Raiyuu

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Sandy][/font][/color]I just added myself, being the [i]third[/i] European person on the map![color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] I got to Europe first. It's mine now. Get your own continent before I send [/font][/color][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]round [/font][/color][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]the[/font][/color][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS] Beefeaters. And Double-Oh-Seven. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Meggido][/font][/color]...these people could be the [color=#000000] [spoiler]vaizards[/spoiler]...[/color][color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] I agree it's a possibility, and I've seen it discussed at length on Bleach-specific forums. But I'd like to think they wouldn't introduce the [spoiler]Visored[/spoiler] until [spoiler]Hirako Shinji shows up at school[/spoiler]. Then again, I suppose they've already messed with the chronology by introducing Renji, so maybe they aren't above it. The filler in general ... looks okay, I suppose. Something about the dialogue nagged at me. I'm not sure what, but I think it was obvious it wasn't written by the same guy. And I do remember thinking, "do they have someone different drawing it now?" ... something to do with Tatsuki's eyes, although could just be because I haven't seen her for fifty-odd episodes. [spoiler]Does anyone else see a worrying similarity between the doors that swallowed Orihime and the gates of Hell from the Shrieker Hollow arc?[/spoiler] [/font][/color]

[b][color=Magenta][font=Trebuchet MS]"So I, like, sit on the back and throw stuff at the other guys?" [/font][/color][/b][color=Magenta][font=Trebuchet MS]Yuna nodded. [b]"That seems about the gist of it." "Sounds fun!" [/b]Xiaoyu jumped on the back of the Bloom Coach as Yuna trundled it out to the starting line. They looked to have the lightest kart out of all the teams, which could end up being an advantage or a disadvantage ... with their average acceleration and low weight they'd probably take an early lead, but the sporty yellow Parade Kart looked like a threat, and the DK Jumbo looked big and heavy enough to flatten them if Crash and Krystal tried overtaking. Xiaoyu looked from her opponents to the course. She shielded her eyes. [b]"Owwie! How are we supposed to race when the track's blinding us?" "The [i]Fahrenheit [/i]had a photochromic windscreen," [/b]Yuna reminisced wistfully. [b]"Don't forget the other teams'll be as blinded as us. This should be a close-run thing."[/b] [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]This thread kind of reminds me of [thread=44751][u][b]My gf loves Bakura more than me!?!?![/b][/u][/thread] Basically, the long and short of it is, you [b]aren't [/b]in love with Kyo. Simple as that. Anime, like all fiction, is escapism, and all you've done is escaped from reality a little too much. You're projecting (if you want to get Freudian with it) the desire for intimate company that we all have, onto a fictional character, as a way of avoiding placing those feelings on a real world person. Take a reality check and you'll realise that you don't actually have a problem. And if that doesn't work, I suppose you'll grow out of it. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I've been busy with first-week-back-at-uni type work, and often my Internet connection is dodgy or slow. [i]Game On![/i] isn't a priority as much as work or modding, but I am still here and trying to post when I have time.[/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='visualkei][/font][/color]Even though you hate or have nothing to really say about it-- you can always lie. =D[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] It's so true, and it's the reason a lot of exams don't actually examine your knowledge of the subject. I don't know about other countries, but I have issues with the English examination system. It's getting to the point where classes teach you how to pass the exam, rather than teaching you Biology or English Literature. Luckily it gets better once you're outside compulsory education - I'm actually allowed to argue my own opinion in university papers, instead of regurgitating what the exam board wants me to say. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Anime Elf][/font][/color]Personally, I think that the U.N. really doesn't do all that much, mostly just going to talk to people and try to get them to stop fighting...[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] Besides the fact that the U.N. does much more than just that, why are you belittling an organisation that tries to solve international conflicts through peaceful negotiation? Even if that [b]were [/b]all that the U.N. did, that would still be an important enough task to warrant its existence. Also note, U.N. = United Nations, not America And Those Other Guys America Gets To Boss Around. A.A.T.O.G.A.G.T.B.A. is such an ugly acronym. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Believe me, there are better ways to blow off steam than by posting on an online message board, heh. I'm sorry, but I can't see this thread generating any quality discussion. For more excellent reasons why this type of thread is frowned upon here, refer to the comments of the esteemed Dragon Warrior in [thread=51302][u]this thread.[/u][/thread] [b]Thread locked.[/b] [/font][/color]

[color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]The ominous [i]whuck-whuck-whuck [/i]of helicopter rotors caught up with the car on the bridge from Portland to Staunton Island. The cop car's radio had been crackling at them to report in, so Yuna had planted a bullet in the speaker grille. Presumably, from the PD 'copter now in hot pursuit, the guys back at HQ hadn't liked that. [b]"Lara, faster, faster!" [/b]Xiaoyu yelled, pulling her head back through the sunroof into the car. [b]"They're gaining and there's a guy on a rope..." [/b]Ada put her foot down, weaving from side to side to try and throw off the 'copter from whatever it was up to, but the pilot was obviously well trained, and it stuck to them like glue. [b]"Leave this to me," [/b]said Yuna grimly, pushing Xiaoyu to one side and standing up out of the sunroof. She unslung the minigun from her back and began mercilessly churning out four hundred rounds a minute at the unfortunate police 'copter. Yuna's sheer rate of fire managed to completely shear off the 'copter's tail, and it descended in flames into the bay. But the officer on the end of the rope managed to cut himself free and, more by luck than judegment, landed on the back of the Heroines' car, sidearm drawn. [b]"Yikes!" [/b]yelled Yuna, hastily withdrawing inside the car. Xiaoyu's face lit up as she slid on her brass knucks and erupted from the sunroof, taking the officer by surprise with a roundhouse kick to the midriff. [b]"Who~oa!" [/b]she screamed as she almost lost her balance and fell from the speeding vehicle. [b]"Okay, no fancy acrobatics," [/b]she told herself, and she took a square stance and steadied herself, fists held out like a boxer's. The cop tried to get a steady enough position to fire his gun, but Xiaoyu drove one brass-clad fist into the wrist holding his gun, and another directly into his solar plexus, sending him flying off the into the traffic in a shower of golden sparks. [b]"More coming," [/b]she warned as she withdrew back into the car. [b]"If we can reach the other side, we'll be okay," [/b]Ada replied through clenched teeth. [b]"Too many tall buildings. No 'copter access!"[/b] [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Nobody's been disputing that it's an American citizen's constitutional right to bear arms. What we [b]are [/b]disputing is: a) whether the law is outdated, seeing as it was passed when the British could have come storming back to reclaim their land at any moment; and b) why people think they need to carry a gun. Yes, okay, true, if someone has [b]premeditated [/b]murder of a person on their mind, they will probably find a way to kill said person whether or not guns are legal. But consider spur-of-the-moment, rage-induced killings. (I'm aware someone's made this point already, but I think it's necessary to reiterate as it obviously hasn't got through to some people.) [b]UK:[/b] You discover someone's been sleeping with your wife. What're you gonna do? Kill the slimeball! Raaargh! But with what? Bare hands? Knife? Both take effort. Neither's a surefire kill. Hmmph. Rage around for a bit, smashing lawn ornaments. Cool off. Aaaah. No killing today. Just spraypaint his car with 'adulterer' instead. [b]US: [/b]You discover someone's been [/font][/color][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]sleeping with your wife. What're you gonna do? Kill the slimeball! Raaargh! Get the gun - the nigh-on surefire method of killing you're legally allowed to own - out of your sock drawer/holster and blow the guy's brains out. Heck, why not blow your wife's brains out too? It's a fairly facile example and obviously I've biased it to make my point, but read back a ways in the thread and you'll find another post that puts it a lot better than I did. So I don't think the "if he's going to kill someone he's going to, and it doesn't matter whether he's allowed a gun or not" argument is really a valid one, when guns make rage-motivated murders so simple to carry out. [quote name='Anime Elf][/font][/color]...but people kill people, guns don't kill people.[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] True that. But don't you think it's society's duty to make it as [b]difficult as possible [/b]for people to kill people? Allowing everyone to carry a device designed and built for the purpose of killing makes it a little too simple. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Ezekiel][/font][/color][size=1][color=DarkSlateGray]...Ezekiel was not a woman who ignored her duties, even if it did push her a whisper from insanity.[/color][/size][color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] Hey, I remember "a whisper from insanity" from the last version! A really nice turn of phrase, that; it's always refreshing to see words used in a way you're perhaps not expecting. Although, technically, having read it before, I [i]was [/i]expecting it ... ? I also like (if like is the right word?) the detail you put into the descriptions of the autopsy. Again, it fits well with the genre not to hold back from giving us the gory details. Haven't decided who the murderer is, eh? Maybe we should start a sweepstake. Got theories, anyone? :p [quote name='Ezekiel][/font][/color][size=1][color=DarkSlateGray]She rolled her shoulders and noticed her cell, [b]it?s [/b]screen flashing blue.[/color][/size][color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] That should be "[b]its[/b]". Meh, I can't find anything to criticise so I'm being picky. Stupid English language and [b]its [/b]refusal to have easy grammar. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Yay, it's back! I think the original Crimes of Hate was the first Anthology thread I ever really got into, so this brings back memories. It occurred to me a couple of times since you stopped writing them to just go ahead and ask whodunnit - now I don't need to, assuming this one'll continue to the end. I think you're the only person that's really attempted a [b]serious [/b]'OB members in a story' thread, so there isn't much to compare to, but you definitely pull it off. Your writing style is still very much in keeping with the genre - the kind of pared-down prose my creative writing tutor keeps telling me to write, not a word wasted, heh. I mean, this passage isn't particularly long, but you've already firmly established the world we're working with, the main traits of the two main characters and a really appropriate, film-noir type atmosphere of world-weariness. The one thing I would say (and here I assume you're inviting constructive criticism ;)) is to beware of 'info-dumping'; that is, placing the scenario-establishing stuff in a paragraph of information, rather than letting the reader discover it through the characters' journey through the world you've created. I think it's absolutely necessary in this kind of 'serialised' fiction, though - the first chapter needs to allow the reader to see the world, and that's difficult in such a small space. I think it's a rule you've consciously bent to fit the format you're writing in, and that's a skill in itself. Can't wait to see what you've done with the other chapters! [size=1] +[ EDIT ]+ I just noticed the Bikini Bandits are on their way back too ... is time cyclical on OB? Or did everyone make new year's resolutions to revise their old Anthology work? Maybe I should join the trend and rework Less Than Hero.[/size] [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I'm really quite enjoying this now. I've been pleasantly surprised by the characterisation, which keeps bucking my expectations. For example: seeing Mashiro constantly running away from the palace, I assumed she'd be the 'tomboyish princess who would rather be out amonst the commoners' stereotype. Instead, (as you said) bratty and spoilt, and has good motivation behind it too ([spoiler]the rumours disputing her claim to the throne, which mean she feels the need to 'act the part' of royalty[/spoiler]). Similarly, I thought Sergei would be the typical 'nice guy in a position of authority', a bit like Maes Hughes, who could help out the main character. And though he's turning more into that now with [spoiler]his sponsorship of Arika,[/spoiler] at the beginning he seemed to take an instant (albeit fairly benign) dislike to 'Arinko-chan', and at times acted coldly towards Nina despite her obvious adoration. That, and the fact that he seemed to vocally advocate punishing both Nina and Arika for the episode one debacle, fell outside the stereotype I was expecting of him. Interesting stuff. I think this is one I'll see through to the end... [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]As of next Tuesday, Bleach anime is on a Naruto-style filler spree of undefined length. Where, by filler, I just mean original material not present in the manga; thankfully they're not giving us sixty episodes of Don friggin' Kan'onji while we wait. The reason, as anyone who reads the manga will know, is that the anime is catching up to the manga in storyline terms, and they'd be in trouble if they reached the same point as the manga and discovered that Kubo Taito hasn't written the rest yet... Personally, I think the end of episode 63, as the end of the Soul Society arc, would have been the perfect spot for a season break, instead of giving us filler. I don't want to see Bleach - which I've been following for quite a while now - become one of those crassly commercialised anime like Naruto or Inu Yasha, which seem to continue airing purely to line their creators' pockets. What does anyone else think of the upcoming filler arc? [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='celestialcharm][/font][/color][color=DarkOrchid] If you could travel in time, and could only choose to either go into the past, or into the future, what would you choose?[/color][color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] I'd have to go with the future. Not only would it be cool to see whether we all do end up with flying cars and teleporters and whatnot, there's no chance of accidentally killing my own grandfather or any crazy time-paradoxes like that. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='lumpy3922][/font][/color]But the dub is great. The actors fit them to them so well.[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] Sure, the voices fit the characters pretty well. It's just a shame the voice actors were chosen for that, and not their acting talent. The guy who plays Sanzo concentrates more on maintaining his Jack Bauer/Solid Snake gruffness than putting any emotion into his lines. Gojyo always sounds like he's speaking slightly ... slower ... than ... can ... be ... considered ... normal. And I have issues with the translation; Hakkai swears (which, as an unashamed Hakkai fanboy, really grated with me), and the lines are written in such a way as to create huge pauses in dialogue (where, in the Japanese, the line takes longer to say) which really break the tension. But hey, I don't have to watch it. I just stick to manga, it doesn't make me grind my teeth in rage :p [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='ShatteredPelvis][/font][/color]Right now it's just fashionable to be skinny.[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] According to my female friends and their glossy gossip magazines, it's currently fashionable to be curvy rather than skinny. But isn't the whole idea of magazines and celebrity culture dictating what sort of body is 'fashionable' just another way in which the woman's body is 'used'? [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Well, I had to see what all the fuss was about so I've just seen the first episode of [i]My-Otome. [/i]I'm pleased to say it's got me intrigued enough to keep watching, even if I'm not head-over-heels hooked just yet. I have to ask, does the series assume I've seen [i]My-HiME? [/i]Because the first episode's raised a lot of questions, and what with this being anime and not Western TV, I don't know whether this is assumed knowledge or stuff that's going to be gradually revealed over the course of the series. It's leagues away from my usual anime taste, but I'm enjoying it thus far (first magical girl transformation I've seen, I'm really an otaku now, heh). The setting reminds me of [i]Final Fantasy [/i]a little bit, especially [i]FFVIII; [/i]I think it's the fusion of fantasy and sci-fi elements, and the specialist academy for bodyguard-type people that's making that connection in my head. I'll see how it pans out, then post more of my thoughts. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]As Dagger's already pointed out in your [b]Let's talk about stuff [/b]thread, we try and push thread topics towards real discussion here. This thread is unlikely to stimulate anything more than single-line posts of people giving out their Gaia Online usernames, so I'm locking it. If you still want to find other GOers, try putting it in your sig, eg "PM me with your Gaia Online identity!" [b]Thread locked.[/b] [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Stark][/font][/color]...the manga is indeed as good as the anime.[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] I'd call that insulting to the manga. Sorry to be the downer in this thread, but I was really quite disappointed with the Saiyuki anime. I've read all the manga that's out in the UK (volumes 1-9 ... I think that's all of it, because the next scheduled release is volume 1 of Reload). It is [b]awesome, [/b]but that's a discussion for the Manga Workshop, I guess. It's just ... the anime seems so dumbed-down. There's very little of the worldly brutality in it; the characters just seem like they're having a laugh all the time, and okay, they do that in the manga too, but there's also the constant awareness that they're killing their own kind. It really irked me that every time a youkai is killed, the anime simply shows their silhouette, on a white background, dispersing into a lot of little black specks. In the manga there was [b]gore a-plenty, [/b]and I can't see why the anime creators decided to lose that. They also cut out a lot of the nastier details of Hakkai's backstory: [spoiler]in the manga, Kanan was his adopted sister as well as his lover; he also manages to entirely rip out his right eye, instead of being stopped by Goku as in the anime.[/spoiler] It just seems that the conversion people have taken quite an adult manga and tried to turn it into a younger kids' anime, and I don't think it works. (Don't even get me started on the English dub. I'll just stop here before I rant my typing fingers to the bone.) [/font][/color]

[color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]After three fairly strenuous challenges, the Golden Lotuses all reacted enthusiastically to Xiaoyu's suggestion of a quick dip in the lake. The water was pleasantly cool, and the setting sun dyed it a blazing gold. [b]"How very appropriate," [/b]Ada commented, using a cupped lily-flower to pour water over her head. [b]"So..." [/b]sighed Yuna, [b]"only one more challenge, then it's every woman for herself..." [/b]Everyone descended into a sombre silence, trickling water, buzzing insects and evening birdsong the only sounds in the Lotus Garden. Suddenly, the water in the centre of the pool started to bubble, and Xiaoyu erupted from the deeps, spouting water from her mouth like an ornamental cherub. The Lotus Garden descended into hysterics, scaring off the evening birds and buzzing insects for miles around. [b]"Didn't the Fists have a spying mirror thing, from when they were on your team?" [/b]Xiaoyu asked Lara. [b]"I bloody well hope they've forgotten about it!" [/b]spluttered the tomb raider. [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Lots of intelligent replies (hooray!) but that doesn't stop this thread being in the wrong forum. [b]Shunted to OB Anthology.[/b] [/font][/color]

[b][color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]"What?" [/font][/color][/b][color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]demanded Dr Edison as he vacuumed more hamsters off Sandy's prostrate form. [b]"No, seriously, what are you all gawping at?" "Where do I start?" [/b]wondered Ada helplessly. [b]"Where'd all the hamsters come from?" [/b]asked Xiaoyu, still dumbfounded. It was the first question that came into her head. [b]"Cloned them, of course," [/b]replied the mad scientist haughtily. [b]"For my experiment. I needed to find out how the body responds to continuous and sustained tickling, and obviously, the easiest way to do that is to cover the test subject in hamsters!" [/b]One of his eyes was rolling from side to side as he turned off the vacuum cleaner, whose dust bag was squirming. It was clear to see that Weird Ed took after his old Dad in more than just skintone. [b]"So ... he probably didn't kill the hamster, then," [/b]inferred Yuna slowly, ignoring the Doctor and talking to her fellow Heroines. [b]"Unless he didn't want anyone else repeating his experiment!" [/b]Edison butted in, cackling. [b]"Oh, now you're just confusing the issue," [/b]complained Krystal. [b]"My brain hurts!" [/b]declared Xiaoyu, desperately trying to keep track of the many leads, clues and red herrings they'd turned up in the course of the investigation. [b]"Well, Purple Tentacle mentioned a plant," [/b]mused Samus, [b]"so, since we're not getting anywhere here, maybe that's the best lead to follow - " [/b]She was cut off by the door at the other end of the lab slamming open. People started to pour through; Xiaoyu couldn't remember most of their names from Mog's briefing, but she vaguely remembered lumping a lot of suspects together as "Dave's gang" and figured this must be it. [b]"Halt!" [/b]yelled Yuna, Ada and Samus, all pointing weapons at the unruly bunch of teenagers. [b]"Out of our way!" [/b]ordered the ringleader - Dave? - a boy in a blue jacket and a hat. [b]"We're going to lynch Purple Tentacle!" "Why?" [/b]demanded Samus. The impassive armoured suit made it easy for her to play Bad Cop. [b]"Wendy says -" "I saw it eating the hamster!" [/b]declared Wendy. [b]"And Michael caught it on film!" [/b]One of the group - he was carrying a camera on a cord around his neck - handed Xiaoyu a Polaroid photo. The Heroines gathered around. The shot was blurred, and contained a lot of purple, but it was fairly clear that - [b]"Ick," [/b]observed Xiaoyu as the team withdrew from the photo in revulsion. [b]"I guess I've got to keep this as evidence..." "So let us through and we'll lynch it!" [/b]reiterated Dave. [b]"Don't listen to them!" [/b]shrieked Sandy suddenly, snapping upright off the operating table. [b]"Wendy's in league with the Illuminati! She's trying to pin the murder on the Catholics! And Syd's on crack, don't trust a word he says - " "Time for your anaesthetic, dear," [/b]declared Dr Edison, producing a mallet. As she lead the way back to Purple's lair, holding the photo out between finger and thumb like a pongy sock, Xiaoyu was actually relieved to hear the dull [i]thwock [/i]sound. [b]"You guys talk to the Tentacle," [/b]she insisted. [b]"My brain hurts and everything's icky - if I look at it I might be sick - " [/b]She paused as her foot touched something low down on the ground. [b]"Who left this plant here?"[/b] [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I'm closing this thread for the following reasons. 1. Poor quality opening post. If you can think of some horror stories, post one to start off the discussion. Don't expect people to give their input if you give the impression that you're not bothered about the thread. Which you have, by not meeting your own request. 2. Wrong forum. Discussion about fiction should be posted in the[b] OB Anthology[/b]. I would just move this thread there, but I've a feeling it would get closed for the reason I've given above. Feel free to recreate your thread in the appropriate forum! [b]Thread closed.[/b] [/font][/color]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Stark][/font][/color]People make a big deal about taking guns and knives to school when a sharp pencil can be a lethal as either of the two.[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] In the Ninjutsu society at university, they taught me how to break an attacker's wrist with a pencil, and it doesn't even need to be sharp. Comforting to know if I'm ever attacked in a stationery shop. And on that subject, here's an absurdity in self-defence law. Apparently, if I'm attacked by someone in an alley or something, because I know a martial art I'm not allowed to hurt them. Because I know a martial art, I'm deemed to be able to escape without injuring my assailant. And a more blanket stupidity in self-defence law: you're only allowed to injure your assailant [b]as much as they have already injured you. [/b]Essentially, if you're attacked by a knife-wielder, you can't, say, break their nose until they've given you an equivalent or worse injury. And given that they're holding a knife, that's more than likely to tip into 'worse'. [/font][/color]