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Sounds interesting, I'll join as well.

I beg to differ

Confession: I'm back in America. Things I miss from California that Asia didn't have Good pizza and hamburgers being the average here Naturally curvy women being the average here. Things I miss in Asian that California doesn't have: The awesome variety of food I could pick just walking 10 steps out of my hotel/house/living area. Life is literally everywhere in Asia. California for all the population density it has, feels so barren in comparison.

Get the version of the game that is not Chinese.

On the contrary, many have been complaining recently of the lack of serious and meaningful threads, and it delights me, as I'm sure it does many others, to see a new one pop up. You should be proud. Now back on topic. I chose child because well, out of the things a human must sacrifice himself for, children are one of the most important. I don't think I have to point out why children are important, like for the continuation of mankind and all that, but at least when compared to yourself and even your wife, they definitely come first. Would you be able to even live with the knowledge that you prioritized your own self over your wife and child? Will a women accept the fact that her life was prioritized over her own child and husband? I think these are both rhetorical questions, at least for most people.

Speaking of color, I just found out about this site today. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to find a good color that compliments each others very well but isn't really good at color and stuff (like me ).

Hotspring!!

I'm not sure if you're doing this for the post count but everything I said already has the answers. Or you just really need someone to talk to.

There's a simple way. Request it from someone who renders. But seriously, there are people who accepts requests for free since their usual release is a render anyway. Everyone's having fun while I was asleep. Well putting that aside, the problem of some of the people unaware to specify some stuff should be fixed by the next addition by Rose. He's working on a lexicon for stuff related to this so keep your heads up people. Rose is back and there are some people helping out. Things are starting to brighten up. If you could put up some tuts regarding blending then that'll help us amateurs here. Also you could still blend the character and the background and still have the focus on the character. Rule of thirds is necessary and adding a light source near the focal point should be enough while reducing the brightness away from the focal. You could just use a layer mask with a radial gradient. If that's not enough sharpening/blurring would finish it. Edit: Stumbled upon a render similar Okay can I remove some details here? It's too specific that it's hard to find something to fit. If I remove the glasses, I'll take this.

So, I didn't see Nosebleed's and Rose's reply until I was halfway through. So I decided to just finish the thing instead. Kinda expected more than this. I'm not sure if the flowers fit in this situation.

Wasn't Shinji just designed to lampshade the stereotypical mecha hero of the time? Until Evangelion I think most 'super robot' (as opposed to stuff like Gundam) anime leads were ultra-super-humanly heroic guys who smiled bravely in the face of danger and had the purest of pure hearts full of love for justice and peace. Then you get Shinji who couldn't give less of a crap about world peace or other people and doesn't have a heroic bone in his body. Even when he does the right thing it's usually for a selfish reason, and he seldom takes initiative, always relying on others to clue him in on what he should be doing. So yeah I agree with those who say Shinji is well-written. He was meant to be a stark contrast to every mecha hero before him, and it really did effectively satirize the genre. ... all of which doesn't change the fact that he's a whiny, selfish, annoying little coward.

