kalon

I remembered something that evolved into a semi-phobia. When I was about five, my mom hummed the Jaws theme while swimming with me and I freaked out. She had no idea I even knew what Jaws was! From then on (not exactly sure how I transferred this went from pool to tub), if I was in the bath for a long time and the water became that unclear white from when the soap disappates, I thought the Jaws shark was going to come up through my bathtub since I could not see into the water. Even now I am afraid of deep water that I cannot see into, and until about age eleven I was too afraid to swim any further than where my toes could touch.

[quote name='mangamaniack21']Not doujinshi, but somthing that you created from pure imagination.[/quote] I would just like to point out that not all doujinshi are based off of existing work. Some are, correct me if I am wrong on this, completely original work, it's just that they are self-published instead of being put out by some company. I have several friends who are incredible drawers and story-tellers both, and they try to make their own manga. My friend Kayla has started a few awesome ones. I would make a good writer for a series, and I think in terms of how manga is portrayed when writing, but my drawing skills are poor. And no company will accept stick figure manga, no matter how awesome I am with stick figures.

Okay, I've actually been to sleep, so I can think semi-coherently. I forgot about doing that last night, but thanks for the reminder Doublehex. Amaranth (I need last name ideas for her): She is strong, acts arrogant but is very aware of her limitations, loves contradictions in herself, never laughs (literally, and there is a reason), smirks all the time, fiercely competitive when it comes to her friend/rival/love? Felix, misunderstood by most, and lacks most feminine heroine traits. She could be considered pretty but far from the most beautiful character in the story, she refuses to wear dresses as they hinder movement, she is biting and cold if she dislikes you, and her reaction to a spider landing on her face while she and Felix were dueling was to calmly let it crawl onto her hand and call it cute. For physical, her hair is crimson and her eyes are gray-violet, and later she will have scars on her left cheek. She knows and uses incredibly difficult and sometimes rare words. She is an apt swordswoman, and there is a misconception that she has been born to wreak revenge on all humanity, meaning a crazy cult exists just for killing her, as they have done with other "Scions." And she is fairly apathetic to her fate, because she sees an equally good chance of dying by accident or sickness as there is dying by the lying, power-hungry cult. Easily accepts whatever happens, rarely cries, and abhors pity in any form. Character A: Amaranth's adoptive father, whom she calls Teacher or refers to him by "my father", a seven-foot tall green-haired humanoid who can "breath life into metal." He is a smith, but hates the thought of people thinking smiths are ignorant, which led to his love of words that no one knows what they mean. He is not a very emotional person, but cares deeply for Amaranth. He makes the best weapons if the metal inspires him to do so, and is a mace wielder himself. He keeps an air of complete calm around him, and is fairly hardened towards battle situations. He can count on one hand the people he truly trusts, but is civil to everyone who deserves it. Character B: Perfectly feminine princess, beautiful, kind to all, a healer. Believes that all people are capable of reform and is an idealist. Main purpose is to kill her off later, and to form contrasts between her and her plain, hot-headed, battle-loving, tomboy sister. That's probably more info than needed on the first two, but I have thought about this for a long time, and this is a serious attempt at writing a novel. Don't be bound by those traits, though, as some of my characters are created [I]because[/I] I like a cerain name, which is backwards for some. Any good word suggestions that I can use in the future would be lovely.

Where I am, it is 1:30 A.M., I have had less than 8 hours sleep in the past 48 hours, and my writing bug is itching. I have a set of guidelines for naming characters in my story. Each country has names from a real language, albeit obscure names that won't be immediately recognized by the average person. [SIZE=1]Which defeats the purpose of hours of searching for a name that both sounds right and has a definition I want, but I like obscure references.[/SIZE] My problem is, even though there are plenty of baby name sites, I cannot find any sites that have real words that could be used as decent names, and I am too tired to go through a major dictionary search right now (yes, I actually [I]read[/I] dictionaries, especially rare word dictionaries). What I need are good words that could be used as names. Words with a little kick to them. For example, my main character's name is Amaranth, which is an immortal flower held never to fade. A suggestion would not need to be that obscure, but it needs a little depth. Since most of my inspiration for writing comes from video games, I am incredibly tempted to give her the last name of Strife or Squall right now, but that would be plagiarism, which is wrong, and those names are probably too obvious of a choice to get away with. >_< [SIZE=1]Not to mention the fact that my main male character's name is already from my favorite Golden Sun character.[/SIZE] I would love combination suggestions too (example: Ashwind, Everheart). Any suggestions would be [B]very much[/B] appreciated, as my eyes are getting little black spots in front of them right now. And just so this doesn't become a list thread, please give a definition of the word, and feel encouraged to share your own naming trouble or request names. Much love and endless thanks for any contributors!

