terra

I took French throughout high school, and did a summer program where I got to spend four weeks in Paris. It was fun, though a little crazy, mostly because I took creative writing ... in French (the English class was full) and I didn't think I knew enough French at the time to actually be able to write a thing. But it wasn't as hard as I'd originally thought to write in French. Unfortunately, I was never wonderful at speaking it, which is sad. But I'm pretty good at reading it aloud, and it's kind of fun -- sounds all snobby and ... well, French.

I've been to Hong Kong; actually, I lived there for two years when I was much younger (holy crap, that was ten years ago now. I am old) and just went back over Christmas. I love that city. It is awesome. The culture and the atmosphere are just very unique, and it's a wonderful place to visit. As for your questions, as far as I know you don't have to get your visa stamped again to go into China. From what I hear, it's kind of annoying to get there if you're going to be on the island, which is generally what's considered "Hong Kong proper," if you will. Though nobody calls it that. The part of Hong Kong that is the mainland is called the New Territories, and I'd guess you usually go into China from there, and it's kind of far from Hong Kong Island, which is what I would traditionally think of as Hong Kong. It would take at least half an hour to get to the New Territories from Hong Kong, and I'm not sure how much longer to get to China. But of course, it can be done. I don't know enough about it to tell you how easy or hard it would be, let alone if you need any special documents, though -- sorry. Anyway, as for must-do or must-see things in Hong Kong ... There's this one very tourist-y place known as The Peak, which both refers to an area of the city and this actual, like, building. I don't like going there, but my family always ends up going because there's a really great view (hence the name, I suppose) and some good stores. Probably one of my favorite Hong Kong things (and things in general) is the shopping; Hong Kong shopping is awesome. I don't know if you'd be interested in that or anything, but things are cheap and in typical Asian size. And I'm typical Asian size, so it makes me feel normal at last compared to American stores :p. What else ... I don't know how easily you'd be able to get access, but going boating in Hong Kong is also great. (I have extended family who lives there, and they have boats, so they take us out, but it might be a little less practical for visitors.) Stuff like fishing and wakeboarding are fun. Wakeboarding in particular has gotten really big in Hong Kong recently. Yeah, I don't know. You'll have a good time. :)

[quote][i]Originally posted by Chichiri's Girl[/i] *cries tears of joy that she wasn't the only one in America who didn't like Scooter Girl*[/quote] *does the same* Anyway, since Scooter Girl has been both thoroughly praised and torn up, I'll leave her alone. I like the girl with the pink hair, as well -- I think her name is Amy, but I'm not sure. She's just really ... cute, or something, I'm not sure what makes me like her so much. And obviously she has a good voice. I for one actually [b]don't[/b] like the part where they tell people they can't sing at all. For that reason I don't watch the auditions, but I usually watch the rest of the show. I don't find it amusing to watch people's dreams get torn into shreds, though I know the majority of America does. Just for some reason I don't like it. I don't think the 16-year-old with the red hair will win, or even get particularly close (now I'm going to be proven desperately wrong, aren't I). I like his voice and all, but he doesn't strike me as having "star quality." And I don't think the twins should even have made it through; I didn't think their voices were particularly good at all.

Cue awesomeness. That would be [strike]me[/strike] Aissa. Hahaha, I crack myself up. Anybody? Anybody? Okay then. By the way, I'm glad we have a team name. AAL aall the way! [color=green]Leile stepped toward Anubis hesitantly, and Aissa cursed herself silently. For being frozen, for letting this other brave woman who knew she wouldn't be able to help move forward first. "Go search," Aissa said sharply, though not unkindly. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. And ... whatever you hear from over here ... don't stop searching until you find something." Leile nodded, a little uncertain still, then started moving. In a moment she was out of Aissa's sight, and Aissa was kneeling next to Anubis, running her hands gently over his, more for both of their comfort than any actual healing benefit. Yet. "You'll be okay, it'll be fine," she crooned distractedly under her breath, the words coming to her automatically. It was an instinctive lullaby, one she'd murmured often to Arland as he grew up, as she had to tend his accidentally self-inflicted magical wounds. As the gentle hum escaped her throat, she was feeling his aura, the pain escaping from his hands and his soul, and trying to decide the course of action she needed to take. The spells were running, rushing to the edges of his fingers, fighting to escape. The only thing stopping them at the moment was their muted decision of which should escape first. It was about to get a lot harder for them. Aissa's murmurs turned louder, gained shape, forming more than just meaningless platitudes of comfort to move into words of the healer. In truth she still had no idea what to do, no herbs she could turn to, nothing in her bags that would provide a safety net, but Anubis' words echoed repeatedly in her mind: [i]let's hope Aissa doesn't let me die.[/i] Instinctively, she sang in the language of the earth, no melody she'd ever heard before, no clear idea of what she was saying -- and she would never remember the words escaping. But she was singing of Arland, her brother, her life. She was singing of his strength, begging him to lend it to her now, singing of his power, asking that he hear her from over the ocean and through the dark barriers of haunted Ma'Uriith and come to her aid. Oceans away, Arland heard her in an urgent wind that rustled through the trees. He went outside and fell on his hands and knees on the ground, feeling the richness of the earth and whispering to his sister in the same language. Aissa's song turned from her brother to the earth, to the freshness of life that sprung from it every day, and she sang to the budding of new grass and the opening of a delicate [i]thi'im[/i], her favorite flower. To the ancient quality of life, older even than that quality of death. To unspoken laws, to boundaries that could not be crossed, even by the most powerful of demons. When she opened her eyes and realized she was still singing, she could see the spells on Anubis' hands. They were concentrated there now, angry, still fighting each other, and from Anubis' leaned back head, she knew he was still in pain. But he was alive. He was fighting too, just as she was, in some darker, quieter way. Her way fought out of her body and escaped through her voice; his was mute, but just as powerful. And then she recognized the spirit that had been guarding the door. She had somehow been impervious to it up until then, but now it rushed at her from all sides like four lions pouncing from each direction. And she screamed as Anubis' pain was transferred into her, directly from his hands to hers it seemed, but she couldn't be sure. [i]The spirit was winning ... it would win ... it would win over them all ...[/i] A tiny, energetic figure barrelled at her from the interior of the room, bowling her and Anubis over, disturbing their delicate balance. Aissa lay on the floor, eyes closed, completely unaware of where they were and wishing for nothing except death, forgetting the [i]thi'im[/i], forgetting everything. But the spirit was gone. And in the back of her mind she heard the grinding of doors closing. She realized they must be free; somehow, an hour must have passed, their time in the room now over, the vindictive spirit once again presiding over his throne in loneliness. "Did you find something?" Aissa croaked, unable to believe that was actually her voice. She did not open her eyes. "Yes," Leile's voice drifted into the back of her mind.[/color] I leave the "super-important information" to Arcadia ... nyah nyah.

