'Twas a Strange Christmas...

Thanks to the Christmas Holidays, I haven't had time to update my blog, so you're getting two doujin pages instead of one. I can't think of a proper blurb at the moment, argh..! Even Mote-Mote's update was delayed for a day since the scheduled post was on the 25th! >.<;;;

It was a strange Christmas for me... My brother left on the 24th for Canada, and the entire family was pretty stressed because we couldn't find the package my uncle asked him to deliver to my aunt in Vancouver. The package was about P7000 (US$150) worth of music materials (CDs, books, music sheets, etc.) from Japan bought by my cousin, so you can imagine why we were so keen in finding it! My uncle was pretty mad that we lost it, and my mom was so upset that noche buena was canceled that evening. I spent the evening alone in my room, working on some art.

But you know what? Despite the lack of sleep that evening, the package was found when my brother had arrived in Canada! You can imagine how happy mom was! This was our very own Christmas miracle!

On the 25th, we had dinner in David's Tea House in Trinoma. I never thought Chinese food could taste so good. *_* Maybe because the load was finally lifted and we were all happy?

I'll have to take pictures of all the gifts I received this year and post it on a later time, but for now?

Happy Holidays Everyone!
~I hope you Christmas was just as miraculous as mine~

Coffee Break; Posting from the Office

Dear goodness gracious I am so tired. @_@

You may have noticed that Mote-Mote’s page 4 was up during the night of the 15th instead of midnight. Ahaha! I’m so behind now. Page 5 is still on the inking stage, so I really need to pick up the pace!

I guess I can cram a little on Saturday. The next page has a lot of background detail into it, so it’s taking a lot more time.

These are the moments when I wish I can just use photographs for backgrounds instead of having to draw them frame by frame. Ahaha~ Laziness is in my DNA. xD

On to some celebrity gossip, I’ve been catching up on Chico and Delamar’s Top 10 thanks to the podcasts posted by Blue Ritz. I’m so glad Chico and Delamar mentioned this site, because it really helps me concentrate at work… minus the occasional laughing-like-a-madwoman moments with which my boss and colleagues reach for the phone to call the Mental Institute. ._.;;; Heh.

And I wonder if Misha Collins is really in Vancouver, Canada? He recently tweeted a post office box address for people to send their ticket stubs from his New York screening. He’s also asking for applications for treasurer, which requires a lock of hair for species verification. What. In any case, I hope I can send him a letter to request for an autograph when I move to Canada.

Shush. I already know I’m a dork. I do not need to be reminded. xD

Finally, I must rant about this:

Oyasumi, Kaname-sama by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Stupid me flattened my layers for this illustration, ARGH!!! Now I can’t change the stuff I wanted to change..! *SOB*

I guess that’s what I get for coloring until 2 in the morning. T_T At least it turned out ok, and I’m honestly quite happy with it.

No one is allowed to wake Kaname-sama up. Is that clear? >/

EDIT: Oh right, Misha, you really did give the wrong address. How in the world could we have missed that? Hee~! You’re so adorable. x3

The Devil’s Trill Sonata

The Devil's Trill by ~kurohiko on deviantART

"…so inferior to what I had heard, that if I could have subsisted on other means, I would have broken my violin and abandoned music forever." - Giuseppe Tartini

I think it would be interesting to hear Sebastian play the Devil’s Trill Sonata, don’t you agree?

Please, Sebastian, don’t eat me. ;x;

After watching the final episode for season 1 of Kuroshitsuji, it made me have nightmares about Sebastian deciding to eat me. Dx Ciel wasn’t exactly helping much either since he told Sebastian to make his final moments as painful as possible. Meep… Proof of life? >.<;;;

This is a simple illustration that I did for about 4 hours last night. My nephew was drawing chibis on his Shakey’s placemat during dinner and it kinda inspired me to do something simple and elegant. I’m not really sure why I decided to draw Sebastian Michaelis since we were drawing chibi Bleach together, but I’m not really complaining.

It has everything I love in it… Glasses, a violin, and a window. So truthfully, this is just eye candy for myself. >.<;;;

Hope you guys like it! x3

Shift to Hyper-Focus Mode

Ahaha, I forgot to post an update. xD

You may have noticed that I’ve got a new page up at 黑火子 ~Kurohiko, which is pacing a lot faster than A.illusions ever did. That’s kind of good and also kind of bad because it means I’m enjoying drawing Mote-Mote more than A.illusions.

I guess copying characters and backgrounds are a lot easier than starting from scratch.

It does make me want to go back updating A.illusions again though. Or something original. I’ve always wanted to continue Karma, but I’ve never had the time or inspiration for it. Of course, there’s also Vanguards of Heaven (Guardians of Celestia) which was my college thesis gone strangely wrong and off track, but I’m thinking I should finish what I started first before creating something entirely new again.

Anyway, I almost didn’t make the deadline for this because I had been ill for something close to a week. I wasn’t sure if I could post this or not, but my officemate decided to help me out and gave me an article about hyper-focus mode. I have to admit, it really works, and you should really give it a read.

Here are the keypoints of the article:

How to Stay Creative When Facing Deadlines: “The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.”

1. Recognize early on that you are getting stressed and handle it before it gets out of control.
2. Communicate with a friend that is also trying to be creative under pressure.
3. Stay in an inspired state of mind.
4. Shift into hyper-focus mode.

For this weekend? I’ll try to shift to hyper-focus mode again to finish penciling all the pages of Mote-Mote. Afterwards, I can ink them and tone them as the days come forth.

Wish me luck guys~ ♥

Little Mouse has NO IDEA!

Last week, a friend of mine named Varali decided to share this with me:

That’s a 12-year-old leopard named Sheena who suddenly had a visitor during her feeding time. Seriously, the little mouse just went over to her piece of raw meat and nibbled away, not really minding the huge cat towering over him/her.

