Cahoots34

- Sign-up - Name: Chen Jie-Ling Sobriquet: Gal Age: 19 Gender: Female Appearance/Description: Jie-Ling's average stature and broad, plain face denote a modest origin otherwise belied by pale skin, plump figure and long, thick hair. Affiliation: Pearls of Winter sympathizer and trade contact Weapons: Her wits and a small dagger more accustomed to rending open correspondence than assailants Circumstances: The third of five daughters born to an aspiring merchant, Jie-Ling plays the role of dutiful daughter, cultivating her ailing father's business in the interest of the Pearls and encouraging the political enthusiasm of her young husband, Bao-Zhi. Introduction: Jie-Ling seated herself in her father's office with ease. On the pretext of cleaning, she had seated herself beside her husband and father in the dim glow of the dying fire, rustling papers in an innocuous fashion and remembering to drop something now and then to earn a chastisement for her feminine incompetence. Her husband began an animated recount of the latest meeting of town's liberal faction, and her father's failing vision and mind were soon engrossed in the tale. Jie-Ling smiled indulgently, occasionally interjecting a cry of awe at some such 'progressive' theory even as she made minute corrections to the next day's objectives. The clerks would find them in the morning, and all but the shrewdest would think them her husband's. All the better, then, to have bought the loyalty of every remotely clever clerk in the household; it was a wise investment. She rifled through a handful of reciepts, selecting a few to tuck away into her sleeve, and was about to review the day's records before she realized that her husband's narrative had stumbled from its easy pace over the stone of her name. "Jie-Ling? Are you listening to me?" She smiled politely. "Forgive me, husband. What may I do for you?" "I had just remembered. Another package arrived from your friend in the mountains today." Her demure smile brightened minutely as she grasped the parcel, tearing it open delicately to reveal a folded length of richly embroidered amethyst silk. The expression of pure delight that crossed her face was not entirely manufactured, especially as her ears caught the faint crinkle of parchment concealed within the fabric's folds. "Thank you very much, dear husband." She rose to her feet. "If you will permit me, I must begin my reply. It would be unseemly to keep such a friend waiting." (Er, not to seem overly precocious, but will there be an opporunity to play several characters?)

A question of taste: I know that I, personally, tend to favour subtler series (where the pairings are mostly fangirl fluff and nonsense) over their more explicit counterparts, which tend to be plagued by the same troubles and tired cliches as het romances (where the pairings are mostly canon fluff and nonsense). I'd rather the characters' relationship intrigue me so thoroughly that I'm happy out in left field with nothing more than a half-baked misinterpretation of meaningless dialogue to show for my agonizing analysis than be bombarded with the coagulated mass of trite stereotypes and unengaging drama that romance series (the ones that intend to be romance series, anyway) seem fraught with. Has anyone else noticed this pattern? If so, does it affect the choice of series you'll consider viewing? As for the question I think I'd initially intended to answer, I'm sure the reason I like yaoi/yuri is either insufferably Freudian or... I don't know. Simply a question of taste, perhaps?

High school is tedious and my parents are indulgent, so I find I'm making quite a habit of this lately. I also find that I get a lot more done when I have the seclusion and healthy amount of sleep that I get out of sick days, which is hardly an incentive to stop.

[B]Underrated:[/B] Queen: Infectious pop-rock with daring subject range and outstandingly innovative musicality. The real tragedy is that their most well-known songs are their least impressive, and famous only for their ability to provoke the unwashed masses into fits of rhythmic stamping and chanting. Cream: Psychadelic blues featuring Eric Clapton and Jimmy Paige. Surely even my irredeemably tasteless generation can appreciate that dynamic combination. The Zombies: One of the few great British Invasion rock bands, and one of fewer still to incorporate jazz beat and baseline into standards of the style. The Eagles: Electrified country with more on its mind than lovelorn ballads, and more to offer than just Hotel California. The Zutons: Thanks to Transtic Nerve's apt reccomendation, I can confirm that this group is both fantastic and severely underrated, and certainly not to be missed.

Tedious Rambilngs: Having encountered both, I'd have to reccomend the series itself, but in anime form, English dub version. Now, before I'm shot for praising a dub, I'd like to say in my defense that it's done in a style much like Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and much of the same voice cast is involved. What I saw (of both series, acutally) in English was vastly funnier than what I saw in Japanese. That editorial aside, the main reason I preferred the anime (aside from the super-hilarious dub) is that the art was so much more tolerable, at least for me. If you're not really concerned with that, however, you'll probably enjoy it quite a bit. I am a girl, much to my perpetual dissappointment, but I feel that the series is grounded enough in its subtle and infectuous humour that even sweeping romantic and emotional themes can't dampen its appeal to both genders. (That applies to both manga and show.) Summary: It's hilarious and apprecably gender-neutral. I'd reccomend it. Disclaimer: All of my comments about the manga were based on the version I 'read' (I'm barely literate) in Chinese, so I can't claim an overwhelming amount of certainty about anything except that I disliked the art. Immensely.

I'd like any show with 'Gundam' in the title to make a return to television. If the rest of the title happened to be 'Wing', well, I'd hardly be dissappointed. I've also been missing Lupin III and this one particular incarnation of Batman that I can't quite remember the name of.

