Friday, October 22, 2004

   [FANART// ...celebrating 600+ downloads!]

*delirious* call it self-indulgence, vanity or what have u, but i'm really REALLY excited that the # of downloads on my wp's has just exceeded 600! *gasp* six hundred!!! considering that i've only begun to make anime wp's this year & that MyO is the 1st place where i was brave enough to post them publicly, this is really encouraging!! i remember back when i was still unfamiliar w/ photoshop & how to effectively control my mouse, i had to spend 4+ hrs on a single pic & ended up brusing my wrist in the process :*( ...that was before i discovered the ever so wonderful wrist pad, lol! ^.~ up to now, i've finished 18 anime/manga wp's...and i notice that 'rurouni kenshin' is by far the most popular one! horray! i'm so pround of u, himura-kun!! *hugs* ^///^ i promise i'll make more wp's of u in the future! and of course, millions of *thanks* to those of u who have downloaded my wp's & have given me ur thoughts & comments on them!! domo arigato! ^^ (p.s. i just found out that i'm born in the same month as yukishiro tomoe, kenshin's 1st wife. since tomoe was also born in the month of september ((she in 1846, tokyo)), that'd make us both libra's! and...AH! *major gasp* her bloodtype is AB too!! *really, REALLY, delirious* XD)

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Wednesday, October 20, 2004

   [FANART// craaazy for yugi seto!]

it has been another week in the cold, gray & drizzly midwest...and i finally got done w/ 3 new wp's for 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' ^^ my younger brothers first introduced me to this series; and i must admit that i'm still somewhat behind in catching up w/ the whole anime. hmm, i'm somewhere in the 'battle city' arc methinks! i really like the story so far, esp in the manga where the characters' personalities are magnified tenfold & they really come alive on the page. the dub on tv is ok, tho i've heard a lot of bad stuff about it. *sigh* i hope i get to watch the real uneditted, japanese version some day!! *dreamy eyes* btw, isn't it kinda weird that the YGO dvd's that are out now have only english & spanish tracks? wouldn't it make sense to keep the japanese track too? and also, they should really rate the show for 'older teen' instead of just 'teen'. it's really a shame (& laughable too!) how they have to cut out all the (quote-quote) 'violent' parts, when other shows on tv are 10x more violent!! >_<; ok. ok. anyways, i used mostly doujinshi art & screencaps for these wp's. the yami/yugi pic is done by a fan-artist named 'pine' methinks. i found this pic on the web, so...thanks pine! wherever u r!! ^^ my fave of the 3 has gotta be the 'ultimate seto' one -- the one w/ seto smoking (!!) in front of the 'blue eyes ultimate dragon'. he just looks so hot & cocky, tehehe... *faints* ^///^ well, *energized* i'll go work on more wp's!!

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Wednesday, October 13, 2004

   [FANARTGIRL// yay! it's kouga revisited!]

*sigh* yeah, i really have been slacking off from working on my wp's this past week (as u can tell by the no. of quiz results i've posted recently! ^-^;;) but today i finally finished two three & a half new wp's! and the subject is back to (one of my) fave's--kouga!! the 1st wp ('heroic escape'?) took me forever! >_<; i'm not good at abstract/techno designs, so it really took me a long time to first doodle out the sketch on paper and then put & edit everything in photoshop. so happy that it turned out pretty well at the end! ^^ it was all worth it since i've always wanted to make a wp of kouga running away from battle, lol. ^0^ i esp love the ep where he proudly ran away from juuroumaru & kageroumaru at the moment he sensed danger, only to rush back to the scene later when his comrades reminded him that "isn't lady kagome in danger as well?" :D not very dependable, ne? but in my mind, that's what makes kouga a realistic & attractive character. (this is partly b/c i got tired of seeing those anime guys who refuse to leave a losing battle no matter what & keep fighting in the name of pride/love/whatever & at the end only to be crushed by his opponents. feh! i really believe that's somewhat pathetic, to say the least. >_<;) anyways... the 2nd wp ('friends & rivals') took me considerably less time ^-^;; and features both kouga and inuyasha. in regard to the 'sparkliness' of the wp, uh...i really love the 'outer glow' effect, what can i say? ^-^;; (try turning off the lights & it's like having 2 glow-tubes stuck to the sides of the screen, hahaha <-- dorky! ^_^;) the 3rd & 4th wp ('for the clan') are one and the same. but since i couldn't decide which one (in color or just b&w) looks better, i submitted them both. hmm, it was fun looking for & scanning pictures of wolves from the manga for use in the wp. i know that kouga tended to refer to the wolves in his pack as his "children", paternal but kinda weird...so, uh, i used "clan" instead. ^^; ok ok, now that i've got my kouga obsession out of my system, maybe i should begin working on other characters besdies him, but...but how can it be interesting w/o kouga? *sighs* u_u

