eleanor

[color=darkslateblue] Ok, I think that Terri's parents are just annoying me. They have been denied nearly 30 legal opinions, and now with only so much times left, they are trying to pressure Gov. Bush into doing something. In the past 24 hours, they have been denied three more legal opinions. Is she is going to die, just let her die peacefully. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I haven't downloaded anything recently, the sounds do not come out when the computer is off, the speakers are less than one year old, if I am logged in onto my account on Windows XP with no programs open, the sounds continues (it also continues if you're just on the page that has the list of the accounts), and I do not have extra speakers to switch them out with to see if anything happens. Whew. I am no good when it comes to actual hardware problems, so I don't know if I have a sound card. The other odd thing is that after a while, the sounds would not come out of the speakers after I restarted my computer. But then, the next time I restarted the computer, the sounds would come again.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Ah yes... [spoiler] There was a scene of this island exploding in the trailer. I love the Hoenheim/Ed scenes just because I'm a sucker for father/son moments. ;_; If Hoenheim dies during the movie and Ed has a sad moment, I will faint with happiness. But anyways...Hoenheim seems like a good dad, even if he did leave them. *o* I nearly died in episode 50 when Hoenheim said that line about a parent loving his child. T_T Thank you for your reassurances. :3 Yet I also have a feeling that Hoenheim will die in the movie. Dunno. I am a dork. :D[/spoiler][/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Haha. :) Yeah, the [spoiler]original Ed in Munich being Al H.'s bother is sort of...eh. I hope it's not tue, anyway. One thing that I was just wondering about the film (just random speculation) was whether or not Hoenheim would be in it much. [size=1]I liked him. ._.[/size] But with Ed leaving him at the end of episode 51, I doubt we'll see much of him. :/ I hope he's in it at least once.[/spoiler] P.S. I love your editing reason...XD[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I was [spoiler]certain that Envy was going to be in the movie,[/spoiler] but I was just excited and was blabbing a bunch of stuff. >_> Azure! I'm dissappointed now that I don't have someone to obsess over the trailer with. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue][size=4] HOLY MOTHER O' GOD.[/size] [b]*DO NOT WATCH OR READ UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN THE WHOLE SERIES*[/b] A new trailer of the FMA Movie: Conquerer of Shamabla came out. It was posted on the official website, but then taken down. It was saved JUST in time, you can get it here: [url]http://www.fullmetal-alchemist.com:81/forums/index.php?showtopic=4012[/url] O_O The movie looks [i]so[/i] good. I'm about to explode here. x_x [spoiler] DAMN THIS TEASER! It teases too much! In the clip of 'Ed' near the end (where he claps his hands together and puts it against something metal), he has transmutation circles on the inside of his gloves? *freaks out* I'm supposing it's Al, since based off of the new set of postcards they've released, Al has taken on Ed's old clothing and hairstyle. They look exactly alike. *o* But why the Al in armor form? There's also the old Ed, since it shows his automail arm. Possibly a flashback of some sort...but I don't recognize that guy attacking the old Ed. And most probably the Envy!Dragon. And then it's definately Al H. (the Al in Munich) that is talking about his 'older brother'. Does he really have one? I've never thought of the possibility... Some people speculate that it's the Ed that died because of the Zepellin, but I doubt it. ARGH![/spoiler][/color] EDIT: I made a billion mistakes in my excitement. ._.

[color=darkslateblue] That's called bootlegging...or at least it's a form of bootlegging. FMA has been liscenced now, so I don't think you'll find any more fansubs of it easily. Funimation is doing a good job of editing it as far as I have seen, so I'm planning to buy the DVDs as well.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] 1. [b]Full Metal Alchemist[/b]: The only anime that has and probably ever will succeed in me enjoying all of the episodes and actually paying attention 100% of the time. One of the very few anime that has me liking/loving [b]all[/b] the characters, and the storyline is original. For once, the art style and animation has pleased me 'till no end. I haven't seen anime art this refreshing since...well, I don't know. Great themes that blend together very nicely, add some better-than-usual music, nice action parts, philosophy, everything else in the anime world (except giant robots, magical girls, and samurai) and you have FMA.

