Suki Blue Visual Novel

[N0UGHTS]

Well, I can't really help about the data reclamation thing, but I think I can help you with the whole "what BL should I take inspiration from?" issue.

Nowadays, most BL can fit snugly into categories:

• Porn. It may attempt to have a little plot... Some stupid angst or fluff, maybe.
• Shallow "juvenile" stuff. May or may not be fluffy, may or may not have copius amounts of angst...
• Something with a plot. BL that fits into this is rare. Not nearly as popular as the BL above.

• Gravitation fits into category number two. The plot isn't really deep... If you think about it, it sounds like a teenage fujoshi's fanfic. Which is why it's so popular; it appeals to teenage girls. And teenage girls can be oh-so very fanatical about the things they like.
• Legal Drug isn't a BL manga. It has a few implied instances, but other than that, not really too much... Develops characters through "job of the week" scenarios. (Compare "villain of the week.") If the manga continues, they'll probably "archetypal"...
• Loveless, I would call shounen-ai. not because it's old, but because of the pederasty. The plot is really something for teenagers. How can you tell? Revenge, angst, not much of a "deep" moral message or philosophy that's being conveyed...
• Kaze to Ki no Uta. Of course. Sure, it has a lot of drama, angst, stuff like that... Stuff that appeals to women. :laughs: But the plot is something. I say this, especially because of this quote (more of a paraphrase because I don't want to spoil anything): "If anyone said that it's supposed to be a certain way... Then why did it turn out like this... [If] the purpose is to bear children, if it's like that... Then it's fine if I only react to girls? Why is it wrong otherwise? Why is it like that?" Oh, and the characters are deep.
• Ai no Kusabi. I admit, I've only seen the OAV... It has a plot... It's really something for adults. Why? It asks questions about society (what if society was like this?), how such a society would affect people, how the people interact, etc... One of my favourite things about this is that it's all that, and it's sci-fi!
• Enzai (the game!). It definitely has more smut than Ai no Kusabi, but hey, it's an 18+ ADV. :laughs: What do you expect? But what really impressed me was the depth of the characters, especially Guys (I know, what a name.). His character really shines through in the bad endings. Dude reacts just like another dude (albeit a gay one) in those situations... And the backstory is nice. Most BL games, the setting is important, but it's not really fleshed out... Take a certain few routes and you'll see how the setting's affected the characters' pasts.

And, of course, all of the above can also apply to GL. Quite nicely. I'm pretty sure this can apply to all sorts of romances... And of course, all of the above are just my views...

Hope that helps with restarting that plot of yours. And good luck with retrieving your data...

[robthemanbigboy]

I'll admit: I know absolutely nothing about the inside of a computer. I'm afraid to do anything myself, so I'll bring it into Best Buy again tomorrow to find out about those things you guys just said. Hopefully I was wrong and the data isn't lost then. I'll post again when I get more information. Big problem is my entire family is poor and I just spent all of my spare money on a laptop, and the rest has to go for college. Also, I'm injured right now and can't get a job (sadly, doctor's say that I probably won't heal either...) Oh yeah, and I don't have a digital camera to take a picture with.

@N0UGHTS- Thanks for the help, I didn't get to work on the bl route yet because I didn't have much experience. I will definitely check those out.

[N0UGHTS]

:reaches out to pull back:

Aaaugghh! No! Gravitation will corrupt your soul... Or at least Volume 7 will disappoint you. Yeah... Turns rreally absurd as the story progresses... Just like a teenager's fanfic... Of course, back then I was young. And I was darn partial to...

I suggest you read some Year 24 stuff. BL, GL, het, whatever, if you want to learn how to appeal to ze ladies and have a meaningful plot at the same time. They rock. If you want modern stuff, look for manga by RUTILE. As for games... :laughs: ...Well, if you understand Japanese, Nitro+CHiRAL...

Remember! :smirks: Unless they're in heat, women value emotion and character relations the most in stories! That's why they love angst and love so much!

[Hyperguy]

Big problem is my entire family is poor and I just spent all of my spare money on a laptop, and the rest has to go for college.

Ah, that's perfect! As a matter of factually college campuses are littered with computer literate people, many whom wouldn't mind fixing your computer for free!

Once there, try researching computer clubs or even pay the Computer Science department a visit. If you manage to find a student who's adept with computers and befriend them, they probably wouldn't mind working on your computer for you. Most computer science majors will either do this to gain experience, a small amount of money, or even something as simple as a pizza.

If you do go that route, be prepared to hear about how sucky or old your computer might be from them. If they're feeling particularly snarky or generous they might even donate some parts or put together a Frankenstein rig for you.

[robthemanbigboy]

@hyperguy: Great, but I don't start at a community college until MAYBE January, if I can get doctor permission by then. If not, then it will be more online courses.

[robthemanbigboy]

Okay, we just checked back with the people we sent the computer to, and it turns out that not just the motherboard was broken, but the hard drive is completely messed up, and it is impossible to get any information off of it according to them. Any last ideas people?

[Nicol Armarfi]

She opened it up and vacuumed it

Why on Earth...

If they say it's completely messed up and impossible to get anything off of it, it just might be. Though, I'd recommend asking another place that specializes solely on fixing computers, rather than asking the guys at Best Buy. They may say the same thing, but it's worth a shot, I suppose.

[robthemanbigboy]

@Nicol Armarfi: why did she do it? b/c she has no idea what she's doing. And it wasn't the guys at best buy who said it this time, it was a place which had a leftover motherboard of the kind we needed which specializes in getting and fixing old computers or something like that.

Still hoping someone here knows an ancient chinese method of retrieving data or something like that to help out here.

[N0UGHTS]

Uh... Why not try what PyTom said?

Well, you said last minute. Really the only thing I can think of...

Western Digital...

[robthemanbigboy]

i said i couldnt take a picture of the inside because i dont own a digital camera, and i asked the guy who worked on it and he said that other thing won't work with this or something like that, and I'm not paying 70 bucks for something that wont work. I already spent 200 for the motherboard.

oh well, if no one else knows, i guess this means i really do have to start all over again on everything. sucks, because i was also writing a novel i was hoping i could get published when it was finished, because i plan on becoming an author.

and im so totally buying a few external hard drives this time.

[Jake]

The first thing I would say is that it's always worth getting a second opinion on the hard disk. Just in case the first guys were incompetent and/or lazy, if nothing else.

The second thing I would say is that if the hard disk really did get killed by being vacuumed, it's probably just the drive circuitry which is fried, and the platters themselves - where the data is stored - are likely to be fine. There are services out there who will take your 'dead' drive and retrieve the data for you, just bear in mind that they can be costly depending on what exactly is wrong with your drive.

[sciencewarrior]

Sending your HD to a data recovery service can be more expensive than buying a new computer, and it's still a shot in the dark. Sadly, I don't think you have other option but to start anew, and with backups this time. Even copying your projects to a pen drive or burning a DVD once in a while is better than nothing.