Can I participate as a representative of your average VN reader? My Japanese is basic at best, so I can't adequately judge accuracy. I would rate stuff based on how well they read in english, to a native english reader. edit: I'll take sanahtlig liking this post as acceptance of my unlearned self participating in this discussion. I've been outspoken about bad translations before, much to the chagrin of some other posters. I like to call it as I see it, so I may be a little harsh, these are just my own unfiltered opinions. I mean nothing personal by any of it, it's a purely objective look at their quality. Unacceptable (the translation is so bad it is difficult to understand at times and makes you want to stop reading entirely): Konosora - Really bad translation in all respects. Seems to be wildly inaccurate, on top of reading like complete crap. Koitate - Large portions of this translation are written incredibly poorly, making it difficult to read and understand at times. To Heart 2 - Well, about a third or more of the current partial patch can be considered unacceptable, while the rest could be considered passable or even satisfactory. It's clear the translator has been working on it for years and has gotten better at both Japanese and English over that period of time. The routes he translated first, however, are very rough. Yosuga no Sora - The Sora and Common routes are okay, the rest is borderline incomprehensible. Flyable Hearts - Or any other obvious machine translation. Unreadably bad, even if you try to edit it into something better. Passable (They will deliver the story, but the writing itself may not be particularly entertaining): Cross Channel - Apparently misses a lot of the subtext, but you know what they say, ignorance is bliss. At times I found myself rereading a few lines in order to figure out what was going on, but apparently it's also difficult to understand in Japanese, too, so it's hard to say whose fault that is (if anyone's). Sekien no Inganock - Ixrec's attempt at translating the prose was mostly a failure and it feels pretty amateurish as a result. Fate/Stay Night - Well, I could just list everything translated by TakaJun here. He's a Japanese native and obviously understand that language, but his command of the english language is not adequate for writing compelling fiction. Stiff and unnatural sentences are prevalent throughout all of his translations. SakuSaku - Akerou runs into the same problem TakaJun did when writing sentences, and the same kind of stiff and awkward writing is present here. And he most probably isn't as good as him at Japanese. Higurashi - Littered with typos and grammatical errors, it's borderline between unacceptable and passable, but ultimately the story can be understood well enough. Satisfactory (Easily understandable and strong, natural-sounding writing): Phoenix Wright - Yes, it obviously deviated from the Japanese script by quite a bit due to its westernization, but the translated script was written very well and it delivered the intended comedic tone of the game perfectly in a way all americans and europeans could understand. Cartagra - It went through years of TLC and editing hell but it came out a solid product, with a pretty good english script. Ayakashibito - The funny scenes are funny for all the right reasons, the intense action scenes are described in a detailed yet easy to understand manner. Excellent (Not perfect, but you would barely even know it's a translation if you weren't looking VERY closely) DanganRonpa (fan translation) - Black Dragon Hunt is a skilled translator and Ritobito is probably the best editor currently working in the scene. A good, eclectic script that was a joy to read. Grisaia no Kajitsu - Koestl is a very funny person, he has a strong understanding of Japanese, and his writing is excellent. Every character had their distinct flavor come across perfectly and the english script was absolutely hilarious. Saya no Uta - Makoto is easily the most talented translator in the scene, and that can't be more evident here. Extremely creepy, emotionally impactful, and disturbing in all of the spots it is meant to be. ------------------- I want to make some observations from these evaluations. Depending on the VN, it is possible to translate humor well despite not being a very good english writer. Majikoi may be an example of this. TakaJun's Majikoi script still felt pretty stiff, but it was still funny because Majikoi relies heavily on situational comedy. You're still able to understand the humorous situations the characters get themselves into, or the absurdity of a character's actions, and that's still funny. On the other hand, Grisaia relies heavily on the actual writing. I shudder to think what a Grisaia no Kajitsu translation by TakaJun would look like, but it most probably wouldn't be very funny. You need a strong talent for writing in order to translate that kind of humor well. I didn't list Rewrite because I wouldn't know where to put it. Maybe Satisfactory, even though it's probably not all that better than the other Ixrec translations listed at passable. Again, this goes back to the style of the original writing. Rewrite relies much less on the strength of its writing than Cross Channel and Sekien no Inganock, instead relying on the characters and the overall storyline. This means that you don't necessarily need to be as strong of a writer in order to translate the work. On the other hand, if you're working on something that does rely heavily on the quality of its writing, then "it allows you to understand the story" simply isn't good enough. This is the main problem I run into when I see people advocating machine translations. There's much more to a written work than the story. I also want to strongly disagree that there are "too many highly critical people around". I think in general Fuwanovel is a very soft community, terrified of making criticisms and biting the hands that feed them. This is actually a detriment to the community, Fuwanovel is too soft. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree, but I think people can afford to speak their minds a bit more, and translators should be more receptive to cricism. I'm not saying we should become 4chan, because that place has the complete opposite problem where literally everything is shit and everyone should kill themselves for trying. If you really are translating purely for personal reasons, then you're free to keep your translation to yourself. But if you release it for public consumption and plan to continue translating, then you're going to have to deal with the public, and the public have the right to express their opinions. I'm also not saying that we should be catered to, but I would at least like to be able to express my opinion without being lambasted for doing so. I could probably rant about this particular subject for days, but I'll refrain.