You can read the entire story from Mail Online and see two more pictures of Sheena and the mouse there. I’m just surprised the kitty didn’t eat the mouse. o_o;;; Haha…

My First Doujin is Now Online!

After several weeks of procrastination, I’m finally able to post Mote-Mote for the world to see!

Well, ok, I posted page 1, working on the next page… but haha, after 6 months? I dare say it’s quite an achievement! And you know, it’s pretty therapeutic to draw characters that already exist in an anime… designing structures is not as difficult as starting from scratch.

Admittedly though? I’m already thinking about drawing originals again. I can’t decide whether I should continue A.illusions after Mote-Mote, or draw the 2nd Chapter of Karma. Either way though, I’m really psyched up!

Now if only I was so sick for the past week that I had to stay in bed most of the time, I wouldn’t be panicking about not making my next deadline, which is on December 10, 2009..! Yikes… x.x;;;

I’m pretty ok now, almost fully recovered from fever, though I still feel like my brain is running only on minimum requirement. 4 days of high fever can do that to people I guess, haha! I had to miss 4 days of work and did my best to recover in two more days, and still I feel light-headed. The doctor knew I didn’t want to have my blood taken, so he gave me a powerful antibiotic instead.

My antibiotics, Floxa or Ofloxacin, look like blood tablets from Vampire Knight, I kid you not. x.x;;;

There’s a lot of pending work here in the office though, and we have visitors, so I can’t really slack off at all! Wish my brain would switch back into high gear, but I only have 2 tablets of Floxa left, so I’m hoping as soon as I finish those, everything will be back to normal again. Because I really need to let my mom stop worrying about me… it’s not good for her to worry so much. :x

Thank God the fever’s finally broken, and hopefully, I will never get that sick ever again! Too much pain not to be able to sleep when your body so tired. x.x;;;

I Hereby Dub Thee... "Fluffy"!

About a week ago, and because I keep forgetting to post this, my nephew asked for some help with his bulletin board design. He drew the Nativity Scene from reference, but had some trouble with drawing the sheep because he didn’t think it was cute enough.

Nephew likes cute things. What.

So he asked me to draw a cute sheep for him, this is what I came up with:

It’s amazing how round things make for a general approval for the term “cute”. You can still see the pencil marks since I was lazy in cleaning this up. It made me realize how slow I am with conceptualizing and executing, since Fluffy took me 30 minutes to do.

There was something funny about the pen my nephew lent me to ink with though…

The pen says “Dark Black”.

What.

I suppose “Light Black” is how they label grays nowadays?

Ping Pong is spelled as Xin-Xue Feng

I was watching Ellen today and when I saw this, I had to watch it again on Ellen's site and show it to my mom because... Well... Watch it:

I mean. Oh. Em. Gee. Xin-Xue Feng is only 7-years-old and she can beat one of the top 10 ping pong players in the USA(?) no problem.

If she's a representation of China's latest generation, we're all doomed.

You gotta admit though, Xin-Xue is so cute!!! x3 I wish I could meet her... but then again, what can I really tell her? I'm not that good with Mandarin, haha... She'd probably laugh at me too, but dear gracious...

So. Much. Cute.

Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test

I took a test to see which side of my brain is dominant or if they're equal from the Art Institute of Vancouver. Most people in the official are equal in their brainy endeavours, but I got a pretty significant difference.

What is all means? I have no idea... :D But it's really surprising that both verbal and nonverbal are my least dominant traits.

Does this mean I can't communicate at all? o_o;;; Huh...

Left Brain 44%
Right Brain 56%

You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the "whole" picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the "whole" picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.

Your complete evaluation follows below:

Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half's sub-categories. They are as follows:

Your Left Brain Percentages

42% Symbolic (Your most dominant characteristic)
37% Linear
22% Sequential
20% Reality-based
17% Logical
14% Verbal (Your least dominant characteristic)

Your Right Brain Percentages

55% Concrete (Your most dominant characteristic)
36% Fantasy-oriented
34% Random
30% Holistic
20% Intuitive
13% Nonverbal (Your least dominant characteristic)

DBSK - Jae Joong & Yoochun Colors: Melody and Harmony

Maybe I should turn my personal blog into a music one? *claps*

Melody and Harmony is a song about love... It shows that people need each other to survive, and that he is really thankful to have found someone like her that his life is no longer a lonely one.

Right now, somewhere, someone
is in pain, all alone
Passing through a sleepless night
Until the light shines on your heart
Let’s nestle close together, so that we could sleep
Like a melody and harmony in love

Translations from DBSK - Cassiopeia !!

I have such an array of music in my playlist now that I have no idea how to classify them. Darn you Channel V! Now I'm so addicted to Asian Pop again!

Not that I'm really complaining... So happy I found Channel V on my cable~! ♥

Super Junior M: Super Girl

I think I'm addicted to watching Channel V.

If I remember correctly, Super Junior M is actually a Korean group, but this is a Chinese single... Mandarin to be exact. I love how he's telling the girl he loves not to believe in her lover's lies and how he promises that he will take care of her if she leaves him.

开心地 难过地
答应你 都陪你 都陪你
准备了 全世界最好的爱 最贵的爱
等你搬进我的心里来
幸福的权利不要放弃
全世界最完美的唯一

Lyrics from ♥ KPOP JJANG 짱

Gotta love the beat of this... I think I need to refresh my playlist and start looking for new tracks like this. ♥

The Doujinshi Project

I've been busy working on this doujin for quite some time now... too much time actually, that I'm beginning to grow tired of it, haha~!

"Mote-Mote", which translates to "Ladies' Man", is a doujinshi from the series "Onegai My Melody". It's my first doujin that I want to publish on my webmanga some time before the year ends. If I successfully do not slack off, this will by my first finished doujin!

