Blog Update

This is just a quick update to let anyone reading this know that I have not forgotten my blog. I have quickly discovered that, although life where I'm living right now is less stressful overall than while living at our old house while it was on the market, it has been very difficult to find reliable time to write for my blog. We've gotten the process started for finding a new place to live, so I'm hoping that we can be out of here before too long and back to normalcy (or at least what passes for it around our home). Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to reliably keep this blog up until we get moved in to a new place of our own. I am still going to try and do work in progress updates, although they might not always be on Wednesdays. I'll post other entries as I get chances to write. ^_^ Who knows, maybe we'll find some kind of routine where I can get back to writing before then. I'll try to be optimistic.

Angels > Pokemon

I spent this past week rewatching Angelic Layer with my Mom and my kids. My Mom had never seen it before, and it'd been a while since the rest of us had seen it. Angelic Layer may not be one of Clamp's more spectacular works, but it was cute. Of course, as an avid cosplayer, I have to say that one of the strongest draws this series has for me is the wide variety of costume designs.

For those who have not seen Angelic Layer, the series is about a girl, Misaki Suzuhara, who moves to Tokyo and starts playing a game called Angelic Layer. The game involves customizing an Angel doll, which when placed a special surface called a Layer can be moved. The player wears a special helmet that transmits their thoughts to the doll and the doll moves accordingly. The idea is that what an Angel can do is limited only by the player's will and imagination. The plot follows Misaki as she progresses through the big Angelic Layer tournament. There is some family drama mixed in with all this, but I won't go into detail here since that would give away the bulk of the plot--Angelic Layer isn't all that complicated a series.

One thing that I noticed on this go-around with Angelic Layer is that it's a lot like Pokemon--I'm sure there are other series like this too, but it's not really the kind of thing I usually watch. =P In Angelic Layer you challenge other players, similar to how Pokemon trainers will challenge each other; the players' Angels fight each other, kind of like Pokemon fight each other for the trainers. I think Angelic Layer is better than Pokemon, or at the very least, I think, given the choice, I'd prefer to play Angelic Layer over going on my very own Pokemon journey. XD One of the biggest reasons why I prefer Angelic Layer is that Angelic Layer ended. Pokemon doesn't seem to ever die. XD That makes my kids happy, but after a while, I do wonder how much longer they can honestly drag it out. For another, Angels are kind of like Ball-Joint-Dolls, only cooler--they're slightly more customizable for body type and they can move and fight while in the Layer. This means, though, that you can dress the Angels up in all kinds of neat outfits or make your own clothes for the doll. As a cosplayer, that aspect definitely appeals to me. Finally, as an added bonus, you don't ever have to feed your Angel or really worry about ever offending it or anything, since, you know, it's not a living thing. =P

Here are screenshots of my two favorite Angels, Ranga and Wizard. For those of you who've seen Angelic Layer, which Angel did you like best?

Works in Progress No 1, Vol 9

Technically this should be No. 3 or 4 or something for November, but it's December now, and November wasn't a great month for getting any kind of art or craft work done. On that note, I have high hopes for December. I only have a little bit to post for today, but look at it as the start of what's going to be a highly productive and fun month. =D

First up, a couple of friends of ours had their second baby boy just before Thanksgiving. Normally I like to make baby blankets for people, and usually I like to get it finished before the baby's born. This time, it's already here, and I'm only just getting started. No big deal. =P I'll have it ready in time for Christmas. When I made the blanket for their #1 boy, they'd asked for autumn or earthy colors, but when I went shopping for yarn, the selections of warm colors, especially the oranges, were horrendous. They were all too bright or too pastel, so that blanket ended up going with greens. This time though, I found a great dark orange color, so this time they will get an autumn blanket. Right now it looks like a nifty scarf. =P

The other post I have is the random badge project I started at Anime USA. I'm not going to say what it is right now. Can you guess? I hand-inked it and did some pencil shading because I was bored. I will probably scan it into Manga Studio and redo the lineart digitally because I'm not overly happy with it. Otherwise, I like it. It makes me giggly.