TheResplendent

[FONT="Tahoma"]Hope it isn't too late to sign up, been looking to get into something lately and playing Marvel:UA2 has set up a healthy interest for this. Also hope that this gets started somewhat soon since it's been open for quite a bit. Lemme know if all is good. [b]Name[/b]: Diandra Crane [b]Mutant Name[/b]: Has not recognized one in an official sense. Has been referred to as "Silhouette" by those who know her powers. [b]Age[/b]: 26 [b]Sex[/b]: Female [b]Mutant Ability[/b]: Diandra has undergone an uncanny change in her physical agility and speed. She can be extremely swift in her movements and running, as well as navigate vertical structures such as walls or buildings so long as she maintains a certain speed. Her leaping ability has also seen enhancement. She is exceptionally flexible but nothing that would compromise reasonable bone structuring. The reason she has somewhat reluctantly earned the nick name of "Silhouette" is because of the more peculiar side of her abilities. Diandra can form temporary clones of herself that resemble more of a silhouette with a slight smokey texture. They act by her will and are quite tangible, but significantly weaker than a normal human like structure. The amount of these clones she can form isn't a large number at all, often only putting 3 at most out during recon missions or escape diversions [b]Bio[/b]: Diandra and her younger sister Layla were both raised by their mother, who was a well known singer amongst her peers. Diandra's fondest memories from her childhood was of her mother singing to her and the fondness she felt from it led to her strong interest in singing as well. Her mother died of an illness when she was 14, and was left to take care of Layla, who was 10 at the time. They lived together in a small apartment that was barely in tact, but will hidden so they were not bothered. Diandra would go out and steal food and do what she could so they could get by day to day. Though there are few venues for entertainment and leisure and little time for such appreciations as singing and performance in the post-apocalyptic present, at the age of 16 Diandra came across an underground establishment which offered the accommodations of a bar/night club when searching for her sister who had run away from home. She was nearly kicked out at the door for her age, but was persistent enough to cause a commotion that caught the attention of the owner, a mutant named Jakob Boromin. He told her that unless she had something to offer him and his business, she had no business to be there. On a spur of the moment act, she offered her services as a singer, as long as she was allowed to search for her sister. Diandra took the stage and halfway through her song Jakob was dazzled by her voice. The drunken patrons of the bar were however more interested in fighting over rights to the teenage girl's body. Diandra was grabbed off stage by a large man, but was dealt with by Jakob who fought to protect her. Jakob came to view Diandra like a daughter, since he had lost his own to a group of Herald worshippers in a random attack. His depression and anger seemed to be non-existent only around Diandra, and even offered her a place to live and food and help searching for Layla. At the age of 19, she still hadn't found her sister...but never gave up. While searching one day, she came across a band of Herald worshippers who had stormed into the city. She was one of several dozen people who were taken in transports and brought to a facility where biochemical experiments and other torture were carried out. Diandra was one of the most favored subjects and had tests constantly done on her, including being exposed to a degree of generated radiation by a machine manufactured to accelerate mutations. She was tortured every day for six months, until the results of the experimentation came to manifestation. She noticed the increase in her speed and how she could move her body days before her escape, and took the chance of speeding away from her captures and diving through a third story window to escape. She crawled away only slightly injured and forced herself to run as fast as she could away until she was so exhausted, she climbed into the back of a truck and hid under a blanket and fell asleep. The truck belonged to a member of a small mutant resistance force who opposed The Herald and looked after one another. She was discovered upon returning to their base and was eventually taken in and trained. Diandra had always hated fighting, she much preferred singing and being in serenity. But after her hellish ordeal, she realized the necessity to become self-sufficient and to be able to use her new found abilities to their max potential if she was to be stuck with them. Present day, at age 26, any squeamishness or childish fears had dissipated within Diandra. She is a well-toned and dangerous beauty who mixes her enhanced movements with hand to hand fighting, favoring kick-boxing overall, and a very adept spy and escape artist. She discovered her "clone forming" abilities several years after her escape from the facility and was only able to learn how to control this on her own. The resistance group, at present day only a group of 8 including her, came to call her Silhouette. She wasn't crazy about the idea of adopting a "mutant name" and refused to officially recognize it, still preferring to be called by her real name. She is sometimes still haunted by memories of her past, but she tried with all of her power to live in the present and be a part of the solution to the calamity...if there was such a thing as a solution. Above all, Diandra's main priority still remains to reunite with Layla, refusing any thoughts that