Kei

[color=darkblue][size=1]Arriving at the hangar a half-hour before the scheduled departure time, Artemis began scanning the small map of the immediate region they would be landing on. A very small island not far from Sunburst would be the intended landing area. "Sunburst..." Small memories of times when she was little flashed through Artemis' mind. Getting her first glass Pokémon figure from one the the many shops there stuck out the most. She couldn't even remember which one it was, as she'd forgotten a long time ago. She only remembered the happiness she felt because she was with her father and they were together... Her memories were interrupted by the voice of another. Getting a quick glance at her watch, she was surprised to find that the half-hour was already gone. "So, you off to the Orange Islands? I?m not sure we could get there in a plane if you?re the one I?m looking for." Turning her head slowly to see the orange-haired man whom she guessed to be her teammate, she gazed at him without the slightest hint of emotion. "There isn't any other way. There is no way of knowing whether or not a Rocket transport Pokémon would disappear in transit, so it wouldn't be the most logical course of action. And a Rocket waterjet ship wouldn't get us there fast enough. At least not for the Boss' liking." The man's eyes seemed to relax a little, as if he were expecting a different response. Allowing himself a slight smirk, he began walking toward the boarding stairway. "Hn. I suppose. Name's Van, by the way." Narrowing her eyes slightly, Artemis followed after, trying to place where she had heard the name before. "Artemis," she said as she climbed the short flight, taking off her small backpack and placing it in one of the seats she planned on sitting next to. Taking a seat on the opposite side of the isle, Van sat and immediately turned his head toward the window, obviously not wanting to talk more than he had to. [i]"That suits me just fine,"[/i] Artemis though with a smile as the plane lurched forward, preparing to take off.[/color][/size]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Artemis sat going over last minute preparations for her mission to the Orange Islands. Going over a checklist aloud, she thought about the events that occured not a half-hour ago. [center]***[/center] Standing in Giovanni's office always made Artemis slightly uneasy. With the Venician blinds always drawn letting in slivers of light in the predominantly dark room, it always gave off the feel of the place only the most crooked of crooks would want to stick around. Although most that knew what Giovanni was really about may have considered him just that, the people that knew him as nothing more than a suave businessman couldn't imagine such a thing. Rigid in the middle of the room with his dark brown eyes locked on her, it took all her willpower not to jump when his beloved Persian began sniffing around her and nuzzling her leg, eventually making its way back to its master to sit lazily beside him. They both seemed to be smiling as he began. "You have no idea why I've called you here, do you?" "No, sir." "I've heard a lot about you, Artemis." "I see, sir." "Are you wondering if they're good or bad? Be honest." "...Yes, sir." Giovanni's smile widened as he folded his hand in front of him and leaned back in his chair. "You shouldn't. I've heard almost nothing but good things about you. One of our best agents, I hear from some." Inwardly, Artemis' heart leapt at the compliment. Outwardly, however, she only allowed herself a short nod of appreciation. "That's why I called you; I need someone good for this mission." "Mission, sir?" "Yes. I'm sure you're aware of the state of the world at the moment." "Yes, sir." "One of our research teams in the Orange Islands, the only one that we haven't lost contact with in the region, has reported that they might have found something important regarding the case. You are to go there, find out what it is, and act accordingly after reporting back." "Of course, sir." "Another thing. You'll be working with another agent." Artemis cursed herself silently after she let herself twitch visibly. "Don't work well with others?" "It's not that, sir. I just...prefer to work alone." "Hn. I see. Well, you don't really have a choice this time, as this is something that can't be screwed up. Better to have two people going at it in case one can't go on." "Of course, sir. I understand." "Good. You and your partner's transportation will be leaving in an hour. Go prepare." "Yes, sir." With a short salute, Artemis left the office, many a thought running through her mind. Why on Earth send her? She wasn't a bad agent, but she wasn't the best, either. Something of this calibur seemed like it should go to a more advanced agent, but she wasn't one to disagree with the boss. She liked living. But more importantly, what exactly was it that was going on? Reports were coming in about Pokémon disappearing from various locations worldwide and for once, the Rockets weren't responsible. "What's going on and why...That's what needs to be found out," Artemis said to herself as she turned into her quarters. "Hopefully, the research team can give us some idea..." [center]***[/center] Artemis attached both her PokéBalls to her belt and slung a small backpack over her right shoulder, completely prepared to go. As she left, she began to wonder who it was that she'd be partnered with and silently hoped they wouldn't make things any more difficult than they had to be.[/color][/size]

