rokas

OOC: [i] :animeswea Sorry for not posting for a while, been busy. You know how it is sometimes with the school starting and all that[/i] Epok dodged an branch and continued moving forward. He never had to run like this. If truth be told he hadn't run at all for at least a decade, there was just no reason to. A fireball broke the branch he just dodged and hit couple of haze shoots less than a yard away from Epok. The fireball scorched wood but it didn't set even twigs on fire. Yet the impact power was enough to bring the thickest trees down. Epok ran round an oak tree into a pool of light in a small clearing. He turned around to face his pursuer. At first it looked like a giant snake. It was green and had a long body it even moved like a snake, using it's body to encircle slide and roll over branches. yet it was definitely some sort of a dragon adapted to living in a forest. It couldn't fly because it's wings were too small. Wings big enough for power of flight would have gotten in the way in a forest. At this size the wings could keep at least a part of the dragon in the air, gliding for a while longer. Which was useful when jumping from tree to tree. It also used it's short claws to grab onto the bark at the end of a jump. Epok had no way of telling how old the dragon was. It certainly was huge, somewhere around twenty feet in length. It?s right eye was missing, Epok could see puss dripping from between the closed eyelids. Though the missed shots could be blamed on it?s imapared sight the dragon seem rather dum. It didn?t say anything just grunt, besides the fireballs it showed no magic capabilities, it didn?t even take off and fly. If Epok had met a smart dragon the old man would be nourishment for it by now. The thick oak tree was in line between the dragon and Epok. It was a huge and old tree. It was short compared with the other?s but it?s branches grew outwards rather than up, brought down by their own weight. It?s roots spread around even further, looking like big black pipes feeding and holding the oak in place. Erosion or some animal created a borrow underneath the trunk and yet the tree didn?t sag down. The dragon was already encircling the branches, trying to position itself better for a strike. It took it?s time as it saw it?s prey wasn?t going anywhere, but already more than half of it?s body was resting on the oak with just the tail gripping a silver birch behind it. The way it took it?s time was unnerving. It was as if it knew for certain that it will get it?s meal now. In the pool of light in a dark forest Epok felt exposed. He knew he couldn?t take on the dragon one-on-one. He pulled out his knife. It was well sharpened and polished. The blade was curved on the sharp side, with a row of teeth on the opposite edge. Epok rolled it in his hands it glittered in the sun. Dragon snarled, front of it?s body curved. It wasn?t going to toast Epok it will snap him uncooked. Meanwhile the clockmaker looked at the small area of light created by light reflecting of the blade. He directed it onto dragons good eye. Momentarily blinded it attacked, straightening out it?s crouch. It snapped it?s jaws at the place where it last saw Epok last, but he wasn?t there. Dragon continued moving forward as it?s claws hit the ground. The rest of the body uncoiling from the trunk. Epok had dropped to the dragons right side as it attacked, and now he was scrambling forward. The dragon would need a second more to direct it?s movements and find him with it?s good eye. He reached the gap at the bottom of the oak. The tree was as thick as a watch tower. Epok pushed his legs in to the opening of the burrow and pulled the rest of himself inside. He was squeezed between the earth and the oak, he had his legs bent and his head barely fit through the opening. There were bits of bark in his hair. Beetles were crawling around him and he knew his joints would hurt that night, but he was glad to still be alive. The green dragon had stopped by now and was looking around a bit confused. Epok started praying someone else would find him before the dragon would. [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] During the celebration of life Epok took the best seat-outside town. The Streets were far too crammed for his liking, so he met up with some of his old friends outside the town walls, on a hilly countryside near woods. Through the morning they set up a fire, roasted a pig, talked about old times, played some card games, showed off what they?ve done since last years celebration. Epok brought his arbalest, his throwing knives and some of his flying models. Of course the music didn?t travel this far outside the town, but Epok and his companions had been to enough festivals to know about so called musician-magicians. They went around selling musical curiosities with magical properties. One of these was a two horn set. They tied one of the horns among the stage decorations and could hear anything that happened on stage through the other. It worked even this distance away. The old friends didn?t have to be knocked around by excited crowd to listen to the performers, they could even tone the volume down if it was too loud or not to their taste. They were listening quietly to the mystery performer when the dragons came. They started dancing in the sky performing some intricate winged waltz. Then something went wrong. Without warning the dragons started fighting each other. It took a while for them to realize what was going on. They just stood there unsure if they should stay safely away or run into town, see if their loved ones are ok. First dragons fell from the sky into the city crashing onto buildings and streets. From the hill Epok and his friend could see crowds moving in circles, looking for shelter. There were some that were trying to help, spells could be seen shooting up in flashes from the city. Some dragons were chased away. One of the stray dragons stumbled onto Epoks party. They had to run away leaving all their stuff behind. Epok ran into the wood s, he didn?t have enough time to pick up any of his weapons or tools, except for the knife used for cutting bits of meat off the pork. The stray dragon couldn?t follow him there, it?s wings were too big. While runing away from one dragon Epok ran into another. The new dragon Was guarding something, He couldn?t see what because as soon as he heard it?s protective snarling and growling he turned and ran. That was a mistake as the green dragons instincts kicked in and it started chasing him through the woods. [I] hope it?s ok[/I]

