Something I threw together using Flower of Colours, some graining filters, colour layers and some renders. Looks shit here, but good as a Facebook banner. Maybe that's a comment on the standard on FB? XD http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...52-d3a1rrz.jpg
Haruhi's asked Kyon to stay behind for an errand...
Songfic (Chapters are based on song lyrics)
Romance
Contains some stuff that people may feel uncomfortable with (some may find it cute lol) but there are no explicit scenes. Link
Spoiler for Haruhi: God Incarnate - TMoHS:
Sequel to Promise of a Lifetime. Strongly suggested reading, but not necessary.
It's another year at North High, and Haruhi begins recruiting the new first years. Out of all the first years there's only one recruit...
Romance (as always)
Contains MORE stuff that people may feel uncomfortable with (and goes further that the previous fic) but there are no explicit scenes. Link
Gaming:
Spoiler for The Ghostly Ravagers - Halo:
It's been 4 years since the Human Covenant War, and the two are uneasy allies...
BE WARNED, THIS FIC IS OLD. VERY OLD. AS IN WHEN I WAS 12 OLD. As such it's not up to my current standard, but it's still pretty good in my opinion. Or you be the judge :P
Romance, Action Link
CROSSOVERS?!:
Spoiler for First Contact with 1st Lieutenant Haruhi Suzumiya - TMoHS, Halo:
The Insurrection has been going on for a while. 1st LT Suzumiya Haruhi is bored fighting the same old things, over and over again. Then, a chance for her squad (dubbed the SOS Squad) will see them on their first alien contact...
Romance, Action, Crossover Link
Original Fiction:
Spoiler for For the Future - Modernist Short Story:
For those unfamiliar with Modernism, I suggest you read up on it. This is a short story I did for school - I think it warrants for a post here. In any case, I've provided the text and my reflection statement on what I wanted to portray in the story. Don't worry if nothing seems to happen - that's one of the aspects of Modernism. Enjoy, I guess? XD
For The Future
The two engineers picked their way through the rubble. The cleanup was gruelling – it would be many more years before all the splashes of sewerage, grime, rubble, and building husks were scraped away. Well, it would make their painful journeys into the different neighbourhoods easier, one thought. As far as they were concerned, all they did was work with electricity – nothing more, nothing less. They weren’t thinking much of the future, but they knew that they had to keep working, for the good of the British people. Having served in the Army as sappers, they had fought for their mates, not for any political reasoning. They hadn’t needed any persuasion.
Their work was not yet finished, and they were determined to see it through. The government – or propaganda machine, they called it – was now attempting to rebuild the country. The bureaucrats weren’t helping so much as hindering. All their bluster about budget and politics meant nothing to the people now. All they knew was that they were sick and tired of death and destruction and just wanted to move on.
The heavy burdens on every Briton, however, would not be dispelled that easily. On a stormy night, replete with wind, snow and rain, as the two engineers started working on a telegraph pole, a figure hobbled towards them from down the street. It was attempting to pick its way through the rubble – but seemingly uncaring as to whether its feet were filthy, or the long overcoat that soon became visibly stained and splattered. The younger engineer shifted his helmet slightly to wipe away the sweat and grime at his brow, and squinted at the approaching figure.
“What in the blazes do you think he’s doin’?” The younger man kicked away a piece of charred photo frame. The remnants of the family photograph shook free, and disintegrated, swept away in a flurry of wind and rain.
“No idea. Oi, come on, we gotta hook this up – I don’t want to be stuck out here in this God darned storm any more than I need to.”
“Assuming the bloody parliamentarians still believe we should believe in God…” they both chuckled at the joke. Politicians. What foolish idiotic imbeciles. Can’t wage a war properly, and end up destroying half of their own capital city. The Allies may have won, but at what cost? Millions of civilians dead – on both sides. The small, indistinct figure flashing in the lightning was just lucky. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Saw the deaths of his own family right in front of him. Now he was one of the people that he read about: he was alone in the world. The man came abreast of the two engineers, and halted. A crack of lightning appeared, and the two engineers jumped – but the third man made no motion. The younger electrician tried to make a feeble wave at the supposed intruder – but again, he made no response. There was an awkward pause among the three, before the third man finally responded.
“What are you doing out here? Don’t you have better things to do?”
The engineers stood in silence. The older one finally answered, “This is our job. We love what we do.” The youth piped up behind him, “I’m doing it because I want to make the world a better place by fixing everything!”
The man ignored him. “Are you sure you’re not doing it for money? Or the government forced you to? You don’t have families to return to?”
