Filed under: Fanart | Tags: bonhwa, commission, fanart, Maaya, rambles, Snow
Happy Tuesday~!
Or is it? I just had another mid-term today, and the flu I thought I’d gotten rid of has returned full force. ヽ(´Д｀ヽ) With friends in form of a ridiculously sore and swollen throat. I’m telling you, this is tradition by now. I think the mid-term went well still, so now I’ll just hope it won’t get worse before the final one on Thursday.
Anyway, I hope everyone has had a good January so far. For me, it’s been up and down in many ways already. But last night was definitely positive~
I was just checking my dA messages, with the intent of cleaning them out, and immediately shrieked in surprise.
Why?
by *Bonhwa on deviantART
(〃▽〃)ｷｬｰ♪
Aren’t they adorable?! I commissioned her a while back, and as I love her art and F*S it was a real honor to have my boys in her style. I settled for chibis, because I couldn’t pick between the two of them. And I have absolutely no regrets~
I didn’t expect to see this at all yesterday, so I almost fell out of the couch upon seeing the title and then the image loaded. Haha~
Click on the image to see the larger version, and make sure to leave her a comment~♥
What made it even stranger, was that I’d just been admiring another work of hers, which was on my desktop. Like I said, it’s been a while since I commissioned her, and even though I didn’t mind the wait, she surprised me a weekend in December. I opened my inbox on Saturday morning to find this:
\(≧▽≦)/
Thank you SO much~♥
It’s such a stunning picture, and she did him so well~ *w*
I literally sat around gaping at this one for a good while before I understood what was happening. Click the image for larger size~
I just can’t stop staring at them~ *w*
I hope everyone else enjoys them as much as I do, but remember:
The characters are copyrighted to me, and the artwork belongs to Bonhwa. So don’t use or claim it as your own. Thank you.
I actually went ahead and added her watermark myself, so I could share it with you guys. So please be respectful.
Anyway, these should appear in the fanart album on fb soon enough. And now I’m gonna try to get some work done. I’ve spent far too long editing this post because wp is a…. (`皿´)/
Yeah… but as long as I have these to look at I guess I’ll stay sane and feel somewhat better~
Filed under: Daily life | Tags: 2011, 2012, daily life, earthquake, happy new year, July 22nd, rambles, show your heart, tsunami
Here we are again, at the dawn of a new year. What happened? Time sure seems to fly, and it’s almost a little frightening how quickly the past year has gone by, despite the hardships.
Going into 2011, I remember thinking that there was no way it was ever going to be as great as 2010 – which although a fairly uneventful year, brought a lot of firsts for me, and a lot of precious, unforgettable memories. 2011 hasn’t been as productive. I’ve written less than I have in years, to be honest, studied harder than I’ve done since…I can’t remember. And despite my efforts, I was unable to finish Jaded, even though I had such high plans. And now I’m standing at a crossroad, the same one I’ve been on all year, and it’s time to pick a path and work thoroughly on this thing.
I’m not going to make it my new year’s resolution, that wouldn’t work. And although I think I had one, I seem to have forgotten.
2011 has been a year of great diversity; happy as well as sad times, like any other year. But 2011 hit harder. It was a year of shock, confusion and terror.
I remember watching the news for hours, days after Tohoku and the Tsunami. The destruction seemed endless – and it was, with Fukushima, and the worry of nuclear disaster. In the midst of it, people decided to start accusing each other. Why does people attack one another in the face of disaster? Everyone has their reasons. Isn’t the important thing that people wanted to help, that they were engaged, willing to do something, be it anything from lighting a candle, to donating money or any other kind of help.
Then of course there was July 22nd. The Friday that shook Norway to the core. It’s hard to believe that it’s been five months already – although in many ways it seems like it was yesterday, in other ways it feels like it’s been an eternity. It came out of nowhere, and was unlike anything we’ve experienced since WWII. The damage is unrepairable, the loss is unthinkable. We’re never going to forget (particularily not with the media ripping it open every single day), but neither are we going to forget the way we’ve responded to this tragedy.
2011 has been a year of lessons. I think the grandest one has been the lesson in love.
In April, I organized the SHOW YOUR HEART Trondheim street team, by request of G himself. It was a rough week of paperwork, phone calls and planning, and although we didn’t get the response I was hoping for, there were people out there who showed their hearts and gave their aid. Globally, organisations, SYH and others, got together and did what they could to help. I’m not the kind of person who gets involved with these things normally, I do ocassionally make donations, but this was my first time organizing something, setting up a stand and putting myself in the field. What I learned from it is how much it’s worth. For someone to take a step and involve others, and to know that you’re making a difference – it’s an awesome feeling.
SYH Trondheim Street team
Someone said that you can’t do anything good without partially doing it for selfish reasons. I’ve been studying literature history this past semester, and it was also a factor in the well-made play; a good, clean conscience is something you get from doing something good for others – so that you can feel good about your self.
I’m sure that is the case with some, but isn’t it better to do something than not do something at all? Regardless of what the motif is, if you’re making a difference, that’s all that should matter really. For me, it was the case of a personal request to help (after I had asked if I could), and when urged to, I sprung to action.
Norway also showed our hearts after 22.07. I think we can all learn from this; a national tragedy, that affected so many and shook an entire nation – but the response was love. Respect, love and roses. We chose to focus on support rather than revenge, and on love over hatred. And we all came together as one. In the middle of all the grief we were able to say that we were proud. Sure, there has been discussion, conspiracy theories, conflict and accusations. What else is there to expect?
But I think we’re on the right path forwards.
I think that we can learn from this year, and the way it’s been handled. We can learn from Japan, their level-headedness and structure in a time of crisis, and we can learn from the ocean of flowers that emerged this summer.
Of course, it’s also been a regular year in many ways. On my part that included procrastination, stress, technological failure, extreme carelessness and results thereafter (hand in hand with the technological failure, which evidently persists up until the final hours of the year), new friends, new experiences and some absolutely fantastic memories. I’m finally able to say that I’ve been cosplaying to my heart’s content (not really, I wanted to get so much more out of this year, but at least it’s more than last year), and I’ve learned that there just isn’t enough time. Something always have to go to make room for something else.
Through 2011 there have been many lessons. I’ve been able to see both flaws and strenghts in myself that I might not have been aware of earlier. It’s been a hard year, but I’m still standing. Imagine that. Had you told me that during the angsty August, or when I was drowning between October and December I would have laughed at you. I think I’m getting to the point of maturity where I can finally see how events shape a person. This year there has been a lot of talk about previous ones, and I’m starting to see things that weren’t so clear before. I’m not great at working on things, I’ll admit that, but at least I’ve come some way from before. At this point, I think that 2011 will be a year to really take with me and learn from and then use in some way later. It’s sure to come in handy.
Hm. Maybe that’s it. New Year’s Resolutions shouldn’t be about dieting, excercise, marriage or any other “trivial” thing that most of us can’t stick to anyway. It should be about being the best version of yourself, taking in experiences and putting them to good use.
Then, you can conquer the world – or at least pretend like it .
What awaits me next is a turkey dinner, fireworks with the family at midnight (wonderful weather, though blistering cold >_<), and the annual horror movie-thon~!
At least I hope so. As usual I’ve forgotten to defrost the turkey properly…..
Happy New Year guys ♥
Thank you so much for all your support again this year (ー人ー)
In lack of proper photography, have a terribly photoshopped webcam-pic to round things off~
Filed under: Drabbles & Snippets | Tags: boylove, christmas, drabble, excerpt, snippet, Snow, yaoi
Once again I’m the biggest kid in our family, already impatiently waiting for tomorrow. For Tri Orísky por Popelku, stockings, presents and food~
This might be what has prompted this sudden productivity; today I’ve had a small cosplay shoot, exchanged presents, decorated two trees, gone shopping and visited some family…I should really hurry up and pink up my hair a bit before bed though. And of course, I’m getting quite good at blogging these days. At least I’m updating.
But now I’m guessing it’s going to calm down a bit. I’m going to laze off from tomorrow and then most of the vacation will be spent working on Jaded any free moment I get. I hope.
Anyway, as many has already noted, I uploaded a small Christmas present for you guys:
SNOW: Christmas Tree
It’s just a small snippet, but I hope it can be of some enjoyment ♥
And now all that remains is to wait for one last gift exchange, and watch Rock’n Roll Wolf before going to bed..
Merry Christmas everyone~♥
Filed under: Drabbles & Snippets, Maaya says | Tags: aids awareness day, drabble, Maaya says, snippet, writing, yaoi
Evening~
At long last I make this post, although Aids Awareness Day already passed 20 days ago. I’m usually more punctual about these things, but this year I was having a hard time combining the info-post with a drabble. I started writing two of them, but I wasn’t happy with either. One felt too silly and never went anywhere, the other…I feared it would be too much like last year’s so I took it in another direction, and became uncertain again. As I panicked over my lack of writing skills and most of all time to write, I ended up not making a post at all.
