AzureWolf

[COLOR=blue]We had a creeky apartment before we bought our own house. If people from downstairs (yes, downstairs) walked around, our floor would creek like as if some invisible person was walking on our creeky floor. It was the worst when you tried to sleep. One time, I woke up in the middle of the night to find myself all alone. I didn't know my parents and siblings were having a late night party (or just a feast for whatever reason), and I wondered what happened to them. Then I heard the creeky footsteps. It was dark, and so I thought at first that one of my parents came back, then I realized there was no one there. I bolted so fast for the door and ran through the house. This reminds me of the times my parents felt like security blankets: you hug them and everything was magically ok. Those used to be such nice times. ^^[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]There are no success stories I can give you. However, there was a postcard sent anonymously to that site where people make confessions about things they aren't willing to say to others in person (I can't link it because it also has pornographic postcards). One had a silhouette (sp?) of a baby trying to walk with the mother's help. On the silhouette, it says, "I'm adopted." These postcards are usually sent by 20+, even 60 year olds, mind you, so I would consider that a success story in some way. You probably already know this, but nothing can replace a mother's love, even if she is ill-equipped to care for it. But humans are strong, quick to adapt, and I'm sure your adopted baby will do just fine. Certainly, what you chose to do was noble and more sound than the other options available to mothers. Out of curiosity, will you ever know the outcome of your baby like, 10 or 20 years down the line? Or is it like those things where it is anonymous?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]I'm all for downloading. I think people make the wrong assumptions about people who download. They see them as leecherous, uncaring, and unforgiving hoards who are being dicks. Well, a new survey has shown that people who download music have a great propensity to buy music, digital or otherwise. This fact goes back to my original idea of how most downloaders are (well, in the survey, they just had a greater tendency than non-downloaders, not necessarily the majority) a "try before you buy" type of people. They want to see if something is worth buying or not before grabbing it.[/COLOR] P.S. I'll look for the article if anyone doesn't believe me. ^^

[QUOTE=ShadowFaintZero][SIZE=1]And I have a question aimed at you [B]Lore[/B] How is telling mixed company that you persay, enjoy watching Hentai, or perverted anime setting oneself's up for ridicule? In my opinion, you should be made fun of, if you believe keeping it to yourself is the way to go. What's the point of doing something if your afraid to tell someone? :animeblus [/SIZE][/QUOTE] [COLOR=blue]If you are announcing to people that you watch porn (of any kind), the person should be someone close or a good friend. You shouldn't go up to random strangers or bad Joes and shout "I just put my seed in an anime girl!" That's what she is referring to. First off, if you haven't known the person long enough or well enough to know if they are comfortable around that type of conversation (which, really, I don't think any circle of close friends should talk about), then it's flat-out rude to bring it up. And so, you shouldn't be surprised if that a person mocks or ridicules you, since you don't know the person well enough to know their reaction. In this sense, you are setting yourself up. Hope that cleared things up. ^^[/COLOR]

[quote name='Axel666']I'm sorry or asking this question but I'm not all that sure what it is if anyone can tell me please do if not I'll ask someone else....[/quote] [COLOR=blue]Hentai is anime characters having sex. Yaoi is two male anime characters having sex, and Yuri is two female characters having sex. So, it's sex, gay sex, lesbian sex, respectively, but in anime form. Lore has a very good point though. Why is anyone finding about another person's... "personal" habits in the first place? Oh, and if anyone says Sugoi, I swear... *shudders at scary memories*[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Just checking in to let you know your idea worked, Petie. Thanks a bunch for the help. You know, with how simple the solution was, it seems pretty stupid that I couldn't figure it out by myself. Anyway! Thanks a bunch! ^^[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Just to turn the tables around a bit, I was thinking about the original post and how adults percieve anime differently. You are right: there is a line. I look at our