[ Oasis in the Desert ]

stuff and things

2009-08-07T03:07:22Z

To all those in on the surprise for Elemental = Operation : Let there be ~~Bowls of Meat~~ Shiny Camera-ness is a success. Thank you again to all who donated, assisted with secret interrogations, kept the secret safe and participated in the ruse. Amanda is a pile of melting goo right now, which was the anticipated side-effect!

Maple = Just let us know when we can steal you away and what -you- want to do.

Dez = I totally owe you a (coherent) reply, too.

To everybody wanting new zips = we have the next batch finally, and I'm sticking them up online as soon as we're back in the US.

To those going to Archon = we're so going to do the masq...and we get to pull out the big guns. Literally. >;D

catch-up, once again

2009-07-21T17:23:51Z

In recent times, Saeru and I have been trying to stay afloat on working at cons and commissions, and doing random Good Deeds as we've been traveling around. As of right now, I've finally kicked out Sae...who went on some kind of vision quest to prep for world domination, and is currently living with Hibbary and Paul. As for myself (especially after this morning with hellish logistics surprises) I would actually rate myself as not doing well overall. Not outright nearly neurotic like last year...but not mentally optimal in any sense. There is much to be said about that, but I'll skip it for now. Just in general, please understand that I have not had any consistent calmness in a very long time, and have missed out on numerous plans that I've really wanted to partake in this year.

Thus: I have totally missed a ton of comments that people have been leaving in bizarre places in regards to kinda important concerns. I don't have e-mail notifications for really anything, so I'm going around and physically weeding through everything, everywhere, now. As you can see, I'm on the lj messages stage now (which is amazing how insanely full this inbox is! I thought it would discourage people to contact me via lj if I disabled my journal comments. Wow...that back-fired. ^_^; It's okay, guys, I still love you. Just...sorry you had to wait.)

- If we were in the middle of scheming up something, and I didn't get back to you, very likely forces beyond my personal control nullified the plan &/or I didn't have any further info to report back. Everyone in this situation is getting a status report in any case soon. Thanks for your patience.

- If you wanted to buy something &/or make a commission, please ask Saeru. Even if I'm painting it...because I cannot value anything I make. ^_^; Asking for a price instantly shuts me down.

- If you wanted cosplay advice, please use the nice formula of "experimented with X and Y already, do you think Z is a good idea?" and I will answer pretty much right away. Please don't ask how I made a costume, start to finish - it's overwhelming for me, and useless to you (since my materials are random and my techs are bizarre.) Feel free to ask a bunch of little questions, but they should all be specific, and also be treated as "inspiration" rather than "tutorial."

- If you have been trying to PM me on cosplay.com...please don't. That tiny inbox fills up faster than I can go through it, and I've been missing out on a lot of undelivered messages that way. Also, I love getting comments on stuff that I upload to cosplay.com, flickr and dA - but please try to avoid posting questions that are time-sensitive or business related there. I don't rabidly check activity everyday, and more often than not, I can distracted from any of those sites for long intervals in between.

In conclusion: if you have to contact me about anything....please, please email me directly ( sniperdusk [at] gmail [dot] com ) because it's the only way I'm sure to see it, keep track of it, and respond in a timely manner. Thanks, everyone.

at Colossalcon

2009-06-05T02:34:02Z

So...there are camels outside our patio.
I was just expecting a big pool or two...but this place is crazy amazing.
Not only is there (living) wildlife randomly tucked away in strange corners, staff in pith helmets and life-size rhino butts sticking out of the walls, the restaurant (for some reason) was blasting MCHammer videos during lunch.

I don't think Ohio has any right to be so epically bizarre. Next year, I don't want to be stuck in the dealers' room. XD

pseudo-twitter feed

2009-06-01T00:00:46Z

I'm supposed to post more, apparently! (I'll update later with proper reports on the Fabyan shoot and Castle-con!)

Currently:

"Cleveland: We're not Detroit!"
Went to wal-mart for toiletries, accidentally came back with Caboose...(which means I have nothing holding me back from cranking out Doc and Wash sometime...)
All weddings should be neon-green themed! & on farms! And completely cute and stress-free! (What a great time, and I was just on strobe-duty.)
"State the person's words exactly. Don't misspell or misuse any of the words that are included in your quote. Write the quoted material exactly as it was stated." (How to quote a source)
Also...new exclusive info on Xion...? I don't have a problem with it. At all. Try being a fan of Angel Sanctuary or Xenogears sometime, guys. This isn't weird ENOUGH for Kingdom Hearts, if you ask me.

So. Yay. Art. Finally.

2009-04-14T11:10:50Z

For only the third time in my internet life, I am going to openly endorse a site = Artician.com

A couple days ago, I received a random invite, and I was all set to ignore it and move on with my life, but it was such a polite request, I took a poke at it and have since become all excited about it.

