terra

Seriously, the nearly random appearance of [spoiler]mecha[/spoiler] made my boyfriend start really paying attention. Like a typical guy, he loved that. Actually, he was enjoying the show as it was, but they just really clinched it for him. Personally, I was kind of like, "... Where did that come from?" but it still worked pretty well.

Wow, that is exciting news, and I hadn't heard that before. I loved the books ... they're so ... freaky, though. I can't imagine who would play Ender or Bean themselves. Both of the characters are so mature, but have to look so young, that it'd be really difficult to find a child actor of that caliber. I've never read Ender's Shadow, but from what I've heard about it, I'm guessing it'll be really cool for both books to be integrated into one film. It's too bad we don't know more about when it's going to be released or anything ...

I'm in New Zealand right now, but I haven't seen this show. I have, however, seen plenty of ads for it. I'm sorry, but every time I see one, I think, "Who would watch this show?" Then again, I've never even seen a few minutes of it, so I probably shouldn't be judging. So people do watch the show, huh. What's it about, anyway? Three pretty girls on a farm, as far as I can tell ...

That's funny, a long time ago (maybe a couple of years) I was thinking about Will Smith and I thought something along the same lines. Then movies like [i]MIB II[/i] and ... that one in the desert with the big metal spider, I can't think of the name and don't feel like looking it up ... Anyway, those movies came out and I thought a bit less of him. I think ... well I just started retyping that sentence about seven times, because the whole celebrity thing is weird already. They're just doing something to entertain us, why is it so many people idolize them and expect so much out of them? That aside, the main thing that makes a celebrity a "good" one in my book is certainly their talent, and the roles they choose (or the kinds of songs they release in their albums, or whatever quality of whatever work they do). After that, I think I like the ones who appear like they have a strong idea of who they are and what they want in life. J. Lo, for instance, with her seven hundred marriages, strikes me as someone who just has no idea of what she wants. I don't really know who I think would fit into that, because I don't pay overly much attention to the celebrity gossip, but I guess that's my half-baked idea. Incidentally, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston may be one of the most beautiful couples ever, and I am jealous.

Well, to address the issues in this thread with which I have personal experience: [b]Tongue rings[/b]: I got my tongue pierced a couple months ago now. The actual piercing didn't hurt that much, except for the mental anguish bit, because I was like, "Holy $@*# he's sticking a needle through my tongue." But the guy was very experienced, so I think he was particularly good at making it not hurt too badly (though how you can change how much a needle through your tongue hurts, I couldn't guess). Mine happened to bleed a lot and I got a little light-headed afterwards, but that just gave me an excuse to eat ice cream. That night was the saddest dinner I've ever had in my life. We ate pasta, and I literally had to put one noodle at a time in my mouth, tilt my head so that it would fall to one side, chew really really slowly, and then swallow. The next day was hard too, but by the day after that, I was pretty much back to normal. And I eat ridiculously fast normally, so that says something. The main thing is that for those two days, especially lying in bed at night before I was going to sleep, I would just be miserable and think, "There is [i]no way I'll ever get used to this thing[/i]." Which was obviously completely wrong. It did hurt a good deal, but I didn't suck on any ice nor take any aspirin. My friend who did it with me at the same time had pretty much the exact same symptoms as I did. Then again, another of our friends got it at a different time, and he had a much harder time and took a lot longer to adjust to it. So it probably depends on your initial pain threshold and who you get to pierce it. Incidentally, my cousin is a dentist, and he saw me with it and told me to change the balls immediately. According to him, the metal balls (the ones they pierce you with initially) are much worse for your teeth than the plastic balls (which is unfortunate, because I like the metal ones' look better, but he was so adamant about it that I changed them nearly immediately). He says that the metal ones are more likely to chip teeth, and while teeth are made to stand up to a certain amount of chipping, the tongue ring is from an unexpected direction. [edit] more details ... I couldn't talk very well for one day, but by the second day it wasn't noticeable, enough so that I was talking to my best friend and parents on the phone and neither of them noticed a thing. Also, I got it kind of on a whim, and the first few days were kind of miserable, as I mentioned above. But now that it's completely healed, I think it's one of the most fun things ever, just to play with and stuff. [/edit] [b]Navel piercings:[/b] I've had this one for a couple years and, like everyone else in the world with a belly button piercing, it got infected. But mine wasn't a big deal; I didn't take it out, I didn't even go to the doctor (though I wouldn't advise that), I just washed it more often and put Neosporin on it and eventually it went away. The only big thing with navel piercings is that you [i]should not touch it unless you're cleaning it[/i] for the first couple months at least. My friend did, and ... well, horrible things happened, including infection, but I will spare you the tale because it might convince you not to get one, and I love mine. [b]Nipple piercings[/b]: No, I do not have my nipple pierced (sorry to disappoint), but a friend of mine got hers done. She said it surprisingly didn't hurt that much during the actual thing, and she didn't scream, but again, this was from the guy who pierced my tongue and was really good at it. Then again, she also has the lowest pain tolerance out of everyone I know, so if she could handle it, I'm sure you can too. I haven't kept up with how she's been dealing with it, but she only got one done and I think it looks fine asymettrical; actually, I think on a girl, having two would be too much. A guy is a different story, they should definitely have both done or none at all. Well, there's my wisdom. Keep in mind I'm over 18 and all of the people I know who've gotten piercings either had the approval of their parents or were over 18. So.

