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Veo que mi blog ha recibido a visitantes buscando scans de Revaival #5 por kiz / nari… Ya están disponibles en la red, escaneados por un grupo francés de scanlations (ignoren la redundancia) que sólo lo ha distribuido de manera limitada, ie. en la respectiva comunidad de Sengoku BASARA en LJcom. La entrada con los scans es visible sólo para miembros, si es que la están buscando y no dan con ellas… Pero si no tienen una cuenta en LJcom/no pueden acceder a esta comunidad, les diría que tuvieran un poco más de paciencia. Son al menos dos grupos de scanlations los que se dedican al proyecto de Revaival y que tienen los scans de R#5, de modo que es cuestión de tiempo hasta que los vean circulando en la red – y tal vez sea mucho antes, si alguien hace caso omiso del pedido de uno de los grupos de no redistribuir los scans y los sube sin permiso.
Me alegró el que uno de los miembros del grupo de scanlations me escribiera para pasame los scans de R#5; ya antes me habían pedido permiso para usar algunos de los míos para sus scanlations y en esta ocasión me escribieron para darme este regalito (como ellos lo llamaron). No es que lo esté diciendo en plan de sacarle la lengua a todos ustedes porque yo tengo los scans y el resto no (sí, claro…), sino porque me molestó un tanto el que otros dos grupos me contactaran para pedirme scans y cuando les respondí que no tenía los títulos que ellos pedían, no volvieran a escribirme… hasta la siguiente vez en que me escribieron para pedirme otros scans (que tampoco tenía). Pues, yo comencé a escanear mis DJs como muestra de mi agradecimiento a las personas que hacían lo mismo y de las cuales yo leecheaba archivos como si hubiera mañana; si también yo podía hacerlo (escanear, no bajar cosas es decir), ¿por qué no contribuir con el fandom? Y, claro, siempre es de lo más agradable recibir comentarios de la gente que descarga mis DJs por más mal escaneados que estén. Son las personas que se dedican a hacer scanlations por su cuenta las más amables y educadas: te piden permiso, te escriben luego agradeciéndote y te muestran sus proyectos. Qué diferencia con los grupos de scanlations como los dos que mencioné líneas arriba, que parecen creer que tú estás allí para comprar DJs y escaneárselos a pedido. No es como si quisiera que me levanten un altar virtual por mis scans… pero leer un “ok, qué pena que no tengas los scans pero gracias, ” en vez de “¿tienes XYZ para que nos lo pases?” (en repetidas ocasiones) sería un cambio bienvenido. De hecho, el que al menos me escribieran para hacerme saber que leyeron mi comentario anterior ya sería bastante – pero por lo general sólo me escriben cuando quieren pedirme más scans. ¿Les conté que en una ocasión alguien me escribió para pedirme que le comprara un DJ? Y de un fandom del que yo jamás había dado la más mínima pista de conocer o gustar.
Dejando de lado mis rajes sobre scans… ¿Ya se enteraron de que La Teta Asustada (The Milk Of Sorrow es su título internacional) está entre las cinco nominadas al Oscar por Mejor Película Extranjera? Pues entonces, es momento de pasar al raje sobre peruanidad, otro tema que siempre tiene cabida en mi blog.
Hay que decirlo: por supuesto que a todos nos alegra la nominación de esta película peruana a los premios Oscar. Apuesto que incluso a esos críticos que tanto la vilipendiaron y/o que detestan una premiación como las del Oscar (que, vamos, de aquí a un tiempo ha sido más comercial que cualquier otra cosa). ¡Pero hay que ver lo voluble que es la gente! Sobre todo si se trata de peruanos, d’uh.
Cuando La Teta Asustada ganó el Oso de Oro en el Festival de Berlín, las reacciones aquí estuvieron divididas. La mayoría aplaudía el reconocimiento, mientras que otros criticaban el premio porque, según ellos, no era “producto peruano” porque Claudia Llosa (su directora) pasaba más tiempo en España que en Perú, ie. radicaba en Europa y por lo tanto no estaba calificada para hacer una película peruana. No les exagero: éso decían algunos. Otros comentaban que era una pena que la directora fuera premiada a costa de retratar un estrato socioeconómico bajo, o sea, qué hacía una “europea” con una película sobre una familia de inmigrantes del interior del país con pocos recursos económicos. Y unos cuantos más sacaron a relucir la anterior película de Claudia Llosa, Madeinusa, también recibida con buenas críticas pero que a muchos no gustó porque trataba temas difíciles (violencia y abuso familiar y tergiversación de una cuestión religiosa, entre otros). ¿Y saben cuál era el detalle en todo esto, con todos los comentarios encontrados? Que NADIE había visto La Teta Asustada todavía. Salvo el jurado y los concurrentes al Festival de Berlín, es decir.
La película sólo se estrenó comercialmente un mes después de recibir el Oso de Oro. Y como tenía que ser, obtuvo críticas a favor y en contra, y de paso acalló la mayoría de esos comentarios ridículos acerca de cómo era que una “europea” no podía hacer una película de la “realidad peruana” porque, como usteden saben, para filmar sobre el Holocausto Judío necesitas ser judío de nacimiento, y una película sobre la Guerra de Vietnam no te va a salir bien si no tienes la nacionalidad vietnamita o eres uno de los veteranos sobrevivientes, y no olvidemos que los verdaderos westerns sólo los hacen los que han vivido toda su vida allá en el oeste de los EEUU. Sí, claro.
