terra

Trystae reached the top of the hill and a tired smile came to rest upon her face. She was exhausted from traveling on foot for three days, and the homey town in front of her held the cure for that. She was welcomed within its gates, and Trystae looked around at Milsgarth, the elven village she'd visited a few times in her life. It was so similar to her hometown that she felt a pang of homesickness for a moment; she could almost imagine her mother and father standing right there in front of her, urging her not to go as they'd done three days ago, as they'd done with Vinthus two years past. She shook off the memories and strode forward towards the stables. "I hear the horses of Milsgarth are wondrously fast and virtuous," she called out to the silhouette of an elf in the stables. The figure turned and walked towards her, and as she stepped into the light, Trystae saw with a start that it was a very beautiful young female elf, not who she'd expected to be managing a stables at all. "Not only that, they're friendly, and loyal too," the other elf said, beckoning her forward. "Are you interested?" "Very much," Trystae responded. "Might I see who you have in here?" The proprieter smiled at Trystae's correct use of "who" instead of "what"; it showed that she considered the horses to be citizens, worthy of respect. "Yes, you may," the other elf said, leading her to the stalls. Trystae paused in front of each horse, rubbing its nose affectionately and whispering a few words to it. One of the horses, a beautiful gray with white patterns on its forehead, whinnied gently at her words and nuzzled her hand. "I'll take this one, please," Trystae said, turning back to the owner. "A fine choice," the other elf said, opening the stall door and leading out the horse. "His name is Namaarie, and he will bear you wherever you need to go, for he is our most courageous horse." As the monetary transaction was occurring, Trystae thought to ask about the object of her search. "Have you by any chance heard of an elf called Vinthus Valencia?" she said, counting out her money. "He may have passed by here, as long ago as two years." The other elf had started oddly at the name, and now she sighed. "Vinthus?" she said, a longing look falling over her features. "Why do you ask?" Trystae narrowed her eyes. "I'm searching for him," she answered. "He's?he's my brother." Technically true, though she left out the fact that she was firstly, adopted, and secondly, betrothed to him. "I remember him clearly," the elf said, twirling a piece of golden hair between her fingers in an instantly coquettish manner. "He came here asking for a horse and chose one in just the way that you did. He's rather handsome, if you don't mind my saying so." "Oh?" Trystae said, making a strong effort to hide her emotions. "Did he ... have affections for you, then?" "Oh, no," the other elf laughed, breaking out of her reverie. "I rather had a crush on him, but he was nothing but a gentleman, unfortunately! He left as soon as he purchased his horse, one of our finest roans." Trystae let out a tiny sigh of relief. "Have you any idea where he was going?" "He was headed west, on an errand for the most beautiful elf in the world, he told me," the elf answered, sighing as well. Trystae felt her cheeks turn slightly red, but ignored it. "And that is all I know." Trystae smiled and handed the girl a few extra coins. "Thank you very much," she said, and exited Milsgarth with her new friend. At the edge of the village, she mounted Namaarie and began riding west.

Heh, once my roommate and I tried to come up with a playlist of songs to play during [strike]sex[/strike] the deed. We didn't come up with much. Indeed, I don't think we came up with anything worth writing down. Only rather trite things like "Your Body Is a Wonderland" by John Mayer, and "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye. Oh, and "You Can't Hide Beautiful" by Aaron Lines, a pretty sweet country song (my roommate just came in and I asked her). Nothing that I'd seriously want to do it to. I know that for me, sexual experiences vary so much in ... let's say "style" and "mood," that usually no set kind of songs would work all the time, or even for all of one, er, session. Though I will be sure and try to listen to all of your guys' suggestions, maybe one of you have found something perfect, :D. Here's hoping *crosses fingers* Though I have heard "You Spin Me Right Round" and don't understand how you could be inspired by that at all ... Well, to each his own :).

