525,600 minutes...
How do you measure, measure a year?

Wow, I can't believe it's 2010. Mainly because the New Year just seemed to slinker in in a decidedly lackluster way. Man, what a change from a decade ago, when I was jittery from graduating college and I felt like I had so much stretched out ahead of me.

This year has been both too short and way too long. It's been an extraordinarily difficult year for me, not the least because I entered the job market as a young professional when the bottom suddenly gave out. And that's not even including the family things.

My year in review:
- February 2009: get downsized for the first time. On the day that my out of town friend whom I adore is visiting and my dad's birthday. Whoops. Manage to keep my head up until I walk out of the office, but cry and cry after I get in the safety of home. Break the car driving a friend home.

- March: turn another year older. Break my mom's car. Not a good year for me to be driving. Get into Hetalia and my Tenipuri life evaporates.

- April: Aniki gets the axe. Suddenly, all four members of my family are unemployed. Commence panicking. Begin volunteer work which is both gratifying in having work but disheartening in how lowly I'm esteemed by permanent staffers.

- May: Dad, miraculously after 2 years out of work, finds employment again. Family breathes a collective sigh of relief. My favorite grandmother passes away.

- Summer of darkness: in which I get zero interviews. Meet a bunch of great attorneys who turn out to be good mentors but not able to hire.

- August: tag along with Dad to SF. Meet a bunch of college friends and 5ix who (surprisingly!) still love me. Ego heals a little bit. Visit the New People store and generally have a good time. Surprise visit from old college roommate.

- September: job interviews begin picking up with no results. Begin the contract position from hell that lasts 4 days. Finally own up and defer my student loans.

- October: Visit chibisuzaku in NYC. Easily the highlight of this year. Get hired to a low-paying but decent contract position. Look for a jack-o-lantern pumpkin at 3 supermarkets before finding perfect mochiamerica shape.

- November: Contract position still going, surprisingly! Enjoy working with my co-workers more. Aniki finds a job! Finally see a dermatologist for the first time to see what mysterious thing under my nail is. Quiet Thanksgiving wherein Aniki and I watch Men who Stare at Goats. Parents broach the idea of selling my childhood home and moving back to Korea. Commence job search panicking.

- December: Holiday preparations go into full swing. See Princess and the Frog and have mixed reactions. Dad takes Mom and me to Barber of Seville :) Meet up with friends at zoo. Disneyland on Christmas Eve. Meet 5ix! After wishy-washy friends, decide to spend NYE at home playing Spirit Tracks.

I don't really have any resolutions. I sort of feel like i have to get my life in order before I can try to improve on anything. My goal for this year, though, is to finally get that job I wanted so I don't have to worry if my parents do end up moving, I can be happy and relatively fulfilled. And maybe if I loosen up a bit, I'll let myself date. But not really until the whole job thing gets settled. I'd also like to visit Korea in May for my grandmother's one year passing and NYC before April for the Tim Burton exhibit.

Title: 妄想クランケ
Artist: 陸奥 水瓶座 (Mutsu Mizugameza)
Fandoms: Bleach, Persona, others
Pairing: Gin x Hitsugaya
Rating: R
My thoughts: Gorgeous Gin, Hitsugaya & GinHitsu illustrations. Hitsugaya = awesome! <3 Very clean and canon style.
Note: More when you click the notebook at the bottom of the gallery!



Title: アサダサイダー
Artist: 東野ケン一 (Touno Kenichi)
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Zoro x Sanji
Rating: PG-13, nudity
My thoughts: Chibi Fox!Sanji and Tiger!Zoro is the cutest thing evar. <3 The proportions in these illusts are often exaggerated, but I like this style well enough! Little Zoro following after Prince!Sanji with a present behind his back is just...too adorable for words. ♥~♥
Note: If you have Firefox, right click on the gallery frame and click This Frame > Show Only This Frame. I don't know if it's just my screen or what, but some of the stars (links) are hidden to the left, so make sure you don't miss those.



Title: Groucho03
Artist: aki
Fandoms: One Piece
Pairings: Sanji x Zoro, Ace x Smoker Franky/Iceburg, Kaku x Iceburg, Paulie x Lucci, Luffy x Buggy, Ben x Shanks, Ace + Luffy, Luffy x Shuraiya, Ace x Marco
Rating: PG-13
My thoughts: OMG, I love all the Franky & Iceburg stuff! Definitely my favorite section. There are many other great works here, highly recommended. *w*
Note: More under P-DIARY and in the Tegaki.
Under: I haven't gotten to the part the quiz questions are from, so. Login Q: What did Shanks make public/take out/etc? Password Q: How many zombies came in after Zoro? (best I can translate without context, sorry). [Click the banner on the front page under the update box, click the same banner on the next page then enter the correct login/pass.]