[color=green]Hi miaka_70030, This is the [b]Adventure Arena[/b], where RPGs are carried out. All anime discussion belongs in the [b]Anime Lounge[/b]. Also, your posts should include a little more thought and topic for discussion. You may wish to read through the rules of OB if you haven't gotten a chance to yet. I'm going to close this thread. If you still wish to discuss anime that you don't like, please start a new thread in the correct forum, and improve your post quality a little :). Thanks, and welcome to OB. --terra[/color]

[color=green]Hi Princess of Mer, There are two separate forums which your thread might belong in. You posted in the [b]Adventure Arena[/b], which exists for the playing of RPGs -- collaborative storytelling in which all players mainly control one character. There is also the [b]Literature[/b] forum, where people may post their creative writing efforts, and I think this belongs there. Note that RPGs in the Adventure Arena should begin in the Recruitment forum with an extensive back story behind them. For more information, you may wish to read the stickies at the top of the forum, or look at other RPGs as examples. Incidentally, as DW suggested, you may wish to work on your punctuation and grammar as well. It would make your post at least a bit easier to read. I'm moving this to the Literature forum, but if you wish to start an RPG version of it, you can feel free to start a new thread in Recruitment. If this it's all a bit confusing even after reading the stickies and such, feel free to PM me. Thanks, --terra[/color]

[color=green]Hi jynxthehero, If you'll look at the date of the last post before yours, you'll notice that it was from 2002. This thread has probably gone inactive, and I doubt the RPG will be starting up again. Please take the time to look at the dates of the posts, and don't bring back very old threads in the future :). Thanks, and welcome to OB. --terra[/color]

I think whatever feeble effort the anime makes at pairing off the characters into romantic couples ends up as pretty pathetic, really. It's not the focus of the story (obviously), but I still think they could've made the audience feel a little better about it. Heh, interesting, I found the episodes where [spoiler]Pacifica had lost her memory[/spoiler] pretty darn annoying. And while [spoiler]Fulle was really cool, I also really disliked how short his appearance was. He was around just long enough to fulfill the good-looking, gruff-but-loving-at-heart stereotype and then he got killed; I didn't really find his entrance into the anime necessary at all.[/spoiler]

Indeed, my friend. I don't know if I would call Scrapped Princess the greatest fantasy anime ever made, mostly since I haven't seen all that many fantasy animes, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear other people had called it that. On the character designs, I think what both of you have said are right -- that they're a little odd, but that they give the anime a very tangibly unique feel. Females' chests are really weird in this one, but it certainly didn't bother me in view of everything else positive about the series. On a related note, I thought the quality of the animation stayed very high throughout the series -- everything looks remarkably crisp and clean. The main reason I liked this anime so much was because of the plotline. First of all, it makes sense. I highly dislike anime that doesn't really make sense. Secondly, though it's fantasy, it's not quite as far-fetched and completely random as some of the other anime I've seen. Also, I found it remained genuinely interesting to me throughout, and that every time I finished an episode I wanted to see the next one just to see what would happen, not just to get to the more interesting part. Well, that was me at least. I also thought parts of it were hysterical, and that the show was able to mix comedy and serious issues with a skill that I found impressive. The characters in the series are another of its strong points. Many of them didn't get developed as fully as I'd wished, but they were all interesting people that I wanted to see more about. More of them start popping up later in the series, too, so there are still interesting things to come. Ah, okay, I have to go now, and that wasn't very well-formulated -- sorry. But it does surprise me a little that you're not entirely impressed. I was tentatively excited after the first few episodes, and by the time I got to the 11th episode I was probably pretty hooked.