[color=darkslateblue] It's a sad and miserable case, only because of the unfortunate event that has happened to this women and how so many people are fighting about it. But, seriously. The Supreme Court has rejected Schiavo's parents appeal [b]five times[/b]. I know they love their daughter and are following their heart with utmost courage, but sometimes reality will hit you and you'll deal with it. It's not like if they send five more requests, the Justices are randomly going to decide to hear the case. President Bush has already even signed a bill, hoping to help the side he supported (the parents, obviously). It didn't help. Governor Jeb Bush isn't going to be able to do much. And I will go insane if President Bush does anything to try and bend the judicial system. Washington aides have reported that there will be no additional federal intervention. But lastly, what do I think? Personally, my gut and first instinct lead me to lean towards the husband's POV. Do not take this and use it against me and call me a cold, heartless ***** who has no value of life. I respect the parents. But my gut moral just makes me support the husband more. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Very odd situation here. When I turn on my speakers, the sound of a camera clicking plays over and over and over again. At first I just restarted my computer, but the sound was still there. I scanned my computer for viruses and adware/spyware, removed everything I found, but it's stll there. ... Any help?[/color]

[i]Now, if you're referring to the slash fandom (which comprises all those fanfics based on pairings that are very obviously not canon), that's a somewhat different situation. But it appeared as though you were referring to canon yaoi/yuri.[/i] [color=darkslateblue] :3 That's me... If you were wondering about the slash fandom, it's very much aesthetic (in my opinion, anyway). Most of the authors take the two best looking guys (usually it's the main character and some cold-hearted bastard...or some cocky guy...or the masculine one) and pair them up together just because they look good together. Basically, this fandom would comprise of a bunch of fanservice. But, there are always excellent authors who can make the fanfictions wonderful things to read. :) Many of the people who are a part of this fandom don't seem to like the canon yaoi/yuri as much, as far as the people I know. It's just the fun of it, I guess. Oh, and before anyone says anything. PLEASE don't come here and say 'I respect this blah blah but I hate it when they pair two NON-canon guys/girls together! It's just wrong.' I'll accept it if you also hate it when people pair heterosexual way non-canon people, but that just doesn't seem to be the case with 99% of the people who use this way to go against slash. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I have no idea either, Azure, but I'm very trustful of the source. It's from [url]http://www.fullmetal-alchemist.com[/url], and I trust the site. There was a festival in Tokyo for FMA (yes, I'm being serious) and many of the seiyuus were there, and they also performed live scenes from the anime (such as [spoiler]Ed and Roy's last conversation, Hughes funeral, etc.[spoiler]) but what surprised a bunch of people were when Envy's seiyuu, Yamaguchi Mayumi, performed a never-before-seen conversation between himeslf and Greed in the anime. The script I posted was actually scanned in from the official pamphlet and translated by Sycia (I think everyone in the FMA community that knows about her loves her to death...including me. She lives in Japan and translates almost everything for fans. *o*). BUT there were several members of the forum who also questioned it, very similar to your questioning, Azure. Sycia replied and also admitted that she had no idea as well, but thought that they performed it to represent the Homunculi factor of the series. It is possible that the first part of the conversation could have taken place [spoiler]on the island where everyone is trying to get Wrath[spoiler], and then a bunch of other people thought that the last part was seperate and was just [spoiler] Envy reflecting back on what happened post-series or episode 51.[/spoiler] The most that I'm taking from this is that [spoiler] Greed was Dante's former lover[/spoiler] and the hints that imply [spoiler] Envy's appearance in the movie[/spoiler]. But then again, a bunch of people were sort of freaked out about [spoiler] Greed being Dante's lover[/spoiler] and suggested that maybe Greed was not a [spoiler] sexual/romantic lover, but a son or family member, which I sort of doubt. They did bring up the smallness of the bones in Dante's house, though. And if you took all [i]possibly[/i] hints, it would probably lead to a Dante being a mommy thing. But eh...I don't think that so much. There were also many branches of theories, like Greed being Envy's brother and all sort of ideas. [/spoiler] But um...I guess his identity will remain a mystery. O_o Oh, and if it confused you (it did me), when Evny is saying [spoiler] 'You...You and YOU!You'll all die sooner or later.' in the script, the seiyuu was looking at the audience, which probably means he was directing his threat at humans.[/spoiler][/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Erk. Some interesting, new information about FMA...Click the attatchment, but ONLY IF YOU'VE SEEN THE ENTIRE SERIES. Basically, it's a conversation between Envy and Greed that was never aired. :) It is pretty odd and random, but nothing too serious. I don't think it really affects any of the actual storytelling in FMA, but still, it has spoilers. Taken from fullmetal-alchemist.com. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] News? News is nothing but entertainment for older people who want to see interesting, real stories. A teacher dies because this random guy from a dark alleyway came up to her with a gun and shot her. Media does not give a damn about this. A teacher is killed by one of her students during school. Watch as swarms of news channel workers flock to the school and broadcast everything. I don't know about the whole 'is the whole world becoming more violent' thing, because I've never studied it or seen data about the rate of murders/crimes/etc., but I think that the rawness and brutality of crimes has probably gone up. [/color]

