Back of book description:

For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Azar Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every Thursday morning to
read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. They were all former students whom she had taught at university. Some came from conservative and
religious families, others were progressive and secular; several had spent time in jail. Shy and uncomfortable at first, they soon began to open up and speak
more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Their stories intertwined with those they
were reading - "Pride and Prejudice", "Washington Square", "Daisy Miller" and "Lolita" - their Lolita, as they imagined
her in Tehran. Nafisi's account flashes back to the early days of the revolution when she first started teaching at the University of Tehran amid the swirl
of protests and demonstrations. In those frenetic days, the students took control of the university, expelled faculty members and purged the curriculum. Azar
Nafisi's luminous tale offers a portrait of the Iran-Iraq war viewed from Tehran and gives us a glimpse, from the inside, of women's lives in
revolutionary Iran.

Conclusion: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/2 ... index.html]Intel refuses to upgrade their corporate computers to Vista.

I think this pretty much settles it; Vista is this software generation's version of ME.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

Hi Folks! (^_^)
A while back I promised to post the colour pic that Jeff Moy did of my katana/SR scrapper, Bladestryke.
She's my all-time favourite character...I can't quite define why - might be the costume, might be my leaning towards anything with a Japanese/Anime  influence, but she's my preferred scrapper when it comes to laying the smackdown on something. 
Anyhow, in her character bio, the Rikti were responsible for killing her older brother in the first Rikti War, and she's held a bit of a grudge ever since. (Hence her signing up with the Vanguard and slaughtering anything that even looks like a Rikti in the Warzone...)  Since the Rikti Chief Soldiers are the only boss-type that has so far been able to one-shot her in a stand-up one-to-one fight, I asked Jeff for a picture depicting her private war against the Rikti by showing a duel with a Chief Soldier. And thus we have the picture, titled "Bladestryke's Last Stand??".



In other news, here's a picture that Jeff did for me at Anime Central - it's my Martial Arts/Inv. scrapper Captain Vaeria, teamed with her usual sidekick, Atom Lass. (Atom Lass is a character created by my friend Silver Shrike - all characters on the Protector Server. )


Enjoy!   (^_^)
Regards,
B. Van Vliet
aka SkyKnight/MechaDeuce
[http://www.bgcrisis.com

http://www.pvponline.com/

http://www.pvponline.com/2008/07/01/welcome-back/

Priorities, man.. priorities..
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

The first trailer's up, according to http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01 ... 2_trailer/]The Register

(Or you could just go straight to http://flash.sonypictures.com/video/mov ... railer.mp4]the MP4)

Looks like it's going to be a good installment...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Okay, as mentioned in the other thread, if there's anything you folks want me to draw...well, have at it. =)

No rules, as such. But I'll just ramble on a bit about what I can or can't do.

WHAT:

I'm most comfortable doing portrait-style images, as opposed to fight scenes or anything seriously dynamic. However, that's just what I'm
comfortable with. I'll consider any scene requests or even mini-comics - after all, I'm trying to improve my skills, which means pushing the boundaries.

Likewise, most of the time I draw characters in simple poses, with minimal background to the picture. Once again, though, if you've got something more
difficult, I will probably try. I just don't guarantee success. If it proves too hard for me, I'll settle on
some sort of compromise.

By default, I'm talking single-character images here. It occurs to me folks might want pictures with two or more characters in them...that's tricker.
If they're just standing by each other or something, then it pretty much counts as two drawings. No problem there, but it'd take longer, obviously. If
the two characters are interacting in some fashion, then it falls under the 'scene' and 'complex pose/background' clause - ie. I'll try,
but I can't promise.

WHO:

City of Heroes/City of Villains characters! Now, if you'd like me to do something else...I can, but
there's a few reasons I'm doing CoH characters. One, I know these are characters folks care about. Two, I'm doing this as something for the
supergroup and our little community. And three...

...if I'm drawing a CoH character, I can have reference images! Screenshots! Which is what I'll need from you. =D

Ideally these should be full body shots, though if you quite specifically don't want a full body drawing, then
anything goes. Either in-game shots or screenies from the character selection/tailor screen, it doesn't matter - but preferably with good lighting and the
higher texture settings (in graphics options).

Either post screenshots in this thread, or e-mail me - acyl84 ((at)) gmail ((dot)) com, minus the anti-adbot bracketing. I'd actually prefer if requests
are posted in the thread, so it's all together and so everyone else knows what's being worked on, but if
that's impossible for whatever reason, e-mail.

WHERE:

The finished images I've posted in the other thread are hosted on Photobucket, and are all 786 pixels in height. That's because of the
maximum image dimensions for a free Photobucket account. As it happens, though, this is pretty close to my preferred final image size anyway.

However, given that the raw images I work on are much larger than this, I can
provide larger versions if you want them for printing purposes, editing, etc. I can also (usually) provide seperate black and white lineart for any coloured
image.

Or if you want something in black and white, no colour at all - that's fine, in fact it's quicker for me,
obviously...and my colouring skills aren't really great anyway. That's why I'm practicing. =)

Finally, images will be posted on the boards as I finish them. I beg your patience if I get too many requests, if I get busy with other things, so on, so
forth.
-- Acyl

And the hits just keep on rolling in from that Sci Fi hating BASTARD with the death note!

Seriously! What the hell is WITH this year anyway?!

That's it - I'm calling it right now!

Bets on one or more of the original cast of Star Trek buying it before the year is out? We already lost James Doohan and Deforest Kelley. I bet Shatner or
Nimoy are next. Takei? Nichols? Koenig? And takers?

(Purposefully goading the universe's sense of perversity to prove me wrong just so as to keep them out of harms way.)

Looks like Parmount has scheduled it for the summer next year..provided of course SAG gets it's act together.



Sienna Miller as Baroness



Lee Byeong Heon as Stormshadow



Dennnis Quaid as General Hawk



Rachel Nichols as Scarlett



Ray Park as Snake Eyes

Bob, I believe StarRanger was bugging you to do a G.I Joe step before. This is just as good.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

for anyone who has a MA/INV Scrapper - or just /INV Scrapper period. I want some help in reviving a semi-retired character.

Lora Doubet was my first level 50. And I had a lot of fun with playing her, but then ED hit, then global defense nerf... I got her to level 50, but she was
almost completely shelved after that, except to get new zone, monster, and event badges.

I'd like to revive her and make her build viable. So I'd like some help. This is her current build and I've only ever used one respec on her.

First off, I know that by current standards, she's VERY gimped. (No dull pain, for starters. I was playing to concept before all the invulnerability nerfs,
and as a full body cyborg, I wasn't sure how to justify a self heal. Since then, I look at it less as actual -damage- taken, and more as "Stun"
damage, (Like in Champions) so conceptually, I no longer have a problem with it. )

So first - some screenshots, including her current build. (I don't know exactly the order the powers and slots were taken in, that was a LONG time ago.)





Things I'd like to keep -

Both Superspeed and Superleap. (Though if I must, I'll lose Superspeed.)

Focused Accuracy (Possibly conserver power, but I'm willing to drop that. But Focused Accuracy is MANDATORY)

Things I'm definitely getting rid of include Crippling Axe Kick.

Other than that, everything else is negotiable.

Any ideas?

*Edit: Here's a preliminary powers list that I did. I don't have current "build software" so this was just jotted on notepad as I went
partially through the respec and then backed out. I don't have slots listed yet.

Level 1: Thunder Kick, Resist Physical Damage

Level 2: Storm Kick

Level 3:

Level 4: Temp Invulnerability

Level 5:

Level 6: Dull Pain

Level 7:

Level 8: Crane Kick

Level 9:

Level 10: Cobra Strike

Level 11:

Level 12: Combat Jumping

Level 13:

Level 14: Superleap

Level 15:

Level 16: Unyielding

Level 17:

Level 18: Hurdle

Level 19:

Level 20: Health

Level 21:

Level 22: Stamina

Level 23:

Level 24: Boxing

Level 25:

Level 26: Tough

Level 27:

Level 28: Dragon's Tail

Level 29:

Level 30: Invincibility

Level 31:

Level 32: Eagles Claw

Level 33:

Level 34:

Level 35: Focus Chi

Level 36:

Level 37:

Level 38: Unstoppable

Level 39:

Level 40:

Level 41: Focused Accuracy

Level 42:

Level 43:

Level 44: Resist Elements

Level 45:

Level 46:

Level 47: Tough Hide

Level 48:

Level 49: Resist Energies

Level 50:

Accidentally discovered on the SJG Forums:

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=41526]TV Tropes characters-as-devices expressed as brief GURPS character templates.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.