Sunday, February 5, 2006

   It would be great!
Message to the animators at Pierrot, or wherever is making Saiyuki now. Tack this on the end of any of the coming Gunlock episodes:

Shower stall seen from the outside, water is running. Faint noises can be heard.

Camera cuts to Sanzo in the shower (just from the shoulders up, people) washing his hair.

Singing, "You are the dan-cing queeeen! Young and~ sweeeet, o-nly se-ven-teeeeen...."



...don't you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head?



=^o.O^=
I'd buy a box set, just to see that...
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Thursday, February 2, 2006

   Sweet Merciful Heavens!
Sad to say, this took me quite a while to do. It's like the doodle that just won't die!

I'm going to keep screwing around with it. Why? Because there's still some left in the bottle.

Don't blame me, blame the Captain. He's the one making the rum so sweet and tastey...

=^@.@^=
kids... don't drink and draw.


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Wednesday, February 1, 2006

   Chibis Gone Wild! Chapter 2
What is this? Find out.

Chapter 2: Because They Do.

Sanzo stands so abruptly that all eyes in the bar turn to him. The inebriated stares and comments go unnoticed by Sanzo, however, as he is lost in some inner vista.

He leaves: not a word, and hardly a stagger.

But not before Goku looks up from his food long enough to say, "Hey, yeah! That was a great story!"




"How the hell would you know?" Gojyo slurs in rebuttal. "You never stayed awake through the whole thing!"

"So? It had a great beginning, and Sanzo said it had a happy ending!"

"Not all happy endings are good endings, idiot..."

"Both of you, stop!"




Like magic, they stop.

It's the Voice. Hakkai can threaten evisceration with a tone, not even a word, or a facial expression. He could hum 'I'm going to eat your liver.'

It tends to evoke cooperation.




Gojyo and Goku sit, hands politely folded, deeply attached to their respective livers.

"Gojyo. I thought we'd agreed never to mention that Time again."

Gojyo hangs his drunken head, "I know..."

"Now you've upset Sanzo. We'll have to go and find him."

"Relax, Hakkai. He's probably just gone back to the hotel."




Hakkai sighs, and tries to stretch the tension out of his neck. "I'm sorry. But those are... disturbing memories for me as well. Aren't they for you?"

Gojyo studies his beer can with intensity, then sets it on the table with exaggerated gentleness. "Yeah. I guess."

"Then that settles it. Don't mention it again, just as we agreed. You, too, Goku. Just let it drop."

"Hm. Okay." Goku doesn't understand, but Goku agrees anyway, and that's normal enough. Agree, and no one smacks you.




They pay up and head out the door. High above, even the wispy clouds are disappearing, leaving the sky a smooth-glazed bowl.

Gojyo gazes absently up into it and mutters:

"But we were so damn cute!"

---

Thousands of miles and thousands of years away, someone else is very, very drunk.

She smiles happily in her quiet, little house and settles into a chair with a book and a tall glass of mostly rum.

The book is thick, wordy, deep and contains no pictures at all -

...unlike the one that remains tucked away on its low bookshelf. You know the one, "The Little Kitten Who Could."




The rum is consumed almost reflexively, a kind of charm to wards off thoughts of sparkling eyes and attempted huggings.

She snorts derisively at a passage in her book: "Extensions of subconscious thought, my ass! The guys a drunk, and he writes like a drunk. Get over it!"

This literary criticism echoes unchallenged through the empty house. And that's how she likes it: quiet, empty, unchallenging.

...though, sometimes...

Again, reflexive consumption of booze drowns out the whimpers of uncertainty.

---

Back at the mythic hotel, Genjyo Sanzo, great Buddhist icon, is once again drinking with determination.

Bad times, bad memories: Sanzo is full of them. All his bad memories are carefully tucked into separate mental files, ready to be taken out and examined for yet-more evidence of his personal weakness.

But none of them are as - disturbing? Humiliating? How to label the file for those days puzzles him still. The uncertainty troubles him, and he drowns the troubles desperately.



'I am a scary, cold-hearted bastard.' Sanzo thinks, with the precise care of the very-drunk-going-on-unconcious. 'I kill people. Often. I'm mean to people just because I can be. Because I don't give a damn what they think, and I don't need their help. I don't care if they even exist.'

'So what if I like kittens?'




He blinks.




He stares out the window in pure concentration. He carefully wipes his mind clear through meditation and more booze.