Hey Fuwa! I've been thinking a lot lately. Mainly on how I will be able to contribute to the community. This was hard because I'm not particularly good at the technical side of visual novels and I'm not a translator either. However, recently I've been making signatures for other users here and it turns out that I really like it. And So I thought why not make a "signature thread" for all the users here who would like signatures. All you have to do is let me know what you like by following the requirements below. 1.) Pm a link to your favorite picture 2.) If any text is desired, please pm the specific text with the picture. 3.) Do me a favor and post back your signature here so everyone can have a look at it 4.) If you by any chance cannot think of an image but would still like a signature, Pm and i'll try my best. 5.) Give Honest Feedback. I need to Know if there was something you did not like. Speak Ya mind! So at the end of the day we'll both be happy with the transaction. Here is a link of my work . Link to Za Album : Please take a moment to review the rules concerning Signatures. Thank you Signature and Avatar Guidelines No explicit nudity (genitalia and female nipples are in this category) No pornography (this includes implied sexual acts and bodily fluids) No gore (disembowelment, dismemberment, torture, etc.) No offensive content (profanity, hate speech, offensive symbolism, etc.) No seizure inducing GIFs (or GIFs that make people's eyes bleed in general) No signatures exceeding 400 Kbs in filesize

Yeah this was shamelessly ripped from Eien no Aselia but I was really intrigued by this question. Believe it or not, I spent good 10 minutes thinking about my answer on this one. The question goes something like this: The choices are the same but I added the 'None' to mix it up a bit. For some missing details, try to imagine the situation as your own in the future. On what is the most possible situation you'll have at this point of time. Your child can be a boy or a grill, whichever you prefer. I hope you won't simply slap an answer and that's it. I'm curious to how will you reason your morals and views on why did you choose that specific person to save. We can discuss about our different answers and views but please try not to get butthurt too much. And people, try not to provoke others into it. I'm sure you guys are good enough to phrase it non-aggressively. I'd like to keep this as civil as much as possible. Now to start off, my answer. I'd choose my child. I'm sure that it'll be hell after he survives but at least he has some hope. I have my siblings and I'm very sure that they'll take care of them when I'm gone. Living without parents will be tough but he still has a long road ahead of him. I'll pray that he'll find his happiness like his parents. The reason why I didn't choose myself or my wife is because by this point of our lives, I'm sure that we already enjoyed the ups and downs in life. I'm aware that this a bit too sentimental since the forums have a lot threads like boobs, traps, lolis, moe, boobs, etc. Some sort of serious discussion might be a good change of pace. Or you guys might raise pitchforks and chase me out of town Edit: I CAN'T MAKE A POLL. IT'S SO HARD. Edit: I did it. Now praise me.

We could start a super secret Finnish group where we don't talk and occasionally get drunk and cry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Vn3ufXPRs Also some random Finnish summer hits because this kind of stuff plays in radio all time during summer.

Crossroad - Yanagi Nagi (this isn't on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoLKFesNyp4

So, despite my efforts to become a shadow participant, via PM:

I bet this guy works for Facebook.

you mean the paranoidal suprise attack out of nowhere, implying that projects on fuwa are a non safe way to go (claiming that happened to all former attempts) & will get sued directly by eushully.... edit: still awaiting some conclusive evidence edit2: just because some group drops their tl-project, then dissappears into nothingness & wont respond to any attempts contacting them, does NOT necessarily mean they got busted & guantanamozised by anyone.

Watching black lagoon, really good anime so far I love all the characters.

No, the links are fine, as long as they're not going through cash-grabs. When er0gamer first asked me for the tools and how to use them, it was for La DEA, and he was just doing machine translations, and he pushed out SO many versions. Like 5 a day with the tiniest changes, just to get people to go through his cash links for every "version," that's what really pissed me off. Since then other people joined and started doing some of it manually, which is good, but he still annoyed me right from the start. Eushully is I think my favourite VN company, so I'm entirely in favour of their games getting translated. Sell it to a publisher, take donations for your work sure, just don't force people through cash links for a download link. If they just changed their delivery method a bit I wouldn't have any problems with them. I held back releasing the tool updated for Rhapsody because of that, but Rhapsody didn't add very much, so nearly all the files were decompilable anyway, and so it seems they're doing Rhapsody too.

Still don't like nekohen, specially zoltanar.

