Bleach
- Kusajishi Yachiru little_terror

Doctor Who
- Tenth Doctor je_dit_allonsy

Gintama
- Sakata Gintoki gin_san @ luceti

Heroes
- Peter Petrelli ad_salvatio

Naruto
- Hatake Kakashi ura_no_ura @ luceti
- Uchiha Madara parousian

The Vampire Diaries
- Damon Salvatore eternal_stud

I've been making art.

I've been making a lot of art. So this is a small art dump of two images that I just finished.

Title: Never Fall Away
Pairing: Kakashi/Iruka
Rating: PG-13
Tools: Wacom Bamboo, PaintTool Sai, Photoshop CS3
Time Taken: 2 days
Deviant Art: Link Here



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Title: Waking Up Beside You
Pairing: Kakashi/Iruka
Rating: PG-13
Tools: Pencil, Ink, Wacom Bamboo, PaintTool Sai, Photoshop CS3
Time Taken: 12-24 hrs
Deviant Art: Link Here



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Tonight, I attended a Take Back the Night march and rally. It's been storming here in New England, so I wasn't sure how many people would turn out -- and it ended up only being a small group of people, but what was incredible about this particular march is that the majority of those who came out to show support were men. Even one fraternity came out in support, dressed in their Greek letters.

We carried signs and handed out fliers and chanted as we walked through Brown's campus in the rain, and even marched through several dorms -- including a few frat houses -- and through a couple of student rec areas and dining halls. While a few people did join us on the march as we continued, what I was rather relieved about was the lack of opposition that I heard might have occurred. In past years at Brown, frats protested Take Back the Night with extremely hurtful and misogynistic signs and counter-chants. This year, we did not receive any resistance or opposition at all.

Though the vast majority of participants were undergrads, and the grad community was severely under-represented, I was really glad that I got to participate this year, especially as it culminates Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Some of the things we chanted:

"Take back the night / the time is near / we will not be controlled by fear!"
"Women / United/ Will never be defeated!"
"2 4 6 8 No more date rape!"
"Yes means yes / No means no / Whatever we wear / Wherever we go"
"Out of the halls and into the streets / We won't be raped, we won't be beat"
"Hey hey / ho ho / date rape has got to go!"
"People unite / Take back the night!"

It was really quite encouraging and heartening to see all these guys -- especially frat guys walking through the streets and going into other frat houses chanting, "Women / United / Will never be defeated!" -- especially since there were way more men at this particular march than women (a particularly sobering and disappointing fact).

Of course, sexual assault and rape happens to men as well, but it was still quite encouraging to see men take a stand against sexual violence and assault and not feel a shred of embarrassment screaming, "WOMEN UNITED!"

Some statistics:

Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted

1 out of every 4 women are raped on a college campus

1 out of every 6 women are raped in America

1 out of every 10 men are raped in America

15 out of 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail

Approximately 2/3 of assaults are committed by someone known to the victim

So here I am writing an LJ post instead of writing a response paper that is already two hours late.

As you guys have probably noticed by now, I've been doing a fantastic job procrastinating by means of artwork. Ever since I received my new Wacom Bamboo tablet, all I seem to want to do is paint. But alas! I have this thing called an academic job of sorts that requires me to do a lot of work and drains the life out of me. Which actually is only part of the reason why I've been mostly absent on LJ during the course of this past year.

I am wrapping up the first year of my PhD program, which is kind of crazy since it feels like just yesterday, I was freaking out on this LJ about applying to programs. And here we are, and I'm actually...well, mostly surviving! It has been a crazy year for sure, and when I have more time I will write about it... and about my trip to Cancun which I still haven't had a chance to edit/resize pictures from (because I'd rather paint fan art than resize and edit 300 some odd pictures...)

I really should be writing on Thomas Middleton's Women Beware Women.

...sigh.

I really can't wait for this semester to be over; Early Modernism/Renaissance stuff is so not my thing and it's been a constant source of academic frustration for me.

Title: RESOLVE
Character: Hatake Kakashi
Rating: PG-13 for blood
Notes: This took approximately 8 hours in Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Bamboo tablet, with a photo reference. I'm still pretty meh about Kakashi's hair here, so I may come back and retouch it down the road.

- I always imagine Kakashi to be lazy as hell and he probably doesn't shave very much if he can get away with it! I also prefer imagining him with facial hair. *_*

- This is not a photo manipulation.



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Title: Umino Iruka
Rating: G
Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Wacom Bamboo; reference
Notes: Feedback welcome!



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No, really.

It's been a long time, hasn't it, LJ? I haven't updated this thing in months. I wish I had a good reason for not updating, but really I don't. Part of it is because I became extremely dependent on Plurk (which is like microblogging on speed) so I just didn't feel the need to write here as much since I was (and still am) on Plurk all the time.

But lately, I've been thinking I should start using this LJ again.

So, how is everyone? What have you guys been up to these past few months? Updates would be lovely. I'm going to start reading my friends list and commenting again, too.

The media constructs cultural values. The end.

Clearly, judging by the fic chapters I've been posting, I am alive.

I have just been extremely fucking busy. Grad school has been eating me alive.

Will try to post something of more substantial length soon.

I miss you all dearly.

Would love to hear what you guys have been up to.