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I am fairly certain my last post here was some kind of "omg, it's been so long!!1" type of deal, and now a few years later here I am again, haha. :) It's awesome to see some names I recognise--Shy, SaiyanPrincessX, James; glad to see you are all doing well. Speaking of the old guard, I can see it's PiroMunkie's birthday as I type this, so Happy Birthday if you ever read this, old chum.   So what am I doing, like, right now? Well, I can tell you I've just been on a massive nostalgia trip trawling through what used to be the Roleplaying & Storytelling forum--So many of our old threads and games are still there, frozen in time, it's surreal. Feels like I'm walking through the empty halls of my old high school or something. (By god, I wish we had finished Maverick Hunters: Personification!)   I won't bore you with the gory details of my sordid past so here's the synopsis--worked for the tax department, got fired for being a daydreamer who did no work and spent all my time writing stories, survived an earthquake, survived another much worse earthquake, got a graphic design qualification, met my long-term girlfriend of four years, got a design job with a big media company, moved around the country, survived ANOTHER earthquake....   And now most recently, my partner and I have moved back to our home city of Christchurch, and have just bought a house together! It's a pretty grown-up thing but I am still very much just a big kid--still playing way too many video games, still watching cartoons and anime (although I just watched Eva Rebuild 3.0!), still getting lost in my own imagination writing short stories and drawing maps and pictures that no-one else is ever likely to see, hehe.   To any other oldies who might stumble across this at some point in the future--Rahia, Rico, TN, Seph, Warwick, Neil, and the many others I've no doubt forgotten... I miss you guys, and I hope you are all doing well.   -Flash

Dear reader,   I am typing this message while rebels lay siege on my client's castle in Amsterdam, the capital of Europe. My client, someone you seem to know mainly as Boo, has asked me to call for your help. He has a very large sum of money that needs to be kept safe while he finds a way to free himself of the clutches of the communists. You seem to be the only person he entrusts with this task. The number we are speaking of is just little over 610.000 EUR which roughly converts to 3.512.000.000 USD, as you may know. There are two reasons why he asked for your help in this:   1. According to DNA tests you are the closest living family member he has. 2. The money was earned by the big success of the OB Podcast, which featured many of you. ¹   I regret to inform you that due to Europe's current regulations, you would only able to give Boo back 1.000 EUR and you will have to keep the rest of the money and do with it as you see fit. Please send me your bank account number, credit card number, access codes, login codes for OtakuBoards, picture of you, picture of you naked, and a picture of your mother via private message on this website. I will transfer the money right away.   Thank you for helping my client out! Have a nice day.   Yours faithfully,   Boo's lawyer     Get it? It's a CON.  Ha.     ¹ Korey hasn't seen a single cent of it, so please do not mention it to him.

[img]http://i47.tinypic.com/2yyccxl.jpg[/img] here it is! (: hope you and Shinmaru like it..xD [b]SLOTS:[/b] 1. [s]Shinmaru's portrait![/s] --- 2. --- 3. ---

Welcome to OtakuBoards! Hello! Just because you're new to OtakuBoards doesn't mean you have to be a stranger. After all, you're part of a pretty tight community now. You're going to be learning about us and we would like to reciprocate the effort by learning about you too. Feel free to use this thread to tell us more about yourself. What are your hobbies? Why did you choose your user name? What are your favorite television shows? What kind of experience do you expect to have here at OtakuBoards? It's all up to you to decide what to tell us. Also, if you have any questions about the site in general, feel free to include them in your post. We'll be glad to help you. We look forward to hearing from you!

so im not popular, i have one female friend and she is very cute and yes she is an otaku gamer type but im me, so i cannot talk to her im shy but she thinks im ignoring  i don't know how to tell her that I've "liked" her for a while help?    

  Hey kuji. ;-)   I think we were all very different. Things used to seem so much bigger - and I guess they were at one stage! I remember when I'd log into OB each day and find dozens (and, at times, well over a hundred) new posts across the forums. It really did feel like OB was a big community, but not as painfully big as a 4chan or something like that.   As it is, I never really got into message boards much after OB. I post occasionally on AppleInsider, but that's about it. I used to post on Steam User Forums, but now the Half-Life area has died down so much that I don't really bother anymore.   OB was really the only place that had that really unique mix of topics (everything from political debate to video games to RPGs). :)   It's good to see some people still around. Although, there are a few people who just disappeared and I've always wondered what happened to them...

