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Man, I suck at blogging at the moment. I keep being busy at the weekends (this weekend was spent traipsing around London with Deborah's friends from Milan), and I keep being busy during the week by trying to catch up on all the sleep that I missed at the weekends.

On the agenda at the moment:
- Trying to draw more Clematis. I'll try to get a new page up by the end of today.
- Cooking dinner (OMG, why does this take so much time?)
- Ironing and packing to go home for the bank holiday weekend
- Reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian
- Watching all the anime series that I'm behind on (too many)
- Sorting out a graduate loan for myself
- Writing letters (yes, this is on my agenda, I will try to write them at some point)
- Wasn't I supposed to be changing the layout of this page?
- Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeping

Apologies for a lack of business lately. It's a combination of being busy at the weekends and the start of the new anime season, meaning that I have lots of things to watch and little time to watch them.

Quickly - new series what are good:
- Darker than Black: Interesting story and sleazy music. YES
- Toward the Terra: ok so I've only watched the first one of these, but it is intersting so far.

new series what might be good:
- Romeo x Juliet: WHY ARE THERE FLYING HORSES?
- Kotetsu Sangokushi: All I know is that there is a character with Tamaki/Light's voice who looks a little constipated all the time. I forsee angst.

new series what are rubbish:
too many to mention

AND A SPECIAL MENTION GOES TO BEAT by Justice
An awwwwwweeeeesome song

So, I'm really here to talk about Tsubasa chapter 151. I've been wanting to fanart this chapter all day, so here it is (SPOILERS AHEAD)

Full story »

Here. More on everything later, once I've slept and stuff.

Hey everyone!

My spirits are up because the weather is beautiful like summer, and the evenings are light, and there is blossom in the trees. But my spirits are also sluggish because I am tired, despite sleeping away yesterday afternoon in front of a documentary about the Amazon jungle.

Theresa and Deborah came to visit for the weekend, and we did lots of fun things that involved being out in the nice weather. This included buying Hagen-Dazs ice-creams for lots of expense (but oh so nice), and going to the zoo! I've not been to London zoo for abot 10 years, so it was quite nice to go again (but so expensive ohgod). Funnily enough, the aquarium was one of the most interesting parts; woah, look at that coral go! Other highlights were the otters and the meercats; they were so cute! Seriously, I want a meercat for my very own right now.

Photos (they're not so good because I forgot my camera and had to use my phone...one-handed because I was holding stuff):

Other things:
Death Note episode 25 was great. I think I actually lost sleep over it; even though I knew that SPOILERS were going to happen sometime (because it was impossible not to run into them on the internets). L is great (but live action movie!L is greater). Do we find out L backstory? I want to know what makes him tick! Also, L and Light have a moment, which is very gay, which involves a wet T-shirt competition, in which L pretends to be Jesus, like, really. I'm not sure on cultural differences, but I wonder if it is as easy for the Japanese audience to spot the Jesus references as it is for Western audiences.
Also, how alike are Light and L? They really are two sides of the same coin. I don't think there's anyone that could actually get closer to Light than L. I think Light will feel the *spoiler* more accutely than he realises; or maybe he is just an evil bastard. Who knows?

Other other things:
The opening of Code Geass if it were a harem anime. - This is made of brilliant. It fits to a scary degree. Crikey. And there's a second version, in which Lelouch singing makes my brain hurt.

Serious things:
I just checked the news and, wow. How many kids are going to have to die before America does something about its gun laws?

Well I had a nice Easter at home with my parents. Not as nice a last Easter, which I spent in Rome, obviously, but still nice enough. Also, I got a Lindt Lindor Easter egg, so my stomach is happy. The weather has been beautiful and we went and did lots of walking in the English countryside, which is just coming into spring now (there are baby lambs everywhere).

Places we walked:
- A little place along the Thames that was fairly near Medmenham. I was a little excited over this, but I don't think that any cross-dressing, occult, french knights are there now.