[SIZE=1]"...love you" were the words Ceyla heard as she roused from her fainting spell. She kept her eyes stubbornly closed for a moment, finally opening them and looking at her comrades who were thankfully well, before realizing who was holding her. She shifted and looked Dalanius in the eye. He looked unusually worried compared to his normal, almost biting character. "You might not want to hold me so close. You'll get blood on your clothes," murmured Ceyla feebly, but she leaned closer against him. Dalanius offered her a small smile and pulled her closer. Even in normal circumstances they were not bothered by blood, so there was no reason to choose then to change. "My brothers... they died...." "Your brothers?" asked Dalanius. Ceyla quickly explained what happened, for once not holding back. The assassin managed to maintain her calm, thankfully. He assured her it was not her fault, which did not convince her, but she was grateful for Dalanius saying it. "So what are you going to do? Ceyla, I don't want you to go off anywhere. That may be selfish but I can't help it." Ceyla gazed up at him, surprised that he would be so open. She spoke softly, "I knew there would be death in my profession, but I never thought it would be them. I want revenge, but my brothers were never fully fond of an assassin's life. They would be unhappy if I soiled their reputations by killing in their names. So Dalanius, would you mind if I--" Ceyla hesitated and looked away. "Would you mind if I stayed with you? Because you know, I love y--" Her last word was cut off as Dalanius pressed his lips against hers. When they broke off, they both had a light blush coloring their faces. Ceyla smiled sheepishly. Since Ceyla and Dalanius usually kept walls up, they would have to adjust to being in a more open relationship. Ceyla's blush increased; she could get used to it. Moving back with the group, Ceyla noticed a new man standing with Kacela. Neko was within speaking distance and helpfully supplied, "Zylon came back through Vincent, killed us, we came back to life, and that's Kacela's father who was brought back with us. And then you and Dalanius started kissing." Ceyla's normally ruddy complexion turned dark red. She leaned her head into Dalanius's shoulder, while he put his arm around her and smiled a rare, true smile. And she once again thought she could get very used to their new relationship. "We just have to wait and see what comes next," he said warmly. Nothing in the future seemed so intimidating any longer. OoC: Again it is mushy, heh. ;) It's ending soon. I'm all sentimental.[/SIZE]

My mother was always straight up with me about Santa and such, and I appreciated not being lied to. That's right, if you didn't already know the truth about St. Nick, [SPOILER]Santa is a 5000 year old rabbit who wears all green and screams "Where are my lucky charms?" at turkeys to make them fly away before they are shot for Thanksgiving. He has a super-intelligent team of reindeer executives who earn him a whole lot of money by putting out movies on Labor Day. He makes fireworks and puts them in the pantyhose and stockings of patriotic pyromaniacs so that firemen have tougher, more sparkly work to do.[/SPOILER] Too lazy to include more holidays. I can think of some thing that strikes as incredibly funny, though. These aren't misconceptions per se, more cases of being naive. Debby, the girl who sat in front of me in geometry this school year (we were both freshmen) is not knowledgeable about Japan, it seems. We were talking, and I told her how the only music I listened to was Japanese rock and some J-pop. She had no idea that Japanese people had their own rock music. The look of surprise on her face ws hilarious. Another girl in geometry, Laura, ran track. We were all talking about an upcoming track and field meeting. Laura was trying to remember one of the events they were going to compete in, and she said, "Oh yeah! We're also gonna do that thing where they throw the hibiscus!" I didn't really mean to, but I burst out laughing. Most of the class didn't know what was so funny, so Frankdogg (the world's most awesome geometry teacher and smartest incarntion of evil) had to explain that you throw a [I]discus[/I], and that a hibiscus was a flower. Those stories might be stretching the term "misconceptions" a little, but I think they fit. Oh yeah, I remember until about first grade I thought that the alphabet song went "Y, [I]N[/I], Z" instead of "Y [I]and[/I] Z." I had a major argument with my mom and childhood best friend about it. I mishear things all the time, even now. Like when I was watching Hell's Kitchen last night when they said plating, I heard it as bleeding. I though to myself, [I]Bleeding in a kitchen is not so very good[/I]. I act slow, but I promise I'm not, lol.