throughout the years she might be dead. [b]Short Physical Description[/b]: [IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/Bklynstyles/9837-0-1.jpg?t=1258367922[/IMG] -Diandra has long flowing dark hair, a tanned complexion and a well-toned body. She stands at about 5'8, and typically wears a black low cut form-fitting tank top ending above her belly button with a thin leather jacket over it, ending slightly above her waistline. She doesn't wear any jewelry except for a black choker around her neck at times. [b]Personality[/b]: Diandra is a somewhat serious woman who tries to lighten up every so often, but is too plagued by her rough childhood and early teenage years. She has come a long way from her younger self and is more more aware and intelligent then she used to be. She craves companionship deep down inside and finds conflict with this often because of how very few people in her life who genuinely cared about her. She trusts those in her resistance group, but doesn't feel particularly close with any of them in a personal sense. She can be very anxious at times and very action-oriented. She is patient for the most part however, and is very confident in herself and her resolve. Though, she still feels a slight sense of loss when her mind is not otherwise occupied. [b]Character Snippet[/b]: "You know, it took me five minutes to figure out I was talking to one of your clones back there, and i'm not one to barge into a lady's room so it isn't like i could check if it was really you either..." Mack said a bit annoyed, finally finding Diandra on the roof of their HQ taking in the rain. Diandra didn't change her expression but turned her head slightly to her partner. "Thought you liked that trick," she replied. She adjusted her legs and took a seated position, then transitioned into a partially lying down position. Mack fully ascended the ladder and proceeded to pulling the metal gate that they used for shelter forward so that it covered Diandra. The sound of the raindrops bouncing off the gate was somewhat musical. The large framed man with a scruffy goatee took a seat beside his partner. "Yeah, I think it's great. But you can't use it to get out of listening to what I have to say. I know missions aren't your favorite thing in the world but you aren't immune to lectures on messing up, the same as the other guys" Diandra just lowered her head and stretched her legs out so her boots were teasing the border of the gate's protection from the rain. Her mind raced and at the same time didn't move at all. There was no point in detailed contemplation, she had messed up plain and simple and wasn't one to make excuses. "I'm sorry, Mack. I know I jumped the gun...I thought I'd be fast enough to catch him without backup." she explained truthfully. "It wasn't about speed Di, you have to take into consideration the possible abilities these other mutants have. You would have caught him if he hadn't shape-shifted, but alerting him as far in advance as you did allowed him to act quickly..." Mack stopped himself and realized there really wasn't any need to continue. He sighed and placed his hand on Diandra's shoulder. She just stared out into the endless rain and tried to take comfort in it. A single thought eventually pushed itself through the muddled nothings that she put no effort into attempting to reclaim. She closed her eyes and let them escape her lips. "Layla...I wish I knew if I was getting closer to you..."[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]I am reading [B][U]Native Speaker[/U][/B] by Chang Rae Lee for my Asian-American Lit class. It is a fun contemporary read so far, lot of nice tidbits to read between the lines off concerning themes like immigration and cultural details. Though I suppose that is one of the points to having it assigned for class. I am looking for some new books to get into. I still have to pick up a couple from the great Chinese classic collection and I am looking for some good graphic novels to read, but haven't been dedicating a lot of time to that lately. [/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"][center]"Get that b*tch out of your life, trust me" "Go to friggen class" "You see how fat we got? Forget 30, the metabolism is slowing down at 23...at the very least get a gym membership" "Hot asian girls, now, go...no I don't care. What? Fine, here is a list of names, but you gotta find em on your own!" "Insert all winners of major sporting events and years here __________, now go make some money"[/center][/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"][URL="http://kotaku.com/5364947/cops-play-wii-during-undercover-drug-raid"][u][b]Wii Bowling becomes new procedure for drug raids![/u][/b][/URL] Now i'm not saying this is something I [I]wouldn't[/I] do (well...maybe Marvel vs Capcom 2 or Soul Calibur)...but then again, I don't intend on being a cop either. Still, I'd like to hear the explanations for this one when the time comes. My reactions pretty much ranged from hilarious laughter to a shaking head of the "these poor bastards" persuasion.[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Just started watching [b]Glass Fleet[/b] the other day. I know nothing of the manga, just started watching because it has been a while since seeing a new space themed anime. Majority of them have nothing on Outlaw Star. Only a few episodes in right now, though the first episode did nearly nothing to suck me in. My rule with most animes is to watch the first three episodes to determine if it is worth watching, the case here does not seem all that impressive or different, but I am curious to see if a potential [spoiler]Cleo/Vetti [/spoiler] encounter in episode 4 will help out any. [/FONT]

