http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:teisama&section=today deviantART RSS for by:teisama en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:14:23 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29232095/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29232095/ Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:55:50 PST

I wish there was some way to disable favorites when posting a submission. That's kind of a wild idea, right? I mean, why on earth would you want to do that, ever? Faves are good, faves mean people like your work at least enough to click that button and be done with you without leaving an ounce of feedback. (Can you tell I'm pissy?) Well, sometimes people just don't WANT certain pieces of theirs faved, either out of humility, or because it's just a shitty scrap they posted up to show people, or because they're posting other peoples' work with their permission (like clubs showing off stuff submitted to them, where people always leave the note DON'T FAVE THIS ONE, GO FAVE THE ORIGINAL HERE! and nobody ever listens). In my case, I'm just tired of coming onto deviantArt and see that I have like ten messages, and most if not all of them are people faving or collecting my stamps. Or the pictures of other peoples' cosplays I've posted, neither of which I vested much time into, but mostly the stamps.

I put maybe five minutes' work into every stamp I make, which is a generous average; I've already done the lengthier parts, like making the frames and borders, and all I need to do there is copy them out of the original file and paste them into the newborn stamp. I even pre-made that text you see in most of them. Something like one of my Jet Set Radio stamps was easy, since there wasn't anything I really needed to do other than crop the picture. I had assembled the words "JET SET RADIO" from the text and saved them in the same document, so all I needed to do was paste those and re-arrange them to fit the picture. Honestly, only my early stamps took a decent amount of time, but that was only because I was starting to learn how to do them.

Anyway. For the longest time, my most popular image based on a strictly favorites perspective was this old guy, a Count Bleck picture called Destroyers of All Worlds:

As time went on, I realized that this picture is actually pretty terrible, but at the time I'd put some serious effort into it, so I didn't begrudge it for being the one people loved the most. That was cool, that was fine. I'm kinda proud that made it to where it had.

But then I got some sort of mental retardation bug in me, and decided to post this bad boy some years later:

I should have seen, going into this, that Francis Hates Everything would have been a massively popular stamp. (The context: Francis is a character from Left 4 Dead who is incredibly popular because of his notoriety for bitching about things. I'm no exception, I love him too.) There weren't any other Francis-exclusive stamps out there at the time, and I figured, what the hell. So I put all the text together, had some random guy animate it for me, and posted it on dA. Again, maybe five minutes' work, probably a little more when the text started being difficult on me.

Destroyers of All Worlds has been up since May 8th, 2007. Francis Hates Everything has been up since June 21st 2009. That's a two year difference. Somewhere in the six-month span of the stamp being posted, it's absolutely dominated Destroyers of All Worlds in favorites.

Destroyers of All Worlds has 96 favorites.

Francis Hates Everything has 122.

What the fuck, dA?

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29186878/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29186878/ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:21:04 PST [link]
[link]
[link]

-related Christmas presents for Sio, Sylva and Doodle...but there's no harm in sharing them with all of you guys too. :3

HAPPY FLAG DAY

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29163883/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29163883/ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:08:48 PST

Next update is MOST DEFINITELY December 30th, as we get back to the proper story of Book 5.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29141915/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29141915/ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:57:13 PST _> Content tomorrow, fr srs!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29080806/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29080806/ Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:37:25 PST
Mmmyeah, that's about all I gots.

OH! Yes, it looks like there will be Where Words Fail content this week after all! It's gonna be on the short side, but it's better than nothing.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29051478/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/29051478/ Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:51:27 PST as DoodleBuggy can tell you, but I've eked out a fine line that keeps crackshipping from being obnoxious.

First and foremost, acknowledging your crackship isn't, never will be, and never could have been real, I.E., canon is absolute (Zutarans, y'all are crazy guilty of breaking this rule), even if the seeds had been planted, or if the canon sucks ass. Second, don't be a lunatic obsessive. Third, for God's sake, have a sense of humor about your crackship. Fourth, if you're going to make a project involving crackship, particularly a written one, have some serious skill to make it believable.

So, that said, I have an awesome crackship thing to show all of you:

[link]

The story is called Fist to Fist by ~KamikazePedestrian, and there are a lot of things that attracted me to it and kept me reading. First, it's a Smellertoph story - a crackship of mine I'm into, though not as much as I am with Azulongshot. (While I loves me my Smellershot...) Second, it's incredibly well written; the entire thing is told from Toph's point of view, so you never read anything about sights and colors, but all of the rest of Toph's senses are put to excellent use, making their surroundings really vivid. Third, I never really believed Toph would stick around for a life of nobility of political involvement following the show, especially after having a taste of living in the wild. Honestly, I can't stop saying enough good things about this fic, so go and read the shit out of it right now. It has the TEi stamp of approval.

And before I go, you have two videos that you are obligated to watch:

The TV Show, by Sugimoto Kousuke

Then again, maybe you've already seen this one...

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28996432/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28996432/ Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:02:29 PST
Round 6 is going a bit deeper into the obscure. A lot of these themes are really awesome. So go and vote. As usual, you'll find reference links in the comments.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28986355/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28986355/ Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:55:37 PST
I don't know if I'll have anything for next week, because it's a busy time of year, I'm exhausted, and I still have christmas cards to send out @__@ I'll do what I can, but the next guaranteed update is December 30th, as planned!

Anyway, back to sleep for TEi.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28923341/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28923341/ Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:20:22 PST
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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28892567/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28892567/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:01:58 PST 's journal, and because I feel like it, I'm doing it.

The ten things I want for Christmas and also capitalizing on this one chance to sound like a complete, selfish asshole:

1// The multitude of physical and monetary problems my family is suffering through to go away and die

2// My parents accepting money that I give them in a vain attempt to solve those problems

3// For to get a much more lenient job with at least the same-if-not-better benefits compared to her current one so she could come up and visit this January as we had originally planned before realizing her current job wouldn't let her take three weekends off for both a visit and CTCon and AnimeFEST later in the year

4// That the French should either fucking bathe and develop a true culture, or get overrun by Cajuns. Cajuns might smell bad, but at least they got the culture part down.

5// For business to pick up at the package store so my boss ain't suffering no more

6// More attention to Where Words Fail would be nice! Or at least my lurkers coming out of the shadows to say things. I'm a normal human being and despite all my modesty, even my ego needs fluffing now and then

7// Jet Grind Radio to come out on XBox Live Arcade

8// A new Jet Set Radio game, preferably on the XBox 360, that has all the style of the proposed Jet Set Radio Wii game that never went through

9// More people drawing my characters! (I'd prefer to not have to commission people, but I will if I have to!) Again, it's an ego thing.

10// To hopefully get the start of my original stories off the ground.

Nothin' fancy, nothin' fancy.

Side note: I've got a fledgeling cold and it's already annoying the balls out of me >_<

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28852615/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28852615/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:55:46 PST
That said, I have some new, actual content ready for next week, so there will definitely be an update then! I'll try to whip something up for the 23rd, but we'll see. Life's thrown me one too many curveballs lately and it's a challenge to adjust to everything. If nothing else, regular WWF updates will resume on December 30th as scheduled.