[QUOTE=Delta][COLOR=DarkGoldenrod][SIZE=1]Got a question, Chief: Does 150x500 mean a canvas that's longer than it is wide? Width x height? And to everyone: Let's do our best, yeah? And don't hold back on each other! ;)[/SIZE][/cOLOR][/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Dagger]Vertically oriented, yes. I kind of waffled on that one, but after a while I figured that it wouldn't hurt to throw in something a little different. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] Baron Samedi's image seems to be taller than it is wide, while mine's the opposite. Which way is the right one to go? In fact does it matter? It could be that the piece is posted at ninety digrees angle... It would be really disapointing if such a technicality caused serious problems. If need be I can resize my picture. The question above was posted for a different piece so it is still a bit confusing. I looked at the "Width x height" part, but the answer says "Verticaly oriented" which could apply for all the pictures. Anyway, in the actual piece, what you're looking at is my room (that's actualy "tidy" by my usual standards). That's supposed to go, in a way, with the text taken from the Varhol quote- "In the future everyone will be famuos for fifteen minutes. The images in the "tears" were made by making a shape over the photo with Gimps paths tool and filling it in with a single colour or a gradient.

He tried the note again. It still didn't sound right. Epok couldn't say exactly if the note was too high or too low. He tightened the string and plucked it again, it still sounded wrong. Epok never had a great hearing when it came to music notes, but now he felt as if he was going deaf. He had to ask people to reapeat things more often. Sometimes he couldn't be sure if a clock he was fixing, is ticking or not. Then he would have to give it to his apprentice and ask him to check. It was in fact embarrassing. As if on que Eric walked in. "We sold everything!"- he announced, bringing in a table that they used for displaying small knick-knacks that were popular as souvenirs this time of year. Epoch turned the fiddle over in his hand, it still seemed imposible to tune it to him. "Tune this up" He gave the violin to his apprentice. Eric was not a bad musician, sometimes he even got up on stage with a guitar he made himself. He had the fiddle playing perfectly in a couple of minutes. Epok suddenly felt very old. "Give it to mr. Barron, he'll be with his troupe in the Little Mews, I'll close up the shop." Eric understood that the days work was over and as soon as he brought the violin to the custommer he could enjoy the festival. After saying something to show that he knew what he was supposed to do Eric left. Epok checked that everything was in place. Refiled the cats milk saucer. Took his walking stick and left locking the door behind him.

[b]Name:[/b] Epock Tattler [b]Age:[/b] 62 [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Apearance:[/b] See attachement. [b]Class:[/b] Crossbowman [b]Occupation:[/b] General craftsman though clockmaking is his specialty. [b]Personality:[/b] Although Epock can spend days working on an intricate piece of machinery he can loose his patience after a couple of minutes of a conversation with a person. Generaly he's well natured, but he feels that life hasn't allways been polite with him, which somehow gives him a right to say exactly what he want's to say even though other's may find it rude. Likes straightforward, honest people. Prefers to use brain instead of brawn in tricky situations. [b]Bio:[/b] Epocks parents sent him to be an apprentice to a clockmaker when he was twelve. He never saw his family again. Some years later when he felt skilled enough he left his teacher to look for a job somewhere else. Eventualy he ended up in Alsoto. There he settled down, got married. Unfortunately his wife died couple of years later, leaving him no offspring. He never remarried. Epock's grandest job was designed and supervised the building of the towns tower clock. This gained him some respect in the eyes of the towners and even though this was a long time a go business has been good since. However demands for clocks is low nonetheless, so epock also builds repairs any other kinds of mechanisms (from moustraps to pipe organs), and specialises in ornate and fidly woodwork. The Festival of Life period is always profitable for him. This year however instead of fidles and trumpets he has been getting more orders for wepons, especialy his patented armor piercing arrows. He invented theese by accident. It's been a long lived dream of his to built a flying machine. So far he has been succesful in building a couple flying models, but never got the chance to construct them full scale. Once he realised that a glider he was developing needed high speed to take off. Since clockwork mechanism or any other type of engine weighed the model down too much, he built an arbalest to fire it. From that glider model he developed an arrow that could fly further and straighter. Properly sharpened it could pierce a metal plate some yards away. After he made and sold a bunch of theese news reached him that someone used those arrows to kill a dragon. It's not clear how much truth there is to that story, but orders for the new arrows came rushing in after that. Since then Epok developed some aerodinamic throwing knives and some spring powered dart shooters. He's proficient in the wepons he created himself, especialy his crosbow. Epok owns a two storey workshop where he lives and works. He has a cat called Ticker and an aprentise called Eric. For a while Epok has been planing to leave the shop to Eric gather up all his savings and concentrate on his personal projects but an opportunity never comes, especialy now that he's busy with the orders for oncoming festival.

