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Wallpaper <3

I was a big fan of hermik's vector works as well, back when I hung around skinning/theming sites.


Careful, Rain, I hear that seldoon guy is pretty sketchy....

seldoon....never heard of him..mih fo dreah reven...noodles

That's his AIM address? *adds to collection of IM addresses*

As for netbooks, I'm not a big fan of them in general, but I did come somewhat close to getting an HP Mini 311 late last year. Not quite $300, though (starts are $400). The Eee PCs are fine, too. Personally, I'm waiting for the release of the iPad.

BECAUSE I NEED TO BLACK OUT THE NAME OF A PRIVATE COMMUNITY AND ITS SISTERS INSTEAD OF DISABLING THE BOOKMARK BAR anyway I like my Firefox theme.

Roselhort likes Goldfrapp ^^

And I'm not big on Firefox themes in general. All the ones I've seen only make the skinned portions of the UI less readable/usable.



Edited to fix grammar. How'd that apostrophe get there?

I've tried to have a Firefox theme/persona but I always find that after a while I'm tired of looking at them and they just obstruct the view of my bookmark toolbar.

Firefox themes (i.e. the button styles and such) are okay. It's just annoying that you have to restart it to apply a different one. The 3.6-new personas (i.e. skins) are not very useful I think. Like Negzee said, they only make things less readable. And GUI colors shouldn't be program-specific anyway.

Ah yes, thanks Kimiko. I should clarify: those button styles/sets are fine, and I use GrApple to make Firefox visually fit in more with my other apps (Mac) and with Safari specifically. It's the new 3.6 personas that I was commenting on in my previous post.

Generally I know the UI I use like every day.

Ike and Soren are pleasant to look at

One of the best pairings in any video game, honestly. And that's not just because they are both hot. I speak of their personalities... and just the way Ike brings it out of Soren like that. I want to play Path of Radiance, again. I always take an Ike/Soren A support just to see the conversations.
[spoiler]C Support

Soren: So that's how much we spent... Supplies are running low. We need dried meat, fresh fruit... Ike? Are you listening?
Ike: Huh? Oh, sorry. I wasn't paying attention.
Soren: I would have never guessed.
Ike: Sorry, Soren. Look, could you run the report by me again?
Soren: You're tired, Ike. You need rest. Go find a cot somewhere.
Ike: You can tell?
Soren: Of course. When you're not feeling well, your left eye twitches.
Ike: That's...odd. I never noticed.
Soren: Get some sleep. I can manage things for a few hours.
Ike: Well, I am pretty beat...
Soren: Go.
Ike: You know, Soren? You're not nearly as insensitive as the others say. Deep down, you're a big softie.
Soren: Excuse me?
Ike: Oh, nothing. I'm going.
Soren: Mmm. Don't let the bedbugs bite.

B Support

Soren: ...
Ike: Do you have a second, Soren?
Soren: What is it, Ike?
Ike: What's wrong? You've been quiet and moody for days. What's going on?
Soren: Um... Well, it's...
Ike: Yes?
Soren: ...It's nothing. ... ...You've never worried about who you are, have you? Your family? Where you come from?
Ike: Who I am...? Well, not really. No. I guess I don't understand what you're getting at. I had a father and a mother. I don't remember much about her, but otherwise, no complaints.
Soren: It must be...nice to have loving parents. You need people to experience your childhood. To help shape the person you will become. Without an adult around to affirm and support them, a child can't know which path to take. Or who he really is.
Ike: Don't you have any memory of your parents?
Soren: No. The woman who raised me was not my birth mother. And she wasn't all that fond of me, anyway... My earliest memories are of her saying, "Why me? The world isn't fair!" or "Stay away from me, child!" No love. No affection. She took care of me out of some sense of duty that she didn't really possess.
Ike: ...
Soren: When I was about four, a nearby sage came by and asked to take me in. He said I possessed rare magical talent. I remember the day clearly. My caretaker was delighted to give me up. In fact, she seemed almost delirious with pleasure. Smiling like a madwoman as she handed me over... The sage even gave her gold as compensation. Not that it was necessary.
Ike: Oh, Soren... I had no idea.
Soren: The sage was old, and knew that death would soon come for him. His only goal was to teach his art to an apprentice. As time was short, he put me through terribly rigorous magic training. We worked day and night, without cease. I didn't even have time to think about who I really was. But it was still a better life than I had ever known. When the sage died two years later, I had acquired much magical skill. Perhaps too much for a child of my age... At any rate, once I had eaten all of the food in the sage's hovel, I left and walked for days to find help. Upon reaching civilization, I came to another grim realization... I couldn't speak. Not a word.
Ike: Soren...
Soren: Oh, I could read and write better than most of the villagers. And I could understand what they said. I just couldn't talk. I couldn't help it. The woman and the sage both used to hurl words at me. Unkind words, usually. But I never needed to answer, so--
Ike: Soren!
Soren: Huh? Oh... I apologize, Ike. I should not have made you listen to such nonsense...
Ike: Soren, it's no nonsense! It's awful! It's the most terrible thing I've ever heard! Where did this happen? Was it in Begnion?
Soren: No... But, there's more. I haven't told you... About my parents... No, that's enough. I'm sorry. Excuse me...
Ike: Wait, Soren? Soren! Blast!