- Waddesdon manor. This is a big country house that was built in the style of a french chateau. It does look more fariytale castle than English manor house. The house was built by Ferdinand de Rosthchild and, good on him, there are big F's all over the facade. If I ever build my own house, I think I'm going to build it in the shape of a big J.

- pictures:

I have come to the conclusion that I like to take photos with a lot of sky in them.

Other things I did:
- Watched loads of UKTV History. Why do I not watch this when I'm back home?
- Saw some relatives and discovered that my cousin Richard is a scary likeness of my Dad's late uncle Les.
- Queued 20 minutes for an ice-cream :E
- Stole Borrowed the new Kings of Leon and Maximo Park albums from my parents
- Re-read part of The Ladies of Grace Adieu for want of anything else to do. I'd really like to read more about this universe from Susanna Clarke (shame I missed her radio drama that was on not too long ago). People I'd like to read more about: Alessandro Simonelli, Tom Brightwind, and John Uskglass.
- Nearly started to write a cross-over between Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and Code Geass. It was to be titled The use of fairy magic during the Japanese war of independence: a study of Lelouch Li Britannia. But then I realised that it is possible to take things TOO FAR, so I let the idea go.

More Lelouch (click for big):

I think I need more practice at drawing from this angle (or any angle for that matter).

So, I was colouring this while listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela and I was reminded, once again, how much their music fits Code Geass, and Lelouch in particular. The flamenco-style music is

- fast-paced
- passionate
- flamboyant
- dramatic

The only other things it needs are

- screams like a girl and
- wears tiny pants

and it'd be Lelouch down to a T.

Reet-o, I have to go catch a train to go visit my parents. Have a nice Easter folks!

Right right, so ok, right, yes. I've updated Clematis right, yes, here you go, ok, good job. Well, this page was a long time in coming. This week I had to force myself to finish it. I was very strict and ruled that, until I finished the new Clematis page, I wasn't allowed draw any more Lelouch. It seemed to work.

In other drawing news I drew a birthday picture for Linda's birthday birthday. Here it is (cleeeck for beeeg):

To cut a long story short; this picture is a new version of a picture that I drew for Linda years ago.

SO I HAD ANOTHER DREAM LAST NIGHT

This one was just as disturbing as the last. It was another one of those I'm pregnant and going to have a freaking baby dreams. Do other girls get those as often as I seem to? (Although they'd been on haitus for about a year before this one.) Do boys get these sorts of dreams? Anyway, it went a little something like this:

So I woke up one morning, and realised, to my horror, that I was pregnant. It was still very early days mind, but you know, you can't dawdle about these things. After a bit of mindless panic I concluded that I have to have an abortion! All the people were like Are you sure? And I was like Hell yes, I can't be having a baby now! And the Dad, who was some kind of a biological scientist type, and had glasses, and was German (no, I have no idea either, especially since up until this point the whole thing had been some kind of immaculate conception deal), he was all You can't just get an abortion, it's my baby too; you can't just decide to kill it by yourself. And I was all:
a) I'm too poor to have a baby
b) I can't do this now, I'm too young, I can't lose my youth so quickly!
c) It's my freaking body and you're not dictating what I do with it ABORT ABORT ABORT

And then I woke up. It's one of those ones where it takes you a few seconds after you wake up to realise that it was, thank God, all a dream (bwahaha, I was so happy to have my freedom and my figure back this morning).

So this is a bit of a change for me. Normally I have one of those sort of dreams and then wake up really saddened to realise that I don't, in fact, have a baby. This time was completely the opposite; I think my brain has come to the conclusion that I'm not ready to have children yet, no way, not at all. Phew.

Right I've held back for this long, I'm going to have to talk about Code Geass now
Because, at the moment, every day is Code Geass day. Hooray!
So firstly I was all: NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!! How long do I have to wait to see the final two episodes of the season?
Then I was all: THIS SHOW IS AMAZING

I am well excited with the development of vengance!Suzaku; he's suddenly become a lot more interesting. And does Suzaku know that Lelouch is Zero?? Does he know? Because half of me thinks he does. And half of me hopes he doesn't, because I want to see his reaction when he does find out, and MAYBE HE WILL CRY. Hmmmm, my prediction is that one of them is going to have to die before this is all over, maybe both, or maybe the whole cast should die to make the whole thing some kind of Shakespearean tradgedy (and if I ever compare Code Geass to Shakespeare again, please hit me).

Lelouch character analysis go:
But does Lelouch not realise, does he not realise, that in everything he is doing, he is becoming everything that he despises? What with all the war and the killing of siblings and the doing everything he can to ensure that he comes out on top: his father must be very proud that his son is such a chip off the old block. Because when it comes down to it, if Lelouch gets what he wants and overthrows the current government of Britannia, does that not make him the new emperor? And won't he have risen to the top in the exact bloody fashion that a good Britannian emperor should? I think maybe that Lelouch is too fixed on his goals to see what it really is that he is doing.

Annnd Lelouch likes to hold that his reason for everything is to protect Nunally. I think he's lying to himself. Sure, Nunally is a part of the reason. But I think that for the most part he is seeking revenge against his father for his dead mother, his injured sister, and, more importantly, HIS WOUNDED PRIDE.

So, um, to stop analysing this so deeply, because it isn't worth it, what I really can't wait to see is the battle between the best friends/worst enimies both out for super revenge yes!

And Finally
I watched the first episode of FLCL on the insistence of Steve's sister Jess.
What on Earth where the makers of this show smoking when they made it? It makes no sense whatsoever and also manages to be completely and utterly cool. My verdict = win!

Hay guys,

Today's post is kind of unprecedented. I am going to post fanfic.

I still need to practice my writing a hell of a lot, but I thought I might give this one an outing on the internet anyway.

This fic is entirely in response to Tsubasa chapter 148. It's a 'what could happen next' scenario, and will therefore be completely wrong by the time the next chapter comes out.

Also, if you haven't guessed already, this fic contains major spoilers for Tsubasa chapter 148. Be warned.

Full story »

I AM MASHING MY KEYBOARD IN SHOCK

And there'll be more on that story later.

Soo...... Code Geass 22
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *intake of breath* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAOHGODOHGODHA!
Has Code Geass become a farce now? No wait, don't answer that.
And she had a machine gun!!! HAHAHA!

I feel really ashamed to say it, but Code Geass may well be my favourite anime at the moment (well, tied with Death Note, because Death Note is made of awesome). The problem is that I want to be all high-brow and sophisticated, but Code Geass keeps pulling me back for more. It works because it has a few things:

1. A plot that, while slightly ridiculous, is both engaging and entertaining.
2. Consistantly good animation and nice character design.
3. Fanservice for everyone!

Watching Code Geass kinda feels like being wooed with the cheesiest chat-up lines known to man, and falling for it hook, line and sinker.

Code Geass: Do you have a map? I just keep on getting lost in your eyes.
Me: ... hurhurhur #^^#

I AM GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY DREAM
Now I know that some of you hate to hear about my dreams. But last night's one was fairly vivid, so I'm going to share it here. Hey, you know when you keep remembering your dream during the day, and it makes you a little queasy each time? Yeah, it was one of those.
I think I can work out where part of the dream from; I walked into a bannister the other day, and have quite a large bruise on my upper arm, which has gone through a variety of colours. I haven't had a bruise this large in a long while, so I think it's been playing on my mind. So, onto the dream:

I was still working in science, and was doing a scientific experiment on myself. The experiment involved using a vein that went from the bruise on my arm to the knuckle of my forefinger. The vein was stopped (somehow) so that blood didn't flow through it, and it was filled instead with a sugar solution. The bees and flies were then released. They flocked to the vein on my arm because of the sugar solution; a particular number of them landed on my knuckles. I didn't like this part of the experiment, it was a bit scary, and the bee stings were painful. After a short while, the bees and flies were sucked off with a hoover. The data collection part of the experiment involved counting how many bee stings I had gotten on my hand.