[quote name='Morpheus']Lisa Robin Kelly (Laurie #1) may have been fired by fox, but it may just as well be a false rumor.[/quote] I really loved her as Laurie and hated her replaccement. I read on the all-knowing, comepletely truthful deity Wikipedia that she developed a drug problem. Hollywood people really screw themselves up, unfortunately. I actually enjoyed the final episode and the episode of making the final episode. At least Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher came back for it. I think it's really sweet when actors cry when their show comes to an end, and seeing how close they have grown is sort of touching.

[quote name='Avenged666fold][QUOTE=Athena][SIZE=1]His work is amazing.[/QUOTE][/SIZE']As long as there are private parts isn't anyones work amazing? II mean after 15 minutes the job is done and your off to other things in your day (im sorry but it takes me a bit).[/quote] Umm... Do you know [I]what[/I] Athena was referring to when she said amazing? She was not referring to a porn actor or anything. She was talking about [I]Masamune Shirow[/I]. You know, the famous manga-ka of Ghost in the Shell? His art can be considered hentai, but it takes much longer than 15 minutes to do (at least I assume it takes him more than 15 minutes for GitS art). And no, I don't believe having genitals in something automatically makes "anyone's work amazing." I have no interest in pornagraphy, but there is a lot of it that is completely tasteless and far from amazing. There are also many letigitimate pieces of artwork that include nudity without being cheesecakey. Although Charles's avatar is the epitome of tasteful art. It ish teh awesome, you know. (I love it, Charles.) I think I'm pretty much asexual, and frankly, many of the things listed are pretty gross IMO. But I also think that as long as consent is given, people have every right to do whatever sexually related acts they want to with each other. Barring children and animals, though, because they cannot give consent. [SIZE=1]*Edit* Yes, Sara, I know (not firsthand, just common sense) the fifteen minutes of which Avenged666fold was speaking. Being my uppity, know-it-all self, I replied to try to make sure s/he understood what the [I]amazing[/I] was modifying, since it sounded like s/he thought Masamune Shirow was a porn star. Let's not go through that territory any more than I've already gone. >_< *Edit2* So my off-topic stuff is confined to one post, Delta is teh awesome, and being fast at completion of his "artform" is would not necessarily be the best porn star quality for Masamune Shirow, but wow, what a recovery rate. XD And... I brought it back to the bad place. Most of this post is legitimate, though.[/SIZE]

Crimson Hero is currently being serialized in Shojo Beat here in America, and they are releasing it in volumes, too, of course. For those of you unfamiliar with the title, Crimson Hero focuses on fifteen-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi. Her controlling mother wants Nobara to quit her tomboyish ways and train to be the next owner of the family business. Nobara's younger sister Souka is complacent, feminine, ladylike, and perfect in arts such as tea ceremonies and flower arranging and would be the perfect successor to the ryotei, but tradition dictates tht Nobara be the one to take over. Nobara has no interest in the family business. Her one true love, the one thing she always took confidence in, was her skill on the volleyball court. She goes to Crimson Field High School because they are famous for their volleyball team. As it turns out, only the [I]boys'[/I] team is good, and the girls' team was disbanded. She then sets her sights on forming a new girls' team. Her mother tries her best to stop Nobara from playing volleyball, but with the help of her aunt she finds a way to get back on the court. Finding teammates is not her only problem. Nobara, who never thought anything of guys, has to be dorm mother for the boys' volleyball team! Of course, Nobara starts developing a crush on one of the members, but it feels a little newer than most shojo manga, because her main focus is still on her sport, and she does not fully inderstand what her feelings are and why she feels them. Now that I've gotten the "put up summary and save thread" thing out of my system, I will just tell you that this is a funny series that portrays a refreshing protagonist. In basic speak: Squeee! I'm a total fan girl! I love this series to death, Nobara has a personality closer to my own than any other lead in shojo manga I've ever read. Pick it up! Read it! I still don't know which of the two main boys I like best, but I find it hilarious that they are prettier than most of the girls in the manga.

