Transcendence

It's yaoi? Le sigh~ I thought it looked interesting, but yaoi does nothing for me.

However, yes. I do know exactly what that feels like. =_=

Quote from: Furgeson on December 31, 2011, 16:10
Oh, big sis...why so pessimistic? Trust me - You won't be useless with this. Why not be the first one to give me a happy bday comment for Transcendence? And since you're a proofreader, you've always been helping us release more.
You're over-analyzing the language, dear. It's just to make it sound more urgent...or maybe it's just my subconsciousness speaking out, who knows. :D

As you said, I'm a proofreader. Over-analyzing language is what I do. 

As for thoughts, it's not at all original, but I really like the spread you linked for Forbidden Garden and how they covered it with messages from various staff members and grateful leechers. I don't think it'd be that difficult to get a few lines out of people if we advertised for it, and the leechers would probably like the chance to get to have a quote and their name up on a chapter. It'd probably give the readership the impression that we care about them, and thus generate more "brand loyalty".

...Coldly calculating? Me?

Failing that, I could certainly attempt a sappy monologue about how indebted everyone here is to everyone ever. *grin* I'd need some stats on the group to match up to the first year spread about how we've grown and so forth, though.

*has had a critical system failure in attempting to suppress her naturally sardonic personality while writing this post*

I'm going to be useless at this, I can tell. But I had to post to state my confusion over some of the language here. Namely, "go out with a bang" and the imperative to get out a large number of chapters in the "3 months left". You make it sound like 3 years is the expiration date of the group, Lil. o.o;

This is less fanfiction and more original writing, but I hoped you guys might like it a bit. It's something I dashed off this morning in response to a prompt on dA to write this unknown girl's story. (The prompt is here, if anyone wants to submit their own chapters to the story http://techgnotic.deviantart.com/journal/Odyssey-Into-2012-272543956?utm_source=elnino&utm_medium=messagecenter&utm_campaign=120711_NET_Odyssey&utm_term=button )

By the way, the "Zephyr" part was a mere coincidence, that part of the prompt was chosen for me. No relation to our Zephyr at all. ;)

-------------------------

She blinked.

And with that simple action the world became spinning confusion. Where was she? What in hell was this?!

The thing before her was a rectangle of pitch black, somehow standing just in front of the opposite wall. As she extended a tentative hand toward the anomaly, she felt a tingling energy in her fingertips and reflexively pulled it back.

Hugging her still-tingling limb to her chest, she glanced nervously around. The rest of the room was unremarkable. Small, and cluttered with the sort of detritus a semi-forgotten storage room collects, there was nothing to impress it upon the memory apart from the strange object it contained...and its complete lack of a door.

How was that even possible? But what was worse was that she had no idea how she'd gotten here. Before she'd become aware of her surroundings a moment ago she'd been...where? She didn't know. And the panic that threatened to rise in her chest at that realization proved hard to suppress.

Something was stirring somewhere in her mind, though. She looked up again at the gate in front of her...it was a gate, wasn't it? She somehow knew it. And terrifying though the thought was, she'd put it there. Somehow.

Spurred on by this strange intuition, she put her hands into the pockets of her coat. One came away empty, but the other pocket held two crumpled bits of paper. She unfolded the first and found a page torn from a calendar; December 2011. Was that the current month? She searched her memory for a clue but found nothing. Every Wednesday and Saturday on the page had been circled, however, and something told her today was one of those highlighted dates. With nothing more to glean, she refolded the paper and returned it to her pocket.

The other paper was nothing but a slip, and read merely "Tokyo" and "Zephyr" in neat pencil. Was this her handwriting? She was unsure. But again, she felt an unnerving certainty that the portal before her was to take her to Tokyo, where she would find "Zephyr"...whoever or whatever that may be. Even if this hadn't given her the sense of being direly important, there was nothing else to do. She didn't know how to unsummon the gateway, or even if that would be a good idea, and there was no other exit to the room.

Drawing a deep breath to steel her nerves, she plunged forward through the inky black surface...


...and emerged gasping and shivering into late afternoon sunlight. She spun in place, but there was no magical gateway at her back, just a tree-lined stairway leading down from a much more commonplace one. Turning to look back in the direction she'd been facing as she came through, she found herself on the grounds of a Shinto shrine. The quiet was nearly eerie, and it was with a start that she noticed the small, wizened man in the robes of a priest, so still had he been standing. He smiled warmly at her notice, however, and opened his mouth to speak.

The buzzing sensation in her head lasted no more than a fraction of a second, but for its intensity it may as well have been an hour. She clutched her ears in pain, but as soon as she had, the sound was gone and only the kindly voice of an elderly man came through.

"Welcome," he'd said.

She looked up at him in more than a little confusion. He must have seen her come through the gate. Had he seen the black portal, or had she simply materialized in the red-lacquered arch? Either way, he didn't seem shocked. It was almost as if he was expecting her.

And what was that buzzing just now?

"Hello," she tried tentatively, and discovered an odd resonance under her voice that she couldn't quite place.

His smile broadened at her puzzled look.  

"It's Japanese, you see," he explained. And it took her a moment to process the implication of his words.

