Gasarasrevolution

"Nitro Blaster to the Heart..."

2009-10-09T19:06:24Z

Just a fleeting visit tonight with some things I feel are slightly worth mentioning.

1) I went to London on Tuesday to see Miyavi. Again. Eee!

I will post about this in great detail soon but for now let me just say that it was AWESOME. This is to be expected really - it was Miyavi after all! And I apologise now for the fangirling but... I HELD HIS HAND! This is important to me. Do not mock me for it! ;)

The Smidge also managed to paw at his chest, for which she was truly thankful. And he sang kimi ni negai wo. I was not expecting this at all. It's one of the two songs that Smidge never thought she would hear on a live DVD let alone live in her own ears (the other being Dear my friend - still waiting on that one, Miyavi. How about on next year's world tour...? :D) so it was quite amazing and emotional.

It was a really intimate gig, actually. He spent a lot of time talking to the crowd, and with the crowd for that matter. The interaction was lovely and I honestly think he really enjoyed himself.

Oh, and the security this time round were fantastic. Take note, Astoria 2, that's how it's meant to be done!

So yeah, bloody amazing day.

2) Smidge and I went to see Disney's UP today. SADDEST FILM EVER. We cried like girls. Really loudly. In front of other cinema-goers. FOR THE WHOLE FILM.

Just warning you guys to take tissues with you. You must all see it though because it's just... glorious. And I want a Dug. And a Kevin. And a Russell and a Carl and a floating house. Plz. I <3 it!

3) I still love Power Rangers RPM. Have I mentioned this yet? I've already imported a ValveMax Megazord from America... Haha. I'm so loserish. :D

4) uBuGoe. Performing at the same festival with the likes of Plastic Tree, La'cryma Christi, Angelo, BREAKERZ (Sweet Trance 2009?!), as well as Alice Nine, The Gazette, Kra, Kagrra... This makes me so happy. And they're having a One Man Live. Yay. Although I'm irrationally annoyed that people like a band I believe exist solely for my own adoration. They are MY band, people. Like I said, irrational... ^^

So yeah, this post has been slightly longer than I intended but it has been a damn good week. Miyavi, people! In my country. Again. And I saw him. Again. I never thought this would happen once let alone twice. Just... thank you!

Hello!

2009-09-30T22:26:28Z

I am not dead. Just thought some of you might like to know that. :D

This is... WOW

2009-08-01T17:25:52Z

Um... I have a Daily Deviation on deviantART. <3

Words fail me.

Well... to be honest, they don't, they're just not coming out in the right order or in any way at all that makes sense because...

THINGS LIKE THIS DO NOT HAPPEN TO ME.

Plus, I'm an idiot and really quite useless and use the word 'chuffing' far too much in silly ways. I'm scared they'll discover all this and take the DD off me for ruining the integrity of the feature. But I also feel like telling them all this because clearly they have made a mistake because I just live in a tiny village in England and doodle a bit and can't possibly deserve such an honour - and because I am useless at EVERYTHING.

So... yeah. WOW.

See it here: scroll down to gasara

Sorry for breaking my recent silence with such badly written nonsense. I am just amazingly excited.

Also, my copy of Mugeno (the artbook I have two pictures in) came this morning and it is the first day of this year's NaArMaMo event so today has been amazingly, artily brilliant. <3

USoE

2009-07-21T18:39:21Z

Has anyone been following the USoE treasure hunt that Muse have been holding? My soul is literally being sucked out by this thing.

It has been the most epic, amazing, enjoyable, frustrating week ever. And now this last wait is actually killing me. No one actually has a clue whether USA should recognise the United States of Eurasia or not, but there has been an extension of the deadline and Zane Lowe has mentioned he's waiting on the resistance to get the last part of USoE but... The urge to resist is incredibly strong.

Muse must have expected something like this to happen - after all they couldn't possibly have ignored all of the calls for resistance on their site, forums and Twitter - so they must have a back-up plan in action, or at least be prepared to turn around and say No, actually, you all fail!

There's so much paranoia and hype going around, and everyone has spent the last week thinking and overthinking things, so what was a simple concept has turned into notihng short of chaos.

In the end, though, right or wrong, you can't knock the unity in the fans that this has created. Matt truly has inspired a resistance. Whether that was truly his intention, or whether his own love of conspiricies and politics has backfired, I don't know. But it's been bloody fantastic.

Just... Thank God I'm not the one who has to make the choice.

