Dagger

I agree with everyone else; nice timing. My only complaint is that some of the images (particularly the ones of the animals) are too dark to see clearly. If you could lighten those, and maybe clean up the quality of the other pictures, it would be fantastic. ~Dagger~

The Meta Anime Review Project gave Heat Guy J some really good ratings. I haven't ever heard of it, personally, but you've managed to pique my interest. Seems like MTV is catching onto the fact that anime (particularly shonen and action series) is a growing trend. Whether or not that's a good thing..... well, we'll see. ~Dagger~

OOC: I keep getting Lissa mixed up with Aissa. ^_^;; ********* Salome responded by inclining her head. She turned away, prepared to go interrogate the Gods, when she realized who that young woman was. "Are you an Oraisia?" she inquired, scanning her face. "Lissa Oraisia," the girl replied, bowing politely. [i]Maybe I should say more...[/i] The Lady unclasped her cloak and draped it over one arm. "Your family has bred horses for the Grays since long before I was born. I believe that my favorite mare was a gift from your father. Will you give him my greetings?" "Of course," Lissa said promptly, almost taken aback. The woman could have asked for anything, and that was a rather simple request. She watched Salome out of the corner of her eye, curious, but trying not to be rude. The Lady rarely ventured out in public, and the townspeople always whispered about why a wealthy, strikingly lovely noblewoman would be unable to marry, even by the age of twenty-seven. "I'm here to ask the Gods some questions," the older woman told her, lips curving in what might have been a genuine smile. Some of the frost had melted from her ice-blue eyes. "I don't come here often.... Perhaps you might like to show me around?" Lissa blinked. "Of course," she repeated, and automatically took the Lady's cloak. Salome tilted her head, pleased. She was of average height, but despite her erect carriage, seemed rather petite. There was an almost doll-like quality to her fair, symmetrical features and elaborately pinned hair.

*squirms nervously* I apologize in advance for continuing the off-topicness. PhoenixFlame: [spoiler]Jenova is NOT Sephiroth's mother. Lucrecia was treated with Mako energy and injected with cells from Jenova while she was pregnant with Sephiroth, which made him the way he is. Since Vincent was in love with Lucrecia, it is highly likely that he, rather than Hojo, is Sephiroth's father.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

Er...... didn't you make a separate thread for just the avatar? Anyway, the banner is somewhat pixely. Try to smooth it out a little, and make the text more readable. Nice use of orange, though. Your avatar is extremely difficult to see.... instead of shrinking that image, why don't you do a close-up of one of the character's faces? ~Dagger~

Haha, I love it. Simple (in a good way!), cute, and funny. My only nitpick is that Kurama (from Yu Yu Hakusho) would probably be better suited to the theme than Inuyasha, as Inuyasha's clothing generally looks red (in the anime as well as in most of the manga covers), while Kurama's school outfit is most certifiably pink. Disregarding that, your banner is hilarious and well-executed. *claps hands* ~Dagger~

Like the title said, I'll post my banners in this thread. (That rhymed, didn't it. Oy.) The image attached below is a RahXephon banner, featuring the character Mishima Reika. She's a mysterious, soft-spoken girl, and I thought using greyscale might bring out that aspect of her personality. ~Dagger~

Meh. I don't see what there is to like about this game. It's incredibly short, and the fighting isn't exactly anything to get excited about. Graphics don't make or break a game, but the poor graphics didn't exactly further my enjoyment of it. Come on, folks. Just because it's Inuyasha doesn't mean it's good. ~Dagger~

Being the shonen-ai fan that I am, I've been eyeing this series for quite a while. But it seems to have gotten mixed reviews, and I'm uncertain whether the boxed set would be worth the money. So for those of you that have seen Yami no Matsuei, is it good in its own right (not just as a shonen-ai show)? I've also heard that it's a rip-off of CLAMP's Tokyo Babylon. Is that true? ~Dagger~

Haha, gotta love PA. Pocky seems to be everyone's perennial favorite.... I like it, but I don't think it's amazing enough to warrant any kind of addiction. Since my mom's Korean, we usually have more Korean candy than Japanese sitting around the house. ~Dagger~

