Gnine

So, it has once more been ages since I've updated. I try, I really do...I just fail SPECTACULARLY!! :-P I was considering doing this as several different posts, but then figured that the odds of them all actually getting done, what with my track record, was low, so, one big post it is...

( Real life catch up... )

( In fanning news... )

ART DUMP!!

I've actually been remarkably productive in the past 6 months, art-wise, though all but one of them are chibis...oops? But in various styles; I've been experimenting as I'm just not ever completely happy with them, especially my line work, which has never been one of my strengths :-p

( Avengers...and by that I mostly mean Loki )

( Nightwing/Batman )

( Teen Wolf )

( Person of Interest )

( Random McShep chibi )

So, first off, in RL news, I'm in Sydney (well, a suburb of) and just moved into a houseshare today (for the past two weeks the wonderful, crazy generous alasen has been letting me crash in her spare room). My new housemate seems really nice and she has an adorable kitty as a plus! Yay living with pets again, oh how I've missed it! The job hunt is still ongoing, but it's only been two weeks so I'm not overly worried. Yet...ehehehe...:-p But, regardless, yay new country! ^^

Second, in semi-RL/semi-fan news, last weekend there was the awesome fangirl gathering that is sinpozium. Do so love meeting fangirls in person! Was a great time, with some tantilizing series pimping, fun discussions, informative tech intros (I really need to sign up for pinboard...) and a hilarious game of pictionary. To sum up, fangirl get togethers for the WIN! Also greetings to new flisters from the event! Yay new people!

Third, in TOTALLY fan-related goodness, I...um...seem to have fallen into a new fandom (it's taken me long enough!! :-p). One which is tangentially related to The Avengers movie cause, let's face it, the movie rocked in all kinds of ways!! So many feelings, so much LOVE! For everyone! But I digress. Anyway, in connection with all that squee, and due mainly to my sister's tireless pimping, I've read some comics. Specifically, Journey into Mystery. Which leaves me in LOVE with kid!Loki! HOMG, all the feels! I mean, I adore movie!Loki, but...but kid!Loki is just epically fun and wonderful and pushes soooo many of my buttons with the adorable brother stuff and villain redeemed and ridiculously smart, precocious, snarky, genius teenagers. With siblings who mean everything to them. And a NEED for hugs.

And this means, along with a new fandom, comes fanart! This is the first time in a while I've done more than just a chibi (though I did a reeeally quick stupid one on Tumblr for the Avengers movie over here) and I was experimenting with a painter program rather than Photoshop. I'm quite happy with it, especially with how quickly I was able to do it (under 10 hrs total and most of it in one sitting). New program for the win! Really just drawing for the win, man I've missed it!

Preview:


( Thor & kid!Loki, ALL THE HUGZ!! Part 1 as neechan insists there must be more... )

C&C always most welcome! ^^ Also, go read JiM, cause kid!Loki needs more love! Lots more...and by that I mean I need more fic...^_-

So, now that I'm all settled in, in a house in Karori, a suburb of the city of Wellington, thought it was time to do the first of what I expect to be many New Zealand travel logs. Along with the normal photos, as per Ri-chan's suggestion, I've done a few travel-related chibis, just a couple, quick slapdash ones...we'll see how that goes.

( Warning, picture heavy..So very very heavy! ^_- )
So, that's me, all caught up. For now, anyways...there's sure to be more...LOTS more, to come ^_^

And you can find more pics here:

Seattle to Wellington via LA & Auckland

Also from there you can link over to my G+ account, where I've been posting more frequent, if shorter entries. Good if anyone's interested in more timely updates...'cause I'm so known for those on LJ...ehehehee...OOPS :-p

Been meaning to post about this for a while, but a) have been very busy and b) was wanting to make sure everything was actually going to happen before posting 'bout it has delayed me...Not wanting to jinx it and all that...

But, seeing as it's two weeks away now, should probably let people know...I'm heading to New Zealand in two weeks for a year (well, hopefully. The visa lasts for a year, but if I don't find work, that might get cut short...:-p) SO EXCITED!!!! ^____^

Course, little bit nervous as well, seeing as this is the first time I've set out to another country with neither job/school or a place to live lined up. Well, should be quite an adventure, if nothing else...^_- I'm starting off in Auckland, but we'll see where the job search takes me...

Anyway, part of the reason I'm posting, beyond just...y'know, actually updating what's going on with me...something we all know I'm TERRIBLE about, is that I'm hoping to hook up with fan people when I get there. In both Japan and England I had great luck meeting up with LJ people in person and am hoping to do so again. Not sure if anyone from my flist is actually in NZ currently...but if you are, would love to meet up. And also, if anyone on my flist knows other fan/geeky people in NZ and they might be interested in hanging out, send 'em my way...

And hopefully soon, I'll be back to posting more frequently, doing my travel logs, if nothing else. New Zealand should provide plenty of material for that, if nothing else! ^___^ *bounce bounce*

So in my normal LJ!fail, it's been a while. Been working, showing my mom Farscape, watching random anime and jdrama. Pretty much same old same old. And drawing.

(Though a week ago went to NYC for a bachelorette party, which ROCKED! I think I could move to NYC for the food alone ^__^ There were also pretty views of the city, ridiculously fun karaoke partying and...interesting taxi shenanigans...Only in New York could you hail a stretched limo...and a party bus. ^__^)

To that end, thought I'd post some of the random art I've done over the past few months.