[b]Name:[/b] Cerra Westenra [b]Age:[/b] 27 [b]Gender:[/b] female [b]Race:[/b] Esrian [b]Description:[/b] Cerra's most noticeable facial features are a long-ish nose and calm gray eyes. Her hair is long and black, and glints a purplish-blue in the light. She stands at 5'7", but with a self-confidence that almost makes her appear taller, and always with excellent posture. [b]Weapons:[/b] She's an expert with a bow and arrow, but greatly prefers her sword, a long, light weapon made especially for her by her mother. The sword is plain and unadorned. She also generally has a dagger strapped to her ankle for emergencies. [b]Magic[/b]: By practicing over the years under her mother's tutelage, Cerra has developed a certain talent with magic that not many Esrians have, that of changing the atmosphere of the area around her. She does not possess any strictly defensive or offensive spells, only these, which usually have effects that its recipients find a bit difficult to describe. One of her skills is in causing her allies to appear stronger, larger, and much more deadly to their enemies. Another spell creates an unfounded tiredness in her enemies that may interfere with their ability to function. Similarly, she can refresh her allies by making each of them feel as if they are in sunlight and fresh air, though in reality their surroundings have not changed at all. [b]Personality:[/b] Cerra is tactically gifted, and is a great strategic asset before battle. She is quite calm and calculating outside of battle, and thinks quickly and moves efficiently. However, she has a certain bloodlust that comes out during a fight, and has even been known to forget her own directives and attack at will. That is the extreme case, but she certainly loses her cool, and noticeably so, and it would be understatement to say she enjoys a good fight. Cerra is not kind and she is not merciful, but nor is she unnecessarily cruel. She is of the opinion that humans do not deserve to be on Earth. She does not see the Esrian military as a social structure and comes off as slightly standoffish to newcomers, but almost unknowingly has formed many strong friendships with the members of her unit. [b]Biography:[/b] Cerra was born in the village of Mayern, which her father had founded ten years before. The village was and is quite small, having begun quite recently, and Cerra hated it. Hearing stories of the rest of the Esrian race and their battles against the humans made her blood race, but since her father was the mayor, she was expected to stay in the village for her whole life, assisting him with his duties. The village was exempt from sending its youth to the armed forces, as the Esrians saw the need for the cultivation of more areas for its population growth. The unexpected birth of a young brother to the family when Cerra was 14 saved her from what she thought was a horrible fate, and two years later she left to travel to a much bigger city, Wyva, and join the Esrian forces there. Her mother had trained her in combat since she was a child on the off chance invading humans would ever discover their village, so she was found to be quite skilled. Through the years she has worked her way up in the ranks so that she is now second-in-command of one of the smaller elite raiding forces, especially trained to surround and eliminate smaller pockets of human resistance. Their group of twenty-five Esrians is known as Unit Ternecin. -- Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to change. I'm going out of town for the next few days, though. :)

[quote name='Ani_Freak][color=DimGray']Maybe some people are not meant to rule or to help others.[/color][/quote] Mods rule? ... I know that's not what you meant. Really that's all I wanted to say ... But while I'm here. I'm a spelling and grammar fanatic, and when I was a member I didn't want to ask people to improve their writing because it didn't feel like it was my place. As a mod, I feel a little more entitled to ask people to clean up their post quality. And as has been discussed, it's not like I have perfect English or expect that from everyone. It's just that it feels more respectful to other members if everyone would at least put effort in to make their posts readable, instead of tossing out something that has to be picked through and dissected in order to understand its meaning. I think now I shall run through a meadow picking flowers and singing.

