A Collection of Snowflakes

Gift for a friend

2008-08-24T22:31:17Z

The gifts I made for the Japanese friend made over summer, traditional Estonian folkcostume embroidery on modern thingies :).

HP Husband Quiz

2008-08-08T18:29:13Z

From blodeuedd83:

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

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I was not really aiming for it though with a few questions it was clear what you should answer to get who you wanted.

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-05T15:47:33Z

Enjoying might be the wrong word...or in a masochistic way - I don't like it at all! But I don't hate it either, I rather read it simply like a bad fanfic. Which is not that different from how I read the books from New Moon onwards, they've gotten further and further away from "quality" (even stretching the meaning veeeeeery far) fiction to wisful-thinking-of-a-

teenanger-written-as-if-by-a-wishful-teenager. I know that you know my reservations about the whole series before Breaking Dawn but this book cemented my vampires vs faeries opinion.
I knew some parts from a friend but I don't think that even without knowing it beforehand I'd not have been surprised, I can't be surprised by anything in that book.
The first book (Bella's view) was like a bad horror movie (and I don't even watch those!); Jacob's is slightly better.
What is my main complaint is how neat things turn out, it can't simply be. Oh, and wait till you get to Bella and her new vampire-dom! (I don't think this is a spoiler - it was SOOO long in coming) Hello, Mary Sue!!!!

Heaven knows that I do not want a graphic sex-scene but the way theirs is handled with fade out as soon as things get a little serious makes the whole worrying about it on Edward's part unbelievable. There could have been some indication how difficult it was for him to hold back to not crush Bella to pieces, even for a few moments at the beginning...something...this way it looks as though it was a piece of cake (feathers are not convincing enough ;)!).

I can totally understand Edward, by the way! He wants what's best for the one he loves, the child is (yet) a stranger, an emphemeral quantity. The mother is a real person he has feelings for - I would protect that one too instead of the stranger. Yep - I'm not at all maternal. Neither was Bella of course but wham - she gets over it in moments! I don't think this works so smoothly in real life.

I'm a little over 400 pages now, I think and it is not that reading is torment, but I do like to go on to see how silly the things will get. Oh, I realised this made me surer about my own writing too - I definitely can write better than her. I had gotten worried that my work was too sugary and pointless but whoa, I have nothing on Meyer. Breaking Dawn would benefit from an angstfest CLAMP style - Bella as Fai and someone as Sakura in Infinity, please!!!!

What is my main problem with the books?! Bella and Edward, naturally as the main characters. Bella does not change at all during the books, she is the same featherhead she always was, she does not grow and remains as shallow as she always was. But Edward, poor Edward who was such a sparkling (pun half-way intended) in Twilight, a pleasure to read about and guess what he'd do next along with Bella, turned from a captivating character to a flat boring-worry-and-boring-angst-bag in New Moon and remained so. He is so bland and 2D in the other books it is a shame. I did not read the series because of Bella, I might have if she had changed or matured...and then Stephenie took away the one interesting character by making him part of the set, the sun Bella always looks at but who does not do much. This reminds me of HP where I could and cannot figure out for the life of me why Rowling killed the ONE good character in her whole saga (ok, I know why she did it, for Harry's growth as a character but she could have killed someone else for that), the one person I was not annoyed at the whole time.

Sorry for the rant! Perhaps the fact that I am not in the best mood these last two weeks also makes me more thorny and acid-tongued but if something deserves this, it is Breaking Dawn. And at least it makes young writers see that nothing is impossible if the right moment and opportunity and chance comes for them too - if a badly written series like this can inflict and create such a frenzy, then....

There is not much to add to what I already wrote because the last 300 pages did not change anything - it is still like bad fanfiction, Bella is not Bella but the super vampy, Edward is barely more than a set decoration, Reneesmee is kind of creepy and so on. The big confrontation was more or less pointless, especially by how it was handled, too vague and confusing with the only highlight being Bella as the Superwoman with the shield!
All right, and who believed Alice had left for the reasons she wanted people to believe?! Apparently the whole set of the book's characters have gone slightly idiotic.
Oh, my, this is why ending a series and reading the last of a series is so difficult and experience - while a saga is still ongoing you can imagine that the author will pull him/herself together and make something, even if it was messed up in the middle. Breaking Dawn sure made me think again of getting it firmly in my head that Twilight was a separate book - fluff and all but in tolerable amounts - the continuations are not worth the effort, at all.
This book will definitely go into the list of badly ended series; at the moment the one with a really good ending that pops first in my mind is book 5 of Amber series, the end of Corwin's arc, Hobb's Liveships managed quite well too, Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn had a satisfying ending - these are the ones I can think of from the top of my head.
Fingers crossed for the ending of Wheel of Time to be different!