Title: ツキチカ
Artist: 藤村あゆみ
Fandoms: Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Eternia
Pairing: Guy, Luke, Asch(, Van, Jade)
Rating: G
My thoughts: Gorgeous, gorgeous art! Guy is smexy here, especially in a suit! *whistles*



Title: スターリー★スペース
Artist: 夜倉 雪矢 (Yogura Yukiya)
Fandoms: Tales of Vesperia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Rebirth, other
Pairing: Guy x Luke
Rating: G
My thoughts: Love the happy GuyLuke. ^_^ Coloring is really smooth with a nice choice in colors and I like the style.
Note: Oekaki under オエビログ (end squares).



Title: かゆい
Artist: こまい (Komai)
Fandoms: Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, Psyren, Nurarihyon no Mago, Prince of Tennis, other
Pairings: X+I, X+Yako, Neuro+Yako
Rating: PG
My thoughts: Mostly crack, but I really like the X+I (and that X+Yako one!).

Haven't rec'ed many links lately. I'm kinda thinking of reconstructing the links section on the site in some way.

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Title: 1 sentence pr0n
Fandoms: Various, see profile
Type: Writing
Warning: If you didn't understand the title: NSFW, srsly.
My thoughts: You might ask, "how can you fit good porn into just one sentence?!". Well, I invite you to go find out, because it's entirely possible. If you like what you see, maybe you can try it out, too. ;)
Note: Links to the fandom entries are on the main journal page to the right and under the admin icons.

Happy new year! 明けましておめでとう！

The site has been updated for this month.

There are 12 new recs in the following fandoms.

(1) American Idol RPS
(1) DCU
(1) From Eroica With Love
(7) Hunter x Hunter
(2) One Piece

Note: pixiv fanart requires you to have an account to view them. Tutorial on how to sign up here!

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Title: 今夜は貸切！
Artist: miche
Fandom: Hunter x Hunter
Characters: Genei Ryoudan
Rating: G
My thoughts: Truly amazing Genei Ryoudan piece! Just looking at the food is making my tummy growl though. I love this artist's coloring! There's also another piece by this artist of Neferpitou. ...I want more HxH pieces by this author!



Title: また４人で
Artist: おか由 (Oka Yoshi))
Fandom: Hunter x Hunter
Characters: Main four
Rating: G
My thoughts: Lovely coloring (the background is gorgeous), I love when these four are on the same screen! Love the colors used for the characters. Definitely one of my favorite 'main four' pieces.  There are two other HxH pieces by this artist: Neferpitou and Neon!

Note: pixiv fanart requires you to have an account to view them. Tutorial on how to sign up here!

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Title: ままき's Gallery
Artist: ままき (Mamaki)
Fandoms: Hunter x Hunter, Yuu Yuu Hakusho, others
Characters: Various~!
Rating: PG
My thoughts: Such awesome ideas, seriously! Zoaldyeck family! Group pics! Nng. A few of my favorites: Teens (age change)! (Gon > 19, Killua > 17, Kurapika & Leorio > 12) and Play with us, Oniichan! 1&2. The YYH ones are awesome too.

So... twenty minutes away from a new year over here.

A little bit nervous, because OH MY GOD, TIME IS MARCHING EVER ON, but really hopeful it will be better than this one, at least in terms of academic success. (Although I could do without the work experience and I still don't know if I want to wake up at five in the morning for five months. And nineteen feels so old when you're looking at yourself and realising you're an adult and should be doing stuff like making money and meeting people.)

So yeah. 2010 had better be a brilliant year, otherwise I'll be tempted to bandsaw off its balls or something else appealingly alliterated.

Happy New Years from New Zealand everyone!

Confession: I have actually never seen the Sailor Moon anime, though it was one of the first manga series I read to completion. I couldn't get over what I perceived to be a downgrade of the art, and I wasn't used to Ikuni's style of beat-you-over-the-head direction. This was all pre-Utena, of course.

Maybe that's why out of all the anime series, I don't like "magical girl" very much. But I kept seeing lucathia_rykatu talk about this series, and after a bit of research, I found out it was penned by Peach-Pit. So I decided to check it out.

Needless to say, I was hoping for more Rozen Maiden (which I loved) and...didn't get it by half. But I could definitely see the hints of the same influence, namely in Amu's fashion sense and her general sense of alienation, though a much more watered down version of Jun's and it's not the center of her pathos really since she makes friends fast.

Okay, so it's not Rozen Maiden. But I still found it enjoyable. Mainly because of the cute. Which in turn is mainly because of the Shugo Chara themselves. Ran, Miki, and Su's voices alone make me wish I had a Shugo Chara. And really, who doesn't fantasize about being someone better than they are? What an appealing concept.

The trade off is that I have to sit through the battles du jour and tropes and the obvious love triangle. It's a shame, because I think I like Tadase more, but I guess that's boring to most girls? Well, maybe I'll like Ikuto more later. I've already finished the first season and I heard there's two more, which I'm hoping to check out. So there's plenty of time for him to grow on me.