I have a doujin about Kurama and my original character "Kasumei" from way back in high school, but the pages were all drawn in a tiny notebook, and I never really got to know how the story ended. Kinda lame isn't it? Though I've been thinking about working on it again.

It's probably not the smartest idea to create a doujin about a little known series, but Onegai My Melody has been an addiction of mine for more than a year. The episodes are filled with nonsense that make my day brighter, no matter how badly some things have turned out. This is also my way of trying to find my way back into the love of making manga since my passion has wavered as of late.

...trying to find my way back into- isn't that a song?

Anyway, I hope people will support me on this and not kill me for slacking off on A.illusions again! It's just been so hard lately... I hope this will be the answer and cure that I'm looking for!

Arashi: Love So Sweet

I've been ignoring my blog a lot lately... so sorry about that, but I did find something I'd like to share today.

I saw this on Channel V Asia. They were featuring the Japanese group "Arashi" and this song really caught my attention. Maybe it was also because the MTV was so adorable?

The lyrics talks about falling in love... a love so sweet that they will never find anyone else who can surpass this feeling. The chorus is something like this:

I’ll never, ever forget this sky in my memories, even if we’re apart
There’ll never be another season when I meet someone I love so much
Shine brighter, my fairest lady, this love is sure to softly reach you
Believing is everything, love so sweet.

Translations from Kiwi Musume

Cute, isn't it? It's also the soundtrack of Hana Yori Dango Season 2. It makes me want to check that series out. ♥

Facebook Addiction - Someone Stop Me Please

I've been playing a lot in Facebook lately. And now I remember why it is I told myself to stay away from it. I'm never going to get anything done at this rate, ahaha. T_T

I did find this particularly interesting though. And since my blog has been ignores for some time, I thought I'd share it.

Your Name Numerology
Columbia just calculated their name numerology.

Dear Columbia, your Name Numerology is 4 based on below formula :

C+O+L+U+M+B+I+A
3+6+3+3+4+2+9+1=31
3+1=4

Below are the analysis result for number 4 :

BUILDER, will challenge all convention and create in various realities through radical approaches.

Friendly ...Numbers: 5, 6, 8
Enemy Numbers: 1, 2, 9
Day: Sunday
Color: Gold
Gem: Hessonite, Gomed, Canelian
Metal: Gold
Body Chemistry: Bile (Pitta)
Karmic Lesson: Satisfaction
Best Suited Professions: Planners, lawyers, politicians, technicians

Compatible numbers for :
- Business: 1, 4, 6
- Marriage: 1, 4, 6, 8
- Romance: 1, 4 ,6, 8

Hm-hm... ♥ Now if only I can decide which casual games to play... or not play, actually. >.<;;;

And can someone please tell me what my body chemistry means? T_T

Kuroshitsuji: the Musical

Oh, come on... A Kuroshitsuji Musical? To be released on DVD on December 2nd of this year? I mean really, who would-

...

*looks for a place to pre-order* ♥

Found this news on Pie Power.

Another Reason Why I Should Buy a Wii

I never thought something like this would ever happen, but it did.

That, my friend, is a new game for the Wii, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Capcom’s final fighter has been revealed to be Zero from the Megaman X series, and he looks like he jumped straight out of X4. Not because his appearance is the same but also because his moves are the same as those from X4 too.

Yes, I am one of the most avid Zero fans out there. If this didn’t give that away, then I have no idea what planet you’re from.

Ondoy/Ketsana Aftermath

I never thought a typhoon could hurt us so badly.

My house has never been flooded in 40+ years. When Typhoon Ondoy (internationally known as "Typhoon Ketsana") hit us, the water rose to mid-thigh inside my house. Outside, it was up to the waist. For those curious, I'm 5'2" (or maybe 5'3"). More than 80% of Manila was underwater, and even until now, 5 days later, some places are still submerged.

My brother suspects that all the damns in the area were opened, that's why the floods rose to unimaginable heights. I think the sewers are so clogged up with garbage that it couldn't handle the flood waters. There are so many slums in the sewer areas... how then can you drain the water when the sewers have been covered up by houses?

And then people in the slums complain that the government is not helping them, when in truth, they are also part of the problem. We already know there's corruption in the government, so why can't the citizens do something on their own?

Then again, I don't blame them for leaving the province in search for a better life in the City. I'm only angry that so many people are hurt when I know this could have been prevented some way. People always think "if it ain't broken, don't fix it", only to cause so much grief and misery... even death.

One day, when I have enough money after I work in Canada, and I have the chance to return to the Philippines, I will make a recycling facility. I will also use Japan's technology to clear up the poluted waters, because I don't think the government will ever stop stuffing their pockets with money.

The Philippines could be so much better...

If you would like to help, there is a full list of places accepting donations here.

On another note, I say Senator Noynoy Aquino's car pass by in front of us today. From the brief glimpse we had, he seems like a simple guy. The window was down, and he was seated on the front seat of the car. I wonder where he was off to?

54 Nights and Still the Vampires Wake

Tensions have been growing everywhere in this manga I don’t even know where to begin any more.

Sagakure-san has been scanlating the chapters as soon as she gets her copy of Lala, so you can bet I’ve been stalking her quite a lot. She makes pretty art as well, although some themes may not be to everyone’s tastes.

As far as the story has been developing so far, there’s a lot of tension amongst the fans trying to guess who the main protagonist, Yuuki, ends up with. She did say in the 52nd Chapter that she now knows the path which she should walk on (by Kaname’s side), but she’s obviously still longing for Zero, even though he openly rejected her in the recent chapter.

Personally, I like Kaname a lot more than Zero. I find his story a lot sadder, and I feel very bad for him that the girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with is longing for another guy. I’m actually beginning to hate Yuuki for being that way. She has to decide who she really loves and tell them so that one or the other can move on.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind whoever it is that she ends up with, as long as she decides soon so that she’d stop torturing them so much. It’s annoying me that she said she has always loved Kaname and yet keeps thinking about Zero now that she’s with Kaname.

It’s too selfish. Even for a shoujo manga. But I still follow the series anyway. –_-;;;

The next chapter’s teaser mentioned something gruesome is going to happen. Is it bad that the only thing I’m interested in finding out is the character relationships? I don’t know… But I would love to see the ending of this series so I can stop angsting about it already!

1000 Paper Cranes: Wishing for a Better Philippine Government

Would it be wishful thinking to hope for a better government and clean, truthful, fair elections in the Philippines this 2010?

Frankly, I don't know. I'm not even sure I'll be in this country by the time the elections begin, but that doesn't mean I can't give my support to the Philippine Paper Crane Project.

I've always dreamed the Philippines could be one of the greatest countries the world has ever seen. I mean, we had the first female president in Asia, and we stopped a war with People Power; no death, no bloodshed. Whatever happened to that nation where we saw everyone as equals and helped one another?

If I had a choice, I don't think I'd want to move to another country, but as it turns out, I have to in order to start living my future.

Even still... I hope the Philippines will heal. And I hope I can return one day... I hope everyone can support this endeavour. Because I know wishes can still come true.

Shilo

Squipjoy’s post suddenly made me miss Shilo.

He isn’t my dog… He’s my nephew’s, but I have a habit of playing with the little guy at night when I go throw out the trash. I don’t even know what breed he is, but I think he’s a mix..?

Anyhow... We had to give him to my Uncle because Dad has been… weird lately. My brother tied Shilo by the walkway in order for him to get used to the feeling of having a leash. He was suppose to go to the other house so that there’s a watchdog there, but like I said, Daddy’s been a little weird. It’s like he hates Shilo with a passion, and even threatened to kick him if my brother didn’t move him from the walkway.

Rather than move him to the other house, Mom decided it would be best to let my Uncle adopt him. Uncle loves dogs a lot and happily took Shilo in. I have no doubts that Shilo is much better off there, without a cage and without a leash... But I miss him terribly. He was a good dog and didn’t harm anyone... Minus that one time when he was mad at one of my brother’s helpers. Heh... good dog~ ♫

It makes me wonder if he still knows me... Maybe I should go visit him.

Onegai My Melody: Episode 03

This is quite an interesting episode. Not only does Yamamoto-kun reminded of my brother-in-law, but we also get to see what looks to be like Kurumi (Kuromi's human version) in one of Yamamoto's stock photos with her back turned.

Coincidence? Or did the artists made an honest "mistake"?

Episode 03: I Wish I Could Make Lots of Friends!

The episode begins with Kogure and Uta fighting over their class project. The task of their group is to create a homepage of the topic of their choice. Naturally, Uta wants to make a website about Hiiragi, while Kogure thinks it's stupid and suggest video games instead.

One of their group mates, Yamamoto-kun, is the class photographer. He's completely quiet while his classmates were arguing, but then decides to take photos of them arguing... which resulted in them getting irritated at him.

Uta comes up with a plan to secretly ask Yamamoto to help her and Miki get their class project going (and to find out more about Hiiragi without looking like a stalker). She, Miki, and Yamamoto went over to Hiiragi's usual spot during break and waits for a chance to interview him. Uta tries her best to get over her shyness and manages to get Hiiragi to agree for an interview with Miki's help as well as allow Yamamoto to take pictures of him.

Hiirgi notices that Yamamoto might potentially have a dream that Kuromi could take and points him out to her. Sure enough, Yamamoto wanted to be friends with everyone, but had an inferiority complex than hinders him from socializing. When another group asks for Yamamoto's help with their project, he has trouble with saying what he wants clearly, making Kogure do all the talking for him.

Kuromi uses her magic to change his camera into a turtle (since apparently "kame da" which means "it's a turtle" sounds like "camera") that not only captures the images of his subjects but absorbs them into his stomach as living, miniature people. This allowed Yamamoto to achieve his dream of being together with everyone.

When Yamamoto captures all the students in their class, Uta was able to confront him, convincing him that there were a lot of people in their class who wanted to get to know him better. This cause him to doubt his own beliefs that he couldn't be friends with anyone, allowing My Melo to place her Melody Mark on the turtle-camera.

This gave the students a chance to escape... only to realize they were still trapped in photographs. Shiroyama decides to take the initiative and becomes My Melo's target to amplify her magic on him. Shiroyama's photo grew into a large block, flattening Kuromi and Baku and hereby destroying Kuromi's spell.

When everything returns back to normal, My Melo asks the turtle to earase everyone's memories, aside from Uta, Mana, and Miki. Interestingly enough, Shiroyama felt that it wasn't the first time he met My Melo and becomes completely obsessed with her.

Yamamoto helped Shiroyama's group with the photos they were asking for earlier on and made a homepage about My Melody. This made Yamamoto quite famous for being such a great photographer. Uta's words rang true as Kogure excitedly took up on his offer to teach him how to use his camera... and the entire class wanted to be in the picture with him.

Everything ended well, aside from poor Uta who lost all the data that contained Hiiragi's photos thanks to the memory wipe. She had no intentions of asking Hiiragi for a second photoshot as she's afraid that, as Miki pointed out, he would get mad at her for losing the data. How ironic that Kogure won the debate and had a homepage on video games for their group project, yes?

