Hmmm....

Well, I'm still not going to be writing any stories for a long while, but I think I should try somewhat getting these random plotlines for my character out of my head and onto some paper (well, screen, I suppose). I think I'll doing some plot synopsis, intros to stories, and character profiles on this blog for a few stories that I have. Of course, I won't put them ALL down at once; I have a variety of ideas in my head, and chances are even past posts like this one will be edited quite frequently, so check them out. I'll probably indicate if I updated something in a past thread.

Oh, and these as of now don't have titles. Titles and names are possibly one of the major reasons why I'll never write a story outright. No, not really, but titles suck. :P

Thomas's story.

Introduction:

"As we approach the 26th century, it is helpful to reflect upon us the immense developments of technology in our world. Most notably, as everyone has obviously seen, is the integration of the internet into everyone's lives; integrated so much that it has become not just a reality, but a completely alternate reality to us. With the ability to artificially hear, feel, taste, sense, and see a fabrication of data, people have created a world with their most desired dreams, sometimes at the cost of the dwindling interest in reality itself. But that has been the truth up to now: reality still exists, we must apply a device in order to log into the internet, and we must still eat and sleep to maintain our lives.
However, the bridge between reality and internet may finally be completed with the arrival of our newest project, RU-BY, Robotic Unit- Binary Youth (Pending name, RUBY will be kept, its meaning will probably change when I expand my vocabulary :P) . Wolf Industries (also pending name) has generously demonstrated over the last couple of decades its technological capacity on combining electrical impulses in the human nervous system with computational data; though the human system is complex and humans have yet to determine the full mechanisms of the human brain, Wolf Industries has illuminated the world by bringing sensual experiences of the newfound world we know of as the internet. Therefore, the coming of the first biological computer, Ruby, should be expected from the potential of such a innovative and ambitious corporation. The project was conducted using the DNA of a human specimen, altered through genetic manipulation, then was duplicated and placed into many different human oocytes. The project obviously was not an immediate success; despite the major advances in human biotechnology, there were countless failures before the success of the first RUBY. Kept in an isolated, oxygenated chamber, and using delicate mechanical devices, the team managed to implement a variety of microchips for operation on the specimen's brain; this will be explained more in detail later the report.
RUBY is finally in operation and is now in her beta testing period, conducted by the project team leader. As of yet, the project is a huge success; being able to directly connect to the internet with no external devices, to essentially learn, instantly, any procedures assigned to her by downloading templates (this has included, but is not limited to, cooking, cleaning, delivering and picking up packages, athletics, and martial arts) . However, though RUBY is currently a huge success, many obstacles lie ahead, and not merely experimental error; overzealous human rights activists, competitive corporations, and government disapproval may all present a particularly difficult dilemma. Furthermore, as humans themselves still have no true understanding of their own kind, there is an unknown danger that originates from Ruby herself... many precautions have been taken so far, but there is no way to know for sure. Still, this should not discourage us from proceeding with a spectacular project, one that not only presents to the company a new marketing model, but the possible understanding of life, rebirth, and humanity itself."
-Thomas T. Reusbucks, Abstract in a report sent to the head company discussing their project Ruby.

(DAMN that was a long intro! >.<) Synopsis: Thomas wasn't far off when he talked about all the problems he predicts he'll encounter while "testing" Ruby. His generally peaceful lifestyle with Ruby being somewhat of a servant-type character by his side is rudely thrown into chaos when a particularly malicious virus that interferes with her memory storage. Soon, everyone becomes involved, willingly or unwillingly, in the conflict that arises between Ruby and Thomas, as rights activist hackers, greedy corporate owners, government officials, and Thomas's associates all plunge into a chaotic mystery that no one knows the answer to... except for Dr. Reusbucks.