TL Thread Guidelines How should I Format the Thread? No specific formatting style; just follow these Minimum Formatting Guidelines to include a proper thread title, project introduction, and progress: Thread Title Your thread title should be of this type: VN/Project Title + (Latest Update)* *(Latest Update) is optional, use it for your most recent released update ie. (Common Route Patch Released) If for any reason you feel the need to make the title follow any different standard, contact a mod and explain your reasons. Exceptions/changes can be made. Project Introduction Introduce your project team, the project you are working on, and any relevant info such as the Visual Novel's name, a VNDB link (if available), your website, recruiting status, etc. Progress Outline the current progress made in your project. Keep this up-to-date. You should have this section even if you haven't made any progress yet. Beyond the Minimum Formatting, you can also take a look at this sample guide of a typical thread's contents: Where does my Thread go? If you are looking to start a TL project or already have one underway, you can simply make a thread following the already detailed guidelines in the Translation Projects forum. If you are currently recruiting members, consider making a thread recruiting over in the Recruitment subforum. Note that this is separate from your main project thread where you give updates and people comment. Once work on the project has finished and the project is complete, it'll be moved to the Released subforum. Finally, be aware that inactive projects will be moved to the Archives. A project is considered inactive if it goes without any updates for over a year. Additionally, recruitment threads will be removed from the Recruitment subforum after 6 months of no updates on the main thread. Do not worry too much if you end up making your thread in the wrong section. A staff member is likely to move it to the correct place. I'm Recruiting - What should I do to get more People? If your project is recruiting here are some various things you could try: Add [Recruiting] and prefix it to your thread title. If you are currently recruiting members, consider making a thread recruiting over in the Recruitment subforum. Take advantage of the forum's development blogs! More info how to access dev blogs here. You could check various external places and websites: {/r/visualnovels; Aarinfantasy; LemmaSoft} Make your own Website/Thread and have it linked to VNDB. People who come across said game will all be redirected towards your efforts. You could try to look through our Fan Translator Skills Registration thread in order to find the right people. For more PR methods, check this thread, where you can learn how to make Recruitment Blog Posts or how to promote your Project. Check this thread for member suggestions! Additional Rules & Posting Guidelines Posts which violate the general Forum Rules will be moderated as usual. However, this board will be more strictly moderated than the other boards. Translating Already Licensed Products If the product you are looking to translate has already been licensed by a publisher, that means they have paid for the right to create and publish a translation for said product. In this situation, creating fan projects that are in direct competition with publishers who have paid for the right to legally create a translation is simply bad sport and may create legal conflicts. For this reason, such projects will not be allowed to be hosted or advertised on Fuwanovel. This is in direct opposition to projects that aim only to modify an already published translation. Such projects, as long as they require that the published translation be bought, are not in competition with publishers, and therefore allowed. Multiple Short Projects If you are promoting multiple short (<2 hours) projects in the same series (such as episodic or chapter-based projects), they should all be covered in a single thread, so as to not dilute and fragment visibility, views, and discussion. Payment options Any form of payment options for patches is NOT allowed. taking payment for patches is illegal and a conflict on copyright law. Hiding Posts Due to the nature of the board, irrelevant chatter is discouraged. However, support, feedback, and relevant discussion is very much welcome in their respective threads. Posts which WILL be hidden include: Off-topic chatter* Excessively harsh criticism** *Posts that do not in any way involve or are relevant to the project team, their project, or the product they are working on. **Keep the criticism constructive. Criticism that begins to berate, belittle, or outright harass a project's efforts will be hidden. Posts which WON'T be hidden include: Feedback "Good luck!" posts. "I'm looking forward to this!" posts. "Thank you very much!" posts. Questions regarding the translation, the team, or the progress. Discussion regarding the translation or the team. Discussion about the game in question (In the eventuality of a final release, these will be split into a new topic for discussion over in VN Talk forums). If a post of yours is hidden and you wish to contest, please PM a moderator for further inquiry. Do NOT contest moderation decisions publicly - these posts will be hidden. Keep it to PMs.