[quote name='Magus'] Romance of the 3 Kindgoms.. I gotta admit that I'm going into this pretty blind. I've only played the Dynasty Warrior games so I don't know anything about the 3 kingdoms. Hopefully it'll entertain me since I'm a fan of chinese/japanese stuff. [/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]The actual story is very detailed and the amount that the Dynasty Warriors series does not cover you can just about fit into the grand canyon (Kevin Smith anyone?). I think what always upset me about the progression of the game's installments though is that Koei was always ready to fabricate new things before including actual characters/events that were not in previous games (I was always hoping Cheng Pu, Yu Jin, Lu Su, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao would eventually be turned into playable characters). But eh, what can be done. The best translated version of the story is well into the 4 digits for pages but a worthwhile read given the proper level of interest. I am looking forward to seeing what can be done here, though I am not expecting too much considering most anime series based off of shorter mangas very rarely cover everything important. So long as it's at least loosely based off the historic novel though, it should be a fun watch. Zhuge Liang and Zhao Zilong, ftw. Otherwise, [b]Darker Than Black[/b] is definitely topping my list since i enjoyed the first series for the most part. I can't really say I enjoyed [b]Inuyasha[/b] very much, but if the series promises to actually come to a close with this, I'd watch it just for the closure. The majority of what else has been announced I do not know much about, but will be looking into it the next chance I get.[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]This will be my third year going, I intend on attending more panels this year than in previous years. The various panels concerning copyrights and property rights in particular. It is a shame about the cancellation of 20th Century Boys part 3, as I have not seen it yet. However L: Change the World seems a suitable replacement to save the time slot. Will be cosplaying as Shuuhei Hisagi from Bleach on saturday, with my girlfriend doing Yoruichi in battle form.[/FONT]

[quote name='chibi-master']Sicko, why the frick do you assume it was sexual?! Cripes, he was a long-distance boyfriend! "Ex" does not have to imply intimacy at THAT level!:animedepr[/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]I didn't say your relationship was sexual, i was pointing out that at that young of an age these kids have already engaged in that kind of relationship. More so to point out that it isn't so odd that you would have an ex boyfriend at the age of 14. Though i personally tend not to count long distance relationships, but that is just my personal preference.[/FONT]

[quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms] One of my history classes had 11 books and we used 3 of them.[/font][/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]That is actually what I am expecting to happen here. Though to be honest I will probably not go ahead with purchasing every one of them until right before she confirms we will be reading them.[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]If either of you ever visited New York for a long enough period of time you'd be disgusted if intimate relationships at the age of 14 yield such reactions from you. Since my generation, the ages have only gotten younger and younger. My mother who teaches second grade has more than enough stories of sexual encounter between 7 year olds in her school. Though, while that is less often...the age of sexual interactions normally starts happening around pre-teen anyway. Hell, my very first serious girlfriend back in high school was 14 and she had 2 exes before me. Though this is the case in many more places as well, especially nowadays. Consider yourselves lucky you still live in a place where this hasn't gotten so out of hand yet. [B]Edit:[/B] Actually, chances are very good it already has. So rather consider yourselves lucky you aren't aware of it yet. As for revenge, my only advice on that is if you want to handle it the best way possible, focus your efforts on bettering your life and not demeaning someone else. You will achieve much more that way, and be in a much better situation for it. Especially due to the lack of maliciousness in this scenario. Not to mention, that is a really weak plan if your intent is to hurt. Consider the need to get back a largely unnecessary one. [/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Well, my Asian-American lit class has broken the previous record for most books required for one of my classes, with the amount of 7. Thankfully most of them are relatively short paperbacks. But I guess that's nothing compared to my quantitative reasoning class's one book costing more than double the amount of the other 7 combined.[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]I don't often say this about games...not even Fallout 3 got this comment from me, but this game goes above and beyond its hype and reviews. Only one thing ruins it, which is [spoiler]its very weak and uninspired ending[/spoiler]. Just about everything else about the game is done near to perfection. From the flawless graphical presentation with great animation, character appearance, and lots of great detail. to the terrific way the game encompasses practically the entire history of the Batman universe in some way or another. The villains that are featured are portrayed in fantastic fashion, especially [spoiler]Scarecrow, who absolutely steals the game with his boss challenges and scenes of delivering horror unto Batman. I couldn't have been happier to see my absolute favorite Batman villain get this kind of respect. You know...until Croc got a hold of him.[/spoiler] Lots of great involvement, from the Riddler's challenges providing endless things to do on the side throughout the entire game's story progression to the Joker's hilarious banter. Dialogue and voice acting is great, and everything comes together in a terrific way. The game has this tremendous feel of authenticity to it. The only way I can think to explain it is that as convincing of an action game that easily caters to fans and non-fans of Batman alike, it always from start to finish feels like a true Batman game. Old norms pushed, new things added, but never changed or degenerated. I don't want to say too much more since the game is still pretty new and many people will not have finished yet. Definitely worth playing. [/FONT]

[quote name='chibi-master']Okay, has anyone ever fallen prey to a Freshmen Friday thing? Or are those usually just myths? Because, I'm sorry, but if someone tries to do anything to me, I am going to hurt them. BADLY.[/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]Lol. I'm sure it is dependent on the school...but that kind of crap has always been exactly that as far as my experiences go. Both directly and indirectly. I wouldn't worry too much about it, though kudos to you if you hurt someone in your first year of high school.[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Pics from NYC Japan Fair yesterday. [IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/Bklynstyles/IMG_0378-1-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/Bklynstyles/IMG_0408-1-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/Bklynstyles/IMG_0377-1-1.jpg[/IMG] [/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Dead Space hands down. I've never been scared by a Resident Evil game or a Silent Hill game or whatever, the styles never seemed all that creepy to me maybe with the exception of the occasional popping out of a barricaded window scene. But playing Dead Space at pretty much any point of the day can prove damn creepy, but with no lights on when it is dark out...scary stuff >.> They have a great formula for setting the mood right from the start by having Issac's body cover the entire left side of the screen (since his vitals and whatnot are located on his back), that way it is harder to have decent peripheral vision and easier to get surprised. Those damn things pop out of everywhere though, even when you don't see a vent nearby...and when [spoiler]the ship crashes into the Ishimura, and the necromorphs start gaining that crack addiction twitch and move at super speeds[/spoiler]...that gets friggen creepy. The ship level designs are absolutely some of the best i've ever seen in a survival horror or any game for that matter. Between the lighting and the corridors, you hardly ever get the feeling like you can rest easy as you're playing. [/FONT]

[quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms] The only movies I am looking forward to seeing this season is [b]The Lovely Bones[/b] and MAYBE [b]Inglorious Basterds[/b]. [/font][/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]The two hottest brunettes on the acting scene are coming out with movies in September, Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body and Mila Kunis in Extract...*ahem* squee. Aside from those...yea I wanna see Inglorious Basterds. [/FONT]