[QUOTE=Corey][size=1]Yo. Peep dis, holmes. College ain't everything them haters be sayin' it is, yo. Tha mindset be way diffrent, cuz. Just about all tha peeps that get their learn on, are actually there to learn, yo! It be totally diffrent than that bogus highschool BS.[/size][/QUOTE] [color=darkblue][size=1]As someone who speaks fluent Ebonics, if it weren't for that "bogus," you'd have had it pegged, lol. Anyway, like you said, everyone goes through their litle freak out phase when thinking about college. To be truthfully honest, while they are very different, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. True, there are a lot of new things that you're going to be experiencing (if you live on campus,) like living in a dorm with a roommate and waking up on time for all your classes and such, you might have to make new friends, and the cirriculum and expectations will be different, but it's nothing all that trauma-inducing (depending on how you adapt to change, heh).[/size][/color]

[color=darkblue]It's an unwritten rule at OB to try not to "grave-dig" (or bring back topics over two months old) unless there isn't another topic to post in or you bring the thread back in a very detailed manner. Seeing as though there is a more recent thread, however, I'm going to go ahead and close this one down. ^^[/color]

[color=darkblue]I do indeed remember hearing that Legal Drug has been put in hiatus until further notice in Japan, though I don't recall the exact reason given. I'm sure once our Admin, Dagger, sees this, she'll let us know, heh.[/color]

[color=darkblue]I could be wrong here, but I think that a lot of people out there classify doujin as both fan works and orgininal manga that they've done but hasn't been published. And I agree that it might help looking over some manga to see how they progress their storylines and such for reference, but just stealing their storylines and changing them around with your own characters would be bad, lol.[/color]

[color=darkblue]Iie, demo... One-liners and such things like that are really discouraged around here unless they're very focused on the topic at hand. Try to keep that in mind for me, ne? ^^[/color]

[color=darkblue]Well, there're many ways one can go about this. If you have so many ideas, write them down. That's the best way to try and organize your thoughts. Once you do that, look them over and think over each one. Can you imagine the complete plot? Can you see all the characters? Not just their appearance, but their strengths, weaknesses and quirks? What about the plot? Can you see all the places you want your characters to go? Can you see what you want them to do? Manga are stories told with pictures and dialouge. You're showing your reader what you see when you're telling the story, therefore, storylines are all about development. If you can't develop a strong plot and good pictures from the very beginning, you're pretty much digging your own grave. Sit down, think about things, and you should be able to come up with something. You may not be able to pull a Takahashi or be the next Tite Kubo, but at least it's a start, heh. ^^; Hope that helps.[/color]

[color=darkblue]It's an unwritten rule that "grave-digging" (or bringing back threads more than two months old) isn't allowed on OB generally. However, since there aren't any recent threads regarding Princess Ai and you brought it back up in a detailed manner, I'll go ahead and leave this open. ^^[/color]

[color=darkblue]You don't have to say goodbye just yet. GENZO is serializing Gravitation 2 currently and you can view the first chapter [u]legally[/u] right [url=http://www.gentosha-comics.net/genzo-e/]here.[/url] Just download the magazine and there you go. ^^ Thank Dagger for the link, heh.[/color]

[color=darkblue]This is a duplicate of a thread (that apparently escaped my notice) and has already been taken care of. That being said, I'm going to go ahead and close this. ^^;[/color]

[quote name='BurnerMan']Hey, we do this on ZeldaUniverse Forums. It's something good to do so everyone can get to know you better.[/quote] [color=darkblue]The problem is that most (though not all) new members will say something along the lines of the following: "liek zomg, Im new1! I liek inuyasha he r tehh coolies!1 :animesmil k bye :catgirl:" As I said before, there are members who start out beautifully and have no problem fitting in to the community, but there are those who simply post things like that in various sections of the forums. Having a forum dedicated to things like that (as Newbie Lounge became, though it wasn't orginally intentioned to) would only encourage the behaviour, methinks. We really don't need that sort of thing again, heh. (The preceeding post does not represent the views of the Moderators and Administrators as a whole. ^^; )[/color]