I've also updated the Unofficial Official Where Words Fail Soundtrack!! with Smellerbee's theme. And maybe one of these days I'll remember to upload Book 5's theme...

AND YAY!! [link]

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28784831/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28784831/ Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:02:18 PST
So now comes the next batch! You know what to do (EGGMAN's URL gave me a heaping dose of trouble due to dA's fondness for smilies, so you'll have to look that one up yourself). Top two advance to the next round!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28713068/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28713068/ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:55:43 PST

Now, I've had to do some thinking over the past week in tandem with Sio over what to do with upcoming chapters of WWF; december is a busy month for everybody, TEis included, and there isn't always time to digest a 12+ page chapter, as chock full o' awesome as it can get. Sio could also use the month to get caught up with covers and finish her schoolwork, so as of today, Where Words Fail will be on hiatus until December 30th.

I feel bad for doing this, especially in the middle of Book 5, but it works out best for everyone this way. However, I refuse to leave you guys in the lurch! I'll try to have some shorter "interim chapters" done every week, so you can at least sink your teeth into some WWF-related awesome that isn't obnoxiously long. I make no promises, but I'll do all that I can!

So, eat, drink, have a (hopefully) relaxing December, and we'll be back on track at the end of the month. Promise. :3

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28682061/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28682061/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:26:15 PST

That aside, I've got some hours back at my old job for the holidays! The packing store was great for a retail gig, and I'm glad that the economy has picked up enough that my old boss - who is the epitome of Good People by the way - was able to afford to hire the old crew back, if only for December.

I'll be singing a whole different tune when I'm up to my neck in assholes, but for now, it's great to be back.

Also, I have a minor announcement to make about WWF on Wednesday. Nothing too big though.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28572433/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28572433/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:25:47 PST
I would have updated the Where Words Fail soundtrack to commemorate Book 5, but I forgot to ready up the video, so it's not happening this week XD sorry. Also, Sio wasn't able to get a cover done for this chapter - she's officially in crunch time with school, so she might have to skip a few covers here and there. She'll catch up when she can though, so please be patient and as always go show her some love and support! :3

Anyway! Before I forget, because I will,in the next couple weeks a couple important birthdays are coming down. First is mine, next Tuesday(December 1st!). I'll be twenty-five and aaaaa I don't want to be that old D: but I know if I don't say it now, people will be, "Why didn't you say it was your birthday?! 8O" when I say it next week, so there you have it. This is sort of a disclaimer.

Second and more astounding, is Where Words Fail's birthday. Come December 6th (the Sunday following the next update), the story will officially be two years old. If you'd told me back in the end of 2007 that I'd spend this much of my life on a single project, I would have laughed and gone off to play video games or something equally as lumpish. But on the sixth day of the twelfth month in the year two thousand and seven, I got inspired enough to put the first word down in a LiveJournal entry and thus the story was born. Holy crap!

So yeah. Catch you all next update

EDiT: Oh yeah, and I've edited an older journal entry to be the official URL that holds the Unofficial Official Where Words Fail Soundtrack!! links in order to keep the artist comments in the chapters clean. You can see it here:

The Unofficial Official Where Words Fail Soundtrack!! (in progress)



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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28520121/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28520121/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:02:39 PST

[link]

EDiT: Come on, what the hell is it with all this Nick x Ellis shipping? Jeez.

EDiT2: "Hey Coach, maybe...maybe the hawk...maybe it's made out of chocolate."



This is freaking AMAZING.

Also, the Tiebreak round for Bowser's theme is over! Joining Koopa's Road from Super Mario 64 will be the original Bowser theme: Bowser's Castle, from Super Mario Bros.! They'll appear somewhere in a future round. Right now, I'm on the next step of whittling down characters with more than a single theme; our current subject is Master Hand, from the Super Smash Bros. franchise. The song with the most votes will advance to the next round. I THINK that's it, so following this, we'll advance to more varied rounds.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28491017/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28491017/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:07:26 PST
The top two winners from each poll advance to the next round, where the winner will get a cookie or whatever. Each theme will be referenced in the comments so you can take a listen and pick whichever you like.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28468726/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28468726/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:23:09 PST have to use it. Ever since then, though, no numerals. I don't know why I'm proud of that shit, but I am.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28405160/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28405160/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:06:07 PST Read it here!

Also, yay, Left 4 Dead 2

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28342122/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28342122/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:14:10 PST
]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28327935/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28327935/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:33:41 PST

1// This is a real manga.

2// The guy with the open jumpsuit is Peter.

3// ho8f0p-3fjwgrgr.

EDiT: I should stress a couple things: first, this is one of those awful American mangas - a wannabe. (How come 'wannabe' doesn't set Firefox's spellcheck out of whack?) Second, while I believe the Ghostbusters are all sexy, they're sexy in a 'middle-aged, out-of-shape men' sort of way, not a 'hot twenty-something' sort of way.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28291500/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28291500/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:01:44 PST

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Ho baby, watch out! Epic journal coming through!

First, business as usual: it's wednesday, and wednesday means WWF update! This is the last chapter of Book 4, so there won't be an update next week. Book 5 will start on Wednesday, November 25th, giving Sio a much-needed chance to catch up on WWF covers. She's still being absolutely hammered by schoolwork, so show her support!

This chapter also marks the third installment of the "Spatula" storyline! This time it's Longshot's turn to narrate, in which he makes a few discoveries, many unpleasant, but there are a few gold nuggets hidden amongst them.

Second: A few weeks ago I drew everybody's attention to an art thief who had posted a picture of Smellerbee drawn by the ever-so-awesome Aaron Alexovich. Like I said then, I have a huge amount of respect for Aaron, and his self-defined "spookycute" art style is freaking awesome. Well, I recently commissioned Aaron for another picture, this one of my Freedom Fighter OCs, Spatula and Pestle.

Aaron is a swell guy and if you have money to burn I recommend commissioning him! He's trying to raise money for the next installment of his Serenity Rose comic (the second of which you can read on his website, linked above - beware of cussing and a few severed limbs!), so I figure it's a worthwhile cause. It's $50 for a single character, and then $30 for each additional one in the same picture (so Spatula and Pestle cost $80), but it is sooooo worth it. He also mails you the physical copy!

Third: As Sio announced on ~PFFbySIO, due to time constraints on her part due in turn to school, PFF2 has switched from a predominantly drawn, comic-styled format to a predominantly written format. SylvaCoer and I will be doing much of the story now, taking a more active role on the team (Sylva is even doing an entire 'chapter' of the story by herself!) and DoodleBuggy will contribute by drawing comic-styled pages to help ease Sio's burden. My first contribution to the new format has already gone up, Page/Scene 97, following Jet and Longshot as they arrive in the Fire Nation for the peace conference.

Fourth and last: I mentioned a couple weeks ago how I'm a huge nerd and like to assign themes to things I'm writing, and WWF is no exception; I've done a little hunting for appropriate songs (I've got no shortage to choose from out of my library), and after some technical difficulties, I finally got the next bunch of songs posted. I'll be updating further themes when appropriate (you actually won't find out what Smellerbee's is until way later on, for example).