Bien se dice que aquí en Perú es mezquina cuando se trata del éxito ajeno. Si se acuerdan, hubo muchos que se mostraron en contra de darle a Kina Malpartida los laureles deportivos por ganar el título mundial de boxeo… porque ella viajó a Australia, estuvo entrenando allí y obtuvo auspicio de medios de ese país. ¿Qué? ¿Acaso no se queja la gente de que aquí el gobierno no da dinero ni para reparar las instalaciones deportivas, y mucho menos para siquiera cubrir los pasajes de los deportistas cuando tienen que ir a competencias internacionales? ¿Ya se olvidaron de que casi siempre las delegaciones deportivas se quedan sin ir a mundiales porque no pueden costear los pasajes aéreos? Y así se quejan del deportista que no se rinde a pesar de que en Perú sólo recibe males, que busca medios y sale adelante por cuenta propia. Realmente, no sé qué tiene la gente.
Y, bueno, ahora mi raje viene por el lado de la gente triunfalista y arrimada de siempre. Como La Teta Asustada ha sido nominada al Oscar, se ponen a gritar “¡Viva el Perú!” y a decir que se sienten tan orgullosos de ser peruanos… como si ellos tuvieran algo que ver con la calidad de la película o sus triunfos artísticos. ¿Por qué habríamos de codearnos con la directora, todo su equipo de producción y los actores? Nos alegran los reconocimientos y nos sentimos orgullosos de que a pesar de todas las dificultades se pueda hacer buen cine en Perú, claro… ¿pero qué demonios hace la gente arrimándose al éxito de la película como si hubieran tenido algo que ver con él? Haber ido a verla y decir que es buena no cuenta como para que ya estén dando saltos cuales fuesen los productores o los auspiciadores (que casi no tuvo la pela, por cierto). Aparte de los oportunistas nos han salido algunos alienados… porque no hay quien falta que diga que la película merece ganar más que sus competidoras porque es latina y no europea, que son de otro mundo. ¿O debería decir “racista” simplemente? Es increíble ver a gente que cree y dice que un racista es sólo alguien que odia a los negros – porque decir que los europeos o los norteamericanos son una lacra es sólo una opinión y no un comentario racista, ¿verdad?
Hola, hacía mucho tiempo… bueno primeramente me alegra que, por fin, Kiz-Nari haya sacado el tan esperado quinto doujinshi de Revaival… ¡ya era hora! Lo que siento es no “poder echarle el guante”, pero bueno… tendré paciencia, como dices en tu comentario. Cuando lo traduzcan a disfrutaré de él.
Lo segundo, es que no me puede creer que alguien te dijese que le comprases un doujinshi, jejeje, parece de película de Buñuel o al menos de broma… jajaja.
Y bueno, por la parte que nos toca a los españoles respecto a “La Teta Asustada”, puesto que como bien intuías es una coproducción entre Perú y España, les deseo todo lo mejor al equipo de producción de la cinta como buena cinéfila que soy. No la he visto, pero las críticas que he leído son muy buenas. Y concuerdo contigo, que en general la gente sólo se acuerda de los suyos cuando tienen éxito fuera de las fronteras, eso “de nadie es profeta en su tierra”… sirve para todos los países creo que incluso puede haber un refrán o dicho en todos los países que venga a decir lo mismo. Yo por mi parte también me alegro que Penélope Cruz esté nominada por “Nine”, aunque Almodovar haya caído en el camino… pero bueno, no se puede tener todo ¿no? en realidad, cualquier éxito de los hispanohablantes fuera de nuestras fronteras nos tiene que alegra a todos nosotros, creo que eso es lo verdederamente importante.
Saludos
[Comentar]
…Tal vez fue mala idea el escribir que tenía los scans de R#5. Y es que de verdad que parezco que les estoy sacando la lengua a todos los demás… Si al final lo escribí es porque me emocioné mucho: andaba de malas porque un grupo me había contactado (de nuevo) para pedirme scans (de nuevo) y al decir que no los tenía, se olvidaron de mí (de nuevo), y en cambio la gente de este otro grupo fue de lo más considerada al enviarme los scans. Sí, si todo fuera así cuando se trata de scans y scanlations… Lo que me recuerda que ya tengo los DJs que compré hace un par de semanas y todavía no los edito, *cof cof*
Y con mucha vergüenza de mi parte confieso que yo no llego ni a aficionada al cine, ya que sólo veo lo que me interesa ver. Así sea realmente malo. Como por ejemplo lo último que he visto en el cine ha sido 2012 (que sabía que ninguna maravilla del arte iba a ser, pero de todas formas me picó la curiosidad por ver millones de dólares invertidos en efectos especiales apocalípticos). Confieso que prácticamente no he visto ninguna película nominada… salvo La Teta Asustada, claro, District 9Up en la misma categoría pero por filme animado. Mi ignorancia en cuestiones cinéfiles es de temer.
Pues fíjate, “nadie es profeta en su tierra” es un dicho que vas a escuchar por aquí un montón, y con esas palabras. Aunque en el caso de los peruanos, diría más bien que se debe a que somos mezquinos y malhablados por naturaleza. Dicen por allí que somos solidarios, sí, pero sólo con la gente que es como nosotros: daría la impresión de que cuando se trata de alguien que tiene éxito o a la que le va mejor a que uno, lo primero que va a hacer el peruano es hablar mal de ella. Pero ya me pareció extremo el que muchos, incluyendo políticos, estuviesen en contra de premiar a nuestra campeona de boxeo Kina Malpartida porque ella entrena en Australia. O hay que escuchar a la gente hablar de Sofía Mulanovich, campeona de surf, de la que dicen que “viene de buena familia” (ie. de una familia de buena posición económica) como si eso le quitara mérito al éxito personal…
[Comentar]
Respecto a los éxitos deportivos, pues creo que los españoles (a diferencia de vosotros, por lo que veo) no “ponemos a caer de un burro” a los deportistas que usan instalaciones y se entrenan en otros países, ni lo mencionamos y si lo hacemos es para decir… “Oye que se ha tenido que ir porque aquí no lo tenía”, pero por eso lo expatriamos a nadie, ni le quitamos su valor. De hecho, hay muchos que entrenan, y han entrenado, en el extranjero… ¿y qué? Los éxitos una vez que ganan algo ¿para quién son para el país del que procede o para el país de adopción deportiva? Ahí creo que, por lo que veo… no es una crítica demasiado justa. Nos alegramos lo mismo, por Gasol que juega en la NBA que por cualquier otro… y muy al contrario, nos alegra que haya llegado tan lejos. Pienso que con los dos casos que comentas debía ser así, estar orgullosos de esas mujeres que ganan méritos para su país de origen. En España, también hay mucha gente que practica deporte de élite y provienen de buenas familias ¿y qué?… me parece cienmil veces mejor que hagan eso a que se dediquen a irse de fiesta a las noches de Ibiza… ¿no?