All her questions came out in a rush then.

"Can you tell me what's going on? Who am I? Why am I here? What's 'Zephyr'?"

His smile wavered momentarily at the last word, but was replaced quickly enough.

"I'm afraid I know little more than you. But you should be more careful of what you reveal here," the old man advised. "Go down into the town. Two streets away you'll find a smith's shop, ask there for Yamamoto-sama."

He paused and looked her up and down, considering.

"But first, have a look in the temple. There should be a kimono there that will fit, and a small side room where you can change." He bowed. "And may your journey be successful."

With another smile, he turned and disappeared amongst the trees.

"Wait!" she called after him, "You haven't told me-;" but when she reached the clearing on the other side, she was alone.


She wasn't happy with any of this. Who could be? It seemed to her that she was being strung along by some sort of Fate without her consent or even her knowledge. Every step led her to only a single choice: go forward blindly or stand still for eternity. She grumbled about enigmatic old men as she did her best to tie the unfamiliar obi in a way that looked presentable. Tucking the slips of paper from her coat pocket inside the kimono, she made her way down the long stairs to the town.

What she found there surprised her. This was no modern Japan that she had vague memories of from stories. There were no neon lights and shinkansen in this Tokyo...or should that be Edo? No, this was a much older time than she had presumably left. She drew stares as she walked along the streets, foreigners were so rare in this period that her presence was nearly shocking, and she was thankful that the shop she sought wasn't far.

With a relieved sigh, she at last spotted her likely destination, and ducked inside. It was cool and dark there and her eyes adjusted slowly to the dim light. A scraping noise behind her drew her attention, but not in time to avoid the hand that clamped over her mouth, and the arm that pinned her against her assailant.

"Got you, you damned bitch," the man swore in her ear. "Looks like this chase will end sooner than we thought."

She struggled in his grasp, but he was stronger than she was and she couldn't pull away. As she was beginning to panic, thoughts of dying in this strange place on a mission she didn't even understand swimming through her oxygen deprived-mind, she heard the man gurgle and felt his hold loosen.

He slumped to the floor as she sprang away, just in time to see a cloud of black fog escape from his mouth and dissipate in the air.

"Damn," muttered the man who was now wiping her attacker's blood from his blade. "I was hoping there would be more time than this, but you seem to have drawn too much attention on your way here. There will be more coming soon."

Shocked she may be, but her brain still worked.

"Ya- Yamamoto-sama?" she stuttered.

He grinned lopsidedly. "The 'sama' really isn't necessary, but I'm Yamamoto, yes."

"More importantly," he told her as he sheathed his sword, "we need to get you out of here. This way."

He lead the way to a small room in the back of the shop. It appeared to house his wares, and there was no way out of it apart from the door they'd entered, as far as she could see. She didn't know what he was planning, or if she could trust him, but he had just saved her life.

"What now?" she asked.

"Well, I'd have liked to fill you in a bit, but there's no time now. Now, you open the next gate."

"What?" she asked in abject confusion. "But wait, I haven't even found Zeph-;"

Remembering the priest's warning, she cut off abruptly.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Well, you have actually," he said as he laid a tanto in an intricately ornamented sheath into her hands.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to keep watch for more of those. And I can't be in here when you open the gate anyway," the smith said as he turned to go.

"Wait!" she cried, putting a hand on his sleeve. "Where am I going now? What am I supposed to do?"

He smiled kindly. "The messengers will always be waiting. And you'll know what you need to when the time comes."

As he closed the door behind him, she heard him say, "Good luck, Maya-san."

Alone in another small, dimly-lit room, suddenly she felt the tugging in her mind once again telling her what to do.

With a rasping sound, she drew the razor sharp knife from its sheath. And with an indrawn breath for courage, she cut her wrist and murmured a phrase that meant nothing to her, in a language she'd never heard.

The rectangle of blackness took the place of the door by which she'd entered the room. And once more, only slightly more knowledgeable than she'd been the last time, she stepped through.

Sorry for coming along and being all proofreadery, but should that text perhaps be:

"Gummy Bears Take Over:
Where all the juicy kpop flavors are."

or

"Gummy Bears Take Over:
Where all the juicy kpop flavor is." ?

It's just, "Gummy Bears Take Over" seems like the title of a site or something, thus you'd want a colon after it, and the second sentence is a bit ungrammatical as it is.

If I've misunderstood, then gomen nasai for being nosy.

Wow, those are great!  You make me wish (again) that I had anything like artistic talent.

I especially love the birdy (cockatoo? I don't know my bird species from my elbow) one, and the inked portion on the guy with the stuffed animals is really sharp and lovely.

Good job! 

Quote from: Renny on November 25, 2011, 06:58
I like them they remind me of mini dragons 

Me, too! I've got tattoos of bat wings on my back and sometimes they strike me as particularly dragony. ^^

Quote from: callingcalling on November 20, 2011, 07:22
I find Charmy's snow fox sig to be awesome and wondered if someone could make me something similarly simple and elegant, but bat themed

Edit: But nevermind. It's not worth arguing about.

Quote from: NibbPower on November 24, 2011, 15:26
I just hate bats. they disgusting.