But oh man do I want to cosplay Miki. I wonder if Shroom would be willing to join in...?

Rambling: I'm currently rereading Hunter x Hunter (up to volume 10 now) and it's been a really fun ride. It's nice to know that there are still HxH fanart sites out there! And One Piece fanart is always a treat to look at. :) I'm at the Enies Lobby arc of the manga.

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Title: 起きてても寝言
Artist: マダオ庫童 (Madao Kudou)
Fandom: One Piece
Characters: Mainly Mugiwara
Rating: PG
My thoughts: Adorkable! Some of these really show the spirit of One Piece. And such detail! I wish I knew if this artist had an 'official' website. Ah well, you can go through the illusts on this page with the links to the left in white. Here is the author's oekaki page.



Title: 跋（bats）
Artist: 斎藤 (Saitou)
Fandoms: One Piece, Ookiku Furikabutte, other WJ, Nintama Rantarou, Axis Powers Hetalia, others
Pairing: Luffy x Zoro, Iceburg x Franky, Sanji x Gin, Sanji x Usopp, Lucci x Spandem, Mihawk x Gin
Rating: R
Warnings: Blood, partial nudity, a bit of grotesque (cannibalism), SM (ball gag)
My thoughts: Saitou-san draws a really sexy Mihawk. *stares* Shanks too, if you prefer redheads. I adore the school/modern AU sketches, omg! Usopp makes for such interesting designs. ...The Lucci x Spandem amuses me. XD The illust of old Zoro and Luffy is really interesting! Take note of the icons in the icon section, for they are awesome.



Title: Bon or ＧＧＧ
Artist: かんた or もろ (Kanta or Moro)
Fandom: Hunter x Hunter
Pairings: Hard to say for sure, but there's Nobunaga x OFC & Ubougin x Nobunaga
Rating: R
Warnings: Strong violence/blood, nudity
My thoughts: At first I didn't think I was going to go for the style, but then there were a few I did like. When I got to the log sections, that's when I starting seeing particular pieces that stood out to me. Fans of Nobunaga will really, really like this site. Knuckle, too. There's not as much UboNobu as I'd like, but what's there is good - one piece in particular, どうか　生きておくれ (Somehow, please live), gets me good!



Title: 抱月
Artist: 逢夢 (Amu)
Fandom: Hunter x Hunter
Pairings: Illumi x Killua, Illumi x Gotou
Rating: PG
My thoughts: Nng, so awesome! Love the IlluKillu, but the IlluGoto is fascinating... And there's plenty of awesome gen too. Oh my god, baby Killua is utterly adorable! And Illumi with short hair! Those two are =love= together here.



Title: トロチョコブログ
Artist: 緑上　まあこ (Rokujou Maoko)
Fandoms: Hunter x Hunter, Arashi, other
Pairings: Kuroro + Neon, Gon x ♀Kurapika, Pokkle x Ponzu, Scuwala x Eliza, Killua x Bisuke, Leorio+Kurapika & Gon+Killua
Rating: G
My thoughts: Absolutely gorgeous style! A nice selection of characters too. I really adore this coloring (there are a few different styles)! Even though I really love all the illusts here, I still can't help but latch on to anything with the awesome main four characters in it. ♥! Highly recommended.
Note: Illusts under the HUNTER tag.



Title: まんじゅう研究会
Artist: わとわたる (Wato Wataru)
Fandoms: Hunter x Hunter, Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3, other
Pairing: Kurapika + Senritsu
Rating: G
My thoughts: Pretty coloring style, although I prefer other types. There's quite a bit of Kurapika & Senritsu here for fans of them! There's crossover stuff as well. As always, love the main four illusts. Gon and Killua are so cute! =) There's a few King/Royal Guard/Komugi pieces too.

Title: Breaking and Entering
Author: Anonymous for Yuletide 2009
Fandom: From Eroica With Love
Pairing: Klaus/Dorian
Rating: PG-13+
Author's Summary: Klaus really needs Dorian's help.

My thoughts: I think the comments on the site say pretty much everything... But hey, what's s'more praise! I love how we could really get a feel for how da Costa scares Dorian, and how he can say no to Klaus but... It was also nice to see Klaus really thinking about Dorian's part in this case and  feeling guilty for once. Also? Running together! :3

Excerpt:

The knife pressed in a second time, another gash, deeper than the last. Dorian was whimpering quietly, he couldn't help it, but he wasn't screaming. It was the only thought the pain and fear hadn't pushed out of his head. Don't scream. Be quiet.

"Now come on, just tell me where to find the others, and I'll stop hurting you," the guard told him.

Dorian breathed. Be quiet. He was shaking.

The guard snorted, like he was fed up with Dorian's lack of cooperation, and Dorian could feel him fumble for the radio at his belt -

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Or just an EXTREMELY pleasant 25th, depending on what you do.