Characters: (Ironic how I don't do Thomas first :p)

Ruby
Age of Appearance: 16 (However, her height is only about 1 foot)
General Description: Long Red Hair, Black Blouse, Purple Skirt, Stocking and Shoes
Ruby is probably one of the most complex characters ever made, considering everything that she must go through. Though initially programmed not to show any human emotion at all, this obviously becomes a failure when mysterious "files" pop up following the elimination of a recent virus that cause Ruby to have "feelings". Eventually, the feelings cause Ruby to disobey Dr. Reusbucks and cause her to inquire as to who is she in reality. Ironically, those exact same feelings prevent her from harming Dr. Reusbucks outright, as if the bond that she had developed with Dr. Reusbucks was mutual... nevertheless, she runs away, and causes a enormous mess with not just Dr. Reusbucks and his associates, but to the entire city. With such an advanced human, no one had the capability to stop her (though obviously there are attempts to do so), except for one man. No one in the same respect had the complete answer to her question, except for one individual. Do I really have to tell you who that person is? :p
"Who am I?"

Jon Wolfe (Pending name)
Age: 24ish
General Description: Rough "Indiana Jones" kinda guy in a lab coat
Mechanical engineering expert, and close friend of Thomas. Well, as close as you can possibly get. In addition to designing computer hardware, he also works on other machinary, including tools and weapons. He has a hobby of designing and constructing weaponry, though he does most of his inventions in secret to prevent government suspicion, though some of his weapons and most of his tools do become marked by Wolf Industries. Jon Wolfe knows more about Thomas than possibly any other person in the city that is alive, well, and talking; he is a highly reliable character, able to take secrets and not stirred by threats in any way. He designs Thomas's weaponry when Thomas needs it for his own protection.
"Both of them... they're more human than you think."

Ken Wolfe (Pending name)
Age: 18ish
General Description: Rebellious guy with spikey hair
Ken has a bit more of a twist with his character. He is, on the surface, the computer engineering expert of the group; he does most of the programming and knows an immense amount of programming languages. However, he also a member of the human rights activists group, and in a way is responsible for some of the viruses that are caused around the net. He is specifically angered at the RUBY project and actually does not have a particular liking to Ruby. His main goals in the story seem to revolve around eliminating Ruby and capturing Thomas (he doesn't want to do anything further because of his brother). This is very likely due to another influencing character of this group, though she does not appear in the plotline a lot except in flashbacks and memories...
"Is life a toy?!?"

Crystal Reusbucks
Age: 16
General Appearance: Light Green Hair like Thomas, kinda wavy... otherwise usually seen sick in bed at hospital
Crystal's condition is that she is hospitalized in bed without consciousness. She is Thomas's sister, and is said to be the key link in Ruby's identity. Much of what is known of her is in the past: she has a relationship with Ken, which is thus attributed to Ken's attitude; she had a very energetic and playful personality, much in contrast to her brother; both brother and sister seemed to have a very good relationship with each other, though the sister seemed to display her affection more obviously than the brother; she was eventually involved in an accident and was placed on life support, unconscious. It was said that no one knew where Thomas went during that time, But Thomas did take trips to the hospital to see her once in a while. Crystal IS still alive; she is in the hospital.
"Don't lose..."

President Janus Roberts (Pending name)
Age: 40ish
General Description: Typical Plump Businessman
Cheif Executive Officer of Wolf Industries. He has a rather prideful personality, confident of himself and his company; nevertheless, he is a fairly amiable person. He has always kept his faith in himself and the company he worked hard to build up, despite failures that have come his way, and in that sense he is strong. This could be seen in the vast technological advances that Wolf Industries has made thanks to Janus's funding and support. Still, he seems rather ambitious about building up his dream, a dream that would reconstruct the past he lost... As seen by his vast wealth, he is most knowledgable about playing the marketing and business game, careful with stocks and sales to continue building up his wealth and funding his company for more research.
"The human mindset is to never accept what is, but to continue living for what will be."

Helice and Plata
Age of Appearance: 21(Helice) and 14(Plata)
General Description: Helice has curly hair split into two parts, and her outfit is similar to that of Sion from Melty Blood except that it is green and her skirt is not frilled and more tight, like a female military officer; Plata has hair similar to Akane from Mai Hime/Mai Otome or that one girl from Shakugan no Shana (forgot her name :p) and is probably in a one-piece dress though I have not figured it out yet :p
Two later models constructed after Ruby, and hence have similar functions. They both operate under Janus, Helix serving as the head security guard for the company, Plata taking the role of the head secretary. Helice and Plata, unlike Ruby, "seem" to have emotional responses, though someone like Thomas may merely indicate that it is in the programming; their emotions correspond to their job position. Helice is aggressive, commanding, and serious, a very leader-type character; Plata is more quiet, shy, and attentive, conducting any task quickly, carefully, and without question. These two characters are actually ressurected forms of Janus's previous family, a daughter and a wife that he had lost in an accident. It's said that Janus's own selfishness was partially the reason for their accident, and ever since Janus has become ever more ambitious, but more supportive and generous to others.
Ruby- "Do you even realize what you are??? Why you were brought into the world???"
Plata- "We know what... or who... we are. And whether we operate as computer or human, we accept our position with full faith."
Helice- "More importantly, have you determined your purpose of existance?"