The new themes are: Longshot (Swimming Pool by Freezepop), Sneers (Manic Depression by the Jimi Hendrix Experience), Skillet (Stand Up by Leahy), "Snillet" (I Should Tell You from RENT), WWF Book 1 (She's the Sun by Scooter), WWF Book 2 (Le Pain Perdu by Cibo Matto), WWF Book 3 (Ramalama (Bang Bang) by Roisin Murphy), and WWF Book 4 (Getting Better by The Beatles). While I have been trying to stick with obscure songs/artists for the set, sometimes a well-known song/artist just stands out as more than appropriate, in this case Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. C'est la vie, right? I've also been trying to stick with actual songs rather than bumming bits and pieces off soundtracks...but again, sometimes soundtrack songs are more than fitting. There will only ever be two soundtrack songs used for these themes, the first of which being I Should Tell You from Jonathan Larson's awesome rock opera musical, RENT.

Also, I apolo... ]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28220364/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28220364/ Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:41:30 PST
Ponyo had Liam Neeson who is sort of like a white, British Morgan Freeman: everything he's in is automatically better (though Episode I was mostly a lost cause). To be fair, the Ponyo dub was better than most other Miyazaki dubs, which really scored it brownie points. But I just watched Castle in the Sky for the first time; I gave the dub a shot, but Pazu and Sheeta's actors really put me off, so I wound up going with the subbed version for the rest of the movie. So, movie was awesome, credits roll...and I notice, under voice talent, that Mark motherfucking Hamill played the voice of the main antagonist.

Mark Hamill is one of my absolute favorite voice actors. He's played The Joker in pretty much every animated Batman series since 1993 (except for The Batman and Batman: Brave & the Bold), and reprized the role in Batman: Arkham Asylum, and he was also Fire Lord Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender (YES KIDS, LUKE SKYWALKER WAS IN AVATAR). He's been in a smattering of other roles across the years (he was apparently also in Nausicaa, another Miyazaki film - one I haven't seen yet), the whole list of which can be seen here.

Maybe it's a sign that whichever companies dub Miyazaki films need to pick up former Star Wars actors for the future? But from the original trilogy, plz, though I'd take Ewan McGregor.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28153107/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28153107/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:35:48 PST

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Saw this meme, wanted to do it:

~ Rules:
~ If you don’t have at least 8 OCs I wouldn’t recommend this meme
~ Add on questions to this meme! It will make it bigger! (bold your questions too)
~ TAG PPL PLZ
~ Enjoyyyyyyyy!


1) First list all your OC’s by first name so we can see your list of all your wonderful OC’s:

Rather than list ALLLLL of my OCs, I'm just gonna show off the guys you know about:

La Team Boheme:
1// Joe Delgado
2// Allie Rosenthal
3// Dr. Tobias Cohen
4// Cy Jones
5// Raph Verducci
6// Router
The Radical Gadgets:
7// Slots
8// Broadcast
9// Gigawatt
10// V2
11// Fuzz
12// Graffitiman
13// Mellow 714
Freedom Fighters:
14// Spatula
15// Pestle

2) Who is your favorite OC?

It's hard to pick just one, because I've been in love with all of them at some point or another. For the moment, I'd say Broadcast. He's very charismatic and I love his design!

Broadcast: You like me! You really like me!

Pestle: Laugh it up while you can, prick.

3) Who is your least favorite?

Ah, um...sorry, Cy. I really only keep you around to compliment Joe and Tobias.

Cy: But...but...

4) Who is your most developed?

Spatula and Pestle both. They're the only characters I've included in an actual story. At least, one that I've written in the past few years. I have to thank Sio for a lot of that, because we make excellent brain-babies together and we've applied more than a few to those two characters.

Pestle: That's right. Who's number one now, Cane Boy?

Broadcast:

Spatula: Come on, Pest, no need to rub it in...

(By the same token, Cy is also my least developed. All I have for her is "she's an Amazonian health nut who is friends with Tobias and Joe." I may have to cut her loose in order to keep my OC list clean...)

5) Which OC would you want to date if they magically came to life?

Sorry, I don't really make my OCs for that. While I won't deny a lot of them are downright sexy, that's about as far as I'm willing to take it.

6) How many female OCs do you have? Male OCs? Genderless OCs?

I had to re-word the question, because the juvenile phrasing bothered me.

Ah, let's see. Of the fifteen above: Allie, Cy, Raph, Slots, Fuzz and Pestle are ladytypes, Joe, Tobias, Broadcast, Gigawatt, V2, Spatula and Mellow are guys. Graffitiman and Router are robots and therefore technically genderless, but they still have gender-oriented personalities, male and female respectively.

7) If you were stuck in a burning building what do you think the third OC on your list (Dr. Tobias Cohen) would do?

Of La Team Boheme, Tobias is probably the most level-headed next to Router, and I'm fairly certain we'd emerge from that building alive.

Tobias: Only fairly certain?

(Yeah, I'd say about 85%.)

Tobias... ]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28142022/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28142022/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:25:26 PST There isn't much to say this week, except you Snillet fans will get a little candy to tide you over, since there isn't any yet in PFF2.

I was going to have Skillet's theme ready to share with you all today, but I forgot to take care of it. :< Next week, though! I promise!

Next update: Wednesday, November 11th!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28116948/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28116948/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:09:25 PST
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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28089400/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28089400/ Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:35:23 PST
For the hell of it, and if you feel like laughing at me, here's the earliest Deviation I have on the site (I know it's not the first, but whatever I had up before it got deleted):



This was back when I shipped Cutman x Woodman, which is all sorts of passe. Cutman x Elecman is where it's at

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28038552/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28038552/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:24:42 PDT
Most of you don't know this, but I work for a blog for a friend of mine, called LVLs. It's pretty cool, mostly about gaming and music, but we have some other stuff there too and I recommend scoping it out! I tend to post sporadically, but I'm attempting to fix that by writing about something I'm very passionate about: awesome fictional ladies.

I'm a feminist and phylogynist - I absolutely love women, I sincerely do. To me, there's nothing I admire more than a strong girl/woman who manages to break the mold, to defy gender roles and still be human, something that I think reflects in a lot of my written stuff and the particular media I indulge in. >_> There are a lot of female characters that do absolutely nothing to set themselves apart and are sequestered away by creators who are satisfied to have stereotypes in their work (or at least otherwise-inoffensive shells, which fail to do justice to the awesome that is the contemporary woman). The F3 feature is set to pull out some incredible girls and women in fiction...from there, you can do what you want with the information, but I mostly hope to spread the love and maybe make those who don't know any better aware of what's going on.

That said, it's getting late, I'm getting sleepy, and if you want to check out the first entry in TEi's Fantastic Fictional Females, you can take a gander over here. Today's featured character is the protagonist from the long-running anime Slayers, the extremely skilled, selfish, selfless Lina Inverse.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28011036/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/28011036/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:05:13 PDT EDiT: For some unfathomable reason, the chapter isn't uploading like normal, and you can't see it when clicking on the deviation. I'm going to go bother the devArt staff, but in the meantime you can read the story by either clicking on the "download" button next to the cover, or by reading the story at my FF.net and SkyeHawke accounts (here and here).

