A Smile Riddled with Sorrow...

There are times when my emotions play tricks on me... so much that I become uncertain as to how I'm actually, really feeling.

This week has been so stressful that it's impossible to state them in mere words. They say crying releaves some of the pain, but that's not the case at the moment. I tried it, and it pretty much had little to no effect.

So what do you do when crying doesn't ease the pain?

You smile and pretend it's not happening so fast. Show the world a brave face and take that next step forward until you reach your goal...

...even if it means you have to crawl there.

The dA post and how it was made.

It's also funny how my Saber fanart made it to the 10th 5th spot of the most liked images in colors for the week. I'm flattered. ^^ Thank you...

Kuroshitsuji

A young boy is suddenly orphaned at the age of 12 and takes over the Phantomhive family business; that is the fate of the young master, Ciel Phantomhive. In order to survive, he makes a contract with the demon Sebastian Michaelis to serve as his butler and bodyguard.

I've picked up this series recently, and I have to say, the animation is very impressive. I haven't been too happy about the animation I've been seeing recently, but Kuroshitsuji looks very well-made so far. Even the action scenes are a welcome sight, after the decline in Bleach's and Vampire Knight's animation quality.

..and besides, Sebastian is very bishie material. I suppose Ciel would be qualified for Shota, or something of the like, but hm~ a bishie demon butler serving you tea and making dinner... not to mention keeping you safe from harm, sounds like a dream come true.

Aside from the demon part that is. ^_~

I'm looking forward to future episodes of this series. I'm considering on picking up the manga too. It makes me wonder if there's a way for Ciel to break his contract-

AHA! Episode 3 finished downloading~ Yatta! *goes to watch* (~'.')~

LaMB

I've been reading up on some anime news lately, and came upon something interesting:

LaMB, a new series coming to Animax in 2009, takes place in a neo-futuristic setting in a planet known as Cerra, a human colony 25 light years away from the Solar System, where felons are not imprisoned nor killed, but are sealed in "laminated" suits known as LaMBs for short. The suits are designed to make felons productive members of society without actually making them "free". LaMBs are also apparently used for anti-aging and beautification.

What so interesting about this?

It's written by amateur Filipino writer Carmelo S. J. Juinio, character designed by Artgerm, with Vaness Wu from F4 as a cast member.

The series looks intriguingly promising, especially the artwork. It reminds me of Ghost in the Shell, though having actual English OP and ED songs instead of the usual Asian ones that I hear is a little... weird.

Too bad I don't have Animax to actually see this in 2009. Check out the website, which has video and music clips as well as a web manga (only the first episode for now, but already very interesting to read).

Sketching Practice...

So thanks to Mogs flooding plurk with DS sketching practices, I found myself looking at my DS thinking about how much I miss it.

Yeah, still needs a lot of work, meh~ The thing is, the sketches really do look better on the DS than when you transfer them on the PC. I think Mogs is right saying the contrast is off. I'll tinker with the DS settings later to see if I can adjust it.

I like how this turned out though. ^_^ I want to try drawing more later. Still have to go to dinner with the family to celebrate nephew's birthday... oh joy.

How it was done, and the dA post; for your reference to critique me elsewhere. ^^ Done in 2 hours or so during lunch break~

Home is Where the Heart is...

Or so they say? Haha~ I know it's not applicable to everyone, but it is applicable to the fanfic in my head about Onegai My Melody.

If anyone's interested in reading the short story I made about them, you can find it in my deviant art. ^_^

This took more than a month's worth of procrastination to finish. I started working on it before I went on vacation, and I only finished a few days ago. Unintentionally too, because I was and still am in a slump... I can't seem to get myself to draw something decent for the past few days.

I miss role-playing... but I have no time to spare for now, so I'll just have to keep drawing them as a consolation I guess... ;~;

ZOMG! TOYS!!!

Today is my uncle's birthday, and we had dinner at his house... KFC be yummy, seriously. :D And Queso Real (Cheese) ice cream for dessert was absolutely heavenly.

But the most interesting part of the night was when we had a tour of his house. My uncle is a very serious toy collector, and when I say toys, I mean every kind you can imagine.