The episode showed a lot of first... the first time Shiroyama fell head-over-heels for My Melo, and the first time Kogure risked himself to save Uta. I guess he really did have deep feelings for her for a long time now... if only he could get over all that teasing and arguing and just say what he really wants to say. ♥

Yes, "Mistress"~! ♥

Normally, I'm not the type who would agree to making a guy dress up like a girl.

Normally.

But as you can see, I'm not a proud owner of Kuroshitsuji's Ciel Phantomhive PVC... the girl version.

Isn't he just the most adorable thing you're ever laid eyes on? *_* I got her him at SM last week for only P80 (less that US$2) since he's made in China. It's probably an imitation PVC as the others in the series were not that well made. Ciel in his girly attire was the only one who looked absolutely gorgeous. And just look at that snarky pose. x3

He's glaring at me from the top of my CPU. ._.;;; Charming, really.

I need a good looking Sebastian to take care of the young master. I hope I can find one soon~! ♥

Crocheting Amigurumi’s

I've always enjoyed crocheting… Back in high school, when we had crochet for Home Economics Class, I became addicted the moment I saw the beautiful laces that you could make from a ball of string and a hook.

But it’s the first time I got to make something like this…

Amigurumi: Little Goth Boy by ~kurohiko on deviantART

It was suppose to be a chibi of Earl Cain Hargreaves, but I think he became a character all on his own. I didn’t use a pattern, because I don’t know how to read patterns to begin with, haha. xD So I just crocheted him while I was waiting for a few things to be done last weekend.

The top hat is probably my favorite part to make… I’m beginning to wonder if I should continue making these and sell them online. Hm…

Blood of My Blood

She looked outside the window to keep her mind occupied. She didn't want to be treated as a child anymore so she had to control her hunger... and yet, the mere fact that she was in the same room with her made her want to pierce his pale skin and drink his blood.

He noticed her hesitance and sighed. It was natural to be lusting for blood... after all, she hasn't fed in days, and she was newly turned. She had only ever had his blood to drink, and he preferred to keep it that way.

"If you're thirsty," Hiiragi said as he laid back on the couch, "then drink, I'm not stopping you."

Her eyes were dark with desire as she heard him say the words. The sound of his voice coaxed her into her vampire self, breathing heavily as she began showing her fangs.

But still she fought against it. "Hiiragi... sama... has not been feeding as of late. I can not take advantage of-"

She could not finish her sentence as the scent of blood overwhelmed her. It was his blood, she knew it. She knew that scent so well... but why would there be when she hasn't touched him? She glanced up and was horrified to see that he had pierced himself. His slender finger had sliced his skin open near the pulse on his neck. Her heightened senses listened to his heart beat, entrancing her into a myriad of lust and desire.

She panted heavily as she fought her urges, clutching her own neck. She felt tortured... "Hiiragi... sama..."

He merely smirked at her and motioned for her to come to his side. He carefully began to untie the ribbon around his collar. Kuromi towered over him, staring blankly as if she was being controlled by him. Yet how could that be when she was a vampire too? Even if he was her master, there was no way he could manipulate her so easily.

"Why..." she whispered, slightly out of breath, "are you... so cruel... to me..."

She opened her mouth, breathing heavily against him, hesitating... and bit down.

Onegai My Vampire Melody by ~kurohiko on deviantART

He didn't say a word as she fed on him. Her blood lust made her bite more aggressive than usual, and even though he did everything he could to control himself, a small moan still managed to escape his lips, parting slightly, baring his own fangs.

"Take only what is needed..." he cautioned, even though he wouldn't mind spoiling her. It was difficult not to... And the taste of his blood made her want him more and more.

Perhaps it was cannibalism to allow her to feed on him, but they were beasts now... no longer mortal.

**********
Ok, so I fail in writing a proper fanfic to go with the painting I did, but hopefully it was good to read anyway.

Bee Season

A seemingly simple family of a child with a special gift, Bee Season follows the story of Eliza Naumann, the youngest child and daughter of Saul and Miriam Naumann. What starts as a little girl's attempt to be closer to her father ends in a strained relationship amongst a once strong family bond. Saul's obsession with his daughter leaves his wife and son lonely, leading Miriam into a deeper into her obsessive-compulsive disorder and Aaron to question his religious views and convert into becoming a Hare Krishna.

The film shows each individual attempt to become closer to God, finding his/her own way to Him. All of which seem to be unsuccessful, aside from Eliza's. It was a strange movie, but I happen to like Richard Gere. And it's a reminder of how parents can become overly obsessed with their child's success, that nothing else seems to matter... including their own family. However, the effects were pretty good... It makes me wonder if Richard Gere could really play the violin. ♥

Unleashed (Danny the Dog)

Danny, a young man trained to be a human "attack dog", is a skilled fighter who has the emotional capacity of a young child. When his owner, "Uncle" Bart unchains his collar, he becomes unstoppable; giving Bart the upper hand when it comes to collecting loans.

In a strange twist of fate, Danny meets a blind piano tuner, Sam. It was the first time anyone treated him like a human being, not to mention Danny was completely fascinated by pianos to begin with.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, an accident occurred, leading Danny to think that his uncle is dead. With no one left to turn to, he returns to Sam. Will Sam be able to give Danny a normal life, or will Danny's past catch up to him and endanger Sam and his step-daughter Victoria?

I got to catch this on Studio 23 tonight... I remember my brother-in-law asking me about this film and told him I couldn't recall this film, even though we had seen it together before. Now that I was able to jog my memory a bit, it's pretty good, and Jet Li and Morgan Freeman did an awesome job. The story's a little on the straight forward side, but the action scenes are cool... so it's not a bad film to see when you're bored.

...just not the kind of film to watch when you're trying to draw Shoujo Manga. I completely failed at drawing 2 more pages because of this movie, heh. Ah well...

Special Delivery!

The following occurred between 8pm to 9pm.