If only there was I way that I could find the perfect words necessary to respond to this topic...

Well, I keep coming back here to check up on things, sometimes I can have a quick burst of activity but I never end up staying because the forums are so quiet now.  OB has sentimental value for me, as the first online community I ever signed up for, and I'm all for any ideas that'll jolt the senses and give OB a new lease of life. So when I saw this thread adressing the issue,. I knew I had to try and remember my password and contribute a few ideas... For your consideration.   Gear the forums toward fan art. :3 The Otaku community has been focused on fan art for a long time now, while the boards are now more centered around general discussion. I suggest taking a dual-media apporach encouraging the fan art community to both discuss the series and share their art works with the community. You could spin this as a way for artists to get noticed and get a wider audience. OB then benefits from the large fan art base on TheOtaku, streamlining the memembership so their existing TheO account also works here might, already have been done, but if it hasn't, my idea! :tongue:   Kill. The. Padded. Room. Party. >.>   Why? To encourage new threads and discussions on the topics that won't just fade as pages pass and other discussion vie for space. The lounge has not been the same since that thread opened, it's the all-encompassing behemoth that takes in almost all areas of discussion and it leaves no room for other discussions, why start a new thread when you can just PRP it?  It's exactly the same reason I have not discussed much anime series after the one-thread-per-anime thing came into being. Which segues perfectly into my next idea,   Opening separate anime forums again. ^_^ The goal of the move was a good one, cut down on maintenance, but in the end, I think, a lot of the more nuanced discussion about a particular series was lost to a general thread of 'I like it' and 'the latest episode was so cool.' Those examples are paraprhased but that was the general feeling I got. We lost those insane but enjoyably fun conspiracy threads and those threads on a specific topic that woudl spiral into a whole new arena of discussion and take on a new life of it's own, or maybe that was only the Digimon thread about the pink Power Ranger toy. This works well with the idea to incorporate fan art, as each series can then have it's own little hub. The art forum can then be used as a place for all non-specific art works, the graphics worms, the banner requests etc.   Bright large logo and logo competitions O_IO This ties into the fan art focus idea. How about having a big logo at the top like we used to have, with the graphic links and intergrated anime characers? You could hold regular competitions to design them. There were some good logos that came out of those competitions, Syk3's was awesome and who knows? Perhaps something big bright and cheerful would be more inviting to some people as well. :)   These are things I believe can help stimulate the OB community and bring in the new membership base. What are your thoughts?

I might have been from 2001 :)

AHA! I madja think jes' cuz I left that I'd never back fer y'all.   Buckets. are. fer'ever.

To actually answer the question, I've been ... different. I didn't start lurking/posting here until I was about halfway through my first year of college. I'm a smart guy, and a good worker, but I suffered from a mild case of general inexperience-based-ignorance and accepting apathy (i.e., 'this kinda sucks but I'll work with it') and thought I could work through something I didn't fully understand and didn't really want. I was diligent at first, but I kinda saw a lot of my peers giving way less effort for the exact same result, and for a while I tried that and then wondered why it didn't work. And then combined with some serious disillusionment and some poor choices regarding work and finances and roommates, I ended up basically retreating from a lot of the world for about a year. But then I got sick of it. I was going absolutely nowhere, doing nothing to better myself and wasting my money (which I didn't really have), my talents (which I started to let stagnate as well), and all the time in the world. And my parents, who are good people, didn't really know what else to do besides tell their twenty-three year old son to buck up and get with the program, because although they're supportive and understanding, they're not the type of people to sit there and hold your hand through everything. They worked their own way up and had to deal with just as much stuff as I did, so they weren't going to come flying to my rescue just because I felt bad and didn't want to try. And mostly I was tired of sitting on my ass all day doing nothing but sleep and eat and ... process food. So in April '11 I enlisted with the Navy. I wasn't actually able to ship out until the end of October, but I moved back home in the interim and almost immediately found work: making biscuits at Hardee's for eight hours a day. Not the most glamorous of jobs, but it was tiring, and it paid, and it kept me from further pushing myself into thoughts of what a miserable sot I was. Funny how work does that for you. Especially work where you exert yourself. Beating down dough and slinging around biscuit trays and trash bags and scrubbing the food muck off the floor makes you break a sweat. So I did it, and did it well, and when I left everyone was let down because once I got into it I made some damn fine biscuits. (And kept a damn shiny floor.) I shipped out to Basic Training Camp (or BT Camp, hence "boot") 25OCT11. I know that date by heart; it's kinda like my second birthday, now. And that was two months of essentially group isolation while a set of sailors made us stronger and faster and less collectively stupid. It wasn't fun, but I kinda miss it now. I graduated from there in early December, and since then I've been in bar-none the longest training pipeline in the military. (Even longer now because of delays due to equipment failures and staff integrity issues.) I'm still not even a real sailor; I have yet to lay eyes on an actual steaming ship, much less be allowed inside one. But it's necessary for us. My rate (or job, for you civilian types) is a nuclear-qualified mechanic. I, along with two other rates, maintain, work on, troubleshoot, operate, and fix nuclear propulsion plants, which are installed on every one of our submarines and aircraft carriers. Nuclear propulsion is basically a keystone to our fleet strength; without it, our carriers can't travel around the world without needing to be so-close to a friendly port for refueling, and our ballistic/guided missile and fast-attack submarines wouldn't be able to stay underwater for extended periods of time without running out of food or killing their crews by diesel/gas fumes. But nuclear power is also a touchy subject to the general public. We can't afford to have nuclear disasters. Otherwise we'd lose access to basically all our allied ports (and what few neutral ones allow us in), and our strongest vessels would remain tied to port on one of our coastlines. So they train us for a minimum of a year and three months, although I'll hit my two-year mark in the Navy in just over two more months. I mean, think about it. If I were to come to San Diego and say, "Hey, I want to build a nuclear power plant to power your city, but I want to put it right about the middle, right where all the people live," I'd get shot down immediately. If I said, "Also, yeah, I wanna put wheels on it and drive it around the city," I'd be laughed out of the state. But at any given point in the year right now, there could be over half a dozen (maybe over a dozen) of those exact platforms sitting right there. And the city lets us. Heck, we even have a nuclear carrier parked in Japan's backyard. Think about that. Think about the history of that country and this country and that word. So they train the ever-loving crap out of us so when we go and operate a no-shit live plant for realsies, we don't botch it. But I'm almost done. And I just got orders this week, so provided everything goes well, I'll be moving to Seattle in October. In the meantime (with, like, the two free hours a day we're given while in this pipeline), I still read and write sometimes, goof around on game systems, have been going to the gym much more often, and have recently gotten really into Airsoft and snowboarding. I hope all the rest of you are well.

Ew.

[size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Finally got around to seeing TDKR. Overall, I found it to be pretty mediocre. My thoughts below are kind of jumbled, and some parts aren't written very well, so bear with me.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][b]Miranda Tate[/b]. The Talia bit is only formally revealed in the last 10 minutes of the movie. And the entire characterization is crap, basically. There's nothing of the off-on strained romance that Bruce and Talia share in pretty much the entire LoS continuity. Nothing. At all.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]As "Miranda," she gets close to Bruce, gains his trust, etc, which fits pretty well as Talia, but a huge part of the Bruce/Talia relationship entirely exists BECAUSE Bruce knows she's Ra's' daughter, and BECAUSE Talia knows about Bruce's history with the LoS.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By saving the Talia reveal for the end, it removes a lot of that character depth, and at that point, all it does is little more than turn Talia into a completely normal comic book villain who wants to destroy Gotham out of revenge.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And Talia dies like a completely normal comic book villain. And has a mini-speech like a completely normal comic book villain as she dies.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I've always trusted Nolan's instincts, but here they completely missed the target. Talia [i]isn't[/i] a normal comic book villain, and she never was. In a lot of ways, she was actually one of Bruce/Bats' strongest allies, even though she was technically also one of his strongest enemies.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][b]Bane[/b]. The whole thing reminds me of Darth Vader BEFORE James Earl Jones or ED-209. Where David Prowse's sing-songy Irish accent or whatever always sounded completely off, even if his body language was perfect.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But Vader worked, because Prowse nailed the feel of Vader's movement, and JEJ had the growl to match it. Prowse's movement and JEJ's growl synced up perfectly, and even though Vader's face was covered...you just knew he was pissed.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bane's mask looks like ED-209 but there's no ED-209 growl. There's no real visual cue to know when Bane's actually talking. I was able to understand him 95% of the time, but there never was a clear sync like there was with Darth.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]They should have gone post-production and mechanized parts of Bane's voice.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Hell, the mask should have been more than just a painkiller agent. It should have also helped him speak. His throat/mouth/vocal cords should have been so damaged by whatever it was that happened (seriously, it's NEVER even explained sufficiently, and that pissed me off), that mask should have been his voicebox, basically. And it desperately, desperately needed some sort of light--something, anything--to indicate when Bane was talking.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I mean, [i]****[/i]; if a cheapo '80s TV show like Knight Rider could have a couple of crappy lightbulbs to signify when KITT was talking...why couldn't Bane's mask?[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And that's me being superficial and nitpicky, because Bane's goals throughout the film...are BACKWARDS. Seriously. He and Talia needed to swap objectives, basically. Or at least split them out better.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bane should have completely focused on just two things:[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1) Breaking Batman[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]2) Breaking Gotham[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]That's it. Talia's goals should have been:[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1) Breaking Bruce emotionally[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]2) Breaking Bruce financially[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Instead, Bane leads a ridiculous assault on a trading floor, takes the city hostage, all so Talia can detonate a nuclear bomb in the city cause she wants revenge for the death of a man she never forgave...UNTIL BATMAN KILLED HIM ZOMG. I can kind of find logic in Bane leading the financial assault a bit since it ties into what Talia was doing, but it was so awkwardly handled that I just...no. Plus, if there's a war declared on a trading floor, they should have immediately locked down the trades and prevented any trades from going through at all. It shouldn't have mattered whether Bruce's prints were verified.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]On top of that, Bane's voice suffers from the same problem Bats' voice did in TDK: during shorter dialogue, it's fine. For speeches longer than a paragraph, it sounds silly. And most of Bane's longer speeches came from the financial assault sub-plot, or football field speech. Basically, whenever he's talking into a microphone, to a crowd, it gets real stupid, real fast. When he's one-on-one with Batman, or Talia, or random execs, it's PERFECT, because the situation allows him to be short and sweet.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And ditch the nuke completely. Just...ditch it completely.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I mean, don't get me wrong. There's definitely a lot to like in TDKR. There's a lot of really solid dialogue, some decent back-and-forth between Fox and Bruce, and the first fight between Bats and Bane (the backbreak) is absolutely stunning. JGL was fantastic, and Anne Hathaway was inspired as Selina.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Though I'm kinda salty that Selina and Bruce end up together at some random cafe or something. Their relationship always seemed pretty similar to Bruce/Talia...and a lot like pretty much all of Bruce's relationships: very off-on again, very strained. Catwoman never struck me as the kind of woman willing to settle down at all. She was always pretty fiercely independent. Hathaway definitely hit a lot of those independent notes, and I think it's why I enjoyed Pfeiffer's Catwoman so much (minus the crazy and leather, obviously)...both of their portrayals really hit at a core of the character.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And I think where TDKR missed it is where Batman Returns actually got it right: Bruce and Selina wouldn't wind up together.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I guess it's like...if Bruce is damaged goods as much as he is--and really, you'd have to be severely damaged to dress up like a bat and cruise the city at night, beating criminals to a pulp with your bare hands...getting some trim is not going to fix your deep-seated emotional issues.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][u]I'd even argue it a step further, and say that the focus on Rachel in BB/TDK was always misplaced, as well: Bruce doesn't need to find acceptance/peace in other people...he needs to find it within himself. That's the irony in this trilogy. Bruce won't find meaning for his life in other people, yet he's continually chasing just that. Rachel, Harvey, Talia, Selina...he's constantly trying to find an [b]external[/b] validation of [i]internal[/i] torment and anguish.[/u][/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Can Bruce find peace? Yes. By himself. By retiring as Batman.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The rest of the movie is so uneven that it's difficult to really embrace it. Particularly with regards to superhero philosophy in the Nolan trilogy.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The way I see it, out of all of Bats' Rogues Gallery, there are maybe six characters, total, that [b]directly[/b] relate to the very core of Nolan's exploration of Batman:[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1) Ra's al Ghul[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]2) Joker[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]3) Riddler[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]4) Bane[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]5) Scarecrow[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]6) Talia al Ghul[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And really, I'd venture that those characters are the only six that directly relate to Batman's core character in the comics/graphic novels, too. The rest of the Rogues Gallery is basically C-listers that get called up into the majors so the A-listers can take a break.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But yeah.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In BB, it was all about Fear. All about Bruce overcoming his, using it against his enemies--one of my favorite exchanges in all of cinema is:[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Alfred: "But why bats, sir?"[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bruce: "Bats frighten me, Alfred...it's about time my enemies shared my dread."[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]It's [i]perfect[/i].[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In BB, Bruce created a persona, created a symbol, and ruled Fear. He took bits from both Ra's and Scarecrow and dominated. Hell, when Crane gets gassed with his fear toxin and sees Batman as some oily Middle Ages bat-demon? PERFECT. And when Batman's flying overhead, after the Narrows get gassed, people look up at him and just see a large black monster with burning red eyes? BRILLIANT. Fear, man. BB nailed it.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In TDK, it was all about Batman's limits. What he would and wouldn't do. How far he could and couldn't go. Both emotionally and physically. Well, mostly morally, at least. Joker kept trying to get him to break his One Rule. But even when Bats was being pushed to his limits, we still saw the physical toll. Bruises, scars, brutal injuries...and when Alfred mentioned them, what'd Bruce say?[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"Batman has no limits."[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"But you do, sir."[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Batman may have been emotionally broken in TDK, but he wasn't broken, physically.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bane does break him physically in TDKR, but that whole story arc--Knightfall, I mean--where Bane focuses on Batman for the challenge...took a complete backseat to the whole financial/football field/No Man's Land plot mess. What was arguably Bane's biggest, most important philosophical hook...ended up playing second-fiddle to generic comic book movie fodder.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And you know, the more I think about it, the stronger the film would have been--and the far more relevant it would have been--if Bane had REALLY focused on breaking Batman/Gotham, and Talia had REALLY focused on breaking Bruce emotionally/financially. Remove the entire nuke plot and make the entire conflict [i]intensely[/i] personal.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Because through Bane breaking Bats/Gotham, it continues the relationship between Batman's health and Gotham's. With Batman, Gotham is a better place. Without him, it's either a cracking mask like the 8-year peace in TDKR, OR it's a wretched hive of scum and villainy like we saw in BB/TDK.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bane focusing on Bats/Gotham emphasizes something very important:[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]There's gotta be a Batman.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And if Talia focused on breaking Bruce, it ties into the relationship between Batman and Wayne, in that Batman lives on even after Bruce. That you can do anything to Wayne. You can ruin him emotionally. You can stab him in the back. You can destroy his finances. But you cannot destroy the one thing you cannot touch: The Batman.[/font][/size] [indent=1][i]Bruce Wayne: You're vigilantes. [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Henri Ducard: No, no, no. A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bruce Wayne: Which is?[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Henri Ducard: A legend, Mr. Wayne.[/font][/size][/i][/indent] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Talia focusing on Bruce Wayne emphasizes something very important:[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]There's gotta be a Batman.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And Blake assuming the Bat-Mantle at the end...[i]would prove that Bane and Talia LOST[/i]. Blake assuming the Bat-Mantle proves that Joker LOST. That Scarecrow LOST. That Ra's...well that's the poetry of that, isn't it? Ra's LOST because his philosophy and advice WON.[/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But sadly, instead of really developing and exploring that, they decided to just blow up the city. :-/[/font][/size]