[color=darkblue]Not true. If other kids can't pick on clothes, they'll pick on shoes, accessories or whatever else they find to just demean someone. I went to both an elementary and middle school where uniforms were required, and they did nothing to help bring down the percentage of teasing (which is one of the main reasons why uniforms were implemented in my school, though I don't know if that holds true for other places.) Uniforms, while they may be able to help students abide by a dress code, just don't work to keep kids from getting picked on. Kids are cruel and they'll always find a way to make someone feel absolutely horrible about themselves. It's unavoidable.[/color]

[color=darkblue][b]As I just said in the locked thread directly after this one,[/b] there is already a Fruits Basket thread available to discuss the series, which is located [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=45198]here.[/url] [i][u]Please look for similar threads using the Search feature before posting new threads.[/i][/u] Thread Closed[/color]

[color=darkblue]There is already a Fruits Basket discussion thread located [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=45198]here.[/url] Please remember to look on on at least the first two pages of a forum to see if what you want to discuss already has a thread or not, 'kay? ^^ Thread Closed[/color]

[QUOTE=Shy][size=1]As always, beautiful work, Solo. I can't say enough nice things about the work you have done here. This is probably the closest we'll ever get to a definitive OtakuBoards history, heh. But yes, please write more good sir, that would be splendid. I think that you should write a chapter about me, and my amazingly vague position of Event Master. If only you kids [i]really[/i] knew what I did on the boards all day long... *cue evil laugh* -Shy[/size][/QUOTE] [color=darkblue][size=1]Organzing "contests" involving letting n00bs loose in the remains of the Yu Yu Hakusho forum and then listening with perverse pleasure to the resulting screams from them being consumed by ever-blazing fires and spam daemons that live there? 'Tis grand work, Solo, as always. I'm really looking forward to seeing this thread getting started again. We have been deprived for too long, lol. :p[/size][/color]

[color=darkblue]The unwritten guideline for one sentence posts it that if it's well-structured and has [i]extreme[/i] significant meaning to the thread, it's all right. However, there is an exception, that being an initial post. Please keep in mind that this is no way to start a thread in the future, 'kay? Thanks. ^^[/color]

[color=darkblue]I don'y know whether this is new or old news to you guys, but [url=www.bebeautifulmanga.com]BeBeautifulManga[/url] is sponsoring a naming contest for their newest acquisition, Kazuma Kodaka's [b]"Midaresomenishi."[/b] Seems like the winner gets a banner signed by the artist. The manga itself seems like an interesting premise (if only because I'm a sucker for samurai, heh). I just may pick it up when it comes out.[/color]

[color=darkblue]There are graphics programs that are Freeware (that is, downloadable for no charge,) out on the internet, but most of them aren't on the level of Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. For those programs, you do have to purchase them from their respective companies.[/color]

[color=darkblue]Welcome to OB, theGONZfather. If you were to read our rules, you would find that advertising of any nature is not allowed here. Please keep that in mind as you continue to post here, thanks. ^^ Thread Closed[/color]

[color=darkblue]Right, to add an image to one's signature, the image first needs to be hosted by an image hosting service, such as PhotoBucket or ImageShack. Then, take your image's url and place it inside IMG tags like so: [ img] *your url here* [ /img] (Be sure to take out the spaces.) Please keep in mind that the maximum size for images here at OB is 500x100 pixels. Hope that helps you.[/color]