Matt, Dom, Chris... Thanks so much for such another bloody brilliant treasure hunt. Fellow members of the Resistance... Well done for sticking to your guns. Right or not, it's been an epic event and you guys are awesome.

I was bored, so this happened.

2009-06-19T22:28:59Z

Had a bit of a strange moment about an hour ago and did this:

FAIRY FORE ★ NEVER LAND ★ MUSE ★ JJ72 ★ MIYAVI ★ CAST ★ PLASTIC TREE ★ PSYCHO LE CEMU ★ THE ROMEO ★ THIRTEEN:13 ★ DUE LE QUARTZ

+click to enlarge +

Utter joys~

FAIRY FORE: All of it, but in particular the Boys, be ambitious demo tape and the FIR~REFORLE video
NEVER LAND: Everything
MUSE: Uno signed by Dom, Cave CDs, Hullaballoo footage for the immortal Sit the fuck down!...
JJ72: First release of October Swimmer
Cast: The joy of knowing I own every CD they ever released. :D

I wanted to behold my Muse CDs to garner some inspiration for Piano Thing... but this kind of happened as a result. The Miyavi CDs belong to the Smidge but I own them in spirit. :)

Some things are missing from the photo - CDs we left on the shelves by accident, CDs that are in the post right now, and it doesn't include all of the duplicates, DVDs, tour books or merchandise we own. But it's still pretty darn impressive.

I could cry tears of happiness right now.

It's understandable that I don't have many uBuGoe CDs but my BREAKERZ collection is just shameful. Still, NEVER LAND! <3

Oh, beautiful, super-rare, first release of October Swimmer... *sigh*

I is a happy Oog. :D

Enix, go and die!

2009-06-16T23:20:51Z

I've just watched the English dub trailer for Final Fantasy XIII and I don't think I've ever been so horrified by anything in my entire life. I am actually sickened by it.

I'm going to cut this for ranting and possible spoilers about and for EVERYTHING Square have ever done... and for its EPIC LENGTH. Enjoy.

Ever since the Enix was attached so inelegantly onto the end Square, I feel like the whole franchise has lost its spark and integrity. All we've had since is mediocre sequel after downright dreadful one. We've had new characters randomly thrown into existing storylines, random storylines thrown at existing characters. There's been too much focus on women in short shorts, Aerith's apparent love for clothes shopping, remakes, director's cuts, and director’s cuts of remakes... It's just getting really silly.

When Final Fantasy X-2 was announced I was genuinely really pleased. I lost myself so completely in FFX, more than with any other game, I think, that when it ended I wanted nothing more than for some kind of continuation. I played it over two days with myvxkirito, literally plastered to our sofa until the credit's rolled, and I adored it. Now though, thinking about it leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.

I still enjoy playing it - I love Baralai's character and the relationship between him, Gippal and Nooj - but there's so much about it now that really niggles. Yuna, for example, turned into nothing more than eye-candy for the boys. Her reservations and her hesitance were some of the qualities that really endeared me to her. Then she turned up as a barely-dressed, gun-toting action pin-up who spent more time impersonating a popular singer like some bizarre Square version of Stars in Their Eyes. I know that the point was that she was moving on, living her life, writing her own story, as it were, but it still felt really... fanfictiony. Even Rikku, who was really sweet in FFX, felt like she was just there to wear a bikini.

And then there's FFVII. Hmm...

I actually do really like VII. I loved it when I first played it, the immortal line Alright, everyone, let's mosey becoming a legendary phrase in my house, but now, again, it has lost its shine because it has become so overdone.

I was excited by Advent Children at first but now I see it as little more than a watchable film with amazing graphics. I felt that it was too slow and too self-indulgent. Dirge of Cerberus had Gackt in it, plus Longing and Redemption, which equals instant WIN. But the game itself, in my opinion, was... well, dirge. Shelke and Shallua are actually two of the characters in the whole history of the universe that I would most like to stab in the face with a fork. Shallua was actually pointless, Shelke was just annoying. Yuffie, who I never had a problem with before, made me cringe every time she was on screen. And I didn't like Weiss' hair, but that's just petty.

In whole, it sucked (thank you, Smidge).

Last Order (Not Last Resort, Yubinbasya, you are still awesome *happy face*), Crisis Core, Before Crisis, Advent Children Complete, Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII, On the Way to a Smile...