EDiT2: Okay, after several frustrating attempts to fix the problem, the easiest solution was to just re-upload the deviation. All of the links have been fixed appropriately; the chapter itself is still too long for dA to host, so the Fanfiction.net and SkyeHawke links are where you're gonna have to read it. XD

Original journal!

Hey there, people in deviantArt land! It's update day, but this isn't just any update; today's chapter is pretty significant in the fact that there are a whole slew of new characters being introduced, many you've heard about before but none you've seen, at least not until now. But I have to admit, I'm a little biased, as it's also a certain Earthbender's official debut appearance in Where Words Fail. On top of that, a couple Freedom Fighters we haven't heard from in a while make a long-awaited return appearance, and you find out just what they've been up to in the time since you last saw them.

That said, there are a couple more things I need to point out. You'll notice that today's cover is NOT by ~SioUte; the poor girl's so swamped with schoolwork that she hasn't been able to get it done (which is why last week's was still partially sketched, and why Sio hasn't uploaded it to her account yet). There wasn't enough time for me to whip up a new picture altogether, so I had to steal an old one from the Avatar OC meme I did for Pestle. There will be a proper cover for the chapter eventually. What I'd like you to do, though, is to visit Sio's page and show her your support! Hearing from the dA crew really boosts morale, so go show her that you're on her side, mmkay? :3 (And while you're at it, help feed both of our egos and enter the PFF2 Official Fan-something Contest!)

And one last thing, before I end this journal...I'm a tremendous nerd, and there's nothing I love more than assigning musical themes to events, characters and concepts in the stories I right. WWF is no exception, and while I can't share all of these themes with you just yet due to various reasons, here are the first of the set that I can let you in on:

The Unofficial Where Words Fail Soundtrack
Theme of Where Words Fail: "Foreword" by VNV Nation
Theme of the Freedom Fighters: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan
Theme of Jet: "Wasted Years" by Cold
Theme of "Smellershot": "Perfect Silence" by Scapegoat Wax

TEi out!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27991841/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27991841/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:01:08 PST The Unofficial Official Where Words Fail Soundtrack!! (in progress)
Theme of Where Words Fail: Foreword (VNV Nation)
Theme of the Freedom Fighters: Wavin' Flag (K'naan)
Theme of Smellerbee: Ballad of the Little Hater (Jay Smooth)
Theme of Longshot: Swimming Pool (Freezepop)
Theme of Sneers: Manic Depression (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Theme of Skillet: Stand Up (Leahy)
Theme of Jet: Wasted Years (Cold)
Theme of "Smellershot": Perfect Silence (Scapegoat Wax)
Theme of "Snillet": I Should Tell You (RENT)
Theme of "Book 1: A Fight for Survival": She's the Sun (Scooter)
Theme of "Book 2: Escaping Ba Sing Se": Le Pain Perdu (Cibo Matto)
Theme of "Book 3: A Test of Faith": Ramalama (Bang Bang) (Roisin Murphy)
Theme of "Book 4: Threshold Guardians": Getting Better (The Beatles)

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27919152/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27919152/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:18:57 PDT UPDATE: The offending deviation has been taken down. Thank you again so much for your help, everyone!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27887278/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27887278/ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:30:12 PDT
...I feel kinda lousy, so this journal isn't anything spectacular, sorry ^^ I'm sure I'll think of something special to say when I feel better, spruce this right up.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27881694/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27881694/ Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:47:24 PDT

Tagged by .

THREE NAMES I GO BY
1. TEi
2. TEiDoll
3. Retro
THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
1. Working at a hardware store (zzzzzz)
2. Working at an art store (was good except for the corporate part)
3. Working at a pack-and-ship store (best retail job I've had yet)
THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. East Bumblefuck, Connecticut
2. ...yeah, that's it.
THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
I don't really actively watch TV anymore, but sometimes I'll stumble in on my brother watching something I at least tolerate.
1. iCarly (YES I LIKE THE SHOW SHUT UP. Sam is awesome.)
2. House M.D.
3. Scrubs
THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
1. Dallas, Texas (for AnimeFEST)
2. New York City
3. New Jersey
THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO
1. London, England - I loooove British accents and the weather is just perfect for me. Not sure if I'd want to live there, though.
2. Alabama (Sio :3)
3. UNDA DE SEA
THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. Plain pizza
2. Anything I can dip in salsa con queso (TRYING THIS WITH OREOS IS A BAD IDEA.)
3. String cheese
THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
1. Pestle and Spatula's debuts in WWF :3
2. Left 4 Dead 2
3. Returning back to my job at the packing store
THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE OWNED
1. Peanut (Goldfish)
2. Talbot (Goldfish)
3. ...yeah, just those two.
THREE FRIENDS WHO WILL REPLY
I'm not holding this over any of y'all's heads XD
THREE FAVORITE BANDS/SINGERS
higg5s4ywj7pg Just three?! Look, I'll just list a bunch of my favorite bands that you can look up on your spare time (forewarning about bad language from some of them):
// Mika
// Jedi Mind Tricks
// Freezepop
// Jurassic 5
// K'naan
// Jimi Hendrix Experience
// Billy Joel
// The Beatles
// Anthony Rapp
// David Bowie
// The Doors
// Bloodhound Gang
// Danny Elfman
// Dethklok
// Tenacious D
// MC Solaar
// VNV Nation
// Deltron 3030
// De La Soul
// Cold
// Circus Contraption
// Apocalyptica
// Trocadero
// Pink Floyd
// Symphony X
// The Avalanches
// Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
// "Weird Al" Yankovic
// Blur
// Hart
// Leahy
// Queen
// The Who
THREE FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH
1. Yankees baseball
2. Eh.
3. Sorry.
THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
1. Water
2. Chocolate Milk
3. Strawberry milkshakes <3

Yeah, that's all I got for now. WWF update later today.

]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27761410/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27761410/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:54:20 PDT
Soon a battle unfolds like the enraged dip with chips of many layers that has the wildest hopes! But this battle has happening only in the next update, which will occur on the fated Wednesday on the 21st day of the month October! Be there, or be like a plank of wood who has the nothing to do with his time and is boring! I HAVE FURY!!!

This entry is provided with the diction of the Fawful who is great like many games with Fawful in them.

EDiT: ohp9g34g244egreer.

If you ever watched the old Ninja Turtles cartoon from the late 80s/early 90s, or the more recent one from the early 2000s, or hell, if you're a Turtles fan at all, you are ethically and morally obligated to watch the shit out of this clip.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27725230/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27725230/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:18:56 PDT
So there you have it. A new -punk on the growing list: cyberpunk, steampunk, streetpunk, stitchpunk and now mythpunk. Boosh.

EDiT: Oh man, this shit is awesome. If you're a Gurren Lagann fan with a sense of humor, or even if you aren't, read this. For serious.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27663455/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27663455/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:44:33 PDT Is this punishment for the assholes signing the anti-L4D2 petition? And why didn't you make a female Hunter? Hunters are hotness D: D: D:

Oh God, why?!