Um, then why did you agree to make a signature for me when I'd asked for one with bats? o.O

Ah! Those are really pretty, Renny! 

I can't decide if I like the misty-ness of the first one or the sharp colors of the second one better...

*downloads them both* 

Been a few days, Nibb. *shakes fist in mock-anger*

I can has sig? 

Welcome to the forums! Wow, editor, proofreader and quality checker? o.o That's a lot to handle. I tried the typesetting test once and was like  Just proofreading keeps my hands pretty full, so I don't think I could handle anywhere near as much.

But good luck, and see you around the site! ^^

So, I've only managed to sleep about five and a half hours, and I'm bored as sin. And I thought to myself, "what a perfect time to ask if someone will make a signature for me."  

Truth be told, I find Charmy's snow fox sig to be awesome and wondered if someone could make me something similarly simple and elegant, but bat themed (with "callingcalling" on it, obv.)

It's not necessary to use this particular pic (especially since it's rather square), but it's one I like so I leave it here as inspiration:


If it helps, I'm on the gothy side and like color combinations like black/red, black/blue, and black/orange (notice a theme?   )

If someone would be willing to give it a try, I'd be grateful.

CC

Hello! Welcome to the group!

Quote from: Koyue on November 10, 2011, 18:46
The staffers are really nice (that's an overstatement  )

An "overstatement", Koyue? Are you saying we aren't really nice, then? :P

Welcome to the forums! (Though I'm so new I squeak, what'm I doing welcoming people? ^^; )

Your username is, indeed, awesome. And I'll add my voice to the chorus of "Hey, a dude! How novel!"

What branch of the service are you in?

Reading through this thread has reminded me of so many things I watched as a kid that I never considered "anime", like Voltron and Thundercats. (They were new when I was little  ).

The first thing I ever watched knowing that it was a "Japanese cartoon" was the Vampire Hunter D movie, when I was, like, eight. I tell people that and tend to get a o_o response. 

But what turned me into an anime fan was, like almost half the people in this thread, Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z on Toonami (when I was 18 or so. :P )

Quote from: Furgeson on October 30, 2011, 19:48
Actually, we should be apologizing for going off topic and (slightly) spamming your thread.
If you want me to separate the KHR content from the Welcome/Intro-Related content, I'd be happy to do so :(

Haha! Not at all. I like the informality of it all. And I brought on the KHR topic myself with the thread title. No worries. ^^

Derp! I got caught up in proofreading my first chapter and stopped replying to people here.  Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Quote from: icewing on October 29, 2011, 18:56

Have fun in the forums! and possibly join our facebook group? :3
http://www.facebook.com/groups/163500641929/

:D

I may join the facebook group at some point in the future, but at the moment I can't because I shut down my facebook profile due to drama queens. ^^; If I eventually open it back up, I'll certainly do it, though. Thanks for the invite! ^^

Apologies (mostly to Lily) for bringing the KHR-love to the forums. :P

Oh, of course! How could I forget Hibari? I do adore him, though if I actually knew him he would scare the shit out of me, and not much scares me. o.o And the birdy is awesomeness, I admit.

Haven't actually watched the anime for KHR, so I'm blissfully ignorant of Squalo's voice acting. In print, he just seems like a lovable asshole. XD And while Rokudo Mukuro is okay, I find his name prohibitively tongue-tying. >.<

(Hope you guys don't mind a bit of swearing here and there, it's sort of habit. >.>)

Quote from: Ryu on October 29, 2011, 15:55
I am so obsessed with KHR...

Who's your favorite character?

Hmm. I think it's a toss up between Gokudera and Yamamoto's adorable dumbness.  Though Squalo and his constant screaming and general bishiness amuse me. How about you?

QuoteWh-what are you talking about?! We don't haze n00b blood--- I mean, NEW STAFFERS here! :D
...>_> hurhur *hi-fives Zephyr anyway*

Uh huh. Pardon me if I don't turn my back on you guys. :P

Quote from: Ryu on October 29, 2011, 15:36
Welcome to the community, Anna!
Yay, another proofreader. XD

By any chance...have you read KHR before?

Thanks! And yeah, KHR is one of the manga that I'm trying to keep current with at the moment. You caught me. 

Thanks very much, guys!

Quote from: Furgeson on October 29, 2011, 13:51
ANNAAAA! *waves hello*
A really big hug, and a huge welcome to the forum! Make yourself comfortable, and don't be afraid to PM me or one of the staffers if you have any questions.
Be sure to join into our discussions and chats - we always love a new voice!

Psst - We have a fanfiction board if you're interested in posting there... *wiggles brows*

*return hug* Thanks! I'll try to join in here and there, but I tend to be fairly quiet. But I'll make an effort! ^^;

I'm afraid my only fanfiction is Dragon Age 2 related though, as I'm a Fenris obsessive fangirl. If I write anything that's anime related I'll add it though. ^^

QuoteYay! Fresh newbie! (you'll understand later)

Haha! The normal newbie harassing, or something more? ;)

Hello all! I'm Anna and I'll be joining you as a proofreader.

Please take care of me from now on. ^^