[quote name='Magus']I also like the Middleweights.. I think. Whichever GSP is in.[/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]GSP is welterweight. There is really only one person worth watching anymore in the middleweight division, and that's the destruction machine known as Anderson Silva. [/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]There aren't many characters that kick more *** than Gibbs, the best unit team leader out of all the shows of its genre. And i'll always have a soft spot for Abby . The only time G4 is on and stays on despite whatever else is, is when Ninja Warrior comes on. Other than that, it's the channel i turn to when other things aren't on. As for UFC, i'll pretty much watch any fight (especially lightweight and light heavyweight bouts)...but I certainly have my favorites. WEC is great for good lighter weight class action, but they just don't have anyone truly impressive. Though I am a Urijah Faber fan, and Jose Aldo is exciting to watch. Strikeforce is the leader in heavyweight talent at the moment, especially with the recent acquisition of Fedor. Not much competition for him there, but the division is more stacked than UFC's has been in a long time. [/FONT]

[quote name='chibi-master']That depends on if you're a supporter of Team Edward or Team Jacob... I myself am a supporter of Team Burntheseries.[/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]Moments like these that make me glad all I watch on TV is MMA, G4, and NCIS... Edit: Ok, I've just been informed this is from Twilight...so i shall rephrase...ahem... Moments like these that make me glad I don't watch crappy movies.[/FONT]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial] I can't wait to have a daughter. :p[/FONT][/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]Better get to work, Sangome. ;)[/FONT]

[quote name='taperson'][SIZE="1"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]I love band camp.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]I love what apparently happens in band camp.[/FONT]

[quote name='SunfallE'][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]It's 'you cat you' though I know that's not quite the right saying... it's just that he's our resident basement cat. ._.[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]Thaaat's why i've noticed so many dead mice since I came back >.>[/FONT]

[quote name='chibi-master']Nice try NOTHING. It was the whole reason she lied about her age to get her annoying self onto OB! TWICE, mind you![/QUOTE] [FONT="Tahoma"]Allamorph you dog you, I had no idea you had become such the ladies man. ;)[/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Yeees, soy sauce is indeed awesome. I try to put it in pretty much every asian style dish I make (and a couple of non) along with sesame seeds, garlic, and where applicable...curry power. It's gotta be spicy :) As for the white rice thing being a white person thing, i've seen a little bit of everyone do it here and there. Personally, I prefer white rice as it is over any other kind or with any kind of condiment. Don't eat fried rice, and don't eat brown rice. [/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Reading [b]Gantz[/b] and [b]Claymore[/b] currently. Both animes left much to be desired after the end so it inspired me to read in further...[spoiler]although...the way the last battle from the Claymore anime actually does end in the Manga is as anti-climactic, kind of a slight slap in the face.[/spoiler] Gantz is seriously a mature cesspool of everything you can imagine that can happen in a true M rated product, but often won't for the sake of being PC or toned down. Great for no holds barred reading, however it may surprise you toward the late chapters with some serious story development. Whether that's intentional or not (it will seem quite uncharacteristic at first, but then you come to appreciate it in the midst of all the indulgence), it adds a lot to the experience. Claymore blows me away with the impressive amount of diversity in their cast of characters, despite having to overcome the hurdle of having pretty much all your leading and supporting females look essentially the same with the exception of hair style. You can for the most part tell every one of them apart after a chapter or two being introduced to them. Personality is where the effort shines, making the cast actually seem as large as it is even with the potential trap of writing off a good amount of the characters because of their potential generic "place filler" appeal. The story is nowhere near original really, albeit done in a more interesting telling than most. Overall an enjoyable read, and you just find yourself surprisingly connecting with so many of the characters. I am currently watching [b]Gilgamesh[/b], I am up to episode 5. Not much to say about it so far other than the music seems very capable for setting the right moods.[/FONT]