And that was it. What the experiment was testing I don't know. But it still makes me feel a bit funny to think of it.

And now for something completely different:

fhdhjhhfjghfdlsafhahgagjfhgdghfdjghdf1!!!11!11

I MASH MY KEYBOARD MASH MASH MASH.

This is all due to Tsubasa chapter 148. Spoilers ahead:

Full story »

I am ALL WRONG today! Curse you British Summer Time! It's all your fault that I woke up at 1:30pm. Because you took away an hour of my life! Seriously, I didn't finish getting dressed until 4 in the afternoon. And now it is half-past 10 and I haven't done anything.

I'm watching Northanger Abbey at the moment. It reminds me of how gay it was in Bath, with all the elegant balls, and the dancing, and the charming young landed gentlemen, and the...oh wait. What about the tourists, and the students, and caddies?
I'm enjoying the costumes though.

Speaking of which, I really am drawing more of Clematis. I really am. But if only I would stop spending all my time drawing Lelouch.

He's looking kind of regal here, which is quite suitable really; I couldn't be bothered to look up an references for his clothing, so I just made something vaguely old-school-y up.
Now, Lelouch is quite a temptation to draw. Because he has a very pretty, Kamui-like, character design, but that doesn't come through quite so much in the anime. So, the challenge is to draw Lelouch as pretty as he deserves; I haven't managed it yet, but I like to think that I'm getting there slowly.

Other things that I have been doing recently:
- Went to Portobello Road market
- Went to go see the Royal Ballet (the first ballet I've seen!)
- Watched the History Boys film

- also, ponced about in front of the camera for a bit:

LOOOSER! Srsly.

Because lists are easier than prose:

1. Went to see my parents this weekend. I got my Mum some books for Mother's Day. Because I'm so thoughtful, I bought her books that I would like to read, rather than take the time to consider what she might want to read.

2. Watched some old-school Marx Brothers at home. Namely, Duck Soup. Here's a clip, showcasing some great physical comedy. It's amazing to think that this film was made in the early 1930s.

3. Also watched The Lion King, which was my all-time favourite movie for almost my whole childhood. I still know parts of it word for word. It's still great.

4. I went crazy yesterday and cleaned the whole bathroom. Then I had a bath, which is very nice on a cold day.

5. The weather is mental at the moment. It felt like summer last week. This week it feels like all the seasons in one. In the past two days we have had, bright sunshine, pouring rain, sleet, snow, hail, loads of wind. I almost thought the world was ending yesterday; and that we'd have to hole up in the library and fight wolves until my Dad came to rescue me; then I realised that we're not in The Day After Tomorrow.

6. I'm going to draw today. I haven't drawn any of Clematis since I got the internet back. But I've no more back-log of anime to catch up on now, so it's drawing for me.

7. I think it's about time I change the layout of this site don't you think? Now I know last time that people were jealous because Nick was my model for the photo. Therefore you now have your chance. If you really want to have yourself on the layout, then send me a lovely picture and I'll see what I can do (within the bounds of my procrastination and laziness of course).

Things to do:

1. Take out a loan for £12000
2. Don't spend any money for the next 8 years
3. ohgodohgodohgod

See also:
Not getting any help towards my course fees next year.

See also:
Oh piss

In other news (I really need to stop saying that) I finished reading The Dice Man today. It was, meh, for a number of reasons:
reason 1 - I did not like the main character at all. He came across as being very arrogant and he just rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't care what happened to him at all.
reason 2 - I'm not old enough to be depressed and dissatisfied with my life, therefore I didn't really grasp the whole driving force for the plot.
reason 3 - Did there have to be so many sex scenes? And in such graphic detail? I'm sure they weren't all relevant to the plot, unless the book was called Luke Rhinehart's Sexual Adventures - Now With Dice! and I just missed it.

Tomorrow I start reading a biography of Samuel Pepys. Alright!

Check out this guy on the YouTube. He is quite possibly the next big thing. Little treats include My Whole Family... and 3.14 Apple Pi, in fact, it's all good, watch them all.