EDiT: I promised I'd hook up a couple people with a website where I got some KILLER Metroid prints from at AnimeFEST, so check it out: [link]

EDiT2: Valve gave the Spitter sweater pimples whgwp30[iwgerre (At the 0:55 mark)

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27593030/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27593030/ Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:03:24 PDT

I've been meaning to do this for a while. Webcomics are an often-abused concept; far too many of them rely on bad art and penis jokes, or they don't bother to tell a story, or (heaven forbid) they're a video game comic. Don't even get me started on Ctrl+Alt+Dlt or Dominic Deegan. It's a lot like most mainstream comics, really - just gratuitous amounts of something that doesn't flow together, that fails to tell me an engaging story (or make me feel any emotion other than nerd-rage as my favorite characters shed all appealing quirks and become angsty cardboard-cutouts). So this entry is about fantastic webcomics that may as well be novels - comics that make me feel like part of the story, that drag me into the world and make me feel something new, something powerful. So here goes:

Plight of the Freedom Fighters 2: You don't really need me to advertise this. XD Maybe it's not fair for me to say that it moves me now that I'm actually part of the team, but when Smellerbee got eaten by The Thing What May Have Eaten Smellerbee That Is Not Longshot, I was all sorts of "hiogvj94320gj3hg5gre!!!" Since that happened before I joined the crew, I count it as a powerful story.

The Meek: Written and drawn by , The Meek takes place in a different world that feels steampunk (she hasn't really shown off the world as a whole yet), but it obviously has a deeper story to it than has already been shown. The first chapter features a girl named Angora who was raised by a gigantic forest newt, and the cynical map-maker and unwilling partner, Pinter; Angora has been sent on a mission with no idea where to start, and...well, I'm not doing it enough justice. Just give it a look! (WARNING: Tasteful boobs)

Serenity Rose: Goodbye Crestfallen: By Aaron Alexovich. It's done in a style he calls "spookycute," and tells the tale of one of the remaining known 40+ witches left in the world, the quiet, introverted Serenity "Sera" Rose, who has become a tourist attraction in her hometown of Crestfallen. The problem with reading this comic is that you might get lost if you haven't read the first SR volume, Serenity Rose: Working Through the Negativity, but I recommend checking it out regardless. (WARNING: Cussing, severed body parts) I also commissioned pictures of a certain pair of Freedom Fighters from Mr. Alexovich, which you can see here and here. (Commission page here: [link] )

The Abominable Charles Christopher: By Karl Kerschl. Charles Christopher is a mute, mildly retarded animal of questionable origin - the world is full of regular animals, like foxes and birds and what have you, so Charles stands out as an oddity. It's an absolutely wonderful world looking into the lives of these animals, and chronicling Charles' journey to prevent the industrial revolution from spreading too far into the wilderness and ruining the ecosystem. Combined with a unique, beautiful drawing style, this comic is definitely not one to miss.

Rice Boy and Order of Tales: By Evan Dahm. Set in the world of Overside, Rice Boy tells the story of the limbless, childlike titular character who is thrust out of his simple life and forced to travel acr... ]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27501568/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27501568/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:47:08 PDT
The latest chapter of Where Words Fail - Book 3, Chapter 4 - is now available in TEi's gallery for your reading pleasure. Since it's the last chapter of Book 3, there will - as always - be a two-week rest period until Book 4 starts. This will help Sio get more covers done, and since those covers kick enormous amounts of ass, I think it's pretty fair. Right? Right. So that means the next update for Where Words Fail (Book 4, Chapter 1) will be Wednesday, October 14th.

...wow, it's almost Halloween! I wonder what I should dress up as...

(PS, the mood icon thingie below the entry won't change for whatever reason. I'm not mad, I promise!)

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27376091/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27376091/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:21:30 PDT
So, yes! Today is update day. Where Words Fail, Book 3 Chapter 2 is now readable in the usual spot with the cover by SioUte. Enjoy!

Also, I'm still selling those sculptures! Check here for details.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27333850/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27333850/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:20:57 PDT

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I've had a couple people express interest in buying the Meta Knight sculpture I made (potentially jokingly?). But if I set prices for the video game sculptures I made so far, would people genuinely be interested? As a reminder, here are the ones I've sculpted up to this point:

"Victory...is my Destiny." - Meta Knight ($40)
"Destroyer of All Worlds" - Count Bleck ($60)
"Whatchu See, Waddle Dee?" - Waddle Dee ($10)
"Waddle Doo, Waddle Don't" - Waddle Doo ($15)
"ARF ARF ARF" - Chain Chomp ($20)

Obviously guys like Waddle Doo and Waddle Dee would be pretty inexpensive, but Count Bleck would be a bit costly. I guess a rough range would be between $10 and $60 USD?

UPDATE: I've added prices to the list! And here's how shipping is going to work: I'll send each package the least expensive way possible unless you request otherwise. I can get an estimate beforehand, and the buyer is responsible for paying for said shipping. I will take PayPal and the equivalent cost in DeviantArt subscriptions - preferably the former - and, if all else fails, I'll also accept domestic money orders. If you live across the sea, it'll have to be PayPal or subscriptions, sorry!

In regards to Waddle Doo in particular, I have no way of guaranteeing his antennae will stay attached in transit, because something like that is really difficult to pack in a way that will keep it safe. However, any sort of super glue will work to reattach them (or any other pieces that might break in transit) without a problem.

Also, I was searching for Count Bleck stuff and came across this most epic picture:



]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27306028/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27306028/ Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:36:33 PDT
Yeah. Feeling that right now.

So today was supposed to be the debut of my Count Bleck sculpture, the one I've been working on for the past two months. It looks great! The paint job is phenominal, the translation had been made really well from 2D to 3D, it was all shiny and cool-looking. I took all the pictures, I spliced them all together to post, getting everything ready to go, and I've already started submitting the deviation, writing a mini-essay about what I did to make it, why I based it on my style rather than the video game's design, how confident I felt to take on more complex projects...

...when I realized I'd given Count Bleck two right hands.

iu9t-02ig4hgjh0-j-239h24034h-0hetg.

So here's where I stand! I have to re-sculpt one of his hands. I had to pry said offending hand off of his body, since I'd glued it about 1/3 of the way down his cowl, and now there's a couple nice big lumps of dried Gorilla Glue where that hand had been. I'll probably have to repaint that part of his body when I get the glue off, and while I'm there I may as well do some other coloring touch-ups. I also have to go out and buy more Sculpey, since I used the last of it on - funny enough! - that second right hand.

Hopefully I can salvage the wand, because I don't feel like re-sculpting that. Hopefully.

Oy vey. I'm going to go play Team Fortress 2 and get frustrated by how outclassed I am in that game so I can stop being frustrated by my stupid fucking sculpture. XD

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27245125/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27245125/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:55:26 PDT
1// Today is 's birthday! She's the cool cat that's been illustrating the story, doing covers for each chapter. She just turned 22, and if you aren't watching her already, go do it now! She's awesome, I promise.

2// ZOMBIES!!!!

And that's all. Enjoy!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27178353/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27178353/ Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:26:57 PDT
Because of the atmosphere of the movie is a healthy cross of steampunk and post-apocalyptic, I'd started calling it a "steampocalypse' movie - but I just read a description for some 9 fanart that dubbed the movie to be "stitchpunk."