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Saturday, October 9, 2004

   [LIFE// *scared* looking over my shoulders...]

taking a break from reading to go online. right now i'm reading the book 'yurei kara ai wo komete' (translated of course! ^.~ it's roughly 'a spirit's love') by jiro akagawa, the master of japanese detective/mystery/horror/supernatural fiction. i don't know if it's just me, but i freak out more often during asian horror films/stories than american ones. maybe it's the atmosphere & suspense & how they play w/ the audience's psyche. hmm, if u've ever watched the original japanese version of 'the ring'...u'd know what i mean... yup, should truth be known, i used to be a fan of 'goosebumps', then later mary higgens clark & sue crafton & agatha christae. but i haven't picked up anything from this genre for years...maybe it's that time of the year, i suddenly felt like reading mystery/horror again...=_= on another note, as an aftermath of visitng my friend msyugioh's site, i've become addicted to taking anime/manga quizzes these couple days--esp those related to YGO! ^-^;; and so i've stumbled across this great site 'SHADOW RULERS' for YGO fans (full of articles, info, multimedia stuff, a forum for fans & yes! QUIZZES!) go visit!!! ^^

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Monday, October 4, 2004

   [FANART// sleepy productions]

maybe it was b/c of the sudden (dramatic) dip in temperature or that i was sleep-depraved during most of last week, i found myself in "hibernation" mode most of the time over the weekend. u_u; btwn my periods of waking consciousness, it's really a wonder that i was able to get 2 wp's done... maybe i'm getting a little ashamed of my slow productivity... ^-^;; for the 1st wp: goku, i choose you!!...over the sultry sanzo, lecherous gojyo, or the mysterious hakkai. ^.^ the image used is a magazine scan i found at the AnimeCubed Galleries. the pic simply rocks, so it was definitely worth the time to edit out all the text & stuff that were over it. btw, i had thought about giving the "goku chained" wp a more interesting (provocative?) caption. uh...like "goku: uncensored", "goku in chains" *coughcough* etc. but not only does that sound perverted, it'd cause a disaster if my little cousin comes over, points at my desktop & asks: "what does that mean??" >_<;; no. no. that canNOT happen. and so i just left the caption a v simple "saiyuki" & the rest up to ur imagination. *winkwink* the 2nd wp continues the 'urumi kanzaki' line. ^///^ image was editted out of a korean manga cover scan i found at imlinked's GTO page. it was, honestly, an experiment w/ circles & stripes. hmm, hope it turned out ok! ^-^;;

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Friday, October 1, 2004

   [FANART// angel with twin color eyes]

feeling kinda stressed out these couple days so i took refuge in making an especially serene & calming wp. the main char: urumi kanzaki, looking perfectly angelic squatting in the (fake, summer) snow. urumi is my favorite char from GTO. as one of the more developed & most interesting secondary char's in the story, urumi is incredibly strong, rebellious & (criminally??) intelligent, but she's also secretly fragile, burdened & sensitive underneath. as the story continues, it gives so much depth & insight into her character -- which is a lot more than what the early "devil mermaid princess" or "classroom/school terrorist expert" titles gave credit for. her attempted suicide in vol. 19. is so sad & touching, it made me cry when i was reading it. ^-^; i scanned the image used in this "snow angel urumi" wp from vol. 19 of the manga (as she was trying to freeze herself to death in ZAUS). this is also the 1st time i've ever attempted coloring pics with photoshop...*sweatdrop*... the end product is not flawless, but i'm pretty satisfied. ^-^;; so, when you're feeling lonely, just pray for snow. it's a present from heaven... ^^ p.s.: just found out that urumi the char isn't in the drama version of GTO... what the heck?! wahh!! :*(

