Shi no Tenshi

I say it all the time, and I mean it everytime I say it. And why the hell not? I tell my family I love them, my friends and my boyfriend. Love has more than one meaning ranging from sexual love to motherly love. With my boyfriend it tends to be a series of actions and phrases we have that basically mean we love each other (like in the film 'Ghost' when the guy says 'Ditto'). Speaking of love, I better go express my love for snack crackers.

[quote name='Charles][img']http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/6781/worthless0lv.gif[/img][/quote] Priceless. Anyway - intresting topic. I wrote a 16 page essay on this theme, and actually looked at many different points of view. My own opinion? I can't really decide. On one hand - yes it is degrading to treat women as a sexual object and it can lead to the degeneration of female beauty. It can be tasteless and pointless, and at times disgusting (DO NOT watch farm porn *shudders*) Yet, on the other hand - it is extremely empowering to women. The majority of men see porn stars as goddesses, even if it's only for their secure sense of sexuality (guess how many times I've used that alliterative sentence!) These women are in control of their bodies with extreme confidence, which is a lot more than a lot of us can say. On a side note, as a feminist, I believe that men and women should have equality in everything. I say there aren't enough porn magazines for women. More nude men mags please xD Then there's exploitation within art, the idea of paintings of the Madonna breast feeding being the earliest 'naughty' portraits, desensitization and the degradation of social morals. *le sigh* On a whole, I don't mind porn. I can watch it, I can read it, and if it's done tastefully (like a lot of them are at Suicide Girls, or in some films) then I can appreciate it and even be turned on by it (which is a plus ;D). But then there's some things that shouldn't exist, such as child pornography, rape porn etc. (the internet is a scary place). I can write more you know...

hehe. I suppose you people didn't get what I meant by the [b]graphical aspects[/b] of the person's signature - that excludes any additional text (which is argueably graphical as it is typography) but still - I felt this game was more for sig-makers in need of quick-crit. Anywho - Retribution I rate your sig and avatar combo a [b]7/10[/b]. I like the simplicity of the quasi-primary colours but the dots don't do it for me. There's something unfinished about the way they cross over each other or under other colours. The letters are intriguing - what do they stand for? :3

Just a little constructive-crit game. Simply rate the graphical aspects of the sig above you out of 10 and give reasons - then provide some quick criticism or tips. Seeing as I'm first, I can't really rate anyone, so go ahead. Shoot.

I've made up a few OC's - they can be fun to manipulate. I don't really write a lot of fanfiction cause I don't see anything substancial in it apart from it being a bit of fun. I've written a few in the past but I've deleted them all - ones that were up to 300 pages as well. I get very bored. One I'm currently working on for Angel Sanctuary has an intresting blend of characters. So far I've made up three, but two are sort of *not* original characters - but I don't want to give anything away. [b]Name:[/b] Ayame (real name is Cherilynn) [b]Age:[/b] Unknown - appears to be in her late twenties [b]Bio:[/b] Unstable past, her memory has deteriorated due to the medicines she took to keep her mental state balanced. I researched her psychosis and have based her personality around it - detatched, spontaneous and at times incoherent. Her social skills are zero to none and her emotions uncontrollable and exaggerated. Despite this she appears bland and personality-less. Her fighting skills are superb because of her lack of fear and inability to calculate consequences. Unfortunetly this also means she can overestimate her limitations with near-fatal results. [b]Appearance:[/b] Unkept and mostly unnattractive. Her blonde hair is knotted and although her violet eyes can be striking, they are dull and lifeless. She measures about 6'5 and has a clumsy appearance because of her unbalanced and non-feminine build. -- [b]Name:[/b] (undecided) [b]Age:[/b] Late teens, early twenties (again undecided) [b]Bio:[/b] She's been raised in Ireland as an orphan, but has had a happy past. A musician of sorts, her main passion is the acoustic guitar. She does sing and has had lessons but her voice is normal - it's her guitar skill that's extraordinary. In the presence of some she can be shy, but she is quick to warm up and is a person who gives her love freely. Her imperfections lie within her very compassion - her attatchments make her vulnerable and she can be impulsive and do things without thinking. She is also very opinionated and will defend her views in any way she can. (her personality is as yet still unfinished) [b]Appearance:[/b] Black hair, green eyes, pale skin and freckles. Her figure is plain - the sort that comes between a UK size 10-12. To some she's attractive, others don't see much in her, it's mainly her personality that draws people. Yeah I'm done, I can't be bothered to type anymore.