It rocks so much it actually got me to post more than a one-liner in lj for once!

Well, okay...right now, it is still charmingly buggy, but I'm very impressed with what I'm seeing so far. This is exactly the sort of site I've been waiting for...somewhere between a comprehensible portfolio-share and an actually *fun* social network for artists. I don't think this is for everybody, but I predict this is finally the dA-alternative we've been waiting 4+ years to come along. If you have any sort of at least semi-professional portfolio, this is worth investigating :

It has a friendly but compelling multi-navigation that reminds me of Etsy, a Flickr-like set and tag-system, and a search engine that actually seems to work. Thumbnail rotation and cross-pollination exposure is immense already...which means "popular" submissions won't eternally detract from constant variety and most-favorited items won't dominate browsing.
Customization...on an art site! Profiles can actually have a personalized (but still legible and site-coherent) color-scheme and lay-out. Nice available starter skins and the ability to mess around in CSS, too.
Easy to comment, reply to, fav and link-share. You can embed thumbnails into posts even. Looks like unlimited storage, too. (We'll see if the rating-star system ends up being a good idea, though....)
Rockin inspirational palette-break-down under each image. Such a simple little thing that makes it uber-obvious this site is intended for designers.
I dig the option to import feeds (which effectively replaces Facebook for me, actually...)
Mostly, I love the possibility that I'll finally have the chance to actually post my ART somewhere. My actual, personal illustration work that I've kept off of deviantArt for years and years because I was terrified of their ToS regarding copyright ownership. (I don't intend to fully abandon dA because there is - and always probably will be - a good fandom community there...but since I've regulated it to fan-art and cosplay submissions only, I had no place to post my completely original artwork.)

Traveling Photo Parties

2009-03-12T04:32:31Z

As a VAL and all-purpose minion of Elemental, I am obligated to inform all of up-coming schemes to bring EPIC photo ops to you.
Starting at ACen for a few weeks, the US will once again be kidnapping Amanda and forcing her to photograph Midwest cosplayers (and their alien associates) in fun and exotic locales.

We're going to try to accommodate as many regions/locations and times as possible, so if you have a suggestion, let her know the details as soon as you are able so we can work it into the circuit - which so far plans to include Chicago, Springfield/Champaign, St. Louis and Ohio-ish.

This is the official warning, delivered in plenty of time so no one misses out this round. XD

Check out her special "traveling" lj for more delicious details = elemental_shoot

Organization XIII at Ohayo!

2009-02-08T03:37:43Z

The Fallen are the Virtuous by ~Elemental-Sight

Organization Assembled by ~8-13

Better shots later, but this is a good start!

COSPLAY DOCUMENTARY (older, longer clip + action teaser)

2009-01-11T15:47:02Z

This is the original older longer trailer. (I guess Craig was showing it publicly last ACen...?) And the second clip here is the quickie exciting teaser.
The windmill part is -not- green-screen...we were actually there for a whole day filming that. Also, I am a dumb-looking Riku. XP But the Sandman bit kicks ass.
Um...yep.
Pinata. XD

free website goodies

2009-01-11T11:13:12Z

Dreamhost is giving out free website-y services (for forever) if you help them beta test their new webaps right now. This seems to include hosting of things like a "WordPress Blog, Drupal Site, Zenphoto Gallery, Mediawiki Wiki, and/or PhpBB Forum" with full customizing and no ads ever. I thought in particular people might care about the WordPress part in case LiveJournal does end up crashing in a firy pool of death in the near future.

Anyway, if anyone wanted to ever set up the like for their sites, I'm going to pass along the free codes (since I already have my site hosted with them, I get all this stuff included anyway, so I don't need the invites) = http://blog.dreamhost.com/2009/01/09/free-hosting-from-dreamhost-is-here/

PURE VISION FILMS: COSPLAY DOCUMENTARY PROMO 2008!

2009-01-10T20:36:37Z

NYAF 2008 - #09 What To Do on a Date Kingdom Hearts 2

2009-01-10T14:29:29Z

Elemental tribute

2009-01-01T05:57:55Z

I don't think I've ever posted to any community I've ever joined on lj, but I just did to cosplay and I realized that I'm the only one not selling old stuff nor demanding references. ^_^; Well...in case you ignore that community like I do, here's an x-post =

viewpoints had a rather terrible last month, so I made her a little gift to cheer her up and let her know how much we all appreciate all her amazing work for us. Please check out the article here to see some of the highlights from (mostly) 2008 = news at deviantArt

(& finally, my paid account expired! Yay, so now I'll feel like posting more...)

virtual stocking

2008-12-24T14:01:50Z

Some presents for you kooky Christians or those who just worship a guy who's name is Greg....

When I was on the phone with Sae (who I finally got to talk to!) I was tossing my camera at my parents' Tree of Death (it's coated in lead and covered in dangerously hot bulbs) and got some cheesy fun light streaks. So now you can enjoy some psychedelic colors without outside additives.

Music share, mostly topical...

- Merry Christmas...If That's Okay from MST's "Santa Claus (v.s. the Devil)"
...traditional and self-explanatory

- (Let's Have) A Patrick Swayze Christmas from MST's "Santa Claus v.s. the Martians"
...also equally traditional and self-explanatory

- The Song Is You from "The Saddest Music In The World"
...Perhaps because nothing says the holidays like glass legs filled with beer, glamorized depression and hockey players dancing with a nymphomaniac...yep...this is a *really* cute song considering the rest of the movie. ^_^;

- December by The Echoing Green
...This one isn't a parody, and also not specifically holiday related...just winter-y. One of my favorite perky songs (even though I guess it's supposed to be sad...?)

- Walking in the Air by Nightwish
...This actually -is- a Christmas song, but I think only Europeans know that.

- Return to You by Visions of Atlantis
...A ridiculously gorgeous song that goes from creepy-melancholy to amazingly inspirational. This is what holiday music -should- sound like.

& Happy Hogswatch...

( BTW, if anyone out there receives a nice shiny new PS3 tomorrow, please consider selling me your old PS2...? I have to replace mine for the fourth time now. ;_; )

I'm just going to send this one up there

2008-12-10T13:13:54Z

Hope somebody notices this... ^_-

Good morning, Angels...

RE:CoM...english grades

2008-12-08T11:38:39Z

Soooo...
Re:CoM in English

Larxene is pretty much totally okay - not superbly stellar, but appropriate. You'd have to actively try really hard to screw up her voice, though. Her voice actor's most notable role was for Arcia from Chaos Legion - which I did not much care for her work in. She's much better here.

Marluxia (and it is unfortunately "marLOOsha") is...interesting. I like his voice a lot for being absolutely neutral, but it isn't perfect for him. I'm glad he has a very obviously male voice, but he just isn't hardcore enough. I was hoping for creepy soft like Yazoo or creepy slow like Gaara. I also think his voice actor did better in the beginning scene being all poetic and mysterious and then just got really confused or distracted later on (was probably like..."why the hell do I have pink hair?" or something...)

Axel...um...*if* we are to believe that Quinton is actually still responsible for this fellow, he must have forgotten what his Axel voice sounds like. Like...utterly and totally. Or something bizarre must happen in 358/2 Days that completely alters Axel's demeanor. Oh well...whatever. It's just Axel.
( & they did change "Commit it to memory" to the lamer english catch-phrase. XP The writing is so much more entertaining overall on the original GBA version. )

Zexion...the first thing I thought was that his actor speaks like Ryuu! And...then I looked him up on the cast list...and his most notable role is....Darien from SM. *gak* Ignoring that, I don't hate him at all! And considering he was going up against Akira Ishida, that is quite a feat. (Actually, it's kinda nice that Zexion is no longer *instantly* overwritten with Hakkai or Judeau in my brain.)

Lexaeus...so speaking about Hojo, his voice actor's most notable role is Weiss from Dirge. XD Yeah, again, you have to go out of your way to miscast Lex. I have no problems here. He has a sexy gargoylesque rumble, as was to be expected.

And finally...Vexen did a fairly good job! (He thankfully sounds way cooler than his work as XS's Chaos but I still prefer his voice as Oswald.) Considering this could have potentially gone in horrible Hojo directions, his actor actually understood his character some. I don't want to chain him to the bed, but I also don't want to punch him, either. So hooray for absolutely *no* creepy pedophile vibes, but he could have upped the British-ness a notch, and increased the "no, I really -do- know everything" prissiness by a bit too. ("Demon. Hello.") So...doesn't make me melt into a puddle of glee, but also doesn't make me renounce my Vexen fetish.

For the lazy or those who hate card-based battle systems or those whose PS2's are broken = http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BA1eWGbK7e0

zipper sighting!

2008-12-05T09:30:26Z

We finally dug up an online store that is selling at least one of the Marios Schwab designs from last year to feature our zips =
http://www.brownsfashion.com/product/92113.htm
And half off now at only $900-some dollars! - Perhaps because anyone who spends $1800 on a dress wants their nipples covered up...? XD

How are we ever going to explain to Nomura that it is directly his fault that fashionable bra-less-minded chicks can live in a world wherein exist giant zipper spines...?