This has gone so far beyond giving the fans what they want, it's not funny. A sequel is a nice way to reward fans, but these are just being made now to make money. They're not even adding anything of value to the original game or characters. The series is slowly becoming more and more about side characters and new characters and new stories. They're weaving more and more into a veritable storyline patchwork quilt that was already far too large for the bed.

The meaning of Final Fantasy VII, as it was way back when in 1997, has completely been lost. The passion is long dead and buried, its bones salted and burned and its soul never to rise again. I attribute most of the blame to Nomura, and the fact that he apparently spends less time thinking about the actual point of the games than he does picking a dress for Aerith to wear. For five minutes. Until she dies. On the first disc. FAIL.

My evidence for this is that FFXII is fantastic. Everything about it, from its design to its characters and from its soundtrack to Rasler's hair. Which is important. It is complex and involving, funny and sweet. And Balthier is a GOD. It is probaly next on the list to get a remake or director's cut, or flash edition X, or Penelo in hotpants as a gun-toting action pin-up... The obvious Enix sequel failed but that's down to it having a different development team more than anything else.

And then we get onto Kingdom Hearts. Amazing. Utterly fantastic - with the exception of the name "Leon". What kind of crack was someone smoking when they decided that was a good idea? And with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Enix had their first real sequel-related success. Organization XIII were a really interesting and well-designed addition, the cards were a nice touch, and it served to further develop the bond between Sora and Riku. Kingdom Hearts II was fantastic for the same reason. In my eyes it's actually a little bit better than the original, especially for the reference to Auron's undeadedness. It's just... amazing. Really amazing.

But then... Oh, then we have 358/2 Days with Xion. Who is an angry female version of the series' male protagonist. Any thirteen-year-old with access to Wordpad could have come up with that idea. And has.

The problem with Enix is that, as mentioned quite thoroughly, the more they mess with what people originally fell in love with, the more they water it down and drag all meaning kicking and screaming from the cold, dead corpse of the original game.

Really, up until this point, with the exception of Kingdom Hearts, it's been my opinion that the main games have been awesome, while the sequels, tie-ins and spin-offs have been half-cocked with storylines that could have been written by a child.

Until we get to FFXIII, that is.

Because it's not a standalone, main game. It has three parts. They're packaging their sequels, tie-ins and spin-offs altogether, which I guess generates more cash all in one go but makes you wonder just how much attention each game has had when they've been created all in one go. Aaaannnd at the same time as the forthcoming FFXIV.

The graphics are amazing, there's no doubting that. But from what I've seen so far, the design is a little lackluster and dull. It's all greys and mecha which looks so boring when compared to the vibrant FFXII. The characters are... annoying? Boring. Predictable. And Lightning... Oh dear. I admire her Motoko-ness, but there's really no hope for a character that was designed to be a 'female version of Cloud Strife'. Enix, message straight to you from my heart, LEAVE FINAL FANTASY VII ALONE. Also, she's a good version of the evil guys which is the most unoriginal concept that it amazes me it's been used like this.

Admittedly, I've not seen much of the game, I know little really about the story and how it fits together with it's counterparts, but so far I'm not the slightest bit interested in finding out more. Like I said to the Smidge after watching the trailer, if I didn't know what it was and just saw it by chance, I wouldn't even look twice at it. I wouldn't have even watched the whole trailer. It's graphically impressive, but visually boring with characters and concepts that have come straight from fanfiction. I'm really disappointed.

But all this is just my opinion, and opinions often change. I'll probably be back here in a few months time raving about how amazing it is and how awesome the characters are but I know for a fact that my thoughts on Enix will remain unchanged. They are greedy. And spend too much time thinking about Aerith's wardrobe. And how they can cash-in on VII a little bit more. And how Leon is a much better name than Squall.

But I still love Square. I love all of the 'main games' in the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. There has been the occasional spin-off / sequel that has made me happy, and 'Moron! Loser! Your mom wears a shell suit' will remain the best insult of all time (Yes, VIII, I love you so much, even though no one else does.)

Square, you rock. Enix, not so much.

And that's me done. Random, vague, flawed, and sometimes ill-informed and downright silly, my rant comes to an end. With some advice.

If you want a highly-engaging Japanese RPG...

...

...

Play Shadow Hearts. :D

And, finally, a quote this rant inspired:
If you make that a little less coherent, people might think you were drunk - the Smidge.

Just who am I again?