Mom: Oh, hey, I almost forgot… you got a package from the post today.

Me: Package? From whom?

Mom: Christy… something. I put it on your bed. You can open it later after dinner.

Me: …I don’t know a Chris-

Me: …

Me: *scampers up her room*

Mom: H-hey! Get back here this instant, young lady!

Me: …it can’t be.

Me: *diligently and nervously opens the envelop*

Me: OMG! It is!!! Wai~! A-and s-so, this would m-mean that…

Me: *peeks inside book*

Me: ♥♥♥TAG~!♥♥♥

Me: *melts in a puddle of fangirl goo~*

Thank you so much for this, Christy! And Tag looks oh so pretty. *o*

And for people who have no idea what I’m talking about, do you recall this post I made a few months back? No? Shame on you. >[

Onegai My Melody: Episode 02

I should hurry up with these reviews since Season 2 is already available for download, hahaha~ ♥ At the same time, I love re-watching this low budget anime... I really must be insane.

Episode 02: I Wish I Could Study!

Previously, we saw Kuromi setting her eyes out on Hiiragi. Little did either of them know, the Melody Bow has found its true master, and Hiiragi is more than happy to oblige. He agrees to the task of recharging the melody key in order to attain the song the world has never heard before.

My Melody explains how collecting all 100 black notes could mean the destruction of the entire world as they knew it. Playing the music the black notes create would kill every human dream, no matter how big or small they may be. Killing dreams would render all emotions meaningless, killing Mari Land as well.

The following day, Uta and her sisters run off to school without eating breakfast. This worried My Melody and that was when she decided she should cook for them. Aside from that, the house was a mess, so in exchange for letting her stay in the Yumeno household, she's decided to help around the house.

In school, Uta's classmate, Taniguchi dreams of being able to study better. His best score ever since elementary school was only 30, and that was when they were asked to write their name.

Naturally, Kuromi comes along and decides to give him a computer for a head. The only problem was, he constantly needed new data to keep himself from activating his screen saver, or going into sleep mode. His need for new data became insatiable as he began attacking his entire class with translations, equations, and other things he could think of.

It was a good thing My Melody was passing by the school to check up on Uta. She manages to get a mouse mascot to stop Taniguchi from destroying everything in class.

Nevertheless, Kuromi's magic allowed Taniguchi to realize studying is something he should work hard on himself. Even if it was easier to study having a computer for a head, he preferred to be the way he was, earning My Melody another pink note.

It's interesting how the mouse was able to finish his task without having My Melody say "onegai" (which she does in all other episodes). But the real question is, why would Hiiragi agree to destroying the world? He happily does the task of recharging the Melody Key for Kuromi to do her magic. Perhaps there is something much deeper to this than the episode reveals?

...of course, I know the answer to that question, but I'm not saying anything. :3

The Proposal

What do you do if your boss, whom you absolutely loathe, suddenly tells you that the two of you are getting married?

That is the unfortunate(?) situation Andrew Paton finds himself in as his boss, Margaret Tate, is in danger of getting herself deported back to Canada, losing her job and everything she's worked for to the employee she had just fired. Andrew plays along with her game in order to get promoted to editor, and get his manuscript published.

Who knew that the hard-working assitant was actually not all the editor-in-chief thought he was?

This was a very enjoyable film~! Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds did a very good job in their own respective roles, and Betty White was simply adorable~! I won't spoil much about it, since really, it's better to just go see it than to read about it... So go watch it, please! :D

That aside, Leilei has jipped me into joining Twitter. Do follow me if it suits your tastes? :3 Though I wonder how long I'll last with this one, seeing I dropped plurk a long time ago.

Just One Kiss…

I finally got to finish this meme a few days ago. It was quite challenging for me since I’m not very good at drawing kisses… It makes me feel awkward when I try to draw them, probably because the idea of kissing is enough to make me do a double take?

Uta and Hiiragi's Kiss Meme by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Jun took over the task of kissing on the nose since neither Hiiragi nor Uta felt like doing it, haha. xD Sebastian will have a heck of a time cleaning up when the brothers stop fighting, I’m sure. The kiss on the lips really remind me of Honey and Clover… I blame Leilei for that, since she’s watching the J-drama and she gave me that idea. The ferris wheel looks a little weird… I think it could have been better, but eh…

And yeah, the kiss on the ear killed me. x/////x;;;

I don’t think I can draw the second part of this… the sexy version, omg. But I do want to try finishing the meme because I want to learn how to draw kisses properly.

I need a new series to get addicted to. I have way too many fanarts of Onegai My Melody… ;x;

Typo of the Year?

My officemate decided to share this news clipping to us this morning.

Quote:

WITH UTMOST CARE. Military honor guard carefully moves the coffin of President Arroyo out of the Manila Cathedral. (Photo by Tony Pionilla)

I have no idea whether this image is Photoshop-ed or not. You can click the image to see the original version (which I linked to the original source), but if it is real, someone might kick the bucket for it. You have to admit, it's a little amusing, intentional or not.

Senator Noynoy Aquino gave a rather bold statement about Arroyo's reign. He mentioned in an interview that Arroyo was beginning to be a lot like Marcos, and he wondered if the Aquino's would have to be the ones to clean up after her... again. It makes me wonder if he has plans to run for Presidency when the time comes.

I wonder... how long will the people's resolve last this time around...

Public Enemies

The life story of John Dillinger, one of USA's infamous criminals has found it's way to the silver screen.

"Public Enemies" stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as they portray the charismatic cat-and-mouse game between the thief, John Dillinger, and FBI Agent, Melvin Purvis as set in the late 1930's. It shows how Dillinger was able to escape from prison twice and his heists; robbing banks and even planning to rob a train.

