If you're interested in friending me, please leave a comment here! I'd appreciate if you could tell me a little about yourself and what you think we have in common. I usually don't friend people back unless I've talked with them a little, so here's your chance! :P

If you'd rather just friend me so that you can keep up with public entries and don't care so much about friends-only ones, I don't mind that either.


A sampling of what you'll find here:

- Death Note fangirling, especially over L.
- Music posts (I usually like industrial and synthpop-related crap, be warned).
- Whining about my real life (or lack thereof). This stuff is friends-only, because I like to torture my friends like that.


Honestly, I'm extraordinarily dull. I wish I was kidding.



Any djs I scan are put up at deathnote_djs and chainedheart_dn.
So there are no super-secret djs locked away in my journal. Please don't friend with only that purpose in mind.

Would you believe that I can not read the word "necromancer" correctly anymore? I keep seeing it as my username. Yes, that was what the joke was at first, but... it's become a MONSTER.

I am promising to scan a doujinshi in the coming week. Because I desperately need to find something constructive to do with myself.

Some weeks ago I was trying to edit, touch up, and color some panels from the original manga. Most of them actually didn't turn out so well, but I like how this one ended up:




Original panel for comparison:
( Here )
I have an affinity for this panel because of the calculating look on his face and the downpour of dots around his head. I almost didn't want to edit them out, but hey. I went with a green background because I just kind of like him in green. I think it might be the froggy associations I have with him. ;)

Better late than never...


Fanart by Rotsurechiriha



Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! :)

And Happy Birthday to my favorite detective. ♥
He'd be 30 years old today, it's so hard to believe.

Last night I had a dream that I was playing something, like, World of L-craft. It was just like WoW, except I was an agent working for L. All the quests had to do with infiltration, gathering information, killing people for some reason, and... collecting sparkly candy.


~*~*~SPARKLY CANDY~*~*~

I want this game to exist.


This reminds me, I really wish they could release the Death Note games for Nintendo DS in English. I'd seriously buy a DS just to play them, no joke. ;(

*sigh* October seems to always be a difficult month for me to get through because of the seasonal change affecting my overall mood. I only hope it gets better. At least I have tomorrow to look forward to.

And spoilers ahoy from said alleged script.


I think I've come to a level of acceptance about this Death Note remake.

Obviously it's not going to be the Death Note we all know and love. It will be reinterpreted and it will most likely be watered down to appeal to a mass audience. In the end, the movie is really not for us, but for people who haven't seen the series before. As fans, we want to see the best treatment possible; we're so afraid it's going to be misrepresented. And yet it's hard to say how it's going to turn out at this point. When I first read the alleged script I admit I found myself cringing and raging: the name changes, the change in Light/Luke's motivations, the disappearance of any sort of tension between Light and L, the strange insertion of shinigami lore even though the remake takes place in New York, the omission of Ryuk and Misa (not to mention Naomi), reusing the same exact ending as the first Japanese movie...

I don't quite like L being made into a profiler with the FBI. My first reaction was literally, "He's not with the FBI, he's with the fucking L!" I always liked the fact that he was portrayed as being outside (and above) the law, but still working with it to achieve his goals. He still performs some of the same illegal actions in the remake script as he did in the original series, so at least his morals are questionable enough. :P

It also bothers me that, since they omitted Misa and Naomi, there are even less major or notable female characters than before. What's left is a girlfriend, sister, and dead mom. And many female victims. This just does not sit well with me.

Of course I'm likely going to find the manga and anime better since that's what I fell in love with first. And that's perfectly fine. In the end, I'll be seeing the movie anyway no matter what because I'm very curious like that. Lots of changes are bound to be made to the script. And I think there's enough material from the original series that it may work, if it's done properly. If it turns out to be good, then that will wonderful. If it's bad, I still have the original. No worries either way, right? ;)

I can't promise my opinion will stay at this state though, depending on what actually happens with the movie... ^^;;


That said, the script has plenty of lines that can be used for entertainment purposes:

- "I know he's a cowboy, but he's the best there is." (in reference to L, pg 34)
I don't even know, this made me laugh so hard. I am just waiting for someone to shop the "BANG" scene with him in a cowboy hat.