2009-06-06T12:56:55Z

Tuesday 10th November 2009: Birmingham NIA

MUSE

Mashing the refresh button for half an hour after the pre-sale tickets went on sale was horrifyingly tense. Thank you, Smidge, for continuing on after I had to go to work. I'd actually already phoned in to say I'd be late after I accidentally slept through my alarm. I thought that sounded a bit better than I'm buying Muse tickets, work will just have to wait. So chuffin' excited. :D

I had to go for an interview for my passport today and after all the questions I was asked and my sometimes rather faltering answers, I'm not even convinced I am me anymore.

Oh well, guess I'll have to wait and see if they let me have one.

Really, though, it's daft. I am me. I have been me for 24 years now. It's just... trying to convince someone of that fact is really kind of peculiar.

Song title meme...

2009-06-02T23:28:17Z

I stole this from arachne1. Couldn't resist.

**Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's harder than you think.**

Pick an artist: FAIRY FORE

Are you male or female: Lady
Describe yourself: CHILD OF WIZARD
How do you feel about yourself: Even
Describe where you currently live: Shangrila
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Missing
Your favorite form of transportation: You Can Walk
Your best friend is: Mr.BADMAN
What's the weather like: CHAOS
Favorite time of day: Hostile period
If your life was a tv show, what would it be called: Not' gonna LOOSE
Feelings on high school: School Days
Feelings on college: an ultimate hole
What is life to you: LIFE
What is the best advice you have to give: Boys, be ambitious
If you could change your name, what would it be: Darling
Your favorite food is: SWEET-ness
What did you do last night?: FEEL MY SONG
What're your plans for tomorrow?: Romance
How you would like to die: Tenderness or Betray
Your present condition: LOVE SICK
Your thoughts on your love life: VIVID
Your motto: I feel love you,but Ill forget you

No, brain, you cannot obsess over things...

2009-06-01T21:14:56Z

On one of the poorest weeks of my life, Muse have just announced their new tour dates. Tickets go on sale on Friday so I know where all my wages are going to go... I'm determined to go the Birmingham gig on the 10th October - providing, you know, I can actually get tickets - with the Smidge. It'll be nice to not have to travel all the way to London for a gig (not that I mind for you, obviously, Miyavi).

Speaking of, he posted a new song on his MySpace yesterday and, my god, it's amazing. It sounds similar to what he was writing for This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock, which was a bit of a surprise as I felt he might have gone back to his indies roots and done something a little heavier. Either way, hearing his voice again was... mind-blowing. I still can't get over the fact that I have actually seen him live. Seriously... I have no more words.

Also, x_g_revo_x seems to have accidentally turned into a Muse-only graphics community. I'm really terrible when I get caught up in a love of mine. My obsessive personality can be slightly debilitating at times. I'm having so much fun with my Muse love that To the Soul (of which there is now two pages sketched out) is sitting there, just looking at me with a disappointed look on its face. I promise you, dearest comic of mine, I am getting round to drawing more of you. It's just... I want to draw a Muse doujinshi so bad. I doodled Matt and Dom earlier - looking nothing like themselves to be honest but, as I've always said, I can only draw youths, not actual men - and it's really made me want to draw something a little more... epic. Belldom, obviously. Perhaps a period AU piece. Matt in a Victorian tailcoat. Mmm...

Okay, completely going off on a tangent. I think I'd better leave it at that.
Night x

After 24 years, 2 months and 3 days...

2009-05-24T10:17:27Z

I finally have broadband.

I cannot tell you how much this excites me.

The reason I haven't been around much recently is because of complete and utter Internet death. My mobile phone, which used to act as my modem, refused to cooperate anymore so I've been stuck without it for the last couple of weeks. Luckily, I was already in the process of getting broadband so the transition hasn't really taken that long.

It's really fantastic to be able to sit here and download a 150+MB file in a matter of minutes. It's sheer heaven. But the amount of time I've been wasting on YouTube frightens me. It doesn't help that I'm in the throes of Muse obsession so I've just been watching loads of live clips and interviews and random videos of Matt giggling in that wonderfully endearing way of his...

And speaking of, I have a new layout. Oddly enough, it features said band and said man. I've become quite fond of graphics-making recently (x_g_revo_x), this layout being my favourite. Matt Bellamy is just... Guh.