“We are doing it to serve others. And our families know where we are.” The older engineer turned to the younger one. “We got work to do. Let’s get to it.”
The third man huffed, and wrapped his fur overcoat around him tighter, shaking accumulated snow from his bowler hat. Replacing it on his head, he tweaked it down such that it covered his face.
“And yet technology is what brought us to the war in the first place...”
“Technology is not inherently evil. It is simply how man uses it.” The older engineer opened up the transformer on the telegraph pole, and started repairing wires.
“Hmph. And yet, does man not use all technology for evil?”
“You’re calling heating and lighting our homes evil?”
“Electricity has still been used for evil.”
“In some instances, not all.”
The third man was about to rebut the statement, before the younger engineer cut him off. “Look, gent, I’m sorry, but we have work to do. It’s very important to rebuild the city of London back to its former glory, after all. Once we’ve done that – we can keep going further and further, and make a brighter future for everyone – provided we use it in the right way, of course.”
“It is not enough to survive? You must attempt to give yourselves worldly pleasures?”
“Well, if it makes life easier, why not?”
“We all die eventually. Using more energy than is needed to survive your natural lifespan seems...pointless.”
“How exactly is it pointless?”
The third man snorted. “You wouldn’t understand, youngin.” He continued past the engineers now, towards more rubble, charred photographs, bodies and refuse down the street, towards a house husk, still standing. Alone. The two engineers watched him head up to the second floor of the house, and sit in a threadbare chair, that used to be red and plump. The younger engineer laughed a little. The old man seemed cartoony, as though he were about to have an idea.
The rain and snow suddenly stopped falling on the two engineers, and they shook their equipment and clothes free of snow and rain, before glimpsing small dots of light on the horizon, each representing another family who’d have shelter from the blizzard. The younger one grinned. “It seems the world is on our side, huh?”
“Indeed it is. Come on, we’ve nearly finished repairing this transformer.” The older engineer smiled a little. What was past was past. No point dwelling on old, unchanging norms that hadn’t worked anyway. He finally soldered the last connection together, and snapped the transformer lid shut. “Alright, let’s get this thing back upright, shall we?” The younger electrician nodded emphatically, before lending his strength for the future.
The snow storm continued moving down the street, towards the shell of a man, who was waiting, forever waiting, for the past to take him back to better times.
Spoiler for Reflection Statement:
The overall aim of the piece For The Future was to illustrate the Modernists’ sense of despair and alienation in the world, their lack of faith in governmental bodies or religions, and their championing of the individual. By using 3 characters, I wanted to highlight the past, present and future – the Modernists’ break from tradition and highlight differences in opinion – perspectivism. I wanted to somehow relate the faithlessness in governmental institutions and religion with reflecting on individual’s strength – in this case, the two engineers, and their want to improve the world and restore it to its former glory using technology. They also go unnamed, which I used to try to make a comment on humanity as a whole. Setting the story just after World War II in winter, was so I could portray the Modernists’ sense of despair from the horrors of war. The third character also played a part in this by having lost all his family to the war, and in the end, sitting alone in a dilapidated and rundown house, “in the past”. The conversation was mainly used to attempt to illustrate the blurring of moral values when it comes to technology – it can be used for good, but can also be used for evil – and never really answering the question of whether technology is good or evil, but instead providing a neutral response.
One of the difficulties I had while writing this story is that I often focused too much on one specific issue that I wanted to work with. Most of the time it would be the lack of faith in governmental institutions or religion, as that topic is the easiest for me to write about, considering that much of it can be easily researched. In the end though, I decided to try to cut it in a place that seemed natural – by introducing the third character, and shifting the perspective to him.
Another problem was trying to keep the ideas somewhat subtle yet visible, and keep the tension low. In the beginning I had it set right in the middle of the war, just after the Blitz, with the two engineers repairing a tank, or war machine, with the third man being a soldier, shell shocked from the recent bombing of London. This felt like too much tension, and it overpowered the ideas I was trying to convey. I then changed it to its current setting, after the war, which gave the piece a quieter feel. However, I still had a few high tension moments in it – at one point, an engineer was going to be accidently zapped by the transformer, highlighting the third man’s point about how technology is evil. I cut this moment out, as it seemed too out of place in the current setting and mood.
I think this piece has successfully conveyed the values I wish for it to portray, but perhaps not as subtly as I would have liked it to be. I may have also, by focusing on three different values, diluted the strength of my portrayal of each value – I probably should have only focused on one or two. Although these two factors may have evened out, I still feel it could be improved by perhaps using the setting and inner thoughts of each character more effectively.
Spoiler for Muse for My Avatar - Short Story:
Muse for My Avatar
It was mid-morning on New Year’s Day during one of Tokyo’s coldest winters. The shrine grounds were secluded from the main road; the crimson tori gate the only thing that pronounced its existence. As I walked up the steps to the main courtyard, I noticed various stalls in the process of being packed up from last night’s festival. Being a hikikomori, having shut myself in my room for the past few months or so, I didn’t much care for large social gatherings, though I had come here today to change that. Various shrine owners, most of their eyes ringed from 10 or more straight hours of flogging their yakisoba, udon and souvenirs to all the people that came to pray here, stared at my oddly hunched figure as I hurried to the shrine, kicking away plastic cups and bowls as I went. One stall was thankfully still up, and the owner gave me her last pieces of taiyaki and a cup of green tea. The steaming hot custard filled fish shaped cake and tea served as an effective alleviation to the freezing winds and snow. The courtyard led to a narrow path up a smooth slope to the actual shrine, along with the calligraphy ceramic plate stall for wishes run by the shrine maidens. Thankfully, since I had avoided the midnight queue, the place was deserted. For once, I was again alone with my thoughts.
I shrugged off my messenger bag and leaned it against the stall, zipping my North Face windcheater against the December chill. I rang the bell at the shrine twice, clapped my hands together, and made my wish.
I wish I can get along better with other people.
“Ah, a latecomer. Shougatsu omedetou!”
I whirled around, flustered at the sudden congratulations on the new year. The shrine maiden in front of me wore the traditional vibrant red hakama and white haori. Her hair was tied into a neat ponytail with a red hair ribbon. She did not seem surprised by my appearance, which made me feel slightly foolish for being shocked. Of course there’d be miko here.
I realised I was staring without answering, and stuttered out a half responsive greeting. She laughed, her voice tinkling like wind chimes. “Have you come here to pay your respects and make a wish then? Guess you’ll need an ema too…” She leaned the broomstick she was holding against the stall next to my bag, before selecting one of the wish-giving ceramic plates from the desk.
“You wanted to become better with people, yes?” Her calligraphy brush lightly dipped into the black paint as she prepared to write.
“Uh, yeah, I guess…” I hurriedly reached into my wallet and pulled out a 500 yen note to pay for it.
The miko gracefully wrote the wish on the plate, before handing me it and a string to tie it onto one of the many posts around the shrine, and accepting the money in a red cardboard box.
As she got up to resume her sweeping of all the shrine grounds, she accidentally knocked my messenger bag. The sketch book clattered down a few steps before stopping, flipped open to a page drawing of one of my favourite anime character, shamelessly copied. She picked it up as I squeaked out some sort of excuse.
“These are really good.” She flipped through more of sketches, which also were copied from anime. She didn’t seem to be put off by the content of the drawings though, which was quite uncommon. “So I guess you’re quite the anime and manga fan, aren’t you?” She smiled as she put the sketchbook back into my bag.
“Ahaha…yeah…” Once I had fumbled the ema onto a post to the left of the shrine, I retrieved the bag. Well, that was my New Year’s resolution completed.
“Why don’t you do a drawing of me?” I jumped as the miko behind me struck a pose, her geta clacking against the stone. I was confused. Why would this girl want me to do a drawing of her? I couldn’t offer her anything, like money or clothes. Why would she be trying to be friends?
Oh whatever. I’m probably overthinking it. After all, my New Year’s resolution was to get along better with people, right?
“Yeah…sure. I’m guessing not naked right?” I cracked a small joke. Her laughter again tinkled like wind chimes.
“Preferably, yes, especially in this weather.” She smiled as she posed, broom in hand, as the wind blew through the trees. I flipped open the sketchbook, settled down on one of the cobblestone slabs, extracted a pacer, and began the rough outline. Within 20 minutes I had much of the drawing done, before I realised she was leaning down, looking over my shoulder. I jumped, startled at her presence when I had been absorbed in my work.
“See? This is really good already!” She straightened up again. “And it’s not even in the same style you’re normally used to.” The miko winked, before slightly bowing to me. “My name is Asakura. It’s nice to meet you.” I shot up from my seat, but she held her palm out in a calming motion. “Calm down before you start.”
Taking a few deep breaths, I began, “Uh, I’m Takasu. It’s, uh, nice to meet you too.” I forced myself to do a slow bow, which appeared to look comically mechanical. I heard her tinkling giggle again, and I chuckled a little with her.
“The confidence will come with time.” She returned to her sweeping. “Meanwhile, I’ll be here every day. Maybe you can visit me at Tokyo University when semester starts?”