[QUOTE=kitsunekami]uh, i was being serious. that actually was a good idea- i have been looking up hairdressing cites myself. and no, i don't think she has.[/QUOTE] Ah, ok sorry about that - it's hard to tell on the internet. At least someone made the effort to read what I posted ;D

I think you should probably get aquanted with the millions of action anime/films out there already. Ichi the Killer for one, if you're into that sort of thing (I hated the anime but loved the one with actors). I thought the second DMC was a pathetic attempt to introduce big busted women. The first and late one are pretty cool - more for the animation than anything else, I get put off with the whole attitude problem theme. And the point to this topic is?...

Lol - they're cute and simple. It's hard to find humour like that nowadays, people try too hard to look cool. Being somewhat geeky, I like the 'any key' one hehe. And the style is good, definately one that is easy to maintain.

Out of all the good music I listen to, I bet all the rubbish songs that have moulded over in the corner will come up. 1. Moby - 18 2. Phantom of the Opera (musical) - Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again 3. Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? 4. Phil Collins - Easy Lover *nods* 5. ABBA - Dancing Queen *ROFL* 6. Scissor Sisters - Laura 7. Queen - Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon 8. Portishead - Sour Times 9. Dandy Warhols - I Love You 10. Elvis - Too Much I don't know why Moby came up twice - I hardly ever listen to them lately. I think ABBA was the most unexpected thing, and Portishead was a nice surprise as I've been neglecting them lately. On a side note, I'm obsessed with Gerard Butler who plays the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera... :love2:

I'm 18, with the mentality of an 8 year old - and I will carry that mentality until people suggest therapy. I spend my time rollerblading past the youngings in my neighbourhood, shouting the enlightening words of Principal Skinner - 'Up yours, children!' My other hobbies include eating, cats and eating cats. All set aside, I can't remember when I joined this place, nor can I remember how I found it. I think it came up in an internet search years ago, I registered, got bored and left. I came back recently but will probably repeat the cycle and leave when I get bored with posting again.

Do some excercises on hands and feet outside your drawings. For example, everything that's been mentioned above maybe even taking a step back and tracing around your own hand or foot, then trying to replicate it. Personally, I take inspiration from Egon Schiele when it comes to hands (but don't look him up if you're sensitive to eroticism) because they're very expressive and look like hands even when they're out of proportion. I tend to draw one continuous line for hands to achieve that effect, but you can try it too to loosen up your technique and make you more daring when you approach it in a proper drawing.

I'd say environmental issues, politics and how today's youth can get involved. Not something you'd necessarily would have to base your magazine on - a page side would probably suffice.

Thanks everyone, your replies have been most helpful. The blurbs on the back are really vague, that's why I've been confused about which one's I'd like. Paranoia Agent definately sounds like one I'd like as well as Texhnolyze. I'll watch ROD the TV simply because I loved the 'movie' and Gungrave doesn't seem like my sort of genre but I'll give it a shot (no pun intended ;p). I'll research some more about Lain, cause it doesn't seem like the sort of show you can just delve into effortlessly.

Naw, I'm just posting about the series I [u]have[/u] seen and am already definately selling, and just want advice on whether to watch the other's or not. Edit: I'll look into Paranoia Agent - sounds good. I'm unsure about GunGrave because I'm not too keen on vampire themes?