[FONT=Century Gothic][COLOR=DarkRed][B]Name:[/B] Michael Darling[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=DarkOrchid]Gender:[/B] Male, often crossdresses.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]Age:[/B] 12, the same age as Giton and Narcisse.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=DarkOrange]Sexuality:[/B] He does not feel any preferences, because in truth, anyone who wanted Michael could have him. No one has given him much in terms of hands-on experience, but he sees it as another subject he desperately desires to learn about.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=Blue]Appearance:[/B] As Michael is not even thirteen, he has not yet developed many of the traits associated with adult males. His voice is high and clear, showing no signs of cracking yet. Thick, mousy brown hair sticks out in odd places around his face, although he has very little hair anywhere else on his body. His height is somewhat of an issue with him, as he is short even for his age. Ruddy skin, bright azure eyes, and remaining baby fat add to the innocent look of his cherubic face. Michael is neither skinny nor fat, still walking the middle line of childhood where it is difficult to guess what his eventual body-type will be. Although very childish looking, his appearance leans towards masculine enough that he has never been mistaken for a girl. Unusual markings on him are the mole on the right side of the back of his neck, two brown flecks in his left eye, and scars criss-crossed on his stomach. For clothing, Michael has unusual tastes. Or, what most society would consider unusual for a boy. Although he enjoys comfortable jeans and plain t-shirts by way of masculine clothing, he has recently developed a taste for more feminine attire. The outfit he now most often wears would be long black and red striped stockings; flat-heeled, lace-up black boots cut off just below his knees; a black, mid-thigh length jean skirt and several studded belts; a white baby tee with a red rose design; and a simple black leather choker. Make-up other than red fingernail polish holds no appeal for Michael, and he wears boxers whether he is crossdressing or not.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=DarkSlateGray]Personality:[/B] Despite his age, he has a wide range of knowledge over many subjects and is very intelligent. Learning is one of his passions, even about subjects some would deem too mature for people of his age, or any age, for that matter. Cheerful and easily excited, Michael is often seen as childish. His easy-going nature and insensitivity to what some would deem adult topics make him extremely adaptable. He wants only to serve and be noticed, making him submissive, loyal, and attention-hungry. Basically a lapdog who will do literally anything. It may seem strange, then, that he often ends up by himself.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=Green]Biography:[/B] Michael is the baby of the family, which in some cases means the one given the most attention. However, he ended up being the most ignored. His parents always shed more attention on first-born Wendy and oldest son John. In the case of their family, this should have been lucky. Key word for Michael is [I]should[/I]. Sin and squalor was the key phrase for their dysfunctional little home, if it warranted being called a home at all. Drugs, alcohol, and sex were part of everyday life for them. Michael was ignored completely, while his older siblings were subject to abuse of all kinds by their father. His mother, as far as he can recall, was not abusive, but she gave no attention to Michael. He does not recall exactly how his brother and sister were abused, merely that his parents passed him up in favor of John and Wendy. Michael hated not his siblings, but his parents for ignoring him. He wanted any of their attention, even craved for them to abuse him like they did his siblings. Anything to show his mother and father thought of him. But he never received it. In a few cases, being ignored is as damaging as abuse. Michael did whatever it took to garner attention from his siblings. Wendy and John were a great comfort to him, but they had their own problems and could not always look after him. Even that small bit of happiness would be ripped away from him early in life. The three siblings eventually became wards of the state, and they were split up. Michael would be ignored by the heads of his next home as well, only instead of caring siblings he had hateful cousins. Wendy visited him a few ties, but she eventually just stopped coming. The worlds of books became his greatest source of comfort, which is how he learned about cutting, the uses of iodine, and crossdressing. Women's clothing held a certain appeal, and it made him feel some semblance of connection with Wendy. At age ten he began wearing what most considered girls' clothing, although Michael saw no logical reason why boys could not wear skirts if girls could wear pants. For once Michael was the tiniest bit happy that no one cared about him, because no one cared about what he wore, either. In fact, his cousins seemed to encourage the way he dressed, and Michael's habits became a source of cruel entertainment for them. School might have been a haven for him, given his accelerated intellect and thirst for knowledge, but children can be even crueler than adults, meaning Michael was subject to beatings at the hands of oldre students. And unfortunately, adults in these situations have a tendency to make things worse. Many a guidance counselor tried to stop Michael from crossdressing once he started, but he realized that by acting out people would notice and pay attention to him. So not only does he enjoy wearing clothing meant for females, he knows someone will pay attention to him if he does. By chance he found a book of Marquis de Sade's in a used bookstore at the tender age of eleven. Marquis de Sade would be, of course, the man for whom sadism is named. The book was [I]120 Days of Sodom[/I], and was one of the factors spurring his interest in sex. Luckily or unluckily, for in Michael's mind it is difficult to decipher, none of his relatives had any interest in abusing him sexually. Eventually, he met his mother again, and she seemed oddly pleased that he had taken up crossdressing. Her interest fed Michael's love-starved heart, and he immediately accepted her offer to go to Neverland. Spending time with people who wanted to talk to him? And at an amusement park? Michael's dreams seemed to coming true.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=Red]Vices:[/B] A deep love of feeling physical pain, call it masochism if you must. His favorite thing to do is give himself light wounds that won't be noticed and add copious amounts of iodine. Sex, obviously, as he is both eager to learn new things and sees it as a good way to garner attention. Although it has never been tested, incest would be one of his vices, proving how badly he wants his family to give him attention.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=Sienna]Useful Items:[/B] A black-handled switchblade he uses for (what else?) cutting, iodine, which not only adds a good amount of pain to his wounds, it is a disinfectant and water purifier, and a red backpack holding the aforementioned items as well as his favorite books.[/COLOR] [B][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Notes:[/B] It should be made clear that although Michael has an attraction to some types of women's clothing, he is fully male and has no wish to be female. It should also be noted that reading [I]120 Days of Sodom[/I] could cause serious damage to the mind of any child, or for that matter, freak some adults out. I do not particularly encourage anyone to seek it out, just know that it is graphic enough to warp an impressionable child's psyche. I hold no responsibilty if you take it upon yourself to do research, but it was worthy to note how badly it could hurt an eleven year old smart enough to understand it (or even not understand it).[/COLOR][/FONT]