From Disney...

...to anime (omg I know Aiee would love these!)

...to the evil cat Hello Kitty

...among other things.

Yes, all those bobble heads were moving when we went around. :D

Uncle actually has plans of opening a museum for all of his toys. What you see here in these pictures are about... 1/20 of his entire collection. I didn't get pictures of the different cars and RC's he had on display, because my phone ran out of memory, heh. -_-;;;

Nice one, Rei, you are so smart like usual. *kicks self*

Of course, there was one part of his collection I took a keen interest in:

ZOMG HAROS!!! Look at them all. ;.; My collection of haros is nothing compared to his, waaah~! T^T I so want a pink haro! And I will find the chance to buy an orange one that Lockon is carrying with him!

..anyway.

Do you think you would be interested in going to a museum / private collection of toys? My uncle is thinking of holding a per invitiation only viewing. There'll be an entrance fee, but I'm not sure if he has a price for them yet.

To be honest, I think the collection needs to be categorized properly. Maybe seperate the Disney from the anime and stuff like that. Right now, it's all jumbled together, so it's hard to view which is what.

But even still, it's an impressive collection. I'd want to visit his house again soon! :D

A Spaceship on Earth

I've been to the Space Needle twice in my life. Every time I go, I find myself still in awe of the architecture.

What was funny about this trip was that my brother asked us, very seriously, "Was the Space Needle really a spaceship from before it was made into a structure?"

..we just lol'd.

Anyhow, we didn't eat in the revolving restaurant this time around. The last time I ate there was back in 2004. I remember the Salmon dish to be very good. The revolving restaurant is at the top with a beautiful view. It really revolves, so seating preferences would be pretty easy since the view is all the same. It's not as nauseating as it sounds, since it's slow enough to make you fail to notice you're moving.

Makes me wish I had a camera phone back then.

Anonymous... or Not?

I'm a little pleased with myself that I'm finding the time to update A.illusions almost as much as before when I first started... I feel like I've gotten a little something back from whatever it was I had lost.

Even more amusing is how much I can see the progress I've made as compared to before. I'm still annoyed at drawing backgrounds, but I take the time to draw them instead of skipping them entirely now...

Rome was not built in a day. ^_^

Now then, 4 new girls appear in the latest update, along with Khyle-sama. There's a bit of hesitation guessing who's who, so maybe I should post some clues, yes?

Idol ・ Edible ・ Translucent ・ High

I think those keywords will be enough. :D People who are familiar with the old AI should have a clue as to who the girl on the left is since she's a moderator as mentioned on the manga. Guesses can be found here...

Place your bets? Who knows... Maybe the person who guesses it right will premier next as an extra or something. ^_~

..Oh, I Want!

Amazing what you can find out from the ads you decide to display in your blog... But because the policy dictates that I can't click the ads myself, I copied the URL instead.

..oh my, I want this so badly. Can you see the detailing of that armor Saber is wearing? I never liked her armor, but this PVC by Satoshi Toda is making me think twice.

It makes me wonder actually, if I attempt to cosplay light saber, maybe I should make her armor that way. The detailing will be a pain to do but the photos should be worth it, yes?

There are two versions of Saber's face, the other being more realistic than this one, but I personally prefer her anime look, since the realistic one is smiling... Saber is usually angst isn't she?

Oh Santa, all i want for Christmas... ;~;

I unfortunately will not be able to afford buying this any time soon. So I'll have to settle for the picture for now. Giyeh~ for being poor!

Needs moar Sabuers~ ;.;

Hello Kitty Online

So I finally had the chance to play a bit of Hello Kitty Online (about 6 hours total playing time?) during the Founder's Beta...

This is pretty much what I came up with. I went up all the way to level 9 in a short amount of time, and no, those are not the high level clothes... I chose the screen shot of the newbie clothes because they look cuter than the other clothes I have.

My office mates were pretty generous in offering items, tips, and advices. My hair and necklace were all gifts, heh~ And I like that blue hair~!