I can't remember what swept me up in Muse-adoration this time. All I know is that I've loved them for ten years and that seems really weird to me. It doesn't feel like they've been around that long, or that it's been so many years since I first heard of them and fell in love with Matt in the video for Uno. All I know is that I cannot wait for their new album and that I will be going to see them when they tour this Autumn.

Oh, and that leads me in nicely to say that the tickets have arrived for the Miyavi gig in October. I really can't believe he's coming back to the UK already. I thought that, especially with how things are in his life / career at the moment, if he did decide to come back at all, it certainly wouldn't be this year. In any case, I am so excited. I really can't believe that I've seen An Cafe (twice), Plastic Tree and Miyavi already, and now I have the chance to see the man himself again. If you'd said to me a year and a half ago that this would happen, I would have laughed in your face. I am really quite disappointed I missed Mucc playing, though. I managed to pick up a copy of shion in Nottingham on Friday, which was a fantastic experience. There's something amazing about being able to go into a record shop in England and buy a Japanese band's album. Though it did make me all the sadder that I missed them when they played here. If they come back, I'll be straight there.

In other news, my older sister's coming down with her family for my dad's 60th birthday in June so I'll get to see my adorable baby niece again. I'm not broody, I've never been the maternal type, but since she was born I've discovered that babies are actually really cute. I'm sorry, though, nature - I fail.

So there we go, a little update for you. Not very exciting, I admit, but really the rest of my time has just been taken up with work, lots of work, doodling, listening to music, going out for lunch with the Smidge, day trips, laughter, silliness, Resident Evil 5, family, rain and chocolate cake - which is fun, but not really worth writing about in great, eloquent detail. I guess I'll just have to find something amazingly exciting to do that I can regale you all with. Oh, now that's a shame.

I'm going to catch up on my f-list now and see what people have been getting up to. You don't realise how many posts you read until you miss a couple of weeks and have to go back pages and pages to catch everything. LJ, or rather all you guys, are really awesome.

And did those feet in ancient time;

2009-04-23T06:20:02Z

Happy St. George's Day!

England's Mountains Green by *Gasara on deviant ART

Just want to say...

2009-04-03T06:27:40Z

HAPPY AWESOME BIRTHDAY doodlesama!! <3

[24 / 03 / 2009] An Cafe in London o(≧∀≦)o

2009-03-30T21:13:19Z

Last Tuesday the Smidge and I traveled down to London to see An Cafe again at the Carling Academy, Islington.

I can't do the gig justice with simple words, it was just... outstanding. It was a different experience seeing them for a second time, no less exciting of course, but it seemed that I half knew what to expect from them. This actually raised my anticipation levels and, my god, they did not disappoint.

Their energy was amazing, Miku and Yu-ki especially. The crowd were really good too - the chorus was so loud during Cherry Saku Yuuki that I actually flailed with joy. I came away with a handful of bruises, ruined feet, a bagful of merchandise and some of the best memories of recent years.

Stand out moments for me definitely were:

- Chocolate cake countdown in the queue
- Dancing to My Heart Leaps for "C" in the queue
- Cherry Saku Yuuki
- Kawayu's Rock
- Miku: "Which do you like? Paddington bear or... Duck?"
- Miku: "This one is... member signed."
Crowd: "AAAAGGGGGGHHHH!!"
- Kanon: "GIVE ME POWER!"
- Miku bopping the security guard on the head with a plastic mallet
- Bonds
- Smile ichiban ii onna

And so much more. Really, the whole thing was just perfect. Just... epic.

I'm really going to have to write a better report for this gig, and I really should type something up for when I saw Plastic Tree, too, but it'll probably be nearer the end of the week when I do that. For now though...

An Cafe, thank you so much!! o(≧∀≦)o

I am so old!

2009-03-20T22:28:48Z

o(≧∀≦)o

It's my birthday tomorrow! I shall be a very old twenty-four. Hands up who here thought I was still a teenager?

Haha, one day I promise you I will grow up into an actual adult.

For now though, I am so stupidly excited. :D

uBuGoe love!

2009-03-15T20:43:34Z

While there are still some things to add and fix, I'm pleased to announce that SLEEPING-b e a u t y* now lives!!

It's a site dedicated to the awesome Japanese band, uBuGoe.

Even if the subject of the site isn't your cup of tea, I'd appreciate it if you could take a quick peek around to make sure links are working, menus aren't dying - my first time using scripts - and all that. I don't want to start promoting it only to discover that it links to some kind of Disney fansite or something. ^^;

---------------> SLEEPING-b e a u t y* <---------------

Sorry, no snazzy banner yet. Enjoy!