'Everyone likes kittens.'




He can't stop the thought. Bright sunshine does nothing to improve his mood. He is a cold-blooded killer, he doesn't care about people...

'But it's pre-programmed into the human psyche to like kittens. That's why I like... I mean, it's not possible not to like...'

"Damn it all." He mutters aloud, crushing the next beer can. He desperately tries to push all thoughts of the picture in his wallet out of his mind.

Cute though it is.




I'll post this one here as long as it stays PGish. If there's excessive swearing, or something, I'll post the link instead.

I figured you wanted something cute... since the Dream Chapter of Attack! didn't go over too well. Funny, I thought you would like the reversal of the guys in their jeep picking up a chibified narrator.

Ah, the audience is a harsh mistress... I mean, master. I mean...


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Monday, January 30, 2006

   When Chibis Attack! Part 27
Unusually Confused? Answers.

Part 27: In Which the Odd One's Out

In the Flower Garden of Wonderland, everything is out of proportion. Fighting through these huge stalks and leaves, just walking leaves me sweating and breathless. The plants are so supple, they bend with each passing breeze aloft; but they're so enormous, the swaying knocks me off my feet again and again.

Finally, an open expanse! The hilly, dusty earth stretches away, lifeless and gullied and stark.

Then, rumbling like a herd of elephants - planet-sized elephants! - and a mad rush of wind throws me to the ground. When I'm brave enough to look up, the empty plain is dark, eclipsed by an enormous green structure, rising from four wide, black and silver supports.



Hide or scream? My voice is... stuck. And my feet won't go.



Immense, white hands reach down and pluck me from the hilltop. I fight against them, but they draw me up into the great green structure effortlessly.

The galactic elephants re-start their invisible rampage, but this time the wind is left behind, banished outside of the alien green structure.



Giants' faces gaze at me, and I try to hide behind a protrusion. Barely understandable voices boom out, far above my head:

"Thank goodness you saw her!" one colossus says to the other. "I could have hit the poor thing, otherwise."

"Aww..." The other titan leans down over me, and there is no hiding from those golden eyes! Its voice thunders over me from its cavernous mouth, "Can we keep her? Huh?"

"Now, now, they're not pets..."

"Yeah, yeah! We could name her Betty!" Red hair, as thick as ropes, brushes against me, knocking me sideways. I barely keep on my feet.



"It's not a kitten, you moron!" The resounding chastisement of yet another god echoes through my skull. The wind from its white Tool of Divine Punishment almost blows me away, even though its fury is directed against the previous two gods who claimed ownership of me. "It probably already has a name."

Long, white hands once again enfold me, pulling me forwards, raising me up to Olympian heights. Up, into the pounding sun; up, towards yet more immense eyes. Staring at me, through me; I can't get away from them! I wonder what sins are written on me, to be read by those orchid eyes? I'll stop drinking! I'll cut right back! I'll never buy racy bishonen manga again!




Out cry the voices of the Titans of the Back Seat:

"Hey, Sanzo! Can we keep her? Please?"

"I've always wanted a Chibi!"









Sweat-soaked and gasping for breath, I snap upright, nearly lunging out of bed.

Close eyes. Breathe. Breathe again.

One more breath...

"Hewp!"




Kougaiji is tangled in my hair.

Untangle.

Give him a vaguely sympathetic look. Graciously accept proffered hugs.

Flop backwards, and slip into the dreamless sleep of Qualified Furniture.




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Saturday, January 28, 2006

   Insert Quiet Sobbing Here...
spoiler free

My brief love-affair with Wild Adapter is over.

I could handle the brutal, explicit violence. I could handle the drug-dealing. I could handle the scary, greasy old man. I could even handle the crack-whores.

But killing that kid, just as we were getting to like him, was unforgivable. I mean, who creates a character, gives him depth and a life, rescues him spectacularly on several occaisions, then kills the poor bastard? Brutally?

I thought I was going to throw up.

So, that's enough for me. If you can handle that kind of thing, go ahead: I'm sure it probably improves, and the art is (of course, this is minekura) gorgeous. But I've tossed it, and I won't be thinking about it anymore.

I have enough grief in the real world. I don't need simulated loss as well.

=^T.T^=
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Thursday, January 26, 2006

   Maybe that's it!
Just at Chapter 3... and maybe that's why he scares the crap out of me.

We're the same age!

