James

[QUOTE=Deimos][SIZE=1][COLOR=Teal]The only reason I am creeped out by gay men is because movies and shows that I see where a man gets raped or they talk with a creepy voice.I am not saying that all men who are gay will walk up to you and grab your but or throw you in a alley and rape you I am just saying that some sick twisted gay person can do that so I like to keep away from gay people.I am freaked out also because of south park kinda....because they said alot of gay men like to have sex with little boys and teenagers.....But like I said its not all gay men that do this but some do so I just like to stay as far away from them as possible.I haven't met a gay guy in my life but I don't wanna try either. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]There are several problems with what you're saying though. By your logic, I should never attend Church, because a Priest might molest me. By your logic, women should never date men, because there are some straight men who rape women. Do you see where I'm going with that? In addition, you're confusing paedophilia with homosexuality. And moreover, why on Earth would you believe South Park? I just can't believe how much these comments smack of ignorance and prejudice. I don't know what else to say about it, other than making the observations that [i]should be obvious to any reasonably intelligent person[/i]. Your last paragraph was perhaps the most reasonable thing you said. Gay and lesbian people are just like straight people, save for the fact that their orientation is different. But there's no difference in terms of sex drive or violence/rape, etc.[/color]

[color=#707875]Yeah, I wasn't sure if you were serious or not. In my post I was mostly going after the people who [i]do[/i] say that line seriously (which is why I didn't mention you by name). But I did quote you, so yeah...that implied I was responding directly to you. My apologies about that. I have seen plenty of people tell their friends about their sexuality, only to have many friends throw it in their face. I remember one guy who told some friends and one of them spread it through his entire high school. The next day, he had [i]threats[/i] written on his locker door. More than half his friends totally abandoned him, too. All of that, simply due to prejudice. It's no wonder that I get very irked as soon as I detect things like that. Not to stray too far from the point, but, this is why Adam and I are very careful about prejudice here on OB. It's not because either of us want to push one point of view, but rather, it's because we want this place to be somewhere that all people can go, no matter who they are. So if you're a kid who has a rough day at school because you're overweight, or unpopular or whatever, at least OB is a place where you can have fun and be an equal. [i]That[/i] is the motivation behind the way this place operates. As I said, it's not 100% related to this line of discussion, but I do think it's an example of how people can do small things to make everyone feel included. I think that's very important, especially because so many kids experience some awful prejudices in their own daily lives.[/color]

[color=#707875]In regard to borders...it depends exactly what kind you want to use. Borders are really easy to make though. In fact, they're probably the easiest part of the image, once you get the hang of 'em. I am not using Photoshop, so I could only tell you what I do in Paint Shop Pro. But I assume that the process is similar. When I make a banner I choose my dimensions and make my image as usual, but to do borders, I actually use rectangles (with stroke and no fill -- usually one pixel thickness on the stroke). That way you can have, say...a black outer border, and then a white inner one (like many of the avatars here at OB). Or, you can do all sorts of other things. For instance, in PSP, you can create many different types of stroke styles on your objects (ie: broken lines, diamonds or something more complex, like actual little shapes that follow the line). Generally my borders are nothing too elaborate. I just like to play around with different types of lines, usually.[/color]

[quote name='Sol-Blade'] I mean if you are a gay guy, fine with me just don't be trying anything :rolleyes:. [/quote] [color=#707875]I really hate it when men say stuff like that. I mean, you know, as if all gay men are going to rape you because you're also male. That's like saying that all heterosexual women are going to rape you because you're male. Anyway, I think it's a pretty open and shut case. Lesbians are far more accepted than gay men. Why? Because they pose no threat to heterosexual men. Heterosexual men (particularly those who aren't as sure of their own sexuality), perceive some kind of threat from gay men (which is totally non-existent, mind you). However, there isn't a territorial issue surrounding gay women. I'm sure that's one reason. The other is that many heterosexual men find the idea of lesbians "hot". So of course, (for the slack-jawed and dim-witted out there), lesbians are totally fine because they're hot. But gay men aren't fine because they're gross. Yeah...that makes a [i]lot[/i] of sense. Edit: Oh and, thanks for those who added some sanity to Heero's comments. Again, that's another example of the prejudice that I can't stand.[/color]