Thoughts from today...

2009-03-14T17:13:55Z

* Please, dearest and wonderful f-list, do not spoil RE 5 for me. I just have to wait a little longer...

* Why did mixi have to go all 'No, you cannot join, dirty foreigner!' when I finally decide I'd quite like an account? Lol. How very typical.

* I am r e a l l y bad at betting on the Football. Bristol Rovers, stop scoring!

* uBuGoe own my soul but it's really boring typing out all of their setlists and live dates... I can haz a new single now? I would be terrifyingly overjoyed if you would put fuusen on it. :D

* Speaking of, I have to go update ubugoe now with news of their mini 'coupling tour' with DieS. Yay. \(^o^)/

* omnomnom

Always look on the bright side...

2009-02-25T06:59:58Z

I've just saved myself $61 by not winning an h.NAOTO bunny bag on ebay. This is somehow a success, right?

Also, Sasabuchi has suddenly left Plastic Tree... D:

But at least I've seen him play live with them, right? Right?!

Ugh, fail, you will not defeat me this time...

I have an angry face...

2009-02-18T19:46:17Z

Right now my face looks something like this: D:<

I really, really hate game companies' attitude to Europe. Not only do we get everything months, if not years, after everyone else, what we get is usually watered down and crappy.

Take, for instance, Resident Evil 5.

I adore the RE series with all my heart and soul so that's why I wanted to get the Collector's Edition. Chris figure, Tricell bag... Awesome.

Only, that's only for the US.

The European Collector's Edition? A bonus disc and steel case. WTF?! Pathetic.

Still, no matter, I thought, I'll just import it. Except every US website I've found so far refuses to send RE5:CE out of America. WHY DAMMIT?!

Why can't I get the Chris figure?! Why can't European gamers get the same awesomeness as Japan and the US?! Is it because of the view of English people? We'd prefer a steel case because it reminds us of the engineering feats of Isambard Kingdom Brunel?! Fuck no, I want to play about with a Chris figure and go to work with my Tricell bag!

Just... gah! Bloody hell.

I want to be American all of a sudden.

Help?

WAHEY! It's done!

2009-02-03T16:47:08Z

Thank God I've finished it! There's nothing more boring than recoding an entire website. Blah. But it's done now and I like it. :D

New illustration...

2009-01-30T23:04:11Z

Here's a new picture of Munryeo from To the Soul. It's was all done digitally and the watercolour look was completely by wonderful accident.

>> click to enlarge

My website is coming along painfully slowly. I've still got most of the pages to edit but I keep getting distracted by drawing, Resident Evil, Onimusha and Katamari... I've got until next Friday off though so I should be able to get most, if not all of it, back up. I think I need Bernard's watch (was that what it was called?). Or William's wish wellingtons... Haha. That's going back a few years...

The Oog...

2009-01-25T18:33:56Z

This is a self portrait / profile image I drew for my deviantART account. Just thought I'd share it with you guys, too. :)

>> click to enlarge

Happy New Year?

2009-01-19T20:04:10Z

Apparently, today is the most depressing day of the year. And with the day I've had, I can bloody well agree. :(

In other news, I've changed my layout again. I've used a very recent picture for the header - so recent, in fact, that it's not actually finished yet - of Munryeo from my soon-to-be-as-soon-as-I-get-off-my-lazy-arse webcomic. I likes.

I'm redesigning my website to feature the same kind of layout. And once that's done I'm going to start promoting it a bit. I'm more determined than ever to succeed somehow with my artwork. I'd love to be able to make a small amount of money (I'm not deluding myself as to the saleability of my art. Haha) from my work. Just enough for pocket money would be nice until I get myself a new job which, to be perfectly honest, has to be damn soon.

Sigh... I'm listening to [Dictators Circus - A Deformed BUD] on absolute, unending repeat at the moment because I recently realised I love Kirito's voice with all my heart and soul. It comforts me to know that there is someone more angry and annoyed with the world than I am right now. Haha. Well, he used to be that way. Now he's all laughy and smiley, which is actually very nice to see. :)

At least I have a week off now. I'm going to draw, make muffins, read Dragon Hunter (or skim the pages for Korean words I know. Which is about four of them) and embrace my FAIRY FORE CDs in an effort to get myself out of this slump. Oh, and look for a new job. Hehe, should be fun.

Wish me luck.