[color=green]Ben, impossible last long post of yours notwithstanding, I believe it's technically YOUR turn. ;) And yes ... I totally stole the upcoming arrow thing from you-know-what.[/color] Crystal had a sudden urge to scream aloud, "ATTACK AT WILL!" like a real general or something might, but she reminded herself that a) she was technically junior to most of these volunteers, and b) they already were. The bird-clones had a fierce rage about them, even though they'd never even seen these creatures before, and were attacking in a variety of ways. Some were dropping uksos -- relatively carefully, and far from Rena as possible. Some were screeching classical battle cries, swooping down to rake at the cave scorpions with fatal claws; these were mostly the older clones who still relished the "traditional" ways of their kind. And some were shooting with deadly accurate arrows, aiming instinctively for the vulnerable parts Ben had once told Crystal about. Once? That had been less than a week ago ... Though she couldn't escape the thoughts in her mind, Crystal was moving, almost on instinct. She landed, tired from the flight and from carrying Rena, ducking immediately to avoid a cave scorpion's tail raking towards her. The tail pulled back to sting again but never got to make a second blow, as an arrow from her right -- Sharpie -- caused the stinger to fall off and the scorpion to howl with rage. Crystal took the opportunity to dart in with an arrow, plunging it into the scorpion's neck, before turning and loading it into her crossbow to shoot another scorpion who was charging at her. The scorpion groaned its pain, but she'd missed the pale skin of its vulnerable spot and it continued charging, angered now. Crystal fumbled for another arrow, somehow unable to take her eyes off its deadly black beads, when a shape hurtled in from the left, tackling the charging beast with the full and heavy weight of a body. Alaris had thrown the scorpion completely off guard, and it was easy for him to plunge his sword into the scorpion's belly, dragging upward to further weaken the beast. He jumped aside before the blood had time to well out of the gash. "Thanks, man," Crystal nodded to him. She saw Ben trotting up behind and added, "You're my knight in shining armor," loud enough for Ben to hear. Ben made a face, and not a pleased one. "We're in the heat of battle here, can't you be a little more serious?" he said to her, sounding slightly pained. "We've stalled some of them with poison," Alaris updated for Crystal's benefit. "And we're doing fairly well out here," Crystal said, back to business. "The offensive is quite effective, the remaining scorpions out here are definitely falling. What next?"

[quote]?Your Worst Nightmare.? Doukeshi03 looked around. Everyone else looked equally bemused. ?Well, welcome to OtakuBoards, Your Worst Nightmare,? Braidless Baka said cheerily, stepping towards him to shake his hand.[/quote] Solo, I think I'm in love with you. :p Seriously, though, there's nothing to say except keep it coming, and it's awesome so far.

Did you just use the teardrop smiley face? o.O Anyway, I like them all. I thought all the captions were hysterical except the first one. I can't really think of a better caption, though; the picture strikes me as a little odd, actually. I think mostly because it's a disembodied hand with an axe. And because that woman's head is on the right. ... I just described it. So yeah, in conclusion, good job. :)

Yeah, the N-Gage never struck me as a good idea. As Shinmaru said, the pictures of people using it in phone mode are kind of hysterical. I think the sales in America can't be the only factor in judging the product, though; sales in Europe and Asia seem to be better. I actually saw people using it when I was in Hong Kong! which really shocked me (that anybody would use it at all, that is), but they do love their games and their cell phones, so perhaps it makes sense to them. Although, I've misplaced my GBASP (somewhere in my house, I really really hope) and am having difficulty finding it since it's so small. Now, if only I'd bought an N-Gage ...

[color=green]Marcus_Beuford, one of the reasons they might be putting a full bio (well, I hope) is that it is a closer following of the rules than not putting one at all. In the sticky at the top of the forum (which you should check out if you haven't already), it's stated that even if a character is already in existence, a sign-up sheet should be filled out. This was originally to prevent spammy sign-ups like "I'll take ___!" Besides, detail should never really be punished, we are all writers after all :p. Hope that clarifies things a little. If you have any questions at all, feel free to PM me. And thanks for adding a back story. [b]Heezay[/b], posts like yours could easily be kept to PMs; please don't clutter up Recruitment threads like that. --terra[/color]

Thanks, guys :) Looking at them on a different computer, I realized a horrible error!!! in the first two (my laptop's screen is so darn accommodating, whereas this monitor is brutal). I'm not going to tell anyone what it is if they didn't see it, though :p.