- "In Eastern cultures Kira is like the four horsemen of the apocalypse." (pg 45)
I can't even make sense of this. Kira is a part of Eastern mythology now? Just as planned

- ON SCREEN REVEAL: "Kira was here" written above the dead drug dealer. (pg 70)
Hay L, try to figure this one out: Did you know that Kira was here?? LOL
I get the feeling that Luke may not be quite as clever as we'd hoped.

I was recently asked on chainedheart_dn about doujinshi and copyright laws. Inevitably many people will ask: is doujinshi legal? This question applies to any fanwork that can be made like fan art or fan fiction, but I'm going to concentrate on doujinshi specifically.

I am no expert on the subject, but from what I've read it looks like it comes down to a different attitude towards the subject in Japan vs. the Western world. (This is coming from the perspective of someone living in the United States, so if it's different in, say, other areas of Europe, feel free to call me out on it)

In Japan, publishers will turn a blind eye when it comes to fan works like doujinshi. In the Western world (and especially in the US) people are much more likely to take legal action against a copyright violation. However, there is little difference in copyright laws; they are still technically illegal in Japan. So why the difference? It seems the publishers eventually adopted the attitude that fan works are a positive thing and that, in the end, it might be giving the original works increased exposure, which would lead to more profit rather than less. There is not much doujinshi-making in the Western world, which I'm sure is influenced by the highly prevalent fear of being sued. I know that occasionally I've seen doujinshi being sold at the artist alley at conventions (I've bought a Death Note one before), but since it's under the radar, nothing is really done about it. Heck, this applies to all fan works in artist alleys and art shows period, which I know have been contested before.

As for profit... most doujinka really don't make a lot of profit. Generally they price djs at just the right amount to cover their printing fee (self-publishing isn't cheap) and maybe (and only maybe) make a tiny bit of profit for their materials and time spent. In fact, it's not unheard of for doujinka to lose money from publishing a doujinshi. This goes to show that most of them are in it for the love of the characters, not to claim a character as their own or to make money off of it.

This subject has so many gray areas. Personally I would love to see a thriving doujinshi scene in the west. The creation of fan works is a great component to encourage and nourish the fandom community. I do wonder what would happen if doujinshi-making became more common in the West...


Here's a very interesting article that further explains the attitude in Japan towards doujinshi (talk about doujinshi starts on the second page):

"Japan, Ink: Inside the Manga Industrial Complex" by Daniel H. Pink
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-11/ff_manga


The original comment that inspired this entry here.

I've been trying to get to sleep for the past 3 hours. My sleep schedule's so messed up.


This is my new favoritest fanart, from none other than Murmur!



Click for larger!


I've been downloading a lot of pics from her site, since she's closing it up pretty soon. :/
I'd never seen this one before, though I knew from another pic that she had a thing for L and frogs. ♥♥♥

So I was thinking: the reason why L was standing in the rain... was because if he doesn't, he gets all dried up. :< He needs to submerge his skin in water in order to LIIIIVE.
There's a swimming lessons joke in there somewhere, I think.

I guess constant tea-drinking is a good substitute?


...Okay, going to try that sleep thing one more time. :P

I feel that I might be acting kind of distant lately. I don't know if that's true, or if I'm just feeling like I am, but I apologize in either case. I've been preoccupied with real life... trying to move past lifelong fears is not easy for anyone. This goes even more for someone who has a fear of change itself. It gets lonely.

I've been listening to New Order a lot, particularly the album Low-Life. Yes, I've noticed I'm developing a thing for lame '80s music (and I only call it that out of sincere affection).

The song "Sub-Culture" particularly hits me, just because it sounds so lonely and alienated.
And I won't lie, it reminds me of L a little, too.