[SIZE=1][B]Name:[/B] Xue Fang Craft (commonly called Fang) [B]Age:[/B] 26 [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Personality:[/B] Fang, like most bounty hunters, loves the thrill of her job. She looks at rewards and respect as a plus, but mainly loves the high she gets from near-death experiences. Her love of near-death experiences makes people think she is irresponsible (or at least masochistic). However, her every move before a hunt is planned with the utmost care and strategy, as is her life. She refuses to invest herself in many personal relationships, as she hates depending on anyone for anything. Her general quietness also leads people to think she is shy, but she won't hesitate to yell at or even hit you if you do something wrong. [B]Appearance:[/B] [IMG]http://www.patricia-franke.de/BG_Angel_Sanctuary/sara2.jpg[/IMG] Fang has an innocent face that further conflicts with her personality. Her hair is dyed in a bluish purple. One of her eyes is dark green and the other is brown. In terms of clothing, she wears anything from Goth Lolita style to palin jeans and t-shirts, but nothing that reveals the scars on her back. It isn't that she is superficial about her appearance, just that the scars have a particular meaning to her. Layered clothing is her preferred choice on missions so she can hide her weapons and not be immediately recognized as a bounty hunter. Her entire left arm bears a tattoo of a rose vine with a red-lined black rose bloom on her hand. [B]Style:[/B] Fang is a quiet strategist who excels at deceit. Her strength lies in her speed and agility rather than raw force. She gets a thrill from getting as close to her bounties as possible before taking them out. Often she will take on jobs where she is outnumbered, but she uses the element of surprise and her honed aim for quick kills. [B]Weapons:[/B] Her gun of choice is the [U][URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASP_%28handgun%29]ASP[/URL][/U], a 9mm handgun which hold 7 rounds. Usually she uses both her right-handed and left-handed ASP at once, and she is equally strong in both hands. A black handled switchblade is her backup in case she runs out of ammo, although she keeps very careful tabs on remaining shots and always carries extra bullets. [B]Other Abilities:[/B] She has near-perfect aim and some self-defense training, but is physically weaker than most bounty hunters. She is a very good actress, able to lure people into a false sense of security. [B]Character Snippet:[/B] The sun gave feeble warmth in the cool fall air. Fang pulled her jacket closer to her body as the wind picked up force. A man walked ten feet in front of her, every now and then running a hand through his blond locks. He turned a corner giving her a brief glimpse of the scar under his left eye, confirming he was the right man. The man's name was Philip Riley, age thirty, wanted dead for the murder of ten women. His MO was going up to young girls in need of help, slitting their wrists to let them die from bloodloss, and burning the corpses. Compared to many bounties Fang had dealt with before, this guy was fairly normal. He stopped momentarily outside of a convenience store to light a cigarette, and Fang decided to end the chase. "Excuse me!" Fang yelled as she ran up to him. She offered a shy smile and asked, "Have you seen a dog run by here? Small, white, and with a black-tipped tail? I think he just ran past here." "I don't know that I saw any dogs, but I would be happy to help you look," he replied with a smile. Fang examined his warm grin and handsome face, and was not surprised that he could deceive so many girls. "You're really helping me out, Philip," Fang said cheerfully. The man's eyes widened at the use of his name. In an instant she pulled her left-handed gun from her jacket and shot a bullet into his skull. He fell to the ground, cigarette still burning. "Although, it would have been slightly more helpful if we had been closer to the police station. I'll just call them to come pick you up, since I really don't feel like dragging you over there." With a hateful glare at the corpse she went inside the convenience store and called the cops. There was no real satisfaction in this hunt since she was never in immediate danger, but the bounty money did sooth her mood a little.[/SIZE]