Also, by the way and weirder still...since the displays are now up (although we don't know exactly where)...if anyone spots the holiday-season WALLS of DOOM for MAC Cosmetics (&/or Estee Lauder &/or Ulta for those outside Canada) snipe us a shot with your camera, please! We spent too much time working on those obscenely long zips (and went way too insane dealing with FedEx losing about a third of them) that I don't want to miss seeing them in action.

They're red, and covered in giant zippers and supposedly people pop in and out of them....to symbolize the make-up of your soul phasing in and out of the Purse of Life. (Yeah, we don't get it exactly either.) This is what they look like = http://www.orgxiii.org/zippers/gallery3.html

tcejbus

2008-11-25T00:20:42Z

Dear Demon:

I can either fold my ears into three, spirit gum them flat against my head, and possibly construct a latex appliance to utterly delete them...or wear some applicable head gear. Input is appreciated.

Dear Angel:

It's 74 degrees in here, and I'm not cold for once. I was hanging around outside, too, and still no adverse effects. I hope I'm not dying. Or perhaps I'm cured.

quick Youmacon notes

2008-11-14T22:43:37Z

Always a little late on these things.
Here is the typed up list of winners for the Youmacon 2008 hallway cosplay = http://www.cosplay.com/journal/2524/

As much as I like judging, accidentally getting stuck behind stage helping to load on the masq contestants was even more fulfilling. (What we've noticed about Youmacon is that there is very little communication between departments, but everything appears to sync up somehow.) This is also the first con I got to honestly have decent conversations with lots of people I wanted to, not feeling rushed and still getting work accomplished. But really, the best part of the weekend was ~~being a portable lighting slave~~ assisting with Elemental's photoshoots. ^_-

Soul Edge arm XD

2008-11-14T10:59:27Z

This is most excellent :

My prop was used as a reference to make this tattoo!

interjection

2008-11-05T10:18:34Z

Thanks to stephen_poon for reminding me = the Video Games Live Concert at the Chicago Theater on the 15th = http://www.thechicagotheatre.com/events/video-games-live-1109.html
I'm going to buy tickets tomorrow morning, so if anyone was interested in coming along, we can try to get seats together....?

I think the universe is harmonizing.

2008-11-05T01:47:04Z

So right now I'm watching the news simultaneously along with old Power Rangers episodes. It's amazing how much they enhance each other really.

Youmacon stuff for tomorrow...

soft reset

2008-11-03T08:47:25Z

After prodding from many various persons at Youmacon last weekend, a few items were decided upon:

Firstly...
I'm going to restart this journal one more time, now with more rapid-fire entries so I stop burning myself out as in previous incarnations.
If you're all down with that, stick around, yo.

And secondly...
I guess I'm going to Ohayocon. For fun. To like...cosplay and stuff.

START-SELECT

2008-05-23T11:17:42Z

So.
No one is allowed to be broken.
Today's assignment is to be excellent to each other and facilitate awesomeness for all, to the best of your ability.

Gin - Drew Bunting = link
Your Song - from Moulin Rouge = link
Defying Gravity - from Wicked = link
Supernova - the Echoing Green = link
God Gave Rock -n- Roll to You II - KISS = link
You Can't Stop the Beat - from Hairspray = link

Live.

I kinda wonder what Psychs these would give, too...

2008-05-06T23:49:39Z

secret preview by ~8-13

I just took this quick photo yesterday to give a shout that "Hey, we're going to be in the Artist Alley. Here are some cute things we're bringing."

And now we're inexplicably front-paging on deviantArt with this silly thing. O_o;
(Like...that only ever happened once a few years ago when Nightmare got Daily Deviated. I didn't think -normal- random silly fanartish stuff ever got up there.)
People are crazy.
Wow.

So, well..."Hey, we're going to be in the Artist Alley. Here are some cute things we're bringing."
I hope we're not sold out before the con. ^_^;
And yes...there will be some non-KH/FF characters coming up. I'm working on drawing up some Guilty Gear and Soul Calibur ones right now. If anyone out there has suggestions, please let me know.

In other Artist Alley news...

* Harl has expanded the line of Org shirts, too!
10 out of 13 isn't bad. ^_-

* Saeru's famous Heartless Hats are back.
Neo-shadows and Dusk versions coming soon.

* Next up = ACen
& then, at least = AX, AnimeIowa, Fanexpo/CNAnime, & Youmacon

zipper coverage

2008-02-02T09:40:29Z

There was a vague mention of it before, but here is the official photo coverage of our giant zippers appearing in the Marios Schwab runway show at London Fashion Week 2007. They were originally created specifically for cosplay use (you know, for all those annoying Kingdom Hearts designs) so it's surreal to see them appear so massively out of context.
Now, all those European chicks with a fetish for industrial-sized zipper spinal cords have Nomura to thank, I guess.

Listening to = The Dirty Boogie by the Brian Setzer Orchestra