[color=#707875]I also think that it would be near impossible to actually backmask a song. You'd have to be a complete genius to do it properly. lol So yeah. I think that if you read the supposed words while you listen, you can hear them...but again, it's only because you're kind of being coached along by the written lyrics. So many things work that way (all sorts of supposedly paranormal things work simply by the power of suggestion).[/color]

[QUOTE=Midnight Rush]Japan, the USA, Great Britain, ect. are not democracies. That word is used incorrectly almost every time it escapes someone's mouth. Democracy is a system of government underwhich all people decide on all issues. There is no leader per se, only the strong willed and popular accomplish anything. History tells us that democracy is crap. So does common sense. That is why Federal Republics and Constitutional Monarchies are the governments of the world's best.[/QUOTE] [color=#707875]As Zeta pointed out, you're incorrect. Britain, Japan and the USA are pluralist democracies. Britain and Japan are not Republics though (nor is Australia). But that doesn't mean that they aren't democratic or that they don't have a democratic system. What you're describing is more of a laissez faire style of government. But again, "democracy" has a particular meaning, as mentioned above. That's the meaning I'm applying to the term. Anyway, I'm looking forward to Chibihorseman's response to my earlier comments.[/color]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet'] It's not so much as being the police of the world as it is the fact that Bush and company think that everyone should be like America. [/color][/quote] [color=#707875]Let's avoid talking in vague, general terms and start getting down to specifics. How do you figure that Bush and company think that everyone should be like America? As I haven't seen the American army forcing Afghans to wear baseball hats, I assume you're talking about spreading democracy. If that's what you're referring to, I'd take issue on two levels. On one hand, this point of view assumes that democracy is exclusive to the United States. Well, it isn't. Democracy isn't necessarily a cultural value, it's a political structure. Take a look at Japan for example; Japan's culture couldn't be any different from America. And yet here you have a country where democracy has flourished. The same can be said for plenty of other countries. Secondly, that point of view may assume that people don't want democracy. If you take a look at various countries in the middle east (most noteably Iran), you can see that there's a strong push for democracy there. In fact, Iran is on the verge of civil war because of that issue. It's not because some want democracy and some don't, it's because [i]everyone[/i] wants it but the Government won't provide it. If my assumption of your meaning is incorrect, I welcome you to provide some specific detail. I'd be happy to discuss those details with you. ^_^[/color]

[color=#707875]Misenki, please do not double post. It's against the rules. I strongly urge you to check the rules page (found on the left navigation menu), before you continue posting. In addition, I urge you to include more quality in your posts. If you want this thread to contain something in particular, you should set the example and begin discussing the RPG. Please take note of this advice in future.[/color]

[color=#707875]It's really hard for me to choose just one game that I'm looking forward to more than any other. But I guess these are the ones that are sitting foremost in my mind right now: Resident Evil 4 Paper Mario 2 The Sims 2 Gran Turismo 4 Metroid Prime: Echoes Final Fantasy XII Baten Kaitos The Matrix Online Donkey Kong's Jungle Beat Pikmin 2 I guess those are probably the ones that I'm watching out for at the moment...but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more. There are actually some PS2 games that I'm really keen on, but I can't remember their titles. lol In any case, I can say one thing for sure; there is no way I can afford all of these games. I haven't even included GBA and DS stuff on here...let alone PSP. So, I am going to have to work out which stuff I want to buy first. ~_^ I am particularly interested in Resident Evil 4. Obviously, many of the fundamentals are the same as the previous games -- the controls being the most prominent example of something that is almost entirely identical. But apparently it works better with the different viewpoint in RE4. The Resident Evil games are truly fantastic, but it's true that they've become stale. I found that I really didn't like Code Veronica very much, for example. Sure, it looked gorgeous, but it felt like the same old thing over again. It wasn't very scary, either. I found Resident Evil 3 to be much better than Code Veronica. So, based on everything I've seen of RE4, it's going to be a fantastic reinvention of the franchise. I really can't wait to get my hands on it for a long play session.[/color]

