tripsis

Except I'm not an admin anymore so I don't think it would be a fair trade ;) Anyway sorry for taking over this thread knitewulf, with mouth-watering talk of yummy cookies. Hopefully you can put together the information to answer your question :ohnoes: :oops:

Could I send you a paypal payment? I'd really prefer my in game screen name :x Unfortunately they do not accept bribes either ;) If I was still an admin, I might accept some home baked cookies though! (kidding) It's not a bribe, it's a payment. Just a few bucks, the mods could do it for anyone who offered money. How long can it take ;) Oh, and I bake some mean cookies. I have a feeling the USPS might take out some of the flavor before they arrived, though :| Yeah but again, I'm sure we'd get a lot of people offering the same! And things get particularly messy if a user wants their entire name changed, rather than just a letter capitalized. It messes up a lot of records, which would have to be changed, etc. etc. I hope you understand ;) Maybe you could bribe the USPS to send the cookies to my house via rocket ship so they could get here in 5 minutes :lol:

Could I send you a paypal payment? I'd really prefer my in game screen name :x Unfortunately they do not accept bribes either ;) If I was still an admin, I might accept some home baked cookies though! (kidding)

This happened close to where I live and is pretty much what everyone is talking about right now. I think it's sad and disgusting. The part that bothers me the most is that because he is a police officer, he can pretty much just get away with resigning (at least for the time being). If it were anyone but a police officer, they would probably be arrested/charged right away. But for whatever reason this guy can get away with it because he has a badge??? I find that to be unbelievable.

Sorry but only Tip.it administrators have the ability to change usernames, and they choose not to. The reason is that if they accepted username change requests, they would get hundred of them! And the admins simply do not have time to spend hours changing peoples' usernames :(

I have the same beef with Meyer that you and I share with Paolini - they both published pieces of crap. Meyer changed things, yes--but in incompetent hands, change is just as bad as boring cliche and plagiarism. The only reason she changed the vampire myth is because she wanted to add a fantastical element to her love story. It serves no purpose at all other than that. None. Edward being a vampire doesn't get in the way of their relationship; in fact since he's now had every dangerous aspect of vampirism taken away he's nothing more than an immortal pretty boy. Which is what she wanted. She wasn't out to tell a vampire story but a romance. The vampires might as well not be there, but then she wouldn't have an excuse for the immortal pretty boy. That just screams BAD from even a basic level of fiction writing. You don't invent a character for the sole purpose of being a sex object (or, in more widely used terms, the DESIGNATED LOVE INTEREST), much less inject an entire race and with it the fantasy element. Just like you don't throw in a stock race of elves and shake them up with ludicrous tweaks to try and mask their true purpose as philosophical mouthpieces and producing the DESIGNATED LOVE INTEREST. See? The transition from Meyer to Paolini was rather smooth, don't you think? It's the same basic writing crime. I disagree with you that what Meyer did is just as bad as plagiarism. Making something your own isn't a crime and isn't morally bad. People, including you, may disagree with it and not like it and that's fine, but I fail to see how it's a morally bad thing to do. Edward being a vampire does in fact get in the way of their relationship. Being with someone is difficult if you cannot have an intimate physical relationship (I can tell you that from personal experience). That difficulty probably could have played a bigger role in the novel, but it was still there. I also think you blow up the whole "sex object" idea. Edward isn't just some sex object, there's a lot more to their relationship than that. Yes he could have been human and there could have been no vampires at all, but it would have made the book a lot less unique and interesting, and I think that's why so many people like it. I think that one of the reasons why it's as popular as it is is because it presents a NEW idea. If we just stuck to the same ideas, we'd never get any new ones or any originality. Yes the books are primarily about romance, but why can't you have romance and vampires? It's certainly not a CRIME, like you are suggesting. Don't get me wrong because there are plenty of things that I don't like in the books. I don't like how in the second book onward, Bella finds herself attracted to Jacob and he always brights up her day, but for some reason she can't explain, she HAS to be with Edward even though he's the one who hurt her. I can relate to Bella's undying pull towards Edward on some level, but I think it's taken a little bit to the extreme. Sometimes it feels like Bella doesn't even know why she loves Edward, which is probably where you get the idea of a "sex object," I also have a big problem with the "like two guys at once" thing (and I've always had a bit of a problem with it in "real life"). [/hide] Some things are better left unchanged. Really, Edward isn't much different from a human apart from the fact he is immortal. There can be the balance of romance, and vampires. Hell, I wouldn't mind that a lovestory had a vampire, as long as said vampire wasn't some glorified human. What makes a lovestory unique, is not what races are involved, rather the characters, what hardships they face, and the overall story. I could create a lovestory about an Incubus, who actually attends school, and doesn't do the things that are traditionally associated with an Incubus. Really, I've just made this demon have the same traits as a human, and that pretty much looks like a human too. Oh, I guess my idea is unique too, does that make it interesting? If you gave it some interesting elements, it could be. But the way you described it makes it sound boring. You could describe Twilight as a vampire, who is a completely normal human in all aspects except having the title of a vampire, who attends school and falls in love with a human. The end. Yes that sounds boring, but that's barely even part of what the story is about. What makes the story interesting are the small, but intricate details throughout all of the books. I'm sure a lot of people, including myself, can relate to some of the drama and emotions in the book, which also make it enjoyable to read. When my sister first described the series to me, she did it in a similar way that you described your example. She just said it was about a vampire who falls in love with a teenage girl. To me that just sounded stupid, ridiculous and a huge stretch. I was amazed that something like that could become popular. When I read the books, I formed a completely different opinion. Because it's the details that make the book. Meyer makes it very easy to relate to and fall in love with the characters. Yes it was a predictable book, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I agree that it's absolutely ridiculous. My boyfriend and I spent hours trying to get our defenders until I finally just went to bed, and I haven't had the motivation to continue since. My story isn't quite as bad as the OP's.. at least I went through over 1,000 tickets after several hours and got up to mithril, but it still takes a ridiculous amount of time.