CnC = Constructive Criticism Alright here it goes: First of all, as much as possible, follow the rule of thirds. It helps greatly in having the viewer look at the intended part of the piece. It's applicable in almost everything unless you're really aiming for something complete different. Like some sort of a design where you have the subject at the center and having details (text) in either side. Secondly, resizing renders. As much as possible, resize renders proportionally. You can do this by ctr+T then drag diagonally while holding shift. I'm not sure what you did this one since it looks like it was flattened but renders doesn't necessarily have to fit in the whole signature. Just the important parts (face, upper body, etc) whatever you think needs to be in the signature but fitting the whole thing isn't recommended. Thirdly, text. As much as possible, try not to divide text. Put it in a simple way like having a main text and putting a sub text below. Separating them confuses the viewer and sometimes take away the attention from the render itself. Fourthly, sharpening. This is a bit of a guesswork on your part since this can be too much or not enough. Try to sharpen the important parts but that doesn't necessarily mean the whole render. This is one way of sharpening. You don't have to follow this since it's only one method. There are multiple ways you can sharpen and you should go with what fits best in your style. Lastly, colors. I know, I'm not one to talk since most of the works I did here are monotone but that doesn't mean it's correct (I have tons of mistakes). Try to use different colors. You could search up complementary colors to know which colors fit together. Try to limit it to two tho. Handling three or more colors can be quite a challenge. I also thought about blurring but this is mostly preference. I blur stuff to oblivion while others just do it subtly. Some also don't blur stuff at all and just darken stuff.

Really? You are different than 70% of the people I know. They don't really appreciate the mindlessness of SAO, and they always look for the deep meaning and shit from shows. Still, I'm surprised you didn't like Mother's Rosario. While it wasn't the most intense arc, I still thought it was pretty good.

Glad you liked it. I was worried since I chalked off some of the details you wanted but it seems it didn't bother you much. Also just for reference, which one did you like better?

Yes but I believe quality should be still considered. As much as this is for you guys, this is also a chance for us to improve. If we do not try to give you the best, how can we actually improve? I've seen people who didn't improve because they were fine with what they are and just made things as is. This is starting to sound like the fan translation quality I've read some time I go so I'll stop here. Lexyvil's Request: The text on this one is kinda confusing with which is the main/sub text but it's kinda unreadable when scaled to the right size. I should've considered which text effects that I would use before starting the text. Simply slapping it with black and white didn't work so I just adjusted the saturation to a 'pale' one. Is it just me or does it look depressing? I was listening to Yiruma so maybe that did something.

Dumbest premise for a manga/anime ever

If you bought a VN and then felt like you wasted your money because the translation is so awful, that's unacceptable. I guess I'll say that THOSE translations shouldn't exist, because they're actually harmful in how they're predative on people who don't fully research a product before buying. People will lose out on their money buying an awful product. If you downloaded a fan translation and it's barely understandable gibberish, that's also unacceptable. I will say that it probably shouldn't have been made, that the creators probably wasted their time, and that nobody should read it, but I won't claim it doesn't have the right to exist, and people do have the right to read it if that's what they want to do. But the community has the right to warn others about its quality and to expect better from translators. Like, I also think people have the right to be racist. I wish they wouldn't be, and society should work to change the minds of racist individuals and reform racist policies, but I'm not into thought policing and no one should be forced to hold any particular stance. People can also be gluttons and become grotesquely overweight. I personally think that's unacceptable and they should strive to better themselves, but if they don't want to, forcing them to would be wrong. I suppose on a conceptual level these are similar issues.

I think I spent ~8 hours today playing Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. Somebody help me.

Welcome to the forums! Hope you enjoy your stay! Muv-Luv is quite the journey, I hope you're prepared for what is to come. Have a moe:

My poop Yup, definitely my poop.

For when you literally just want to eat cute girls: https://vndb.org/v11999

Can we just turn this into a "Best VNDB descriptions" thread? https://vndb.org/v11086 Flawless logic if I've ever seen it.

Clannad The Past Path wasn't bad https://vndb.org/v7983 Check out this thread if you want any OELVNs since they are almost always free http://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/7060-the-fuwanovel-list-of-notable-oelvns/?hl=oelvn

moonlight is a good story, its nothing fancy like Sunrider but the story is great. edit: oops forgot to put link: https://vndb.org/v1452

Oi Hikari~ o/ *Agreement intensifies*

Anime characters are relatively easy to make renders out of, it's not like you're forced to do it if you think it's too hard too. Sometimes it's also impossible to find a render for that particular character and you have no choice. I'll probably dump random signatures here from time to time, I need to work on my skills.