generation and how they look at anime. We saw it as something deep and meaningful, saying it has just as many merits as other mediums, putting up there with the greatest books, movies, and shows of all time. This predisposition, however, is starting to show its consequences. Now our generation is overanalyzing anime, putting more substance than what's there, and most definitely not just enjoying the show as something simple and nice. Children watch anime and can enjoy it on that level. Sure, there are [strike]some[/strike] [strike]few[/strike] very few animes that have deeper meanings to them, but they are truly few and far between. So, I think, while anime can certainly be for adults, sometimes we should enjoy them like kids do. ^^[/COLOR]

[quote name='Charles']I've purchased every Guilty Gear title with the exception of Isuka. I've heard that the four player aspect wasn't pulled off well because the game required you to press a button to turn around. That, coupled with the four-player aspect, immediately destroyed my interest. [/quote] [COLOR=blue]I've been a fan for as long as you have. Let me tell you right now: it takes A HELLUVA LOT OF TIME to get used to the controls and how to block in Isuka. However, when you do get the very advanced and not user-friendly control style down, it is a blast to play. Also, the extras of the game really make it hard to stop playing. The neatest feature is RoboKy, where you can customize him with anyone's move. Basically, a "make your own character type" of thing. I think it's the first time any game has included something like that. I have to say, the Guilty Gear series has always impressed me. For a fighting game, their story is fantastic. The character designs are so refreshing. When I first saw Dizzy, I thought, "OMFG! That's ingenious! Why didn't anyone come up with juxtaposed wings before?!"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Eventually, some time down the line, there will be one definition of anime. Right now, though, there are those who define anime by location, and others by style. That is, "Anime can only come from Japan" vs. "Anime is anything anime-ish." I lean towards style myself. If something looks like an anime, has an anime-like story, and even has anime-like openings and endings, then it most certainly is an anime. Of course, we'll see if any US company is not greedy enough to limit one of their shows to 26 episodes.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Us anime fans tend to be quieter and more personal with our hobby. However, those who are verbal are the worst of us. That is to say, you have these people who try and represent anime and by doing so, give us all a bad name. Think about it: how often do you express anime-related things? Not very much. On the other hand, there are people who associate everything with anime: love, fighting, theory, you name it. I'm sick of some people comparing every new movie that comes out to Mononoke Hime. So, to answer your question, it's just that the majority of us are reserved, polite, and very indifferent, so very few people ever become aware of anime interest. They only find out about people's interest in anime by those people who love anime too much, and so just stereotype and think all anime fans are like that. Hope that made sense, heh.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]You have to remember the backgrounds of these two shows. Kenshin is a fictional tale taking place in a true historical setting. Likewise, Kenshin's style is quite realistic. On the other hand, Samurai Champloo is a fictional tale in a non-historical setting (just some Japanese place at some Samurai-related time). Jing's style, while holding some realistic rules, is quite outrageous. Some of the techniques he pulls really leaves him more open than is allowed by master Samurai's. Also, his balance is very exaggerated. I would say a better comparison would be Samurai Deeper Kyo and Kenshin because the fighting styles are more realistic. Because Jing has the advantage of leaving himself open but having the ability to suddenly maintain an unrealistic balance and/or defense afterwards, it'd be hard to say who would win in a fight unless we decided in which universe they were fighting in. That is, does Kenshin come across Jing in the Kenshin universe, or Champloo universe? If the former, I'm strongly tempted to say Kenshin would win without trouble. If the latter, I'm not quite sure how Kenshin would handle the new rules of physics. But I think he'd adapt pretty quickly. Still, since Jing's myriad of openings would no longer be openings, I'm not sure. Need to watch more Champloo, I guess.[/COLOR] EDIT: Crack, I was referring to Mugen, not Jing. X_X Ignore this post, haha.

