::...  ..... ..   ...     .:..where's da whitey??..   . ..'+@$a

The storm rages within the bottle placed so elegantly on the edge of the
table.  For years this storm sat, brewing silently, ever so slowly gaining
strength.  That strength was from the hatred of being bottled up, for the
thoughts that it was forced to think.  It didn't want to think some of those
things.  It knows what it wants.  It waits for the chance to gain freedom.
A simple nudge, a little tap... That's all it needs to break the bars
around it...  It would do anything to leave this bottle...

Patience to those who can afford it...
for your dreams will eventually come in time.

- oxygene

Happy Birthday to Dark Illustrated!

Four years ago, Black Widow had a vision.  Four years, Dark has remained
the pillar of strength from the North.  Not many groups can say that.
Nor will many be given the chance to.  Dark Illustrated is a very special
entity.  More than a group.  It's a group of talented friends.  Dark has
lasted this long for that reason and one other.

We have the drive and skills.

Such a simple, effective, and a key component to all of this.  We have members
who are incredibly talented, and have so many aspects of them which would make
their mothers proud ;)  Awwwww...

So where does this leave Dark?  Well, certainly kicking some ass in '98.
We have some projects that include our fabulous coding team (ooOO! shameless
self plug) as well as some always impressive artwork from our ranks.  Our
artists are gaining some strength with our new additions too!  SO NYA!

Four years and keeping strong.  Can you say the same?

- oxygene

A friend once told me that I was a very close friend to him.  I was "blood".
I hardly knew him, but I was touched.  Weird that.  I knew him online, but
hardly called him by his nick.  We were friends.  No need to hide behind our
online faces.  He was my mentor for problems, and in turn, I was his personal
advisor for things.  I sit here now, not really knowing what to write about
him.  So for now I offer to him my deepest gratitude.  Nav, keep in touch,
and best of luck down the line.  Take care.

- oxygene

··[You may have heard the legends..]--------------------------------------------

"He's 80 feet tall, I tell ya!"  .."He once tossed a car because he didn't like
the color".  .."He has Paul Bunyan slung over one shoulder, and Babe the Blue
Ox over the other".   .."Be careful, he's gonna eat you".  .."He can do chin-
ups on his own phallus".
His alias was Xypher Matryx.  Lately, he has been going by the name,
"Anti-Tax Hero".  For a few reasons, I like to call him "The Lumberjack".  But
to the 416/905 area code, he is simply known as Andre.
Being a part of Dark Illustrated since the very beginning (he was there
from the first pack, as a trial ANSI artist), and running The Lethal Aspect
until the late summer of 1997, XypherM was clearly established as 'Local God'.
There's little denying it.  If he was not respected by all for his charisma
and head-strong attitude, he was surely admired for his wit and charm.  Even
those who were on the receiving end of his verbal thrashings on bulletin board
systems must have laughed at themselves red-faced along the way.  Part of his
eloquence may be attributed to the fact that he actually thought about what he
was going to say beforehand - a rare practice in the art scene these days.
Aside from the successful art group Xypher ran, and the equally successful
art board he maintained, Xypher found some time to draw.  Mostly released were
smallscale pics and oldschool skulls, something he became famous for.  Overall
though, perhaps he is most admired for his logos.  They were always original -
he has the only style I've seen that is completely unmarred by mundane
mainstream influences.  Recently, XM has retired from Dark, and rarely ever
draws ANSI.  He says he's pursuing his coding interest.
Upon meeting Andre in person for the first time, it dawned on me that his
physical dimensions were mildly exaggerated.  He is merely 9 feet tall, and
when he stomped on me, I estimated his weight to be roughly 600 pounds.  He was
just as hilarious in person as he was online.  And from what I've observed,
and from what others have shared with me, he is one of the kindest, most
generous, most inspirational people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Our undying gratitude, Andre, for all that you've done for Dark Illustrated,and the scene.

Cheers, to a big man, with an even bigger heart.  <clink>

- corinthian

This month, as well you know, is Dark Illustrated's Four Year Anniversary.
YAY!  We have many projects on the go, had some internal changes in the
organizational side of things and some new topics to discuss.

We have a very important breakthrough with our group.  It's called Hive.  And
it's Dark's new ascii division headed up by the talented Holocaust.  Hive will
exist on it's own, however they will release a seperate zip with in our packs.
Expect some amazing work from these guys down the road...

The special project that I mentioned last pack has been delayed.  Redirection
of the project is needed since we have some cooler ideas, which require alot
more effort on the part of the coders and artists.  So hold your horsies
kiddies...

www.darkillustrated.org has had a little bit of an upgrade.  We're redoing
some of the sections since we feel it necessary for a change.  Just call us
little busy-bodies :)  Be sure to check out some of the member's homepages
too!