I've thought about what life would be like were I a guy. This probably stemmed from the fact that the majority of my friends in high school were guys, and the closest ones gave me the nickname "semi-girl" ... Mostly due to the fact that I can beat them at some video games and that I had a really sarcastic sense of humor. (Now that I'm in college, my two best friends are girls, and I've lost the title of "semi" with even my high school friends, if you were curious. Though I don't know why, since I'm still just as interested in video games and sarcasm.) Anyway, I've never thought about being a guy for very long, because like Queen Asuka, I really love being a girl :D. I think for me, the weirdest thing about being a guy would be the different way of communication. My best friends and I can spend hours talking about nothing in particular, and have a really great time. My close guy friends and I can do the same. But as far as I know, a pair of guys will seldom just sit around, chatting about nothing in the same way. I could be very wrong about this, but I feel like being a girl gives me that venue of communication that I'd miss a lot if I were a guy. [quote] even though your friends are different, if you have more or less the same presonality you're likely to hang around with the same sort of people, so you might get into that stuff anyway...[/quote] The way you choose your friends and how much they influence you is always an interesting point to me ... My two best friends and I lived really near to each other freshman year, and we've been living together since. I wonder if we would've been friends if we hadn't just been living in such close proximity. And if I weren't friends with them, I might be quite a different person today, since I spend a ton of time with them and they really shape my personality. Or, would I have found friends similar to them, and still evolved in the same way? ...

[b]Name:[/b] Trystae (tris-tai) Valencia [b]Age:[/b] 176 [b]Race:[/b] Elf [b]Weapons:[/b] A bow and arrow of her own creation. A long, light sword, the word [i]Sorraia[/i] inscribed on its blade, a gift made for her by Vinthus (discussed in her history). The sword has a small hole at the base of the blade, made to fit a gem; for now, it remains empty. [b]Outfit:[/b] Trystae never sacrifices practicality for fashion ... or vice versa. She usually wears light and airy gossamer clothing in shades of green or blue. She wears those kind of pants that are so wide they look like a skirt ... only in Ruingarth, they actually look like a skirt :); this is to allow her full mobility. She completes the outfit with a long-sleeved shirt with slits down the sleeves. [b]Magic:[/b] [i]Anodyne[/i] -- a simple spell that rests and comforts the recipient. It may also have light healing powers, increase accuracy, heighten concentration, or any combination of those effects. [b]Appearance:[/b] Trystae has extremely good posture and walks with a delicate grace, giving her an instant air of subtle nobility (though she isn't). Her legs and arms are thin, but conceal toned muscles. She has medium-length brown hair, and hairstyles that change nearly every day; her eyes are a fine blue, one of the few things she got from her parents. [b]Occupation:[/b] Trystae discovered a talent for creating bows and arrows at a young age, and she has been an apprentice at the weapons shop in her elven village for quite a long time. Though she is still only an apprentice, the weapons master generally turns to her for bows and arrows, and she is expected to succeed him eventually. (Vinthus is a skilled forger of elven blades, and was also an apprentice at the weapons shop until he left.) [b]Description:[/b] Trystae smiles often, and lives a simple life, not really wishing for much more than the love of her foster parents and Vinthus. She prefers not to think too much into life and philosophy, and would keep the atmosphere around her as light as possible. She is not afraid of danger or darkness, though, and will not turn away from her responsibilities or those she loves. [b]History:[/b] Trystae was born to an elven family famous for producing a long line of powerful mages. Her parents, therefore, were somewhat ashamed when it was discovered that Trystae did not have much skill with the magical arts. In fact, they hardly knew what to do with her, as their entire village consisted of mages, and were rather unprepared at the prospect of training a child in anything but magic. After much discussion, Trystae was sent to live with some very distant relatives, who lived in an elven village more accustomed to her kinds of gifts. They took her in as their own daughter and raised her with their son, Vinthus, extensively training both in elven combat. Trystae mostly fell out of contact from her actual family, though they usually remembered to send her token gifts for birthdays and holidays. (She is not particularly upset about the lack of contact between her and her birth parents, as Vinthus's parents were extremely kind, but it still remains in the back of her mind.) Trystae and Vinthus soon fell in love (yes, they were distant enough cousins), and Vinthus's parents were overjoyed. Before proposing marriage, though, Vinthus felt he needed to offer Trystae something of utmost value to show his dedication to her. Against her heartfelt protests and their parents' assurances that this was unnecessary, Vinthus set off on a quest to find the Maerin, an elven gem said to appear to lovers whose hearts were pure. It has been two years since, and Trystae has no doubt of the purity of Vinthus's heart, nor in his weaponry skills. Regardless, she has resolved to set out in search of him. [b]Likes:[/b] Water, archery, pretty clothing [b]Dislikes:[/b] Cruelty, cold weather [b]Style:[/b] Nothing that sticks out in voice, but Trystae is a little bit vain, and takes care in how she looks and dresses (not much like her creator ...).

Hm, this might be a little too complicated coding-wise. But do you think there might be a way to incorporate an option where we could get notified when certain people update their myOtaku's? Perhaps we could get an e-mail when the people on our Friends lists posted an update, or a little notification on our myOtaku homepage. Just an idea ... it'd be handy :).

May scowled as she stepped out into the street, [i]Yushi no Yami[/i]'s sign buzzing dully behind her. Sometimes -- often -- Tao's attitude just got on her nerves. She wondered for a moment why she had even agreed to work with him before remembering. They shared a common bond that neither of them ever commented on, but always felt as an underlying common thread: they had both been betrayed by family. The storm had subsided to a steady drizzle, but May didn't bother with an umbrella as she strode towards her house. She narrowed her eyes as she heard something, or someone rather, unmistakably to her left and behind her, following her. The creature lunged and she turned, stepping neatly to the side and forcing the attacker to stumble forward, propelled by momentum. It turned to face her and from the dim street lamp, she saw ... a human. She sensed no darkness, just an ordinary human attacker, hoping for a few easy dollars, or maybe more, on the way home. "Give me the purse and I won't hurt you," the man said, his voice raspy. May rolled her eyes. "You must be kidding me," she said to no one in particular, as the man leered, revealing yellowed teeth, and jumped towards her again. This time May didn't bother stepping to the side, merely punched a fist upward into the man's gut, connecting hard and hearing him grunt in response. She kicked up with a leg, her boot meeting the side of his head and knocking him to her left, then jumped and whirled around to kick him in the chest with both feet. He fell to the ground, the wind thoroughly knocked out of him. May landed neatly in front of him and sighed, rethinking her desire to protect humans from demons for a moment. They weren't all like him, she reminded herself, and continued walking.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by James [/i] [B][size=1][color=#707875]My accent is more of a "city" accent, as opposed to a "country" accent. I think someone like Steve Irwin has more of a country/outback accent, while someone like Nicole Kidman has more of a city accent.[/color] [/B][/size][/QUOTE] [tries to picture Nicole Kidman's voice coming from James's avatar :D] Anyway, I don't really have an accent (pretty much ... well just a plain American one. I mean, really everybody has an accent, what is a "normal, non-accented" voice anyway? You could probably categorize my accent as New Jersey if you really wished ... too long of a parentheses?), but my dad has a very interesting one. It's sort of Chinese (we're Chinese), but also sort of British, and it only shows up if he's speaking to someone outside of his immediate family. It's just really, really odd. On a random note, "The Nanny" is my (guy) friend's absolute favorite show, and he is forever watching its reruns on [i]Lifetime[/i] ... the television network for women.

Fiona had quickly found her way atop a building, where she could watch a bit of the action hopefully without being spotted by the drones. She'd noticed several smaller Drones had rolled into the testing facility as well, not as intimidating as the first large models who had initially blasted their group and separated them, but surely deadly nonetheless. They were rather smaller than the Reploids themselves, and equipped with a machine gun and a retractable blade. Fiona flattened herself to the roof of the building as one of the large Drones rolled silently into the building she was on top of. Unfortunately, an explosion within the building -- Fiona guessed the Drone had just blasted whoever was inside -- had thrown her off-balance, causing her to roll off the roof, catching onto it with one hand at the last moment. She knew she was an open target for two nearby smaller Drones, so dropped the rest of the way to land surefootedly on the ground and dash into a nearby alleyway for cover. The two Drones appeared to have been distracted by someone else, and Fiona momentarily considered jumping out to save whoever that Reploid might be. Before she had the chance, she heard another explosion, followed by ridiculous whoops and screams of what sounded like triumph ... apparently the Reploid had been more successful than she expected. Nonetheless, when he ran into the same alleyway she was hiding in, Fiona pulled him aside harshly, into the small cramped space of a trash dump coming off the alleyway. "You draw too much attention to yourself," she hissed, not adding the rest of her thought: [i]and if you're going to be hiding here with [/i]me[i], you'd better shut up.[/i] Just then, she heard the monotonous rolling sounds that she recognized as the treads of the smaller Drones, definitely heading their way. "You led them here?" Fiona said, voice deadpan. The other Reploid shrank back; Fiona guessed her expression was none too welcoming. "Not on purpose!" he said. Fiona rolled her eyes and pressed her right elbow. Two flaps of skin covering her metallic skeleton opened and her crossbow emerged from her arm, its two halves flicking outward in a fluid mechanical movement. She ignored the widened eyes of the other Reploid and chose a projectile from the inside pocket of her jacket. Poking her head out of their small alcove, she shot her arrow towards the side where she could hear the drones. It hit the side of a building and she pulled back into the alcove. "A hologram," she explained to the other Reploid, loading her crossbow with a different projectile. "A tiny projector is embedded into the end of the crossbow, and it'll project a hologram of me onto the wall of that building. Hopefully they'll attack it; it's just a momentary distraction so we can surprise them. I saw four of the smaller Drones, and I don't think I can handle all of them by myself. Are you going to be of any use?" She finally took the time to scan him: Sariyah. Sariyah smiled and finally pulled out his sword. "Four? I thought there were tons!" he exclaimed. "Four, I'm sure we can handle." "Good," Fiona said, and turned the corner again. Sure enough, the four Drones were clustered around the building ... which had quickly disintegrated into a pile of rubble. The hologram was nothing more than a mere flicker now. She seized their chance and shot her second projectile before they turned around. It landed on the ground among them and exploded upon contact, injuring the two nearest. Fiona activated her beam saber and pulled it out to run towards the small cluster. She reached the leftmost Drone just as they began opening fire, and rolled so that she was using it as a shield from their machine gun shots, while being too low for her "shield" to fire upon her directly. She slashed her beam saber across her shield Drone to finish him off, as Sariyah flew out from the alleyway and wielded his sword (rather skilfully, Fiona noted) to take out one of the rightmost Drones. The two remaining drones had been the ones injured by the blast, and thus were easier to take care of. Fiona sliced off the machine gun of the one nearer to her before leaping atop it to slam her beam saber down into it, disabling it. Sariyah dispatched his Drone with similar attacks. Fiona hopped off as the Drone crumbled to the ground, and glanced around at the four robotic bodies. "Let's try not to let that happen again," she suggested to Sariyah. "Sounds like a plan," he said with a grin.

Yes, I am [i]dying[/i] to see this movie. Actually I considered creating a thread on it as well, but thought I should wait until it actually comes out (September 19!) and I've seen it. Luckily you created it instead :p. Anyway, I too think it looks really cool, and am definitely planning on seeing it the Friday it comes out, or at least by Saturday :). I've watched the trailer several times ([url]http://www.apple.com/trailers[/url] is a great procrastination source).

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Shippo [/i] [size=1][B]Hmm...lesse.... [color=darkblue] [u]Super Smash bros[/u] Just a fun lil game you pop in and enjoy. [/color] [/B][/size][/QUOTE] WOAH, WOAH, WOAH. Hold up there. Smash Brothers is not [i]just[/i] a fun little game. ... Okay, fine it is. Smash Bros. is probably one of my all-time favorite N64 games, though ... because I am so darn good at it. Haha, again exaggerating. Anyway, Smash Bros. would definitely make it onto my list, mainly because of its multiplayer value. It really has little to no appeal as a single-player game, though. Goldeneye would be on my list for the same reason. As would MarioKart, which is probably my all-time favorite. (I didn't find Diddy Kong Racing as good as MarioKart, although the different vehicles you can use are definitely a nice touch. MarioKart just felt more ... controllable.) Um ... do I have any that aren't already mentioned ...? Oh yeah, all the [b]Mario Party[/b] games. Okay, they were actually pretty bad really, but they had some play value if you got three of your friends together and decided to just sit down and play. You'd end up hating all your friends when they stole your stars and coins ... but it was a good waste of time.

I'm a little torn on this topic myself. On one hand, I've always loved musicals and the improbability of characters bursting out into song (and perfectly choreographed dance) at any opportunity ... It's just so darn cute. In my opinion, Disney's most successful musical movie was probably [i]Lion King[/i] ... the songs were really well-integrated, really cute and catchy, and definitely added to the movie overall. And when I first heard that [i]Tarzan[/i] and the like wouldn't have that, I was pretty upset. On the other hand, now I've seen several of the Disney movies without integrated songs, and they're still just as charming and touching as the older musical-type Disney films. I think Disney has accomplished the move really well, and I didn't even miss the songs after [i]Tarzan[/i]. So ... I can't say yes or no to if it's a good thing or not, but I, a die-hard fan of musicals, am all right with the change.

I personally dislike commercials just as much as most of you folks. I disagree with Radaghast, though: radio commercials bother me [i]way[/i] more than TV commercials. If you're going to bore me with details about your product, at least accompany it with a visual :). Of course, I also agree that they're pretty much a necessity. Actually, one of my best friends [i]loves[/i] commercials. She'll sit up and watch the TV more closely during the commercials than the actual TV show. Which I find extremely strange. I saw one commercial the other day (with her, she pointed it out to me actually) that was pretty funny. There's a car accident, and the two guys get out and are like, "I'm so sorry, it was my fault." "No, no, [i]I[/i] was to blame." "... Are you gellin'?" "Yeah, I'm gellin'." ... Yeah, they're for those Dr. Scholl's gel insert things. (I actually have some!) The funny part is when someone stuck in a car behind them yells out, "Move it along!!" And they're like, "He's [i]so[/i] not gellin'."

No, I hadn't seen that commercial, but it sounds cute ... just like everything else about [i]Finding Nemo[/i]. I don't think I will ever grow out of having a complete weakness for cartoons and animation ... Disney films (particularly [i]The Emperor's New Groove[/i]!!) have been my favorites for years, even though I'm now a junior in college :eek: Thus of course I saw [i]Finding Nemo[/i] and loved it. Anyway, my friend and I were actually talking about this movie last night, and apparently there are several Pixar-movie shoutouts (she watched a special on the Disney channel ... I'm not quite [i]that[/i] into it but hey, whatever :)). I think Buzz Lightyear is one of the toys in the waiting room or something. And according to her, the kid from [i]Toy Story[/i] who destroyed all the toys is also in the waiting room, but slightly grown up now, and you can tell it's him because he's still wearing the same shirt (with a skull and crossbones on it). I remember seeing Buzz Lightyear, but not the kid.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Queen Asuka [/i] [B][color=hotpink][size=1]There is a club here at UGA called UGAnime and they get together on Monday night's for three hours in this huge lecture hall and watch anime. I'm thinking about going one night. I don't know...I just don't want to go by myself...[/color][/size] [/B][/QUOTE] Same situation here, well, sort of. There's an anime club at my college, and from their website it looks like they show pretty decent stuff, and stuff I haven't seen. But, I don't want to go by myself :p. What if they're all weird anime freaks??? Oh wait .... I should really just get up my courage and go one time ....... or drag one of my friends along :).

Wow, the picture is so great. I'm not sure what I think about you messing with the ideals I have for these characters ... but it's definitely very creative :p. Drawing-wise, I can't see anything I'd criticize! His crazed expression is ... a little scary really ... but very nicely done. The blue of his eyes seems like a rather unrealistic color (too light? or too bright?), but it sort of adds to the craziness.

Ah, my God. It's funny you just posted this, because I just saw it last week. Anyway. Plotwise, I actually didn't think it was that great. In fact, I fell asleep during a little bit of it ... :p Anyway, I thought it was a very clever idea, the whole taking-away-of-emotion thing, but that it wasn't accomplished as well as it could've been. I can't put my finger on exactly why, I just think everything could've looked cooler. Of course, they probably didn't have much of a budget, but the fact that [i]nobody experienced emotion[/i] just wasn't as creepy as it should've been. I mean ... that's a pretty creepy idea. Also, under the no-emotions rule, I wasn't sure why people got married and had families at all. I suspect it was just for continuation of the race, but that also wasn't as emphasized as I thought it should've been. Seeing a completely loveless marriage would've really spooked me ... Well ... I'm idealistic that way. [spoiler]Also, The big "surprise" in which God (or whatever was the title of the thing John agreed to kill for the rebels) was a fake? That was not a surprise at all.[/spoiler] But, I do think the fight scenes were amazing. I'm not an expert in fight scenes or cinematography though ... flashy and cool things tend to make me go "Wow" ... but I thought it was on par or perhaps beyond the Matrix Reloaded for the fight scenes. (You can't touch the original Matrix ... hehe.) The ideas were quite unique. I especially loved one specific moment [spoiler]in the scene where John was trying to let the dog go free but was caught. There was one thing, where two guys were pointing automatic weapons at him, and he sort of hit the guns with his hands so they were pointing back at the guys, and shot them. :D[/spoiler] However, I think the part where [spoiler]he fights his new partner, the black guy, and his face slides off[/spoiler] was rather unnecessary ... The only part in the film that really made me go "Ewww," though, so not a bad grossness factor overall. So yes. I, too, would recommend renting this, but more for the fight scenes than the plot. EDIT: You spelled Equilibrium wrong in your banner, though not your post :( ... how sad ... other than that it's pretty cool.

[i]Twenty minutes prior[/i] Fiona stood in front of the general's desk as he glanced through her file for the sixth time. "All right, Kahoku," he said at last, looking up from it to meet her gaze, which was straight and unwavering. "The other officials have approved of your application request to Sygnosis X, and so do I." "Thank you, sir," she said, and waited for his dismissal. It was slow in coming. "We'll miss you around here, Kahoku," he said, looking at her harder, as if trying to discern something, some expression or some emotion perhaps, which Fiona doubted he would be able to see in her face. She'd learned that her emotions generally didn't reach her eyes, and it appeared to bother most people, even most Reploids she spoke to. "You've been a good addition to my brigade, and I'm sure you'll be valuable to Sygnosis X, if you get in." "Thank you, sir." "You should always remember the values and experiences that have gotten you this far in the army." Fiona involuntarily flicked back through her memory to just what had gotten her into the army in the first place. [i]A rough hand on her shoulder ... Dirty fingernails pulling at her clothes ... The shocked look on the man's face when she threw him into the brick wall and he finally realized she was not, after all, human ... The dull copper smell of his blood soaking his clothes ...[/i] "Yes, sir," she said. "Well," the general said, standing up and holding out his hand, "I guess you'd better leave, Kahoku. Don't want to be late for your test. Good luck, Archer." [i]"Good luck," Glenn Archer said at her dismissal, but he was shrinking away from her, refusing to meet her eyes, afraid to hold out his hand or even look at her as if she might rise up at that moment and kill him. For the first time since activation, she wished to cry.[/i] "Thank you, sir," Fiona said to the general, shaking his hand. She saluted her goodbye, turned, and exited. She walked purposefully down the hallways, turning efficiently towards her destination. She slipped into the room to hear the Reploid saying, "The rooms behind me contain several challenges. These challenges primarily consist of Drone-based opposition. But even if you succeed with the Drones, you'll come across one final challenge...a group challenge." He invited them to prepare themselves, and Fiona stood motionless among the flashing weapons. Though she looked immobile, she was in fact testing the targeting mechanism in her eyes, focusing it on first one Reploid, then another. She accidentally caught the eye of the Reploid standing in the middle, who appeared to be evaluating her. She took the moment to focus her eyes on his and target him silently, then looked away.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Semjaza Azazel [/i] [B] The only thing I'd do is move the Naru text up several pixels. It's not centered, and it's throwing me off for some reason heh. ... I am curious about the "an ellie design" thing though. What font is "ellie" in? I thought maybe it's your real writing, but I don't know... not many people do that for things. [/B][/QUOTE] Yeah, I considered having the Naru text centered, but I prefer it a little asymmetrical. Just look away and it won't hurt your eyes as much :p. The "Ellie" is in fact my own writing ... I signed my name several times on a piece of paper, and scanned it for one of my wallpapers that's on animewallpapers.com (now defunct, as far as I know ... so sad). Now I can just color overlay it to match any other background, and since I spent all that time doing it, I figure I may as well put it on my other stuff now as well. Thanks for all the really nice comments, by the way, everybody :D So encouraging! (But I'm lazy and classes just started so I have nothing new at the moment ...) Oh, by the way, I use [b]Photoshop 7.0[/b] for everything.

Wow. That must've taken you forever. Anyway, I really liked it. Very cool, and the parts where Yuna's dance moves (I think it was her, at least) were coordinated with the music were awesome. (I've never played FFX ... I didn't know she gets to be a pop star too ......) There was one part I found a little strange. Somewhere in the middle, kind of at 2:30 or so, it seems like the music is sort of at an interlude, but you have battle scenes there. The slightly calmer music didn't seem to fit with the more exciting battles ... that's just me. I also found it a little odd when at 3:00 or so Auron appeared for the first and only time, because he hadn't been in any other parts of the music video. Overall though, really nice job. I don't know the story of FFX really so maybe that's why those little parts didn't make sense :p. And I [i]really[/i] like the ending ... very cool! :D

Heh, of course it's Armored Core ... I think it's a pretty clever tagline, since the AC's name is Whatever. Not everybody might know that, but who cares :). The rain or whatever (

Here's a random fact my female biochemistry teacher bored into our minds. Watson and Crick, the discoverers of the double helix structure of DNA, actually used a great deal of data from a woman named Rosalind Franklin in making their model. Apparently they never acknowledged that they'd used her work either, and some scientists think this was completely immoral of them, and that they shouldn't have won the Nobel Prize after all. Eh, I'm not sure of all the details, but here's a website on it: [url]http://www1.umn.edu/scitech/franklin.htm[/url] . There are also a few books written on the subject.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Zanarkand Abes [/i] [B]It was a lot funnier at the begining and is starting to get stale. [/B][/QUOTE] I agree ... unfortunately. The first several times I saw the site, I thought it was pretty hysterical. But recently I've been finding the updates less and less funny, even though the sbemails have actually gotten longer. Still, considering as many others have said that this is just four people -- I think two brothers and a couple friends -- I still think it's pretty impressive. I'm not sure, but I get the impression that one guy does [i]all[/i] the voices except for Marzipan, who's done by a girl. So that impresses me ... Plus, they seem to have such a following that they're making a living off the merchandise in their store. So yeah, I don't think it's as funny as it used to be, but it must be hard to think of new stuff every week. And it's still pretty funny ... I mean, my boyfriend and I actually speak to each other in hr.com-isms all the time ...

I loved FF3/6 as well, but someone already talked about it :p. Hm ... Recently I started playing Earthbound again, another RPG. It's pretty enjoyable. The good thing about it is that it's not incredibly easy, which is what usually makes RPG's kind of boring for me. Also, the characters' speeches are pretty funny and slightly sarcastic, and the creators sort of poke fun at RPG's. Ness's mother will say things like, "It's not often a mother will let her young son go on an adventure all by himself ... But I'm going to." And characters will be like, "If you get hit, your HP meter ... oops! I mean, your [i]health[/i] will decrease." So yeah, I enjoy Earthbound.