[color=green][b]yotska[/b] and [b]sunofexiles[/b], short, one-line posts do not belong in the Recruitment forum. Posts 9-16 should not be in this thread. Please, if you have a discussion that could be settled by PM, do it through PMs. I know you were discussing the start date of the RPG, but this could easily have been resolved through PM as it was only the two of you talking. You may also wish to re-read the stickies at the top of the forum for a clarification of the expectations in the Adventure Arena. Thanks, --terra[/color]

[color=green]Hi Nathaniel, The Adventure Arena has a specific set of rules on the procedures of the RPG. For more information, please read the stickies at the top of the forum. If they don't make things clear, you may want to look around the forum at the example of other RPGs, or PM one of the moderators of the forum with questions. [b]Cloud Strife[/b], playing mod, or acting like you are a moderator if you are only a member, is discouraged. Instead, please report posts to moderators if you feel someone is not following the rules. I'm closing this thread to avoid further confusion. Nathaniel, if you wish to start another Ah! My Goddess RPG, feel free to begin one in the Recruitment section after reading the rules thoroughly. Thanks, --terra[/color]

At the mention of Alaris, Crystal glanced back over her shoulder uselessly. She felt uneasy leaving anybody alone at this stage of the game, but they could do nothing else. Their numbers were dwindling by the moment and Crystal was beginning to feel trapped. It was as if the sheer numbers of the humans were so powerful that their scent was in the air, an oppressiveness that was beginning to make her feel like every step was an effort. And the fact that they were hundreds of feet underground didn't exactly help much. Crystal said nothing about her mental state to the others. She knew that the psychology of war was half the battle. Well, she didn't know from experience. But she'd read about it somewhere, and it certainly was proving true. They travelled the last five minutes in near silence, Crystal beating her wings unnecessarily, just to have something to hear. She closed her wings to drop softly beside the others as they drew near to the base. She didn't have to be a Senser to know that everyone was feeling slightly unnerved. "Why is it so quiet?" Crystal said, her voice barely above a whisper. The group had slowed automatically as the number of scorpion, human, and clone carcasses littering the ground had increased, indicating their proximity to the last battle. The numbers were frightening; it hadn't been this bad on the surface, and she couldn't have imagined participating in this battle. But though a certain stench of death pervaded the area, all was silent. "Someone's clearly gained the upper hand at the base," Ben said. "And it doesn't seem to have been the clones." He thought back to his last cut-off conversation with the Chameleon Leader, knowing it would probably be too much to even hope he was still alive. Crystal winced. She'd known that had probably been the case all along, but there was always the hope that somehow, everything had been taken care of. Well, they were here now to finish off whatever they could. "I take it you can't sense anything coming from there," Crystal said. "Something's still messing with your sensing ability?" Ben nodded. "What are we waiting for?" Rena purred, and she looked ready to leap into the fray once more. "We can't just walk in there," Ben said. "We have to have a plan. I've been coming up with one on the way here ..." Crystal knew she should be paying attention to whatever latest strategic brilliance Ben would try to outline, but she was distracted by the shadow of a thought of a movement. She directed her sight towards a particularly bloody mass of bodies, where she could've sworn she saw something scuttling -- "Aahh!" Crystal knew their stealth was their greatest asset right then, but the moment she'd recognized there was a human scout in the cave, a blinding pain had overtaken her brain. She shut her eyes to fight it, no longer able to contemplate what was happening around her.

[center]Stepping out into the fresh sunlight of the morning, Marya allowed herself a small grin. It was hard for her to stay tired with the bathing warmth, and she paused on the threshold of her house for a moment to relax -- after all, as soon as she met Brin, he would be putting her through more of his grueling training. Something felt ... strange. Marya sensed him before she heard him, and heard him before she saw him. Instinct told her to whirl around with her shield up, and she ducked under the pressure as a reverberating clang told her something heavy and metal had slammed into it with some force. Feeling her attacker move back, presumably to swing again, she took advantage of the moment to thrust forward with her sword as she'd been taught years ago. The Sword of Marken met another blade, and after a few quick parries her own sword was held definitively against the ground, underneath someone else's foot. "You're late," Brin said with a trace of amusement on his face. "Urgh," Marya grunted, trying to pull her sword out from Brin's implacable foot. "Won't you get up, Brin? Besides, I'm not late yet." "You would've been if I hadn't been waiting outside your door," Brin replied before removing his foot from her sword and allowing her to lift it. "And you were slow, didn't even realize I was there until I made a move. You should always be on the alert." Marya nodded, but couldn't help but speak up again. "There aren't exactly predators waiting outside, ready to jump on any unsuspecting Grillin Villagers at any moment." Brin merely raised an eyebrow. "That attitude won't get you very far when you're alone in the Somnolent Forest." "I've never been [i]in[/i] the Somnolent Forest by myself." Brin shrugged. "One day, that might change. For now, shall we begin our lessons? I thought we'd start today with some running, a couple of miles at least." Marya's eyes widened. She [i]hated[/i] running, but she knew better than to argue with Brin. She stopped to put down her shield, but the sound of Brin clearing his throat gave her pause. "With our weapons, of course." "[i]With[/i] my [i]sword[/i]? Brin, this thing is heavy!" "And you think this thing isn't?" Brin indicated the gleaming sword at his own side. "Sometimes you need to run in battle, and you won't want to be leaving your weapons behind unless it's absolutely necessary." "Anyone would think you were training a soldier for a war, not just giving a few lessons to a fifteen-year-old girl," Marya muttered under her breath, but Brin didn't hear her. He was already jogging off at a decent pace, and Marya shouldered her shield and followed.[/center]