I don't talk to many OB members ( you're all great, i just don't talk much). I've talked to [B]Sazabi[/B] before, and he's fun. We have... interesting conversations. Role-playing with him is especially fun. We both live in Tennessee, so there is an actual possiblity of us meeting sometime. Maybe at RennFest, if Holly doesn't stalk and murder him. [B]Any and all new members.[/B] Why would I want to meet new people? Because they seem to start conversations with me all the time. I guess I'm approachable or something. We would have a class about how to be proper OB members. And n00bs' post quality. [SIZE=1](Kidding new people. I

I agree with vegeta rocker. OB has a nice selection of avatars, and it would be a fairly big deal, I think, to have to remake them all in 100 by 100 size. I like to think of our avatars as widescreen movies while 100 by 100 are regular TV movies. :D They are special. There are plenty of nice OB members in the Art Studio who would help you out with avatars if you give them a pic of what you want. They do both banners and avatars on request. Aren't they wonderful? And yes, you can just fool around with MS Paint and Photshop to resize your avatar. Both my banner and avatar were made with pics of Kaori Yuki's found on the internet and edited in MS Paint, and they turned out okay (I think so, at least). Just try stretch and skew, if nothing else. *Edit* I do believe one of the Art Studio stickies names one or two free programs to use, and even if you cannot do fancy effects, you can probably learn how to crop or resize pretty easily.

I'm really sorry, but I think I'll be dropping out. I have no inspiration to write lately, and there are enough people to keep it going with one less person. I hope you don't mind. Takuya, I'll still be glad to help should you want it, but I'm just not in the mood for an RP. And if anyone wants to use my character for an NPC, feel free to mold her to your will. Thanks and bye!

[SIZE=1]OoC:^Ignore. I sort of let this go... Bad silver_blade! If anyone feels like it, jump right back in, the story is loose enough. But Latharix will be fine posting.^^ IC: "Fine, Black Jack," Soma said as she looked at the determination in Eliska's eyes. "We need to do some digging. And we will need some help. Let's go back home for now. I have to make sure Snake Eyes is okay." They headed solemnly back to their house. Not many Devils were expected to be back that early, so they were almost alone. Snake Eyes was in the living room with a few envelopes that held the cash from the bounties. The trio sat in the floor debating the next course of action. "We can't let any cops get into our hideout!" Snake Eyes proclaimed. "This is even worse than cops. It could be the people running this city snooping around," Eliska said in a quiet voice. "And there is that Dimes guy. We cannot let him get away with killing Bluff!" "Revenge is a necessary part of life in Arcrith, but we need to set our priorities. First, we'll see some contacts. Exactly who is searching for us. Second, we find out [I]how[/I] information got leaked about us. Holes are made to be filled. And third..." Soma's eyes fleshed. "We find Dimes and see what happens." "So who are we gonna go to first?" Snake Eyes asked as she sprawled over a chair. "Someone in the northeast part of town," Soma answered unhelpfully. "I promise to explain more once we get there."[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=r2vq]18,000 of the Black DS lites being shipped to Europe were swiped in Hong Kong. [url=http://www.engadget.com,%20www.engadget.com/2006/06/15/the-curious-case-of-the-2-3m-in-missing-ds-lites/]Link 1[/url] [url=http://games.kikizo.com/news/200606/088.asp]Link 2[/url] [url=http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/view_item.php?1150383252]Link 3[/url] T_T Those poor critters. *[i]strokes my DS Lite[/i]* -r2[/QUOTE] Poor Nintendo, I do so hope they find out who did it. I'll probably buy a black market black DS, though. Kidding, but not really. The reason I do not want to trade in my DS and go Lite is because we only have white here in America. I do not like the look of the white, so I am hoping the Enamel Navy gets brouht over here eventually, or at least some other color to choose from. Until then, I'll stick with my Electric Blue handheld.