TRC 192

2008-07-04T16:36:53Z

The best part of this all is that I can read Tsubasa now!!!!!!!!!! In Japanese!!! Provided, it is slow going and with the translation by my side for reference when I don't understand a word (or more ) but it is such a good feeling . I am truly beaming right now.
The splash page with the three guys is really nice-looking (though Fai looks kind of weird), I love the crows!!

Some prettiness

2008-06-07T18:30:54Z

How can they all be so handsome in Nabari no Ou?!:

It must be the prettiest anime I am watching right now, although CG R2 comes close.

ROFL!

2008-05-14T20:05:09Z

This helped me and my friend get through a night when we were writing her thesis:

TRC spoilers 189 and splash of 187

2008-05-03T19:53:50Z

And R!Syaoran's parents are.....!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

CCS! Sakura and Syaoran!

Lovely!

I also finally got to colouring the splash of chapter 187 with Fai and Kamui -hidden under the cut to save space:

snowflower_chan @ 2008-04-23T22:03:00

2008-04-23T19:03:53Z

Mmmm... fangirly.

You're a bishounen!
You're male, but people often mistake you for the other option. You're unfeasibly thin and pretty and always have perfect hair, often surrounded by sparkles/sakura/roses. You almost certainly have a tragic backstory which involves one or more of your parents, and are liable to have a Tragic Destiny (TM). You were almost certainly invented by a female mangaka, are worshipped by a female audience, and your life is characterised by periods of extreme pain and angst. Sucks to be you. Which generic anime character are you?

TRC 186&187

2008-04-10T19:07:10Z

186:
All right, it is Sakura's 7th birthday the timeloop has taken them. But is this before or after she and C!Syaoran met. RSyao's face is really sad on the "of course" page, those memories are not good! They remind me a little of Fai thinking about R!Fai or Ashura-ou.

187:Interesting chapter in how lots of different emotions came to me. Firstly, I liked the random splash, though the words make it even more difficult to understand and put it to some kind of context. Then FWR saying what we had figured out already which meant that most of the attention was drawn to the melting people. Then we switched fully to the actual scene and it got heartbreaking with the kid keeping to his lines (which also brings to ming holding on to his life, because of FWR's words of change meaning death for those people) and Syaoran hugging him. I noticed Fai touching Syaoran's hand immediately - sweet, kind of like when Syaoran was sitting on the roof at Nihon - I really like the way those two have interacted lately with Fai trying to comfort the kid but it is still awkward because of the lies that he told and Syaoran knew about. Kurogane, Fai and Mokona "taking the blame" as well for what was happening made me smile, page 15 where the guys walk through the swirly melty stuff made me think for some reason of the "hero shots" of the Fellowship of the Ring walking over that hill in the movie and I was uplifted.
Too bad there is a break again.

TRC 185

2008-03-22T21:12:16Z

TRC 185 - Fai, Fai and Fai! He looks awesome in this chapter, pages 10 and 13 are my favorites...page 14 looks exactly like the one after the same kind of incident in Nihon .
I'm the one to talk!
Kurogane should have known that Fai'd notice, after all, before, he kept noticing things about Fai the latter did not want noticed.
Time loop...continued....

TRC 184

2008-03-06T21:14:28Z

Fai on page 8 - the highlight for me - accepting and admitting that it is better to travel with others, I don't go "aww!" a lot in real life but when I saw that, I did.

TRC 183

2008-02-27T20:05:55Z

One of the most beautiful splash pages of TRC, I think! The one with the three guys is also lovely, *loves Fai's golden eye* I would never have thought that I'd not miss his blue one(s) that much but the golden colour goes so well with his hair and all.
I am not sure what Yuuko is doing...or rather, how she can do that if she is not allowed to interfere, even if Watanuki made a wish, it is still so direct and approach.
*hugs Yuuko* That hurt A LOT from the looks of it!
And we are at Clow Country now...

TRC 181 & 182

2008-02-07T21:38:49Z

TRC 181 - *hugs Watanuki* That was a hell of a price! So, we have the soul of the original Sakura and the body of the clone. I am so glad we got to see Fuuma more, even if Seishirou already left, I was afraid they would leave at the same time.
The pages of memories of Sakura are so beautiful, I love the glass/memory-shards motive CLAMP has used over the past volumes a few times.

182 - gorgeous splash! It has been so long that we had Fai and/or Kurogane on a splash page. Tomoyo and Kurogane are so sweet together, to me they have the kind of friendship I would love to have with someone. Fai's and Syaoran's interaction was great...oh, and Fai can still startle so splendidly at good-supportive things said about him, I love his reaction to Syao's "thank you!".
The old clothes are back! Minus the fluffy(ier) coat and Kuro has a nice armwrap or whatever it is.

TRC 180

2008-01-26T18:06:43Z

Fai knew about Sakura being a clone, I knew it! He knows everything...besides what was most important to him, that Real!Fai chose him as the one twin who would live.
His expressions in this chapter are great but aren't they always. Kurogane too, it looks like he too is not that surprised that Fai knew about it. *imagines Kurogane thinking Yet again the guy told me nothing!*
Poor Mokona and Kuro, they were so much in the dark about lots of things that Fai, R!Syao and C!Sakura knew but did not share.
I love the parallel images from this chapter and the one of the gang in Yuuko's shop, it is to say that phase 2 has begun . Now, what might the price be...it is not as though they have a lot to give away.

ASOIAF Personality Test

2008-01-16T20:29:17Z

My score on The Song of Ice and Fire Personality Test:

Eddard Stark
(You scored 90 Adaptability, 160 Humor, 320 Integrity and 120 Activity!)

If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die. You are Eddard Stark. Also known as Ned, you are a pillar of morality in a corrupt world. No matter what kind of people or situations you encounter, your sense of honor remains as strong as it can possibly be. You are rather introverted, but you are deeply caring person when it comes to your family and friends. You are forthright and often disgusted by people who are sneaky, deceitful and manipulative. You are serious, reserved, and righteous. You are also similar to &Catelyn Stark and &Brienne of Tarth. Your polar opposite is &Euron Greyjoy.

Link: The Song of Ice and Fire Personality Test

This does not surprise me in the least! :) From blodeuedd83.

TRC 178

2008-01-09T18:14:48Z

More clones.....
Sakura's face on page 13 is so so so beautiful and heartwrenching. Poor R!Syao.
Oh, and even the Clone was taken aback by what he'd done.

The Doom Song

2007-12-29T20:07:55Z

Courtesy of my brother who sent me the link. LOL!

Happy Holidays to All!

2007-12-24T15:42:25Z

Christmas Madness

2007-12-21T21:15:31Z

It looks as though I have survived it! Hurrah!

TRC 176

2007-12-12T21:46:46Z

Sakura gained lots more points in my book, running to R!S and holding on to him the whole time, even when Clonie stuck a sword in her shoulder - the girl from Acid Tokyo's adventure and the one whose determination and bravery saved the gang in Infinity from Fai destroying them all has not gone anywhere, even if she looked like a throwback to the hime-in-distress in the dreamworld so far.
We even got a few shots of Nihon in this chapter, which naturally made me smile widely. Oh, and the sakura tree seems to be a portal to the dreamworld and Sakura's body looks to have entered now as well.
Yey for body-memories!

TRC 175

2007-12-04T18:59:39Z

I fell in love with the splash, it is absurdly lovely - everyone in the ice and snow of (presumably) Celes.
The chapter has a very good balance of Nihon and dreamworld, I'd not wish not to see Fai for long and what a page no 7 is! Fuuma and Sei grinning , they are so fun together. The battle is in full swing, R!S seems to be in a tight spot and Sakura says IT ! Finally she drops the suffixes and quotation marks.
Awesome chapter all in all.

My dæmon

2007-12-03T20:49:41Z

Awaiting The Golden Compass (hoping that at last we get a post-LOTR fantasy movie that is really good):

Ch 175 spoilers

2007-12-02T19:02:21Z

We're back to Nihon and dreamworld in the same chapter, than the heavens! Don't let me miss Fai too much! The fight continues...naturally but in Nihon you get Fuuma/Sei interaction - always fun - and more about Fai's eyes. It becomes evident that it mattered a lot which eye Clonie managed to take before Kurogane arrived, had he taken the right one, he'd have gotten the "the more magic I use the closer I get to death" one, poor Fai has no luck, does he?!

Simple stuff

2007-11-25T00:14:33Z

Went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age yesterday. It did not have much impact on me, though of course the costumes were lovely and the battle scenes could have lasted way longer , but otherwise, I could not really really get into it, there were good parts and there were boring ones, overdramatic scenes and touching scenes. Those with Mary Stuart might have been the best in my book ( I love the "let's choose a red dress for beheading-wear so that the blood does not show too awfully afterwards" philosophy, I can't recall who was said to have chosen a red dress for that, was it Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard or Mary Stuart). The music was ok but I need to listen to it again, at the moment no exact part burned itself into memory.

*Sleep is overcoming me*

TRC OAD

2007-11-18T17:12:48Z

:D I realised only after I saw it how I had missed TRC in animated form with the story following the manga properly! And the animation is lots better in the OAD (though there are of course still complaints). However to me the most important thing is that that part of the manga got animated, I can switch off how weird Fuuma looks (and replace it with the image in my head) and so on but it is in moving form with the seiyuu's back and everything. It is as if I can almost go emotionally back again to the moments that had such a strong impact on me.
Pretty shot, I love the melancholy: