Nony

[quote name='Sandy']And [B]Miss Anonymous[/B], trusting your mother to tell you the truth about sex is just silly, when seemingly all she wants to do is to protect you from it.[/QUOTE] Really? I don't find it silly at all. I know some people's parents aren't necessarily trustworthy, but my mother would never lie to me about something like this. She's also told me sex is a really great experience. And honestly, I've come to the point in my life where I can make my own decisions. If I really wanted to go out and have sex, I probably would. I don't just blindly follow what people tell me as if I were a child. Again, referring back to my first post, these are decisions and opinions [b]I[/b] arrive at. Frankly, I'm slightly offended you would question my mother's trustworthiness. I'm sure you didn't mean to, but regardless.

[quote name='Sandy']I have to butt in and ask how do you know that? You say you never had sex, so how can you tell if it's simple or not, emotional or not? Truth to be told, sex is as simple and emotional as you make of it. If you stress and panic about, it'll end up being stressful and panic-inducing, and if you take it casually, it may not be any different from any other relief of an urge. Like in so many things, the best solution lies in the middle: you should learn to appreciate sex, not take it as granted nor shun it away as something sinful and impure.[/QUOTE] You're right, I wouldn't be able to know from experience. I can only go off what my mother and anyone else decides to tell me. My mother has told me before though, that it IS very emotional. And frankly, I trust my mother's opinion a lot more than other's (not to say their opininos are null and void though); if that makes me close-minded in some people's eyes, oh well. I never "shunned" it away as sinful or impure, did I? I did mention that God made it possible, so it's not like it's a bad thing. It's mainly the way people use it (or in some cases, abuse it) that's bad.

I'm guessing the movie is gonna be nonstop drama. After all, it has to basically summarize all 3 G.U. games in around 80 minutes. I can only hope it's good. I know [i]I'll[/i] like it, since I'm a fan; it's people that have yet to play the G.U. games that I would wonder about. I haven't seen any kind of preorder around yet; though I bet that when it gets closer to release date, [b][url=www.play-asia.com]Play Asia[/url][/b] will have it. There's apparently gonna be a Special Edition too, with some kind of .hack//G.U. Guidebook. Ooh, I want it, I want it! I hope they have new music for the movie too. More .hack OSTs =

All right, time to throw my two cents in on this. Honestly, I think one should wait for sex (or more specifically, intercourse) until marriage. That's my personal belief. I [i]am[/i] Christian, and my faith does help guide me towards what decisions I make (emphasis on decisions [b]I[/b] make). But honestly, I find no need to even have premarital sex. I personally have no desire to. I'm not going to preach condemnation on those that have had it though. Basically, I haven't been "brainwashed" to think what I think; just wanna make sure people know that. :P Also, God doesn't condemn sex; after all, He's the one that made it possible in the first place. It's the premarital part that's iffy. Is sex really the best way to express your love towards someone? It's not a simple thing, despite what some people say. Sex is a very emotional thing, it's not something to be toyed around with. And I agree that physical contact, such as kissing, is necessary in any romantic relationship; it's sex though that's worthy of debate.

Forgive me if this is in the wrong forum or inappropriate. ------ Great news for all .hack//G.U. fans! There's been an announcement about a .hack//G.U. movie. I'll copy and paste the news that was posted on [u][URL=www.dothackers.net]dothackers.net[/URL][/u]: [b]"Today the long-awaited countdown finally came to an end, and CyberConnect2 announced something that is sure to excite .hack fans everywhere—a .hack//G.U. movie! Entitled .hack//G.U. Trilogy (CC2 Site [URL=http://www.cyberconnect2.jp/trilogy/index.html]here[/URL]), it’s a 80 minute CG animation, being released straight to DVD and Bluray January 25th. Directed by the G.U. games director and CC2 president Hiroshi "Piros" Matsuyama himself, Trilogy will retell the story of the games we all know and love, with a new level of cinematic detail beyond what can be done in a PS2 game. Trilogy will include 10 minutes of bonus features, and a “Parody Mode”, not seen since the Japanese release of the first four games. There will also be a limited edition, which will include a full color ".hack//G.U. World Guide.""[/b] When I saw the news, my jaw literally dropped. Heh, finally, the one thing that's missing from .hack, a movie. I hope it doesn't take TOO long for it to come over to the States. Honestly, Bandai would be full of morons if they didn't localize it. The one thing I hope people don't compare it to is FFVII:AC, although I admit both situations are rather similar. By the way, you can also go to dothackers.net and see some images of the graphics for the movie. Pretty sweet, I must say.

It's hard to limit my likes down to one genre, but I guess you could say I'm into the Fantasy type stuff. I'm always up for a good, typical RPG-like setting, like [b]Record of Lodoss War[/b] or [b]Scrapped Princess[/b]. My all-time favorite series is [b].hack[/b] (whether it be SIGN, Roots, or G.U.); I think what any anime should have is interesting characters, and that's one reason why I love .hack. Plus, a good story is pretty much a must with me. Anything original is worth watching. For me, .hack has a really good story. I like the whole setting of it, in an online game going haywire, and then said-game affecting the real world. Then, the music. If the music's great, it'll only attract me to a series that much more. The music in [b]Escaflowne[/b] is so spectacular, it only adds to the anime's greatness. And although not everyone loves it, I adore the music from [b].hack//Roots[/b]. I personally think Ali Project did a great job and their music really adds to the anime as a whole. Also, it's nice to at least have a little romance on the side in any anime. Doesn't have to get super dramatic for me (in fact, it's bad if it gets to be too soap opera-like), I just need to fulfill that want to have something cute. So yeah, any anime that can combine these elements is a good one. I don't require much action in my anime by the way; I mean, I'm a huge .hack fan, and the .hack animes have almost zero action. :P In the end, I guess you could say I'm into more of the shounen/fantasy type stuff, mainly because I just don't like the drama that's in most shoujos.

[B]Bowser (Mario series)[/B] - He's just a lovable villain, and he's been around for so long now, he's a part of our history. Plus, even after being foiled over and over again, he gets back on his feet and devises a new plan for capturing Princess Peach! You gotta appreciate that. [B]Morganna (.hack//IMOQ)[/B] - The fact that you never saw her true form (until maybe the last fight), and yet she screwed with The World so much, it's awesome. And right now, I can only think of two for some reason. I'll just edit my post later when I can think of a third.

I recently saw the first season of Pokemon for sale at one of my favorite anime store sites. T_T I want it! If I see it at Sakura-con, I'll probably grab it. I have such fond memories of Pokemon... I remember when getting a GameBoy Color was a big deal, because people could finally play Red, Blue, and Yellow in color. I remember spending my allowance as soon as I got it on Pokemon trading cards. I remember my brother getting kids to trade him their first edition Pokemon cards (even back then, he was a businessman XP). I remember buying the Pokemon and Pokemon movie soundtracks and [i]constantly[/i] listening to them, over and over. I too memorized the Poke Rap. Ahhh, those were the days... And then, I remember hearing the [i]new[/i] Pokemon voice actors, and it made me want to watch the first season all over again, just to remember Pokemon in its golden years! Other than Pokemon, I also remember Digimon. I didn't really start watching the first season until maybe halfway through; I was more into the second season really. Then after that the Digimon shows got a little weird; but hey, at least they tried something different with each show. They deserve credit for that. Then of course there's DBZ. All my siblings would watch it! I remember when Toonami would announce new episodes, something like, "160 new episodes!" Always thought it was a lot, but then it would be over in no time. XP Man, so many shows. Name almost any cartoon that was on CN, Disney or Nickelodeon in the later half of the 90's and I can remember watching it. But mostly, I remember teh Pokemon. :ball:

I don't think marriage should depend on how good the two people are in bed. Call me old-fashioned, but marriage is more about love than making love. Or at least it should be. Now, I myself am a virgin, and Christian. I haven't been "brainwashed" by my religion to think that you're going to hell if you have pre-marital sex; any belief I have is because I came to the decision that it was right. I don't approve of pre-marital sex obviously, but I'm not going to preach damnation if one of my friends has had sex. Sin is sin, but God is forgiving, so not everything should be viewed as your only chance for salvation, but neither should that be taken as being able to do whatever you want and then just asking for forgiveness later. I don't want to turn this into a religious debate; too often does that happen, and it's always really uncomfortable. But I felt I needed to say that at the very least; show the other side, you know? I can't speak from experience, but my mother says sex is a very spiritual thing. That's why I want to and am going to save myself for one person. It's not healthy emotionally and physically to "sleep around" (when one is speaking in the case of many, many partners), everyone knows that. I can respect those that protect themselves though, even if I don't agree with their choices in life. Like everyone else, I say being a virgin is not a bad thing. Situations like the one you had would be hard to handle in the moment, so I can't blame you entirely. But this is something to learn from, about talking to people and not seeming like you're talking down to them or preaching to them; people will perceive it as such though, whether you mean it that way or not, so you have to be careful. People will also respect you more if you talk to them in a calm and collected manner rather than an angry one.

Hopefully, I'll have plenty of time in summer to relax. But not likely. Since I probably won't officially be off from school until mid-July, I'll spend the rest of summer finishing up the Latin 3 course, watching anime, reading manga; and then, for the grand finale, a job at the State Fair. But heck, it'll be a great summer in my book as long as it's cool out. XP

Neato bandito frito! v^.^ I'll definitely try my best; probably won't win much, but we'll see. 6 days and counting!

For me, it really depends on how much I dislike the dubbed version. I would much rather watch anime in my own language, because in the long run I'll be able to enjoy it more. But (obviously) sometimes, I find I don't like the dubbed version, so at least I know I'll have the subbed to fall back on. You could say that because the anime was originally created in Japan, it'll sound better with the original Japanese, in the same way that an American cartoon or show sounds better in English (just take Gilmore Girls for example). But dubbed anime just keeps getting better and better. Like [b]medafunk[/b] said, part of it is that you watched the show in Japanese first, so hearing the English voices sounds weird, or vice versa. Actually, right now I'm trying to get myself used to the English dub of .hack//Roots. I love that show, but I first loved it listening to it in Japanese, so of course hearing it any other way will be weird. Trust me, you can go to myOtaku and see my long rants about just the first two episodes. Reading them, you might think I hate the Roots dub, but quite the contrary. I think the dubbing isn't bad; no, in fact, I could even say it's good in time, it'll just take me a bit to get used to it. I've already found that I prefer one of the character's English VAs over his Japanese; that's pretty darn good, considering how much I adore Roots. The biggest problem I have with dubbed anime is how awkward they sound sometimes. Again, that's one issue I'm having with the Roots dub. It just sounds off at times, and that ruins the experience. But also, people have brought up the fact that we don't understand Japanese; for all we know, the Japanese VAs may not be doing a great job. To us, it may seem like it's great, but how are we to know? There was something else I wanted to say, but can't remember. Oh well. [b]medafunk[/b], the sub/dub wars never end. XP

[QUOTE=ChibiHorsewoman][color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy] I just want my life back in order, but I think it'll take more than a holiday for that to happen.[/color][/font][/QUOTE] Same here. XP I don't enjoy staying up till 4 AM, honestly. Of course, there's a ton of stuff I want (because that never ends, does it?), but the things I really hope I get for Christmas are the .hack//G.U. OST, .hack//Game Music Perfect Collection, and the Escaflowne boxset. What I also hope people will think to get me is a new CD player (really need a new one, mine's six years old) and Elite Beat Agents for the DS. That game looks so awesome! And I can just bet my mom will get me some kind of clothing; she usually does. But really, I'll be happy with anything I get. I hope I can be able to look past the "I want this and that" part of Christmas and just have fun. By the way, what does "ftw" mean? I keep seeing it everywhere, and I have no clue what it might be.

[QUOTE]I wanted a Doodle Bear desperately. Remember those? The jeans-bears you'd draw on with these washable pens, and they'd wash clean? ... In theory. The marker always came off on my hands, and the bear kinda shrunk after repeated washings. >> But I loved it anyways.[/QUOTE] I used to have one of those! I loved it to death! I don't think it lasted very long for me either. Still, isn't it weird to see commercials for it again? Same as those moon shoes... Anyway, I can't remember exactly what I wanted way back when; I do remember going through the American Girl catalogue every year and always picking out so many things, just loved it. For a few years, me and my sister would always do that, and ask for at least one or two things from the catalogue for Christmas. Oh, but the year I got my American Girl doll, Felicity, was the best. My sister also got Kirsten, so we would play with them often. I also remember loving the fact that Felicity and I shared the same birthday (April 21st).

I don't know if I'll be able to make a long enough explanation for each, but I shall try my best. [B].hack//Roots[/B] - Currently my favorite anime; there's something about it that really grabbed my attention. The story is set before the .hack//G.U. game(s) and follows what happens with Haseo, and [spoiler]how he later goes insane when Shino dies[/spoiler]. I think it has something to do with the characters, just how much I connected with them, especially Shino. She's my favorite character, so I won't go on about her since it would take forever. lol [B]Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl[/B] - I really wish more people would watch this anime. The dubbing is pretty bad, but the series is so worth it. I actually wrote a review for it once, and planned on submitting it to theOtaku, but never got the chance. I would post the review, but it's kind of long. Jubei-chan is just plain funny, even when it gets a little more serious later on. It's not that kind of crazy-funny, but more subtle I think. Either way, it's one of the funniest animes I've seen. [B]Record of Lodoss War[/B] - I'm including both the OVA and the TV series, 'cause I've come to love 'em both. It's not necessarily great because of the characters, but the overall effort that Ryo Mizuno put into the history of Lodoss and the whole land. He even wrote another series that's set in the same world, [i]Rune Soldier[/i] (which I do plan to see someday). If you want me to pick one out of the two animated shows, I'd say start with the OVA. Although I do prefer the TV series, I'll admit that the OVA was better. [B]Ranma 1/2[/B] - To be technical, I've only read the manga. But either way, it's hilarious. Takahashi truly has a gift at creating lovable characters. I don't know what else to say about this; just that every anime/manga fan needs to see/read it! [B].hack//SIGN[/B] - Yes, I already had one .hack anime up there, but SIGN is a completely different anime from Roots, although they both come before their video game counterparts. .hack//SIGN was great to me because of it's character development, moreso than it's story. Of course, the overall story of .hack is fantastic, but that part depicted in .hack//SIGN is not as great as its characters. This is what made me into the .hack fan I am today. If it weren't for Tsukasa, I would've never come to see .hack//Roots. And for that, I am thankful. Also, one other honorable mention is [b]InuYasha[/b]. I can't say it's an all-time favorite of mine at the moment, but Takahashi has created some great characters for this story as well. Even though the anime's ending is not satisfactory at all, the show is worth watching. Plus, Inuyasha is what really got me into anime, so it would be wrong of me not to at least mention it.

Like people have already stated, the manga keeps a certain mystery about it, that makes the reader want to keep going with the story. I'd like to see how the manga really is overall later on, as far as character development and all. It's kind of hard to judge from just two chapters. XP Of course, the artwork is great. The best I've seen from theOtaku fanmanga so far, to be honest. The artwork does get better after the first few pages, like you said that one time. The only big thing I've noticed is that you have quite a few spelling and grammatical errors. That tends to take away from the experience when you're reading.

The Acorn Festival was fun. It got me to play my game again. I got all the Mush furniture and set it up in my house. v^.^ Just gotta get all the furniture from Pascal, and a meadow carpet... But yeah, I don't have much left to do in AC anymore. I caught and donated all the bugs and fish, got a perfect town, payed off my debt, etc. I still need to collect as much furniture as possible, even though my catalogue option with Tom Nook is not working right now, so I can't see how much I've got left (OR order anything!). >.< Oh, by the way, my character's name in AC is Monkey, and my town's name is Aap Stad. I'll have to browse this thread to see if there are other interesting town names.

The InuYasha ending, from what I've heard, is going to be like the "ending" for Ranma 1/2. Ranma never really ended, they just stopped making the anime. The same is pretty much true for InuYasha. The manga continues the storyline for quite awhile. I think it's about time InuYasha ended on [adult swim]. It's become so repetitive, like many other series in it's category. It actually hasn't been too long since IY started on AS. September or October 2002 was the date they showed the first episode. So it's been 4 years; not that bad, actually.

That's also true, there are a lot of anime that take a completely different turn from the manga/novel/video game. One example is Fullmetal Alchemist. But here's an example that relates more to the original question: Record of Lodoss War. This was originally written by Ryo Mizuno (and someone else I can't remember), then made into a popular video game in Japan. There were also seven Lodoss books, but I'm not sure when those were first published. Either way, the first anime was then made in 1990, and then the manga was released in 1994, which is apparently closer to the real story than the anime.

I have one to suggest: Jubei-chan. Here's a plot summary: ~*~ Yagyu Jubei was the best swordsman in the land. When he died, he left behind the Lovely Eyepatch. Whoever wears it gains the power of the great Yagyu Jubei! You think anyone would love to have the Lovely Eyepatch, right? Well then, you don't know Jiyu Nanohana. Her father calls her Jubei, but she's not THE Jubei. She just wants to be a normal girl; when Koinosuke, Yagyu Jubei's 300-year-old apprentice, offers her the eyepatch, she's not very willing to wear the thing. But, Jubei-chan doesn't have much of a choice. The Ryujoji clan has harbored a grudge against Yagyu Jubei for 300 years, and they have been waiting for him to return. Jubei-chan must use the eyepatch to fight the assassins the Ryujoji send after her, and still manage a normal lifestyle. ~*~ Of course, the summary doesn't really tell you how funny the anime actually is. The first four episodes are pretty zany, and then later the more serious elements come up. But, for the most part, this anime is a comedy. And yes, the whole Lovely Eyepatch thing is real. You can tell it's a comedy anime just for that fact. Try the first episode if you can; if you don't instantly love it, then maybe it's not for you.

[QUOTE=Aaryanna_Mom] The return to Christian principles is not something that should be used to amend the very foundation of the government here in America since it is something that is not provable. This is the very reason why I oppose the amendment as I think the separation of church and state is part of what makes our country a better place. If we allow one amendment based on the moral values of religious people then what?s next? It would set a dangerous precedent that could in time unravel the very foundation of our government. It was created to keep church and state separate and I believe it should stay that way. Just the thought of all the endless bickering to amend the law based on different moral beliefs is enough to convince me that we should not amend the constitution. [/QUOTE] I probably did miss some points of SunfallE's message, seeing as there were so many posts to read. I am not saying that the American government should rule with only Christian or religious beliefs. Someone would easily take advantage of that, in the end. And yes, separation of church and state is for the best. I just don't want people to misconstrue the whole thing too much, because that also shouldn't happen. Ruling a country according to one religion shouldn't happen, because religion is a choice. I can see where you're coming from, but there are still a few things I can't completely agree with.

There are a lot of issues I would like to address, and I most likely will not remember all of them. But I please ask that you respect my beliefs as a Christian, and my right as a human being to have them. And also, please read the entire post before quoting me in righteous anger. I'd really like it if we could be a bit more civilised towards each other. First off, I'd like to address the original topic: gay marriage and the President of America. I, at this moment, do not agree with gay marriage. I don't know how else to soften it. If you don't agree with me, fine. God gave you that freedom to choose, whether I agree with you or not. As for President Bush, he's made mistakes, like many people in the past. Hopefully, those mistakes may be corrected before it possibly gets worse. And now, onto some other topics. People who aren't Christian, Islam, Muslim, Buddhist, and so on, seem to assume things about Christian beliefs. I'd like to request that you please not group us all after seeing or hearing of one bad example. That tends to lead to oppression, in [i]any[/i] case, not just religious. And honestly, I think many of you have missed Gavin's points. He is expressing his views and beliefs on this topic. Even if you do think he's saying horrible things, and not being open-minded, you in fact are doing close to, if not the same, thing when automatically labelling him off as a bad person, because you don't see eye-to-eye. You don't personally know Gavin, and as far as you know he has done nothing outrageous other than state what he believes. I don't know if you know this, but it takes a lot of courage to say what one believes to a crowd that doesn't want to hear it. I applaud you Gavin, even if no one else does. God said to love one another. I don't see much lovin' in this thread. God created a sinless world, but humans made it sinful. That is one point I would like to make before moving on. Anything bad that has happened, within the Church or not, happened because of sinful people. We try to do good, but everyone has sinned at one point or another, and God views them all as horrible, disgusting acts. I am including myself along with the rest of the world, mind. God loves us, otherwise He would have destroyed us long ago. I really don't appreciate the fact that some people are bad-mouthing America, with one example being it's high divorce rate. Yes, divorce rates are high, but there are also plenty of good marriages, as long as the two in question made the best decisions. The United States, which is run by the people, will not be perfect, because people aren't perfect. That is true for any country. There are always going to be problems. I remember many people saying that a theocracy can never work. True, most couldn't, if you keep considering the case that people are sinful. A theocracy would be started with the intent of doing God's will. But, the people who started it would, most likely, eventually use that power for their own wants, saying they do it in the name of God, so that no one may stop them. That's why the Crusades were so horrible. It was started in the name of God, when really it was for the greed of men. If I'm sounding like I'm preaching right now, I apologize. I have no right to, for I am also sinful. Everyone has that right to choose their beliefs, religion or lack of, and whatnot. I am just hoping that some of you will truly read this with an open heart, and not immediately right me off as another stupid right-wing Conservative; but as someone who is trying to express the basics of her religion, which is what leads me in my decisions, whether the government deems it as right or not. Now, as far as gay people go, as I remember Jesus saying, "Love the sinner, hate the sin." People who choose to be homosexual are still people; they haven't become some other form of lower being. I do view homosexuality as a sin, but I will not label someone who is gay as a worse person. God still loves them, and that's what matters. Whenever the word "sin" is applied to someone, they tend to get pretty angry. Because, they don't want to be told they've done wrong. But everyone has, which I want to stress throughout my post. I also remember [b]SunfallE[/b] posting something about how the original Founders of America were not, in fact, Christian, but Deists. Now, I do think they were Christian. But, they did not want a government like where they had come from, which had forced people to go to Church. God had given them choice, so they gave that to this new country. And as for that website you posted, it mentioned that if the Founders were Christian, there would have been no Revolution. But hey, they were being oppressed by the British government at the time. Shouldn't they have fought for their rights? You're saying that people should have their rights, and that homosexuals should have the right to marry, and yet you post a link to a page that says something like that? Just doesn't click with me. But, of course, I don't mean to be nasty towards you in any derrogatory way, SunfallE. I just don't agree with you on that point. Finally, I would like to ask again that everyone, not just one side but [i]everyone[/i], be as fair and open as possible. My brother recently got in an argument at his college about gay marriage. And you know what happened? A group of people swarmed on him, giving him no opportunity to say anything. For 30 minutes, he had people shouting in his face. Then one kid called him a Nazi. All the others thought that was out of line, but still. A Nazi? Because he was speaking his opinion, he was called a Nazi. I personally don't know how that fight was even started, but the point is that we [i]should[/i] give each other the right to our own opinion, religious or not, and not be oppressed for it. Whether we actually do that or not is questionable, however. I would like to close off as apologizing for any contradictory statements in my post. Writing such a long one, I'm sure there's one in there. Again, this post is mainly my own opinion and belief. I've tried to state the basics of my religion, without preaching, hoping to have at least someone read the whole post. God loves us, one way or another, and hopefully we may begin to love one another on a better level.

I've noticed that, when trying to submit a review, theOtaku said they are currently not accepting submissions. Although I don't mind, I would just like to know if/when they will be accepting again, if anyone can tell me.

Also, you can use the [B][URL=http://www.altavista.com/image/default]Altavista Image Search[/URL][/B]. Usually, if I can't find good stuff with Google, I'll go there. Unfortunately, I don't know any avatar specific sites, I edit them myself.

I don't cook often. And I've never made a good mistake. I've made very salty instant mashed potatoes though. One time I mistook teaspoons for tablespoons, and another time I misread the amount for that serving (as one higher than that). Good for you if you can make a good cooking mistake!