[QUOTE=ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet]Amazingly enough I am an American and I'm pretty disgusted with the way my country seems to think we're the police of the world. [/color][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]When you are the only superpower left, you [i]are[/i] the police of the world. So it's not just a matter of who thinks it, it's a matter of what the reality is. And let me tell you, it's a whole lot nicer to have America as the global police than China or Russia.[/color]

[color=#707875]I think this has been explained in a pretty thorough way. Yami, it's one thing to have a disagreement...it's another to start flaming people. Obviously you never read the rules page, which is required reading for all new members.[/color]

[QUOTE=maladjusted] [color=firebrick]I know foreign policy is important and I certainly know that the outside world is important. And for the umpteenth time, I am NOT [i]blaming[/i] George Bush for our bad economy. So to the point across, I'm not blaming the bad economy on ANYONE. What I'm angry about is that I believe he's spending way too much time on Iraq and isn't really helping the economy. I don't know what the president does to make the economy better, but I'm guessing that he could spent some more time on it. [/color][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]I was just responding to the fact that you said that you weren't considering those things as being important in your own estimation of the president's service. So I was attempting to underline why those things are important to the life of US citizens. Secondly, I never said that you blamed Bush for the economy. If you take a look at my post again, you'll find that I said "people in general". A [i]lot[/i] of people draw that direct link, which I see as being erroneous. That was really my more general comment to the thread itself. In terms of spending more time on it, well...I can only assure you that the president is on call 24 hours a day. He spends pretty much all of his time working. That is, when he's not sleeping. ~_^ I think you'll find that it's not so much a question of time, it's more a question of policy. But even then, I wouldn't say that Bush isn't spending time on the economy. He's only spending as much time on it as any other national leader. I mean, he [i]does[/i] have specific policies in place and he (as well as the treasury secretary) have outlined what those policies are designed to do. It can be debated as to whether or not the policies are working, and I'm sure there's plenty of positive and negative evidence. But I don't know of any qualified economists on OtakuBoards. All I can tell you is that I'm aware of various economic statistics over the past few months, some of which are good, some of which are bad. *shrug* [/color]

