Allamorph

â??So,â? mused Nathan, his hands thrust comfortably into his pockets again, while the foursome strolled across the yard behind the low, measured house. â??Nice place.â? The man called Gavrie didnâ??t react. â??Itâ??s enough,â? he said simply, his agreement needing no words. â??But what brings you to it?â? â??Ah, we already covered that, didnâ??t we?â? the blue shinigami returned, raising his eyebrows slyly. â??Training and stuff. I mean, your boyâ??s good, but heâ??s not good enough.â? At that remark, Adrianâ??s shoulders made a slight movement that Nathan decided was his version of a cringe. Adrianâ??s mentor nodded. â??I tried to make sure he didnâ??t turn out a washout like the other wastes.â? â??Oi.â? Nathan grimaced. â??Yeah, that about sums it up. I swear I donâ??t know what the Council is thinking,â? he added, shaking his head. â??I mean, itâ??s almost like they were expecting a botched mission.â? Feeling Gavrieâ??s eyes on him, Nathan looked up to find himself facing the same inquisitive stare Adrian had been subjected to inside. He laughed. â??Fine,â? he said, â??but ask next time, eh?â? He grinned and squared himself. â??Basically, we were sent to take down a rogue vampire in his stronghold with no intel and no preparation, as well as rescue a shinigami captured by that vampire, again with no intel. Also, the messages sent to the team members were allowed to be intercepted, putting us at an immediate disadvantage, especially given the level of training some of us had.â? His smile faded. â??They sure donâ??t teach â??em like they used to,â? he remarked. Again Gavrie nodded. â??You should try having to teach by those standards.â? Nathan shuddered. â??Anyway,â? he continued, â??this vampire was only in his first decade, but he was already strong enough to force that actionâ??â? he jerked his left thumb at Adrian â??â??and he knew some pretty decent magic tricks. Iâ??m pretty sure he had some strong connections somewhere, but we couldnâ??t get anything out of him. But if thatâ??s a hint of what weâ??re supposed to be dealing with sometime soon, these guys need to brush up big time.â? â??What makes you think thereâ??ll be more incidents like this?â? â??The whole thing stunk,â? answered Nathan. â??Heavy financing plus an increase in strength that marked? For only ten years of being turned, he was too powerful. â??And then this guy gets attacked while heâ??s recoveringâ??not without reasonâ??â? this remark earned him a glare from Adrian â??â??and after I make sure heâ??s not dead he tells me heâ??s coming back here for more training. So I wanted to check you out. Plus I wanted to find out why he seems to hate everything that lives,â? he quipped. â??Well,â? said Gavrie, â??I did tell him to keep quiet about the bond.â? He raised an eyebrow. â??I guess he just took me literally.â? â??No kidding,â? said Nathan. He thought for a moment. â??But still,â? he went on, â??keeping it even from his allies? Thatâ??s a bit of a big deal, especially where teamwork is concerned. I mean, Iâ??m sure you had your reasons, but....â? He trailed off as Gavrie sent him entertained smirk, and he stood for a moment with his mouth not quite closed. â??Wait,â? he said, pressing the air with his hand. He pointed at Adrian. â??You meanâ??â? He paused again, a grin spreading slowly across his face. His eyes flicked back and forth between Gavrie and Adrian. â??â??heâ??â? His mouth opened wider, shocked realization battling intense humor for control of his features. Finally he seemed to remember how to form thoughts. â??Youâ??re telling me,â? he queried slowly, â??that was an accident?!â? Gavrieâ??s smirk broadened; Nathan burst into wild laughter, and Adrian sent his mentor a venomous look. â??Thanks. Youâ??re a real pal.â? Gavrie shrugged. â??It is kind of funny,â? he said over Nathanâ??s rambunctious hooting. Indignant, Astera darted from Adrianâ??s side and flew straight to the howling shinigami, hovering so her wings flapped directly in front of his face. â??Thatâ??s enough, Nathan,â? she snapped. She got nothing in return; by now he was almost shaking with mirth, and she began to fume. â??Nathan!â? she squawked. Nathan sobered instantly, though he only appeared to be holding back the laughter. â??Look at you,â? she said reprovingly. â??Two grown men, making fun of a younger kid like bullies on a playground. No wonder Adrian didnâ??t tell you anything.â? Nathan wiped his eyes with his thumb. â??...hee hee,â? he said in falsetto. Gavrie stifled a guffaw. Astera glared at the blue man. â??Come on, Adrian,â? she said disdainfully. â??Letâ??s go back inside. We donâ??t need to put up with this.â? She flew off towards the house. â??Iâ??m tired, anyway.â? â??...oh, man,â? Nathan said, as Adrian stalked off behind his cranky familiar. â??That was a good one.â? â??You liked that one, didnâ??t you?â? â??Ohh, man,â? he repeated. He took a few second to breathe, surveying the surroundings as he did so. â??Heh.â? Farther off from where they stood, he noticed a structure bounded by four thick wooden posts and a low fence. â??I take it thatâ??s your training area,â? he said, indicating it. He smiled happily at Gavrieâ??s nod. â??I imagine it must be aggravating teaching under the Councilâ??s altered regulations, hunh?â? â??Yes,â? answered Gavrie. â??Very.â? â??I bet.â? Nathan placed his hands on his hips and studied the homemade arena. â??Tell you what, Mister Gavrie,â? he began, deliberately ignoring the impending raised eyebrow. â??Iâ??m in good spirits right now, and Iâ??m sure you havenâ??t had a decent workout in a long time. How about I give you one?â?