[COLOR=blue]#3, you don't know if you've been picked or not, though. It's more than likely that Syk3 has picked members with good taste such as yourself. I wretch at the thought of people unlike you moderating it. "Oh, I really like the picture he used: doesn't matter if he just cropped it onto a premade background." XD Anyway, how are the rounds themselves performed? A picture is given and an order? That is, "here is a picture of Nash, make a wallpaper out of it." Or is it like, you just make graphics?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]If there's something to criticize, it's watching porn, not what type of porn you watch. IMO, there's nothing wrong with which variety of porn is your flavor. I think you misunderstand most people's criticism about anime porn. There are just some people who take the admiration of anime too far, so far that they prefer anime to the real deal. I think that's a line you really have to "self-learn" to cross. That is, something is wrong with you if you feel that way. No one should be criticized for watching anime porn. However, you should keep in mind that if a person ONLY watches anime porn, why he/she chooses to do so. There are valid reasons, such as porn being really bland and/or disgusting, but there are more deranged reasons as mentioned above. I'm not saying any kind of porn is ok, but if you watch porn, the type shouldn't matter. Just remember not to let it affect you to such a degree that it conditions you into thinking there is something more beautiful than the human body. ^^[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]While I know this has become the "Help Ms. Roxie" thread, I was hoping someone can help me with my peculiar problem. ;) Lately, I've made a ton of system changes. I unfortunately didn't keep track of them. I installed and uninstalled a lot of programs for the sake of checking them out. Then my work went into overtime and I didn't use my computer enough to notice a problem that could have been there for months (who browses their computer files anyway?). Anyway, whenever I use windows explorer, it works for a while and then freezes up. If I wait like, twenty minutes, it'll unfreeze (and then freeze later), but usually I have to ctrl-alt-delete it. It happens more frequently if I put the window out of focus for a while. Is there anything I could do to fix this minor nuisance aside from a full, unadulterated format?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Tom Cruise, great actor, one of my favorites. But his opinions are just a reflection of his blind devotion to this Scientology religion he joined. He's only preaching what they feed him. If he didn't say them so mechanically and had more basis for saying what he says, then I'd value his opinions more. As for the question at hand, every doctor knows and will tell you the same thing: drugs, prescriptions, and all other human interventions are only half the cure. The other half is from the self. It's been well-documented that if you are happy and optimistic, you overcome a sickness faster, and if you are depressed and pessimistic, the opposite occurs. If people have enough willpower, they can overcome quite more than the "average" person. You'll always hear the story about the doctor who says, "Oh, he'll never walk again." And then the person becomes so resolved and determine to oust the doctor that he does the seemingly impossible. However, while the doctor says, "He'll never walk again," he knows that's what the person needs to hear in order to be motivated enough to overcome the affliction. So really, the doctor is saying one thing but means, "He can walk again, but only if he thinks he can't anymore. If I say he can if he tries, then he won't try hard enough." Don't get me wrong, it's not like the doctor is flat-out lying either. It's more a case of, the person is more than likely not going to ever walk again, but putting it this way, there's a slim chance he could. Our generation has always been more devoted to the school of rational thinking and therefore has seriously underestimated and ignored the irrational school. So we are so stuck on believing on tangible medications that we forget the capacity of the mind, body, and spirit.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Yeah, I guess that smiley face doesn't really show humor, heh. My mistake. It was just a joke as to how poor artists usually are. In all seriousness, though, I imagine an anime/manga artist would have about the same payment as any other frequent artist does. So, people who make comics, maybe, or something... Come to think of it, what does any average artist make? O_o Throw me a bone, people. I'm science, not humanities.