Director Sylvan (pending name)
Age: 60ish
General Description: Takes the appearance of an old but very knowledgable kind of guy
Chief militant officer of the city, his own occupation is at stake as many have adapted to a life of virtual existance, with very little crime to control except for the ever growing hacking-prevention agency. Nevertheless, Sylvan is fairly appreciative of the seeming tranquility of the city with the growing internet lifestyle... This all changes rapidly when Ruby causes chaos in both the virtual world and reality; the government, now seeing the new models as a threat to society, forbids further construction into the models and orders the elimination of all existing models. Sylvan, understanding the situation, complies without hesitation, but with a inquiring thought lingering in his mind, as to what these new models really are...
"There is no one dream that can realize everyone else's desires. In order to satisfy a majority of the people's wishes, some others' fantasies must be shattered."

Doll Shopkeeper (No name yet)
Age: 22ish
Appearance: Has brown hair with a band to keep it all together... not quite a ponytail, but hopefully someone gets what I mean. >.> Wears Apron, takes the appearance of a motherlike character
This woman is the shopkeeper of a hobbies store that makes doll clothes, and she happens to find Ruby unconscious (perhaps from a previous battle or out of exhaustion). She takes Ruby in and takes care of her, treating her as if she were her child. Ruby, after she comes to her senses, reluctantly accepts her hospitality in exchange for... some particular modelling jobs the shopkeeper asks her to do. The shopkeeper is a rather lively and energetic girl, fairly cordial and often explodes with bursts of "OMG CUTE"ness, especially towards Ruby. She is, however, a very knowledgable character and seems to have some relation with Thomas. She knows what Ruby is and in a way Thomas entrusted Ruby to take care of her, at least for a while.
[i]Dolls, unlike machines, are not tools, but objects of admiration. I think it works the same way in humans. Humans want... not to be used... but to be admired...[/i]

Thomas Reusbucks
Age: 24ish
Appearance: Green (Slightly messy) Hair, Small trapazoidlike glasses, thin body frame build in a semi-formal shirt with slacks and a lab coat.
Well, Most of anyone who knows how I play Thomas Reusbucks will already know how he acts. Stoic, not very expressive, very factual, neither generous nor selfish, he usually just acts what just comes by. He obviously has something deep within him that keeps him motivated to live on and do what he does, though no one really knows exactly what it is. He does, however, throughout the story, appear whenever Ruby seems to be in a jam and help her escape, to the dismay of practically every other person in the city they live in. :p Other than that, he manages to hide away from everyone with the help of his friend Jon, with the occasional character stumbling upon him; when that happens, either a few words are exchanged, or they get into a little spar, which always seems to end up in Thomas running away, whether he was winning or losing. :p

Environment
The City: The city reminds me a lot LA: Gray and smoggy, pretty congested, except that since cars can fly (original concept isn't it :p) the congestion is more in the air around large skyscrapers. Most of the people live and work in these skyscrapers, usually having one room for both their job and home at the same time. Machines in particular dominate the production industry, being responsible for everything the labor union currently covers, such as regulating traffic, cashier, production, enforcement, and even responsible for their own repair and construction. Because robots have become such a dominant workforce in this city, maintaining them has become essential, and hence the major job industry for humans is programming to keep these machines in check. These people take care of viruses, help keep the machines going, and develop new programs for the same machine to make them work more efficiently. There are other jobs, of course (as indicated, head corporate owners, directors of government positions, and scientists), but the majority of the human population are now programmers. Though the world is more efficient in terms of pollution, the atmosphere still seems unhealthy and nonappealing, and most people merely stay in their rooms, never to leave; they let the robots do anything that require outside contact. Note: Jon Wolfe, Sylvan, and Helice have more expertise in this area, meaning that they can navigate, fight, and is just plain more comfortable in the real world city than they are, in contrast to the internet which will be discussed below.