Okay, so - that's a new one on me. Cyberpunk and steampunk are established names with their own images; I've also been toying around with "streetpunk," which I assign to brightly-colorful, not-very-realistic street-gang styled stuff, like Jet Grind Radio and to an extent Saint's Row/GTA: San Andreas. So my world, lately, when planning out original stuff, has been all steampunk and streetpunk (with a hint of cyberpunk *prods Timewarp*), but the thought of adding "stitchpunk" to the mix is kind of...exciting.

Gonna have to think more about this. I'd love to help shape a "stitchpunk" genre.

Anyway, back to looking for 9 fanart.

]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27111181/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27111181/ Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:13:13 PDT

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People of Earth, Book 3, Chapter 1 has landed! In exchange for the wellbeing of your planet, it demands all of your lunch money.

Ba Sing Se may behind them, but that doesn't mean Smellerbee and Longshot's problems have disappeared. The next part of their journey requires them to pass through a swamp rife with spiritual energy...

Anyway, business tended to, there's something I want to clarify from my last journal entry, in regards to AnimeFEST's cosplay chess event. I found out yesterday (after posting the journal the day before) that the unscripted match (the one played on the spot, the one I was part of) had been rushed along by the AnimeFEST staff; there was an event in the same room following cosplay chess that they needed to set up for. Because the scripted match took so long (because the announcer had no idea how to play chess and it took forever to end), the AnimeFEST staff told the unscripted players that they had five minutes to wrap up their game - and so the players were forced to play a short match that ended abruptly.

Except they found out later that they really had twenty minutes extra, and the staff had failed to relay that message. What can you do, I guess. >_< It's frustrating, but now I know who to aim that frustration at; I don't blame the players, who seemed like genuinely cool guys. So, it's a combination of the staff and the announcer of the scripted match; hopefully, next year, we'll only have unscripted matches and a later playing time so we won't be rushed out of the room for another event.

So, yes.

Next update: Wednesday, September 16th!

]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27080954/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/27080954/ Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:40:33 PDT

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Oh, man.

I just got back home about an hour and a half ago - I'm bushed, from the flight and the drive home from the airport. But I had crazy amounts of fun at the con! I got to hang out with my BFF , I came home with a decent amount of swag, I managed to NOT spend all of my money while I was there, and I took a looooooooooooot of pictures. I filled my camera's memory card with them, ho shit! I'll be posting the ones I took in moderation (I learned from the stamps that you guys don't like me flooding your inbox). I also got my picture taken a ton of times - a lot of people loved my Hunter cosplay, unlike, ConnectiCon. I even got to take part in an L4D-themed photo shoot. So freaking cool.

I came home with a few bitchin' Metroid Prints, some commissioned art (including a few of Deadpool with Pokemon), a lot of pins, a Toshiro Hitsugaya PVC figure from Bleach, a watch where you can see all the clockwork ticking away (VERY steampunk), and awesome almond crunch Pocky. I also got to see the first three episodes of Sgt. Frog dubbed - finally! It took long enough. It was a bit of an adjustment - I'm used to the Japanese voice actors, but FUNimation did a pretty good job in their own right. Nothing groundbreaking so far as acting quality, but the changes they made to the script are COMEDY GOLD. One issue with translating Sgt. Frog's anime is that it's loaded with Japanese pop culture references; FUNimation solved that by replacing them with American pop culture references, including and not limited to mentioning events and actors from The Dark Knight.

The only disappointment, really, was the Cosplay Chess, which I hope does not become a recurring theme; ConnectiCon had done away with Cosplay Chess this year, instead doing Cosplay Deathmatch - which was exciting, yes, but not as enjoyable. Cosplay Deathmatch was essentially a popularity contest. AnimeFEST's Cosplay Chess kind of, um, fell apart; though they'd doubled the room size from last year's event, it still suffered the same organizational issues and a few other problems.

The event was broken down into two parts: A scripted match, in which all of the moves were from a professionally-played chess game reenacted with cosplayers, and an unscripted match which is played on the spot by two chess players (which I was a part of - a black bishop). The announcer - clearly not a chess player - had no idea what she was doing when telling certain pieces to go where, often getting pieces, positions and moves incorrect. Several times, pieces that had been removed from the board needed to come back into play because of a mistake. This bumblefest dragged on for far too long - most of it spent with the announcer and the event's organizer going over the plays with the microphones off and everyone just standing around waiting for something to happen. It ended with no clear winner; felt like everyone had just gotten tired of dealing with the game and it fizzled apart.

The unscripted match was a bummer, though...two chess players actually having a game, you'd figure it would go smoothly and take a while to come to pass - but in a good way, because you knew they were thinking about what moves to make. Nah-ah; that'd be too expected. The match lasted maybe five minutes before the white team player got checkmated; most of the pieces hadn't even moved, let alone gotten to take/get taken by a piece. Actually being a part of the game, I had really looked forward to a lengthy match and at least tasting some blood, but...nothing. And even though the match came to such a sudden end, they didn't have a rematch or anything; after yonks of a bungled scripted match and a quickie genuine match, the event folded up and was over with.

Bleh.

Still, I was one of the pieces that got to move during the unscripted match - I crawled on my hands and toes, like Hunters do in Left 4 Dead, and people apparently thought it... ]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26979053/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26979053/ Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:33:27 PDT

Catch you all later!

]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26946699/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26946699/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:31:36 PDT of my favorite fictional females, because picking any ten over the rest is impossible. I'm a feminist and phylogynist, so finding a strong female character in any media, even if it's one I have no exposure to whatsoever, is a high point in my day. (Unless I just don't like the universe the character comes from, like Naruto or Final Fantasy or whatever. Sorry, fans of both! Those are just my tastes.)

Just a few minutes ago, I wandered into a room of my house with the TV on (I never actively watch it), and an episode of Psych was on. I've never seen an episode of it, mostly because I couldn't be assed to go out of my way and watch it, but what I caught today was genuinely impressive: I assume that this is a main character, but a woman of Indian descent was due to be part of an arranged marriage to a friend of hers via their parents. The two male main characters arrive at the ceremony, and talk to the female character - they'd been trying to convince her to do what felt right by her (to not get married simply because her parents decided she should), and there was this really powerful moment where she goes, 'You guys were right; thanks for being here, because in fifteen minutes I'm going to go in there and piss off a bunch of hindus and [some other Indian subculture]s, and I might need an escape vehicle.'

A few scenes later, and the engagement ceremony is about to finish - but before the groom (unsure of proper terminology here, so I'm rolling with what I know) can put the ring on the female character's finger, she stops him - turns to the audience - and proclaims, 'I'm thankful to all of you for coming, and I'm sorry to have wasted all of your time, but there will be no engagement ceremony and there will be no wedding.' It was fantastic! The character continued on about how, she shouldn't marry because tradition declared prearrangement, how she and the groom were just friends - how they should be allowed to love other people instead of forced to love each other, which is the only sort of love the two were allowed growing up. It was a fantastic scene! This smart, attractive woman, in touch with her culture while aware of the fallacies of its archaic traditions, standing up for herself, sticking by her opinions and feelings and being respectful all the while. She didn't dredge up aforementioned fallacies, she didn't compare herself or her culture to anyone else, and seeing that sort of strength in any form of massively distributed media is just phenominal. I felt right then and there that, maybe in not watching Psyche, I may have missed a gem - that the series would actually be worth my time to pursue, if it could portray a female character so boldly.