[quote name='Cygnus X-1][COLOR=Sienna']No, where does it say marriage is between man and a woman? Originally, marriage was designed so that men could have women as property. Marriage was a disgusting thing, a buisnes transaction that had absolutely nothing to do with love - but that's changed, at least in parts of the world, hasn't it? Why can't men be allowed to marry men and women marry women? There is no reason, other than you're personal opinion - and personal opinions should not govern nations.[/COLOR][/quote] Exactly. And many straight couples abuse the so-called "sanctity" of marriage through cheating and spousal abuse. It seems as if marriage is about only legality these days with no reference to love, but it has not been cause by the gender of your partner, rather how you act while in the relationship.

[quote name='Avenged666fold']They lack the ability to make children there are laws in marriage about children. So the laws don't apply to them? Well then that's not equal is it?[/quote] I would just like to point out that many straight couples, for whatever reason, are not able to have children, and they are allowed to get married. The inability to have children does not discount you for marriage. Would you say to an infertile person, "I'm sorry, but since you cannot have kids, we find you defective, so you cannot get married" ? I certainly hope not.

[quote name='Avenged666fold']I know you are not born that way as I have a gay freind.[/quote]That is offensive. You are not gay, and your friend does not represent every gay person in the world. You do not know how people are from the time they are born, and there are many reasons for people to come out later in life. [quote name='Avenged66fold]So it is not an irriversable defect. So to the point why shouldn't they have gay marriage? Beacuse then you would be accomidating a diasease instead of trying to cure it.[/QUOTE]Homosexuality is not a disease. Homosexuals are not in any way defective. You cannot cure it. You do not have to like it, but do not write it off as a disorder.[QUOTE=Avenged666fold']People who hate on bush for the most part or just jumping on the bandwagon and trying to be rebellious (which you ahve every right to be) but you should be aware that you are still just jumping on the bandwagon.[/quote]That is not necessarily true. There are plenty of people who dislike Bush for pure political reasons and not because it is a fad. In my opinion, no one with a complete working brain should start bashing a country's leader because it is a fad, but because they have differing opinions. [quote name='John'] As a Christian, I think homosexuality and bisexuality are wrong, but I certainly don't have a problem with non-Christians being gay. What reason do they have to believe it's wrong, anyway? And if they're doing it obviously without any ill intent, is it really wrong at all? So, yes, gay rights for all.[/quote]I believe it is fine for anyone to be straight or gay or bisexual regardless of religion, but I would just like to thank you for being very respectful and open minded. There are a very few non-religious reasons as to why gay marriage could cause a problem in the government, but I have not seen any of them on this thread. This is America (unless you are a user in another country, obviously). I see no problem with gay marriage. Your sexual preference does not make a difference on who you are as a person. I was raised to accept all people, and I hate to sound cheesy, but I am glad we have differences. In the United States, you are lucky enough to have freedom of religion. This includes not following certain religions or certain aspects of a religion. I mean no disrespect to the Christians who are against homosexuality, but you are not allowed to force your fellow man to worship, believe, or act in the same way as you. We are supposed to be equals, and although you may not accept homosexuality, I have this to say: Get over it. Homosexuality is not causing a decline in morals or the breakdown of the family home or hurting the "sanctity of marriage." You do not have to like it, but gay people deserve the same rights as everyone else in the U.S. There is a 66% divorce rate, marriages are more legal contract than holy ceremony, and the family structure is not as stable as it used to be. There is no evidence linking this to homosexuality. Men and women who cheat, abusive spouses/parents, and contrdicting morals are, in my short years of experience, the reason behind this. If two men or two women love each other enough to commit to each other in every sense, spiritual and legal, then let them. I fully support gay rights, but I also support free speech. You may think whatever you want to think, believe what you want to believe. But you must let others think and believe and act in the way they choose, as well. White male Christians are not the only people allowed freedom and choices anymore. Homosexuality is not hurting you. You do not have to accept it, but you cannot stop them from having the same rights. There is no reason for Bush to ban gay marriage. It very well could be a ploy to curry favor with the far right-wing RepublicansI am not exactly a fan of his because he made many decisions in running the country I disagree with. I am not completely democrat, not completely republican. Just someone with very strong opinions on certain subjects. ***I have been typing for a really long time, so there have been several more posts. This specifically got me:[QUOTE=Avenged666fold] Oh and by the way if you wanna see why it's a defect and not just another way to be try to stick your private part into another like private part and see if thats the way that puzzle goes. XD[/QUOTE]That is one of the most vulgar, offensive posts I have ever seen on OB. There is more to love than sex. I cannot express how much I am offended by that statement without lowering myself, so I will shut up, which is not the worst advice ever issued.