I have the same beef with Meyer that you and I share with Paolini - they both published pieces of crap. Meyer changed things, yes--but in incompetent hands, change is just as bad as boring cliche and plagiarism. The only reason she changed the vampire myth is because she wanted to add a fantastical element to her love story. It serves no purpose at all other than that. None. Edward being a vampire doesn't get in the way of their relationship; in fact since he's now had every dangerous aspect of vampirism taken away he's nothing more than an immortal pretty boy. Which is what she wanted. She wasn't out to tell a vampire story but a romance. The vampires might as well not be there, but then she wouldn't have an excuse for the immortal pretty boy. That just screams BAD from even a basic level of fiction writing. You don't invent a character for the sole purpose of being a sex object (or, in more widely used terms, the DESIGNATED LOVE INTEREST), much less inject an entire race and with it the fantasy element. Just like you don't throw in a stock race of elves and shake them up with ludicrous tweaks to try and mask their true purpose as philosophical mouthpieces and producing the DESIGNATED LOVE INTEREST. See? The transition from Meyer to Paolini was rather smooth, don't you think? It's the same basic writing crime. I disagree with you that what Meyer did is just as bad as plagiarism. Making something your own isn't a crime and isn't morally bad. People, including you, may disagree with it and not like it and that's fine, but I fail to see how it's a morally bad thing to do. Edward being a vampire does in fact get in the way of their relationship. Being with someone is difficult if you cannot have an intimate physical relationship (I can tell you that from personal experience). That difficulty probably could have played a bigger role in the novel, but it was still there. I also think you blow up the whole "sex object" idea. Edward isn't just some sex object, there's a lot more to their relationship than that. Yes he could have been human and there could have been no vampires at all, but it would have made the book a lot less unique and interesting, and I think that's why so many people like it. I think that one of the reasons why it's as popular as it is is because it presents a NEW idea. If we just stuck to the same ideas, we'd never get any new ones or any originality. Yes the books are primarily about romance, but why can't you have romance and vampires? It's certainly not a CRIME, like you are suggesting. Don't get me wrong because there are plenty of things that I don't like in the books. I don't like how in the second book onward, Bella finds herself attracted to Jacob and he always brights up her day, but for some reason she can't explain, she HAS to be with Edward even though he's the one who hurt her. I can relate to Bella's undying pull towards Edward on some level, but I think it's taken a little bit to the extreme. Sometimes it feels like Bella doesn't even know why she loves Edward, which is probably where you get the idea of a "sex object," I also have a big problem with the "like two guys at once" thing (and I've always had a bit of a problem with it in "real life").