[color=green]Hi there, The stickies at the top of the forum explicitly state that chit-chat and discussion that doesn't pertain directly to the procedures of the RPG should [i]not[/i] be in a Recruitment thread. Instead, these things should be dealt with through PM whenever possible. [b]Spydaweb782004, sunofexiles, Knightmare, [/b] and [b]Pandemonium[/b] -- all of you posted one-line questions or sentences that should have been addressed through PM. For example, you could have PMed Anyu Whitewolf about his intentions to keep the RPG or kill it, or to ask whether your signup was okay. sunofexiles in particular, you have been around OB for a while and should be well-versed in the rules. (Anyu Whitewolf, you did this as well, but that was mostly in response to others; still, you should avoid it as well.) Spydaweb782004, we also have rules about double posting, which basically means you are not allowed to post twice in a row. Please do not do this in the future; PMs or editing your post are better ways to go. If much more spam appears in this thread I will be forced to close it. Please make sure you have read the stickies at the top of the forum. Thanks, --terra[/color]

[color=green]Sorry, guys, but not only is this an old thread, but when it was around, it already had issues with back story and plot. eclips, please check the date of the thread before you reply to it. In this case, the last post was in October of 2003, over six months ago. I am closing this thread to avoid any more confusion. If you need further explanation, please feel free to PM me. thanks, --terra[/color]

[color=green]Hi water spirit, You've posted your question in the wrong forum. The Adventure Arena is for the creation and playing of RPGs, which are more thoroughly explained in the sticky at the top. You may be more interested in the Anime Lounge, which is for the discussion of anime series. However, "favorites" threads are also generally discouraged, because they usually lead to very spammy posts and threads that generate no real discussion. Please read the rules of the board before posting again; I'm going to close this thread. Thanks, and welcome to OB. --terra [EDIT]Annie, I'm sure you're well aware of the discouragements against playing mod as well :p. Please report posts to the moderators instead -- thanks.[/color]

[center]Marya awoke slowly, as usual, snuggling deeper into the bright green comforter her mother had made for her eight years ago. She hated sleeping without its fluffiness, always such a comforting softness to bury her face in and get away from that annoying sunlight that [i]would[/i] persist in trying to bother her out of her rest. After a few more blissful moments, Marya sat up, squinting slightly. The sun was in full effect and directly in her eyes, but she had left her blinds open on purpose; otherwise, she might not have gotten up until her mother came in with a frying pan and a spoon and banged them right next to her ear, and she didn't want a repeat of that experience. Her mother had a very distinctive sense of humor. Marya dressed and stumbled into the bathroom, splashing cold water onto her face until she felt ready to face the day. She dried herself off, avoiding the sight of herself in the mirror as she customarily did, and headed downstairs. The hearty smell of sizzling bacon was already permeating the house, and that helped wake her more than the cold water. She sat at the table expectantly, her mother appearing a moment after with a heaping plateful of eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns. Marya looked mournfully at the food. The memory of the self-imposed diet she had been attempting for the past week had hit her again. Something she didn't dare mention to Brin, and had only told her parents about in hopes that they would help her. But they didn't. Apparently nobody except her even had a hope that she could change her body to what she wanted it to be. Her mother, reading her mind, tsked her. "Dear, you need all of your strength today," she said said with a small smile, "you're meeting with Brin, aren't you? I don't want him complaining I haven't been giving you enough to eat, so just eat up, and don't worry about the diet. You exercise plenty enough as it is, you're completely healthy, and nothing about you needs to change." Marya resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but she began tucking in anyway. "Mom, could you get my sword and shield for me?" she asked, as she swirled her toast around her plate to catch all of the yolk from the egg. She did love toast and eggs. "I'm running late already, I should really be out the door by now ..." But she couldn't resist taking a bite of hash brown as she said so. "Darling, you know I can't pick up those things," her mother said with a laugh. Glancing over at her mom, it was obvious to see why. She was a willowy, absurdly thin figure who always wore high heels, even now, just serving her daughter breakfast. Marya experienced one of the rare moments when she was proud to be of her own stature. It passed too fleetingly, and she stood up to get her sword and shield from the closet herself. "Thanks for breakfast," she said, kissed her mother on the cheek, and was out the door to meet Brin for her lessons.[/center]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=indigo']Well, sometimes I get the feeling I'm not being quite as polite as I could be, but it can be annoying when you've given multiple warnings in multiple threads about the very same thing and almost everyone seems to just ignore you.[/color][/quote] Yes, I thought I noticed plenty of people coming in and not reading the rules before I ever became a moderator. When I did have a section to be responsible for, I realized there were more people who didn't bother reading the rules than I would've guessed. Part of being a mod is feeling responsible for your section, which I think all of us do. And because I, for example, feel responsible in some way for the Arena, I wouldn't want other members' experiences to be detracted from because someone decided not to read the rules. Of course there's a fine line to be drawn between firmness and ... something a bit more rude, but from what I've seen most to all of our moderators can be and are tactful. Also, keep in mind that a lot of moderating goes on in Private Messaging, for myself at least. So some of the more public posts you see may be after a good bout of PM warnings. I know you weren't trying to blame mods, but I hope this explains some of what occurs.

[size=1][color=gray][b]Name:[/b] Marya Marken [b]Age:[/b] 15 [b]Class:[/b] Soldier [b]Description:[/b] Marya is very tall for her age, standing at 5'10", but she usually doesn't stand up very straight, slouching instead so she can come off as maybe 5'8" or so. She's a bit large, though most of her weight is quite obviously muscle, and her size makes her intimidating to look at. She's very self-conscious, so she tries to stick to the shadows and blend into crowds, but most of the time she tends to fail at that because of her height and build. She has a pretty face and darkish blond hair that falls to a little below her shoulders. [b]Bio:[/b] Marya and her parents have lived in Grillin Village since Marya was born. She dimly remembers escaping into Somnolent Forest with several of the other villagers at the invasion of the Thirstquencher Army, but they have since moved back into Grillin Village. She does know, however, of a secret place in the Forest where her parents have told her to meet them in case of any danger. When Marya went into a growth spurt at nine years old, she started being rather unhappy with herself. She was always taller than the other children in her class, and though they didn't tease her most of the time, she felt like people were always looking at her strangely. When she turned 12, her parents, noticing how visibly unhappy Marya was with her body, told her that her great-grandmother had been a great soldier in her time, and that she probably had the same blood in her and she should be proud. Marya wasn't -- her mother, after all, had gorgeous long, blond, curly hair, stood at what she thought was a normal 5'6", and was thin and curvy, exactly what Marya wished she would grow to be. But already at 12, that looked pretty much impossible. To try to help her feel better about her body, her parents arranged one-on-one combat lessons with a well-known soldier from the area whom she's always called Brin. Marya's combat skills have grown greatly from these lessons, which have been occurring twice a week for the past three years. But she still remains very shy and self-conscious, always trying to hide herself and never telling any of her friends about her lessons. The other five days of the week, Marya works part-time at the grocery bagging people's purchases -- a job that she actually loves, though it's menial and mindless. The villagers who shop there know her and enjoy talking to her, and Marya's face can light up and make her look quite pretty when she's in conversation. Most of the time, though, her shyness and attempts at blending in merely make her look as awkward as she feels. [b]Starting Point:[/b] Grillin Village [b]Primary Weapon:[/b] Marya owns the sword that her grandmother used to use when she was a warrior. It doesn't really have a name, but she and Brin usually call it "The Sword of Marken" in a joke half-mocking the too-serious names of most other swords they've heard of. It is of medium weight for a sword; though it would be heavy for an average fifteen-year-old girl, Marya can swing it quite easily because of her strength. [b]Secondary Weapon:[/b] A medium-sized shield that's a bit on the thin side; Brin gave it to her last year for her birthday. [b]Items:[/b] A packet of mint, a First Aid kit, and an antidote (... like everyone else ...) [b]Spell:[/b] [i]Adumbration[/i]. This spell affects the eyes of everybody around Marya, greatly heightening her ability to go unnoticed for about three minutes. Nobody can quite explain how it feels to be under the spell, only that their eyes would much rather be looking somewhere else than at Marya and tend to slide past her; when they do look at her, she usually appears as if she is in shadow. With some deep concentration, though, people under the spell may still be able to spot her. [/size][/color]