Track 03: L'ArenaJamie felt a pair of warm, moist lips against his. As an assassin, Jamie was always alert; he never let his guard down. But during that one moment, he had almost forgotten that he was on the most important mission of his career. A pair of hands was tracing the shape of his chest and waist. ?What are you doing?? whispered Jamie, to his lover, who was almost completely shrouded in darkness. Shortly after boarding the yacht, the pair had occupied a storage room on the starboard side, to change out of their wet suits without being identified. The room had a musty smell and the walls were lined with life jackets and various tools. It was hardly the most romantic meeting place and, in Jamie?s mind, this was hardly the most appropriate time for a romantic encounter. Although his mind was squarely focused on the job at hand, he couldn?t help but feel sorry for his lover; they?d had so little time alone, ever since Adam had entered their lives. Joshua leaned forward and bit at Jamie?s bottom lip playfully. ?We have a few minutes,? he whispered back. For a brief moment, Jamie considered protesting. But it was no use. He was well and truly under Joshua?s spell. The door slammed open, almost jumping off its hinges. The beautiful parquetry floor was now carpeted in blood and littered with lifeless forms in tuxedos. A bride stood amongst them, holding a gun in her hand. Another woman, tall, slender and with a face framed with deep brown curls, stood in the doorway. ?Good job,? said Lelia as she surveyed the damage. ?Your aim is improving.? The bride raised her head, but Lelia couldn?t tell whether or not the eyes underneath the veil were looking at her. The bride leant down and lifted the side of her dress, attaching the gun to a holster strapped to her thigh. She then swept past Lelia, her long white train passing over the bloody corpses. But as she passed, Lelia grabbed the bride?s arm. ?Where are you going now?? she whispered. The bride pulled her arm free. ?To get married, of course.? Naganori nodded to his best man ? and best friend ? Hideki Imanishi, who returned the nod and the pleased expression. That night was the night that the Arai family would truly secure its future, not just in terms of their legitimate business ventures, but also in terms of their underground dealings. Naganori was a relatively unassuming man, with a slight stature. But he was nevertheless infamous in the city of Osaka. So infamous, in fact, that even in his early twenties, there were numerous rumors and legends about the man. Some of those legends involved his first meeting with Hideki Imanishi, a man with whom he had become very close over the years. Imanishi was not just the best man, he was also the head of Naganori?s security entourage. Little did he know, the bride standing not two meters in front of him was a blonde haired, blue eyed American assassin. ?How long have we been in here?? ?I don?t know. Maybe twenty minutes.? ?Do you think we?re making a mistake?? ??? ?Are we hurting the mission?? ?No. They can take care of it for now. The wedding isn?t due to start yet. They?re not going to go in there with guns blazing; too many bodyguards for that.? ?How long do we have?? ??till what?? ?Until we have to go out there?? ?Dunno. Why?? ???cause?I want us to stay here as long as we can.? ?Yeah?me too.? ?You mean it?? ?Yeah. I?m sorry if I haven?t been?? ??? ?It?s just?I want to make sure that we get this done. We?ve got a debt to pay to him, the both of us. Once it?s paid, we can go out on our own.? ?For a while I thought that things had changed between us.? The light in the storage room flickered to life. It was a simple bulb, dangling from the ceiling, with a little cord attached. ?Ah, so there?s the light,? said Jamie as he smiled up at Joshua. Joshua crawled down beside Jamie and draped himself over his lover. Jamie ran his fingers through Joshua?s hair. ?Don?t worry, Cowboy. Nothing?s changed,? said Jamie quietly, as his gaze shifted across the surprisingly rusty ceiling. Joshua squeezed Jamie tightly. ?I don?t want to ever leave this room.? Jamie raised his arm and looked at the silver watch. It was almost eight o?clock; almost time for the wedding to begin. ?I don?t want to leave either, but it?s time. If we survive tonight, you and I will be on the top of the world. I?ll take you to dinner; anywhere in Osaka. Okay?? Joshua sat up and smiled, as he began pulling on his shirt. ?Okay, deal.? The deck was filled with guests from all over the world. In one distant corner, Jamie could see the others. They were all there, sans Arianna. For a moment, Jamie entertained the possibility that she?d been killed. But no, not Arianna. It didn?t seem very likely, especially at this early stage. ?Ah, three radiant young women. You all look great,? said Jamie with a smirk, as he approached the three Angels. ?Where?s Persona?? ?He is otherwise occupied,? said Lelia, as she sipped the glass of red. ?You know, the Japanese might be good with sake, but they can?t make a good wine for shit.? The other two Angels grinned. ?Where have you two been?? asked Switch, who was smiling over her wine glass and exchanging glances with the others. Jamie looked at Joshua, who was standing slightly behind him. He was blushing. Switch chuckled to herself. ?Your boyfriend?s face says it all, Kidd. I hope it was worth the time you took.? ?It was,? said Jamie. ?But don?t worry, we still have plenty of time. Where is Arianna?? ?Arianna?s getting married,? said Jeanette, nodding in the direction of the wedding hall. ?She?s only playing the part,? said Lelia, who recoiled slightly after making the comment, as though her jealousy was becoming a little too apparent. The others didn?t seem to take any notice, though. ?I?ve never crashed a wedding before,? said Joshua, ?this is going to be fun.? ?Just make sure that you don?t get careless. Both of you are unknown entities, don?t forget that. Just because Adam trusts you, doesn?t mean that we will be so quick to cover you. We?re professionals and if either of you cock suckers screw things up for us, you can kiss your employment goodbye,? said Lelia, as she pointed her glass at Joshua. Joshua adjusted his bow tie. ?Don?t worry, we can handle it. After tonight, Adam will be the most feared name in this city.?