I feel bad about it, because this year it felt particularily important to cast some light on the AIDS issue. It’s been 30 years since it first came around. We’ve come such a long way since then; from people not daring to be around hiv-positive individuals, having them alienated from public places like for instance pools. We know now that it’s not contagious through hugs or kisses. Hiv is no longer synonymous with death. You can have the diagnosis and still live a long, relatively healthy life. There are hospits and foundations doing their best to treat and take care of the ill. Being Hiv-positive doesn’t mean that the person will develop AIDS either. With frequent testing, early (and continuous, effective) treatment, it doesn’t have to develop at all.
Moreover, today most people are well aware that Hiv/AIDS is not synonymous with homosexuality.
Because Hiv is transferred through bodily fluids (not spit), it’s easily transferred via sexual contact, both between males and females.
Myself, I’m finding it mildly confusing that we’re hysterical about protecting ourselves from media-hyped diseases we’re not very likely to contract, whilst not worrying about safety in sexual situation. It seems to me that a lof of the focus is primarily on birth control; if she’s on the pill, then what’s the risk? If you’re having sex with someone of the same gender, there’s no such risk. Is that it?
I’m no expert, just engaged in the subject.
Education is a keyword here (which was what I wanted to get at in the unfinished drabble). Only through education can we smash the walls that remain; rid ourselves of the taboos and clear up the misconceptions.
If we look at South Africa as an example, there were 12 million people infected by Hiv in 2006. Although the schools are teaching safe sex, the problem is that such a large portion of the kids aren’t attending school, and thereby miss out on the crucial information on protection and prevention as well as treatment. There are AIDS orphans living in the streets, and there are still misconceptions in some places that for instance sex with a virgin will cure the virus. In many cases this leads to rape of young girls, and new cases.
Education is the only solution. And starting from that, I think Awareness days are a great way to inform people, to educate and spread the word. So although it’s 20 days overdue, it feels good to finally have said it.
Anyway, I’m considering posting both drabbles, if I can get myself to finish the first one…. I haven’t had much time between exams and projects.
But now, with Christmas break here at long last, I’ve decided to grab the bull by the horns and start by posting the first one.
I will have everyone know that this is not canon. I purposely don’t mention names in these, but it’s not hard to guess who it’s about, the problem is of course the season, and how it all comes together in SNOW. Thus, this isn’t a canonically written drabble, it’s just me exploiting my characters. But please enjoy it anyway ♥
Without further ado:
Filed under: Maaya says | Tags: christmas, human rights, lgbt, Maaya says, wishes
I only wish for one thing this year: Respect.
I wish that people can respect one another, that school children can wear their santa hats to the last day of school without being told to take them off. Respect for other individuals doesn’t mean that we need to undermine who we are. That’s not what equality is about – if one part has to strip themselves of their own customs to please someone else, something has gone wrong. A compromise is a given, but obliteration is something else. Also, Santa isn’t a religious thing, he’s a commercial symbol, let the children have their fun. .
I wish that people should be allowed to love who they love without having to defend themselves or to be questioned on it. Nobody should tell them that they are abnormal, or a disgrace. If you love someone then there is no difference if they’re the same gender as you or not, or where they are from. Let people deal with their own personal lives.
I wish that people should start seeing each other as people.
Why do you think that this person is so different from you, just because you’re not the same color or share the same preferences?
Why is it that it’s been proven that Moms are the most important role models in children’s lives, yet two moms is a bad thing?
Why is it okay to help a straight couple conceive a child, or even let a single mom use a sperm donor from Denmark, but if a same-sex couple does it then it’s wrong?
Having children isn’t a human right – rather should there be a license required. But isn’t the best parent someone who loves, supports and cares for their child, rather than someone who lives in a straight relationship (make that relationships, people split up and find new partners, but nobody’s calling this Child abuse), with that as the only requirement.
I wish that politicians focused on more important things than whether or not they should abolish basic human rights.
No, getting married isn’t a right.
No, having a child isn’t a right.
No, expressing your beliefs isn’t a right (yes it is, but only if it’s politically correct).
These are privileges. But who are you, Mr/Mrs Politician, to tell us that we don’t have that right?