Illustrations [+2]

2009-01-10T13:51:07Z

I haven't shared any art in a while, have I?

Two Dragon Hunter illustrations I doodled in Manga Studio: Sa-Mi and... one of the evil people who works for Mi-Ru. I don't know his name but he's awesome.

>> click to enlarge

Enjoy.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T18:01:17Z

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a great time last night and an amazing Christmas.

little_miyavi wanted to be the Christmas tree...

I have to say that, for me at least, it didn't really feel very Christmassy this year. I think this was mostly down to the fact that I pretty much spent the whole of December at work and I hated almost every minute of it. Still, even though I didn't feel particularly festive, I had such a good time.

Who knew that little_miyavi was Father Christmas...?!

Christmas day was mental, as usual. The Smidge and I got up at 5:30, lit the living room fire and made cups of coffee and hot chocolate before waking the parents - because clearly we are still four years old. We soon proceeded to tear into presents with much gusto and glee. My presents were made of so much awesome it hurts. I know I shouldn't have favourites but I do. Among them are my h.Naoto top and Nyappy Bunny figure - Thanks Ma and Pa! - and my uBuGoe flyer, Beyblade keyrings, Shadow Hearts postcard and a magazine with a FAIRY FORE interview in. Hee, Smidge, you are fantastic!

My fantastic presents: Shadow Hearts books, demos, postcard and telephone cards. An Cafe mirror, rolling stamp and Nyappy Bunny. BIG BANG by BREAKERZ, plus and assortment of Akihide/BREAKERZ trading cards. Beyblade keyrings. FAIRY FORE's SWEET-ness PV video, uBuGoe flyer and CD Data with FAIRY FORE interview. h.Naoto top. Massive tin of Roses, and moneys. Not pictured: PJs, make up, hair products, underwear and nail varnishes. Thank you everyone!

The Smidge's presents, mostly bought by me to be enjoyed by me. Lol. There be Yubinbasya, Miyavi, Due le Quartz, CSI:NY doujinshi, Reborn figures and Power Rangers. Haha. Fantastic!

The aftermath...

During dinner, I ended up with a mini fan from a cracker and a fork sellotaped to my hand. And I wish I could post the picture of the Smidge with a shoehorn for a nose but she would actually kill me. Or burn my FAIRY FORE collection. Eh.

The rest of the day was spent eating chocolate, playing with presents, drooling over Akihide in the sekai wo odoru PV and playing cards. For money.

It was a proper, good old-fashioned Christmas indeed. Lovely.

Boxing Day morning was spent cramming clothes and make-up into various bags as we packed to head up to Scotland. I burrowed into a mountain of duvets in the back as it was so cold my feet went numb. The journey up there was pretty horrific and took seven and a half hours, thanks to a slight wrong turning and an epic mission through the Scottish border roads in the dark. Oy.

We got to Livingstone just in time for visiting hours and went to see Gemma, Scott and baby Ellie in the hospital. Little Ellie was the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen and it was just so good to see G and Scott again. I miss them! After just half an hour, though, we had to leave and so we made our way to G and Scott's house for food and sleep.

Ellie Louise: an adorable bundle of awesome. And super tiny!

Gemma and Ellie were allowed out on Saturday so we had a second Christmas to celebrate. Again there was much chocolate involved, and quite a bit of alcohol too. Scott's brother, Paul, and his girlfriend, Natalie, came round that night to see Ellie and we all sat around drinking and talking about utter nonsense all night. 'twas very lovely.

Auntie Oog (me) and Auntie Smidge (myvxkirito). Poor Ellie shall be so corrupted...

My mom and Ellie. Awww.

Sunday meant a long, long journey back to England. We avoided the border roads but still ended up in heavy traffic on the M6 for what felt like days. It was an exhausting journey. It was very, very nice indeed when we pulled up to the house.

Monday was very much a day of rest, Tuesday was back to work, Wednesday was Chinese night and today in the start of a brand new year. One that I am determined not to fail at!

Still, it doesn't feel any different... Only that I now have a cold. I hope this isn't an indication of what's to come this year. Haha.

Best wishes for 2009, everyone!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

2008-12-24T07:10:56Z

I have just received the most wonderful Christmas present.

Baby Bump / Little Hibs Bradford was born at 21:40 on 23rd December 2008. She wighs 4lb 4oz (so small!) and both her and her mother are absolutely fine.

:D

I love my sister!