[QUOTE=The Pro]You know what the US is like? its like that guy at the bar, who walsk around, always saying "HEY IM THE GREATEST ****** HERE, AND THERES NOTHING! YOU CAN DO ABOUT! MUHAHHAHA" and eventually wouldnt you just shoot him? America is the ONLY country that goes around saying there the greatest country on earth on a daily basis. You even notice that? your like a country of narcisists.[/QUOTE] [color=#707875]C'mon now, let's just look at the logic of that. Most of the members here are American and I have many friends on here, whom I speak to regularly, from America. I have never encountered the people that you describe. Sure, some people behave like that...but let's not make a vast generalization. Every country has its weirdos; but I've generally always had very positive experiences with Americans. Moreover, the post itself is spam. It has no relationship whatsoever with the election. Please keep your comments confined to this topic, everyone.[/color]

[quote name='maladjusted][color=firebrick']I don't know nearly as much as I should about George Bush's foreign policy, but basing your judgement on what George Bush does outside the US isn't what I'd do. [/color][/quote] [color=#707875]Foreign policy is incredibly important to the domestic environment. It has a direct impact on jobs, education/training and security. So, whether or not you view the outside world as being important (and it is, especially in the global village that we live in today), it's still something that should really be taken into account. In regard to the economy, people generally give far too much credence to the presidency. Yes, there are things that the Government can do to improve or hinder economic progress. But the Government doesn't [i]control[/i] the economy. All this stuff about "it happened on whoever's watch" is largely garbage. The president doesn't control employment and he doesn't control innovation and corporate spending. Especially in a capitalist democracy, you have an economy that is generally quite independent of Government. So, yes, Government can make certain regulatory choices that will have an impact on the overall economy...but it annoys me when people (in general) tie job numbers and such directly to the president. The economy (as with many things in life) just isn't that simple.[/color]

[color=#707875]If your status has changed, it probably means that some of your posts have been deleted. Either this is because they were spam, or because they were within a thread that was removed. I wouldn't worry about it. We only require 50 posts to become a Member. So, you should reach that level again in no time.[/color]

[color=#707875]I think we should all be calm, mature and reasonable in this discussion. Surely everyone is capable of that. The fact that a 12 year old has an interest in politics at all is pretty remarkable to me. I can tell you right now that many people who are very vocal about political issues are often not the most politically savvy people anyway. And on a basic level, we're all just expressing our views and reasons as to why we'd vote for who. So if we stick to discussion on the issues, I think we'll be fine.[/color]

[color=#707875]Oh I see. Well, I'm sure that's possible. Maybe that can be one of the updates that we include in myOtaku.[/color]

[color=#707875]Geeze, very fiery. Guys, be nice to each other, or I'll have to bring out the paddle. I'm not American, but if I were, I'd probably vote for Bush in this election. Right at the outset, I'll be frank: I think many people totally misunderstand Bush and Kerry. It's very easy to jump in and say "Kerry has a big chin, yuck!" or "Bush can't speak English, ew!"...but it's entirely another thing to understand how politics works and to actually understand what the candidates are including in their respective platforms. I don't have much of an opinion on the domestic side of it, because I'm not American myself. So my interest is primarily in the foreign policy agenda. In that arena I'd tend to support Bush, despite the fact that some aspects of the policy have been clumsy at best. Fundamentally, I feel that eliminating the causes of terrorism is incredibly important. Although war and things of that nature are not often popular at the time, it's also true that sometimes the more difficult decisions need to be taken, for a better longterm result. Of course, I would not want to suggest that I agree with all of Bush's policies. I'm a very strong civil rights advocate and Bush has done very little to advance civil rights in my view. The amendment to ban gay marriage is an incredibly cynical and unnecessary proposal. Thankfully it was soundly defeated. You can't say that you oppose racism and slavery on one hand, and then turn around and play favourites with basic civil rights on the other. For me, I think there are some things to like about Kerry...but I just have too many concerns. The man appears to be a political opportunist of the worst kind, which is never a good thing. He also seems to have an incredibly vague foreign policy agenda, which seems like a watered down version of the Bush policy (so it's not that different, it's the same, but less effective -- what's the point?) And apart from all of that, there's his senate record to consider, which is something he seems pretty embarassed about himself. lol As for the whole military service thing, I will make one comment: I don't care. I don't care what Bush did and I really don't care what Kerry did or didn't do. None of that stuff relates to the current day. And none of it bears any relationship to whether or not they could be a good president, in my view. Unfortunately, people always try to drag up mud and throw it around, hoping that some of it will stick. It sucks.[/color]