Expect a release from myself down the road too.  I've been spending alot of
time on this program trying to make it as customizable as possible. :)  Ooo!
And I must admit this is going to seriously kick some butt.  More information
in next month's pack.

- oxygene

We welcome Alla Xul, Undertaker, Egoteq, Illusion X, and Zarkon to our ansi
divison.  <BAD PUN ALERT #1> The latter three made big names for themselves
in Twilight, but it appears that the stars had winked out, and they were left
in the Dark.  Alla Xul is our mystery man; he has no Internet access and all
communications and transfers are done through his friend, Lord Reaper.
Undertaker - I hope the bot stopped ignoring you.  =)

There's some amazing art from those guys in this pack, so be sure
check it out!

<BAD PUN ALERT #2>
Atom splits into our VGA division, creating some serious heat for our packs.

We'd like to thank Quip of Mistigris for guesting this month with his funky
ass logo :)

··[dark site list]-----------------------------------------------------------

To Be Announced      DARK World Headquarters    Unknown
Neosporin            DARK Western HQ            Rage
Mad Cows?!?          DARK Member Board          Night Stalker
Abraxas/Diabolic     DARK US Support Site       Megga Hertz
ABCB Cafe            DARK Support Site          Kyo

Filename Conventions...

Filenames work like this:  XXXXX-##.*

XXXXX is a five-letter abbreviation of the artist's alias.
(Should the alias fall within five characters or less, the
entire alias will be used.)

## represents the current number of pieces the artist has
produced the year of release.

* can be any valid extension for images, executables, data
files, or musical compositions.  The most common are DRK for
ansi images including JPG/GIF/BMP/etc for high resolution graphic
images, and MOD/S3M/XM/IT/etc for music data files.

··[miscellaneous banter and thoughts]----------------------------------------

YAY!  Time for more of those #dark quotes seems to provide, at the very least,
something to entertain for at least 30 seconds.  And you can laugh AT people.
Not with them ;)

<oxygene> I'm all over that like a fat kid on a ding dong...

<Clusion> * Iluvitar is back from: *QUAKE2!!!* since 7:45 AM
<Clusion> now thats addicted (it's now 11pm)

<PBreaker> I fly down to Brazil on the weekends just so I can burn down
portions of the rainforest.

* PBreaker runs around with a pair of scissors
[...moments later]
* godless- eats something he found on the ground.
* godless- crosses the road without looking both ways

<asoap> My finger doesn't stick all the way up my nose... that sucks.

<_55> now now... stop the arguement... can't we just /finger each other and
get along?!

*** oxygene changes topic to "el nino made me do it."

<jeriko> And now, a history of profound statements from _4thds
<jeriko> [10:11] <_4thds> hahahahah
<jeriko> [11:32] <_4thds> hahahahah
<jeriko> [1:05] <_4thds> hahahahah
<jeriko> [13:01] <_4thds> hahahahah

<illusionX> Well... I was in avenge, but I told creator to kill Natalie or
I'd quit...
<illusionX> he didn't.
<illusionX> so i quit.

<PBreaker> CNN has made an agreement with the U.S. government to begin the
assault on Iraq once the Olympics are over.  I mean, they have to
worry about CNN/SI as well.

<jeriko> HE'S SO FAT THAT EVEN WITH JPG COMPRESSION ON A GREYSCALE PIC, IT'S
257K...  (<g> knufocsid)

<Corinth> tgh: liar.   You draw ansi faster than a 1200 baud modem.

<jeriko> i think it's similar to the feeling i get when flaying open small
furry woodland creatures

<godless-> I'm one lumpy mofo, granted.

<godless-> Calculus and Algerbra/Geometry.
<oxygene> Two of my most hated classes in my OAC year :)
<godless-> SO.. BORING..
<oxygene> Calculus topping the charts with an all time "I'd rather take an
analprobe" kinda hatred :)

<PBreaker> I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to bring that show back,
with Michael Landon brought back from the dead through the miracle
of computer animation... he exists as an avatar somewhere on a
network, and they'll call the show Information Highway to Heaven
2000

<Corinth> [1:40] <creator_> I'll be back gotta go tuck in my wife..
<Corinth> it's 1:46 now.

#dark The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they will be when
you kill them.
#dark topic set by PBreaker on Fri Feb 20

This pack is dedicated to Dark and to those who've helped make it what it is
today.  It's been a long road, but there's an even longer one ahead.

- oxygene