The game's kind of addicting, I guess? Especially since a certain "someone" kept calling me a *n00b* the whole duration that I was playing. There's that problem of having to walk from place to place, so it gets tiring after a while. I suppose it's a typical "grind game", but the cute factor is there. It reminds me a little of how Pangya characters look like.

The actions the characters do in game looks a little weird. I don't know if they plan to change that or not...

I might play in the Open Beta when it becomes available. It's just a little sad that there's no Kuromi in this game... Well, I guess we'll have to see later on.

Karma

I had to rush this cover in 2 days time... Hopefully, if this gets approved... well, let's just say, some exposure for me, hopefully?

I need to make a gallery for Karma. Then again, I have only 2 art pieces at most..?

Now that I finished this, I can focus on A.illusions again. I got the next page going, but I need a nice BG reference first... Hm... where to go, where to go?

So sleepy... going to bed now. Night all...

DJ Max Portable: Clazziquai Edition

The third installment of DJ Max Portable for the PSP is now here! I started playing this game yesterday and I have to say, it has the same appeal as the first two... very, very addicting with stunning music videos and breath-taking OST! Musical classics from the first and second DJ Max like Oblivion are available to play and unlockable in Clazziquai, a great feature for the loyal DJ Max players like myself. It gives the players more incentive to learn how to play the 5 and 6 button mixes.

The additional feature Clazziquai has is the Club Tour where a set of challenges are set out in order for you to unlock OSTs, effects, DJ's and etc. It's a little frustrating for those with a little less thumb-eye coordination people like myself, because certain challenges have 5 and 6 button sections in them.

There's also a new introductory game play option, the 2 button version. This is a great way to learn how to play DJ Max, if 4 buttons are too much for you.

I wish they had that option in the first DJ Max, because I had a heck of a time learning. Then again, it's because they didn't have that before that I can play 4 buttons now.

I'm pretty much going to spend a lot of time playing this game. The animations for the music videos are better than ever, and I have LSS on "First Kiss" by BJJ. Gotta love how DJ Max caters to any if not all music lovers.

..out of curiosity, you think that person with the black hair is a boy or a girl?

Random Quote: No Music, No Life~

Egg Cupcakes~!

Aiee came to the office today~! And we all know what that means~

*~CUPCAKES~*

..er, I mean... Haha, it means she wanted to pay us a visit to see how we're doing and bring us our toys and such... I hope she can come back later so I can pay her for the stuff. I'm not saying what stuff it is yet, hehe~ it is much worthy of another blog entry!

But seriously, these cupcakes are something else. They're from Shoppersville Bakeshop in Katipunan, and they taste like... eggs. Fresh eggs in every soft, melty, sugary bites. People have got to try them at least once in their life! Best served warm or room temperature... it is that good!

On another note, there's a cold epidemic going around in the office. I may have caught it, which is not good since we have a visitor here and another one to come on Friday. ;.; *sniffle*

A Horror Story (Based on True Events)

I was working on the new Karma Cover when I heard this on 94.7 yesterday from DJ Niaolie and DJ Nina (based on memory and translated to English):

A motorcycle driver was passing over a bridge when the rain started to pour. He thought to himself that he had to find shelter because it was dangerous to ride the motorcycle in stormy weather.

He then sees a car approaching and decided to hitch a ride. He gets in the car and realizes there was no driver, and yet the car was moving! He looks around and sees 4 hands in the back. Hands! He got so scared that he prayed several times, but his fear got to the best of him and he got out of the car and headed for the next town.

In a small store, he tells the tale of what happened to him to the store owners and people in the small shop.

The next thing he knew, the car he saw on the bridge appeared before him..!

..with two angry men saying, "Who the hell was that guy, getting in our car when we're already having a hard time pushing? It was raining and all he could think of was getting in the car instead of helping us push?!"

..I lol'd. *^o^*

In other news, I'll finish that cover tonight for Renka... I missed using watercolors so much... I should buy more illustration boards soon.

And in case you're wondering, yeah, those are ads on my blog. I need extra income for very good reasons... But I'm just testing for now. I'll probably remove them if they don't generate much revenue though, because I hate ads in the first place... Haha~ xD