[i]Lunox, how fast can you turn 18?

[color=darkslateblue] If we are even going to read another novel, I'd say we probably need a more organized schedule or something. This thread sort of just died, and I don't think much discussion went on. *shrugs* Or at least make sure that if you're going to be in the book club, to make sure you have the time to be able to read the book and discuss it.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] *_* Ez pretty..... :) Masterpiece? Nah. It's amazingly awesomely fantastically good, though. ^_^ I admire the artist so. Using a mouse...*guh* His hand must have cramped up at [i]some[/i] point. We should raise money and give him a heat pack, lol. Anyway...this guy is my hero. Kudos to him![/color]

[i]They'll always be rumors about another season of your favorite anime. Let's face facts, though: they are just not true. We just really want them to be true, so we listen to them and buy into it. Another season that wasn't planned from the get-go are rare, and even rarer if a series has completed airing.[/i] [color=darkslateblue] Personally, I don't even [i]want[/i] that to be true. I actually liked how FMA ended...as opposed to the other 99% who hated it. O_o. And the movie will most probably wrap things up. Making another series might just damage everything.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I saw it opening night (no, I'm not a fan, my friends and I just needed something to do) and I didn't like it. First of all, the first Ring movie did nothing to scare me, so The Ring 2 did less. And if the horror factor is gone for me, I will look to the plot. The plot was pretty much sort of 'bleh'. You can follow what James heard: it's thrown together in order to just release the movie. So. Is it a worthy sequel? Hecks no. It made The Ring look like some sort of genius work of art. I mean...I don't know if this was the director's intention or something...or maybe the screenwriter's fault, but the first one was just....eck. Gaping plot holes and about two-thirds of its questions unanswered. Artistic style? No. If it was meant to be, they did a crap job doing it. The only thing it had going was a bunch of good 'boo!' moments. But basically, that's it. A bunch of quick thrills. It was so focused on making the audience get freaked out that the storytelling became crap. The Ring 2 doesn't even have the 'boo' moments. I mean, it does. But they were more crappily made. Way too usual. I think I predicted every thirll moment. And ok, to those who have seen it: [spoiler] That scene with all the deer in it was possibly the DUMBEST SCENE IN THE HISTORY OF MOVIES. I don't CARE if their were deer antlers in the basement of that house. It still SUCKED. And when Samara was climbing up that well like Spider Woman on steriods, it was not [i]scary[/i]. It was freaking gross. [/spoiler] God. I'm still angry about that stupid scene. [i]Anyways[/i], if you MUST watch it, wait until it comes out on DVD, because I think they best way anyone could enjoy this movie is alone with some friends in your house on a stormy night. Maybe it might be decent.[/color]