And then there was a flash of light, and we're right back to where the engagement ceremony had cut off - and the groom puts the ring on her finger, and she has this look on her face.

'That's what I want to do.'

Rather than stopping - from living out her fantasy - the woman looks down at their hands, and the ring in hers that needs to go on his finger - and you can just tell what she's thinking, how she got cold feet, how she didn't have that same power that she'd displayed in the fake-out scene.

Now - I'll give credit where it's due. Not everybody can have that kind of strength, regardless of how much they talk. People get scared, the burden of reality and responsibility and other peoples' expectations bearing down on them. That sort of thing has a lot of weight. As empowered as those scenes made me feel before the fake-out, as much as I wanted to put this character on my list of favorite female characters even though I barely knew her, I was let down by the same reality that kept her from speaking up. The scene itself wasn't forced, it wasn't trite or contrived - from a literary aspect, it did its job in making me feel for this character, who even though she wanted with all of her heart to be her own person, she succumbed to the will of her parents, and the groom's parents.

That still doesn't mean it wasn't disappointing, though. Oh well. Maybe the next random show I happen to walk in on will have an equally powerful female character that has the balls (heh) to stand up for what she believes is right.

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*teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26838771/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26838771/ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:51:19 PDT Wednesday, September 9th! Again, this is exclusively so Sio can have time to make moar covers (and to also keep the story in bite-sized little chunks for you guys).

Til then, folks!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26796096/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26796096/ Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:57:21 PDT
So, tell me, is this just me, or are all of you Firefox users with the newest version having the same issue? And if so, is there some way to downgrade to a version where the right-click actually works? >_<

EDiT: I fixed the problem, so no worries. Turns out there's an issue with this Yahoo toolbar thing that latches onto peoples' Firefoxes, and disabling it fixed it right up. Phew!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26732376/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26732376/ Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:45:20 PDT
So, Big D might have actually sold me on something for the first time in years.

EDiT: I was playing Jet Grind Radio when the Kingdom Hearts theme song came up on Winamp...and I just got the most HILARIOUS thought.

What if Square drew Disney TV into the Kingdom Hearts line-up? We'd get cool stuff like Gargoyles and Darkwing Duck and all, but we might even wind up with, like, Hannah Montanna. Think about that for a second.

...okay. Done? Good. Wasn't I right? Isn't that hilarious?

(Honestly, a Hannah Montanna level wouldn't bother me so much - I actually like that show. If they touched Jonas Brothers or Zach and Cody, though, then I would have an issue with it. And yeah, this isn't all gonna happen, but hypotheticals are fun.)

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26696450/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26696450/ Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:21:28 PDT Where Words Fail: Book 2, chapter 5 is now live! We take a break from Longshot and Smellerbee to give them a well-deserved rest, instead turning our attention to a few familiar faces.

I'm really satisfied with this chapter. It was one that I had to almost completely re-write, and the final product is pretty awesome.

Next update is Wednesday, August 26th!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26584447/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26584447/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:19:17 PDT 's journal and decided to steal it. I rarely do an actual art-based meme, if I've done one at all, so here we go.

[ Artist Baton ]

~Your name?
TEi - that's my artist/author handle, anyway.

~If possible, your age?
24 D:

~When did you start drawing?
Well, I drew a lot when I was a kid, but I started srsly for srs drawing when I was about 13. I sucked I still do, actually! But I'm 100% self-taught, so I figure I'm not too awful bad.

~Which hand do you use for drawing?
Ah'm a righty!

~Which is easier to draw - male or female?
It depends on the situation. Sometimes my brain forgets how to draw one or the other - my biggest issue is body shape. For ladytypes, sometimes I feel like I make their hips too wide, or I have trouble making the boobs look natural, and for the guys...well, I just have difficulty with them when I do.

~Which is easier to draw - long hair or short hair?
I don't have a problem with either...but the way I draw hair is pretty simple either way.

~Is it easier to draw the head facing towards the right or the left?
Neutral on the issue, though I tend to defer to facing left.

~Is it easier to draw the side view of the face or the front view?
gIfhewr I hate drawing flat profile and straight on. >_<

~What do you have problems drawing?
Boobs, hips, knees, fucking feet. Also, sneakers - which is why all of my characters wear boots. XD Oh, and backgrounds.

~What do you like to draw?
Cartoonish style - I have hyper super issues with realism.

~Are you a traditional artist or a digital artist?
Traditional - I could never really grasp digital arting (most of mine is terrible), though I can color pretty well with OpenCanvas.

~Where do you start drawing from?
The frame of the head; I work my way down from there, doing the frame of the body. If I do the head frame after the body frame, I get the proportions wrong >_<

~What is your drawing habit that you are aware of?
I usually draw characters in static positions.

~Any tips for coloring/shading?
I don't really work in shades if I can help it - I prefer flat colors. But when I do shade...digitally, I take a darker pitch for the color I'm shading, fill it in according to the light source, and use either the watercolor tool or the blur tool to make it fade in gradually. Traditionally, for markers I let the colors dry before I go over it again with the same color; this produces a cell-shading style of coloring, which looks pretty cool IMO. For colored pencils, I use either an entirely different color that blends well with the one I originally used, or if that doesn't present itself, a darker shade of the same color. I start heavy at the edge and gradually lighten it so it fades into the non-shaded part.

As for actually coloring...um...stay inside the lines if the situation calls for it, or don't be so anal by the same token?

~How long does it take to finish a piece of art?
FOREV-VER. (Imagine I'm saying that like the kid from Sandlot.)

~What music do you listen to while you draw?
Sky's the limit here! It depends on my mood, and I have a lot of music.

~How long does it take you to come up with an idea?
Can't really put a specific time on this. Sometimes I really struggle with it; other times I come up with a real winner really fast. In both cases it takes me ages to draw them, if I do at all.

~Your favorite drawing utensils?
Automatic pencils, Micron pens of various widths, and Prismacolor markers.

~Your favorite color/the color that you use a lot?
Blue and green, I think?

~Your favorite style(s)?
Do you mean like, what styles I like looking at, or what styles I like drawing? 'cuz I'm equal opportunity on what I like to look at, and, um, I suck at any style other than my own >_< I really want to try drawing in graffiti style, but if I do then I get anal about proportions, and the stylization goes out the window.

~What kind of artist are you aiming for?
...I have no idea what you mean by that.

~Tag people:
Eh, do it if you want. XD

]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26547019/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26547019/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:45:07 PDT Where Words Fail updates instead, amirite?

This week, we delve head-first into Smellerbee's past, and find out a little bit of what makes her tick, including her first encounter with the Freedom Fighters! So, read, drink, and be merry

The next update will be Wednesday, August 19th!

Now it's back to cleaning my closet for the first time in a decade

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26402759/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26402759/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:13:42 PDT Where Words Fail is now live. Smellerbee and Longshot attempt an escape from Ba Sing Se; unfortunately for them, the Dai Li have managed to catch up. Will they succeed, or will they fall victim as Jet did to the Earthbending secret police?