Because a straight parent is a bad parent, should we stop having kids?
Because someone gay was involved in a sex scandal, should we ban homosexuality?
Because someone did something horrible based on their religious beliefs, their personal interpretation of it, should we judge their entire religion?
All I ask for, is a little respect. Everyone is different. We should judge the individual, not an entire group.
We should allow people to be themselves and act out their true selves, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone. Santa hats doesn’t harm anyone. A couple getting married doesn’t harm anyone.
While we’re talking about respect: On July 22nd, our nation was struck by a terrible event. Can we please celebrate the holidays without any mentions of it? Without nightmare-inducing pictures, and pointless articles about someone who doesn’t deserve our attention? Out of respect to everyone affected by the incident, their family, friends and loved ones, can we please have a week without these articles?
And please, if you have the time; tell the world that alcohol is another privilege. It’s your choice if you want to have that drink or not, but your children don’t get to choose whether or not they will be affected by intoxication, unfamiliarity, uncertainty and pain on a day where they are supposed to be happy.
It’s not about you. It’s about those around you.
Finally, animals need to be respected too. I wish the fur industry would finally be stopped. Systematic cruelty is not okay.
The list could go on forever, but I only have one word: Respect.
Filed under: cosplay, Daily life | Tags: cosplay, daily life, maaki, rambles, Snow, stress
Exam on Monday went as expected: was boring, wrote a ton of pages, my wrist cramped, retrospective panicking, and most likely top score. I’m not worried, and I’m glad to be done with it. Now all that remains is the oral one on the 5th, tomorrow’s All day writing and of course the semester assignment. Then I’ll return to the greener pastures of Jaded and Other Side. Ah, good times ♥
I think I was even more exhausted than I felt. Even though I’ve been a wreck this past week, and at the verge of tears constantly, more or less because of stress and my hard drive. So when I woke up today I was in complete shock: It was noon. I never sleep longer than ten, so it was a bit distrurbing, especially since I have so much stuff I need to do today. Which I’m gonna start in a moment.
The real point to this post was just to share the cosplay photos I uploaded yesterday:
For the time being, these are the only photos I have from the September test-shooting. I’d put them in my dA stash, so they weren’t lost with everything else.
Hopefully I’ll be able to have the rest recovered… ^^;;
Anyway, this shoot was so much fun, but a bit of a challenge. It was POURING that day, and our Atsushi couldn’t make it, so we were a bit impaired, but we decided to at least check out the location. Good thing we did, as we have a much better idea of how to do the actual photoshoot now. But the weather just kept getting worse, and it was freezing, so we just had to call it quits after the first test, but some of the pics were really good. These are two of my favorites. Though, my hair is obviously not Maaya-like at all atm, so I need to cut it again and shape it properly. >_>
Anyway, we’re having another shoot on Friday, hoping it will be even better.
But first, it’s another round of studying.
Have a good day everyone~
Filed under: Daily life | Tags: lgbt-rights, rambles, stress, transgender, transgender day of remembrance
The good news; I finished NaNo. On the 13th. My goal had been getting it done on the 11th, to be one day faster than last year, and to get it out of the way before my huge literature test, but that didn’t happen. Sadly, I haven’t been able to write a word since then. I’ve either been too tired to function, or working my ass off for school. It’s incredibly hectic at the moment, and some brief hours of social contact on Thursday were fantastic. It was also fantastic to have a day of school where all we did was blow things up and eat popcorn.. But I digress.
Coming up on Monday is my English Written exam, so right now I should be finding source material and getting ready. The semester assignment is still gnawing at the back of my head, Oral Exam on the 5th, and I have all this other stuff that needs to be finished, but I have no time to prepare for anything. So sadly, writing is being pushed to the bottom of my list for once…
On top of that, my external harddrive crashed yesterday. I lost an entire day of preparation because I was freaking out over it. Hopefully we can replace the cabinet adn save the data, but if we can’t…. I’ve lost some really important stuff. Including most of my photos (and cosplay shoots ;w;) and videos. Why oh why did I always postpone backup?!
Worst part is, I thought I had backed up everything up until this year at least, but I don’t know where this backup is! So chances are I didn’t… >______<"
I honestly just want to cry.
Thankfully, no writing was lost, as that's on a different harddrive, but..Most of what was on the disc can be replaced (series, music videos etc), but my photos. *agonizes*
This wasn't at all what I wanted to post about, I'm just completely overcome by despair at this point. TT___TT
I was going to talk about NaNo, and give you some insight in the story I was writing, and talk about some other things, but since my mind is jumbled, I can't remember what they were.