The Internet: The internet is an astonishing place, more impressive than the technology of the current real world (though, without a doubt, the technological advances in the real world are also very impressive). Basically, anyone can "construct" a web page (which is now situated like a house) and build it to their own liking, presuming that they know how to program and create a web page (usually, since most everyone is a programmer now, everyone knows how to do this pretty easily). The internet can appeal to all the senses as it is a virtual device that is inputted through nerve endings, and creates a virtual world from there. The user's appearance is exactly how the user looks like in reality, though they can modify their own appearance with the appropriate programming. Clothes are an additional programming process. However, though the Internet seems like Utopia, there are still troubles, most notably the viruses. People still wish to harm others (this is human nature) and so viruses, something in the shape of a real T9 type virus that infects bacteria (they look like polyhedrons with legs) can "infect" a person... if this happens, serious mental injuries can result, and the person responsible for the virus may be charged with very strict and very severe penalties. Ken Wolfe and Plata are much more keen and comfortable in this Internet world for navigation and battle than the other characters.
umm... more will come later :p

It's been proven!

Cute Anime girls lower my IQ by a helluva lot.

UPDATE: Apparently, my blog looks really funny now since I made a rather short post. I messed around with the template for a while today and still couldn't figure out how to fix it, but I did redesign my blog a bit, mainly by making the font look smaller and replacing a few links and info. Unfortunately, the huge gap still looks dumb. So, from this I can either:

A. Make my post REALLY long, verticalwise, or
B. Waste time by looking up more information on CSS style sheets over the internet or in one of the HTML books I have at home.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I think I'll stick with choice A since it seems to be the easier of the two right now :p.