The Witcher 3 is probably the best open world RPG ever made. It's so, so good. I'm still in the midst of the Bloody Baron questline and holy cow, how did they turn what should be a generic stepping stone quest into something so compelling, with such good writing, and so many alternate paths to take? Every part of this game is so supremely well crafted. I can't get over how good the faces look. Look at this friggen guy: Not only is the modelling and texture work excellent, but the facial animations are phenomenal. Every character emotes so well. The Witcher 3 proves that perhaps the most important aspect of natural-looking animations is subtlety. The subtle grins, smirks, frowns, glances to the side, etc, it's all done so well. LA Noire had an enormous amount of money spent on its facial animation tech and it's probably outclassed by this game. I guess the lip syncing isn't as good but it gets the job done and the actual emoting is way less exaggerated and more natural looking. (The crazy part is how that's just a guy you'll spend only a few minutes talking to. They don't spare any expense even for minor characters like him.)

The fact that they fart rainbows and poop butterflies (or so I've been told).

I'm just gonna give you my honest thoughts: You want to make a VN? go for it. Let no one tell you otherwise. Be driven by your passion and motivations and never be discouraged because there will be trouble, walls, skeptic people, negative feedback and such. you keep pushing forward and stay strong. Your will is going to fuel the inspiration of many and people will join you in your endeavour sooner or later. Why I'm telling you this? Because 1.5 years ago I started this journey the same way you did. Alone, armed only with my love for VN's and no previous knowledge on what to do. Now we have an established project and our team is full of kind, talented people driven by the same motivations and towards the same goal. Don't give up and be true to your goal and your project will never die. PS. I'm glad you read the resources we have here. They are there to help encourage people like you with the dream of making a VN. The ren'py guide (made by yours truly) is a WIP and I plan to add more to it when I have the time. PS.2 You're welcome to check our project thread, it might be good reference for you: http://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/2957-violet-hill-community-based-visual-novel-project-demo-released/ As a fellow project leader, you have all my support and if you need anything don't hesitate to contact me. I'll help you however I can. Welcome to VN developing! PS.3 Sent you a PM, be sure to check it out!

Wow, lots of attractive people! Haha, that's great. Not many girls have posted a picture so I feel the need. Ignore the derpy face I'm making.