Saludos
[Comentar]
Esto te prueba que además de mezquinos, a los peruanos nos falta poder de razonamiento. Si aquí los talentos no tienen medios económicos, no reciben apoyo del gobierno (que no les paga ni el pasaje del bus, menos los aéreos para que vayan a participar en competencias internacionales), no cuentan con instalaciones deportivas adecuadas… ¿cómo quiere la gente que se entrenen, se preparen, salgan a competir y ganen? Lo más triste del asunto es que los deportistas que sí reciben todo el apoyo económico y el cariño de la gente, terminan defraudando de más de una manera. Hablo de los futbolistas. No todos son así, claro, pero desde hace un buen tiempo que el colectivo se queja de que al fútbol le dan todas las facilidades que se pueda pensar, y desde hace tres décadas que no vamos a ningún Mundial y, de hecho, nos convertimos en el primer país del mundo que fue descalificado de las eliminatorias.
…Sin olvidar a todos esos futbolistas locales que aparecen en las portadas de los periódicos por dos razones: tuvieron un desempeño de pena en el último partido jugado, o chocaron su auto al regresar ebrios de alguna fiesta…
[Comentar]
Por cierto se me olvidaba decir que también en la categoría de mejor película extranjera se encuentra nominada la coproducción hispano-argentina “El secreto de sus ojos”, y además entre los cortos de animación uno de título “La dama y la muerte”, el otro día vi un trozo por televisión y quedé francamente encantada. En resumen, creo que es bueno para todos nosotros los hispanohablantes, esta cantidad de éxitos y reconocimientos fuera de nuestro entorno idiomática. Al menos es mi humilde opinión, pero si no se gana… no pasa nada, la próxima vez mejor. Mucha suerte a todos.
Saludos
Saludos
[Comentar]
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry it too me that long to answer, but I was hoping, that my boy will be here any minute and I could present you some photos… But it seems, that it will take him at least two more weeks to get here, I just received a message from the shop. Aaaaargh, I can’t stand this waiting anymore… But now I at least see the light at the end of the tunnel XD. You called me patient, but my patience is at an end, and all people around me head everyday that :”I want my doll nooooooow, or else !” XD. I found a good (I hope) temporary place for him, before I’ll do my renovation and he will get his own place ^^. My cat shouldn’t be able to reach him there… or rather I hope he won’t. And I’m collecting boxes, to make him some kind of seat… My co-worker said, that I have “nest making syndrome”.
I only hope, that after two weeks I will be able to proudly present you photos of my boy… at last !
Of course, as the time of his arriving draws near, I’m becoming more and more paranoid. “What if they crush him along the way? “ “What if they send me wrong doll ?” “What if it won’t come at all ?” and so on… I’m trying hard to concentrate on other things, but it’s hard. Especially, when I don’t have to study anymore ^^.
I hope that you have Ezra complete at home by now ! I can so good understand your anxiety, especially when it comes to post offices – I have really bad experience with them, I hope your post is better than our ^_-. I would love to see his photos when he will be whole again, and than you very much for the pics of face-up – they are breathtaking. I simply adore his eyes, they are gorgeous in every inch ! The artist accentuated their lovely shape, plus added such subtle eyebrows ! You were right about her, she really is very, very talented. I also love the lips – I don’t like them to be too big or too vivid, specially when it comes to boys. Plus, you know now more about your dollie ! Can’t blame you, that you are waiting for him so eagerly – he is stunning. He was always such handsome boy, but now… Awww, I can’t wait to see him complete, with new wig, eyes and clothes, with his wonderful face-up, and, of course, earrings too ! I’m absolutely sure, Ezra will be more beautiful than ever ! You have full right to feel like it will be another Christmas ^^ !
I’m afraid you will be disappointed with the look of my city, it looks really new ^_-, and very similar to what you wrote about your own – it’s build without any larger plan or idea, just bunch of districts tied together, plus a hard-core village in the middle (it really looks strange… you are driving through city, then the fields start, you see country houses, pigs, cows, chickens, than again fields… and the rest of the city starts). But we also have the “older” part, I will take my doll there once it will be spring (now it’s just ugly with all that dirty snow and ice…) and make some additional photos there. And don’t worry about not knowing much about Poland… I must say with shame, that I don’t know much about your country either, except for some basic geographic and historical information… But I think that our “comment exchange” ^^ is a great way to get to know more about our countries, cities and about us, and, of course, our dolls… Can’t wait for the photos !! And I hope the weather here will improve before my boy comes, since lately it’s just awful – snow, frost, frost, snow, and some more of frost and snow. We didn’t have such severe winter in years…
When it comes to dolls carrier, I saw on some arrival photos of AS dolls, that some of them come in something like carrier already, and I hope this will be my case ^^. But I will also need something more solid, if I want to take my doll for a ride here and there… For now, I’ll just wait and see. I saw some bags in the shop where I ordered Cadriel, so maybe I will buy it, once he will be here ? They are a bit expensive, but, well, not that I didn’t see it coming… I’ll also look around the house, maybe I will find something similar. Now, that I think of it, my brother and dad are playing tennis, so there should be some old bags for their tennis rackets. I may be able to use one of them.