[quote name='Silver Mech'] [quote name='chibi-master']Macadamia nuts are really good! They have an odd texture, but the flavor is really light. They're good alone, but are best in cookies because they get even softer when cooked that way.[/quote] I should look for ome on [u][b]Amazon[/b][/u], then.[/quote] [quote name='Silver Mech'][size=5]I should look for ome on [u][b]Amazon[/b][/u], then.[/size][/quote] [quote name='Silver Mech'] [size=6][u][b]Amazon[/b][/u][/size] [/quote] [center][img]http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z158/Allamorph/Misc/lolz/reactionz/1336812246294.jpg[/img][/center]

For Boo - I hope you read this! Here is your pony..hehehe! c: [img]http://i50.tinypic.com/20fdb4j.jpg[/img]

[size=2][color=#b22222]My name is Victor Ross and the year is 2138 and everything has different. Supernatural creatures that we would dress up as for Halloween are real and here. First came the vampires trying to enslave the human race. It was hell and they were unstoppable until the wolves offered an alliance. After twenty hard years of fighting the vampires were driven from the North American continent and back to Europe and Asia, which they now control all of I have no idea what has happened to Africa or Australia. Both the werewolves and we humans suffered so much death and loss and many cities are still in ruins.[/color][/size] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]An uneasy truce was made between the wolves and us. They stayed up north having Canada all the way to the Dakotas while we went about fixing what was left of our country. The wolves helped surprisingly and some of the clans became more modernized.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Next came the Zombie outbreak in 2171 four days after my 48[sup]th[/sup] birthday in South America and a wall that was thirty feet high and went twenty feet that was twelve feet thick into the ground was built where Central America and South America meet to keep them at bay. It was hell getting it built as the werewolves formed a line stretching from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic and held them off for three years until the wall was done. They would fight for days until they could barely stand then switch out. Only a few of them fell but the zombie virus somehow took away their immortality. Instead of living forever they only live to be about five hundred years old. Granted that is still a long time but in truth I think it scares them to know that old age can now take them again. Luckily the way their biology is keeps them from reanimating too.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Lots of the older generation of wolves died because they were just too old and it has but the clans under a lot of stress as new leaders have had to be chosen. That and the constant fighting between the clans due to their inability to agree with what is best for their species. Once the wall was built we were safe once again and South America is now just a dead place with the bodies of the undead just shuffling around.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Year 2176 trouble broke out between the werewolves and us as some started feasting on humans. The taste of our blood was too much and they eventually turned from hunting animals to hunting humans. The leaders of the five oldest clans gave the order to but down any feral wolf. It must have been hard for the parents to have to put down their offspring.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Year 2185. My grandson came over today and told me that they are no teaching about werewolves in schools. They are teaching about how there are three different types of werewolves that are separated into castes in each clan. First are the Omegas, they look just like regular wolves but have the greatest speed out of the three types though they lack in power but are the third caste. The second caste is the Deltas. They are the biggest of the werewolves; they are strong powerful but slow. They walk around almost like apes because of their size and can be as tall as eight feet almost. The top of the castes is the Alphas; they were brought around after thousands of years of interbreeding between Omegas and Deltas. They stand around six feet and are more shaped like us. They are fast and powerful though their speed does not match and Omega and they are not as strong as a Delta but they outclass the other two because they have the best of both. There is another caste below the Omegas that is called half-breeds. Apparently half-breeds are any werewolves who were not born as one but were changed. It doesnâ??t matter if they take more after an Alpha, Delta, or Omega. From what my grandson said they are weaker then their pureblood counterparts.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Also it seems that the leaders of the top five clans also set in place a set of rules to keep order within. First is that no werewolf is allowed to hunt a human. Second is mating outside of your caste is forbidden. Third is you are only allowed one offspring every hundred years. Fourth, unless you are a half-breed you are not allowed to turn a human unless it has been sanctioned by one of the top five clan leaders.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Year 2190. Trade has been establiashed bewteen the wolves and us. Roadways have been cleared and our country has been turning around. Apparently a military school is about to be opened up in Montana that will have both werewolves and humans. Not only will it educate its students but also teach them how to kill vampires in case they ever come back over. Hopefully all goes well and this dark paradise doesn't get any darker.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]As you can already tell what this rp is going to be about i don't really need to go into all that much detail. any question you may have will be answered in the backstage thread i will be putting up shortly after this.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]You can play as an Alpha, Omega, Delta, Halfbreed, or Human i am not putting a cap on any but someone who chooses a different race will be chosen over others.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][color=#b22222][u][size=2]Human Signup[/size][/u][/color][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Name:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Age: Between 18 to 25[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Gender: [/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Appearance:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Personality:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Thoughts: I want this to be about if your for the human werewolf military or not or just neutral[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][color=#b22222][u][size=2]Werewolf Signup[/size][/u][/color][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Name:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Age: Between 18 to 25 as well[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Gender:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Clan: I will be putting the five oldest clans and their leaders in the backstage but feel free to create a lesser known clan though members of five older ones will be stronger.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Crest Symbol: This is only if you create your own clan.[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Race: Alpha, Delta, Omega, Halfbreed. More information will be located in the Backstage thread[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Appearance: Please also put where you clan crest is located as all werewolves have their crest burned into them at birth[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Wolf Appearance:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Personality:[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]Thoughts: I want this to be about if your for the human werewolf military or not or just neutral[/color][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=2][color=#b22222]I have purposely made it to where reading the backstage thread is almost required that away most questions might not need to be asked. I also would extremely prefer if you messaged me about creating some sort of back story between mine or another character as i do love hidden plot developments.[/color][/size][/color]

