bated-breath.net

Not sure how well this will work in the end since I don’t have a separate keyboard so I’m literally swipe typing this.

I had this great idea that is make quick short posts that were worry but fully capable of being done on my tablet. I’m not sure I’ll ever have anything witty to say at this point especially that can be expressed through the tablet, but here’s hoping I’m capable of something so I can start posting more and actually being useful.

Well see if I can think of something good soon, eh?

Subject: Tovio Rogers (Tovio Rogers@dA)
Number of Commissions: 3 (two paid, one free)
Recommendation-Level: Four out of Five
Comments: For the rating I would have given a five, but there was a lack of proof-stage. I have only ever gotten him when he’s doing his sales so it’s possibly just something he doesn’t bother with for sales, but it’d be nice to be able to make little additions while it’s still in sketchiness.

Tovio’s someone I’ve dealt with a couple of times in the past, and with the new dA account, he drew me a freebie, which led to me order a couple of pieces from him in the variety of couples – he had a sale and I couldn’t resist – and I feel that sharing them might be the best thing I can do to tout his skill. I can, at least in part, describe a bit of the characters and there’ll be absolutely no question that he nailed them.

Spite-Fire (Astrid) and Elhanan (Eli)

It kind of blows me away that they look so good, Astrid’s got just the right amount of curve, and Eli’s skintone and hair are spot on. He’s offering her a cupcake because the way they met is her staring at a stove, willing it to produce food for her, while he sauntered up and started cooking. It started an entire tradition within their group where he’d make some amazing breakfast and they’d all sit around chatting while it happened. Such an amazing piece for some amazing characters.

The reason she’s venting the green (white-green here) flame is because strong emotions tend to make her go a bit flamey, it’s kind of a hindrance in their relationship, so she’s learned to vent it in certain ways to have those sweet moments with him – and he, to his credit, is learning to play with fire as well as someone who would easily get burned can. The cutest thing for me is that they both have these sort of veins around their eyes, hers from scant burns when she first started to manifest her powers, and his from taking a maser blast to the face (though it just grazed.)

It’s little things like that that I love about our characters, you know?

Knuckledust (Dusty) and Mihanikos (Acacia Mihanikos/Miha)

Probably the stand-out piece of this order set. The colours, the tractor, their expressions and demeanor, and Dusty’s incredible body make this one of my favourite pieces of his to date. Not just of ones he’s done for me, but EVER. Dusty’s this no-nonsense type of bounty hunter who has this killer fight-style and body, and a heart of gold that absolutely cannot be stopped; while Miha is kind of brash and one of the guys more than she is any kind of girly girl, she runs her father’s old mechanic shop and could fix up any old clunker you bring in… then there’s the giant wrench and manhole cover she wields when fighting. You can see why they look so damn tough even in their cuteness.

They met through a job she helped Dusty pull and have been inseparable ever since. It’s kind of one of those relationships that creeps up on you, and this picture personifies just how easy they are together.
***
Those are the two couple shots, and I feel that they are… just bloody amazing, you know? Sometimes Tov will run free sketch livestreams where you don’t end up with some little rinky dink sketch idea, you get something like the following:

It’s not a simple little picture that someone drew in a couple of seconds, it’s a well thought out idea and it plays well with everything. I’m absolutely over the moon and would recommend Tovio highly – plus, it’s fun to watch him draw. ;D

Over the last month I’ve managed to slide quite a few new commissioned pieces, and honestly I feel like featuring them a bit here – it’s funny because I shifted online identities to avoid some stuff so they’re not even attached to my actual dA account, but I plan to, in the next few days, feature the artists, the pieces they did for me, and actually show off why I got these done and for whom I got them done for. I’m kind of hoping it helps bring some awareness and adds a bit more of that original content that people enjoy seeing so much in blogs like this.

But, as a teaser… how about I show you this…

I got Illyria done a while back in January, so she’s not exactly new art – hence perfect for a teaser. She was done by thetrainingartist@dA and it was kind of a happy piece for me. I love his pencil work and honestly find it fun to just sometimes let people run with things.

In the next few days I will spam your faces off, be prepared.

I’m going to start a new meme so I can get some things written and give sort of… reviews of things I’ve read, watched, or played. That way I have something in here that someone might be interesting.  I’ve got a base template that I’m going to post here, and then tomorrow probably I’ll write my first one.

Favourite Scene: [image]
[description of scene]
Favourite Quote: “”
Favourite Character: [Name/Position/etc]
Least Favourite: [Character, point, scene, whatever]
Rating: >D >D [1-5]

That should do it. It’ll keep it somewhat concise while still giving an idea.

I’m not sure which to use, given that I personally don’t believe in God, but also don’t want to denigrate anyone who does, so I’ll just use both and hope to blanket the good feelings all over the blog. That being said, Christmas has come and passed and left me with a few questions about things, as well as several gifts scattered around me.

First of all, I’ve noticed that no matter my age, and no matter the number of gifts I’m expecting under the tree, I find myself more or less inclined to be like a child when it comes to Christmas Eve night– every sound and every light making me kind of wake from my half-assed slumber to check to see if it’s light out. I don’t know if this is true for many other people, but I kind of feel like it might be. There’s just something so very humbling about the idea of Christmas that I can’t help but dive into it like a child every year and hope for the best that I can grasp onto some of that innocence I’ve lost over the years. I become a ten year old again and every minute is moving me closer to that point where I get to open all my lovely gifts.

This year, I got a few boxes from my mom full of some old jeans I’d left at home, which were very much appreciated, two new zip up hoodies, a zip up sweater that I am in love with, a few thermal t-shirts, and a box of toiletries that made me so utterly giddy I could barely stand it. As far as the toiletries went it included: A huge bottle of Dove cream oil lotion for my overly dry hands and body; a huge bottle of Dove body wash, because it’s my favourite; a bottle of Aveeno face lotion to help keep my face from getting overly dry and cracked, all while providing some SPF protection (it came with a sample bottle of Aveeno lotion for everywhere that’s kind of tiny but I’m still happy about); a new toothbrush which was attached to some sensitive teeth whitening Colgate toothpaste, which of course is always welcome as my teeth are a point of much misery for me most of the time; some Alcohol free mouth-wash, in which I can’t remember the brand right now, but it rocks; a bag of Starbursts, because my parents know me so well; a pair of jeans I need to fix the zipper on (yes, it was in the box with the toiletries); some toothpick/floss sticks that are probably my favourite way of flossing; a couple of bodies of sulfate free hair conditioner, in the realm of ‘poo free products that I’ve been wanting to try; and I’m not sure about the rest, my mind is foggy and they’re all set up in my bathroom along the counters.

As you can see, I was anything but neglected and utterly happy with my gifts as they came to me. From my boyfriend’s mom and her husband I got a bottle of hair-dye (Burgundy, they think it looks nice on me), as well as some Starbursts, a bucket of Christmas Cookies (My favourite, the cheap kind that come in the shape of wonky stars and trees and stuff), a remote control Helicopter that I’ve yet to play with, sadly, and this was also supplemented by my mom sending me two PSP games I’d been wanting (Final Fantasy I and II), and a book (The Psychology of Joss Whedon), which I’m utterly enjoying. To be honest, I got more than I was expecting and ended up more thrilled than I had any right to be at my age.

Maybe we all never really out grow our childishness when it comes to the Season of Christmas, and maybe I never will. I can only hope that I continue to be as happy as I have been through the last few holidays, getting sporadic gifts from my friends on Steam (Three games so far: Bastion, The Witcher, and CoD: MW), as well as being able to spoil my friends with what little money I have coming in every now and again.

‘Tis the season, and all that. Did you get any gifts that made you utterly happy? Let me know by commenting!