[FONT=Arial]Yo, Des! Try out Lucario, tell me what you think. I'm likin' him better every day. His down-air is sick. :D[/FONT]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']From my experience playing the game for around fifteen hours now, I'd say smash balls shouldn't be allowed in serious competitive play. Some characters get a big advantage with their final smash while others have pretty crappy ones and it can really throw off what would otherwise be a balanced match. Some characters also have a lot easier time breaking the smash balls due to the types of attacks they have.[/color][/quote] [FONT=Arial]I fail to see why the Smash Ball would be considered for inclusion. I mean, it is an item, and so it automatically alters the skill required to win. With that said, everyone's final smash can be nasty if the player knows how to use it, and every one can be avoided if the player knows what they're doing. Jigglypuff's, for example, will KO a player near her at the apex of her growth. Obviously, then, one wants to edgehog with it if one can, and keep the other players off of firm ground. The StarFox crew's smashes are similar, but Fox's has greater firepower, Falco's has greater flight time, and Wolf's has greater knockback on rolls. These are also avoidable, but a skilled player will know how to use mathematics to hit opponents in odd locations. Also, the Landmasters can die off the bottom of the screen. (I haven't felt like testing the limits on either side yet. =P) Link's (and Toon Link's) final only targets one person, but others may be caught in the destruction if they're close enough, though they won't be trapped by the Triforce. Ike's needs to hit one player, but his range is long; Marth's final will stop as soon as it hits the first victim or he crashes off the side. In each case, multiple people may be caught if close enough, but dodging should be very easy, as all these finals are linear in initiation. Triple Finish will only hurt if the player is on the shown screen, although Charizard's final burst of fire goes a little farther than the rest. Peach, along with Pit and all other characters with multiple jumps, should fare well against it, as will anyone who gets behind the pokémon. Lucario can only Kamehameha in one direction, so that tactic should be Divide and Conquer. Sonic and Pikachu are nasty, but if one can time the dodges right, they'll be useless. I could go on, but I think you get the point. I don't think they provide any one character with a clear advantage, just interesting ideas to play with. And I think R.O.B. is broken. Seriously. No one should be able to jump off Final Destination and regain the stage on the other side by [I]going under it[/I] and still be able to attack immediately.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Adding to my list: [B][U]Greatest Hits: The Platinum Collection ? Disc 2[/U][/B] ? Queen Damn, but I love Queen. And the solid groove to that album is honestly addictive.[/FONT]

[quote name='Sandy']Since Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, I know how to speak those too. ;D[/quote] [FONT=Arial]Le Gasp!! Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist. And I hate being essentially monolingual. I mean, mastering English is fine and all, but I'd really like to be fluent in others. Not knowing the idiomatic stuff is what kills me. >_>[/FONT]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']No offense to the younger crew, but making logical thought out decisions isn't exactly their strength....[/quote] [FONT=Arial]Yes, I'm aware of that. I was a kid once, too. I tried to dig my way to China from my backyard when I was nine, ignoring both that there would be several thousand miles of hot molten rock in my way, and that I was using a dinner spoon. I also pretended I was a Power Ranger, fighting off hordes of those grey-suited bad guys that disintegrated when you hit the circle on their chest. (Anyone else remember those things?