[size=1]Hi Shin! :) I've only had time to read the first two chapters so far, but I'm going to come back for the rest, I promise.[/size] [quote name='Solo Tremaine][COLOR=#503F86']One thing I noticed about the first chapter, and a few times later on, is the repetition of individual words or phrases in paragraphs. ... I'd try not to repeat too much that often though- the more variety in your sentences you can get, the richer the overall picture.[/COLOR][/quote] [size=1]I agree, this was one of the comments I was going to make as well. It's also part of a problem I had with the overall narration of the story; sometimes things just seem to be worded very strangely. For example:[/size] [quote name='Shinmaru']Jacob concluded that he was walking around in circles, which was an astute observation that could only be reached when one realized that the hospital was built so that one could only walk around in circles.[/quote] [size=1]This sentence feels really awkward to me, and I had to read it a couple of times before I quite understood what you were saying. On one hand it's interesting since the sentence itself goes around in circles like the hospital does, but on the other hand it threw me off during the reading, interrupted my "reading flow" if you will. (Okay, so now I'm the one who's wording things weirdly, but ... well too bad! :p) I think it causes a little more harm than good because of that. Also,[/size] [quote name='Shinmaru']As soon as Jacob finished the last doughnut in the box, a man entered the bakery.[/quote] [size=1]I think this sentence should instead be worded, "Just as Jacob was finishing the last donut in the box, a man entered the bakery." The way you have it written makes it seem like Jacob's finishing the donut [i]caused[/i] the man to enter the bakery, which sounds a little strange to me. There are other little things like the two sentences I pulled from above that made me feel like the narration was moving strangely. I think the best way to handle this is to make sure to read the story to yourself and see if you stumble over any of your own words, or even better, to read it aloud. (Then people tend to think you're crazy, though. But of course that never stops me.) But I'm not saying you should completely change the style of narration, of course, because a lot of it does add to the creepy atmosphere of the story. What I mean is, you can use the way you write to add to the story, but just keep making sure it doesn't detract from the reader's experience. One other thing:[/size] [quote name='Shinmaru']"I?ve been looking for you for a while now," the stranger said in a menacing tone.[/quote] [size=1]In cases like this, it's always best to show the stranger is menacing rather than to just tell the readers. Merely saying he was menacing won't have quite the same effect on a reader as, say, having the stranger appear from the shadows, or even making the stranger "loom menacingly" over Jacob, or something along those lines -- if you see what I mean. It's the old creative writing maxim of "show, don't tell" that you've probably heard many times before. I'm done with the constructive criticism, now onto the praise :p. I'm interested in the storyline, and like I said, you do create a very creepy atmosphere, both with your writing style and the characters that you put into Jacob's experience. In the second chapter, I really like how the guy in the baker's shop starts out looking like a really nice, normal guy, then evolves into something way more twisted and creepy. Then, since he's followed by two other creepy characters (the guy with the gun and the woman on the subway), the whole world starts to look pretty scary and we get the feeling that something very, very wrong is happening -- I think all of that works very well, so nice job. And I'll be back again later. :p[/size]

I like the first and second Alucard ones in the left column a lot ... the semi-action shots with his gun are cool. The others are all right, though the disembodied grin is a little freaky and I'm not sure if personally I'd want people identifying me as that :p. I don't like the Sera one that much though, it feels unbalanced since the left side is so empty. You might want to considering to cut out at least some of the black space on the left side. Nice job, though.

I think it's a very interesting idea, and very cool that people actually love/d Chrono Trigger enough to bother trying to make this whole remake. But personally, I wouldn't be particularly interested in buying the game, providing they do finish it. I generally like the simpler, classic 2-D look myself :p. The scenery and still life screenshots they have look really great, but Crono himself does [i]not[/i]. What's with his expression in [u][url=http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/media/screenshots/cronosroom3.jpg]this picture[/url][/u]? Even so, I'm a big Chrono fan, so good for them, and I hope they succeed.