[color=darkblue][size=1]You've been hiding this from me. For shame, lol. :p -------------- [b]Name:[/b] Artemis [b]Age:[/b] 19 [b]Species:[/b] Human [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Affiliation:[/b] Team Rocket [b]Appearance:[/b] Standing at 5'7", Artemis has a very lithe build and pale skin, which often times makes people write her off as fragile. However, her dark blue eyes give off a cold icyness that tend to unnerve those who are especially timid. Her ice-blue hair comes down just past her shoulders and flips up at the ends in pointed spikes, which is often held back via a black scrunchee. She wears the standard female Team Rocket uniform (black shirt with a red 'R' across the front, white arm-length gloves, a black mini-skirt and white boots) unless the situation calls for a disguise, which varies on the situation (obviously, heh.) [b]Pokemon:[/b] Ariados, Houndoom [b]Personal Equipment:[/b] Team Rocket -issue cell phone, wristband net launcher/two-way communicator, mini-escape kit (includes small file, mini-lock pick and 5 smoke bombs). [b]Personality:[/b] Artemis can come off distant and cold, even to her teammates. She tends to focus solely on her mission and doesn't like straying from it for anything less than it being called off by Giovanni. She does, however, treat her Pokemon with some amount of decency (if only minimal,) as she knows it helps them perform better than beating them when they fail. [b]Biography:[/b] Unlike most of Team Rocket's members, Artemis had a well-off life living on the ourskirts of Vermillion City growing up. Her father was a trade merchant, specializing in importing jewelry and glass works from Sunburst Island in the Orange Archipelago. Often times spending her time reading books in her room rather than playing outside with other children, Artemis became very knowledged in old legends about Pokemon and other areas of the world in general. Upon reaching 14, she had started traveling on her own to try and find more information about certain legends by studying text in each particular city, going to each of them and reading up on its history in the local library. When she arrived in Lavender Town, she met up with Mr. Fuji, who told her how he was once kidnapped by Team Rocket, as they believed he could help capture the "rare Pokemon" that haunted the town's famous Pokemon Tower. Artemis kept this in mind as she traveled on. Eventualy, she came to Cerulean City, City of the Waterflowers. Knowing that there was once believed to be a mysterious and rare Pokemon in the cave northwest of town, she planned on spelunking the cave herself to see what she could find. Along the way, she was stopped on Nugget Bridge by five trainers, each apparently involved in some sort of contest. Defeating each of them and reaching who she believed to be the organizer, he awarded her wit ha prize and offered her membership into Team Rocket. Remembering what she learned from Fuji, Artemis accepted the offer and was taken to the training Academy a few days later. Upon arriving, Artemis tried to excel in all aspects of training at the Team Rocket Training Academy. However, she often fell short of her goals and only managed to become an average student. Upon graduation, she trained on her own with her Pokemon and has improved vastly, though is not by any means an expert agent. She does manage a higher-than-normal success rate on her missions, however.[/color][/size]

[color=darkblue]That took a bit to fully comprehend. Try to work on your post quality a bit, 'kay? ^^ Anyway, I think that you're asking how one can shade and colour in general. As I've said in previous threads, this depends on whether or not you're a digital or a traditional artist. With digital art, there are several colouring methods that artists use. I personally work with PhotoShop, so this is what I do: I lay down base colors (each section on a different layer,) then go back to each layer and then shade using a color slightly darker than the base. After that's done, I go back to the first layer again and highlight using a colour lighter than the base. Keep in mind that everything should be on a seperate layer, so that if you mess up, you can just delete that one layer and you don't have to scrap the entire work. For traditional art, it may be a bit more difficult, depending on what mediums you use. For colour pieces, I find that many people like to use Copic markers. They come in a variety of colours and are great. They blend very well and all that stuff, so I would suggest using them if you're an advanced artist. If you're just starting out, though, I would suggest using coloured pencils. Using pressure and stroke patterns to your advantage can create some beautiful pieces, as I've seen on deviantART. Eyeshines and other white things like that are usually done by pen with white deleter ink. Hope that helps.[/color]

[color=darkblue]There is already a Shounen Jump thread, which is located [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=49561]here.[/url] Please take your discussion there, 'kay? ^^ Thread closed.[/color]

[color=darkblue]I personally joined way back when the boards first opened up, methinks (I've been thinking about this for a while, and I can remember when either Adam or James said that there'd be a message board going up). Being the fan of theOtaku I was, I joined up. I was a horrible, horrible little n00b back then (hard to believe, heh). But I've seen things come and go and OB evolve into what it is now; one of the best BB communities on the 'net. We may have our tiffs and snags here and there, but it's still good, heh.[/color]