Preview:



( chibi!Merlin Wedding Pic... )
( Random Kaiba brothers cuteness... )
( Mom's slashy B-day present... )
( Random work sketchs... )

As ever, C & C very welcome.

So, haven't been posting much (pretty much par for the course at this point :-p) but after all that's been going on in Japan, even if I'm being bad about maintaining my LJ, I had to sign up for the help_japan auction. My entry can be found here. I'm offering a chibi pic/comic.

While the majority of the area affected by the earthquake and tsunami is far from where I used to live, and the majority of my friends in Japan still are, it's heart-wrenching to see the destruction and to read about the hardships striking the country I called home for four years. However, the overwhelming world-wide support flooding in, for Japan now and Chile and Haiti as well over the past year is at least one bright spot in otherwise rather bleak times.

Oh look, an update. It's only been...um...waaaaaay too long. I suck, we all know it, ahem, let's move on. ^_-

Thought I should probably post a "state of things" seeing as those are about to change in a few days and well...um...cienna was sitting next to me being a good girl and also updating and I felt inspired?

So, finished my MA, yay! And, though it's not yet official yet, according to my prof., who I may have cornered and desperately casually asked how I had done, said I passed and with a merit! W00t!

Now, after a month or two of job hunting (and a two week excursion into a reeeaaally unpleasant job situation that did NOT end well and in which my boss was rather...ahem...batshit control freak rude, oh and rather classist. Not fun, 'nough said. :-p) without much luck (London is expensive and the job market is nooot kind currently) it's back to the States with me for the next few months.

Leaving to head back Wed. and oh god but I'm gonna miss it here a LOT. Love London sooo much and all the friends I've made! *sniffle* Especially the merlin_london crew, who all ROCK and this past Saturday was AWESOME!

So, back in Massachusetts for the next few months, until May at least after a wedding I'm gonna be in (so excited for that, my darlin' dearest! *huggles*) and then I think it'll be off to some other country, possibly Japan, possibly somewhere else, but definitely abroad.

So, to all my New England peeps, hope to be able to catch up in the next few months!

And now...sorting stuff for packing...ugh...-_- Have I mentioned how much I hate moving?

So, it's been a bit...quiet here *sidesteps a tumbleweed blowing by* Um...I have reasons, really! (I mean reasons in addition to my normal sucktastic posting habits) I had the sister and bro and M visiting for two and a half weeks at the end of July/first half of August (which was AWESOME! And I reeeally should post about that, as we did lots of fun things like go and see the White Cliffs of Dover and took a DW/TW pilgrimage to Cardiff, and while we were there we got out of the city and went horseback riding and just yeah, fun times all around) and since then I've been flat out going crazy working on my MA dissertation (due in a week and a half, AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!) while simultaneously job hunting like mad (still no luck on that front *sigh*). In other words, NOT so fun times, all around :-p Oh, and I had dental surgery yesterday. First time I've ever been put under. Wow is that a weird experience. Also, cienna who accompanied me and made sure I got home safely said I was rather hilarious waking up out of it. Apparently I come out of drugged sedation happy as a clam and rather giddy. Huh...really, of those who know me well, is anyone *that* surprised? ^_-

But in between all the insanity, I've managed to find some time to do art (well, and subject certain fan friends with absolutely no anime experience to X, hee! Oh Clamp and your gorgeous, f**ked up men! Mmmmmm ^___^ What, it ties into my research, really, REALLY it does! ^_-) Two of the pieces I've done I can't share yet, as they were for a contest that has yet to be decided, but I finally got around to coloring a b-day sketch I did for krazykipper back in June....um, Oops! See above for lame excuses reasonable reasons for the delay. Anyway, for all the White Collar fans on my flist, thought I'd share.

Preview



( She knows what she wants!' )

As you may or may not know, I’m currently working on my MA in Critical Media and Cultural Studies at University of London, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). For my thesis, I’m delving into the question of how culture, one’s own, as well as that of the source material one is fanning on, affects how fans identify and interact with said media and the fandoms surrounding them.

I am very aware that academic scrutiny of fandom has at times been…less than pleasant, shall we say. With that in mind, I’d like to make clear that it is not my intent to place fen or fandom under the microscope, but rather to use them as one concrete example in the broader investigation of culture’s impact on the field of media studies.

The following questions I’ve split into two sections, one focused on the media itself, the other on fandom as a whole. These are just a jumping-off point; feel free to answer as many/as few of the questions as you’d like, in as much/little detail as you feel comfortable. If you’d prefer to comment anonymously or email me directly at gnine AT livejournal DOT com, that’s fine, too.

( Media Questions )

( Fandom Questions )

Beyond that, if there are any other details, personal experiences, general trends you’ve observed, feel free to expound. Further discussion/questions in the comments is also very welcome.

If anyone's willing to link this in their journals, I’d be grateful, as the more responses the more expansive the research.

Thanks for your help!

Last Saturday, during crashtestskater's brief, yet wonderfully fun visit (I haven't seen her seen I left Japan last May!), we accompanied cienna and takadainmate to Hampton Court Palace. The latter's adorable stuffed tentacle monster, Lee and crashtestskater's Volks Dolfie, Matthieu Canada, were also in attendance. Four giddy fangirls plus friends...why yes, we *did* garner some...'interesting'...looks from the other patrons, why do you ask? ^_-

( A pretty palace, some amusing cosplay, a little fangirl glee, and oh yeah, a ton of pics, all below the cut... )