[b] I want to enter the Otakuboards Graphics Tournament[/b] I know I haven't posted in Art Studio since it was created, but this seems like a fun thing to do, and it would actualy help with my school work in a way. I only hope I'm not too late.

[QUOTE=gwynva] No matter how often we say that we are more developed, civilized etc etc, in the end we are humans. [/QUOTE] [color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][i][b] That's what bugged me when learning about ancient Greece. The people living back then were just as advanced as people living today. It's like all the great achievements between then and now hapened not because the humanity is mowing forward, but natural things that hapened with the flow of time. And a big thank you for that post. I can see that I've been looking at the whole Idea of a story from the wrong angle. Storymaking is not a craft it's a tool. [/color][/b][/i][/font]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i]We've been reading Odyssey in my class. Our teacher matter-of-factly mentioned couple times that this is the best story ever written. Well it is a great story with complex themes and serious issues. It's put together wery well with detailed describtion and huge similies (and that's only translation). It is also the second piece of western literature (Iliad being the first). My class ofcourse had a row with the teacher using arguments like "Only couse it's the oldest", "That's because no-one could be bothered to make a better one" and my favourite "No it ain't". Ofcourse the whole argument hapened only because it's just that kind of class and it's just that kind of teacher. In any case the issue behind this is serious, let's say that a story written before Christ is the best story ever. Then what? Could humanity really not be bothered to write a better story for almost three thousand years? It's not just Odyssey, there are a lot of other stories created in the past that can not be outclased, think about all the Shakespeare plays. Look at old Romeo and Juliet and then look at the more modern Titanic charecters. There's no way I could remember their names off the top of my head. What I do remember about Titanic is the names of the actors rather than charecters (ironicaly Leonardo Di'Caprio was in Romeo + Juliet). That's because actor names sell and producers will want to push them as much as possible (Mr and Mrs Smith anyone?). Maybe the whole problem is that people in charge pay more atention to profit a film, book, whatever instead of actual quality of the story. That could explain why when people are left to their own devices in industries where no-one expects too much profit in any case (childrens literature for example) you get quite good stories (Hary Potter for example). Even in popular films you get some good stories with a meaning like Finding Nemo and Star Wars, but those are exceptions where someone decided to take a risk and put their own baby through. The problem with all modern stories is that you can say that they come from the old ones. Titanic is a modern Romeo and Juliet, Finding Nemo our Odyssey and Star Wars an Illiad. Maybe there are simply no more stories out there and we are doomed to recreate the old ones in new settings. In that case old tales cannot be beaten simply because they are old. Anything coming after them will be influenced by them. Finaly the whole topic of the best story is trick. I come to believe that the old classics are the best by looking at the complexity of themes and the whole meaning of it, while others might judge them on different grounds and scales. Neither of us will be right. I guess it's just one of those pesky things about life. Ignoring the last paragraph- what do you think? Are the older stories really better? If so can we hope to out do them? Is it possible to create a completely original story nowadays without copying or stitching the old ones? [/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][b][i][font=comic sans ms] [u]Name:[/u] Bohwbas (pronounced bow-bus) [u]Age:[/u] Around 500 years [u]Gender:[/u] Male [u]Race:[/u] Boogey-man [u]Origin:[/u] Deep, dark woods in the norh of Norway [u]Function:[/u] Field Researcher [u]Callsign:[/u] FogFear [u]Equipment:[/u] Hat and cape [u]Abilities:[/u] In light Bohwbas is vulnerable and powerles, he is his strongest in the dark and cold places. In shadows and generaly wherever people can't make him out (like fog) he becames less material and more smoke-like. Then it is hard to phisicaly harm him, he can move very quickly and change size. He can shrink enough to fit through keyhole's (or under a child's bed) and in general he knows how to get into and out of things, even people's heads. Though not telepathic he can read peoples fears, say what they're afraid of. Has this creepy ability to pop out behind you. Sees well in the dark. [u]Wepons:[/u] His huge claws have huge nails that leave huge holes. Somewhere under all the fur there is also (allegedly) a mouth (allegedly) for eating children. His prime wepon however is fear. He uses it as a tool to make people talk, have nightmares, go insane even have a heart attack (it can also be used as a laxative :D). [u]Appearance:[/u] Bohwbas keep to shadows and dark places so it's hard for anyone to actualy see him. There he almost looses his phisical state. When he does come out into the light, he is a tall and skinny, covered in unkept, brown fur. His eyes and nails are big. Hat and cape is all he wears. Listening to him talk is like puting an ear to the grave and hearing the dead whisper. Excuse the quality of the picture attached it was done by a bad artist, namely me. [u]Legacy:[/u] Back in middle ages Bohwbas wandered through Scandinavia, scaring children, making people loose their way in the dark, guarding the places he hapened to live in. He crossed the Baltic sea by