In other news:
When is a candle more than a candle?

Woo. So yesterday I went to see Inland Revenue Empire, the new David Lynch film. I've not seen any David Lynch before, and I have to say, that my first go was pretty strange. The film is made up of three hours of a bewildering mass of scenes and images, that are often more disturbing than not. The tentative plot was entangled and wound in on itself in a very dream-like manner. I have no idea what was going on, but then again, maybe you're not supposed to understand it. So I'm not sure if I liked it or not, but it did stick in my head. On coming out of the cinema I had the disconcerting feeling that I didn't know where I was, or what was going on; it took a long time to ease myself back into reality; and I still can't stop thinking about it.
Hmmm, I do generally like things that have more that a hint of surreal to them. I find something incredibly fascinating about the subconscious and dreaming, where everything is fragmentary and has no logic to it, yet makes sense while you're experiencing it. And I would like to see the film again, just to see if it makes any more sense the next time around. Maybe I should try some more David Lynch too.

I'm finding it difficult to listen to anything that's not as disjointed as the film. I've discovered that Lemon Jelly have the right kind of tone (especially '64 - '95), and Bell Orchestre are good too.

Okay, okay. So I said I'd try. Mariya asked for Soubi, so Soubi it is:

Soubi is so hard to draw! I tried maybe 4 different times before I came up with a picture that was half-way decent. I'll keep trying though. It's all a matter of practice; I'll nail him in the end.

In other news:

a) My flatmate (and his Mum) moved out today. I now have a new flatmate called James; let's hope his Mum doesn't want to stay too.

b) I have been watching GodTube and getting more and more irate. Take a look at this for example. Rargh! Please understand what you are talking about before you start talking about it. You cannot dismiss mutations as being nonsense when you clearly haven't even heard of DNA, much less how the bases make up a code and are undergoing mutations all the time! And evolution does not state that in time anything is possible; nobody is saying that a cat is going to mutate into a dog, or that a frog that has been mashed in a blender is going to turn back into a live frog. And they're all treating science like it's the big bad. Science is just a methodology, it is impartial; it is not the fault of science that your theories do not stand up to logical scrutiny. Right, right. I have to stop myself here before I go on a huge rant that ends in religion = stupidity. Seriously, do I not learn? Never talk about religion, or politics, or sex; things will just get messy.

c) Dear guy that came to do research at work yesterday. Now I know you're not doing anything, and that you can't help it, but could you please stop looking so cute? I actually couldn't concentrate properly on my work. Do you want me to do my job badly? Do you? Man, I must be suffering from hormones.

You know, I've decided that I quite like putting up scrappy doodles. I try to draw them quickly and not get too bogged down in getting it just so, because that's when you start to lose the wood for the trees. Not inking the drawings helps; I have a tendency to be too precious about a picture, and it's quite liberating to try not to care too much.

So, here's another. Code Geass again.

If you wanted to put some text to this picture, it would probably be something like:

Suzaku: I AM ANGSTING ABOUT MY PAST D:
Lelouch: ........

I think my sense of proportion went out of the window on this picture. Seriously. Lelouch looks like a giraffe.

Other things what I have been doing recently:

1. Listening to The Bravery and Wolfmother and dancing around like a loon. There's nothing better than dancing in the privacy of your own room. Who cares if you look completely stupid? Feel that rhythm! Pull those shapes!

2. Watching far too much YouTube. And this was going to lead into a long soliloquy about how YouTube is great, and the internets is great, because it's all about people doing it for themselves and generating content that is far more diverse and entertaining than anything you can find in the conventional media. And anybody can have a go, and the body of talent that the internet has to draw from (ie almost everyone in the world) is so huge, that this is just what makes this time that we live in so so exciting. But I decided that that would be too boring to write, so I didn't. Seriously though, maybe it's just that I'm not yet old and cynical, but I am geniunely excited when I think about it. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum, a lot of the internets is full of rubbish, but it is all a part of the great circle of life, Simba.