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]I still think the idea of an introduction forum would deflect off a lot of useless and redundant threads and keep the other forums in a much more impressive state than they are in now. I think people are looking at the introduction forums the wrong way, though. It's not like the introduction forum is going to be excluded from the rules of OB and people can just spam. Instead, a person can introduce himself, and not just in the stereotypical way people believe. Rather, his/her thread should introduce any urge he/she has to make threads like "favorites," "How did I find OB?" "What my username means," "I'm pro-gay, why aren't you?" "Bakura is SO HOT!" "I wonder why Inuyasha was taken off Adult Swim?" and so forth. And so you have a person truly introducing him/herself. Just as a sampling: [QUOTE]Hey OtakuBoards! I'm AzureWolf and I love .hack! I came across this forum while searching for .hack-related material, and I really liked your discussions! I'm AzureWolf because my favorite animals are wolves, and my favorite color is blue. I also dress up with my friends and howl at the moon when it's full! I wanted to be gay when I grew up but that didn't pan out since free will doesn't exist. However, I still find Bakura to be very hot since he looks so much like a girl! And why doesn't Inuyasha just get with Kagome already?! It makes me so angry! :mad: [/QUOTE] From this made-up example (well, mostly made-up), we learn a lot about the member. How he found OB ([strike]how did you find OB?[/strike] thread), why he picked his name ([strike]what does your username mean?[/strike]), his disposition towards gays ([strike]should gay marriage be legal?[/strike]), whether or not he believes in free will ([strike]free will vs determinism[/strike]) what his favorite anime and animal is ([strike]favorite anime?[/strike]), and so forth. Also, he clearly has issues, and needs to learn to stop one or two sentences before his thoughts do. And by looking at other new people's threads, new members might pair up or feel more comfortable. People who joined in the month of - say - April 2005 would be the Apr2005 members and easing into OB with other newbies will be easier. Just tossing out ideas.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Morpheus']There is no way that's accurate. A company can't afford to pay every artist they employ six figures.[/quote][COLOR=blue]Yeah, but I just thought he meant yen, and since the yen sign isn't readily available, he used dollars instead. 125000 yen would make a lot more sense. ;)[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]Also, try closing all windows, including your myO site, and then clearing your internet cache. That should remove all problems, unless you are behind a proxy, in which case you will have to wait a few days for the server to accept that a new picture has been loaded.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]This is an interesting idea. Aside from providing higher quality fluff, though, I don't know what else video entertainment groups can do. I'm really asking: aside from higher quality free stuff, what else can they do? I'm only saying this because digital material can be copied easily. So, if they have "exclusive BT downloads (i.e., pictures, music, bonus footage, etc.) by registering your product," it's going to be hard (rather, harder) to prevent distribution since it's already digital in form. And if it's free stuff, it's more than likely going to be stuff that just sucks. Trailers are good, but ultimately, aside from making your mouth water, they don't do anything.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue][B]Shadow of Destiny[/B] got me into learning about Alchemy, and [B]Fullmetal Alchemist[/B] made me consider the psychological and moral aspects of being a scientist (or alchemist :rolleyes: ). [B]Soul Reaver[/B] was a big influence in both my writing and critical thinking. It demonstrated how things should not be seen so arrogantly as most people tend to percieve, and for all things, there is always a third, less discernable outcome/choice/phenomenon that people tend to overlook. Afterall, there are three sides to a coin, not two. After experiencing Soul Reaver's story, my writing skills improved a lot because I wasn't always so predictable and very straightforward with things. To this day, there are still very few books and stories in any form that surpass Soul Reaver's. According to quite a few people, I apparently became more "tranquil" after watching [B]Haibane Renmei[/B]. Everyone said I seemed more relaxed/tolerant/patient afterwards. Of course, they didn't know I watched Haibane Renmei, so it was interesting. I myself didn't notice a difference. I'm not sure about this one, but I think [B].hack//SIGN[/B] pushed me to add more music to my life. [B]Suikoden[/B] (the entire series) did the same as Soul Reaver and .hack//SIGN did for me, but probably more strongly than those two did combined, heh. [B]Evangelion[/B] and [INSERT GUNDAM SERIES NAME HERE] made me realize that a large percentage of people will be unconsciously sold into emotional melodrama as long as it is covered with a poorly-patched veil of "substance." People seem to like cheesy melodrama, but only as long as they don't realize that's what they are watching. If there's even the slightest attempt to cover - no matter how clearly pathetic and obvious a cover it is - people will buy into it. I had the chance to actually use this fact at least once each year in college, which got me some good grades on quite a few papers when I had no opinion or just didn't care. Genetically-modified crops? Mother Nature will cry, but Mankind needs to go cheat behind mother's back. Boo-hoo. Rewritten to, "Evolution will suffer, and maybe things will become worse, but planetary evolution is superceded by the good for innocent people," and you've got a satisfied teacher. (In my defense, I do have an opinion on Genetically-modified crops now, but when I had to write the paper, I couldn't care less) After watching [B]Madlax[/B], I did double-check a few of my previous writings to make sure my philosophy or theme followed reality and not the other way around. I noticed that, like Bee Train, I was kind of going off-track and making reality an outcome of philosophy, instead of the philosophy explaining reality. There's probably more, but that's all I could come up with right now. In fact, everything I'm exposed to tends to influence me rather strongly... ^^[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]This summer, I find myself a little overwhelmed with everything that I'm doing, leaving little to no time to do things I want. Work easily eats up way too much of the day (9-4, I don't take lunch breaks ^^). Hell, I don't even have time to get eight hours of sleep at night! Because of this time dilemma, when I am doing something that requires more than one day, I try my darndest to do as much as possible, even though I should just be focused on the current task at hand. But that's going beyond my question, heh. So how do you tend to manage your time? Are you on top of things, having everything scheduled and controlled, or are you spontaneous and "for the moment?" I used to be a "for the moment" type of person, but this summer, it's just not working out. So I'm slowing making my way towards scheduling. What's annoying about scheduling things is that the initial scheduling part takes up a lot of time unto itself, but after setting up your schedule, changing, tagging, and striking things takes only a moment.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]I think C. J. Jung was the last popular alchemist, so you might want to see his works on the "Alchemy of the Mind." However, speaking from a strictly material position, there are no more alchemists. Jung, however, pushed alchemy into the 20th (and 21st) century by considering the other side of alchemy and showing how alchemical practices and (more importantly) principles are pertinent to the human psyche. I have this one book called "Alchemical Psychology" by Cavalli (some Jungian Ph.D.) that you might be interested in. To be entirely honest, though, I thought most of the stuff was a load of crock.

[COLOR=blue]The Naruto Gecko Ninja (or whatever) series for the GC is surprisingly good. Of course, like most TV-to-Game creations, it isn't the most amazing fighting game or anything. Blocking blocks everything, and all you have to do to block is stand still. Also, some characters are distinctly weaker than others (see: Hinata vs Neji). However, the four-player mayhem it allows is really enjoyable. I would recommend part 3 of the series simply because it has the best of the previous games and then some. All you need to do to play the game is Action Replay, which is very easy to get, so importing isn't such a big deal. And the menus you can figure out ("versus" followed by "dattebayo"). Also, you might be interested to know that GC has quite a few good anime-like games, where the characters are anime-ish. Some of these games are really good (Tales of Symphonia), but I think other people know about those games better than I do.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Weirdo']The generally accepted theory is that anything (language) you learn after a certain age will be difficult--why children can pick up a new language more easily than their parents. I forget the term for it, although I should know. Oh well. //[/quote][COLOR=blue]Was the term "plasticity?" I'm curious because I didn't know they actually had a word for it, haha. Everyone has different temperaments, and some people are able to pickup new languages quicker than others. However, the first language you [B]learn[/B] (NOT acquire (thanks Sara)) is always the hardest. For whatever reason, the second and third languages are quicker to pickup. On the other hand, I've never heard someone learning - say - Spanish and then learning Japanese quicker. So, that rule of thumb might just apply to learning a Romantic language followed by another Romantic one. Also, if you learn a new language when you are younger, learning other languages is easier when you are older. I've "mastered" Latin, but like Sara, I lack a good vocabulary for my mastery to be noticed. I can read sentences and know what everything is rerferring to or what part of the sentence it is acting for (no matter how complicated), but it's useless without a good vocabulary.[/COLOR]