[i]Sure, our lives have gotten easier, but is that a bad thing?? Is always having food right down the road in case we run out bad?[/i] [color=darkslateblue] Yes, well, in that case, I invite you to read War of the Worlds. And "always having food down the road in case we run out" is not exactly a great example. Convenience? Let's take into fact how much energy Americans use and how much we waste. That's [i]convenience[/i]. Let's look at how armies go to the [i]poor[/i] communites when trying to get kids to go to war. It's convenient. It's always [i]convenient[/i] for the middle class and up. Kids can't even study for thirty minutes, and when they are asked to do something, they moan and ***** about it until they're allowed to sit there and do nothing. Kids are 'rebelling' because they think their parents are being "dumbasses" when they say he/she can't go out tonight because they're freaking FAILING half their classes and they don't even CARE. People at my school are always moping around going "woe is me! I'm failing all my classes!" while they can't even manage to do their homework because they 'didn't have time'. [/color] [i]I'd like to see some statistics here. We've always had drugs, Whores, deadbeat dads, gangs, and sex symbols. How in the world do you know what it was like 50 years ago?[/i] [color=darkslateblue] 1) Go to google.com 2) type in appropriate keywords 3) be amazed and blown out of your mind. [/color] [i]I'd say that minorities are a lot more accepted. If you don't agree, I invite you to read(or watch) To Kill A Mockingbird. Please get back to me on that.[/i] [color=darkslateblue] Yeah. They have. But try being a minority in an upper-middle-class community. There, I am the minority of minorities. Other minorities try and beat us down. It's very nice. Yes, I do know how much better this nation has gotten. But taking society in general and basing everything off of it and calling it 'ok' is BS. [/color]

[i]Yeah, I'm kinda thinking "what moral decay"? You mean, now that women don't have to live at home and be beaten while their husbands enjoy immunity? Children can no longer be abused in as much silence as during the 50's? Women aren't giving up their 'illegitimate' children because of how society might reflect on them? I mean, geeze...lol Crimes against women and children and so on aren't really going up, it's just that these days they are reported far more. Society was very messed up and depraved during the 50's and before that -- a lot more than it is today. I don't know why anyone would hold up that era as being some gold standard of morality. The same stuff happened back then, but it was dealt with under the table and in a completely irresponsible manner. So, yes, we can see more of our society's warts today...but at least we are aware of what's there and we can talk about it openly and try to fix it.[/i] [color=darkslateblue] True, the world has become more open and eager to fight against crimes such as abuse and such, but I still think there is some [i]type[/i] of moral decay. Not moral decay as in peoples' minds are getting corrupted and more people are prone to go out and kill people, but just in the way we think. There has always been moral 'decay', although now I would use the word 'ignorance'. For this, I would just use the example of the girls I saw at the mall. But at the same time...yes. There is also 'decay'. As in, there are more teens that are getting involved with sex, drugs, etc. It's a proven fact. If that's not some type of 'decay', I don't know what is. I still think the rebelling against parents thing is compelte crap. I don't even care if it's been around forever, it was crap in the 50s and it's crap now. Hm. Well... Let's say I had a daughter. I know these two things: 1) that teens are now more prone to have sex and get STDs/pregnant and 2) My daugher is a teenager right now. Obviously I would want to sit down and talk to her and stuff, but because of today's society, she'd also be...er...more 'accepting' to it. Bad word, but I guess you guys get the point. *thinks* So, yes. Ultimately, I agree with James, and take back the word 'decay'. I'd much rather use a word like 'trend'. Or maybe we should just make up a new phrase...or something. Ha. I guess I'll just sum it up with this: there has always been a sort of ignorance in each generation, but ideas grow and people grow, and ultimately people now are 'open' than, let's say, 30 years ago. But I also think that this idea can be brought up: this generation's 'ignorance' or whatever you want to call it is slightly larger than others. I'm not trying to say it's the largest and that "OMG we're all going to die", it's just a problem. Eh. Although I'm still sort of sketchy on the whole subject. :animesigh [/color]

