the club because they like/are familiar with the concept, not just because they want to add another claim to their profiles.) If you forget the date/time you were given the questions, spring will have a thread up to keep track of it. Don't worry, if you don't pass or if you don't get your answers in on time, you can make a claim again--you'll just have to start over, which means that your chosen character is still up for grabs. Assuming nobody has already taken the character you want to infect, well, congratz, you just ruined the life of some poor, hapless anime character! You will have already told us when you made your initial request if you want to make your own banner, or if you'd like one made for you. Once it's done, you're in business! <span style="color:blue">Here are the rules for 'infecting':<!--color--></span> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> No character can be infected by more than one person at a time. You may only infect one character at a time, though you may change your 'claim' later. Your character must be from an anime or manga--or possibly a video game, if it's anime based. You cannot infect an anime character that is already infected on the show! This doesn't mean you can't choose Higurashi characters, it just means you can't choose ones like Rena, Satoko, Takano, Shion, etc. They already have the disease, so they can't be infected again! Other than that, anything goes (even if your character is a spirit, cyborg, undead, a demon or whatever else you'd think couldn't normally catch a disease)! Staff members will be permitted to take their first 'claim' without having to be examined. Of course, this is not a rule because we're trying to play favorites--the point of it is that I'm hoping all the club staff members will make an active effort to stay involved with this project (including the roleplay side of it), and we need them to get up and running a bit more quickly, so they can do just that. Of course, if anybody from the staff decides to change their claim later, they'll have to be examined just like everybody else!<!--spoiler--></span></div> <span style="color:blue">What if I want to change my claim? What happens?<!--color--></span> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> You can do that, but think of the welfare of the poor, unfortunate soul you infected before you do. You're considered to be responsible for the character you infect! You don't have to be re-examined to change your claim if you already passed the first time, but you do have to meet the 10 meaningful comments requirement as listed above all over again (in other words, you need 10 comments to infect your first character, 20 to change your claim, 30 to change it again, etc.) If you make a habit out of 'claimjumping', you might not be allowed to keep doing it in the future, though...<!--spoiler--></span></div><!--spoiler--></span></div> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <span style="font-size: 125%;"><strong><span style="color:red">"The Hinamizawa Running Man"<!--size--></span></strong><!--color--></span> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> Welcome to the newest Ward activity, designed to smear the taint of Hinamizawa Syndrome all over the anime world, while at the same time entertaining the heck out of us all -- <strong><span style="color:red">The Hinamizawa Running Man!</strong><!--color--></span> The concept of the game is a simple one, and is based off the 1985 Stephen King Novel (also known as a 1987 Schwarzenegger sci-fi flick), "The Running Man". In each "episode" of our new activity, up to ten hapless anime/manga characters from somewhere out there in the anime universe are chosen (abducted) from their homes, and given the honor (sentence) of surviving in Hinamizawa, against our randomly chosen Higurashi no Naku Koro ni stalkers! All of our patients (club members) will have an opportunity to take part in the action, until we determine which contestant is this month's glorious winner (survivor)! Each episode will run for one full month, and each month will be broken down into three "phases". Essentially what this game breaks down to is our club members nominating any character in the anime world who has a profile on MAL to become a contestant, and then the club membership will take a hand in choosing the winner through voting -- with a Ward appropriate, psychotic twist! <strong><span style="color:blue">See the spoiler tags below for a breakdown of how each phase of the game works, and the rules associated with it.</strong><!--color--></span> <strong>The First Week The "Contestant" Thread</strong> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> The first full week of each month is considered the time in which we acquire new "contestants" (victims) for this month's episode. A new thread will be created to nominate contestants, and from this point, it's very simple. Any of our club members may choose to nominate a contestant, simply by posting it on the contestant thread. That's it. Contestant nomination is open to any club member -- the only rules are that your nominee MUST have a character profile on MAL, you may only make ONE nomination per club member, and you CANNOT choose a character that is already part of this club's character relations section. Other than that, anything goes! Only the <span style="color:blue">first ten characters nominated<!--color--></span> will become contestants for the given month (to keep things from getting too confusing), so get your nominations in early!<!--spoiler--></span></div> <strong>The Second/Third Weeks The "Competition" Thread</strong> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> The second and third full weeks of the month will represent the actual game. During this time, the contestants are picking their way through Hinamizawa, each trying to escape the town before being caught by our stalkers. A new thread will be created that lists the first ten nominated contestants. Apart from that, three "stalkers" will be chosen by the Ward staff, and also listed. These stalkers will be randomly chosen characters from the cast of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, who have been specially chosen to hunt down the contestants, with the goal of performing unspeakable, Hinamizawa appropriate acts upon them! <span style="color:blue">This is where YOU, our club members, come in!