Oh yes, I’m still in the middle of deciding for my next doll… Of course, your vote counts, your opinion is crucial to me ! Plus, I have very similar feelings – if I would be aiming at one doll, I would buy Hua Xi – he looks kind of fragile, delicate, yet strong and has a bit melancholic look… But when it comes to my story, I think Yan Di will be better, he gives such… draconic vibes ^^. I can’t help it, but when I look at him, he really looks like a strong, proud creature, that took human form only for a moment, and the dragon is the first thing, that comes in mind – maybe it’s because of his eyes ? I’m not absolutely sure yet (yeah… I’m rarely sure of anything), but I think I will decide for him.
Oo, I love Megami Tensei series, even if I only played Persona 3 and 4 (my interest started too late… it’s almost impossible here to buy previous games from the series) and I definitely love the atmosphere of those games, full of mystery, dark, sometimes even depressing (more in P3 than in P4), so I take your words as a complement ^_^.
My story will be more fantasy-like, because this is the genre, where I’m feeling the best, but it can have some modern reverences – the summoner will be traveling through different worlds, some ancient, some new and industrialized. He survived the end of his own world, because he was strong enough to sever the ties with it (in the end of my novel the world itself succumbs to madness, the weaker willed creatures and humans die suicidal death, poisoned by that madness), but now he knows not, what to do, how to make living… especially without his summons. Yes, in my story they serve as guardians and living weapons for a summoner. Weaker (lower-leveled) have only one form – they may appear as animals or mythological creatures. The stronger have at least two forms, they can also appear as humans. They are bind to summoner by contract, usually valid till the dead of the summoner. Some enter this contract from their own free will, but some are forced to do so, after the summoner has defeated them (sometimes using his other summons for the fight). This is the case of the most powerful of our summoner companions, the young, violent and reckless dragon, wild and proud. He didn’t want to surrender, but was defeated and forced to enter the contract. He is far from a slave, but he hates to obey anyone’s orders, so he hates his master, yet can’t harm him – due to contract. He seeks every opportunity to free himself, but, even with all his power, he cannot break the bond with the summoner. After spending much time with him, he starts to develop feelings for him – strange kind of love/hate. He hates him for robbing his freedom, but must also admire him for his powers, starts to care for him, telling himself, that he is doing so only because summoner is his “exclusive prey” and he wants to kill him with his own hands one day – when he will be able to break free from the contract…
Other summons don’t like him much, but he doesn’t care for that – dragons usually don’t care for such trivialities ^^.
I also have a bit different idea for the very beginning of the story, one which will not be tied to my novel, and the summoner will be just a traveler between worlds, searching for new summons for the purpose, that will be revealed later. One day he wakes up beaten up, un snow, without his summons, not remembering, what happened, when he was trying to enter new and unfriendly, cold world – aaand this will mark the moment he arrives at my house ^^. He then will start to gather his lost companions.
And yeeeesss, the relationship between my both boys includes rivalry, love, hate and struggle for the domination ^_^. I’m yaoi fangirl myself, so I don’t want it any other way ^^. Oooh, you know how I adore relationship between Masamune and Kojuro ! I also like the one between Sasuke and Basara!Yukimura, I would also like to see Sasuke with Musou!Yuki ^_- – completely different kind of master. But the bond between my boys is darker, although also very intense. None of them wants to submit to the other, both are too proud to admit that they need each other and miss each other, especially now, when they are separated. Dragon finds infuriating, that he could fall for a human, a summoner thinks, that it’s unprofessional to love his own summon. I think, that such situation can produce interesting results ^^.
About names… If I decide to use second version of the story, names will play a great role in the whole thing. Contract between summoner and summon uses the true name of the creature – secret name, that grants the one, who knows it almost complete control over the names bearer. Every human, creature, even stones and plants has such secret names, but they all guard them very carefully. For the common life, they use “official” names. In the case of my summoner and his guardians, those official names will be weapon-based (weeeell… it may sound weird, but I had to think of some key to produce further names). Summoner is known as Falx (kind of sickle-like, ancient sword) and his beloved dragon is called Bian (Chinese chain whip). Somehow I like those names… Other summon, which will appear at the beginning of the story, small, bronze pegasus, which is used by Falx as a spy and messenger, is called Runkah (weapon similar to Japanese jumonji-yari).
I hope it makes sense… especially with my bad English XD.
The fact, that you are so interested in my story, makes me really happy – I love working on stories, but it makes sense only when I can tell them ^_^. I’m thinking about photo-story, but, taking into consideration my lack of photographic skill, it may end with novel instead XD. All above is just a sketch of the story, I hope it’s interesting at all and I didn’t bore you with such a loooong rant.
Your adventure in custom office sounds very familiar. So familiar, that could easily happened also here. I was almost sure, that only our offices have such deadly mixture of incompetence, idiocy, bureaucracy and lack of any logic, co I was surprised, that it looks exactly the same in your country… But seriously, I’m happy that despite all those problems, you were able to rescue your precious package from the hands of custom officers, they didn’t damage anything and they didn’t rob you from the pleasure of opening the box yourself ^_^ !
Ha ha, “head” (“głowa”) in Polish is also female noun ^^. Yes, the head is very, very pretty, even without a face-up, I can’t wait to see it in full glory ! The sculpt is really nice, delicate, but not too feminine, so I’m sure Carmine will be great boy ! And, like you said, she looks good on Ezra’s body and if not for the hands, it would be really good choice (indeed, it looks CLAMPish on the pic showing full body ^^). The rest fits really well. I hope that, despite all problems, I’ll be able to see him soon together with Ezra ! They will surely look marvelous together… And, of course, congratulations on your new boy and his safe arrival !
You know, I’m quite new in resin world, but I will do my best in search for the body for Carmine ! Hmm, it seems the problems just have started… I’ll try to look for the body on the sites of some new companies – maybe they will have something, that will do ? It would be such a shame to leave this beautiful head floating… First, it would have to be from similar kind of resin, at least in the terms of color… I will tell you right away, when I will find something, promise !
Oooh, dreams are always the best story-tellers ! It’s only a shame, that it’s so hard to remember them completely, when you wake up. I’m always trying to record interesting dreams, but it’s usually too late – at least the beginning is lost somewhere in dark… It’s a great thing, that you remembered yours that well ! And no worries about subtitles – some of my dreams have them too (guess this is because of all the anime we watch ^^), and some were even in foreign languages, which I understood, even if I don’t know the said language in reality, like Spanish or Italian, ore even Chinese…
But reading about your dream send shivers down my spine – it would be great horror ! I don’t watch horror movies, I have too wild imagination and end up scared to death (like when I watched ‘The Ring”… I couldn’t stand empty, turned off screens for the next half year…). I can almost see the scene… It makes ideal beginning for the mysterious story, full of plot-twists and suspence ! The Other World is such interesting and fertile idea, if I can say so, you can use it to create truly uncanny atmosphere. What is it like ? How does it look ? Are there only the people, who escaped our reality, or maybe it has other inhabitants ?
You’ve got me really interested in Ricardo Palma works ! I’ll try to find his books online. I didn’t know any Peruvian legends and they seem to be fascinating – as well as a great source of inspiration.
Ooh, and do not worry about originality of your dream ^_^ – they are always composed from something we saw or heard somewhere, my dreams are exactly the same (like the one where I was defending the nearby stud against hordes of living skeletons with help of shinigami from Bleach series …).
Good luck with the story ! I would love to read it, if only you would allow me to !! The beginning sounds fascinating and I can’t wait to find out more about the characters ! Also, it would be lovely background story for your dollies !
About appearance of characters… don’t laugh, but I’m often using eLouai site to make little avatars of my characters and see, how they should look ^^. It’s fun and it makes the picturing so much easier… But yes, if you told me to exactly describe the facial features of my characters, I would have a problem. When imagining them, I know their hair, eyes and skin colours, their silhouettes, but I’m very rarely able to picture their faces precisely.
The only ones I shouldn’t have problems with are Falx and Bian :).
Yesterday I was shopping a bit and found a shop with tons of useless stuff (small jewelry boxes, big, shiny pillowcases, wooden boxes, glass beads), that would make some good decorations for my doll corner XD. Once I will have my boy, I have to go there again ^^.
Oh yes, now obligatory video-game part ^_^ ! Yup, I’m also worried, that Kojuro and Sasuke will make only some small appearances, because they are NPCs now… I really don’t understand it, when they were releasing Battle Heroes, CAPCOM was emphasizing the bonds between poster boys and their side-kicks so much, and now they completely forgot about it… Ha ha, indeed, both Kurodas have somehow extraordinary look ^^… This ball and chain reminds me of Dian Wei from Dynasty Warriors. I wonder, if Kanbei will be similar to him in fight… I’m not excited with Tsuruhime either, but that’s because of her weapon – somehow I don’t like archers much, even if the can be really powerful (both Inahime and Sun Shang Xiang in Musou series were ruling the battlefield ^_^). But, like you said, we have to see them in action to judge.
I still highly recommend Dragon Age – I’m just finishing the third playthrough. I will stop now, because around 16th March they should release the expansion (“Awakening”) which will take place after the end of the previous game and I will surely like to play it again whole at that time. I still didn’t play Oblivion I bough some time ago, now is the time, I think – it almost a month to FF XIII. But yeeeeees, I’m also waiting for Versus ! Because it’s darker… but, just like you also because of Noctis ^_^. Awwww, he looks just like he should look, I was waiting for a long time for SUCH main character in game. Hope he will be exactly as dark as I’m imagining him to be ^_-.
I was reading some not-too-enthusiastic reviews from FFXIII though… It should have great battle system, but almost no interactions with NPCs, no sightseeing in towns, and story not so epic as previous installments… I really hope it’s not exactly true, because, well… those were the things I really loved in FF series…
Oh, believe me, I know something about sibling monopolizing the console ^^… After countless fights, we finally decided, more or less, when is the time for each of us to play ^_- – that is, if no one else from the family wants to use the tv with the PS3 at that time… then the whole time plan is ruined.
I heard great things about Silent Hill series, but I couldn’t play it… I would be too scared (same thing as with the horror movies). I was too scared to even watch when my bro played Resident Evil 2… I watched him playing RE4 and 5, but they are now more action games than real horror. He also said, that he won’t try Silent Hill, because he as weak nerves ^_-, but I think the atmosphere of this series is great… even if scary ^^.
Let me tell you – I absolutely long messages ^_^, especially as interesting as yours, although it took me a while to reply. I’m so hoping that next time I could provide you with pics of my boy, I really do… Big, big hugs for you too ! I will use new comment, because otherwise it will be awfully long, when squeezed ^_^. Talk to you soon !!
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No, Saya, there’s no need to apologize… After all, you aren’t the one who takes almost A MONTH to reply. I’m so sorry! I need an emoticon to better express my apologies, so
…
But in truth, of course, I have no excuse other than my own laziness and lack of determination to put things together (ugh, my blog has been pretty neglected for the past weeks…) And, well, I’ve been playing Persona 4 for the fourth… or fifth time already, and there has also been Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations… I was first like, “nah, I’ll reply to Saya’s comment later, once everything I ordered for Ezra arrives”, and lo and behold, everything I ordered for him did arrive and then my second reaction was like, “what the…? Three weeks already?!” So, uh, that’s what happened.
Hoping that you’ll be able to forgive me (um, *puppy eyes*? Pretty please?), I’d like to thank you for your nice words on Ezra’s new looks. Yep, he’s whole now and I took a ton of photos of him. Not that the final enlightenment in photography has finally struck me, but I think I can take better close-ups now – unfortunately, I still suck at photography composition. But first things first! Tell me, are there any news on Cadriel? You have to tell there are! It’s been like four months? already and I can’t believe a BJD company can take so long… Well, I did read Angell Studio’s feedback thread at DoA and several people complained about long waiting terms, but none was so long as yours! At this rate, AS is going to match Soom, which I’ve heard can take up to half a year just to send you one of their Monthy Dolls. Fill me in the details, please! Either Cadriel has already arrived (I’m so hoping so), or not… If it’s the latter, we can always rant and complain about the company :) By the way, are you considering leaving feedback for AS at DoA? True, it might not really help people get their dolls in a reasonable time frame, but I think those feedback threads are quite useful for other potential buyers – and to press companies and artists a bit! I always try to leave feedback, even if I don’t really buy that much and, besides, all my reviews have been positive so far, but I hope other people find my comments useful. I’m proud of myself, for I’ve even begun a couple of feedback threads at DoA… And I can’t remember if I mentioned it before, but the person who sold me the Zaoll Luv head opened a feedback thread for me. Well, now that I have a thread of my own at DoA, I’m beginning to feel like a true denizen of the BJD community.
Getting back to your boys… Don’t be so hard with yourself when you say you’re rarely sure of anything, especially if it’s about BJDs. In the last few years the BJD market has greatly and vastly expanded, to the point there are dolls for practically any taste and budgets (even if it’s true that BJD are never cheap – but nowadays you can get a new SD-sized doll for $150). And even so, it can be so hard to decide for one doll. Anyway, I’m glad to hear my opinion counts on deciding your second doll – if you haven’t decided on one already! You know, I find it not-so-coincidental that Yan Di and Hua Xi are featured together in a couple of AS photos back at their website – as though they’re telling you to compare him and make your choice. As I said before, you have good taste for BJDs :) so I’m sure anyone you choose, no matter who he is, will be the correct one for you. And for Cadriel, of course. And now that I come to think of it, please tell me: how do you call Cadriel? Is he… like your son? I’m used to treating most of my possessions (and my pet dog!) as my children, and I find it quite amusing that my siblings and my friends also refer to my dolls (including the gashapons) as my sons and daughters, but I read in a DoA thread that some other people think this to be a bit weird. So I wanted to know what your “relationship” with Cadriel was like ^^ I’m asking because I was about to write that Cadriel wouldn’t complain once his partner arrives, since his mother had chosen such a mate for him – but then I realized I wasn’t sure how you called your boy. As you can see, I’m always calling mine “my boy”. Possessive, me? Nah.
Please don’t feel compelled to go search for a good match for Carmine’s body! As usual, your opinion is also important for me and since you’re well-informed about the BJD world and community (well, you’re way more informed than me, that’s for sure), I thought of asking you – but please don’t feel obliged in any way! I’ll be most grateful if you could share opinions and comments with me, but that doesn’t mean you have to go hunting for matches or photos… And, besides, it might quite the task. It’s sort of funny to go through a 100+ posts thread on Zaoll hybrids just to find out the general consensus is “just stick to the original body: it isn’t half bad actually and you don’t have to worry about matches”. I think I might have considered such an option, but then again I read in a comment that Zaoll bodies aren’t double-jointed – and posability is a big issue with me. Not because I’m so picky, really, but because I’m such a horrible poser. I reckon DragonDoll bodies are quite decent posers, but if you were to see me fighting Ezra’s joints, or trying to get him into most natural poses… urgh. So, I’m afraid I might want to pull my hair out in frustration with single-jointed or otherwise harder-to-pose dolls; in fact, I’d been thinking of getting an Obitsu body because they’re famed as the best posing dolls in the market. I almost did buy a 50cm Obitsu (since it features a more refined body and even better posability, as I’ve read), but I ended up buying another resin body instead… If you don’t mind, here’s the story: I happened to come across a sales thread at the DoA marketplace for a Angel of Dream female body. If it were a Normal Pink body (AoD features four resin colors), I’d bought it without second thoughts, but it turned out it was a Normal Yellow. I thought about it nonetheless, and since it was rather affordable ($190 with shipping included), I decided on it. Well, I did search for AoD owner photos and comments in the forum first, and was surprised to find out only good reviews about their bodies (especially the female ones) posability and aesthetics. In fact, the original owner was selling it because it was too mature-looking for her tastes. Oh, yes, that means it’s a female body on top of being the wrong resin color for Carmine, and I think that asks for a longer explanation (if I’m not boring you yet!)
Well, I did buy the body in a wimp (and all the money I’d saved from my Summer work as a private tutor went away on it), but I first intended to use it for another doll, the female member of my resin family (because even resin boys need their girl counterparts! And because girl clothes are so nice, of course). My reasoning was sort of, “seize the chance, since it’s quite a good deal for the price; you’ll be able to keep on looking for a body for Carmine later”. And so I did. But then again, I thought of carrying on a “customization experiment” I’d been looking forward to for quite some time, and I bought a couple of Rit Dye boxes from Ebay to try dyeing my doll. Maybe you’re seeing it coming… I’m seriously thinking of giving Carmine this female body, and dyeing the doll a dark tan. Would you call me crazy? By all means, please tell me if I’m being crazy after all, since I know I’m in a serious need of somebody to tell me I shouldn’t try such customizations if I’m not familiar with them… I know a dyed doll went wrong can still be restored with lots of rubbing/sanding, but still…
ANYWAY, I might also be too ahead of myself. For, you’ll see, I haven’t even received my AOD body yet; I sent the payment for it last Friday and the seller told me she’d be shipping it on Saturday. I’m actually a bit worried, since I wrote to her again Monday night to inquire whether she’d shipped it yet, but she hasn’t answered yet. She hasn’t read my PM at DoA (I sent the message with a read receipt so I can tell), even though she’s been to the forum as usual (again, I can tell because of her stats page at her profile). I wouldn’t want to bomb her inbox with more messages, but I can’t help worry because we agreed I’d pay more for insurance and tracking: if she did ship the body already, she would’ve written back to me to give me the tracking code. I don’t want to think ill of people without a good reason, ie. I don’t want to think she scammed me just because she hasn’t got back at me yet – but I can’t help the uneasiness. What do you reckon I should do, Saya? I’m thinking of waiting until Saturday; if she did ship the doll the day she said and via Priority Mail (she shipped from the US), then it should be arriving by the weekend – as long as customs doesn’t hold it up, that’s it! If by the weekend there’s no sign of the doll, I’m writing to her again… or do you think I should be doing it earlier? As I said, I don’t think she’s a scammer or anything; true, she didn’t have a feedback thread, but she’s been a regular member of DoA for the past six years, her behaviour isn’t that of a scammer (“I have your money, now I’m disappearing from the surface of the Earth!”), and besides, I can tell she isn’t very keen on communication. For all the other messages she was prompt on replying, though I did notice she wasn’t too much of a talkative or informative person: her sales thread was missing important pieces of information which she only clarified after being asked (where she was shipping from, whether the price was inclusive of international shipping, shipping and payment methods, and so forth), and even then her messages were pretty laconic. So… I want to believe she’s not the paranoid type of seller who needs to track every item and buyer. And, well, I paid via Paypal, so I’m confident I can open a dispute/claim if things really get ugly – which I’m hoping won’t happen!
Maybe I’m just overthinking things, so how about a change of topics? But still referred to the dollie goodness, of course. I was looking forward to showing you Ezra and my slightly improved-but-still-crappy-as-ever photography skills, so… Whoops, I tend to forget there’s the “opposite” season in the northern hemisphere of the planet, so while we’re in Summer here in Peru, you must be still in Winter. I’ve seen some great photos of dolls in snow (so ethereal looking, some of them), but I reckon it mustn’t be the best of weathers for a photo session… Please, feel free to shot some photos when the weather is optimal! Here we’re having a rather irregular weather because of the El Niño phenomena; it’s a rather mild one, actually, but it disrupts the weather all over the country. Well, in our area there’s mostly too much humidity (as usual), some rain (very rare), occasional cold days in spite of being Summer, and windy days (which happened to ruin an attempt at a photo session, as you can see. Or it’s just that long wigs don’t fit Ezra, I’m not sure…) Oh, and don’t worry about your city not being the best example of urban development either; I mean, this is what we see from the window in our living room. It’s not wonder not even Ezra wanted to go out after I took him out of my room for the first time since he arrived. I think his face just shows how exciting he found the idea of… not going out, actually. Those are photos I used for a short photostory featuring Ezra and Milo, my two “sons”: the resin boy and the Pekingese dog. I couldn’t help taking some photos of the two of them, especially because Milo looked as though he wondered who the smaller guy was. Here’s another photo of Ezra with his previous “look”: I like fur wigs because you just blow them a bit and voilà, it’s styled! A friend of mine said Ezra looked like Cloud Strife… cosplaying with a geisha make-up. I think he said so because Ezra photographs very pale in natural lighting – here I was worrying he might be yellowing already now that he’s close to being one year old (in resin-cast age, that’s it), but it turns out he seems to look paler. Not that I’m complaining, of course. Then, I got the new wig and shirt I’d bought for Ezra, and changed his looks to this. What can I say? I love Monique wigs and those eyeglasses. Here’s a close-up of Ezra to show off his face-up (I just love the way the face-up artist painted his lips and the very thin eyebrows – my two fetishes in face-ups, *cough* maybe that was a piece of information you didn’t want to hear from me, sorry *cough*). He’s wearing Eyeco’s silicon eyes; I bought them because they feature smaller irises, a preference of mine, and because being silicon, they’re soft and take the shape of the doll’s eyes. Pretty useful if your doll have odd-shaped eyes! I wouldn’t say Ezra’s eyes are shaped oddly, but they do give me a very hard time when I’m putting his eyes on: I had to be careful or otherwise, he ended up cross-eyed, or with the eyes pointing in different directions, urgh. Also, and even though it isn’t very noticeable in this shot, I replaced his eyelashes; I didn’t really like the ones the face-up artist applied and, besides, I accidentally removed one when trying to put an eye on. The face-up chipped a bit at the upper lip after completely removing the eyelash, but I used a watercolor pencil to reapply the eyeliner and it worked just fine. *Phew* So I was about to ruin my doll’s face-up… like 3 days after receiving the head back. Ha ha, now I’m getting a bit paranoid thinking about the face-up being damaged, since first thing practically everyone I’ve shown my doll to has done is, touching the doll’s face or rub on it. My auntie even poked one of Ezra’s eye very hard with her finger (and almost removed the eyelash… again!) Family can be a threat sometimes – and I just had the mental image of the tag that should come with BJDs: “handle with care and keep out of relatives and friends’ reach alike”. My little nieces have been way more careful when handling my doll, mind you!
Well, I think I’m getting the hang of how to take close-up photos… so here’s another type of shot I was trying. Ha ha, it actually took me a while to find a portion of the wall which wasn’t stained or dirty (I blame this on my dog and my little nieces and nephews – you should see my room’s outer wall and all the small handprints it has). And~ yet more close-up photos :) but this time, to show off yet another look I’m trying for Ezra: with a shorter, nerdier hairstyle. This shot actually looks better because it was taken by my sister… I’ve asked her to go together and take photos around the town, for I feel I couldn’t stand the curious looks if I were to photograph my doll all alone. I already feel weird when I’m taking my dog for his daily walk and people comment on him, or point on his direction… or small children try to kick him for no reason at all, *sighs* Well, I asked my sister for the worst locations possible to show our town needs some urban development plan urgently, and she said that any street could fill in the description. Ok, she’s right… but maybe our 300+ years old church and 120+ years old cemetery are of some architectural interest. Or maybe the beach: if we go in a weekday, there won’t be many people in there. It’s just that my sister is currently very busy because of a freelance job (she’s a graphic designer) and barely has time to sleep right now, so our photo trip will have to wait a week or two.