foot and continued going east. He learned a lot in those day's about the herbs, fishes, and beasts of the north. He saw how people survived in the woods on their own. Understood many languages. After crosing siberia he setled in a fishing vilage by Chukchi sea. After seing couple generations of children grow up (with fear of him). He left the land and walked into the the ocean. It was deeper and darker than the sea he crossed before. He liked that. After staying at the botttom of the ocean for few hundred years he accidentily wound up on Australian shore. Though technicaly the boogey man is an immortal spirit, too much sunlight can kill him. Something he did not fully realise before trying to cross the Australian outback. He was saved by Clandesteine. Being grateful for that, he began working for them. Thats when he done his hat and cape, theese are esential as they provide him with permenant shadow. His ability to get to people made him an adequate field researcher, but he also does some healing on the side being good at herbology and reading vital signs (pulse, breathing rate, sweat, pupil dillution and muscle tension are like an open book to him as it's part of understanding fear). He's also been known to disect a person, but that was in self defence not in medical research. He likes to keep alone in cold, dark, broken down places. Reads old texts. Not much of a conversationalists he occasionaly strikes up a story about what he's seen in the north in the old days. These stories is another reason why he often ends up being alone. Bowbas was never seen to eat anything though some things, like some vodka, have been known to disapear around him. [u]Lord/Deity:[/u] None [u]Quote: [/u] "[Groan] I miss the north" [/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][b][i][font=comic sans ms] It's nice to have a day dedicated to people like me. In the place that I come from, puling jokes on the first of April is like sleeping. You do it, everyone else does it though no-knows or cares why they're doing it. In a place that I moved to it is far less common and generally said that April?s fool has something to do with fish. Where I lived April fool's day was (and probably still is) big enough for even respectable news sources to be 'in' on it. For one day a year, there are reports of scientists finding out that the earth is in fact flat, weather forecasts talk about how global warming is going to burn half the country tomorrow morning and newspapers have articles about how Easter holidays extended. I was really disappointed when the later was revealed to be a joke. 'Well, at least the school's gonna burn down from global warming and I wont have to go there then'- I thought. At home I was unsuccessful in puling jokes myself. The biggest one was when I switched sugar and salt, and had my sister try some salted coffee. Most of the time I was a subject of practical jokes. One that I remember best is from my very, very, early childhood. My parents were gone on some business trip or something and I was left alone with my older sister. Sometime in the day when she got bored she started explaining to me how a lot of money could be made out of selling children. Then she announced that I in fact was going to be sold to some foreign couple who couldn't have kids of their own. I had my doubts yet somehow she convinced me that this was true. I remember making saying goodbye to the house, our dog our cat, having a last look at the scenery from my bedroom window and waiting for my new 'mommy' and 'daddy' to drive in to our front yard. Man, did I feel weird that day. So before I go of to plan some sort of a, ten year late, counter attack against my sister I have a few questions to ask you. How big is April fools day where you live, lived or visited? Sometimes it just feels like I'm the last person to remember this day. What are the best practical joke you've pulled in celebration of this day? What tricks were pulled on you on April fool's day? [/color][/b][/i][/font]

[color=sienna][b][i][font=comic sans ms] Wayward was woken by a flaping sound. He opened his eyes and looked around to see where the sound was coming from. The campsite has been built while he was asleep. Wayward disliked helping, but the thought that some Shrew saw him laying there while they were working and taking pity on him, not to wake him up... It got on his nerves. There was no campfire since the danger of forest fire was too great, with all the dry wood around. However a clear circle was cleared between the trees. Logs were brought up from the water and turned over to create makeshift tents. some shrews were taking naps or eating strawberries in their shadows. At the end of the camp Log-a-log was talking to an owl. Wayward was siting by the roots of a tree that was just above the camp. He jumped down and made his way towards Log-a-log and owl which obviously woke him up by flying overhead moments ago. At the same time however Guosim Captain had finished his converstion and made his way to the center. "Guosim" he shouted out to get everyone's atention. "There are some troubling news from the abbey of Redwall." He retold what he had heard from the owl. Log-a-log wanted for a group of shrews who were more fit to make teir way arround the lizard marshlands to Redwall and help out there how they could while others (Wayward included) would continue to a place where there was more food. Wayward didn't like that[/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][b][i][font=comic sans ms]Loging was hard. Wayward didn't like that. Loging leaves cramps in your muscles, ache in your back and blisters on your paws. Besides that there is also the sun burning your face, making your head hurt and uncomfortable sweat form under the collar. What was even worse than all the physical problems for this young shrew, were the other