Test

This will be a random entry about a test I had today. It may somehow go into philosophy of life and happiness, so you have been warned. The details of the test are that I did quite horribly, and as you may expect, I am not enthusiastic about my performance. Seeing how I have not finished two of the five problems on the exam, as well as being confident that I have misinterpreted two of the other problems in the exam, I estimate that I may get less than half correct on the exam. Obviously this brings up an onset of emotional despair, but, I decided that today I will analyze my own stress over the test, the actual importance of the test to me, and many other things that if I want to I'll just BS right now.
You know, tests, along with school itself, isn't more important in the overall picture to life than even something like anime. This is true with money, clothes, social status, anything humans ever value or treasure... it's not that damn important. In fact, when looking at it from a logical perspective, there's no real "purpose" to life; that is, not that I'm going on a depression streak, but life merely just spontaneously appeared on a rock in the middle of nowhere (literally), and it will just as likely spontaneously disappear one day. So in reality, even if things aren't important, it's not going to hurt in worrying about these things. Just, in terms of ranking, nothing is TRULY more important than the other. However, for most people, myself included, there are some things that hold value to them more than other thingss. This is perfectly fine; this is how we pretty much find motivation to live.
So some people like money, some people like clothes, some people like power (political, military, whatever), and some people like anime. While I sometimes may criticize some of these people for caring about such "unimportant" things, I myself wonder about my own attentiveness to school and grades. Why is it that I have become like the person I am, someone who feels such despair when doing bad on a test, that it was similar to, say, a couple breaking up? Perhaps? It might not be a bad analogy, but it gets the idea across, especially for people who regard relationships as something important.
Well, I thought about it a little more, and I realize that in actuality, I don't get disappointed about the grade of the test itself. I have had tests that I have bombed, and I felt... well, not satisfied, but more or less "ok, I got that grade" sort of attitude. Maybe apathetic, but that seems misleading. However, this time when I finished the test, that I knew I was going to bomb, I felt horrible. This is because I knew that the grade I will recieve cannot represent what I think I am and what I "deserve" on the test. Deserve is a sketchy word, since it implies that someone did something wrong, and it is not my fault. No, it was still my result, but it is the result of something not from my knowledge of the subject, but my lack of composure and attentiveness. Perhaps this is what truly upsets me: that I get graded not because of what I know on the subject, but because I ran out of time on a problem that I could have definately without a doubt solved, and that I am mislead in a problem because of my poor reading skills.
Grades are not what make me "happy". When people compliment me on my grades, saying "what a good student you are", I shrug, and I don't really care. Why is that? Well, maybe its because grades I feel aren't something that truly can represent me. Too much of a percentage of my grades are not representative of what I know, but rather of what I did because it was assigned, along with some non-knowledge related mistakes I made as I had indicated earlier. What really makes me feel satisfied and "happy", more so than any game that I could play or any anime that I would watch, is when I help other people, or similarly when I am working on a rather difficult problem that I know I can solve. In both of these situations, I feel that it's not the end result that I'm looking for, but rather that I am using my intelligence, should that be the word. In the first case, I feel immensely satisfied when someone looks at me as smart not because of my grades, but because they watch the process I explain to them in which to solve a particular problem; I am not perfect, and I had many occasions where people correct me in minor details or even give me a different way to think, but the impact that I had on them, that I showed them I could solve a problem or explain this situation to them, gives me a feeling of happiness that matches almost no other. In the other case, the basic thrill of solving a problem is something like exercising the brain; now, before I do the problem, I may groan why I have to solve the problem because of homework, and after the problem, I may forget about it completely and just move on to the next one or whatever I do next. But while doing a problem, and knowing what to do, it's exciting. Only in one case is it not exciting but immensely stressful is if there is a time limit, as there is on a test, and this time limit is almost approaching its end. At this point, its no longer knowledge but more stress, and because of this many times a problem that would not have been difficult to solve (and even enjoyable) would give me a hard time because of the time limit. This is why sometimes I will become frustrated over one test that I bomb, then say "Meh, you idiot, try harder next time" on another.
Well I guess if I'm living in this world I do have to look to the menial work and be more attentive to the time and mistakes that I make; in chemistry, for example, I have significantly reduced the amount of error that I make in my tests and have scored, in the last semester, many grades in the 90s. I don't know, but I guess since this test is done and over with, it doesn't help to mourn over my nervous breakdown during the past problem of this test, along with all the other mistakes I thought up AFTER I turned in the test, but to go on, start on thermodynamics, and when the final comes next week, work quicker, double check the work, and whatever grade I get, will be the one I felt I deserve, whether it be good or bad.

Uta Kata 2: The OVA!!!

OMG THE OVA CAME OUT!! \o/

Ok first off, the OVA certainly retained the enchantedness that it had before, the elusive "what's going on here" for the first part, then the realization of a rather simple concept at the end. While it's not exactly an extremely deep-plotted OVA (come on, only 30 minute sequel of a show that already ended, you can't put much more into it than that), I must say that it still has that empathetic nature.
Mostly I think what the story is trying to emphasize is that the mirror images, Manatsu and Kai, are gone from their lives, like friends seperated by travels or even death. Nevertheless, what's most important is the memories left with these people that they once knew, and because of that they will "never be seperated". The concept of them being the same may have to do something with the memories being retained in Ichika's memories, therefore being a part of her forever. The mirrors disappearing show that this cannot be held in another inanimate object: they exist only within the mind of Ichika, and she forever will retain those memories.
Lying seems to still be an issue here; while the original series emphasizes how lying can hurt people, this one seems to show the opposite: some lies can be okay. This is probably disappointing in a way, but still what can you put into just a 30 minute sequel without a second season?
What was MOST impacting was finally getting to know the meaning of the title "Uta Kata". Like a said before, uta kata meant "a piece of poetry" in Chinese, but when put together, they can actually mean "bubble". This is important, it expresses the fragility of time, time with friends, and events altogether. Everything seems to move rather slow while the event is going on (IE a bubble just steadily floating in the air), but they can disappear in an instant (pop!) and then all that is left is the memory, the rememberance of the beautiful structure of the bubble. Pretty deep, and pretty damn elusive considering they went through the whole series with me stumped on what the hell the title meant.

^-^ Uta Kata will rock, no matter what anyone says! Though, no one watch the OVA, it has some pretty explicit scenes even compared to the original series. :P Still Ecchi, but eeeh.... >.>