[color=#b22222][size=2][b]Name:[/b] Thane Marshell[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Age:[/b] 25[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Gender:[/b] Male[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Clan: [/b]The Obsidian Clan[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Race:[/b] Alpha[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Appearance:[/b][/size][/color] [size=2][url="http://api.ning.com/files/zFi50UIz0FlKhWOAd-dQ8A6bg2q30n7b216ViRVHWop*cAFnEze6ht5p6L*pOpwTDAkXZx7MkpZ6hFU35fE9NB93gWIFFrhv/AnimeGuy.jpg"][color=#b22222]http://api.ning.com/files/zFi50UIz0FlKhWOAd-dQ8A6bg2q30n7b216ViRVHWop*cAFnEze6ht5p6L*pOpwTDAkXZx7MkpZ6hFU35fE9NB93gWIFFrhv/AnimeGuy.jpg[/color][/url][/size] [color=#b22222][size=2]Wears a blue t-shirt and has his clans symbol burned onto the center of his back.[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Wolf Appearance:[/b][/size][/color] [size=2][url="http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/078/a/e/Werewolf_2_by_el_grimlock.jpg"][color=#b22222]http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/078/a/e/Werewolf_2_by_el_grimlock.jpg[/color][/url][/size] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Personality:[/b] Wary of others and extremely hesitant towards humans. Due to his past he hasn't had much dealing with other werewolves either. Stands his ground and is always observing trying to find out more.[/size][/color] [color=#b22222][size=2][b]Thoughts:[/b] Due to an event years ago he holds a lot of distrust towards the human race.[/size][/color]

[b]Zelda[/b] taught me never, [i]ever[/i] to mess with chickens.

[quote name='The Professor' timestamp='1332413959' post='710852'] [font=comic sans ms,cursive]12345? Really? Good thing you weren't trying to get into my luggage.[/font] [/quote] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900ff]*jots this down for future reference*[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]As an aside, apparently we can Like posts now. This shall be handy.[/color][/font]

[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900ff]Okay so I had made a post in here about the game when I was close to finishing it, and then literally a day later the site went BEWM and ate my post, so I'm going to make another one now that I've actually beaten it.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]This game. I wanted to love this game to pieces. I really, really did. It's chronologically the first game in the series, you can fly around, the game looked downright beautiful -- and I'm someone who barely ever puts stock into graphics -- and I just wanted to eat it all up. The entire internet seemed enamored with it, and I wanted to be one of those people.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]I, unfortunately, am not one of those people. I mean, don't get me wrong -- it's still a good game. Great, even, when it really hits its stride. It starts off with a ton of energy and makes you so excited to jump right into the story.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]And then, for me, around Lanayru, it just slowly started to fall flat. The desert was a pain to navigate, and I was not fond of the mining facility at all. And then things after that just...got really shaky.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]I can sum up my main two problems as thus:[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF][b]One:[/b] The sheer lack of places to go. I get that they were trying to cram everything onto a single-layer disc, but even then I don't really like that excuse. You're sent to the same three places each time you go down, and while they do do things to shake it up, it just gets really frustrating. I wanted to be able to explore interesting new locations, and it just kinda failed. The sky REALLY dropped the ball in this regard -- it's so limited and cramped. It didn't feel like the vast sky at all. I was hoping the thunderhead would explore more of that, but it didn't have a whole lot, either.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]That said, the third visit to each area I actually really liked...except for Faron [which I'll touch on later]. The stealth mission in Eldin was shockingly fun, and Lanayru was not that bad, probably because it was mercifully short. And I loved Skyloft itself -- it's probably my favorite hometown in any of the games.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF][b]Two: [/b]FETCH. QUESTS. I don't mind them in small doses, doubly so if they're just sidequests, but the middle of the game just POUNDS you with so many of these stupid things that the game became more of a chore than anything else. I wanted story and exploration, not pointless padding in the form of "HEY GET ME THIS THING AND I'LL TELL YOU WHERE TO GO...JUST SO YOU CAN GET MORE THINGS FOR PEOPLE LOL!!!!1!111111!!!11!!1". The third and final visit to Faron with the Tadtones was the worst, which sucks because I probably actually would have liked it if there hadn't already been so freaking many beforehand. [Although the rage was doubly compounded by Fi tossing the dowsing at me when I was already 75% done, and then you can't even use the dowsing when you swim anyway, so what's the point?! GAH!][/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]NOW. With that all said, there were still good things to make it worthwhile.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF][b]The story: [/b]The story managed to keep me interested all throughout, and was my main motivator throughout the whole ordeal. Catching on to all of the mythology gags was fun, too [even if I had to look a lot of them up later because I'm that dense >_>;].[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF][b]The characters: [/b]This is my main selling point right here. I love, love, [i]love[/i] the cast in this game. They rank up there with Majora's Mask and Wind Waker's cast for me. The denizens of Skyloft are all unique and likeable [generally, anyway; I kind of wanted to pour more dust on Pipit's mom after her little side story when you get her gratitude crystals], the races on the surface are all interesting and fun, and then Link and Zelda themselves are probably my favorite to date. Ghirahim is a delightfully disturbing villain and a fresh change from the "GRR I'M GANON AND I'M ANGRY >:C" that we're usually used to. [spoiler]Demise is a surprisingly affably evil guy, even when you kick his face in. He's a better sport than his sword[/color][/font][font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF] at any rate.[/color][/font][font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF][/spoiler] And then there's Groose, who is basically Mido if he had better writing/character development and played an active role in the story. His development pleasantly surprised me, and he ended up being my favorite character out of the whole thing.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]But yeah, great ragtag bunch of misfits. I really hope to see their ancestors in future games. [Especially Groose. I refuse to believe his physical similarities to the Gerudo is just a happy coincidence.][/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF][b]Gameplay: [/b]I'm...actually kind of torn on the motion controls. Generally, they work pretty good. But there's just some times when it feels tacked on -- the key things to the boss doors are a prime offender. Whoever thought that'd be a good idea needs to be slapped with a lobster.[/color][/font][font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF] But I'm kind of miffed because Nintendo themselves admitted that the long development time is because of the fine-tuning of the motion controls, which means everything else just kinda took a backseat, and it shows. I actually had a similar complaint towards Pokemon Black and White, but it had the inverse problem of the story, while good for a Pokemon game, took up nearly everything, while all the other stuff got pushed off to the side, especially in the postgame.[/color][/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900FF]I digress, though. I've rambled long enough. It's a good game. It's just deeply, deeply flawed. I'd recommend it to fellow Zelda vets, but I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to someone as their first Zelda game.[/color][/font]

[color=deeppink]So are we taking bets on when the stalking starts? I'm betting middle of page 5, and closed by page 8 out of moderator annoyance. [center][IMG]http://media.lawrence.com/img/photos/2005/04/07/inigomontoya.jpg [/IMG] [/center] That's totally me. True story. [spoiler]Actually, [URL=http://nottofifty.vox.com/library/photo/6a00c22523d659604a00c2252a3ce98fdb.html]this[/URL] is me.[/spoiler][/color]

[COLOR="Navy"]I normally just watch what I've recorded which is mainly the shows from Cartoon Network. [b]Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, Trinity Blood, IGPX, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Yu Yu Hakusho[/b]. And then there's on demand. I've managed to catch the 1st episode of [b]Jubei-Chan[/b]. Well, take that back. I haven't seen it, I was more like fast forwarding to fights just to see how the fights look. I did like what I saw, but what has me worried are the so called "fun" parts to it. But seeing how it's only the 1st episode, and that I was fast forwarding, I won't place judgment yet. Also, [b]Eureka 7[/b] is on demand so I've been watching that since I've missed majority of the episodes while it was on adult swim. I wish they would start with episode 1 of Big O and put Trigun (my tape is messed up.) on demand. As far as reading goes... It's basically your top mangas you hear about everyday. [b]Bleach and Naruto[/b]. I have a folder for [b]Yu Yu Hakusho[/b] as well, but I haven't started to read it. [b]Tenjou Tenge[/b] is another one I read every once in a while.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS][QUOTE=r2vq]Actually, Uchiha Sasuke is a type AB. [SIZE=1]Kakashi and Sakura are type O. [SIZE=1]Ambitious, athletic, robust and self-confident. Natural leaders Arrogant, vain and insensitive. Ruthless [/SIZE] ([i]doesn't sound like her though[/i])[/QUOTE] She used to be uber insensitive to Naruto, and totally ruthless to his face...right? :animeswea [quote name='itachionikage']hi guys am new here.Do you guys like akatsuki???[/quote] [I][B]DEIDARA!!![/B][/I] :D I'm sorry but when he was attacking Suna, the line he said, "Art is a [I][B]BANG!!![/B][/I]" is one of my absolute favorite panel in the entire manga!!! I was devastated when he was going to[spoiler]explode, but was totally relieved once he revealed it was only a Bunshin.[/spoiler] And also, how he says "...yeah." after every phase. I think he's my favorite Naruto Bad Guy like Rock is my favorite Good Guy... Thanks for asking. :p [/FONT][/COLOR]