Just in case I can't get on tomorrow, remember that it's Transgender Day of Remembrance tomorrow, on the 20th. We’ve posted about it before (Maaya Says 2009, 2010), and it doesn’t feel right letting it pass by without mentioning it. Please take a moment to read the website, or light a candle for those who have lost their lives for the cause, and those who fight for it every day. The first step on the way is educating one another, and respecting each other.
Well then, I’ll go back to studying, and I’ll do my best to keep my head above water for the next few days…
Filed under: Daily life, facebook | Tags: daily life, facebook, procrastination, rambles, stress, writing
or not. I am so tired! That literature test was so much easier than I had anticipated, but that doesn’t help the fact that I studied like mad for two days, lost sleep over it and panicked about not knowing enough. I woke up this morning before my alarm rang because I was dreaming of Norwegian realists. Frightening stuff. However, it went reaaally well, so I’m happy. although I’m being really paranoid about whether or not I corrected a stupid mistake I made. I know I blanked it out, but I can’t remember if I wrote the correct term afterwards……. Also, yay for coming to school and seeing everyone reading that interview… Aiyaa~
Anyway, I was hoping (and planning systematically) to finish NaNo today. I’ve got about 9k left, and I really want to get them done today. But, as I’ve spent the past hours doing everything else, it doesn’t look like I’ll get around to it. I’m just completely drained from all the studying and lack of sleep this past week, so we’ll see… In any case I’m going to finish the story as soon as possible. My schedule is way too crowded, and I’m freaking out. Christmas Vacation, hurry up!!
I also just realized that letting Maaya log onto fb (after midnight his time… tsk tsk) today might not be very clever. After all, they will have no clue about the big 11/11/11 thing. Hn, sometimes I wonder if I should just let them operate with recent dates, but it doesn’t sit right with me.
In any case, people already think I’m strange for making fb-profiles for them (which again, are not all operated by me). But remember that it’s all in good fun, and if you chat with them and they don’t know what something is, it’s the timeline.. :’3
Why am I talking about this? I have no clue.
Really, I’m exhausted. But caffeine helped.
I got this from a friend in my class, but I haven’t tried it yet~
For tonight, unless I actually decide to get a move on with Other Side, I’m going to relax like never before. I’m thinking food orgy, Last Live and possibly nintendo. Guh~♥
Remember a couple of weeks ago, I made a tweet about having been jumped by a paparazzi?
Probably not, but I made one.
It was so strange, I was on my way home, and I was just thinking about the article a local paper did on me and SNOW when it first came out, and then just as I was approaching my own street, that very journalist jumped out of a car in front of me! Haha.
We got to talking, and he was wondering if he could do a follow-up, so I was like “okay.”
And he was all “let’s get some photos.”
“What, now?!” I said.
So yes…Inpromptu photoshoot in the street, after I was returning from school and having walked for an hour..Needless to say, it’s not the best photo (and my scanner decided to honor it by messing a little with the colors). Anyway, in the end the piece he did was a very casual one, with random questions for a regular column in the new local paper “Heimdalsbladet” (For Norwegians: Gratismagasin som omfatter Heimdal-Tiller-Byneset-Selsbak og flere nærliggende regioner), so it’s nothing major. It was an e-mail based interview as well, so I was less flustered this time.
The paper came out yesterday, and looks like this:
The funny thing was that I agreed to do this although I was so embarrassed about the last interview, because I’m not really fond of attention, and I was just thinking about it, but I still agreed to do it. Temporarily insane, that’s what it’s called. But it was fun still.
Does this mean I’m a celebrity now? Getting jumped in the street like that? Haha~ (笑)
I’m kidding~
But yes, so for anyone interested, pick the paper up if you see it. Or, click on the link below:
Heimdalsbladet-Nov11 (pdf)
Sorry it got mangled, the page was too big for my scanner, so I had to scan the two separate halves..^^; And the picture…ugh.
Also, I just want to make sure to remark that any typos are not mine, naturally it’s supposed to say Battle Royale and Kazuo Ishiguro.
Other than that, it’s pretty accurate to the answers I gave.
I’m going to resume my studying now, but if anyone’d like I can translate it to English later?
Well then, hnnngh, I’ll just bury myself. Have a good day~