=^o.O^=
gah! old man!
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   I... like him. I think.
Makoto Kubota is an odd character.

You see him with his colors reversed and he looks like Sanzo. You see him with his natural colors, and he looks like Hakkai. You watch him shoot some guy, just because he's in the way, and he feels like Cho Gonou.

Then you watch him a little longer, and...

You finally figure out that this isn't "Hakkai in Japan" or "Sanzo Gone Bad", this is a brand new character. And I'm still not sure he's a good guy.

Feels like Paranoia Agent: I have no idea what the hell is going on, or which side to cheer for.

The art is absolutely gorgeous, anyway. And it's freaking me out...

I guess that's a thumbs up for Wild Adapter.

_______
=^..^=
hiding under the bed.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006

   I hate my legs.
They've decided to go on strike.

This leaves me with free time to devote to the consumption of alcohol and the bating of people with real artistic taste. Sadly enough, this is just a work in progress shot. I've already started coloring it. Sanzo's jacket will be shiny.
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Monday, January 23, 2006

   Since I like kittens...
I made more wallpaper. Not Saiyuki, but Makoto Kobuta from Wild Adapter.

Still haven't figured out if I like him or hate him.

That's usually a good sign.

=^o.O^=
is it?
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Sunday, January 22, 2006

   When Chibis Attack! Part 26
Part 26: In Which There is Confusion
Rife with confusion yourself? Previous mumblings here.

In the thick blackness of the night, two shadows separate from the body of the greater dark and move towards each other. They whisper their conversation:

"Did you get the stuff?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. But it was tough..."

"So what? You're getting as much out of this as I am. Hand it over."

"I did all the bloody work! I'm not just..."

"Quiet, idiot! They'll hear us."



Furtive glances check for signs of apprehension, and after a few, breathless moments, the clandestine activity resumes.

A sulphurous flare, and the candle is lit, throwing huge shadows about the room. The two figures remain just outside the candle's glow.

"I can't get the lid off."

"Like I said, hand it over."

"Crap. Whatever, like you're going to -"




A popping noise instead of an answer, and a white lid skitters across the floor.

"Nice."

"Hmph."

"Go on. Do it, then."

"Don't rush me."

"Sure, sure, but we don't have all night."




The silence bristles for a moment, then a hand plunges into the container, and a fistful of its contents is removed.

The container is set on the floor between the two, then the hand extends ceremonially in to the circle of light.

A quick toss, and the air shimmers.



"Hee hee... a-hem!" Giggling is coughed silent in the dark.

"My turn, my turn!"

"Go ahead. Just be quiet, you moron!"




Again: a hand from the container to the firelight; a toss, and shimmering light in the air.

"Hee hee hee!"

"Give me those!"

Two hands in the circle at once, and, for a brief moment, there is nothing but shimmering, sparkling light.




Suddenly, on comes the kitchen light, bathing the scene in blinding, confusing light.

"What are you two doing up at this time of night?" Hakkai demands from the countertop, his hand still on the switch.



Gojyo and Sanzo attempt to snuff a candle, put out their cigarettes and hide the container, all at once. The ensuing confusion results in wax in the hair, slight scorching of clothing and the linoleum, and yet more of the container's contents flying into the air.

All three chibis stand momentarily transfixed, as the sparkles flutter around them.

"Tsk. I obviously didn't hide them well enough. Hand them over and clean up, then." Hakkai tears his eyes away from the scintillations in order to scold the perpetrators.

"Not gonna!"

The defiant sparkle thieves set the container carefully behind them, and prepare to fight.



Hakkai simply stands, arms folded, on the counter. His monocle flashes nefariously, and he intones:

"If you don't clean that up right now, I'll go tell everyone how cute you're being. You'll probably be cuddled to death!"

"No... not that..." Sanzo backs away, shaking.

"Anything but... wait, that doesn't sound too ba-"

"Just clean it up, Gojyo. You can make a card tomorrow."

"Aw, man..."



Salvageable sparkles are returned to their container. Things are tidied away and neatened up.

After the others are verifiably in bed, Hakkai moves the sparkles to a new secret location.

He has only one sparkly accident on the way.


What a responsible chibi.

By the way: this story is in no danger of ending, even though the sequel is being posted. I've got mountains of this stuff: your addiction can be sustained for a good while yet.

Thanks for all your comments and reviews! I type much faster when I think of you...
=^-.-^=
kitten hugs!
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