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Tuesday, September 28, 2004

   [FANART// EXCEL - EXCEL]

*excited* it's back to wp making after a wk's break! this time i was v much inspired after finally finishing the "excel saga" anime series. i haven't read the manga ending yet, but the anime one is pretty satisfying. ^^ i love the craziness & chaos (& profundity) that is "excel saga"!!! for this wp, i tried to look at the ending/series from a romantic angle. though the great lord il palazzo finally showed a side of him that we rarely see, did that really give an answer to excel's "loyalty = love" theory? "ai (chuuseishin)" is certainly a great riddle... and one of the best anime openings out there!! XD

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Friday, September 24, 2004

   [FANART// weak for anything kawaiiiii - -]

taking a break from wp production, i submitted my first fanart today! *nervous* "innocence" is actually a piece of fanart i did a while back. in addition to using a reference for the girl's pose,i used sai/cye's (of the torrent, from ronin warriors) hair style as a model for the boy's. yup, there was a time when i thought sideburns were HOT...at least in anime anyways ^///^... love drawing children and chibi characters!! (easier to draw b/c of their deformation??) plus, there's a side of me that really like the syrupy feeling of innocent, romantic pics that are ultra kawaiiii~ like digi charat, pita-ten, azumanga daioh, and oh! especially aishiteruze baby... *faints*

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Wednesday, September 22, 2004

   [LIFE// affinity for the 'third person']

maybe it's b/c i've grown to rebel against those disney-esque fairy tale endings. maybe it's b/c i tend to go for the underdog. or maybe it's just b/c i'm plain twisted & evil. but it's true. i usually like the people who try to come btwn the main char's relationship rather than the true romantic interest of the main char him/herself. i'd love to see inuyasha w/ kikyo instead of kagome...kagome getting together w/ kouga...kenshin w/ tomoe instead of kaoru...keitaro w/ mutsumi rather naru...ranma w/ shampoo or ukyo instead of akane...akane w/ ryoga instead of ranma...usagi w/ seiya or even haruka (!) instead of mamoru...and setsuna finally getting her king endymion if she really loves him that badly. hmmm, on second thought, mamoru is just too wimpy, setsuna definitely deserves a better man. of course, there are some instances where the two chars are so perfect for each other that i'd hate anyone who tries to go btwn them. like yusaku godai and kyoko otonashi or chii and hideki. ^^ can't really explain why i like the relationship breakers tho. it probably goes along with the generic "villains are cool" theory. in particular tho, the "third persons" are more interesting. they are, generally speaking, complex, passionate, energetic, charming, seductive, obsessive, manipulative (why this is attractive i dunno...) etc. in trying to get what they want, they aren't confined by either morals or the laws of physics. at the very least, conflicts make an interesting story, right?? *evil laughter* XD [DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed above are purely personal & subjective. my finding the 'third person' more interesting personality-wise does NOT mean i "hate" kaoru or kagome or ranma or akane...(well, maybe just mamoru)!]

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Thursday, September 16, 2004

   [FANART// dreams: neptune fantasy]

up goes my 7th wp "serenade of neptune", the 2nd wp i made from the sm series. ^^ i luv this artbook image of michiru playing her bass as she emerges from the ocean. it's really beautiful, elegant & surrealistic. "protected by the ocean, the soldier of affinity: sailor neptune!" *awww...* ^_^;; at the end tho, the pic vaguely reminds me of a scene from the sci-fi movie "contact". the one in which jodie foster's char fell thru this wormhole thing (?) & ended up in another dimension. then on a v serene beach, where the light from stars & planets flickered in the night sky, she met her dead father... the setting was just so cool that it got stuck in my mind ever since. so subconsciously i sorta set out to recreate that feeling...of a seperate dimension where michiru's graceful music echos in the air & the gentle light from neptune shines upon the tides, awakening the feelings (for uranus?) that have been forgotten overtime. a deep melancholic blue: deep submerge. hmmm... *pensive* ~_~

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