shrews seeming not to notice all the troubles and rowing twice as strongly as he was. Wayward was a proud creature, he did not want to let other Guosim shrews see how excausted he felt and keep the pace up . Yet his paws let him down and now he was way behind , barely pulling his own weight. For him this meant that he was weaker than his fellows shrew. This was not a good thing. He let his head down, his nose almost touching his seat. He breathed uncomfortably hot air in and breathed it out, for a long second it seemed that he might never lift his head up. He would just lay there like this in a ball, taking gulps of steam in to his lungs. Feeling, hot uncomfortable exhausted and weak. Then he felt a shrew behind him take a stroke. He pulled the sculls backwards, bringning his face up to the sun Back in spring when he left the abbey of Redwall to go loging with Guosim shrews, Wayward felt he had fully grown. However he soon noticed that the Guosim were very different from abbey-beasts. There were couple of beasts in his boat, that barely reached his nose when standing next to each other. Still despite the height any shrew picked at random could have beaten him easily in sturdiness and strength. However, that's not to say that other Guosim did not feel tha heat at all either. Usualy a cheary folk, loggers were silent. Songs died down, and barely a small chatter would pass the shrews from time to time. Wayward suddenly felt that heavy feeling on his shoulders that he might not be able to lift his head again. Sudden shouts from a neighbour log, made him snap out of it. They all docked were branches formed the videst shadows. An unfortunate shrew was brought out onto the dry land, someone wet a cloth and placed it on his forehead. The shre lay there unconcious. "He was bare-clawed, poor fellow." Log-a-log observed the sunstroked victim. "This heat is not for any beast to log in. From now on we will only go on water in mornings and eveanings and also if we we get any rain sent this way. Oh, lets hope it rain's soon." Wayward barely heard all that. Straight after they docked, he crawled under a tree gulping air. The last thing he though of before falling asleap, was how lucky he was not to get bare-clawed.[/color][/b][/i][/font]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b] Name: [i]Wayward[/i] Age: [i]15 seasons[/i] Species: [i]Shrew[/i] Appearance: [i] Wayward has short brown fur with dirty white belly. He is quite tall for somebody of his age and species. Incidently his pointy nose is also quite long.For someone who eats half his weight every day he is also slim (well, compared with other shrews), this only adds to his elongated appearance. He usualy wears a worn out yellow west, that looks a bit like a life preserver with leather belt tied after crossing his stomach two times.. There are five black spots on the back of it, in style of a leopards fur. He also wears brown shorts up to his knees.[/i] Bio: [i]Coming from Guosim Wayward has spend a lot of time in Redwall. When he was still a young dibbun his mother decided that wondering around wasn't good for him, so she left him in the abbey for a winter, hoping that there he would learn to be more obediant as he was very mischievious and naughty. Her hopes did not come true. If anything there he became more unruly. While in redwal he made new friends, found new ways to annoy elders, but most importantly he met wariors. Knights of every kind and species lodged in Redwall. Wayward would listen to their vivid stories and wish to himself to become a warior one day. He secretly practices using his leather belt as a whip. He does this in secret because last time he made a public display, it ended in tears and a dibbun almost lost an eye. That incident made him a bully in the eyes of some elders. He stayed Redwall every winter, joining his family for the rest of the year. However a spring three seasons ago, when Guosim came to Mossflower they had some terrible news. His family were amongs those slaughtered when lizards attacked their party. This changed the young shrew. He decided to stay in the abbey for good, spending more and more time away from his friends, practicing his whiping skills in some rarely used vine cellar or a barn. Waiting for a day when he gets to use these skills[/i][/b][/color][/font]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] So to try and understand what is going on: soul, spirit and deity are essencialy the same being. Spirit and deiti just swap places with each other, deiti rests in a body by fusing with his soul and becoming the new spirit, and the old spirit becomes the deity in the limbo. If above paragraph is correct, then this story is kinda cool. It does kinda make you think about the meaning of life and the real you. There is that episode where deity fights the spirit which is symbolic of your personal strugles against your own weaknesses. Which makes this quite dark stuff,, although so far it is written in quite a light-hearted format, but with a litle fine tuning it could really be gripping. Do not give up on the idea yet.[/b][/i][/font][/color]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] There was a concept mentioned at the begining of the thread about people who are already violent watching violent programs. When they watch it, it is as if someone is giving a nod to their violent side, that it is ok to come out. Although they can get that nod from anywhere, friends or Hitler. Hell, the only difference between Hitler and (seriously)Violent programs is that the programs don't usualy direct the violence. The people that where True Nazis in those times, there, could have easily been fans of some satanistic anime. Now I'm not saying that anime is devil sent, but it is naive to assume that there wont be products made specifically for people like that. Others might watch them for some entertainment, though if someone decided to ban "Batlle Royal" (I can't think of a more violent example, though I'm sure there must be) I would be Ok with that because it is just a bit of entertainment yet if a person views a film any other way, maybe in that case they shouldn't get to abuse it. Though right now thinking of how number of Pedophiles rose with introduction of internet making pedophilic videos available to them. So I guess the argument in this paragraph shouldn't apply here as it is about extreme cases. However this doesn't mean that such cases do not exist. "Forbidden fruit, is sweeter". Just look at the number of M rated RPG's in Adventure Square and birth date's of people that sign up for them. If you tell a kid that he's not allowed to watch a cartoon, he will want to see it even more. Distribution of entertainment or information is beyond control of any government now (considering internet and illegal sources) . So in the end, baning is out of question(hence tread's title) it will only give people, who were likely to be influenced, an excuse to actualy take some action like downloading a banned video through internet or buying it of some dealer, who's probably gonna sell you some more serious stuff too, if you pay him more. So what's the soliution. Well, like a very smart man once told me. "Don't fix what's not broken". I'm sure you all already knew that anime does not make people violent. Just walk up to your local huligans and tell them that you watch "Yu-gi-oh" or even "Ninja Scroll", then you will find out that they are aware of your sexual orintation far better than you are and that they are familiar, intimately, with your mother and stuff like that. People like that don't watch cartoons and see everyone who does in a bad way. Pity. Maybe if they have watched it they would in fact be more peaceful. Anime ha a lot of good points. As already mentioned it helps you to relax forget about your own problems, it feeds childrens imagination and helps them grow into individuals. Anime also helps you socialise. Some of the oldest memories I got, is of playing as some(it happened too long ago to remember which) charecters from TV, wth my friends. Who just hapened to like the same shows I did. However there is always a risk that children might take a game too seriously. Like the teens who beat up each other pretending to be Power Rangers. The thing is, it's all part of growing up and it's better they make mistakes like that, early on so they could learn that it's wrong before they go and beat each other out of real anger over a lady or a wrong remark. Just a question before I finish. [quote] [/color][/font][/b]Without doubt, some youth crimes -- such as a 12-year old who sexually mutilated and then pushed a 4-year old to his death off the roof of a parking lot in [b]Nagasaki[/b] last year -- involve disturbed children with histories of psychotic behavior.[/quote][font=comic sans ms][color=sienna][b] I thought Nagasaki was one of the towns which they tested nuclear bombs on. (Maybe it's not psicosis, maybe its mutation from radioactive leftovers.) Is this just a town with a similiar name to the one destroyed or is there some other stuff I overlooked. Any explanation would be apreciated.[/color][/b][/font][/i]

[color=sienna][b][i][font=comic sans ms] Man, I haven't posted since the days when favourite threads were banned. Hell, DethBug was probably still Belzebumon back then. I only started reading "Collectors' Editions" about a year ago (monthly comics, here in Britain) My favourite's so far have been: [/font][/Color] Jim Lee.[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms] I thought that "Hush" storyline was confusing, bit boring at times and in the end it didn't seem to have a moral or a point, but I bought the comic anyway, just for the artwork. Some people say that Jim Lee can't draw emotions, but he can easily bee forgiven for the solidity and detail of his drawings makes up for it. Batman wasn't just anatomicaly correct he was anatomicaly enhanced. Those muscles are probably beyond achievement for a human being, I don't know how he managed it. [/font][/Color] Scott McDaniel.[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms] Another artist I buy Batman Comics for. His work is kinda cartoonish, but added to bright colours from Roberta Teves and speedy storiline like "Penguin Dreams" and you get the same kind of excitement you used to get as a kid, when you ran aroun with a blanket on your back screeming "I'm Batman, I'm Batman!" . that dud has a way of story telling that hits you for real. [/color][/font] Frank Miller [color=sienna][font=comic sans ms] I have his Daredevill work from "Elektra" to "Good Guys Wear Red" and you know when re-reading some stuff I noticed that you can actualy see his work improving in both drawings and storylines. King Pin seems seriously clever and, well... intimidating, in Daredevil and yet he's not without sentimental side. Daredevil himself is not your usual Spider-Man or Deadpool. I love the way he rarely talks in costume, it makes him all so serious looking. Oh yeah and DD movie is the best comic book based movie, but that's for another time. ***Tyes a blanket on his back and runs arround, screeming "I'm Batman, I'm Bamtan! Whoosh! I can fly!"***[/color][/b][/i][/font]