A Support

Ike: Hey, Soren.
Soren: ...
Ike: I've been thinking a lot about what you said the other day, and there's something I still don't understand. You survived. You're strong. Why would you feel insecure about who you are? Tell me. Tell me everything.
Soren: Curse you! Why can't you leave me be?! I don't have any friends, Ike! I don't have anyone else! If I tell you and you turn on me... I... I... I don't think I can survive it.
Ike: That's why you have to tell me, Soren. You'll never tell anyone else. And if you don't tell anyone, you're just going to keep suffering. Look at you! You're a mess! Come on. Talk to me.
Soren: Ike... I... I...
Ike: Soren, it's me! Trust me. I don't give two figs who your parents are! I'll stand by you.
Soren: Ike, I...sniff... No, I won't... ..sniff...Ah, Ike... ...I'm... Branded. I'm one of the Branded.
Ike: A Branded? What's that?
Soren: It's a cross between a beorc and a laguz. Such a taboo union violates every teaching of the goddess. And of society. We are untouchables. Abominations. Condemned to a life of hatred and shunning from both races.
Ike: Wait, wait. Hold it a second. Let me make sure that I follow you... You're part laguz?
Soren: Yeah. This mark on my forehead is the proof. I learned about it while researching ancient books at the Mainal Cathedral. I always thought it was a birthmark. Others thought that it was the mark of a Spirit Charmer.
Ike: What's a Spirit Charmer?
Soren: Magic comes from interaction with spirits. If you let one into your body, it will give you tremendous power...for a price. That's why the old sage was so interested in me. He thought I had struck such a deal. But instead, I was just a filthy Branded.
Ike: All right. I understand. So?
Soren: ...What do you mean, "so?"
Ike: So, you have laguz blood in your veins. So, you have a mark to prove it. So... What's the problem?
Soren: What's the problem...? Don't you find me repugnant!? I work beside you, eat beside you. I'm nothing! I don't belong anywhere! Doesn't that sicken you?
Ike: No. It doesn't change anything. You're still you, Soren! You're a capable officer of our army. And my friend. We can't keep going unless you are with us.
Soren: ...Ike... I thought... I thought you...
Ike: What?
Soren: It was Gallia. The sage lived in Gallia. A few beorcs had settled there and...
Ike: Gallia? Are you saying...
Soren: When the sage died, no one would help me. I couldn't speak. Couldn't find food. I was dying. You were the only one who helped. You and your father. That's why you're my friend. My...only friend.[/spoiler]

/r/ the conversation where Soren is crying in Ike's arms

[spoiler]Soren: Ike... Um... Were you joking when you said you couldn't remember how we
met?

Ike: Well, sorta. It was a long time ago.

Soren: How could you forget?

Ike: Relax, Soren. I got to thinking, and I remembered. I remember what
happened in Gallia on the day we first met.

Soren: Ike...

Ike: Mother had gone shopping with Mist that day. I was wandering around the
village all alone. I walked to the edge of the forest, looking for a stick
I could pretend was a sword. There was a raven-haired boy lying on the
ground.

Soren: I remember the huge oak tree by the clearing... I'd been sleeping in the
hollow by the roots.

Ike: He looked like he was my age. He was as skinny as a twig, wearing rags and
covered in dirt. He looked like he was near death. I took out my lunch and
I handed it to him. He made a noise like a scared animal and shied away. He
was suspicious of me at first, but eventually he took my sandwich and
started to eat. It was like he'd never eaten before in his life. I didn't
have anything else to feed him, so I told him to come to my house. But he
kept shaking his head no.

Soren: I was afraid you were going to trick me. Afraid that you were going to
chase me away after taunting me with food, just for a laugh...

Ike: I told the boy that I'd bring him some food the next day at the same time
and place. He finally nodded when I said that. It made me happy. I felt
like I was doing something right, helping this boy. Like I was the only one
who'd do that.

Soren: ...I was happy, too. Not just because I wasn't hungry anymore. Because
someone finally would talk to me. So I went back to the village again the
next day. I was scared of the other villagers and their rocks and sticks,
but I still went back.

Ike: That's right. That was Gallia back then. The beorc abused and tormented
the Branded because the laguz shunned them. They wanted to avoid upsetting
the laguz.

Soren: The villagers threw stones at me, called me an animal and a devil. But
on the next day, the village was littered with corpses. Soldiers and
peasants were in a panic.

Ike: It was my dad. He went crazy when the spirit of chaos in the medallion
touched him.

Soren: I walked through the empty streets, checking bodies to see if you were
dead. But I couldn't find you. I decided that you had to be alive. I took
money and food from the village and headed for Crimea, a land of beorcs.

Ike: Soren...

Soren: On my way to Crimea, I kept seeing laguz from the beast tribe. They
were terrifying, but after a while I realized something. They never
attacked me. They all seemed to notice something about me, and then pretend
they couldn't see me. That look was burned into my mind, and it was always
the same. They'd scowl, then walk away like they'd never noticed me. In a
way, that left me feeling older and more alone than if they'd attacked me.
Hate... That I could understand. This was denial. They made me feel like I
wasn't supposed to exist at all. That my simply being alive was an affront
to the world. That was how the beasts treated me. And I hated them for it.
It sat in my heart like a lead bar. Like a glacier.

Ike: ...

Soren: When I reached Crimea, I took refuge in a church along the way. They
took my brand to be a sign that I had been trained in the arcane arts.
They took good care of me, and taught me things. Once I had learned to
speak and behave like other people, I wandered Crimea for several years.
Then I finally found you.

Ike: But I'd...

Soren: Yes. You'd forgotten that day in Gallia. But I didn't care. My only wish
was to see you again. I just wanted to see the only boy who had held out a
warm hand when I had nothing.

Ike: Soren... Don't cry.

Soren: Don't cry? What? I'm not crying...

Ike: Soren, you're smart, but you're no good when it comes to your emotions.
Come over here.

Soren: D-don't treat me like I'm a child! I'm not that--

Ike: Come on.

Soren: Shut up! Shut up...

Ike: Then I'll come over to you.

[he moves over]

Ike: It's all in the past, Soren...

Soren: ...Sniff... Sniff... Gwuh... Wahhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh![/spoiler]

Current iPhone wallpaper: