Asumiré una posición egocéntrica, miraré la paja en el ojo ajeno y, en esta entrada, rajaré de lo cerrada de mente que pueden ser algunas personas. Intolerancia, intransigencia, negativa a considerar otros puntos de vista, etc., ustedes nómbrelos y mencionen los muchos problemas con los que la humanidad se da de cara a cada momento gracias a esa estrechez mental. Sólo que para esta entrada mi raje será a menor escala… y relacionado al hobby de los ball-jointed dolls además… como para ir aplicando ideas serias a asuntos un tanto frikis.
Hoy en día muchas más compañías y artistas se están animando a lanzar muñecos “de fantasía”, como los llaman: elfos, faunos, centauros, sirenas… Soom tiene su línea de Monthly Dolls (que son limitados) con súcubos, íncubos, demonios varios, faunos, chicas zorro y chicas escorpión y demás. Se discutió si acaso otras compañías, como Resinsoul, no estaban copiando los muñecos de Soom al sacar también sus propios faunos cuernudos… pero no es como si los elfos, las sirenas, los demonios y los vampiros estuviesen copyrighted a una sola persona, ¿verdad? Hay un buen número de criaturas fantásticas que, con variaciones, aparecen en los mitos de casi todos los pueblos; si no, pensemos cuántas variaciones existen del chupasangre, o sea el vampiro. Y así llegamos a los BJD con inspiración religiosa o mítica: Souldoll ha lanzado a Shiva, obviamente basada en la deidad hindú por su traje y sus cuatro brazos. Eh, y el nombre, comenzando por lo más que salta a la vista. No es exactamente una idea nueva ya que he visto a al menos dos personas en el foro de Den of Angels que personalizaron sus muñecos para que tuvieran varios brazos, incluyendo uno con ocho brazos funcionales, y Fairy Garden tiene una bella colección (agotada hace un buen tiempo) de tinies, Lotus Near, también de inspiración hindú. Así pues, ¿se les ocurriría a alguno de ustedes acusar a estas compañías y artistas de plagiarse mutuamente por tener muñecos con varios brazos? Felizmente, nadie lo ha hecho todavía, pero ya saltaron algunos que se van por otra tangente.
Y es que hay quienes se quejan con Souldoll porque “Shiva es una deidad masculina”. Ajá. ¿Y quién dice que este BJD pretende ser una representación fidedigna/exacta de la deidad hindú? Piensen sino en los vampiros, criaturas míticas y tan populares (no mencionemos porqué, ejem): ¿ven a la gente pegando en el grito en el cielo porque los vampiros de las películas o la literatura no son cadáveres andantes? ¿Con la piel reseca, hedor y tangible apariencia putrefacta? Vamos ahora a quejarnos de las harpías que aparecen como féminas aladas en vez de las horribles mujeres avejentadas, o los brujos bastante normales y simpáticos de Harry Potter porque no se ven como las tías arrugadas de un solo diente que quieren comerse a cuanto niño bien alimentado se cruce en sus caminos. Inspiración, interpretación, reinterpretación, referencias, imaginación: de todo ello y más se nutre la creatividad, especialmente si estamos hablando del género fantástico en cualquiera de sus formas. Pero NO, alguien se tiene que quejar porque a una compañía se le ocurre sacar una muñeca llamada Shiva que NO es hombre.
Lo que me parece que ya es como un autogol de la intransigencia aquí es que cierta persona que sí le hizo ver la queja a Souldoll, los acusó en cambio de estar copiando a la Shiva de los Final Fantasy. La verdad es que no sé por dónde, considerando que la mencionada invocación de los FF aparece como una mujer de “sólo” dos brazos y con el elemento hielo. Pero más que ello, hay que preguntarse cómo es que esta persona los acusa de plagio cuando no le molesta el que Square-Enix también tenga un personaje femenino bajo el mismo nombre. ¿Es que Square-Enix no incurre en el crimen de plagio o “falta de interpretación fidedigna” por puesta por mano, porque ellos sacaron su Shiva primero? Tal parece que esta persona piensa que si a un personaje femenino le pones “Shiva”, normal nomás, es que no estuviste creativo a la hora de escogerle nombre. Pero, ¡ah! Si le pones “Shiva” y cuatro brazos, no, allí sí que tienes que hacerlo hombre por el imperativo de la apropiada investigación inspiracional. A veces no entiendo cómo razona la gente.
En todo caso, pasemos a temas más alegres. Como por ejemplo lo siguiente: veía la galería de un miembro de DA y encontré que tenía un Minimee de…
…Grell Sutcliffe de Kuroshitsuji. Ese evocador grin suyo es inolvidable. El dueño de la cuenta de Deviantart no lo menciona, pero estoy segura de que se trata de uno de los 10 Minimee de Grell que Doll In Mind produjo el año pasado: el artista que esculpió la cabeza tuvo un súbito ataque de libertad creativa y le puso orejas puntiagudas, a diferencia del personaje del manga/anime en el que está basado.
Supongo que hay espacio para una explicación: Doll In Mind, con frecuencia abreviada DIM, es una compañía de BJD que ofrece un servicio especial llamado Minimee (no puedo evitar las imágenes mentales de cierto clon de cierto villano de cierta historia sobre cierto súper espía inglés). Olvidénosmos por un momento de que TODO en este hobby es caro o de lo contrario no me sale el resto de la explicación: verán, la gran mayoría de compañías y artistas venden sólo las cabezas de sus muñecos entre $100-150. Por su parte, el servicio de Minimee de DIM esculpirá y hará el modelo final en resina de cualquier cabeza a pedido del cliente, sea de un personaje ficticio o una persona real, a $350 por dos moldes idénticos. Se entiende entonces que son $175 por cabeza, precio que tomando en cuenta lo que cuesta una cualquiera, es bastante razonable si se trata de una pieza hecha a medida. Pero como supongo que a la compañía no le sale a cuenta ese precio, te enchufan obligatoriamente dos por pedido.
En un principio, y haciendo honor a su nombre he de asumir, los moldes que la gente pedía eran de personas reales: por ejemplo, estaba el cliente que quería una versión en BJD de su pequeña hijo o de él mismo. Y también estaban los clientes que enviaban ilustraciones de sus propios personajes para que esculpieran las cabezas. Pero prácticamente casi todas las órdenes que DIM recibe hoy en día son para actores, cantantes o personajes de mangas/anime/juegos de video, y ello porque hay un descuento de por medio: mientras más copias de la misma cabeza se pida en una orden, menos hay que pagar por cada una. Un mínimo de 2 cuesta $350, y de allí el precio va bajando hasta llegar al máximo de 10 por orden, lo que sale a $96 por cabeza. Si se trata de una persona real o de un personaje con copyright, la compañía sólo acepta hacer 10 moldes de ese tipo por año. Y tal vez se pregunten ahora qué hay de los derechos de autor, en ese caso… Pues, allí están. Y son la razón por la cual mucha gente no aprueba los Minimee: para evitarse problemas legales, DIM acepta que el parecido de las cabezas esculpidas sea “sólo de 80% máximo” con la persona o personajes en los que se basa. Una forma de doblar la ley sin romperla, y lo cierto es que hasta el momento (creo que el servicio de Minimee tiene ya 5 años desde que DIM lo implementó) no le ha caído demanda legal a la compañía.
Otra compañía que también hace muñecos a pedido es Nobility Doll. Ellos lo llaman “Special My Ball Jointed Doll”, y se diferencia de Doll In Mind y su Minimee en que una orden completa puede incluir no sólo la cabeza, sino el cuerpo, la peluca y la ropa del personaje. Interesante, veo ahora que también ofrecen la posibilidad de esculpir moldes especiales para el cuerpo del muñeco, como por ejemplo un cuerpo de sirena, y están ofreciendo descuentos para órdenes grupales. Tal vez motivados por un poco por DIM, que a causa de una baja en la demanda del servicio de Minimee ha decidido aceptar órdenes sólo durante periodos limitados). Bueno, ya saben: si tienen alrededor de $2000 pueden conseguir el personaje que siempre quisieron en BJD, ropa, peluca y hasta maquillaje incluídos: es lo que más o menos costaría un pedido completo en Nobility Doll.
Lo que es mí, nunca me interesaron particularmente los Minimee (abreviados MNM), pero Grell sigue siendo la única razón por la que leí el manga de Kuroshitsuji. Bien, no TODO el manga sino sólo los primeros volúmenes, y es bastante decepcionante para mí el que el chico de la sonrisa amplia no haya vuelto a aparecer. Recuerdo que cuando apenas comenzaba a enterarme de qué iban los BJDs sí llegué a ver los anuncios del grupo que hizo la orden del Minimee de Grell; aunque lo veo bastante improbable por varias razones, de abrirse otra me gustaría participar. Sí, a pesar de que en estos momentos sigo penando porque acabo de mandar la cabeza de Carmine (mi Zaoll Luv) en una comisión para su face-up y no tengo ni siquiera ropa o zapatos para él… Pero, ¿es que le pueden decir que no a semejante y provocativa sonrisa? Sólo mírenlo de nuevo…
Hija mía, te recomiendo no hacer tanto hígado con los frikis peleando sobre si Shiva es esto o aquello… a este paso terminarás con la vesícula explotando como yo comprenderé. Los frikis somos raros, hay que aceptarlo :P
Oye Cristi, ¿me explicas cómo haces para sacar tanta plata para tus cosos BJD? ¿Encontraste los árboles de bambú llenos de oro de KabuyaHime o qué? xD!!! Yo con Eva y otros vicios ando ya de por sí medio misio.
Nos vemos, buena Semana Santa.
[Cmnt]
Hey, no, no estoy haciendo hígado de los frikis, sino rajando deportivamente (léase: me burlo) de la gente de poco espacio craneal que sólo acepta las cosas de un modo. Digo, el acusar a unos artistas de hacer una muñeca llamada “Shiva” en vez de ponerlo masculino por el dios hindú no es frikismo para mí: es miopía mental. Y hay mucha, mucha diferencia (como los frikis bien lo sabemos).
Para responder a tu segunda pregunta apelaré nuevamente a la paja en el ojo izquierda. Es decir, la gente siempre te anda preguntando éso, pero al parecer sólo se fijan en que ellos jamás gastarían tanto en un muñeco, pero bien que sí gastan hasta más en otras cosas. Por ejemplo, les es haré saber que el famoso RAH de Lelouch se vendía aquí a más de lo que me costaron los cuerpos de mis muñecos. O que dos de los PVC que José o tú se compran cuestan más que uno mis BJD (en blanco, claro: la customizada siempre es extra). Entonces, pues, todo es cuestión de matemática: no sé si te habrás dado cuenta que en vez de andarme comprando un montón de cosas (como ciertos frikis que conozco hacen), sólo me concentro en mis BJDs. Sí pues, dirán que por ejemplo los Revoltech son baratitos nomás… pero allí que la colección completa de las Fräulein ha salido mucho más caro que un BJD de mediano precio, gastos de envío y posible desaduanaje si desafortunadamente lo hubo. ¿Qué tal? ¿Las fabulosas matemáticas lo explican todo o no?
Y si no me creen, tendría que mostrarte cómo se ve mi cuenta de HLJcom en estos momentos: tengo 7 items en preorder pero, curiosamente, nada es para mí (ya sabes, pedidos que me hacen los hermanos y *cof, cof* los amigos también).
[Cmnt]
Hija, entiendo tu punto, de hecho que si sumo lo que gasto al año en cosas de Eva u otros productos que me gustan de hecho que vuelo comparado con tu BJD, pero el hecho es que los desembolso de a poquitos pes, no es que suelto los 500 cocos que me ando gastando desde julion del año pasado de a una. Yo insisto es que encontraste los choclos de oro de los incas en algún lugar de la chacra…
[Cmnt]
Y yo insisto en que en realidad las matemáticas todavía están de mi parte. Cierto, un BJD promedio tiene un costo de $500 antes de que le añadas cualquier otra cosa, pero… ¿quién te ha dicho que yo me compro los de $500? No en vano les pongo los enlaces para que chequen los precios. Y por las puras tampoco mi primer BJD ha cumplido 10 meses aquí conmigo y yo sigo penando por conseguirle ropa, ie. qué bueno sería que pudiera desembolsar todo lo que cuesta el hobby de una sola sentada.
Mi punto sería entonces que la gente suele criticarte porque ve los precios de algunos de los BJDs… pero claro, hay gente que se compra un RAH que cuesta MÁS que un BJD y con ellos no hay problema, no. Y no te olvides de los que te desembolsan $300 en un modelo a escala… ¿dices que tú no eres de ésos? Pues, yo tampoco soy de comprar los BJDs de $500-600, ¡aunque ya quisiera! Como ves, todo hobby de otaku friki es más bien relativo…
[Cmnt]
Oh, las Fraulein Revoltech, yo tengo tres ^^
Y la verdad que si han salido muy baratas (y lo veo muy bien, pues bastante fragiles y problematicas de acomodar que son >_<).
Y bien, agregando algo sobre los minimes, me encantaria mandar a hacer una igualita a mi, siii, una BJD a mi imagen y semejanza. Esoe staria mucho mejor que tener una miniatura de Megan Fox sentada en mi cama, a que si! xD
[Cmnt]
Me retracto de lo escrito: ni las Revoltech Fräulein son tan baratas. Y es que mi hermano tiene toda la colección, excepto la Haruhi Suzumiya que sólo estaba disponible si comprabas la versión limitada del juego para Nintendo Wii (y que por ello mismo no consiguió)… Y ahora Kaiyodo ha vuelto a las andadas y retoma la línea con una Revoltech de Mari de Evangelion que está alrededor de $30, sin gastos de envío. Apelando a las matemáticas que tanto menciondo, con comprarte dos ya te sale lo mismo que una estatua de PVC. Ni qué decir que con media docena de Revoltech ya tienes para comprarte un BJD…
Celebro tu idea de tener un Minimee que le haga honor a su nombre y sea una mini versión tuya. Yo, uh, pues sólo tendría un muñeco parecido a mí si quisiera pegarle un susto a alguien (y eso que la mayoría de la gente ya me dice que los BJD asustan de por sí).
[Cmnt]
Bueno, yo en verdad me refería a que son baratas pero sin el envió, claro esta que sumandoselo pues la cantidad sube, pero aun asi, considero que esas son unas de las figuras mas baratas que he visto, pues yo las compro por Amazon, y por ejemplo la que tengo de Hoshii Miki (de The Idolm@ster), solo costo US$ 11.00 dolares, lo del envió no fue gran cosa, y bueno por eso digo que el precio es relativamente barato ^^.
[Cmnt]
Y yo me refería que no eran baratas ni con el envío, dado que el precio de venta de cualquiera está entre los $20-30… Pero, bueno, $11 por una es un buen precio. En HLJ.com se pueden encontrar a las gemelas de Idolmaster a unos 600 yenes, descuento mediante.
Umm, creo que podría decir que sí son asequibles si consideras el precio de una sola (y por eso escribí que eran baratas), pero entonces pienso en todo lo que mi hermano se ha gastado con la colección completa, y todo lo que va a seguir gastando ahora que Kaiyodo ha retomado la serie. Y es que sólo un fanático/friki como él podría comprarse los tres modelos distintos de la Fräulein de Rei Ayanami sólo para completar una colección.
[Cmnt]
Me parece que no queda más que decir que esa persona es un troll, sencillamente, porque esa necedad de insistir en el tipo de Shiva adecuado no es más que ganas de chuaprle la hemoglobina a la gente.
:O No sabía que algunas compañias hacían pedidos especiales. Umm se me ocurren un par de personajes de anime que me gustaría ver en versión muñeco XD~
[Cmnt]
Personalmente, me muestro escéptica a pensar que se trate de un mero troll, ya que vi una discusión similar (por no decir que pienso que se trata de la misma persona) en un foro de BJDs que frecuento y en la que estoy segura, no había ninguna intención de andárselas por las mazmorras en plan de troleo. Sigo pensando por ello que se trata más de miopía mental y no tanto de ganas de fastidiar la paciencia porque sí…
Así es: hay varias compañías que, par de miles de dólares mediante, se ofrecen a hacer muñecos por encargo, y hasta hay un par que moldea tus diseños originales en caso de que quieras comenzar tu propia compañía de BJDs. Aunque preferiría tener a mis OC en versión muñeco, al menos tengo tres en mi lista de personajes de manga/juegos de video que me gustaría ver en BJD (el mencionado Grell de Kuroshitsuji, Rosiel de Angel Sanctuary y Poison de Final Fight).
[Cmnt]
August is a bit pessimistic option, but I prefer to be prepared for worst, then I won’t be so nervous as with Cadriel – I was hoping he will be home for Christmas, he came a month before Easter instead XD. On the other hand, I have no choice, but to be patient – I really love Angell Studio dolls, I want another, so I have to bear with their “quick” manner of doing things.
Speaking of which, yesterday I visited their site and found something interesting… So far it’s only teaser, but… Limited Hua Xi version (http://www.angell-studio.com/en/?product-1370.html) ? In armor maybe ?? Count me in !
I’m kidding, of course… First, limited versions are usually much more expensive than normal ones and I doubt I could afford one right now. Second, I place my order by the AS agent, and she will be sending joint order at the end of April… By that time, those 100 dolls will be probably long gone XD. I’m still comforting myself saying, that maybe I won’t like this limited version at all… Yet I’m still very curious, how it will look.
I just made some inventory control of my funds – I may be able to start renovation AND buy Hua Xi in April ^_^. Today one of my neighbors should come and assess the situation – he will help me with the whole thing, I hope… Oh, I’m slow in taking decisions, so slow, that sometimes it annoys me, because usually I’m still doing the thing I though of first. It was like that with Hua Xi too – I even considered him as my first doll. When I chose Cadriel and started to think about second, I also though about him. Then I started to re-watch all doll sites again, even made a folder in my pc with “possible choices”, almost decided for Yan Di… just to end up with Hua Xi again. So when I finally make some decision, I try to stick with it, just to not go with all again ^_-. I think that following an impulse is a great thing ! The end is the same, and you save lots of time.
I’m slowly working on my DoA counter, I think that at the end of the week or somewhere in the next week I should be able to access the Marketplace. Which, I’m afraid, will be a disaster XD. When I think about all those clothes… Yup, like you, I don’t even think about getting another doll, but all those little things for them are another story. Just today my co-worker told me, that she saw tiny chess in one of the shops… I have to go and see them, maybe they will fit Cadriel ? I would love to see my boys (when I will have both of them) playing chess ^^ !
I’m in the same boat as you, I also didn’t decide one style for Cadriel… I’m still unsure even about his wig and eyes. This ( http://www.villemoart.com/peruki/peruki-13/dollzone-peruka-w60-035 ) one is especially tempting me everytime I visit this site – I looove such hair, but I’m not sure, if Cadriel will like it… Same thing with clothes. I like his aristocratic outfit, but was thinking about buying him this one (http://www.villemoart.com/stroje/stroje-13/islanddoll-stroj-13-13cs13) (of course, then he will need another wig XD) – I would like to see him in more casual style, I think that it may be worth a try ^^. Of course, his style will also depend a bit on the story I’m working on for him. If not, I hope at least some pieces will fit my second boy ^_-. Same with wigs… Oooh, I would love to have lots of clothes and wigs to choose from and I have to constantly remind myself, that I have all time in the world for collecting them. My patience is not all that great, as you can see ^^. When I will have my both dolls, I will slowly buy them all things I want for them (just saw some Chinese sun umbrella… cute ^^ !). It will take some time, but it’s better than buying everything now… and go bankrupt XD.
I thought of buying some mohair/fur (no idea about the difference either XD) after seeing Ezra in his ^_^. They are much cheaper than normal wigs, so I though they may be good for some experiments with shape and color… Just hope they will fit ! And I hope you will find good clothes for Carmine – from what I read in DoA, buying clothes for dolls is a bit lottery – even if some SHOULD fit every doll in their size-category, it’s not always so…
I can only try to imagine, how much work you had to out in for changing Carmine’s look… and gender ^_^. About manly bits… I saw them sold, ehem, separately on one of the sites, but I can’t remember now, which one… I will search for it, I remember that they were attached by magnets and were produced in different sizes ^_-. Maybe you could use them ? I know I found link somewhere on DoA…
You found really great artist for the commission *admires the portfolio* ! And to that, she is really kind – I have to remember her in case I would someday need a good face-up for my boys too (disappearing face-up is one of my doll-related nightmares). It is always good to hear some advices from someone more experienced. I hope you already have Carmine’s head back ! Of course, I would like to see some photos ^_^.
Your adventures in the post office sound really dramatic. I can imagine exactly the same situation here ^_-. Yeah, I guess using currier in such case is better…
O yes. This is really a large topic: “This man looks like a woman”. I have that with anime/manga/game characters on my pc desktop (either at home or at work), the same thing is also going on with my doll, and the fact, that the word “doll” in Polish is feminine gender (“lalka”) doesn’t help either. Some people are referring to Cadriel as “her” and are unpleasantly surprised, when I’m correcting them. “He looks like a woman” or “Are you sure it’s a man ?” – I hear this most of the time. Yes, I’m sure, dang… So far no one went so far to guess his sexual preferences, but I guess it’s just a matter of time. Poland is very traditional country and here too many people, especially older, are really homophobic, so I know exactly, how you felt, I had such discussions with some of my relatives on different occasions. My problem is, I like arguing too much (well, I prefer eristic, but most people can’t see the difference ^^), and sometimes it’s easy to go overboard : P. You were right finishing the discussion with your aunt as soon as possible, there is little hope to convince your adversary in such case.
So no worries, I know I’ll be having same problem too – especially because my second doll will also be male. Some people already asked me, why I’m not buying a female. Ughhh…
It’s always good to talk about reaction of friends and relatives to our hobby, isn’t it ^_^ ? I’m feeling better now, my gloominess is often related to weather, so don’t worry, once we will have full-scale spring, I’ll be ok ^_-. Well, we had – till yesterday. A moment ago I saw snow outside. Not much, and it already melted, but I really have the feeling, that this winter isn’t going to end till June.
I’m currently browsing Pixiv, looking for some nice Durarara!! fanarts ^^. Indeed, Izaya is hard to like, but in the pair with Shizuo, they work perfectly. I have to go back to watching the series. Ha ha, oh yes, I love that roar ! Shizuo’s warcry reminded me of Kojuuro’s “TAKENAAGAAA !!!” in one of Basara dramas, but Weiss Kreuz track is also good ^_^. Ooh, I used to love this series and I still get pretty sentimental remembering it ^_^. Strangely enough (or maybe it’s not strange ?) Aya is still my favorite manga/anime character after. I become interested in this anime purely because of Koyasu (in my case it started with “Fushigi Yuugi”), and after watching it, I started to search for more ^_^. My favorite part of WK merchandise are dramas (although my understanding is, well… cough… not exactly full ^_-) and second series of manga (“Side B”). Maybe because Omi isn’t present there >_< (I’m sorry if you liked him ^^’).
I’m still in love with Gintama series, Hijikata especially (many reasons, his seiyuu not being the last of them ^_^). You are right, every good episode has to have moment in toilet ^_-. This anime may have weaker episodes, but generally I love it’s humor and countless allusions to other anime, games and so on. I stopped reading Bleach scanlations, when I started purchasing paper version, but it’s going sooooo sloooow…I should have start collecting German version instead of US, they are going much faster XD. Ha ha, yes – generally Bleach so far had two main arcs, both against the same Big Bad Guy, so it may looks, like absolutely nothing is changing ^_^.
I started reading One Piece and I loved it… But because of the lack of time I stopped around 4 volume, so I really can’t say anything more -_-‘. But ! I came back to Gintama, so one day I will go back to One Piece too – that I’m sure of. Lately there isn’t many interesting anime, so I will have time to catch up with classic ^_^.
When I started to write my “main” novel, I had to try to remember, how each of characters look like – and with the time, there were too much of them for my poor memory, so I use big, black notebook to write down their most characteristic features (high, eyes/hair/wings color, their general likes and dislikes and so on). Without it, I would be lost – I remember details about main characters, but I would have problem to remember everything about supporting characters, who aren’t appearing too often. In my case it isn’t a problem with imagining something, more with remembering the “final version” ^^.
Oh yes, I saw the photo on your blog – Grell really looks interesting when dollified ^_^. And his grin is what makes him so interesting (well, that and obsession about Sebastian).
There are tons of characters I would love to see dollified, really ! We already discussed a possibility of ordering Masamune and Kojuuro dolls, but that would be only the beginning. At the moment (I’m slowly finishing FF XIII) I would really like to see dollies of two characters from that game – Cid Raines (http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd38/chiriann/Decorated%20images/?action=view¤t=cidraines.jpg) and Yaag Rosch (http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd38/chiriann/?action=view¤t=FINALFANTASYXIIImp4_000089856.jpg&newest=1). I think they would look great on my shelf, but I’m sure there is no chance on seeing them even in form of figurines… And they come in two my favorites color versions – black and silver ^_-.
Thank you ! I wouldn’t be able to make thread about Cadriel without your help, my dear ! And thank you about information about Album option problems – I couldn’t find it on my CP and was almost sure, that it was also restricted, because I don’t have enough posts. About my nicks – I’m usually using names of my three OC – Saya (short of Sayana), Chiriann or Irnan.
Glad you liked new SenBasa anime trailer ^_^. I’m waiting for this anime myself almost as much as for the game ^_^. Awww, and I would love to see third season as well, if it would feature Mitsunari ! Ha ha, I have little problem with him – because he was introduced only recently, this name connects in my mind usually to the red-haired, fox-like Musou version. Oh well, people already started to call them Emonari and Kitsunari, so have to go with that. Did you see latest new on SB 3 ? I’m pretty disappointed because of Mitsuhide being another NPC and Oichi loosing her naginata… As for Kobayakawa, I hate him with all my might, so I wasn’t dreaming of playing as him. Killing him instead may be mighty fun, I hate traitors…
If you don’t like side-missions, minigames and other things, that may try to distract you from the main plot, FF XIII really might be a game for you – only very late in game you have the chance for some hunting missions, but they aren’t obligatory. There is also treasure hunting with chocobos and some similar activities, but if you don’t like them, you can simply skip them and nothing will change – they are useful only for leveling anyway. It’s true, that this game is very linear, even open locations feel like dungeons, but also because of that, plot seems to be more concentrated than in other FF games, plus, it’s much shorter. I don’t have problem with that, even if I also like more open games – but when I started to play in completely open, non-linear ones like Elder Scrolls, I became bored after two or three hours. Most games with important plot are linear, more or less, so I really don’t understand all those complains. Most of the moaning and groaning sounds really ridiculous, like people would desperately try to find something awful in quite good game. I can’t say anything sue for the plot – I didn’t finish the game, something totally unexpected can happened every minute ^_^. I’m just sad, because most of the characters I liked are dead now – but they were kind of antagonists, so… I could expect that. I might already said that, but when the story is worse than FF VII, VIII or XII, it’s better than IX and X, not to mention X-2 in my opinion. Strange, but original, at the same time using one of SE favorite threads – the question of the place of gods in our life, question about religion and it influence on society (usually bad ^_-) and about the freedom of choices of each individual. It’s not flashy or epic, but I still like it. Fight against fal’Cie, semi-god beings, looks like lost cause in the beginning, but determination of humans is not the thing to be underestimated.
Characters could be better, now I can say it loud. I’m always paying much more attention to characters and their development than to plot, because in my opinion, good characters can save even weak and repetitive story (like Jack Sparrow ^^), but even a great plot with boring character must go down. In FFXIII there are few really good created characters, on both sides of the conflict. I really like Lightning, she reminds me a bit of major Kusanagi from GitS – tough soldier, but she doesn’t loose her feminity. She is not squeaky, annoying little girl or a woman behaving like little girl, that are so popular in games, she is not a princess in distress, she is just solid, main character. Also Fang does her work well as another might female warrior – strong, independent, but caring. I really can’t understand all the hatred toward Hope – he is sweet, innocent boy who does his best to keep the pace with the rest of the group. He is a bit clumsy and wimpy at the beginning, but what can you expect from a normal child, raised in normal family, who is suddenly throw into middle of the fight, almost killed, who must watch his mother dying ? It would be unrealistic, if he would be a badass fighter to begin with. He is one of my favourite characters here, and his mother/son or elder sister/younger brother relationship with Lightning is very nicely executed. At first, she sees him only as a nuisance, then gradually she starts to care for him, seeing how hard he tries to be of some use to her. And I must say, his characters appeals to my rarely-to-surface mother instincts ^_^.
On the other hand, the rest of the team isn’t that good. Sazh was meant to be a comic relieve, but he as too bitter past to really fit to this role. Snow is a moron. You can like him, because he is a good guy, but he is a moron nonetheless. Most of his actions would result a disaster if it weren’t for the rest of the group. And Vanille is squeaky, annoying girl with happy-go-lucky attitude towards almost everything. I can’t stand her, really. She is more annoying than Yuffie, Selphie, Eiko and Rikku put together. Two men I mentioned earlier aren’t technically bad guys – they just play for the other side, with Cid being also an ally of the group for some time in the game. In my opinion, they just didn’t get enough time, both have really interesting personalities, but not enough time to develop them. Cid is kind a tragic character – a soldier and politician fighting against the tyranny of fal’Cie, in the end is turn to their puppet. He chooses dead from the hands of his men instead of life of a tool in the hands of semi-gods. Yaag at first is obedient to their whims, because he believes that this is the best course for the city he is protecting, although it’s hard to him. In the end he realizes, that fal’Cie only see humans as toys and sacrifices and care not for their wellbeing. He dies in a suicidal attack shielding the retreat of Lightning and others. You can say, that chousing death was one of the few real choices that they could make on their own. Each one would be much better addition to the team than Snow, not to mention they both look much better than him. My brother calls him Snow “I hate my tailor and barber” Villiers…
I’m just before the final fight (I tried yesterday… and failed XD), but it will be, traditionally, a loooong fight, so I can’t even start it if I won’t have enough time, and with the Easter coming soon… I’ll try to finish the game this week, but it may happened, that I need to level up a bit before that. Then I will send you my final thoughts about the whole plot ^_^.
Ha ha, yes, characters names are the different story, although after having Cloud and Squall, fans should be used to it ^_-. First of all – Lightning isn’t the real name of the main heroine – more like nickname. The rest, well… I guess they are real ^^.
Good luck with your writing !! I can’t wait to read about your boys !! My own “sons” story slowly takes shape, I have the sketch almost ready, at least, when it comes to Cadriels part. Next time I try to get everything I imagined together and present you with some summary ^_^. And then the term “strange place” will also be explained. I want to make a story from mix of my ideas and real-life situation of Cadriel ^^.
I will add him to the AS database on DoA once I decide his final look… at the moment, I think about different wig, I like his default eyes, so I don’t think I will change them, but, who knows… Somewhere in my mind there is image of boy with silver hair and green eyes, similar to my Chiriann (she is a young woman though ^^). I want him to be almost perfect, before I will present him there ^_^.
Happy Easter, my dear !!!
[Cmnt]
It seems I’ve broken yet another of my records? Almost three weeks to reply to this message, what a failure I am. I’m sorry about the laaaate reply, Saya! As usual, I don’t have a proper (or even plausible excuse), so… Sorry!
Oh~ a LE Hua Xi. It’s sort of confusing, but to the best of my understanding, this is a special version of Hua Xi because the armor he’s pictured with in the photos can only be bought along with the doll as a full set… or maybe an not-really-but-almost-complete set, since you can choose not to buy some of the accesories. But I was doing the math and the outfit alone is about $300… Ouch. Also, I couldn’t help compare this LE Hua Xi to Luts’ LE Abaddon; well, both of them featured armors, right? (And that pretty much ended the comparison, but…) I’m also curious about Hua Xi’s armor: are the metalic-looking pieces made of resin? I think Abaddon’s were: I came across several posts at DoA detailing just how difficult painting and putting all pieces together was :P No wonder some people were charging high fees for customizing Abaddon’s armor. But Hua Xi’s seems to be sold as a “finished” piece, so to speak… Hmm, I’m curious as well. Of course, it doesn’t really matter whether you choose the “regular” version or the LE: either way, I’m sure Hua Xi will make a wonderful doll. More often than not, the true beauty of a BJD is shown through an owner’s works and customizations; the “finished” versions the artists or the companies might present are just one of the many examples of what can be achieved with a BJD.
Well, I don’t regret any decision I’ve made regarding my dolls so far ^^, but planning ahead and thinking things thoroughly is quite a trait to admire and take into consideration, too! Especially in this hobby: some people save during years straight in order to buy a single doll… I can’t do that. Just saving up during this Summer (well, Winter in the rest of the world) was sort of an ordeal for me…
Should I say I’m looking forward to your DoA account “upgrade”? As you said, once you gain Marketplace access it all might end up in disaster :) I still think the DoA MP is one fantastic place to find all kinds of deals on BJDs, provided you have the money. Speaking of which, my feedback thread has 4 posts so far and the last 3 were made within the same 24 hours, since I bought several items from the MP and the post office managed to delay all my mail for weeks. In any case, this is proof of how dangerous (for your wallet) stalking the marketplace at DoA can be…
Looking for props for your dolls can be just as interesting as it’s frustrating, at times. Yep, I think I’ve seen miniature chess sets, since popular board games are usually released in several formats (and sizes). I was thinking of hunting down furniture suitable for 1/3 dolls; I once found two small cabinets modeled as wardrobes that were the exact size for my boy – problem was, when I visited that store to check on them, there were already sold. I also thought of commissioning doll furniture from the local workshops, but my mother discouraged the idea: she said I’d be overcharged just because. Oh well. In any case, happy doll-props hunting! (And please, don’t forget to share what you might find.)
Oh, the first wig you linked looks so nice – even if I’m not really fond of long wigs for my boys, whoops. I know every doll owner is different, but for me, deciding on a particular look for my boys was more of a “hit and miss” approach, haha. Partly because I bought a wig I liked when I saw it, but not once I actually got to try it on my boy… and partly because, as you said, getting clothes (and even wigs!) for dolls is like a lottery. In any case, I’d love to see Cadriel in casual wear; I’ve been trying that same look for my boys, but I keep on failing. Maybe having a look at your boy will help me get the inspiration I need? By the way, I’ve taken so long to get back to you that the face-up artist I commissioned for Carmine received the head, finished the work (in two days! She’d given me an estimate of two weeks, so it was extra fast), and sent it back. I couldn’t help myself and made an entry to show off my boy, even if I don’t have proper clothes or shoes for him yet. But I was so pleasantly surprised by his face-up, I just needed to tell the world about it – and as expected, the most I got was my friends’ comments on how creepy Carmine looked. I really have no idea why they think he’s creey; maybe because of his smokey face-up or the realism of the Zaoll Luv mold? It’d better be the latter, since I refuse to think they find my boy ugly or something… Well, in that entry you can see the different wigs I was trying on both Carmine and Ezra (cheap, second-hand wigs I got from the DoA Marketplace), and the pair of Dikadoll jointed hands I bought for Ezra. I was supposed to be saving up for Carmine’s clothes, but then I happened to come across a sales thread at the Marketplace again, and the seller had them up for grabs for such a nice price… And the hands are so fun to play with! The joints sort of drive me crazy (each finger has two different joints… and I can barely handle my dolls’ knees and elbows), but I’m so happy the hands turned out to be a nice resin match to Ezra’s. Truth, I’d read somewhere at DoA Dikadoll and DragonDoll’s white resins did match… only that Ezra has yellowed already. It’s no wonder, since his body is over one year old now. But remember our little personal nightmare? Well, it seems I arrived at it the first >_< I got a pair of DragonDoll's hands last month and that's how I could finally tell Ezra has yellowed: his whole body is now a shade darker, but at the same I'm happy he seems to be yellowing at a steady pace and, most importantly, he isn't turning green! Also, the Dikadoll hands' wrist joints are too big for Ezra's forearms… but that doesn't bother me much either. It turned out even the spare hands I got from DragonDoll are too big for him as well, maybe because Ezra is on one of DD’s “first generation” body (among the first batches to be casted, I think), which is thinner than the company’s current dolls. And, well, my sister loves to play with the jointed hands: everytime I glance upon Ezra, she happened to go into my room and put them into a different pose. And for some reason, she loves to make Ezra give the finger ^^;
Now that the yellowing issue has been settled with Ezra, it’s time for me to share yet another kind of nightmare: face-ups wearing off! That makes it another doll-related nightmare for the two of us, then. I’ve read some DoA members stating a face-up begin to wear off after two years or so, but I’ve seen some dolls which are 7 or more years old and still keep their original face-ups… So maybe it depends on the materials used and how a doll is handled/taken care of. In any case, it’s just too early to be worrying about that… And if worse comes to worst, we’ll always have the DoA marketplace, haha. The “customizers” subforum is pretty useful: if you take your time to go through it, you’ll be able to find artists covering all possible styles and with fees ranging from free (yay!) up to $150-200, which is the highest I’ve seen so far. Not to mention most artists on the marketplace are pretty reliable, too.
Thanks for telling me about the, err, manly optional bits! I think I’ve seen the DoA member who sells them; I once bookmarked his sales thread because he happened to be offering a Dollshe Saint faceplace for sale. I didn’t really pay attention to the other, ahem, merchandise he had for sale, but it’s worth a try to look for his thread again. An “optional part” will surely save me lots of work, mostly because I still don’t know how to sculpt said manly part… I once came across a thread detailing it on the Workshop subforum, but all the image links were broken and I couldn’t make much sense out of the text alone… Ahem. And regarding Carmine’s sex change, well… I first thought he’d need lots of work to be “finished”, but now that he’s whole and sporting a new face-up, he looks just fine the way he is. We~ll, I do need to try to blush his upper torso at the very least to match the head, and maybe even paint that “Celty-like” scar on his neck. That’s one task I’m trying as soon as I can get my hands on a can of Mr. Super Clear. And yet another entry in my “Carmine: To-Do List”, apart from new clothes and shoes of course, is getting him a pair of jointed hands as well. I’m not fond of Angel of Dream’s hands since they’re big and sculpted in a rather unnatural pose – and make dressing him all the more complicated! I can now make Ezra fist his hands and getting his arms through the sleeves is all the easier, but Carmine keeps giving me trouble because of his big hands and fingers…
It seems that over the past few years, weather has been sort of unpredictable in Europe, so I’m sorry to hear it’s having an impact on you and your mood. The weather has begun to change over here (oh, at last! I really can’t stand Summer) and I’m slowly gathering some courage to take my boys outside for photoshooting. Fall and Winter are said to be very gloomy here in the capital city for the days are literally gray, the color of our sky, and since we live by a seaside location, misty and humid as well… but taking photos of my boys in an outdoors location would make a welcomed change. I’ve grown tired of shooting photos on our living room, after all.
I don’t know why, but I’m not that surprised that you knew about Weiss Kreuz. In fact, your story is my story as well: I got interested in the series because of Koyasu (the first role I fell in love with) and my favorite part of the related merchandise is the CD dramas as well. No worries, Omi was never one of my favorites either… WK was my first fandom and there are a couple of fanfic writers I’ve been reading for the past decade or so (and they haven’t stopped writing in all these years); I grew fond of the Youji/Aya pairing because of these writers, but I think I could read/enjoy almost anything with Aya on it (err, except those Aya/Omi fics… just no, thank you). And you’re reading One Piece! Or were reading, at least :P I can well understand you, since OP is one LONG manga and going even stronger than ever. I’ve been hooked on the latest manga arc for the past weeks; actually, I should say I’ve been worshipping Eiichirou Oda for being such an amazing mangaka. Which is more than I can say about other authors (*cough* Kubotite *cough*). Most people whom I’ve recommended OP told me they didn’t want to give it a try because it was so long, but hey, they don’t need to read all the manga in one seating. Well, mostly because I think it’s almost impossible to go through 580+ chapters in one day, but they should at the very least read a few chapters: OP is so amazing it hooks you on its story and characters from the very beginning. So it’s great you’ve liked what you’ve read so far – trust me, it’s one of those rare mangas in which the story gets better and betters as it progresses. Which is AGAIN more than I can say about other stories (*cough* BLEACH *cough*).
And speaking of anime… Uh, while I’m not particularly hyped up about the second Senbasa series, I’m so looking forward to see the bad guys portrayed on it (well, the bag guys besides Nobunaga who, by the way, had to call it quits as the series’ villain at last). Hideyoshi and Hanbei are definitely confirmed, but how about Mitsunari? I’m hoping for him to appear as a guest star at the anime, since I’m sure the second tv series will serve to advertise SB3. But calling him Emonari and Kitsunari sounds sort of misleading in my opinion, for he doesn’t seem to be that emo or that manipulative of an evil mastermind as he’s wrathful and vengeance-seeking in his Basara rendition. Hmm, but who knows: maybe I’m speaking ahead of time too, since we don’t really have those many details on him yet. And about the latest SB3 news, while I’m still disappointed on Oichi’s change of weapon (I loved playing as her, slow as she might have been), Kotarou Fuuma being confirmed as a playable character (and with some new moves, apparently) made my day. Sorry, I know you don’t like him much… but he happens to be my second favorite character, right behind Masamune. Of course, once SB3 is finally released (at the end of July!) my Top5 is very prone to change *hints at Mitsunari* For the time being, I’m also foreseeing I’ll dislike Kobayakawa; after all, I used to hate Imagawa back in SB2 for being just so much of a coward, and Kobayakawa just seems to surpass old flamboyant Imagawa! Mogami isn’t ranking very high in my list either, but maybe seeing some interaction between him and his nephew might prove to be rather fun. I refuse to even think Mogami can try anything AND succeed against Masamune, so…
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on FFXIII! I’d read very different opinions about it -people loved it or just plainly disliked it-, so it was good to read a more neutral, focused review. And, hey, I’m so used to seeing “old” Cids in my FF games, that Cid Raines came as a pretty much welcomed change for me :) Yep, I’d also read comments on Cid and Yaag – and how their characters went mostly underdeveloped in the game, which is such a pity. Also, it’s good to hear the first true female protagonist of a FF game doesn’t disappoint; well, there’s Yuna in FFX-2, but quite a number of fans would rather not count it as part of the saga for several reasons. I’d actually say it’s good to hear that the female characters in this FF are more interesting than the male ones; traditionally, most videogames protagonists have been male because of the audience the titles were aimed at, and just as creators and producers decided to change this, we got lots of games with female characters who were there for the fanservice factor only. So, yeah, I’m happy to hear we have a FF game in which the gals know how to do their thing and the men… well, the men are just men. Or even morons, as Snow… Haha. I’ve read something along those lines, but most comments about him were complaints on how fluffy and tooth-rooting his relationship with Serah was. And there’s something you mentioned that caught my attention: the moaning and groaning. I’ve only watched some trailers and gameplay videos so far, but I know people find Vanilla’s moaning just so wrong… I mean, what? I felt so curious (and weirded out) about this, that I thought of looking for some videos to see for myself – and then deemed it a bad idea. Maybe I don’t want to know, after all… But no worries :) Feel free to share your final thoughts on the game and, well, to enlighten me about the… moaning… too, if that’s something I really should be made aware of.
Also, feel free to share your boys’ story, please! Maybe we could exchange some summaries/profiles… and then you’ll see by yourself that I’m truly awful at coming up with an idea and sticking to it, since my poor boys change stories by the minute almost… whoops.
I’ll be looking forward to Cadriel’s entry on AS database, too. As per me, I was thinking of adding Carmine to the Zaoll database, only that I’m not sure if hybrid dolls are allowed… I’m guessing yes, since I’ve been a couple of hybrid dolls on other databases, but I’d be the only owner with such a doll at the Zaoll one. Hmmm.
That’d be everything for now. And since Easter is long past, er, I suppose I can wish you a Happy Golden Week then? Or maybe Earth Day, since it’s closer to this date. In any case, take care, and bye!
[Cmnt]
Scyllua!
n_n
Vine a decirte que al parecer si se puede confiar en el sitio ese del que hablamos Monique Trading Corp. que vende pelucas para las dollfies, pues al final ordené la peluca de Harumi directamente de ellos, y me sorprendió lo rapido que llego, el 30 de marzo fue el shipping y en menos de una semana la recibi, el martes, para ser exacta. Y bueno ya vemos que no se puede juzgar mucho por las apariencias ^^
[Cmnt]
¡Gracias por la noticia! Aunque debo decir que aunque no pensé que Monique Trading Corp. no fuese 100% confiable (pues, caso contrario no sería un fabricante de pelucas tan conocido), nunca quise ordenar directamente de ellos porque no sabía qué tan bueno o malo era su servicio. Y es que creo que eres la primera persona que conozco que ha comprado directamente de ellos en vez de usar uno de sus distribuidores. Es definitivamente una buena noticia el saber que el servicio, después de todo, no deja lugar a quejas…
[Cmnt]
Siip, ya por lo menos de mi parte les doy un 10 porque en verdad te digo que fue super rapido el envio y todo ^^. Mira ahora como se ve Harumi, parece otra! Jejejej…
http://www.noumipilar.com/2007/04/harumi-updates.html
[Cmnt]