"I'll handle this," Rydia said, just outside the little shop. "I know clothes." Namu shrugged and followed her in, the small bell on the door tingling to let the proprietor know that they'd arrived. He walked forward to meet them, a small bald man with a beaming smile across his face. "Welcome, welcome!" he said genially, ushering them in. "What can I do for you nice folks today?" "Hello, sir," Rydia said, a matching smile perched sunnily on her own face. "We'd like some warm clothes if you have them, and boots -- we're off to visit relatives on the other side of the mountains, so as warm as we can find them!" "Oh, yes, you'll be needing as much warmth as you can get!" the man laughed. "Will these be custom-made?" "Oh no, we're very anxious to see our relatives and would like to leave as soon as possible," Rydia said, ignoring Namu's choke behind her. "Anything you have that fits us will be fine, we're not picky. And it doesn't have to be too fine; they'll have plenty of appropriate clothes for us when we visit, I'm sure." "I'll get you something right away," the man beamed, heading into the back. "You are good at this," Namu admitted gruffly, just before another woman slinked out from behind the counter. She was much less amiable than the man who was already helping them, her eyes slitted as she looked at Rydia suspiciously. "You look familiar, dear," she said, and though the words were friendly, Rydia still shuddered inexplicably. "Are you from around here?" "No, just passing through on the way to visit our relatives," Rydia smiled back, trying to ignore the bad feeling dancing around in her head. "Well, I could swear I've seen you [i]somewhere[/i]," the other woman said suspiciously, but just then the other man came out from the back, cutting off any further discussion. "I found some things I'm sure will fit you!" he said cheerily, handing them to Rydia. She took them, her eyes not leaving the other woman, and pulled out her purse. "You know, I think I'll just take them!" Rydia said, the cheeriness in her voice somewhat faker now. "I've a complete trust in your taste -- no, really, we don't need to try them on -- thank you so much, sir!" And with an exchange of money, Rydia flew out the door, Namu close behind. "Something just didn't feel right," Rydia said, walking away from the store as quickly as possible. "Where would that woman have recogni--" Both stopped short in front of a bulletin board, on which Rydia's image was clearly plastered. "KIDNAPPED," bold letters proclaimed above her. "Hm," Rydia said, somewhat speechless. "Get out of here," Namu said urgently and immediately. "Go back to where we were when we were fighting, I'll steal some food and supplies and find you. You've already been seen, people will be on the watch." "But they'll be looking for [i]you[/i] --" Rydia said fearfully. "You can't leave me again, Namu! Not this time!" Namu put his hands on her shoulders firmly. "[i]I won't[/i]," he said, looking into her eyes. "I won't, I promise. I'll come get you. You need to leave now, though, or our cover will be blown. I'll be fine -- I have a great disguise!" Rydia hesitated only for a moment before nodding. "Remember, you promised," she said, before disappearing towards the exit of the village.

Namu took a deep breath. "Well," he said, starting staunchly towards the mountain range. Rydia grabbed his arm and stopped his progress. "What are you doing, you fool?" she said, though there was no sting in her voice. More like fondness. "Sure, we can make it over, but I for one am in no fit shape to do it right this second. We need to stop, buy supplies, at [i]least[/i] get some better shoes, maybe a jacket if we can." Namu turned back to her, grinning a little foolishly. "Right!" he said, and started staunchly off in the opposite direction of his original paces, towards a nearby village they'd passed. Rydia giggled and walked with him, still teasing him about his willingness to march off into the mountains without a thought in his head. It was that wanderer spirit in him, she knew, but now that [i]she[/i] was around, things were going to get a little more practical for him. She'd take care of him, provide him some common sense ... The thoughts ran idly through the back of Rydia's mind as she joked with Namu, things back to normal, just like old times. They paused outside the village to pour the money out of their pockets. Money was slim, to say the least. "Let's try to buy all we can," Rydia said grimly, "resort to stealing last if we possibly can."