ArmachiA

I have a love/hate relationship with anime. Most of the stuff I like no one ever watches and I've never seen any of the hugely popular anime like Naruto, Attack on Titan, etc. I tend to like subtle anime with a lot if character depth or just slice-of-life shoujo crap. I echo Cowboy Bebop forever, though. Like, if you haven't watched it just stop what your doing and watch it right now. 1. Madoka Magica. When people ask me what I recommend in anime, this is usually the first anime I tell people about. Kalafina, who does the opening/ending songs also is a favorite Jpop group of mine. I don't need to describe it, just watch this AMV and see if it doesn't make you look it up immediately. [video=youtube] 2. Chihayafuru. It's an anime about a bunch of people playing an obscure Japanese poem game called Karata. Kind of a sports anime, kind of a slice-of-life, Chihayafuru is about three childhood friends, 2 boys and one girl, who bonded over the game then separated due to life getting in the way. It's ridiculously innocent, but strangely realistic and you can help but root for all of them to find their way. [video=youtube] 3. Seirei no Moribito. Beautifully drawn Japanese fantasy anime with a pretty damn kick ass female protagonist. Usually when people ask me whats a good female lead in an anime I point to Balsa. She's strong and tough but fallible and imperfect. The whole anime, while it starts a little slow, is just beautifully done. [video=youtube] 4. Eden of the East. I honestly have no idea why this one doesn't have a bigger fanbase, it's so good. It's like half mystery-half slice of life, with V for Vendetta in there somewhere for good measure. The whole thing is pretty out there but basically boils down to this little Wiki tidbit: The Seleção (Portuguese: "Selection") are the participants of the game. Each carries a special "Noblesse oblige" cell phone that is credited with 10 billion yen which they must use to "save Japan". They can spend the money in whatever manner they wish, using a concierge named Juiz (Portuguese: "Judge", the soccer referee) to accomplish the goal, however, any Seleção who uses up their money before they can complete their mission, who acts purely for self-interest, or does nothing with the phone for an extended period of time will be eliminated by a person (one of the twelve) called "The Supporter". And yet, it's SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. It's one of those anime that you need to talk about after you've seen it. [video=youtube] 5. Paradise Kiss. Someone did a better job at selling it then I ever could. But go watch it, it's really good.

Joss Whedon has corrupted mine so thoroughly I always accidently use one of his characters as a template for mine. Is that a cliche? Whedon-izing.

Yo, if you don't want SE to make characters that are glorified Miqote, stop rolling Miqote. There, problem solved. The playerbase did this to themselves.

Femme Fatales. I intentionally wrote Armi the exact opposite to get away from it since I do it so often and I'm being really careful to avoid "Snarky femme fatale" on Langli - my Au Ra - too. Loki is actually what I usually roll, it's really easy to fall back on and Armi continually proves a fun challenge. Though Armi does have something I do like exploring, which is Martyr syndrome, so she even can't get away from the cliche's!

Armi is going to stare. Stare all the time. Stare a lot. And ask stupid questions. "So if you're from Africa, why are you white?" type questions.

Armi is someone forever trying to reconcile who she is with who she wants to be. A strong person who has no idea that she's strong, and someone who wants to get close to people while buried behind thousands of walls. She believes, in essence, she's a ghost in her own time, living some kind of half-life. However, she hides all of this behind a goofy and upbeat nature, those who never get behind the wall would never know about her crippling insecurity and she rarely, if ever, talks about herself. To most people, Armi is kind of weird, kind of goofy, and kind of shy, hard to dislike and even harder not to tease. But behind the goofiness, behind the fact she doesn't get jokes or doesn't understand what flirting is, behind the smiles and her genuine nature, lies someone who believes they aren't a whole, living person yet. And she isn't sure she'll ever be one.

^ ^ And I rolled his sister

^ The bench mark page actually gives you complete instructions on how to access and use it

^ ^ On RnR fighting, the NB (Who owns the bar Mercurias runs ) is working on an entire system for that since dice rolls are extremely unsatisfying. We've already wrote the UNI system for roll20, which worked out well, now it's just adapting it to a pit-style Prize Fighter thing which takes into account character skill and strength as well. It's been tested a few times so far... Crits were pretty op though.

I like the idea of the Fem Ra one there but... to me it just looks like the American idea of female beauty, big breasts, small waist, big ass. They were onto something there for SURE with the claws and the faces. I would have made the breast smaller for a more athletic build (Warring Tribe, constant battle) with a bit of a less voluptuous look. HOWEVER, they look much more brutal than the current incarnation which makes more sense with the lore.

For me, it's just makes me confused on what SE wants the Au Ra to be. I'm fine with the aesthetic choice generally, but if the Au Ra are supposed to be a battle hardened, warring Tribe kinda thing that the lore is implying... the aesthetic of Japanese idols isn't making much sense and it kind effs up my immersion on them. I dunno maybe I'm wrong and they'll be less war-y then implied, but the aesthetic should match the lore and so far, at least for the Xaela females, it's not really so much. We'll see. Like, I said, I think the females look fine on their own, it's just gonna be weird if their look doesn't match the lore.

That's fine. I'm just making sure my point is clear. It's just really easy to get a point confused around here so I'm easily on the defensive. :thumbsup:

I never said that, I'm explaining the aesthetic. In fact reading on, I go on to say the Aesthetic is what needs to be talked about, wrong or right, not the fact they look like children. Those stereotypes are wrong, where certain things look Feminine and certain things look Masculine. But let's talk about them from the same place SE is coming from: Japanese culture, instead of "Short and cute = kids". Quotin myself:

When there's no GM to make sure both parties aren't "playing fair", coupled with the fact every single MMO roleplayer has been burned by random combat encounters with people who like to God Mod, you can understand why the player would be twitchy about it.

^ I agree. I think there's a case to be made here about what is stereotypically female and whether or not those stereotypes are something we, when playing females, want, but saying they are children ruin the argument since people will focus on that aspect. Women are expected to look very, very female. That usually means short, big eyes, small noses, dewy features, and puckers lips. The Au Ra look pretty much exactly the way Japan sees ideal female beauty. Just look at their idols (Girls who are supposed to represent ideal Japanese beauty): Mayu Watanabe (21) of AKB48 Sayumi Michishige (25) of Morning Musume These girls are beautifully small faced and youthful, and very popular in Japan. Au Ra females pretty much look like Japanese idols. The problem comes that we, as players, fall for it. Because we find those features attractive as well. Look at how popular Miqo'te and Midlander Hyur's ARE. Half of the server is pretty much Miqo'te on it's own, add Midlander Hyurs to the mix and finding an Elezen, Roe, Lalafell, and Highlander can actually be difficult. The truth is, this race was designed on what would sell and WE AS PLAYERS have made it clear what we like. Do I think it's an issue overall? Of course. We shouldn't be afraid to play the Roe's and the Highlanders, and it's a problem that they are seen as somehow less feminine than their Moqote counterparts. We should also talk about the Male Au Ra, too, who are basically designed like Fujoshi-bait anime boys to be slender, tall, and attractive. But less heat seems to be hitting the males even though the males absolutely 100% look like Japanese male idols to me. What up, Yamapi?

Is this for real? Miqo'te females are even taller than that! I thought they were going to at least be hyur sized. Max height for Miqo'te females is around 5'3"~5'3.8". A difference of approximately one to two inches isn't that big of a deal. It might not matter for you but it matters to me. 5'2 at the tallest is pretty short. Miqo'te I already considered shorter than what I'd be willing to roll. So the knowledge they are even shorter than them is definitely a deal breaker for me. That is basically what I was getting at. I'm frustrated because I keep trying to hold onto the idea of being optimistic that there will be something I like about the Au Ra. I definitely love the scales, horns, and reptilian themes. All that would be great if the Au Ra ladies looked like women and not like children. This two things together made it sound like you were saying it was the height, if you weren't I apologize.

They don't look like children. Like, at all. They don't even resemble children. You may have a case for them looking like they are in their early 20's, and if you want to make an older Au Ra you'd be shit out of luck (Miqo'te are the same way) but they don't look like children. It's an extreme argument to make a point. Trying to say super feminine features look like children isn't going anywhere. Are you sad about super feminine features (Or what's considered stereotypically feminine)? Cool. That's fine. That doesn't make them look like kids.