[COLOR=Sienna][b][i][font=comic sans ms] I hope I'm not pushing my dramatic license too far. I drew this picture, before I read Kyo's describtion on your otaku, so it is more a draving inspired by your story than one based on it. It's a scene where Asuka enters Kyo's sword. The sword might be too flashy, but come on, it has a soul lodging in it. It has to look preaty. I gave Kyo white hair not because I thought him to be albino, but because anyone's hair would turn grey before time if their soul left their body. I only read about Black Hair and pony tail later. The birds taking off in the background is foreshadowing the final body Asuka settles for. I guess this picture is now preaty much useless, except as an example of what I can do. Seeing ideas like this makes me wonder why a lot of "Profesional" western serials, comics and films are so boring and predictable, while kids can come up with better stuff. I would like to help how I can, though school starts soon so there's a question mark on how much I can. So if you're interested...[/b][/i][/font][/COLOR]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Swordsaint [/i] [B]If life is bad, then do something to improce it already! [/B][/QUOTE][color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] I agree. People just don't realize how much in control they are and instead of pulling themselves together they whine and jump off high buildings. The thing is, in despair they forget one powerful asset they have - themselves. It's impossible to change the family when that gets on your nerves, but you can always change yourself. As there is always that possibility... heck, a certainty that it's all your fault. I'm not trying to diss annyone as that's a technique I use on myself as in "that's all my fault I should have given my sister that piece of chocolate I could have well survived with out it". Now let's say life is a game and you're the only charecter with human inteligence. In the end you'll realise that by controling you'r charecter and making all those unpredictable moves, you can control all of the mindless AI's runing arround with preset reactions to predictable action, so if they end up attacking you, there is something you could have done to get them off track and avoid that. Stuff that happens to you can not be happy or sad it's you who becomes happy or sad according to that stuff, but then isn't this kinda wimpy to let your mood be so passively changed by stuff? Be as strong as you are not as week as you pretend to be.[/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] He considered it for a moment, it was not as if that trip could change his life, they would just hopefuly see something cool. the only problem was his parents, they should be back soon and he wanted to be there when they did. Not that anything would happen to him if his parents don't find him when they are back, he simply wanted to be the first to rummage through the stuff they bought. However this wierd stuff seemed to be a much better adventure than getting more chocolates than his sis. "I'll go"[/color][/font][/b][/i]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Arika [/i] [B][size=1][color=999999][i]You'll rape me? [/i] As Trina left the house, she stepped into her car and drove to Seuneu's house. [/size][/color] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i]OOC: o.O; hhmmmhhh.... adult[-ish] content [center]* * *[/center] He turned the corner and saw Seuneu's house. It took longer to get there than he expected. Everyone else was probably there. If they checked theyr e-mail boxes that is. Well there was only one way to find out. "Hello? Anybody's home?" He wondered for a moment if he should take his shoes off inside the house, but then turned towards where he knew was Seuneu's room, with them on. He opened the door to see a group of familiar, anxcious faces. "sorry I'm late, heh. So, what's up? [/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] I'm right now taking Shadokan Karate classes. It's a nice way to clean the mechanism of your muscles. Every bit of your body is working, for example when you're punching you have to let the side of you'r body follow the punch and then slam your butt back into a square with the shoulders as you're twisting the fist on the very end. But besides making all my body muscles from foot to neck work I don't think this technique would do much good for me in an actual fight as no matter how they try, senseys can not teach you a faster reaction. That goes for most martial arts, I think, they all need a set level of reaction and strength to work. Judo from what I've seen is basicaly the art of... throwing. This might come usefull more then you think as there are a lot of cowardly fighters out there who will try to avoid being punched by... hugging you or grabbing you'r clothes .I should know, that has been my fighting tactic for some time ^_^; Then there's Bushido, it was once very popular on TV, where I lived. Maybe it's just marketing, but it looked a lot like wrestling You see in America. Like for example there's a move called Boston Crab or Grab, depending on translation. It involves bringing the back of opponent's knees to his back as close as possible. Or there was this guy who had a signature move of a two legged kick into face, oh and the rope brake rule applies there too. Kinda sounds familiar doesn't it? But then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come fight with wepons and brag about carrying the ancient art of Bushido. Damn the TV. I don't know much about Martial Arts philosophy, although I do pass some thought's on it. I believe that every attack has a perfect deffence for it, but you should only use the one you like. Also enjoy the proccess do not just concentrate on getting the results. Anyways, could anyone recommend some good books that wouldn't be hard to get in Brittain or some websites about martial arts techniques and philosophy, please?