[i]P.S. I think I saw you mention that you attained enlightenment and realized the idiocy that is Evangelion. Did FMA play any part? That is, after you watched FMA and noticed how philosophies that do make sense work so much better than made-up and often plot-hole-inducing ones, did you attain enlightenment? [/i] [color=darkslateblue] Ha! *has a jolly laugh* Yes, somewhat. Full Metal Alchemist is like my dream anime come true (leaving out some corny parts). I don't want to use the word 'idocy' for Evangelion, since I still have respect for it (I mean, I think I dissed .hack//SIGN in that post, but I still have respect...although I do like it better than Evangelion now). It's just that FMA pulls many elements together so nicely! It's got the whole package: Action, angst, philosophy, humor, etc. etc. AND it's a very nice bonus that I love almost every character in the series. I just feel not many people really see the great quality that lies in FMA. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] This is a huge expanse of a topic, and it can't be blamed on just one thing. But, I do believe media is a large factor that is affecting the moral decay of our society. Mainly 'pop culture' media and such. It's pretty sad for me to see seven-year-old girls walk around in the mall alone with two seven-year-olds boys following them everywhere, all of them decked in high-priced designer clothes and trucker hats. I saw them, and I saw a complete waste of a human when they stared at me insolently, like they were too cool for the world. And then there's the whole 'rebelling' thing, which creates more moral decay. The whole "I'm going to have sex/use drugs/etc. to rebel against my parents" is complete crap to me. And yes, I think that the sexual moral decay in the US is effecting the acceptance of gay people. Which is disgusting, because people should be able to accept them anyway, but whatever. As for other 'different' people, no, it's not really affecting any other minority. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue]For some reason last night I felt like drawing, and I came up with these two sketches: [img]http://xs20.xs.to/pics/05114/Image2.png[/img] :3 The two guys are just two people I always end up drawing...but the girl was pretty much random. I like her jacket, though. :animesmile: >_> I know the girl's head is like...way too big compared to the guy's....oh well. I need to work on that stuff, anyway. Feel free to criticize/comment. [color=teal]I uploaded the second picture, since it kind of enlarged the screen a bit. They're looking good, mal; didn't recognize your new name at first, lol. But I'm probably way late. -Syk3[/color][/color] [color=darkslateblue] Edit: :3 Sorry about that. ^_^;[/color]

[i]At this point in the game, I remember distinctly having thought of something by using my own brother-little bro relationship: if I was in Ed's shoes, what would be on my mind? Again, not that it was necessarily correct, but it's just kind of interesting to note how different our speculations are/were.[/i] [color=darkslateblue] Since you brought that up...FMA is somewhat predictable. By saying 'predictable' I don't mean I sat there while watching FMA thinking: "OMG I know exactly what's going to happen in the next 5 episodes!" It's just that, although there were...at least two shocking moments for me, nothing really made me go '....O_o...'. For instance, when we found out who [spoiler] Pride[/spoiler] was, I guessed who it was correctly about several minutes before they actually told us. (Of course, when I predicted who it was, I was sort of "GASP why didn't I think of this earlier?") Same thing goes for Ed's secret question, I had guessed it correctly by the end of episode 23. The only serious shocking thing for me (which is sort of dumb, too) was when I saw [spoiler] Hoenheim. Seriously! I thought he was dead or something...[/spoiler][/color] [i]I'm not sure how the "FMA is not dark" stereotype began, but it's a terrible rumor plaguing a NOT light-hearted anime. Just watching the first five episodes made me realize that. I guess it's just because the characters smile, eh?[/i] [color=darkslateblue] Sort of makes me wonder... A lot of people just see FMA as a light-hearted action anime (probably because it has a decently-sized fanbase and it's on Adult Swim) that has no meaning, but I've heard some nice themes and such on the show plenty of times. I mean...I think I heard one of my favorite quotes from FMA in episode [i]two[/i]. And the latter half of the series is anything but...'light-heated'... o_o[/color]