I think the only thing that really bugs me is the assumed "My character will be better than yours." How exactly do you know that? Do you know if/when my character has been training? Do you know her complete background to make that judgement call? There is no possible way for a another character who doesn't know mine to know how strong she is or isn't. Anyone who walks into a fight oocly (ICly cockiness is a thing) with the attitude that their character is stronger than anyone's is being highly HIGHLY presumptuous. Now, Armi would probably lose, true, but I know plenty of RP characters who are completely combat capable and to assume they wouldn't give your character a challenge is amazingly naive.

Can we please stop saying the Au Ra women look like children because they're short? Yall... My sister is 5 Foot. My mom is 5'1". My best friend is 5'2". They are all over 30 and they do not look like children.

Halone, the Fury — What is your character passionate about? She's passionate about music, though she hardly lets anyone know it. While lately she can be seen singing in bars and tea houses, she generally keeps quiet about it. Menphina, the Lover — Does your character have any lovers? One now, named Tosheden Muramasa. She absolutely 100% believes he's her soulmate and this, of course, means she's going to inevitably lose him. Thaliak, the Scholar — What topics or subjects does your character like to learn about? Music. Stories. Tea. Herbs. Other people. Nymeia, the Spinner — Does your character have any extraordinary skills in crafting? Crafting music. maybe. Llymlaen, the Navigator — What is your character’s dream vacation? Where would they go? Who or what would they bring with them? Armi has a long, never seen dream of getting on a big ol' boat and just sailing the world, seeing where it would go. Oschon, the Wanderer — Where is your character from? Where do they consider their home to be now? She grew up in Gridania, as a farmer's daughter and eventually priestess. However, Gridania is hard for her to go back home to, as no one remembers her due to events. For awhile, her home was Ul'dah, buying a house in the Goblet and living alone. Currently, however, she lives with Tosheden in Mist. Byregot, the Builder — What are the building blocks of your character’s personality from their childhood that determines their reactions and behaviors as an adult? I think the biggest thing that really determined how she is now was her time in the Priesthood. She was separated from the rest of society for so long it made her immature, naive, and a bit weird. To this day, she doesn't really understand social norms or jokes. She doesn't really know how to talk to people, constantly talking in slow sentences and never finishing her thoughts. A lot of people take it to mean she's stupid or a bit slow, but really, she just doesn't understand outside society at all. Rhalgr, the Destroyer — If your character had the power, what would they destroy? The idea that people can be unimportant. Azeyma, the Warden — Who has been the most important role model in your character’s life? Ellion Goto. He's been like a father to her ever since she was 18 and he proves to be a valuable resource when it comes to learning about the way the world works. Nald’thal, the Traders — What does your character do for a living? What is their favorite job to work on? What is their least favorite job to do? Her official job is Public Relations in the Night Blades Free Company,but she honestly never feels like she earns it. Ellion most likely gave it to her because it was easy enough for her to do. So, to make up for it, she regular volunteers for missions that require the use of her bow, though she's always conflicted about whether or not she should be on the front lines. Nophica, the Matron — Describe your character’s parents? Who is their mother? Who is their father? Armi's parents don't remember her at all, though both of them are alive and well. Alene, her mother, was a kind, warmhearted woman who is outgoing and extremely emotional. Kason, her father, was always a pulled back kind of person. Quiet, but not shy, just more observant. Armi had a hard time connecting with her father in her youth, which still bothers her to this day. Althyk, the Keeper — If your character could go back into the past and change one thing, what would it be and why? Armi would be quick to say she would never change anything, because changing one thing in the past creates a new and different Armi. However, I think if one got to know her, she would admit that there are quite a few things she would change.

This is such a good way of describing it I'm stealing it forever.

Super Saiyan hair, really SE?

Just noticed this is saying 217cm near the 100 height marker. That's like 7 feet. Okay, those who say the height discrepancy is massive have a case now. Though, for the record, it doesn't matter to me, that is a huge difference. and on shortness: I'm 5'8" (Female) and my sister is 5"0", and I can tell you she is way way WAY scarier than me. Girl is a beast. Height is not personality.

Males got dem thunder thighs.

THe average height for all women in Japan in 5'2" though >.> (For comparison the average height for ladies in the US? 5'4". Come on now, 5'2" isn't extreme at all)