I felt bad perpetually resurrecting my own [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27394]old thread[/url], when it's technically against the rules ... so I started a new one. :p I have put off for a really long time a few requests from wonderful people ... here is the first. Noelle, my [b]deepest apologies I'm a horrible person![/b]. Here's what I came up with ... [img]http://pantheon.yale.edu/~elc23/fun/noelle_ban2.jpg[/img] [img]http://pantheon.yale.edu/~elc23/fun/noelle_ban2b.jpg[/img] (better version of the above, I think) [img]http://pantheon.yale.edu/~elc23/fun/noelle_ban1.jpg[/img]

You know, even though minimum wage is whatever it is, companies can get away with paying you much less by just calling it an "internship." Right now I'm interning at a publishing company, and I'm getting paid the whopping amount of $10 a day. The rest of my pay is "experience." :p Well, I am grateful for the experience, but considering I come in 9-5, I'm technically getting paid just slightly over a dollar an hour. If you want to put it in those terms. Plus I take the train into New York and need a subway ride ... so I'm losing money every day. :) Anyway, my first job was ....... *thinks back* It must've been when I was a receptionist at the sister company of my friend's dad's company. It turned out to basically be signing for mail, answering the occasional phone call, and browsing the web. Requires a lot of intelligence, really. At least it was relaxing.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Drix D'Zanth [/i] [B]I would become a candy tree. I would lure children with little wrappers filled with venom hanging from my branches. As soon as they approached, they would be knocked out by a gas emmited from my husky trunk. Then a vine would wrap them up and send them to my digestive organ. Ahhh that would be the life. [/B][/QUOTE] ROTFL!!!!! Not really, nobody ever rolls on the floor laughing, but that was highly appreciated. Anyway, ... I ... would ... I don't know. I've thought about wishing to be someone else, but never anybody specific, and never to the point that I would even think, "I wish I were ____," if that makes any sense. I've often wondered what it would be like not to be Asian, though. Then again, just as often I love the odd little culture things the Chinese have got. As for another species, being any type of (flying) bird would be cool. So I could fly. And maybe lay eggs. And maybe see what building a nest is [b]really[/b] like. I wouldn't want to be a butterfly because they just seem too ... wimpy for me, no offense Tony :p.

[b][u]General Awards[/b][/u] [b]Overall Member of the Year:[/b][size=1] Semjaza Azazel[/size] [b]Male Otaku of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Semjaza Azazel[/size] [b]Female Otaku of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Sara[/size] [b]Staff Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]James[/size] [b]Funniest Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Dragon Warrior[/size] [b]Most Opinionated Otaku of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Poison Tongue[/size] [b]Most Likely to Be Here in Two Years:[/b] [size=1][/size] [b]Best Newbie:[/b] [size=1]Dagger IX1 (though I love [b]all[/b] the nominees. ;))[/size] [b]Best Oldie:[/b] [size=1]Shy[/size] [b]Most Likely to Become a Staff Member:[/b] [size=1]Dagger IX1[/size] [b]Most Improved Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Baron Samedi[/size] [b]Favorite Banned Member:[/b] [size=1]no thanks.[/size] [b]Thread of the Year:[/b] [size=1]The ?Deal With This Member? Thread[/size] [b]Silliest Thread of the Year:[/b] [b][u]Random Awards[/b][/u] [b]Avatar Award (Best Avatars Overall):[/b] [size=1]Charles[/size] [b]Signature Award (Best Signatures Overall):[/b] [size=1]Charles[/size] [b]Best Location (Best Specific Location):[/b] [size=1]Charles[/size] [b]Best Otaku Couple:[/b] [size=1]The Harlequin/Ravenstorture[/size] [b]Best Looking Otaku:[/b] [size=1]Juuthena[/size] [b]Otaku Clique of the Year:[/b] [size=1]OtakuBoards Yaoi/Shounen-Ai Club[/size] [b]Best MyOtaku:[/b] [b][u]Otaku Writers[/b][/u] [b]Poet Laureate:[/b] [size=1]Mitch[/size] [b]Writer of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Solo Tremaine[/size] [b]Orginal Story of the Year:[/b] [size=1]OB: Enter the Net (This was beating the other competitors by the largest margin I have ever seen. Let?s just say it wins now, and not leave poor Solo in suspense. Okay?) Okay![/size] [b]Role-Player of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Arcadia[/size] [b]Brawler of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Harlequin[/size] [b]RPG of the Year:[/b] [size=1]SYF: Aguela[/size] [b][u]Social Otakus[/b][/u] [b]Otaku Social Member:[/b] [size=1]ChibiHorsewoman[/size] [b]Entertainment Otaku:[/b] [size=1]You know, I realized I don't really know what those mean.[/size] [b][u]Otaku Anime[/b][/u] [b]Otaku of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Shy[/size] [b].hack//SIGN Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]AzureWolf[/size] [b]Dragonball Guru of the Year:[/b] [b]Digipeep of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Ben[/size] [b]Gundam Member of the Year:[/b] [b]Yu-Gi-Oh Member of the Year:[/b] [b]Least Disappointing Yu Yu Hakusho Member:[/b] [size=1]Dagger IX1[/size] [b][u]Otaku Gamers[/b][/u] [b]Otaku Gamer of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Semjaza Azazel[/size] [b]Nintendo ?Mario? Award:[/b] [size=1]Shinmaru[/size] [b]Sony Award:[/b] [b]X-Box Award:[/b] [b]PC Gamer of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Cloricus[/size] [b][u]Otaku Artists[/b][/u] [b]Best Graphic Designer (Banners, wallpapers, etc.):[/b] [b]Best "Traditional" Artist (Drawings, paintings, etc.):[/b] [size=1]Sara[/size] [b]Best Spriter:[/b] [b][u]Series Otaku[/b][/u] [b]Series Otaku Member of the Year:[/b] [b]Square/Enix Member of the Year:[/b] [b]PokéPlaque (Pokemon):[/b] [b]The Triforce Award:[/b]