On my laptop, I keep the entirety of Gundam Wing, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Cowboy Bebop. I try to watch at least an episode of each per week. I think I'm on my fifth time through each series. I also keep Castle of Cagliostro, which is my nonfattening chocolate substitute for truly depressing situations (Bush election, inability of Cartoon Network to play YYH the whole way through, etc.). If I had the extra space both in hard drive and brain cells, I'd probably want YYH, Lupin III, and Ranma 1/2. How interesting that of all the animes in existence, a certain few keep coming up over and over in this thread...

Teenage empowerment. Assuming you identify as deeply with the characters as I did, it's as though you've just been given a giant robot and sent to bomb the unmentionable out of adults, show them the error of their tyrannical ways and lead them to peace. Doesn't that feel good?

For me, the best sort of storyline would have a shounen basis (perhaps the impending demise of Earth, to be averted only by a band of improbably attractive and skilled orphans), incorporate some science fiction (the attractive orphans have giant robots) and some intellectually stimulating themes (pacifism, unity, morality) and quite a good deal of action for those moments when my mind begins to wander (giant robot brawl!). The science fiction is really optional, though, and intellectual stinulation is often readily replaced with comedy and innuendo (male martial artist falls into spring, turns into girl...). Originality is important too.

A few thoughts on a subject I have too many thoughts on: Gundam Wing: My all-time favourite. Compelling characters, intricate plot, cool mecha and intriguing, if often labyrinthine, aspects of political and martial theory. Bonus: Yaoi speculations G Gundam: All of the drama of Gundam Wing (with almost none of the attempted intellectualism). Despite a fairly standard "destroy evil, save the world" formula populated with an unintenionally amusing array of cultural stereotypes (A haughty and effinate Frenchman wielding a phallic symbol and a bunch of flowers? How strikingly original.*), it's a highly entertaining adventure, if not always in the way it's meant to be. Bonus: Skintight bodysuits (Major source of humour. Can't figure out why that wasn't continued in later series.) SD Gundam: Compund intolerance of both CGI and overwhelming cuteness prompted me to skip this entirely. Can I assume I haven't missed anything too spectacular? Bonus: That moment of embarrassed silence among mech fans whenever it's mentioned aloud (Also v. funny, even for a mech fan like myself.) Gundam SEED: Even for a franchise as shamelessly commercial as Gundam, this was a bit transparent. I felt that quite a bit of potential was left unexplored for the sake of the plot's marketability. Bonus: The knowledge that entertainment value and originality (or lack thereof) will never stand in the way of consumerism (Er, yay?) Sadly enough, I'm hardly knowledgeable enough about the rest to make any comments (not in the company of people who know what they're talking about, anyway). I've either not watched them (Zeta, A-Turn, V) or was a bit too young to appreciate them when I did (0080, 0083, etc.). Any specific reccomendations? *My French relatives found him absolutely hilarious, though.

"They say reading is dead. But isn't. It's just.... pathologically crippled." -John Stewart, The Daily Show With television and computers' complete enthrallment of our culture and ascendance to the status of most prevalent social influence, has reading become an obsolete form of entertainment? Whether you're painfully aware of such a tragedy or convinced that nothing of the kind will ever disrupt the harmony between book and television/video game/computer, share an explain your opinion on whether it's time to start up the bonfires or visit your local library.

Queen, for one. As suppliers of ever-appropriate, ubiquitous rock like "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions" and "Another One Bites The Dust", Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon (the main co-songwriters) recieve surprsingly little credit for having provided countless stadiumfuls of people with an opportunity to scream and stomp their feet somewhat melodically without being asked to leave by security. In addition to crowd appeal, which in and of itself implies quite a bit of simplicity, there is a faithful attention to detail and innovation throughout the band's work, ensuring that lyrics, among other aspects, are always intriguing, original, and of excellent quality. Then, of course, there are those like Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Paul Simon who deserve far more praise than I can give, so they're resigned to a humble little mention at the bottom of this post. (Sorry, guys; I suppose you'll just have to comfort yourselves with your vast fourtunes to compensate for not getting a verbiose paragraph on the magnificence of your abilty to rhyme "one" and "sun" on your less inspiring days.)

Though classics like Gundam Wing and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were just before my time of cultural indoctrination, I matured on a fairly steady dose of frentic violence (which was a remarkably good preparation for middle school, among other things). Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (first season ONLY), Spiderman, Digimon... The cheap merchandising wasn't a deterrent until about age six, when I realized that it was possible for a show to have a plot. I then promptly settled in to worship Batman in all of his stoic roles (Batman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justic Friends, etc.), and still have not gained a life to this very day.

I take lessons, but I'm not going to try to flaunt skill that I admit I don't have. (The fact that I was completely baffled by several phrases posted here is particularly discouraging...)

Personally, I prefer subs. I trust more a string of words that flits across my screen than something that's subject to the moral requirements of every homebound radical Conservative in the Western Hemisphere. In case an example is needed to prove this, let us compare Gundam Wing and its lesser spawn, the Cartoon Network dub. "Tag along on my journey into Hell!"="...bye-bye!" No, I retract my earlier statement. There _is_ no comparison, and I have been rendered forever wary of English audio tracks as a result.