“You’re a Toudai student too? I though you would’ve picked something that had more money in it for you than being a shrine maiden.”
“Well, it was either this, or cosplaying as a schoolgirl, and I thought that dressing up as a schoolgirl for pervy businessmen and tourists… was not the best way to spiritually expand my horizons.”
I chuckled. ”Yeah, true that.” I finished off the last few lines of the drawing. “Do you want it now, or would you like it digitally?”
“You can digitally do it too?” She said incredulously.
“Yeah! I mean, if you want it for an avatar for something…” I said, abashed.
“That’s great!” She beamed. “Yeah, can you colour it as well? I’ll give you my email address…” The shrine maiden scribbled it down on another page of the sketchbook, before taking a glance at her watch, hidden underneath her haori’s right sleeve. “Crap, I gotta finish sweeping everything in an hour and I haven’t even gotten to the courtyard yet! Uh, well, Takasu, it was nice meeting you and everything. I’ll be here every day so you better visit, alright?!” She called back as she ran down the stone steps, her geta loudly clapping as she ran.
“Yeah, sure!” I called back. “And be careful, you could trip!” Although the warning came too late, as I heard a yelp of “Kyaa!” and a crash in the distance.
“I’m okay!” she yelled back, just as I was about to ask. “You take care now!”
“You too!” I called back. Receiving no reply and assuming she was out of earshot, I started down the slope myself.
The year had begun with human interaction, good deeds and reciprocity. This year’s going to be a good year, I thought to myself.
Kagayaki
2011-01-12 03:38
AWWWWWWW. That poster is incredibly cute.
The fractals are really cool! Great job. The swirls and colors... they're mesmerizing.
This became my background exactly 5 seconds ago. Wicked, Khu.
Khu
2011-01-13 02:46
Hehe.
If you want, I can give you the 2048 px version, though it's got a lot more noise in the background.
Hiroi Sekai
2011-01-13 02:55
Whoa, Khu-san has a thread?! How have I missed this for so long? T_T
The poster is adorable, the fractal flames are a wonderful combination of light and colour, and being a fan of Key's works, the banner is amazing! (Nagisa, Haruko, Misuzu, Ayu, and Kanade [Tenshi]!)
Yuno
2011-01-13 03:16
"Fractal Frame: Flower of Colours" is amazing. I love that picture so very much. I wish I had that in my hospital room. I could stare at it for hours rather than the parking lot.
Khu
2011-01-13 03:19
Banner added (made in 5 minutes with Photoshop and some brushes, lol)
Ty for the comments ^^
Yuno
2011-01-13 03:21
The banner gives your thread a very completed touch, I notice a lot of people use it. I shall be stopping by occasionally to see what new things you've made~
Hiroi Sekai
2011-01-13 04:39
I agree. Nice banner, reminds me that I need banners for my thread. Go, non-artistic me! XD
Yuno
2011-01-13 04:49
Haha~ Oh, I thought your banner was the Channel Otaku one~ It's okay we can both not have banners together unless I get ambitious with MS Paint.
Khu
2011-01-13 04:59
Aaaaaand another fractal flame up.
Khu
2011-01-14 23:24
Updated with fanfiction and more banners cos I was bored.
Hooves
2011-01-14 23:50
Oh!! Khu! When did you post your own fan creation thread o.o? Well might be a late response by welcome to the fan creations section ;) love the banner as well.
Khu
2011-01-15 03:31
Another 2 fractal flames...think I'll stop now I gotta study XD
Yuno
2011-01-15 03:34
Wisps of gold is so beautiful! I absolutely love it~ It looks so artistic and I love the juxtaposition of the colours.
Hiroi Sekai
2011-01-15 03:50
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sofiel
(Post 3439230)
Wisps of gold is so beautiful! I absolutely love it~ It looks so artistic and I love the juxtaposition of the colours.
Due to the amounts of truth this opinion depicts, I'm forced to agree^^ The correlation of colours is quite fascinating, and to put it bluntly - is very artistic indeed.
I really like these 3 fractals you did. Love the emerald-ish colours in the the 'Dragon Flames'. I think your 'Gravity Well' turned out quite well; you have interesting patterns, colours and 3D effect. Perhaps it could be enhanced with some lighting. Your 'Fountains' is really nice as well.
I look forward to seeing more of your great works!
Khu
2011-02-01 05:29
Updated with something I was messing about with after following a tutorial.
Tut's called luminous lines, not that hard to find with a google search.
Khu
2011-02-21 06:51
Updated with a photoshop Facebook banner under Anime Photoshopping.