Download, in case anyone's interested:

New Order - "Sub-Culture"

( Lyrics )

Here's the Misa fanart I made for the Otakon art show!
Its title is "Cute but Deadly."





( Click here for full view! )

I also have this fanart up on my DeviantArt page. :P






The website for 40 Seconds, an International Death Note Anthology is up and running! Take a look at the previews of what's going to be in the book! There really are a lot of talented artists who worked on it... it kind of makes me feel embarrassed at what I submitted. ^^;; I'll make another update when orders are being taken, just to remind everyone who might be interested in it (although I'm sure it'll be spammed all over the place already when that happens xD;).


Also, I want to create a staff community for chainedheart_dn. I think it'll help all the staff communicate more effectively. We'll need to start deciding what project we're going to work on next.

I think I'm finally over the post-con depression. I hate leaving conventions and going back to the real world.

Anyhoo, here are some pictures I took at Otakon last weekend!

( Here! )

As for goods, I bought three doujinshi (yeah, I know... ONLY three) and a bunch of fanart in Artist's Alley. Both of the fanarts I entered in the Art Show sold, which made me happy. I'll make a separate entry about the new fanart I made at another point. I need to remember to upload those things to DeviantArt, too... especially before the site for the DN anthology is released to the general public.

My fanart for Otakon is finished! It turned out fairly nice, although the perfectionist in me is always going to find things wrong with it. Improvement is a long process. The subject of this fanart is Misa, by the way. ;) I'll have a total of two pieces in the art show: this new one and the one I made previously of L in the rain. I hope someone will be interested enough to buy them.

So, the con is tomorrow! I'll be cosplaying as L on Friday, Misa L on Saturday, and... whatever I feel like Misa on Sunday. 8D I bought so many lollipops for the L cosplay... and sugar cubes. I'll probably be sick by the end of the day, but it's worth it!

I'll take whatever pics I can! The founder of Madhouse is going to be there, so that should be interesting. And there's going to be a Darker than Black panel! :D

So I finished my fanart for the fanbook in time! \(º∀º)/
It's really amazing how much work can go into just two fanarts.

I've been obsessed with The Birthday Massacre's album Violet. I've heard about this group for yeeeears but only just recently checked them out (I'm always terribly behind when it comes to what's popular, but eh). I love their eerie, nostalgiac dreaminess. I guess their style would be best described as synthrock/New Wave revival? It's so difficult to categorize some music and I've seen many different genres names applied to them.


So in case anyone's interested, here's a few of their songs to download.


The Birthday Massacre

Happy Birthday
Lovers End
The Dream



LOL, I had to stop myself from just uploading the whole damn album. So hard to pick just a few songs.

I've found myself bawling during some of these songs, especially that last one. Good grief. ;____; I love this kind of music, but I have to admit it doesn't do anything to help my mood. Still, I find it aesthetically inspiring.

Also, I kind of feel the BB icon is appropriate somehow, even if superficially. I mean, Birthday Massacre.

I'm working on the finishing touches for the next Chained Heart project, Liars' Eden, which I hope to release on Monday! My one-sentence summary of it: "Light and L discuss the benefits of "naked socializing," while each secretly plans to use the opportunity to gain the upper hand." It's pretty in-character and has some funny moments. It's close to 40 pages, which has made this pretty challenging for my first editing project. ^^;; So look forward to seeing that soon!

I've been trying to show my mom Death Note, just because I like pushing sharing it with everyone I know. She's not really that into it, but I appreciate her humoring me with my silly obsessive interests. :P She agrees with me that L looks like a frog, though. ;D

And, for anyone who likes Yoshitoshi ABe's work (Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei, Texhnolyze), there's news of a new project in the works called Despera. Arc is quite excited about this, since he's a big fan of ABe's work. I like his work too, so I'm looking forward to its release!

Otakon's been sneaking up on me again. It's in July! D:

I need to start planning. I'll have to see if I can get some cosplay stuff together. I still want to make my Misa cosplay look better, mostly by getting a new wig. The other one's okay, but it could be better. I think I might try to cosplay Naomi, too. Or L. Or all three on different days. That might be too much stress. Then there's the question of making fanart for the art show, but with the issues I'm having just making something for the fanbook... I'm not sure if that's going to pan out. Then again, I still have to convince Arc to even go with me in the first place or else I'll be going alone, which won't be too much fun. ¬_¬

At least I've been getting better about coming up with ideas for the fanbook. I've started drawing one of BB, which is coming along okay.


This video really made me miss having a hamster.



I'm an animal lover with no pets. ;_;
HALP.


Also, the latest F!S submission post seems to have made my entire friends page go into capslock mode. I can't tell if I'm finding it annoying or hilarious.

I'm worried about finishing my piece of fanart for the fanbook project. I've been thinking about it for weeks but still haven't found an idea I like enough. It's depressing me. I remember the kind of creativity and inspiration I had, say, 10 years ago. Unfortunately it's just not there anymore. I don't know if it's a matter of getting older or if it's the effect of years of clinical depression dulling my mind, or what. I don't want to give up, though. I'll submit something even if I think it sucks.
...But, seriously, it better not suck...


Have some L in a suit.


Click for larger.

scanned from L2 Secret Live anthology


This was a double spread pull-out, so I had to scan the top and bottom half separately and put them together. There was also a deep fold mark which I tried my best to get rid of.
At least fiddling around in Photoshop helps keep me entertained.

Hope you have a wonderful day!
You are awesome! :D
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
*HUGS*


Oh, and here's something for you. ;)



( Full image behind the cut! )


I love this image by FLAT, so I used it for coloring practice. (Here's the original image, from the dj Honey Dip). It didn't turn out too badly, but I always hope that I can improve. ^^

I've been thinking of some ideas for the dn_fanbook project... just sketching some things, but nothing finalized. It'll involve L, of course. He is my muse after all. It may also involve Light, Misa, BB, or Naomi... any of them with L. Ahaha. ;) The fanart for the book will have to be in black and white, so I'll have to practice coloring in b&w or perhaps experimenting with screentones. I'm very, very excited about this! x3

I am obviously using materialism as an escape from my real life worries.

I just spent the longest time deliberating over which of these two bags to get, and ended up with the latter. It just had more to the design, what with both L and Light and the crosses and such. Although the other one was primarily dark-colored, which I also like. I so hope I made the right decision. I feel pangs of regret. Srs bznz life-or-death situation, I know. D;

EDIT: Ahh, I went absolutely bonkers and ended up with both. Hmm, maybe once I get both, I can figure out which I like more and can sell the other one. I'm not usually this... uh, crazy?


I was looking over the Death Note manga again (for the 899th time) and noticed this:



HE WEARS TEAPOTS FOR SHOES WHEN WE'RE NOT LOOKING.

Tonight I was looking through the Death Note merchandise up on Ebay for the first time in ages. There's always some neat and strange stuff up, but one listing for a licensed L plushie caught my eye in particular:

( Even Genius Detectives Get Lonely (sometimes) )

Oh, they're sly ones; they know exactly how to pull on the heart strings of a particular kind of L fangirl.
(...who, me? *cough*)

I'm silly, but I thought it was adorable. Although, I already have that L plush. >D


The title description of this L poster just killed me: "Death Note L thumb-sucking poster goth."

Thumb-sucking poster goth.

Why does this make sense??
They forgot to add, "on laundry day."

It must be either far too late or far too early, because I'm tired and on the verge of giggling uncontrollably.

Grr, my internet connection's been very unreliable lately. How am I supposed to play WoW and have some kind of internet life like this??? D;

In more productive news, I'm working on editing my first doujinshi for chainedheart_dn! So far it's been quite the learning experience, but it's very satisfying to see it all start to come together. ^^ Hopefully, if I get more editing work in the future, it won't take as long since I'll have more of the hang of it.

And I still can't believe how many membership requests I have to reject because people don't reply to the appropriate thread with their birthdate... I really, really wish people would take the time to read the rules. :/