~The girl with the lone eye. ~~~ "Hello! Is anyone there!?" The roaring fires light the hall. Pillars of smoke rise to the top of the building. The burning heat assaults my mind, and beads of sweat run down my face. Male, 17 years of age. This wasn't supposed to happen. It's just an ordinary weekend. This wasn't supposed to happen! The full moon shines brightly through the window, like a glistening silver high in the sky. A fleeting light in the darkness. My heated footsteps pace up the stairs. Chunks of wood collapse to the ground, and the apartment's floor begins to crumble beneath my feet. A cold air rushes through the building, only to feed the flames brighter and brighter. "Answer me! Where are you!?" A thousand stars shine brightly in the night sky, laughing at the man who would dare to go back. "What do you think you're doing, shithead!? There's nothing important in there! Go home!" Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! The burning heat assaults my mind, and beads of sweat run down my face. Like a repeating hell with no end in sight. The clouds of ash rush at my eyes, like a toxin of the air that threatens to bring me to the ground. The pillars of smoke rise high in the sky. The sound of sirens can be heard on the outside. But, they can't get near. There's too many people evacuating. Too many people concerned only for themselves. Too many people who would hurt another to save themselves. "Please! Where are you!? Answer me!" The infinite depths of the night pour into the sky. Who knows what lies in the unknown? An infinite crowd looks into the sky. The pillars of smoke rise high as ever, higher and higher. But, they do nothing. Walking along to more important matters. Are they scared? Do the flames push them away? Or, maybe it isn't anything very important to begin with? Her room was empty. I passed it long ago, nothing but ashes remains. She wasn't there. She couldn't have been there. She would have ran by now. But, she wasn't there. Why wasn't she there? The crowd of survivors lies beneath. But, she wasn't there. "What do you think you're doing, shithead!? There's nothing important in there! Go home!" The stars laugh. Laughing at the man who would dare to go back. Their screams assault my mind. Laughing at the man who would dare to notice. Laughing at the man who would dare to do anything. Like a clown dancing along with the freaks of nature. My eyes shine through the night. Like a brilliant silver, high in the sky. "Where are you!? Sachi!" The burning heat assaults my mind. Beads of sweat run down my face. This wasn't supposed to happen. My heated footsteps pace up the stairs, like the drumming of a piano in a symphony of death. Chunks of wood fall to the ground, and the floor begins to collapse beneath my feet. A cold air rushes across my face, only to feed the flames stronger and stronger. The glistening silver shines high in the sky. The laughter of the stars assaults at my mind. The infinite depths of the night pass along with only a glance. Pillars of smoke rise high into the sky. The ashes in the air rush into my lungs, like a toxin that threatens to bring me to the ground. The scenery blends before me. My vision blurs itself to an decrypt cipher. Like a repeating hell with no end in sight. A faint breath is heard. Among the raging flames. A painful breath, like their lungs could collapse at any second. Female, 16 years of age, my heart tells to me. "Sachi! Where are you!?" My eyes scour the scenery. A repeating hell with no end in sight. The flames blur my vision, the hall stretches into infinity. First room, nothing. Second room, nothing. A faint breath is heard. Third room, nothing. Fourth room, nothing. My vision blurs itself to a decrypt cipher. Like a repeating hell with no end in sight. Fifth room. A river of blood runs down her face. The girl with the lone eye. The burning heat assaults my mind. Beads of sweat run down my face. "Sachi!" I run to her side. Piles of rubble keep her pinned to the ground. The red liquid stings at her iris. For the moment, her sight is gone. I press against the rubble. It won't move. The blood rushes through my veins. The beating of my heart pounds at my soul, like a bone-shattering punch with each step. It hurts. My strained bones threaten to break in two if I push them any farther. I don't care. The burning heat assaults my mind. Beads of sweat run down my face. The girl's blood drips to the floor. A faint breath is heard. Her warm brown hair. A gentle smile. Greater than any before it. The crying of the stars assaults my mind. Laughing at the man who would dare to go back. "What do you think you're doing, shithead!? There's nothing important in there! Go home!" Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! The laughter continues. Like a cruel joke. An assault on all that is precious, carried out by the thousand stars in the night sky. The burning heat assaults my mind. Ten-thousand times over. Like a repeating hell with no end in sight. The rubble is pushed off of her and comes crashing to the floor. Her leg is broken. The faint, gasping breaths leave her no room to speak. Each so precious that removing a single one could cost a life. I haul her onto my back. Her half-conscious body weighs down on my soul. It's heavier than I thought. The burning heat assaults my mind. Bear it. The night is almost over. My footsteps pace down the stairs. What floor am I on? I can't tell. The burning heat assaults my mind. The scenery outside the window blurs into the same mess. A thousand stars in the night sky, laughing at the man who dared to go back. The infinite depths of the night, walking by pretending not to notice. And, the glistening silver that hangs in the night sky. The floor collapses under our weight. My leg falls through the gap. I scream out in pain as it gashes into my skin, I feel the sensation of my blood crawling down my leg. The pain intensifies as I pull it out from the floor. Keep moving. Don't stop. There is more than one life at stake here. I walk forward. My muscles rip and tear as the blood flows down from my leg. The burning heat assaults my mind. Keep moving. The burning heat assaults my mind. Clouds of ash cover the building, the pillar of smoke rises high into the air. Flaming embers float across the air, and the raging flames turn my vision a bright red. Sachi's weight presses onto my back, nearly unconscious with a leg twisted beyond recognition. Blood flows from her forehead and down the side of my back. My breathing is in frantic gasps, as each step nearly breaks my body in two. The clouds of ash corrupt my lungs and send blood gushing out of my leg. It's a miracle I can even stand. I lose my footing on the steps, and my head comes crashing down to the floor. It feels like my skull is split in two, as the torrent of blood comes flowing down my face. The crying of the stars assaults my mind. Laughing at the man who would dare to go back. Faceless ghouls who would mean to harm another. Running away from the shining gold of the sun, hiding just out of sight from the glistening silver of the moon. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! A thousand times over! Let thine accursed light vanish into the abyss! Disappear into the endless sea, never to return to the mortal plane! The blazing heat tortures the air, as the building is slowly brought to its knees. The pounding of my head crushes my soul like the beating of a drum. The red liquid drops from my body like a thousand bloody rivers. The eyes of a thousand stars, visible in the soul of the raging flames. The silent laughter tears at my sanity like a thousand roaring fangs. Burn! Burn away in the repeating hell, with no end in sight! Rejected by angel and demon alike, too weak to fight the strong and too weak to move forward! Those who would hurt another because they're too weak to do anything else! Burn away for all of eternity! Let thine accursed light vanish into the abyss! Let nothing save you, your time has come! I charge forward, screaming into the night. The weight of a single life brings down on my body like a thousand souls, and the infinite laughter claws at my mind like a thousand fangs. Let thine corrupted soul burn away in the raging flames! There is no salvation for those responsible! The swarming inferno strikes at my body from all directions, and my heart warns me of death at every instant. Tears burst forth from my eyes, only to vanish into the flames on this cold, cold night. Sachi's arms wrap around my neck, like a warm noose of the finest rope. The infinite depths of the night pass on, pretending not to notice. A thousand stars laugh at the man who dared to turn back. And, the full moon, a glistening silver high in the sky. Watching over all that exists, for as long as it can. A long, long hall. The exit lies on the other end. The raging flames tear at the walls from every direction, and the far-off sirens blare in the distance. Charge forward. Onward! Faster than anything of the mortal plane. Faster than the repeating hells with no end in sight, stronger than the infinite laughter of a thousand stars. The torrents of blood cloud my vision, and the beating of my mind threatens to collapse me at any second. Break through the earth! Anything that stands in our way! Rush into the sky, where no stars can reach us! The building creaks under the burning flame. The sound of the blaring sirens echoes through the sky. A thousand floors collapse onto the surface. My silver gaze looks to the crumbling flames. My silent scream shrieks across the earth. And then, the world turns to black. The sun pours in through the open window. My breath is hollow, and my vision is blurred. The hospitals walls are a dim shine, and an assortment of rags covers my body. My arm is wrapped in endless shells, and I can feel the bone shattered in more places than I can count. "Um...Patient 427. I'm afraid I have some bad news." The doctor speaks to me. "We...were unable to repair your left eye. Would you like us to find a donor?" Sachi lies resting by my side. "No," I said. The sun flows brightly into the room, a shining gold of pure harmony. Sachi begins to wake up. A golden shine gleams from her eye. "I think I like it better this way." From my right eye. The glistening silver of the full moon. And so, life continues. Like a repeating hope with no end in sight.