Next update: Wednesday, August 12th!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26383616/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26383616/ Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:19:18 PDT
If you've ever wondered why I've given up on you as a whole, please use the following example as one of the many reasons why I've deemed you a hopeless cause.

No love,
TEi

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So, I go to the nearest Stop N Shop to pick up a perscription I'd dropped off fifteen minutes beforehand. I pull into the parking lot, get out, walk to the store - and parked a few cars down from me is a red convertable with the top down. Sitting alone in the back seat of the car is a blonde little girl, completely unattended by any parental unit.

Being the epitome of a yankee, I shrug and say I'll make it my problem if she's still there by the time I come back out. So I go in, get my scrip, come out - and the little girl is still there. I'm about to go over to her and say something when a meathead in an SUV drives up and parks next to the convertable and proceeds to try and climb up the curb with his car; realizing that going over to the girl at this point would make me look criminal, I just move on and get into my car. I figure, since the meathead had his girlfriend with him, she'd mediate him and keep him from doing something stupid (beside, he seemed more intent on checking out his car).

So, I pull out of my spot and start to drive away, when I see a woman and her son come out of Stop N Shop and head towards the convertable; I slowed down and waited, and sure enough, she opened the door of the convertable and started to climb in.

"Hey, I hope I realize what you've just done," I call to her. "You left your little girl alone in the car."

"Um, she's twelve years old," she replies, much to my disgust. "She can take care of herself."

At this point I'm a sick ball of frustration, rage and righteousness, ready to hop on my soap box for the first time in years only this time it's over something that matters and is perfectly justifiable; what's keeping somebody from plucking that little girl right out from the car and making off with her? What's keeping me from doing it? If I were a sicko, I could have nabbed her before even considering going into the store and nobody would have done a damn thing about it. Fortunately for the woman and her little girl, I'm a charitable man; I reign in my composure before it escapes me and say, "Good one. Great job. Have fun with that," and trundle away. By that point, though, the woman had turned her back to me, so pursuing the argument in earnest would have been a wasted effort.

Perhaps I'm too charitable. I could have asked the meathead or his girlfriend for their cell phones; I could have called child services, or the police, and reported the woman. But I didn't, so it's entirely likely the woman won't ever learn her lesson...and if she does, it'll certainly be too late.

Oh, humankind. How silly we are, absolving ourselves of personal responsibility! Certainly, a scrawny twelve-year-old girl could handle anybody daring enough to attempt to whisk her away and escape to safety.

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26347428/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26347428/ Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:42:46 PDT
I came back from CTcon about two hours ago and I'm in a supreme brainfunk. Post-con traumatic disorder, a familiar beast that never gets easier to conquer over the years. It's hard coming back home, especially after the sweet hotel room I booked by accident (long story) and the fact that my bestest bud ever, , came up all the way from TX to hang with me and my pals.

A quick rundown:

1// The watch-word for the convention was "steampunk." Hoooo MAN. I don't know if this was predetermined or what, but the cover for this year's program was steampunk airship styled, there were at least three steampunk-themed panels, and a lot of people just wound up cosplaying steampunk-y. It was pretty awesome, and I learned a lot about the steampunk sub-culture. There was even a dude with an electric guitar he had customized to look steampunk, and he had built a miniature amp from SCRATCH that he hung around his waist. It actually freaking worked.

2// Lots of other Hunter cosplayers, as well as about three witches, a Zoey and a Francis. Unfortunately, an underwhelming representation in the L4D crew. I'm tooting my own horn, but I felt like I was the one who had put the most effort into his Hunter costume, though I forwent the face-paint and that hurt me somewhat. (I was the bloodiest of the lot, though. I'm very efficient; eviscerating the living is a messy job, one I take very seriously.) It was an adventure managing the gloves - a lot of modifications in the hotel the first night of the con, a lot of glue, and a lot of creative application of duct-tape. I'll take a picture of them before I take them apart and rework them for my next con (AnimeFEST, hopefully).

3// I really feel bad for the Blue and Blonde guy.

4// The Cosplay Chess event - one of my hueg liek woah favorite events of the con - was overrode for Cosplay Deathmatch. Now, no denying - the CDM was fully of charisma and my voice is still hoarse, but part of the thrill was always in the game itself. Instead, it was replaced by an audience-shouts-to-choose-the-winner event, making it a popularity contest. It's not bad, and it's much faster, but I had been looking forward to showing Pandy (aforementioned Texan friend) what a full-fledged cosplay chess looked like, since she'd only seen smaller, in-development versions.

5// I accidentally booked a room in the wrong hotel. CTcon takes place in a convention center that has a hotel directly attached; when placing the reservations, I thought I'd done it through the same hotel, but, WHOOPS. So, bummed, angry, more than a little unhappy, I and my friends found our way to the hotel I had reserved - fortunately only a few blocks away from the con, with a free Star Shuttle running a circuit past both points. So, grumbling the entire way there and hissing obscenities at myself and throwing as much blame as I could justify on the website for doing its job, I lead the others up to our room...

...and, wow. The room at this hotel was about four times larger than the rooms at the Hartford Convention Center; it had two TVs, a kitchenette (complete with oven, toaster, microwave and fridge), a couch, recliners, two desks, a table, and a raised little sleeping area with low walls, so you could look over and see all the rest of the room.

Best mistake I've ever made.

6// Gonna commission some custom Freedom Fighter-themed pins from an artist I met at the convention last year. Shhh!

7// Had a nice double-whammy heart-attack managing Pandy's transportation from the airport to here and back. Like dopes, we hadn't arranged for a bus ride or anything, so after running around like loons trying to research and sort out the problems, Pandy finally manages to grab a (very expensive) cab over. And we ran into the same problem on the way back, mostly because her return flight was at 6 AM...Hartford is about an hour's drive away from where I live, and no buses run that early (apparently - come on, Peter Pan!), and since she couldn't get ahold of the same cab driver, it looked like I'd have to come home only to drive her out there myself and come back (three hours out of the day - that would have been terrific fun! FORTUNATELY, my buddy Micah was also staying in Hartford for the con, in a separate hotel (and for free, no less - perks of frequent flier miles!); he offered to house Pandy overnight and drive her to the airport the next morning. So, super-hearts for you, Micah.

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Okay, s... ]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26262557/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26262557/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:28:06 PDT
Next update is Wednesday, August 5th!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26208778/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26208778/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:17:57 PDT
I swear to science, if this series does not come to the States, I will pull all the stops out to obtain it. Serious. Trufax.

It's stylized - looks like comics and graffiti mixed together - and the lead female character has Smellerbee stripes. And it has awesome fuggin' hip-hop intro songs. This shit's got my name all over it.

If you're still reading this and haven't seen the trailer, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE. Go watch it!! Right now!

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26111038/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26111038/ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:01:19 PDT

That's all for now! The next update will be Wednesday, July 29th! Peace.

- TEi

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]]> *teisama http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26014427/ http://teisama.deviantart.com/journal/26014427/ Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:30:02 PDT
Om nom nom.

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]]> *teisama