I got a boxed set with 10 anime's fairly cheaply and am hoping to sell them on. However, it's not the selling that I want to get underway so quickly, but which one's I should open and keep! I got Chobits, Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane-Renmei (New Feathers), GunGrave, Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Texhnolyze, The Adventures of Mini-Goddess, Tenchi Muyo, ROD the Tv and Paranoia Agent. Chobits: I watched and disliked. Why is the lead male so hysterical? He needs Valium. And the pink robot thing should have been destroyed. The soundtrack sounds like music from a porno, but considering that's all they talk about, I found it suitable and was singing the catchy tune in my sleep. Selling it. Lain: Here's one I've always wanted to watch, and I appreciate the fantastic framing and thought process but I was so bored that I turned it off halfway through the first episode. Does it pick up? Or can someone give me some insight? I pretty much got lost when the girl commits suicide at the very beggining (no need to blank that - it's on the blurb on the DVD). Mini-Goddess: If I can't sell it, I'll burn it. Tenchi Muyo: Seen that series, wasn't particularly impressed, selling it. ROD: Seen the film with The Paper and that Faye-esque femme fatale. I enjoyed it but don't know if I will like this one? The characters on the back look poorly developed and annoying, but is it really worth a shot? I'm only asking cause each DVD is wrapped, and I don't want to keep unwrapping things I will end up selling - just a presentation issue. On another note, if you're intrested in buying and live in the UK, PM me, I promise these are going cheap.

I disliked Interview with a Vampire and Queen of the Damned - mainly because it just didn't feel like the idea of being a vampire was accurately portrayed (I'm biased towards Bram Stoker). Besides all that most of them did was whine, roll around howling in the night and try to be erotic in the controlled sexuality sort of way (and I don't mean sexual orientation). Apart from that the plot structure seemed weak and predictable - for that I don't really feel motivated enough to read the books. Give me Dracula any day.

Lol. I remember when this came out. I assumed it was a joke and thought it was pretty funny actually. It's like that baby cookbook site (it's just recipes where the words chicken and beef have been replaced by the word baby accompanied by Anne Geddes's vegetably mutated baby photos *shudders*) Kitten in a bottle. I love cats, but that cracks me up. Kinda like a cartoon does. Edit: Having looked at the website again, I cannot help but marvel at the sensitivity of people. I myself own an obese cat (we love him too much to say no) who loves to cram himself into little boxes and plastic containers and essentially, squish himself up against the edges. I assume this is normal cat behaviour or a cat personality quirk. Hell, the other day he crammed himself into the space between the wall and my open drawer. He's a strange kitty. Then again, my friend's kitten does the same thing, and likes to hide inside jars!

[quote name='kitsunekami']whoa, yeah, a hairdressing site, that's actually really smart. YOU SHOULD REALLY DO THAT TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW HAIR![/quote] Are you being sarcastic? Cause if so, screw you. I'm trying to help, and find my advice very sound considering I have professional qualifications in art and am currently doing a degree for it. Speaking of my advice, is Miyuki reading [i]anything[/i] we've taken time to type out? :animesigh

That's definately weird! We get silent phone calls where basically the phone company is doing a routine computer call sort of thing. I've had a few strange things happen, but the more recent ones are with the two people that haunt the land my house is on (we know it's the land cause my house is relatively new). One is a girl in a brown dress - a typical pre-Victorian wedding dress. She's a poltergeist, which doesn't mean she's aggressive but very emotional and able to interact with our plane of existance (i.e. she throws forks around -.-). My mum saw her once or twice and talked to her thinking it was me (eventually she realised it couldn't be me cause she has long hair). Saw her in broad daylight too. The other one is a guy who I've seen. He's not evil but he's not good news either. He's also more recent I believe from his dress style - this century perhaps. I just saw him outside, standing next to some bushes with his back to me, looking at the houses across the street. Never seen or heard him since. My aunty had a terrible experience with a ghost that was standing in the middle of the room staring right at her. She thought it was a burglar until he vanished into thin air.