[/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] "How did the Aztec miths helped Christopher Columbus?" Rokas eyed the question on his sheet, then looked back at the screen, quite a fair bit of the essay done. Now just to say something about indians believing that some bearded white man is a white snake with an unpronauncible name, and the conquistador exploiting those believes. Then again there was a possibility that Columbus actualy was a white snake attracted by some magical force to travel across the ocean to his mithical home. Ofcourse writing that on an essay would probably mean a straightjacket for a mark. The boy minimized the window of word processor and turned on the internet browser. He'll have a look at someone elses work on some website or something. A new e-mail message was waiting for him, he read it through, quit the browser and saved his essay work-it can wait. His parents were gone for some shoping for Christmas, he didn't go as he was doing his essay, there would be some explaining to do if they didn't find him when they got back. Oh well, at least he had somewhere to actualy be gone to. Rokas had traveled, probably as much as that Columbus he was writing about, and if his lile hypothsis was right then they had more in common then that. From the town with Iron wolf's story, somewhere in center of the europe to this country and then to this place and this house. The memory of that time when the whole family sat down in front of a map with some spots marked black , showing the places where they can buy houses. Rokas then instinctively pointed to the spot which represented the house they were living in now. Maybe it was Seuneu somehow magicaly calling him and maybe Cristopher Columbus did turn into a white snake. As he grabbed his jacket, he noticed the portable webcam "3 hours of storable video". Rokas grabbed the camera and placed in to his inside pocket not actualy knowing why. After locking the door from outside, he buttoned up his jacket. It was winter after all. [/b][/i][/color][/font]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b] Name: [i]Rokas [/i]Age: [i]16 [/i]Appearance: [i]Six foot one, blonde messy hair in need of a haircut, greyishly blue eyes. Wears a blue t-shirt, black jacket, military camo-pants and blue/white sneakers. [/i]Personality: [i]Likes clowning/joking around, prefers to talk his way out of trycky situations, over going into a brawl. Although he talks a lot it's the stuff that he doesn't say that means the most. [/i]Creature:[i][URL=http://discovery.ot.lt/cfair98/vilnius/vil_lege.htm]Iron Wolf[/URL] He only appears in a single legend so I'm kinda making up his powers- The iron wolf is a portant, tutelary beast. It can bite through steel, cover many miles in a jump, walk through dreams, prophesize future, create sonic blasts. His iron skin is impregnable and his senses are more sensitive than the one's of any living animal. [/i]Describtion: [i]A huge [about the size of a hoarse] wolf in grey iron coating.[/color][/font][/i][/b]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] *Cracks knuckles* I just realized how much time has passed since I've taken a part in a debate, I think I lost the abilty to make my point. heh. Firstly, SadClown, you're right, we didn't read the whole play, we only studied the parts needed for the coursework and then watched couple of film versions of the play (although we didn't get the one with Mel Gibson) to see how the scenes we red fit into the whole play. After that our a litle bit eccentric teacher tried to get us debating about weather it was right for Hamlet to kill his uncle and weather we would do it if we ended up in his place. Now, most people in our class, that he had to do it to avenge his fathers death. They simply ignored the fact that he had completely no solid evidence to prove that new king killed the old king. Or that he was seeing ghosts, which is an obvious sign of madness. Now of course the play is set in ages of supperstitions and the ghosts can be taken for granted to exist. Yet even then there's litle basis for believing what it said. However if we believe in ghosts we can believe in demos as well, or some evil spirits trying to drive Hamlet into madness and kill the king. I don't think it was fully proven in the play, that Hamlets uncle did actualy murder his own brother. Well, unless I missed his confession. So, now put yourself in Hamlets position. You are seeing ghosts, that your mother can not see and their asking you to kill your own uncle. Now tell me (without ranting on about the basics of the storyline (no offence)) isn't it mad to act on ghost's words and some suspicion, especialy to kill a relative?[/color][/font][/b][/i]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] We have studied Hamlet in school too, but I know few others of Shakespeares plays. What bothers me most about Hamlet, is that after watching it in my class everyone said that Hamlet should kill the new king, to revenge his father. To me it seems that if I were in Hamlets position I would have found some litle room and hung myself instead of killing a man. I mean, come on, seeing ghosts that urge you to kill a man that has taken the post for the king wich should be yours, is obviously a madness powered by some subconcious greed, and todays generation brought up by movies dedicated to slaughtering of whoever opposes the main charecter are to ignorant to notice that [/color][/font][/b][/i]

[font=comic sans ms][color=sienna][b][i] Charecter name: Link Alligence: Maximal Alternative form: A transmetal linx Wepons/abbilities: Two blades and a tail whip, all can be used seperately or be combined to make staff with blades on both ends or a bow. Link can make high guided jumps, yet he can't fly. Personality: Under the mask of crazy actions and sometimes stupid jokey remarks, lies a wake mind taking everything in, reaching conclusions and making decisions. His methods are questionable, yet he gets the job done. History: Many times his unpredictable behaviour and his not serious attitude were notted, yet, to the surprise of the senior officers, Link climbed the career steps up to second in comand of a small party, that is now the first scout party to be sent to Inferno space station.[/color][/b][/i][/font]