I once read a book called "The Silver Kiss" (well, something to that effect), so the first thing that comes to mind is vampiric love.... Or maybe that's not what your poem's about. >_> I agree with AzureWolf's suggestion. "Drifting into mist" flows far better than "drifting into a mist." Besides, that really enhances the assonance of "drift" and "mist." Also, it's "smoldering," not "smuldering," and "surprising," not "suprising." ~Dagger~

It's a nice first banner. I like how the font matches her hair color. However, the red kind of clashes with the calm turquoise of the text... try putting a silvery-white color (as in the background) behind it instead. The images are a little fuzzy, too. Is that because of the source material, or because you saved it at a low quality setting? In general, a good effort. ~Dagger~

OOC: We [i]cannot[/i] let this die. With that having been said.... ******* When Leile awoke, it was night--or at least some semblance thereof. The sky hung low and heavy above them, a seething mass of charcoal clouds that extended for miles around. She could not see where they began or ended. She rolled over, groaning softly. Her head was throbbing madly. There must have been some light--after all, she could see--but it was an unnatural glow that seemed to originate from the air itself, rather than from the blocked-out sun. Somewhere in the distance, she glimpsed a plume of pitch-black smoke, billowing from the charred ruins of-- [i]Ma'Uriith.[/i] It was far worse than Leile could ever have imagined. If anyone had stayed in the city, they would surely now be dead. She bit her fist, fighting back a fresh onslaught of tears. [i]What could have done this....?[/i] "Are you afraid?" She whirled around, wincing as her headache intensified. Anubis stood there, supported by his staff, silver hair blowing wildly in the cold, harsh wind. It felt nothing like spring--but then again, little about this desolate landscape was normal. "It doesn't really matter," Leile replied slowly. She wondered how long he had been watching her. "Where's Aissa?" "Still unconscious," he said calmly, pointing towards a limp form lying a short distance away. "She probably won't revive for a good while. In any event, we've arrived on the outskirts of Ma'Uriith." Leile ran to Aissa's side, her chest tight with worry. She crouched down and shook the girl's shoulder. "Aissa? Aissa!" Anubis offered her a wry smile before turning to survey the fallen city. "Did you hear a word I just said? She completely overdid that spell. Her body needs to rest and recover from the strain." The Ethai'En girl sat down on a nearby rock, shoulders slumping. "So what're we going to do in the meantime? Do you even know what's happened here?"

Very nice sketch. I actually think the proportions are pretty good.... you shouldn't change the guy's head size if that's just your style (or if you're going for a more chibi-fied look). I also like his pose--it looks natural, rather than awkward or stiff. And though sketchy, his hands are impressively realistic. Overall, wonderful work. ~Dagger~

Great thread! Voices of a Distant Star: This OVA is packed with emotional moments, but the one which hit me the hardest was when[spoiler]Noboru finally receives Mikako's text message, after eight long years, and it reads, "Happy twenty-fourth birthday, from your fifteen-year old me."[/spoiler] That just made me break down in tears. The English dub was absolutely incredible, and the voice actress delivered that line so perfectly. It was the epitome of bittersweetness. Read or Die: I first watched this show for its animation and endearing characters. The plot was quirky and cute--I just didn't expect the ending to be so heartrending. [spoiler]I seriously thought that Nancy was going to die once she let go of Yomiko's hand. Yomiko's grief really touched me, and the fact that Nancy actually lived--though without her old memories--made her sorrow no less compelling.[/spoiler] Hmm... I'll post more, once I think of 'em. ~Dagger~

That's understandable. But there's nothing stopping you from revising and/or tweaking the poem now. Many of our greatest writers have suffered from various emotional issues. Nevertheless, I'm sure they made certain that their work was polished and professional before showing it to others. You should take pride in the fact that your writing is as good as you can possibly make it. This includes using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. ~Dagger~