I've seen the documentary about the life of John Dillinger. Sadly, the documentary was far more interesting than the movie. I suppose eating at Tony Roma's before watching this film made it even more difficult to stay awake, which I have to say, is still a very good place for honey-cured, baby back ribs and cookie skillets. I should write a proper review about that restaurant some time. But even with that aside, the movie didn't show much of John's charisma. To most viewers, it probably didn't make sense why people were cheering him on when he was caught in Tucson and extradited back to Indiana since we didn't see much of his charm towards his hostages.

Oh well, I suppose I should have said I prefered to watch "The Proposal", but brother-in-law seemed really keen in watching this movie. And honestly, I was expecting it to be much better than what I saw because of that documentary. I guess seeing Johnny Depp and Christian Bale makes up for the weird story line. :3

Farewell, My Lady...

A sad, yet uplifting scene I keep seeing past when I head to work. You'll have to forgive the photo quality, I took it from inside the car this morning. It's a little frustrating that traffic is killing me ever since people have been coming to visit outside of the late president's house, but it's also nice to see people appreciating what she has done for this country.

She's probably one of the few honest leaders this country's ever had. And to see people flocking to pay their respects makes me think that the Philippines may not be so hopeless after all.

I hope Lady Corazon Aquino finds peace... she, of all people, deserve it... much, much, more than anyone.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The 6th installment of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, the movie adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" premiered last July 15 (16 here in Asia). It proves to be darker than previously released films, focusing more on the evil side of magic.

Draco Malfoy is being forced to aid the Dark Lord as it is expected of him as the son of a Death Eater. Severus Snape creates an unbreakable vow with his mother in order to ensure Draco will be protected in his mission. Would this mean that Dumbledore has indeed misplaced his trust on Severus? Would this be a mistake with which he will pay a severe price for?

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch this last Sunday. I have to say, despite being a fan of the book, this is probably my favorite movie adaptation among the 6. Maybe because the ending didn't feel rushed this time?

Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger, is really growing up to be a very pretty lady. My officemate and I have been talking about Draco Malfoy's fate in the final book, and I told her it makes more sense to me now why he turned after watching the 6th movie. I think he may have been traumatized with his mission, and he was really nothing more than an arrogant young boy. I don't really like Ginny Weasly though... I imagined she'd be prettier than Hermione. >.<;;;

I'm still glad Rowling decided to focus this book on the half-blood prince though. He's one of my favorite characters in the series. Or rather, he's become my favorite in teh series when it ended.

I can't wait for the final 2 movies for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows"! The book disappointed me enough, so I'm hoping the movie will bring it back to light...

Onegai My Melody: Episode 01

I've been meaning to review a few anime episodes on this blog, so I decided to test my writing skills (if I ever had any) with a rather obscure fandom: Onegai My Melody.

Episode 01: I wish I could Play the Violin!

My Melody unknowingly helps Kuromi and Baku escape to the Human World with Dark Power Items they found while the were in prison. As a result, the King orders her to neutralize Kuromi's dark magic using her own magical items, the Melody Takt, Melody Box, and Melody Candy.

Back in the human world, particularly in Yumegaoka Middle School, teen heartthrob and violin protege Hiiragi Keiichi gives a sample performance to the music club, in hopes of inspiring the younger students to do their best in their upcoming concert... much to Yumeno Uta and Sakurazuka Miki's delight. Both girls have a huge crush on their senior, and today was the day they were going to attempt to talk to him.

Uta got more than she wished for as she clumsily fell while rushing to see Hiiragi... and who else other than Hiiragi himself, helps her to her feet.

This made Uta determined to do her best in their upcoming concert.

Unfortunately, because of her strong wish, Baku caught the scent of her dream, giving Kuromi the chance to cast her magic on the unsuspecting girl. Uta first thought she was only dreaming, but when the day of the concert arrived, she soon realized she was very, very wrong.

When her performance of the "Clown in Italy" had begun, her violin starts playing on its own. It would have been an amazing performance if she was doing a solo, but she was in a quartet, making her obviously off cue.

She does her best to make the unexplainable phenomena seemingly part of the performance by capturing the haunted violin with her case and bowing to the crowd. It didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed by it, however, as she ran out of the concert hall with her violin, crying hysterically and swearing never to play the violin again.

In what seems like perfect timing, My Melody drops from the sky in front of Uta, jogging Uta's memory about Kuromi as they were similar in appearance. She first thought My Melody was the one responsible for the awkward situation she faced, making My Melo cry from fright.

Because they were so noisy, Uta's violin became so irritated that it flew out of the case and taunted Uta, telling her she had no talent in playing him. My Melo realized that Kuromi's magic was behind the strange behavior of the violin and uses Koto's crab backpack to fight against it.

The violin's outburst made Uta realize that she was not playing the violin seriously, which is what made him upset.

Uta decides to return to the concert hall, though the reason is left for speculation. It could be that she wanted to apologize to her Music Club Members, or that she was going to quit the Music Club forever.

Of all the people she had to run into, it had to be Hiiragi. She almost cried at the thought that he might be angry with her, but she couldn't move from the spot she stood in.

Fortunately for her, Hiiragi merely greeted her and said she had done well. It gave her hope that she could still be a violinist, and her heart produced a pink note, indicating she had her dream back. But you can bet that Kuromi is not done just yet.

I've always adored this series because it's such a feel good anime. It's light hearted and cheesy enough to make you laugh even when you had one of those days. I'm a little peeved at Hiiragi in this episode though, merely because I really can't stand real-life playboys. It was nice of him to tell Uta she did a good job, even if she really didn't, but it was a bit cold and uncaring in my opinion... that says a lot being that I am quite the Hiiragi fan.

I wonder if I can really review all 52 episodes? Heh~

Dealing with H1N1

Although there’s still a line downstairs for the people who go to the 16th floor to have their temperatures checked before coming in… I think people are beginning ease off of being on panic mode.