While it is [I]influenced[/I] by anime, like Teen Titans, it is [I]not[/I] anime. It is completely made in America, and anime is Japanese. There can be some debte over what falls into the anime category. Manga, manhwa (Korean comics), and manhua (Chinese comics) are considered in separate categories, but to the best of my knowledge, Asian animation is usually considered anime whether it is Japanese or not. I count a show like IGPX as anime because it is produced by both Cartoon Network and Production I.G. But a cartoon like Ben 10, which is not, to the best of my knowledge, produced in part by any studio in Asia, is not anime. Excuse me for the long, drawn-out opinion, and forgive me if I got anything wrong. And this might need to be moved to Music, Movies & TV, unless a mod says it is anime.

[QUOTE=Dagger]That aside, I'm glad y'all are enjoying it here. But I'm sure you'll become disillusioned with us and go off to form ex-OB support groups sooner or later. ;) ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] Wow. I'm disillusioned now. I must become the arch-enemy of all that is OtakuBoards. Fear the Anti-OB Federation of the Proud Country of Internetia. Seriously, though, this forum I was on had a whole sub-forum called Green Eggs and Spam devoted to... guess what? Spam, of course. There was a thread for who could post the word "spam" the most. Every locked thread on OB would be considered a gem on that forum. It is like if OB had a Twilight Zone episode.

Quality does depend more on the people playing than the length, I think, but yes, a short or limited post RP could work. I know how hard it is to keep one going; my first attempt at making one has withered (mostly my fault, though). Maybe a light-hearted RP would work better than a deep, dark story for this. It seems like anything that falls under the action/adventure category seems to take longer, as does the mystery genre. I think basically the deeper the plot, the longer it takes. And if people start making sub-plots for their characters, it adds some length. If you make a comedy--not necessarily pure comedy, but more wacky than serious--then the storyline could be short [I]and[/I] good. Just what I think.

I was not sure if this was better suited for PC/Mac, but I think goes better in Otaku Lounge. I have only been on the internet for a few months, so I have not joined very many forums. OB was the first forum I joined. A friend brought me into it, and now I'm hooked. The community on OB is, in general, an intelligent bunch of posters with brains in full working order. Most of the time, members here can keep their replies respectful. There are a few rules that you have to follow, but they only better our responses. I realized this when I went on another forum site for anime and manga. Post quality was horrible. Favorites threads abounded with everyone posting lists and no reasons. The mods were the worst. On that forum, the mods constantly spammed one word posts that went completely off-topic, and even though this site seemed to be aimed at young teens, this one mod had posted an array of explicit words that added up to a bunch of stupidity, violence, and sex jokes. Have any of you ever been to a really stupid forum? How does OB compare to other sites you've been to?

[B]Ezekiel[/B] is up first. The words in the picture express the piece exactly. You used the space well, not leaving too much blank and not crowding everything. The bear is cute and slightly sad looking to me, which fits well with the text. The period after innocent bothers me, I think because the other phrases have no punctuation. Just a little thing, but it sticks out in my mind. The tilted heart in between the words and the bear is a nice touch, with the black making it cute and dark. [B]Boo[/B], I like the fact that you utilized the ability to use animation and all your colors, but the overall feel was too busy in my opinion. The constant flashing does go with "Flashy," obviously, but I think it is a bit much. Looking at it for an extended period of time strains my eyes just a little because of the quick and constant motion of the black and white circles. Apart from that, there is nothing I dislike about it, except maybe the fact that the circles are grainy on the edges. Both of you did well using almost the same handicaps as last time. In the end, I give my vote to [B]Ezekiel[/B].

Thanks for the good comments, Solo Tremaine. I shall address them in no apparent order. I live in Tennessee, so I use a lot of colloquialisms. Felix's irises are gold and blue, the gold towards the outside of the iris. Think of a bull's eye. I need to rewite some stuff, obviously. Amaranth is supposed to speak like that. It stays in her character, and she talks that way because her teacher/guardian speaks that way. And the line you quoted... I hate that line. No idea why I wrote it. And for the swords... it is a boy and girl, two sixteeen-year-olds, fighting with swords. Wording a sentence without someone seeing innuendo is difficult. Way too many euphemisms. For the different races, I know what you mean. I hate things being thrown in without being explained. I have written a little farther and I will always write a clear paragraph explaining races. Which is why I will add the prologue of my story to my first post.