My boyfriend's going as Spike, from Cowboy Bebop. One of my female friends plans on being Buffy the Vampire Slayer.... leather pants and all. Another group wants to attend the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and will therefore dress (or cross-dress, as the case may be) accordingly. I'll probably just be the annoying person who swipes all the candy from those bowls that really nice/gullible people leave on their doorsteps. ~Dagger~

I wouldn't describe it as "freaky," just strange and rather random. Then again, so are many of the good things in life. I love the skull action towards the beginning. For some reason, it reminds me of those Hamster Dance websites. The background is slightly insane, but I presume that you were trying to make it that way. The font looks really cool, particularly when it gets all neon and glow-y. If you wanted to make any changes, I'd add more of a border (rather than just those two columns of vertebrae). ~Dagger~

That John Mayer song is called "No Such Thing." If I remember correctly, it was his first big hit. The one song I'm truly embarrassed about liking is Liz Phair's new single, "Why Can't I?" She's an older, ex-indie artist and single mother who somehow manages to sound exactly like Avril Lavigne. That's probably due to the fact that the Matrix songwriting team produced both women's recent albums. EDIT: Rammstein is amazing. ~Dagger~

From what I can tell, it doesn't seem as though she was inviting them to come cause trouble at OB. Magdalena was always a little harsh in her critiques. I'm sure she didn't mean to be unkind or impolite, but one generally ought to be a bit more careful with one's words, particularly since it's much easier to take offense over the Internet than in person. I don't think I know enough about this situation to cast judgment upon any of the parties involved. Although you may have brought up a valid point, I'd prefer to simply trust Syk3's decision and leave it at that. Besides, one of Magdalena's comments ("So you strive to do worse?") was definitely out of line. No matter how she meant that, it struck me as being unhelpful, antagonizing, and basically rude. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Michelangelo [/i] [B]I'm looking forward to all the fighting that is going to happen and I hope that the dwarf is going to be funny again. [/B][/QUOTE] "The dwarf" is called Gimli. And though the action will surely be magnificient, I hope that's not the only reason you plan on watching RotK. There's so much more to both the books and the movies than fighting--no matter how epic its battles, LotR is ultimately about plot and characters. If you've read the trilogy, you'll know what I mean. Tolkien's material was never intended for description-phobics. ~Dagger~

Zidane/Vivi?? No offense, hon, but that's too weird for even me. On another note, I've never heard of yaoi as being "pointless, plotless sex." According to what I've read, shonen-ai and shoujo-ai is mostly mild, fluffy romance; yaoi and yuri is simply more intense, serious, mature, and [i]sometimes[/i] more sexual. Hentai is hentai, whether het, male/male, or female/female. But I doubt that most people who call themselves fans of yaoi mean to imply that they're fans of PWP. Just a tip. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by IloveBebop [/i] [B]Once again, yaoi is [b]not real[/b]. If you don't like it, don't bother to look for it or at it. Just remember that it's fan fiction, not manga created by the creators (I just realized that that sounds a little weird). [/B][/QUOTE] Er, I've got a quick correction to make. First of all, some yaoi/shonen-ai is real, some is not. I assume that by "real," you mean "canon." In that case, there are many examples of canon shonen-ai couples.... including Shuichi/Yuki from Gravitation, Tsuzuki/Hisoka from Yami no Matsuei, and Itsuki/Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho. Other pairings are open to interpretation. For example, Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho, specifically stated that although he didn't originally mean for Hiei and Kurama to be together, the readers/viewers could decide for themselves whether or not the two were romantically involved. Lastly, some couples are simply extremely unlikely, or have been denied by the people who created those characters. These would probably be found solely in the realm of fanfiction. ~Dagger~

Nice work! Your Eva "Fate/Free Will" banner looks [i]so[/i] much better. I particularly like the new font.... its color seems to match Kaworu's eyes, which makes for a rather aesthetically pleasing effect. ~Dagger~

Heh, I recognize that image from Quizilla..... Anyway, I like the banner very much. The font and background picture match quite well. However, the text is a bit hard to read. Just a little bit. Also, its color seems slightly off. Darkening it would probably solve both problems. ~Dagger~