Not that I don’t appreciate the seriousness of the disease. People who have lower immune systems that come in contact with it are at risk. Admittedly, I was scared as hell at one point too… Will have to write about that eventually, but maybe not here.

I just think it was a little funny that we had to wear masks for 2 days when the boss found out someone who was in the office may have had H1N1. We even had a seminar about it, then found out that we didn’t have to wear masks after all. Haha~ You can see in the photo my little octopus plushie from Denise is now wearing my mask. She’s all set to fight off H1N1! Rawr~ x3 Hey, you gotta admit, it suits her better than me!

Octy kinda looks like a distant cousin of Octomorph. *nods*

Butterfly Dreams

I seem to have an addiction to changing layouts. And it's not as if this new one is anything special. It's quite basic, but the colors are so delicious that they make my teeth hurt. *3*

You might recognize Earl Cain Hargreaves on the banner, in a more reddish attire. LOL! I couldn't help it. I think dear Cain has caught my heart. What with being Gothic, mysterious, and an expert in poisons at the young age of 17? Not to mention he has major angst with his dad...

I'm definitely reading up his manga, Godchild, sometime soon~ ♥

Anyhow, my scanner is sorta working again. o_o;;; I didn't really do anything to it, but it's... working again? Maybe it was just over worked or something?

Oh yes, I bought some goodies today~! ♥ I finally have a nice PVC of Kuchiki Byakuya from Bleach~ And he's pretty much the same scale as my Rukia one. They look adorable together! And I should take pictures, but ugh... still need to buy a new cam-phone. And I'm not exactly made of money at the moment. x.x;;;

I think I might post some episode reviews of a few animes soon. I'm feeling productive this month~ And finish up that doujin. *sage nod*

The Earl of Turnabout Café

I've never been one to finish an artwork in one sitting. I like to take my time with things, keep it cool... Make sure things look perfect, and such.

I think something came over me last in the early morning hours of July 2 though... Probably because I don't have work on Pasig Day, yes?

Earl Cain Hargreaves by ~kurohiko on deviantART

I think the mere thought of drawing Cain Hargreaves from Godchild in Kuroshitsuji's Ciel Phantomhive's clothing excited me too much that I felt the need to finish this. It was also a good escuse to draw a human skull, which I had been meaning to try for a while now, but feared my mommy dear might disown me if I did. xD

The more I look at this, the more Cain seems like Ciel. Hrm... They're both Earls too.

It's funny how well the background works with this. I wonder if it's bad to use your own stock photo for backgrounds? I didn't want to submit something with a blank background again... x.x;;;

I really enjoyed coloring this. Burn/Dodge methods are hard to replicate, but stand alone pieces like this make it look so... soft and yummy. x3 And it looks like one of those maid/butler café cards you get to buy when you visit a café. Not sure how true the rumor is, but apparently you get to buy a card of your favorite maid/butler and get them to sign it or something.

Maybe Turnabout Café should do that too... With Konata's help, of course~ ♥

If I Get Married...

...my groom must be this cool:

Kidding aside, that was such a cute video, I had to share it. xD What, with everything still talking about Michael Jackson and all...

Goodbye, Michael…

Michael Jackson has passed away earlier today at the age of 50 due to cardiac arrest.

Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation.

The circumstances of Jackson’s death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to the hospital, Ruda told the newspaper.

- excerpt from Singer Michael Jackson dead at 50

His life was placed under a microscope being the “King of Pop”. I always felt sorry for him feeling the need to change his appearance because he was said to have been verbally abused by his dad. I’m not sure if he really is a pedophile, gay, or whatever else he was accused of… As much as we know how bizarre he was, he made good music.

I suppose this will affect the amount of downloads his mp3s will be getting in the next couple of days… I wonder why it’s always only when someone passes away that people remember them and say good things about them?

But I digress… He often said he wanted to be Peter Pan… May he finally find the Neverland he was seeking for while he was here among us.

On a non-related topic, Kuroshitsuji will apparently be having a second season. I have no idea how that will be playing out with the first season killing off the main character, but I suppose we will have to wait and see.

Role-Player: Ghost Writer

Ghost writers are fascinating.

They have the ability to write as if someone else, someone well-known is actually writing the letter, email, or document being sent. Ghost writers can steal another person’s identity, or pretend to be someone else entirely.

This is why I’m into role-playing. I want to learn how a mangaka can create a character and have him completely different from his/her other characters.

Some of you know that I play in a role-play community in Live Journal known as Polychromatic. I stopped for a while because of certain issues, but now that my immigration papers are in the embassy, I have more time in my hands.

I’m already playing as Yumeno Uta from Onegai My Melody, who has an innocent nature similar to mine. So far, I think I’ve kept her in character, but with my application for Kuran Kaname of Vampire Knight getting rejected, it made me re-think everything I thought I knew about him… I’ve read the manga 4 times now, I’m still getting a few surprises as to how he thinks.

Anime and manga versions of him seem entirely different. While both versions are obsessed with Yuuki, manga Kaname from the first few chapters seem angrier at Zero. Manga Kaname is also easy to lose his cool when Yuuki is in danger. I remembered him to be a lot calmer in the anime, especially since the fight scene for him and Zero never really occurred.

So I decided I had to dig deeper and get whatever resources I could regarding his mysterious character. Then I found a walk through for the Vampire knight DS game.

…that might have been a mistake.

The Kaname I have in my head is thinking “I would never say such things” when I was reading the walk through and translations. It seems dating games are really… “free” in exploring other aspects of the character. I might be wrong, but feel free to read the walk through here and here.

This worries me… Am I really the right person to write as Kaname? Perhaps more research is needed.