Um.. YES! I sit so strangely. The weirdest is probably when I practically lay down in my computer chair. My back is on the bottom of my chair and my legs are usually bent in front of me, with my feet on my desk in front of my keyboard. And somehow I get my arms around them so I can USE the keyboard :XD: ..and then there are a variety of other positions as well.

I actually really like the style in this one: The left side could use a bit of work (including the left text), but other than that I think it's pretty good. And compared to most people, I think you did a decent job with the text. Some of them need a lot of work, but others are actually okay. I agree with what most people are saying about the last one. I think it could have been good, since you did a decent job with the smudging, but the rest of it doesn't go well together at all. You have this huge blue space, then all of a sudden BAM - there's a man. Like shivers21 said, it needs better flow.

Thing is, she's copied too many parts that she liked from folklore, then put it into a damn lovestory. Vampires were always seen as evil omens, they should stay that way. Its kinda like saying dragons dont breath fire (or any element) and they can bond (kinda like eragon) with humans. Eragon was cool because of the mass war though People have been writing stories about dragons bonding with humans for a long time. Don't give Christopher Paolini credit for that :P --------------------- I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to do what she wants. Who are you to say, "I don't like the way she made something her own, so the book sucks." Okay YOU don't like it, and YOU may not like what she did, but that doesn't make it a bad book. Why do we all have to follow "rules" that have already been set? Why do we all have to write about myths the same? Why can't we change something? It is, after all, a myth. I applaud her for writing something out of the ordinary, as that's not something that many writers do... like Christopher Paolini, for instance. In my opinion, it's a heck of a lot better to take a myth, change it around, make it your own - something original.. than to take a bunch of writers' work that ISN'T your own creation, shove it all into one story, and then slap your name on the cover.

Yay for macro! :thumbsup: Are you borrowing this lens or is it yours? Nice job, I'd love to see more though :)

Locking this as the Rate This! forum is for your RuneScape achievements only, not potential Jagex updates. Normally such a thread would go in General Discussion, but since you have no way of proving that your picture is real, it probably wouldn't belong anywhere...

Locked - double thread.

Thanks for the congratulations ;) And General Discussion/Questionnaires recently got 15,000 :D (15,006 currently).

So now you guys are upset because she actually has a little creativity and hasn't copied every single other vampire story? So people get upset if you're too unoriginal and if you're too creative? Living proof that you can't win in this world I guess? :P

Right... I'll do that today, thanks for reminding me :lol: I've actually never done GWD Bosses or Daggs before, believe it or not. But it's something that Dork and I will definitely check out. Thank you! :D I actually have been doing Tears of Guthix :) I started a little late but remembered it last week and hopefully I won't forget again. It got me from level 4-11, which was pretty nice :)

Yeah.. sorry that I started quitting a lot towards the end :uhh: Thank you for your support! :D Crystal thrones are indeed pretty cool :) They're actually what motivated me to get high construction in the first place. I remember joking with Dork while I was in the 40s or 50s saying, "Ima get level 94 and get a crystal throne :) Lmao :)" well what do you know, now I'm 99!! Who would have thought :lol: It was all just a joke at the time.

For many classes, I don't really study. For example, unless we have to memorize formulas, I never study for math. To me it just isn't something that I can study since it's conceptual and I learn those concepts in class (I understand why other people might have to study it, but my style of learning doesn't require it). The same typically goes for sciences and sometimes english. Otherwise I usually just look over my notes the day of the test, in other classes, during lunch, etc. :anxious:

Haha!! :XD: I wasn't lazy for this one when I first started. I got up pretty early and took over 100 shots.. but now I might be lazy because I was kind of discouraged :P 100+ shots later and I still don't have a picture I'm happy with.

Moved to Help & Advice. In the future, please post all questions here :) General Discussion is for serious discussions only. And yes, you do have to complete Legends before you can wield a Dragon Square Shield.

Just found this awesome new site, you should check it out ;) http://www.pending.me.uk/

Knock it off you guys. You're welcome to rate honestly, even a 0/10 if you think it is deserved, but you are NOT welcome to spam and flame.

Congrats on the Santa Hat!! :shock: Good luck with your goals :D