[QUOTE=Retribution] I really dig your paintings and inked-sketches - they have a messy feel to them, and you really pull it off well. The amount of detail you put into your work is amazing to be honest, and I'm not sure how you do it. Great job![/quote] Brushes with as many as five hairs *lol* Funnily enough I just seemed to have learnt to paint overnight, because two/three years ago I was completely hopeless. I do appreciate that you call my work 'messy' cause I've been influenced by expressionism which has a lot of rough edges but high detail. Thanks! [quote]I don't really have much to advise you on, as I'm taking my first formal drawing class ever this year, and we've only scratched the surface of informal perspective. So basically, all your drawings are wonderful. Your pixel art is also very impressive - it's easy to lose sight of the big picture when you're putting small pieces together, so a job well done on that as well.[/quote] I'm trying to refine my pixel art because although it's meant to be non-isometric I still find it too sketchy and lacking in detail. Like you said, it's easy to loose sight of the bigger picture so it's something I'll just keep practicing. [quote]As for the photography, I thought it was good, but better lighting would've done wonders for it. Try messing around with your exposure/[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_stop][B]f.stop[/B][/url]/aperture to get different results on the same picture, and remember what lighting calls for what exposure. One last note, is to take into account the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds][B]rule of thirds[/B][/url] - you don't need to follow it by the book, but keep it in the back of your mind as you photograph things.[/quote] Hehe, all my photos were taken with my lousy digital camera but I definately want to try using a proper SLR. I've used one before but was put off by the impracticality of developing film - but I'm still fascinated by different effects using different exposures and apeture speeds. Usually I just take photos to manipulate eventually, but alas I have no time. Thanks for the comment!

I myself am also a Sonic Sega Genesis fan, but if you set aside all that, it's not a bad game. In fact I found myself very entertained by it, and I like that the levels are hard (in terms of control, sensitivity, loosing rings, those are all things you adapt to in a game) but don't go on forever (like they do in effing Final Fantasy). The good and evil feature is intresting and I look forward to seeing what the different outcomes are.

I just wanted driving lessons - and that's what I got! But I have too many friends and I've yet to recieve all my gifts so it's been a good haul this year. Books. Lemony Snicket's latest Kafka on the Shore - Murakami Death and the Penguin - Kurkov The Electric Michaelangelo - Hall DVD/Games. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (new one) Shadow the Hedgehog PS2 Misc. Rollerblades Christmas Pudding from work (lol) Swarvoski Crystal temp tattoo Spongebob tin Bath Gels blah blah blah Lotion And a bunch of other little things like chocolate and keyrings.

Damn I have no set routine. I suppose on a normal day I go to uni although that usually ends up either a. with a trip to a fast food joint or b. a wander to the library c. running around randomly I do loads of things. More often I go to the pub (the majority gay bars heh), walk around, go on the internet, work on my never-materializing novels, read (hurrah for 'Kafka on the Shore'! got it for Christmas), work, count money (basically I have to always re-work my budjet), talk and bother people, paint for the hell of it, buy underwear, listen to music (I'm obsessed with Beck at the moment), pixel art/graphics (not as often as I used to), cycle/rollerskate, videogames, sometimes teevee (I hate it), movies/cinema, eating Chinese... I do a lot of spontaneous things without schedule. Life seems to be funner that way, if not stressful. Oh yeah, somewhere in there there's quality time with family (immediate, sometimes, extended, once a year or two).

[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c325/riskypixie/kanti1.gif[/IMG] The reason this one doesn't have a right border is so that you can put it into a php banner and have it continuous onto a white bg. If you're unsure how to code the table so that the borders merge, just ask and I'll remove it altogether (so instead you get the table border on the image). [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c325/riskypixie/kanti2.gif[/IMG] Feel free to ask for me to add text. And sorry it took so long, I forgot that I said I would do this! I get sidetracked so easily... but adding anything else won't take me long at all (I have time now it's Christmas).

Quite simply, it's called puberty. And although Foxboy's reply was somewhat vague, he's got a point - a lot of people go through these sort of phases. It's probably a surge of hormones that have you got you riding a roller coaster of high's a low's - trust me I've been there (and when my period comes round it starts up again -.-). You can't stop it, you just have to maintain your cool and think about what makes you happy instead of trying to change back and forwards. I remember I used to have the worst mood swings, where I'd be sreaming in public, throwing tantrums at 14, then sweet as sugar the next. My mother used to have random people on the streets go up to tell her to put me in therapy *rofl* And then there were the sombre phases where like you I would sit down and philosophize. In fact a lot of my good poetry came from those days. My advice - make the most out of it. If people get hurt the most you can do is apologise and say you were having a bad day, or even better, make it up to them. Puberty can be traumatic but it can also be a wonderful and curious thing.