[quote name='MoyakuKeramushe']One thing that has taken getting used to for me on OtakuBoards is that most of the RPGs on here grant some form of character control to everyone, though messing with anyone else's character is, of course, limited.[/quote] [FONT=Arial]Yeah. To add to what [COLOR="DarkRed"]Sandy[/COLOR] [strike]chattered[/strike] said, it's kind of an honor system, really. Everyone who posts is allowed to take small liberties with other characters because they understand (generally) what they are and aren't allowed to do. Most of the players around here are good at catching and understanding character traits, and play them accordingly. Plus, one allows one's own character to be used to an extent by the exact same token, trusting that the player who uses him/her won't misplay. I find that this method allows for massive amounts of creativity, since one isn't hog-tied to a single person. Think of it as writing from third-person limited?from a stuffy classroom sense. =P[/FONT]

[quote name='Sandy]...pero puedo [U]parlar[/U'] Español mucho mas.[/quote] [FONT=Arial]You [I]chatter[/I] Spanish. Umm. Methinks you wanted "hablar" there. :D [B]Edit:[/B] Wait, nevermind. I forgot to whom I was speaking.[/FONT]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE="1"']Not much really to be said on it, just a tragic case of kids having fun gone badly wrong.[/SIZE][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Aye, but then again us "Looney Tuners" never tried dropping anvils on our friends heads, or launching them from catapults. I know they were tryin' to have fun, but abandoning intelligence is just kinda ... well, unintelligent.[/FONT]

[quote name='Lunox][font="trebuchet ms"']And the terrorists didn't attack the US because they thought we were "weak" or someone to "ignore", they attacked us because we're an international power that has great influence in the Middle East. Attacking the US doesn't mean you don't take them seriously. Quite the opposite, in this case...[/font][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Yes. To be specific, they attacked us because we befriend Israel, but it's influence just the same. [QUOTE][I][font="trebuchet ms"]I'm sorry, I just have to disagree with this. China is an [i]emerging[/i] superpower, and we don't even know if China with withstand its very possible economic bubble.[/font][/I][/QUOTE] Personally, I'm not real optimistic about the condition of our own economy. If they are emerging, then we are most definitely declining, and both of us are about on the same level. [QUOTE][I][font="trebuchet ms"]And if you disagree, I think it's safe to say that the US is the world's greatest superpower.[/font][/I][/QUOTE] I think it's safe to say that the U.S. is the world's [I]biggest name[/I], but that's about as far as I'd go. We have clout, and a good deal of that; and we have our status as a debtor nation; but we're getting shaky as far as I see things.[/FONT]

[quote name='Lunox][font="trebuchet ms"] You'll find that even though a country's leaders can lack respect for women's rights, they won't disregard the US because its president is a women, lol. The idea of this is ridiculous. Let's totally ignore and not take seriously [U]the world's only superpower[/U']... oh, wait. [/font][/quote] [quote name=''[Sound_Nin]'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]As for the US being the only super power, [B]nope[/B]. You have the EU, and there's Russia.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Keep China in mind, neh? Can't be turning a blind eye to the East. As for the "disregard for a woman President", no; no one will do that. However, as someone so kindly pointed out to me this week, the first woman in office will find herself embroiled waist-deep in foreign relation doo-doo as [I]every single country[/I] that does not hold its women in high regard begins to test her mettle and resolve. I do not envy the first woman to win the election. I would wish her the best of fortune, but I would not want to be her. Ironically, I think Hilary might have the fortitude to survive and withstand such a mess of crap, but I'd rather her not be our first impression on the foreign front.[/FONT]

[quote name='James'][font=franklin gothic medium]But yes, you can expect the navigation menu links to be refreshed shortly. This will include a link to theOtaku.com, as well as to some specific Worlds.[/font][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Cool. I look forward to it, and I know you'll do a good job already, so good job in advance. :p The rest is just me talkin' and thinkin'. Don't read too much into it. :) [QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium]I think part of the reason it hasn't been prominent is because it hasn't been necessary. In terms of visitor base, OtakuBoards very much relies on theOtaku.com for new memberships - we are, after all, theOtaku's official forums. And it's been that way for as long as I can remember. On the other hand, I'd say that there are few people who register here first and [i]then[/i] make their way to theOtaku.com (they do exist, but they are in the minority). So this is probably why it hasn't been too necessary. Also, as you can see, we have a major button linking to theOtaku.com's Podcast.[/font][/QUOTE] Yeah, I kinda knew that, really. It's just that down there it looks like an afterthought, and to the side and more prominently would be more of a [I]"Hey, we're proud of this affiliation!"[/I] deal, you know? That was the big thing for me. It's almost like right now we don't really want you to know we're with theOtaku if you come here from somewhere else. That was it, really. Aesthetics and a lack of a feeling of pride. But since we've hashed that out already, it's no big deal. (^_^) -A[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]There is? .....oh. So there is. But who looks down there, anyway? :p (In seriousness, it does feel rather shunted to the side a bit. I just think one up under the [B]OB Network[/B] header would be much more noticeable, and more brotherly.) (Or sisterly, since they [I]are[/I] sister sites.)[/FONT]