My parents came to America as refugees during the vietnam war. I guess they would be considered the "boat people" since that's what they escaped by. They were boarded by pirates, but luckily no one was killed (or raped) and only all the money, gold, and jewelry were taken. They then stayed in refugee camps on some small islands for quite a long time before the Americans came to pick them up (I forget what islands they were called). They had nothing when they came here pretty much (lost everything). The US government & people really helped my parents until they started doing better on their own. They later gave birth to me in the US. My parents used to/still always tell me horror stories about how communism ruined the country of vietnam and the evils they have done. Oh, and they lived in south part of vietnam btw. My mom's side of the family told me that they had a very thriving business back when they were in vietnam. I've heard similar stories from other relatives, where their status was pretty well off. But when communists came, they robbed and took Everything.. like just raided places with money and so they couldn't do business anymore. People would hide money if they could xD. I think my mom told me, her family had gotten tips about what was going to happen (and from what I was told, my dad had already escaped ahead).. so my grandpa and other people were building a boat together in secret and used money to bribe some people & favors into escaping later. I'd have to ask my parents when exactly things happened . There's a lot of interesting stories I've heard from relatives too and how they escaped, or the things that happened when they remained, etc. Being a first-born asian-american, I was kinda clueless about it as a young kid. Probably because I lived in California, and I was in the more asian-dominated area. The things that happened in the home, our culture, food, etc. I thought Everyone was like that (even if they looked different). I finally realized my culture was different when someone pointed out the things I ate were weird and gross... I had always thought everyone did, and ate the same stuff I did, lol (yup, rice rice rice all the time~). And the food that someone reacted to me in a disgusted manner was the Balut egg (my family also often eats the Century Eggs, mostly in rice porridges). http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-worlds-3-most-disgusting-egg-dishes.html I guess I grew up eating that kind of stuff, so I'm used to it. To others, it's disgusting~~~ I'm kinda jumping randomly now but~ also wanted to share, growing up, the values I saw often were (for me personally, were) I'm also part chinese, so my favorite time of the year as a child was celebrating Chinese New Years~ you get free money from older people & elders. You're required to give them some kinda of well-meaning wish (ex: "Happy New Years, may your business thrive, may you forever remain in good health, and may you also get whatever you desire this year.") and in return, they give you a red envelope with money inside . The sucky thing... is that when you're older, you'll have to be the one giving money to all the little kiddos xD.

Talking to people IRL ...

Oh. That only makes me curious though...

*Throws Poke-ball at Canadian*

Now I can't imagine you as Bill Murray anymore.