[color=green]Gecko and Mage15, please avoid posting in a Recruitment thread when it has pretty much nothing to do with an RPG, as it simply clutters up the thread. (Okay, the shirt or no-shirt thing is ... distantly relevant ... but that could easily be resolved over PM.) I refer you to my signature. ;) Plus, one-line posts are always discouraged. Thanks. --terra[/color]

[color=green]Hey, I love Chrono Trigger too, but please expand your back story a little -- all you've basically said is "Lavos is back, and so is the DragonBall team." Back story for RPGs should be quite detailed and descriptive, and longer than a paragraph if at all possible. Thanks, and welcome to OB. --terra[/color]

[color=green]Hi TeroValor, You seem to have a general idea about how RPGs work, but there are a few things specific to this forum you might like to know. First of all, sign-up sheets and the initial backstory summary are usually posted in the Recruitment forum, a subforum of this Adventure Arena. So I'll be closing this thread; you can repost your sign-up sheet and info in Recruitment. Once you decide you've gotten enough characters, you can begin the actual adventure in here. Secondly, you may want to add a little more content and detail to your backstory. It could use a little more description; most Recruitment threads should have a good, complete backstory. Other relevant things: Your capitalization is really random, so please correct that, as proper spelling and grammar are vital here at OtakuBoards. Also, you keep referring to your "new forum" and what I think you mean is your new "thread." Welcome to the boards. Feel free to PM me if I was unclear in any way, or if you have any more questions. --terra[/color]

[color=green]Bandit Joeykuba, I'd ask that you please flesh out this story a little further. All I can gather is that there are demons and there are humans, and you run around. There should be a rather more definite storyline and a more detailed description. Thanks, terra[/color]

I've seen the anime series and read the first two volumes of the manga. I watched the whole anime series in about a period of two days, so I sort of had a headache by the end, but that was just from staring at a screen for too long. :p Anyway, the whole thing ends up being really funny. Very light-hearted and stays so almost the whole time, which is good if you're in the mood for that sort of thing (which I almost always am). Although Naru hitting Kei over and over and over gets kind of old, in my opinion. And I agree, the dub is absolutely horrible. Watch the subtitled version if you can at all. It is a little perverted at times (what do you really expect from a series about seven girls living together, written by a guy) so it's nothing I'd watch with my parents, but it's a fun series.