Ok, our obligatory videogame talk now… because there are news about SB3 to discuss, among others. Of the scarce new info CAPCOM has released for the past weeks, the most exciting for me was Magoichi’s gameplay video. I couldn’t help think she got the wrong videogame – I mean, she should be in an action game such as Contra, or maybe a FPS? If people thought Nouhime was just too anachronical with her gatling, they should see Magoichi and her, err, rifle, machine gun, shotgun?, and especially her rocket luncher! Very Resident Evil-like, may I add. But I’m really liking her, even if her character doesn’t really strike me as particularly interesting in the personality/design areas: unlike Nouhime (who was the only character in SB that didn’t have a true combo string but just keep on shooting), Magoichi seems to change her moveset depending on the weapon she’s currently holding, which likewise seems to change according to the skill she activates. Hmm, interesting. Also, and even if it saddened me to see Kenshin and Kasuga as mere NPCs in Magoichi’s video, my brother and I couldn’t help comment on the improved look and gameplay engine the PS3 is giving Senbasa: bouncing! I mean, there was Kasuga and there was bouncing… a lot of bouncing. As my brother put it, “hey, she didn’t bounce in the other SB games”. That must be CAPCOM’s way of giving SB fans a warm welcome to the many possibilities of the PlayStation 3′s most powerful engine… and graphic power… and bouncing animation…
Not exactly videogame-related, but have you seen the new set of SB gashapons? I told myself I wanted to buy the first one, but I ended up buying Ezra instead. Then I wanted to ge the second set because of… well, pretty much everyone featured on it, but especially Hanbei and Kotarou, and ended up buying clothing and wigs for Ezra. And now I’d like to get the third set just for Matsu, Toshiie and Masamune with his alternate costume! Though, I suppose I won’t be getting this set either, since I’m waiting for my girl body to arrive (and I don’t even have a proper pair of shoes for her to wear, not to mention clothes). On the other hand, the Motochika and Motonari’s revoltechs don’t look particularly interesting, since my brother has the Fräulein Revoltech line-up and those dolls are pretty well-made for their scale (I think they’re around 1/8) and their price. Back to videogames though :) Well, I sort of forgot about Silent Hill: Shattered Memories in order to finish my fifth Persona 4 walkthrough. Or is it only the fourth playthrough? Err, I’ve forgotten. I was trying to max out all my Social Links when the CD died on me, and it took me a while to get a new copy. And then again I sort of gave up on P4 in order to play Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations (the title is so long and misleading that I prefer referring to it by its original Japanese name, Gyakuten Kenji. Easier!) I’m a big fan of the Ace Attorney or Gyakuten Saiban games, even though I really can’t stand the titular main character of the first three games, Phoenix Wright… I was wondering whether you knew of this game series, Saya. I thought it was more likely, since it’s a pretty popular saga – and it’s CAPCOM! Meaning it has all of CAPCOM trademark “flaws”: a bit of a messy timeline and plotline, nil development for some characters, plain plot craziness and over-the-topness, and simply lots of fun. My favorite game in the saga is the fourth one and I was actually making a website for my fave character, Klavier Gavin… I also took down my Masamune site in order to revamp it, but it’s been over a year and I haven’t been able to even design a single page, let alone put together all the info and personal essays for my webpages. I’ve spent the whole last year lurking in DoA and too many BJD stores… I need to amend that.
Anyway, about the Silent Hill games… You’ve heard right :) for it’s a pretty good saga, even with its low points and moments. It’s just that the saga has changed creative teams to the point the latest games aren’t being made by Konami anymore… and naturally, there are people who like the different focus and treatment of the venerable saga, and there are people who don’t. And, well, even if I were to say I don’t find the games particularly scary, there’s been moments that have made me jump out of my chair a couple of times. And I don’t mean cheesy moments such as having a monster jumping out of a well for the surprise effect… a scene that really scared me and that I remembered happened in SH4. There was a very well lit room in a hospital with a wheelchair on it; there wasn’t anyone sitting on the wheelchair, but you could see a shadow of a person projected in the wall, and it was rocking forward and backward. I just stood with my character there, looking at the shadow, when it suddenly stops and stood up. Well, it did scare me! Not to make me jump in surprise, but I rather found the effect of the projected shadow standing up so disturbing, that I felt I had to get out of the room as soon as possible. And, well, I think that’s the type of horror SH is best at and known for: psychological. Pretty gory at times, subtle at others, but most of the games are well-written and the plots are quite interesting – even if the main characters are usually pretty dull. Being honest here, I must say the playability has always been **** in the SH games (in SH4 it’s particularly awful), but it’s never been a big issue with me because I spend the entirety of the games just running like there’s no tomorrow. Oh, except for boss fights, which are compulsory. You know, one of my nieces likes horror stories but is scared to death by them as well; she once saw me playing Fatal Frame and was so intrigued, that asked me to play all four games so she could “see” them – she was way too scared to actually play them herself. But being honest too, and even if I like the Fatal Frame saga the better, I’d say Silent Hill is scarier…
Of course, I haven’t forgotten about your story or rather, your boys’ story. But please let me get back at you with my comments about your story in a later message, please! I need to go through it in more detail and put all my thoughts in order… or otherwise I’ll just sound like a more incoherent fangirl (“Wii! There are dragons! And master-servant relationships! Well, mostly! And yaoi…!”) I didn’t think it took me this long to write this message up to this point, though my siblings and even my dog (he wants to play… at 2:00am in the morning) kept on interrupting me for some reason or the another. I was thinking of waiting until tomorrow to finish this message and then post it, but it’s taken me so long to reply already… I even wanted to wish you a Happy Hina Matsuri Day, ie. a Happy Doll Day :) But now I’m late for over 24 hours, I see. But anyway! Happy (Belated) Doll Day! I’ll be posting the rest of this message sometime later – but not that later, of course.
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