[quote name='Panache']Yea but it's not so big of a difference that will make a break a show unless a dub is incredibly poor or it has a huge amount of jokes that only go over well in Japanese. [/quote] [FONT=Arial]Didn't say "make or break", though. Said "better experience". But eh. Semantics. [QUOTE][I]Anyway in my opinion saying "Oh just watch it subbed it will be good then" is pretty silly to me.[/I][/QUOTE] True.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Self-explanatory title, really. I think, what since Adam went and linked back to the Boards on theO's main page, we should return the favor. I mean, we already have a [B]OB Network[/B] slot on the sideboard, there. Why not just add one on? Make things all friendly and what? Eh?[/FONT]

[quote name='Panache']I doubt watching it in a foreign language would drastically change his opinion of the show.[/quote] [FONT=Arial]I've found that while watching subtitled anime, not knowing the spoken language allows one to place the vocal stresses in approximately correct places, so it may just seem better. Plus, there's the issue of cultural jokes that don't translate (like in Bleach, when Uryu pointedly asks Ganju why Ganju feels he's allowed to call Uryu by his first name), as well as the occasional bad script-reading (like a very unconvincing "Yay!" from Misa during an episode of Death Note).[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I had planned on doing some little trivial post with Adie hereabouts, for just basically head time and what, but this ancient computer here at the house (spring break) crashed itself and went into a sort of reboot-screen infinite loop. I'm using my father's work-related laptop right now, so this is about all I feel comfortable doing. Just lettin' you guys know that I might not be even in the running for being in action until possibly Sunday evening at the earliest--probably not until Monday, really. This probably isn't actually an issue, but I still want you guys to know. Later.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Sorry, guys, but the computer here crashed yesterday afternoon; I'm using my father's "girl's softball board of directors" laptop right now to check on stuff and check in with people, but that's about it. Again, sorry about random crud interfering, but don't expect [I]anything[/I] from me until Sunday evening at the earliest. Later.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Well, you know me. I was just picking at a thread rez that happened during the explosion of new members. (Which was a very good thing.) I'd hate to have been a moderator during that time. Wowzers. I'll have to check up on the latest character data stuff, but from my last memory, I was not impressed with the handling of the "anthros". 'Course, I gots me my own theories, but still. I'd rather not feel like a misplaced member of the Cats cast, neh? (Wowzers again; I used four 'z's in this post. O_O)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I just now realized that Astera has the Princess Leia side-hair. =P Still working on the history. It's been intermittent, due to music and Fire Emblem. But it's coming! [I]*dramatic point-in-the-air*[/I][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Perhaps, [COLOR="DarkRed"]Ace[/COLOR], if you'd shown two vids with similar action, the difference in the dubs would have made sense. Or, a comparison of the Japanese/4Kids difference alongside a Japanese/Funimation difference. But with two completely dissimilar clips, we really can't tell too much either way.[/FONT]

[quote name='Aceburner']Chibihorsewoman's back... again![/quote] [FONT=Arial]Check the dates, bucko. That post was from almost four years ago. =P (In fact, how'd this thread get rezzed, anyway?) I'm kind of semi-interested in it. I'd probably play casually, since I know it'd be pretty fun, but I'm kinda leery about people blurring the line between story and reality. Than also, I've got other things that want my time, so I'm not feeling too gung-ho over it. My father played in college. He said something about a night elf, I think—which is funny, seeing how I lean towards half-elven myself.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][strike]I wonder how exactly the seals are applied to "errant" shinigami.....[/strike] Well, since SunfallE and I did some talking about the concept earlier, I suppose something should be thrown together about it as well. I'll be working on the history tonight, so I can just add that to my list and check back with her later. It's a real neat idea, and makes some things easier for me. (You guys [I]so[/I] set me up for everything. :p) [B]Edit:[/B] This also just occurred to me, but we should drum up some new, better graphics as well. Make the thread fun and what. :D[/FONT]

[quote name='Premonition][COLOR="1234"']And Allamorph we know you aren't that grown up, in fact sometimes I think you're a 12 year old with a very wierd sense of humor hiding behind the facade of yours.[/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Seven, actually. (And it's "weird". :p) [I]*smack'd*[/I][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Unfortunately, my only actual experience with CLAMP has been Tsubasa. Good manga, and I'll probably look into the anime-daptation at some point. If I had more of a budget, I'd probably have picked up more?I only read what I could borrow, anyway, so I'm quite a ways behind now. :([/FONT]