[strike]DW, your sense of humor has always struck me as really weird, and now I know I'm vindicated.[/strike] Very funny. Although, sorry to say, the speech impediment did get kind of annoying at times. But it was reminiscent of the priest in [i]Princess Bride[/i], which is always a classic bit of humor. My favorite part was when he slayed you. ;) ;) And then when you said, "Um, you killed me."

Ahh, [i]Who Framed Roger Rabbit[/i] totally freaked me out. I was pretty young when I watched it, and I've never done well with movies that are even remotely scary ... but that one definitely gave me nightmares for a while. I'm not sure why, I think it was that green stuff in the vats. And it just didn't strike me as a very nice movie. Anyway, [i]Lion King[/i] is probably still at the top of my list, the songs, story, emotions, etc. etc. And that's one I've rewatched and still love. (I saw [i]Beauty and the Beast[/i] again recently, which I used to love when I was younger, but I was pretty disappointed. It definitely wasn't as good as I remembered.) [size=1]But the winner for me remains [i]The Emperor's New Groove.[/i][/size]

I loooove scrapbooking. Unfortunately I never have time anymore, plus all my pictures are now digital, but I still try. I made scrapbooks relatively faithfully from eighth grade to freshman year of college, so I have a pretty good record of about sixth grade to ... freshman year of college. (With several baby pictures thrown in for good measure.) I love looking at them afterwards, because that's your life. Oh, and when I was in Hong Kong over Christmas I bought a really nice new scrapbook. They have much cooler designs over there than here ... I wanted to buy, like, three, but I knew I had to resist since I probably won't even fill up that one for a couple years.

Man, one time when I was younger (I don't know, eleven or twelve years old?) I tried to organize my books alphabetically by last name. You should know that I loved reading as a kid, so by then I'd already accumulated what I'll estimate to be .... at least 230 books. I don't think I ever got very far. But I tried. Since then, alas, nothing about me is organized. Oh, except my closet. Which is always really neatly organized by type of clothing: long-sleeve shirts, short-sleeve shirts, sleeveless shirts, pants, jackets ... hm, I think that's all the categories. Oh, and my shoes are usually pretty neat too. Hm, it looks like my priorities have changed. Oh, I suppose all my anime is really neatly organized too. My previous statement was completely false.

I think you should vote if you're informed, but you shouldn't vote if you're not. If you're completely uninterested in politics, have no opinions of your own, or are just voting because it's your "duty" or because someone else told you to, I don't see how that vote would benefit anybody, even yourself. Not that I think being in that state of mind is okay. I think that once you become the age to vote, you should be interested enough in the country you're living in to [b]want[/b] to know what's going on, because it's going to affect your life, no matter how educated or uneducated, "super-Republican" or "super-Democrat" you are. But if you're not interested, and can't make yourself be so, then I don't think you should vote. It could invalidate the vote of someone who's actually well-informed and who actually cares.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mimmi [/i] [color=darkblue] And fibble.... you just demonstrated another form of communication, very good... [/color] - Mimmi[/QUOTE] Yes, "nearly incoherent" I believe it's called. Anyway. I find every form of communication useful in different situations, as is probably the case with most people. In class, reading is the best way for me to understand a new concept. But to understand someone's opinion on something, it's easier to hear it from their own mouths. In response to your last question, I think in a conversation all of those forms of communication (except perhaps written) need to be used to best get the point across, and I would think that all three generally come naturally in a conversation. I know I hardly ever sit stiffly during a conversation, and my physical gestures generally convey a lot of what I'm feeling or thinking.