[color=#707875]DarkWizard, please don't double post. It's against the rules here. In reference to your questions, I have a few comments to make about that. One thing we don't want to do at the moment is implement a censor of any kind. myOtaku is designed to be a place where you can write down your personal thoughts; it's a journal. There is a reason why none of the major online journal communities provide censors. And I think it's the same reason why we don't do it. We don't want to limit people's expression and we don't want to dictate what kind of content they can include on their page (although there are obviously some boundaries, like pornography and so on). In terms of flaming, that's a different issue. We [i]do[/i] want to keep myOtaku as friendly as possible and we want to avoid having members flame each other. If someone is posting offensive comments on [i]your[/i] page, that would be considered a violation and it's something that we'd deal with. Other than that, it comes down to a case by case basis. In regard to background images, I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. We already allow background graphics to be put up, via the Style Editor. You may have to be more specific about that.[/color]

[color=#707875]Kill Bill isn't based on anime. It's based primarily on 70's and early 80's kung fu cinema. It's also based on some of the old samurai films, so it's really a combination of both. I'd say that there's obviously some anime influence there (I mean, it does have an entire anime scene), but the film itself isn't based on anime.[/color]

[color=#707875]No worries, Tori. I thought that giving you a bit more time would allow you to have a bit more freedom and flexibility with your post. It's actually great to experiment; I'm really pleased with the concept of actually creating a posting order. It makes things so much easier and more organized. All of you will have a break next chapter, as I anticipate that it will involve Jamie and Joshua exclusively. After that, we'll see the introduction of The Daughter. I hope to include at least one major chapter involving Hattori Hanzo as well. For those of you playing those two new characters, I apologize if it seems like things are moving a bit slowly -- my intention was to introduce those characters toward the middle of the RPG. In any case, you guys will probably end up with one-post chapters, or chapters that revolve primarily around your characters. Also...before I go, I want to remind everyone to please save any notes or drafts that you do for Kill Adam: Volume 2. Even if it seems really insignificant (just basic dot point notes or early versions of stuff you've written), I'd like you to keep it around. Once the RPG is over, I'll be asking everyone to submit that stuff, so that we can do a "DVD Extras" style thread (which will probably appear in OB Anthology or even in this thread). Some of you have mentioned that you tend to just type your post and you don't have drafts. However, I also know that some of you, as you're writing your post, go back and delete several paragraphs and re-write them. Even if you do that, I'd like you to save your original work (anything that didn't make it). If I receive enough rough work, I'll do something with it. If you have any questions about that (or anything else), feel free to ask here. Okay, Tori has posted. It's my turn next. I'm also going to update this thread with the next chapter as well. Hopefully if I can do things like that, everyone can be somewhat prepared. Sweetreyes and Tony are after me.[/color]

[color=#707875]Here you go, Inti. I hope the text on the banner is okay. Hopefully you like it. [img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20893&stc=1[/img] I removed the halo from the Djinn and played around with them a bit. Again, I hope the text is okay; I just couldn't find the right font for it. [img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20894&stc=1[/img] It was a bit boring on its own, so I animated it slightly. Hope that's okay.[/color]

[color=#707875]Erm, to answer your question...I think it's just a physical thing. If we were able to do a really big 3D universe for members to play around in, I'm sure we'd do it. At the moment we are experimenting with some ideas that aren't related to that specifically, but they are related to funky new interactive things. So really, it's just a matter of money and skill. We don't really want to pour all of our resources into something like that. We'd rather build myOtaku and make it better all the time, as well as developing and improving the content we've got up there at the moment.[/color]

[color=#707875]Welcome to OB. ^_^ Your first port of call should be the Rules and FAQ pages, which you can find on the left navigation menu. Those pages basically tell you what kind of behavior we expect here, and they also provide some useful tips, to help you use some of the functions on our site. If you have any further questions, please use the Suggestions & Feedback forum, where members and staff will do their best to help you out.[/color]