<!--color--></span> Again, this is pretty simple. For the two full weeks that the competition thread runs, all of our club members may make up to two "votes", which we will be calling "attacks" from here on -- AGAINST the various contestants, rather than in favor of them! That's right -- your attacks represent which hapless contestants are found and assaulted by our stalkers! The rules for making "attacks" are simple. All club members are allowed to make a maximum of TWO attacks, and these attacks must each be made against DIFFERENT contestants. Details will be on the contestant thread, but basically, you're picking two different characters from the current contestant list, and either or two stalkers from the stalkers list. Post who you want the stalkers to attack. That's it! At the end of the third week, the attacks will be tallied. If <em>only one</em> contestant has the smallest number of attacks against them, then the episode for this month ends here -- the winner will have escaped Hinamizawa, only to return to their home and realize the horror of being infected with Hinamizawa Syndrome! Said winner will be added to this club's character relations section, thus spreading Hinamizawa Syndrome in to the anime world! If, however, there is a tie for the smallest number of attacks between two or more characters....<!--spoiler--></span></div> <strong>The Fourth Week The "Sudden Death" Thread</strong> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> If we have already determined a winner by the end of the third full week, then the fourth week will not occur -- it'll just be a break before we start over again with the first week of the following month. If, however, we have a tie, then the fourth and final full week of the month will see the creation of the sudden death thread. This is basically the same thing as the competition thread. Only the contestants who tied will be listed in this thread. Whichever stalker was chosen for the most attacks in the competition thread will also be listed here (if there is a tie, the Ward staff will randomly choose somebody from the stalkers involved in the tie). Once again, any club member may make an "attack" in this thread, subject to the following guidelines. As opposed to two attacks in the competition thread, club members may now only make ONE attack each. Just pick a contestant whom you want to be attacked. That's it. You don't even need to list which stalker you want to attack them, since there's only one left to perform all the attacks, at this point. At the end of the fourth full week, whichever character from among those involved in the tie has the fewest attacks against them will be declared the winner. They have escaped Hinamizawa, but they have not escaped the taint of Hinamizawa Syndrome -- they will be added to our club character relations section, and Hinamizawa Syndrome will continue to randomly spread throughout the anime world! If, at the end of the sudden death thread, there are still more than two winners, then <strong>NOBODY</strong> wins. This is to keep us from ending up with three, four, five, six, etc, way ties that will fill up our character relations section too quickly. Too many winners is an insult to Oyashirosama. So, we round 'em up, tie 'em to a pole somewhere in town, 'dispose' of them, and then punish this month's stalkers for their ineptness.<!--spoiler--></span></div> <span style="color:blue">Yes, it's a tad more complicated that just simply being a game about voting for your favorite anime characters, but with these guidelines, it's hoped that our new club activity will be uniquely tailored to the theme of our club. Don't worry -- EVERYBODY is welcome to participate, and basically all it boils down to is voting for (launching attacks against) the characters you <em>don't</em> want to see win, in hopes of protecting the ones you <em>do</em> want to see win! Whenever the contestant, competition, and sudden death threads are re-created each month, they will feature a digested version of the rules, to keep things easy to follow. Dates will also be posted for how long each thread will run, to avoid confusion. Got any questions? Please ask!<!--color--></span> Meanwhile....<span style="color:red"><strong>LET THE TAINT SPREAD!!</strong><!--color--></span><!--spoiler--></span></div> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <strong>Goodies from the maddness of The Ward!</strong> <!--link--><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=J2QI03EA"><img src="http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/QT152/mascotgroup.jpg" border="0" /></a> Five Higurashi Desktop Mascots!!! Five of your favorite Higurashi girls, each featuring an alarm clock, hourly chime, several outfits, several different animations, and several different comments, depending on where you choose to click them (you naughty patient, you)! The menus are in Japanese, but there's a translation image included with the download. <!--link--><a href="http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/QT152/wardbg-1.jpg"><img src="http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/QT152/wardbgsmall.jpg" border="0" /></a> 1200x800 Hinamizawa Syndrome Ward Desktop Background <!--link--><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RQ0CTUL7"><img src="http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/QT152/pspthemesmall.jpg" border="0" /></a> Higurashi no Naku Koro ni PSP theme! Just a couple little goodies to keep our patients occupied--err--to show all our wonderful patients how appreciated their support of The Ward is! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seriously though, this club is for the discussion of, well...whatever! We're all infected, we've got nothing but time! <span style="color:red">***SPOILER WARNING***<!--color--></span> We're not quite as mindful of spoiler tags around here, mind you. If you know what Hinamizawa syndrome is well enough to be a carrier, then it's assumed you've at least seen through the first two series, ne?</strong><!--center--></div>